My daughter and I took our second outing to the Music Together activities we signed up for and we had terrific time. There were more attendees today and some familiar faces from last week. What made the second class such a good time for me was that I knew the lyrics to the songs as we’ve been listening to the music in the car and at home. “Hello everybody, so glad to see you!”
I’m actually really into one of the songs on the CD - “Rolling”. I wish it were longer as the guitar and refrain are just awesome.
But back to the classes - my daughter didn’t cry today which I was very happy about. She only cried for a few moments the first class, but I was hoping that she’d be more comfortable today and indeed she was. She is still too young to know how to sing, but she dances and shakes the rattle with the best of them!
Winter is upon us (in case you missed it!). And well as we all know days might be shorter, but some days at home with bored babies and toddlers can feel very long. We live in the northeast so sometimes there is no chance of even taking a walk on a very blustery day. So every winter since my daughter was walking we’ve registered for a class or two to make sure we have something to do to mix up our week. For the last, nearly two and a half years we’ve done Music Together and Gym Cubs.
Music Together is a nationwide music program for babies, toddlers and young children. Most children listen to music at home and in the car, like we do, but Music Together does a lot to get them to pay attention to rhythm, learn to carry a tune and use different instruments. Parents are expected to participate with their children so be prepared to sing a long!
Gym Cubs is a local gymnastics program for us that is walking to 3, and Gym Bears 3-6. It is great for teaching coordination, confidence and learning to participate with a group- especially waiting waiting your turn. Call your local gymnastics gym to see if they offer any baby or toddler classes or go online to find a YMCA near you. Many Y’s will offer not only some sort of tumbling gymnastics class but swimming with a parent as well. There is also The Little Gym which has locations in many states with all sorts of physical offerings for infants all the way to 12 yr olds. Itsy Bitsy Yoga- if your lucky to have one near you, is a great bonding and physical activity for you and your little one. We have a gap near us where they are unfortunately no yoga offerings for the 2-4 yr old crowd… so we do our downward dog together in the living room for now.
Storytime! Yes, a great way to spend a boring rainy or chilly day. Many libraries and small bookstores offer storytime. Even little babies will enjoy it. We use to go, when we could find a seat! Our neighborhood branch had a very popular storytime. Go and your little one will likely enjoy hearing someone else read for a change.
Find a Music Together location.
Other music programs include Kindermusik and Gymboree.
Also see Gymboree Play and Learn for activities.
Find a library or check with your local bookstore to see if they offer storytime.
I am happy to see the days of summer dwindle for one reason, and one alone. The winter hiatus of the ice cream man. You would too if you lived in my house. We live in an urban area so the ice cream man is more than a daily visit, it’s 3 different trucks that drive down our street starting when school releases all the way to 7:30 at night. Two of them play music, one is something like “Pop goes the weasel” and the other is “When the saints go marching in”, the third just dings a bell. And they are the bane of my existence.
As you might know, I have a 2.5 year old daughter who loves ice cream and a well meaning husband who bought her ice cream from one of the trucks late last summer as a “special treat”. Well this summer rolled around and she knew, her ears primed for the music and bells and was excited the first warm day they came back to harass my neighborhood. No matter how hard we tried to tell her it was a special, occasional goody, she was in a flurry of panic when she heard the ice cream sounds coming from streets away. She would look for money, she would frantically tell the little kids in the neighborhood kids “ice cream is coming!!”, which they eventually caught on to, tricking her to think it was coming loving to get her whipped up about it.
But it was hard to get her off of the excitement and deliver the disappointment, “no, honey, we aren’t getting ice cream tonight”. Tears start, “No, why!!!!! Oh no! Why? Please!” and then to have it happen one or two times more, and she would get stressed to hear them and know we aren’t buying. She would actually say, “Oh no, not again! not again…” As if to even be saying herself, stop torturing me with your ice cream calls. But she’s hooked and we are too late to unhook her. Who knew it would turn into this, that the lure for terrible ice cream sold from trucks would be so strong. I know this is silly, a very no problem sort of an issue, but I want to know- do the ice cream men know how hard it is say no 3 times a night?!
Some healthier ice cream alternatives for your little ones:
Cool Fruits All Natural Freezer Pops
Fudgsicle a satisfying 60 calorie treat
Natural Choice Frozen Fruit Bars
Ciao Bella Sorbetto
365 Every Day ValueFrozen Fruit Bar
With my wife going back to work in a few days, we’ve decided that I’m going to be the primary caregiver for our little newborn. While she’s been on maternity leave, I’ve been working half the time, half on paternity leave. I plan to still work for sure, but our baby will absolutely be the priority.
Since I always like to see things from multiple perspectives, I figured I’d do some analysis on the cost of daycare. From what I understand, day care costs range from $30 - $100 / day, depending on the volume of time the child spends in day care, and the location of the daycare facility.
I guess from that perspective, it makes a lot of sense to share the responsibility with family members, who most likely want to see their newborn relative as well.
From my own perspective, I’ve always tried to make work fit into my life, rather than make my life fit into work, and I think based upon how the past few years have gone, I’m confident that fitting work into my new life as a dad will be fine. As my own dad used to say, “We’ll see!”
If any Healthy Bot visitors have any tips or thoughts on how to approach the idea of child care, please share! Thanks. 
Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there!
