Friday, June 7, 2013

Poodlums

Let me preface this by saying I bought a CD nothing was given to me to write this post. I enjoyed it so much I want to share with you all.

Anne E. Howard and Jason Wright are poodle owners with aspirations of their poodles, Murry & Dina, being service dogs hence the name The Poodlums. They are married musicians but also board certified music therapists. Better than any child music group on tv (in my opinion). I actually cried (yep thank goodness for sun glasses) it was so beautiful and touching & Ava was listening, following direction and having fun. I hope to see them in person a few more times while I'm in California & I hope they come out with a DVD.

 Yeah yeah Ava enjoyed watching & singing along but more importantly ::snicker:: I loved it too. They are fun, funny, expressive, engaging oh I could go on. They sing about numbers, letters, science & etc in Spanish & English. These two NEED to have their own show I would so watch them. Ava (and I) had so much fun singing along that when it was over she made up a song about them it goes like this "Poodlums are people, people who like animals, they are good guitar players and know the alphabet, they are fun" ::clap clap clap::

Visit their website http://www.thepoodlums.com/ for cd & upcoming shows. To share a bit from their "about you" page:   
MISSION STATEMENT: The Poodlums aim to provide high quality, educational music experiences to children with and without special needs and their families, and to educate the community on the benefits and importance of music as a tool to optimize learning, and as a means of creative artistic expression that connects each of us to our own humanity and thus to one another. 



Monday, June 3, 2013

Radical Potty Training

I think my child is potty trained and here's what I wish I had read / was told. 
First step away from age expectations and time tables.  
Then give an incentive to be out of diapers. 
And let your child decide when s/he is done with them. 

Radical right? I've read & practiced everything from diaper free baby (part timer here maybe it would have worked if we did full time but that just wasn't a good fit with our lifestyle) & beyond but NOTHING has worked. Now they do need an incentive and it can't be a bribe like chocolate or stickers (yep tried bribes) my child's incentive was that she had asked to be in ballet class I told her that to be in that class she couldn't wear diapers. BOOM! I saw the light bulb go off. For another child it was being able to go to the Ikea daycare. Fun stuff. Big stuff. 

So moms, caretakers put away the guilt, stop the mom olympics, let it go.