Monroe Parenting

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

Caitlyn did the sweetest thing today……..Keegan is pulling himself up on things now and this afternoon he was standing next to his LeapFrog Learning Table playing with the buttons. He made the music play and then  started “dancing” (pretty much just swaying his little hips back and forth). Caitlyn sees him doing this and rushes over to stand behind him and puts her hands on his shoulders so that “little man doesn’t fall over.”

She looks over at me and says “I’ve got him! I’ve got him!” And then she leaned over and gave him a hug and kissed the top of his head.

All right. All together now: “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.”

Just let me swallow the lump in my throat…..

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

Tomorrow (Saturday, April 28) is the big Celebrate Children event at Frenchtown Square mall. If you have kids you don’t want to miss it!

There will be tons of freebies given out (and really, who doesn’t love free stuff?!), activities for the kids and lots of booths with information geared toward Monroe County parents.

Speaking of which, the Evening News will have a booth featuring their Monroe Parent publication. Anyone wishing to submit their child’s photo(s) for the June-July issue can bring them to the booth instead of e-mailing or snail mailing them in to the office (which you can still do, but I just thought it would be much easier this way). The theme for the issue is “Kids on Wheels” so if you have a great photo of your kids riding their bikes, rollerblading, driving go-karts around…….well, you get the idea. Kids having fun on/with wheels.

See you all tomorrow!

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

Looking for a great way to spend an afternoon with the kids without really spending any money?? Take them to Calder’s Dairy Farm in Carleton! The kids and I went yesterday (as we’ve done a few times this year when the weather was awesome) and they had a great time.

Now when I say you don’t have to spend any money, you really don’t unless you enter the store part of the farm and then you won’t be able to help yourself. The ice cream is out of this world! We sometimes take home a carton of fresh milk, too, and yesterday was no exception. Caitlyn picked out a container of strawberry milk over the chocolate, not because of the flavor, but I think it was more just because she loves the color pink. But I digress…..

The farm is pretty much open all day until the sun goes down, and it doesn’t cost anything to walk around and pet the animals. Caitlyn’s favorite section by far is all the baby cows. Last year she even got to feed one with a giant baby bottle. There also are the full grown cows that you can pet if you don’t mind the fact that they are always eating and have mush all over their faces.

Usually in the middle of the summer they are baby piggies in the barn, which are adorable to watch if you can stand the stench. (My husband is a city boy, so he doesn’t come in the barn with us often. Caitlyn is too busy ooohing and aaahhing to notice that the air has turned stinky.)

Walking to another barn you will pass rabbit hutches and chicken coops that also house turkeys (Watch out! They bite). There’s even an emu there but we haven’t worked up the courage yet to try and touch it. Barn cats and ducks mingle around and occasionally the crazy ducks will chase you, but none have attacked us yet.

There also are horses, miniature ponies, goats and llamas at the farm. They seem friendly enough, but there are signs warning that some may bite.

And for a grand finale to the trip (well, if you aren’t getting ice cream, that is) you can cross the street to the duck pond and feed the ducks. They are everywhere and they are hungry, so if you buy a handful of feed for a quarter, they will come up to you. Some of them can’t take a hint when the food is gone though, and that’s always our cue to hit the road!

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

The Today Show seems to be doing a rash of programs lately geared toward parents. Yesterday they focused on the differences between parenting today and 20 years ago. They highlighted three key differences:

1. More help from spouses — Dads are playing a bigger role in the raising of children today. It’s no longer just the mom’s job to be there for the kids 24/7. Today’s dads are attempting to spend more free time bonding with their kids, from play dates to bedtime stories.

2. Flexible work schedules — The mom in this segment highlighted how she can do freelance work from home and e-mail the finished product to her boss in another state. She said 20 years ago her mom didn’t have that option. But because of today’s technology, she has the freedom to set her own schedule so that she can be home with her daughters.

3. Technology — Yes I just mentioned that in No. 2, but today’s mom has definitely kicked technology up a notch from what mothers were able to do 20 years. Today, we seem to have everything at our fingertips. If we need help or have a question, the Internet is available at the push of a button. And no more scribbling grocery lists down on pieces of scrap paper — we now have palm pilots to keep everything organized for us. No time to make dinner after that grocery trip? Just use your cell phone on the way home to order some takeout (and it doesn’t have to be pizza).

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

Yesterday the Schmitt Family officially became members of The Toledo Zoo. Keegan got to enjoy his first trip visiting the animals AND his first ride in a wagon.

We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to go trapizing through crowds of people to catch glimpses of Caitlyn’s favorite animals — the giraffes, the monkeys and, of course, the baby elephant named Louie.

If you find yourself frequently visiting the zoo with your kids, it would definitely be worth your while to purchase a membership. For $65, you can visit the zoo as many times as you want for a year (including passes to the Lights Before Christmas) and it includes free parking in the Anthony Wayne Trail lot. It’s also good at other zoos across the country, including the Detroit Zoo. Our family pack covers admission for 2 adults and 2 kids.

At first, I thought that was a hefty of a price to pay, but when I stopped to think about, we spent more than that just visiting zoos last year — we went to Toledo 3 times and Detroit once. Think of what we could have saved when admission is $10 for adults and $7 for kids 2-11. (For those of you bad at math like me, that would be more than $100 on admission alone … parking would be about another $20 bucks.)

I told Dave that the kids and I would be going again next Sunday — we might as well get our money worth from the membership! It’s a great way to spend a day with the kids and since we can visit as often as we like now, we don’t have to rush to see everything all in one day.

And for all of you zoo lovers, this Sunday, April 29, is Baby Louie the Elephant’s birthday. The zoo will be having special activities for him including a birthday bath, cake and present opening. For more details, go to www.toledozoo.org.

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

Has your kid ever done anything that embarrassed you? Something that they didn’t really do with the intent to embarrass you, but it did anyway? Mine has. In fact, it was today.

Caitlyn and I were attending a spring tea that was held at the library. She looked so pretty in her “fancy” dress with her hair all dolled up.

Anyway, another little girl came up to Caitlyn’s chair and started talking with her. So Caitlyn gets out of her chair and starts talking back to the girl. Next thing I know, she is pulling her dress up to her belly button and reaching around her back.

I said “Caitlyn! What are you doing?! Put your dress down!”

And she says (so that the entire room can hear her): “But mooooooooom! I have a CREEPER!” as she continued to pull on her panties.

Oh. My. God. Did she really just say/do that in a room full of people?

I quickly pulled her back to me and said “Caitlyn, we don’t do that in public. Please pull your dress down.”

“But moooooooooooom……I still have a creeper!”

With my face flaming red I quickly took her to the bathroom and all was resolved. Now I just need to figure out how to look my co-workers and library patrons in the eye again. Good thing I have until Monday……

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

Caitlyn and I are watching “American Idol” right now (although it’s on a commercial at the moment) and the contestants just finished a group song. But as they were singing, Caitlyn says “Sanjaya stinks! I don’t like that boy singing.”

Thank you! My 3-three-year-old obviously gets his lack of talent. Why can’t the rest of America?!

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

Do you ever bribe your kids to be good while you’re in the grocery store? How about when you just need an hour to yourself? I found this article about how more parents today are “buying off” their children just to gain their cooperation.

Dave and I talked about this last night and I don’t think we’re really guilty of doing this with our kids. True, we did us the reward system with Caitlyn’s potty chart, but that was a learning technique that incorporated only small grab bag items from the dollar store. Caitlyn doesn’t expect or demand something every time she uses the potty.

I think that parents who go overboard in spoiling or pacifying their kids with toys and goodies are only asking for trouble. If you let kids get the upper hand, then they will start to feel entitled to a toy every time they visit a store. Or they know that if they start to act up in public then they will be given something just to keep quiet.

And then you start to wonder: who’s really in charge here? The parent or the child?

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

Okay, I have a really stupid question for all the parents of little boys out there: When potty training, do you sit them down or stand them up?

I’ve only had the experience so far of dealing with a girl, so as I’m looking forward to training Keegan in the months ahead I’m a little stumped.

I’ve heard of parents using “targets” for their little guys to try and hit while they are going potty, but do you use them right away or after they become a little more accustomed to the whole potty concept?

Sitting or standing??? Help!

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

As we were going home today, Caitlyn and I were driving past a baseball diamond and there were guys out there practicing. I said to Caitlyn, “What do you think those boys are doing?”

And she replies, “Well, they are not out there playing baseball.”

Me: “They’re not? Then what are they doing?”

Caitlyn: “They’re not playing baseball. They are busy thinking about the wind.”

Um, yeah, ok, sure. That’s one I haven’t heard before!!