Parenting My Way

As parents we all have to find our own way to do things. If your child is healthy and functional then don't let anybody tell you that you aren't doing it right. I can't tell you how often that my kids toys are spread out everywhere or the laundry isn't fully done. In fact, more often than not my laundry may be clean but its usually thrown into baskets waiting indefinitely to be folded. I will never tell anybody that I know parenting better than somebody else but there are some tips and tricks I've come across that work for me and may very well work for others. Between the recent pandemic and functioning as a single parent I am slow to buy possibly indulgent extras like toys. There are, however, some purchases that I am so happy to have made.

Pictured above is the Aqua Magic mat. We learned about this amazing item when we visited some family for Easter this year. My niece absolutely loves her water mat and was happy to share with my daughter. Its a mess free mat for kids to color to their hearts contents. The pens get filled with water and when the top layer of the mat gets wet it shows the colors from underneath. There are stencils and stamps that also use water to make fun shapes and designs. As the water dries the coloring gets to start all over again. As a parent of a creative kid this toy is a life saver. My child has coloring books and crayons and markers and all kinds of other age appropriate creative stuff, but when I've had a long day at work or her grandma has and I'm sleeping neither of us wants to deal with the mess. The whole set came with a nice little pouch to keep the mat and accessories organized between uses that makes it even better. The AquaMagic mat was less than $20 on Amazon and something I'm very happy to have.

I've mentioned that my daughter, 2 years-old, has her own tablet. This actually brings up two points of parenting for me as it was a gift. There is part of me that understands parents hesitation when it comes to screen time because there are a lot of sick people out who use virtual forums to take advantage of kids. I address this in two ways, one the Topelotek tablet is one that is specifically designed for kids and comes with apps that have a lot of parental supervision settings to be implemented. Additionally, I don't let my daughter use it without being supervised. My grandma got the tablet for my daughter as a birthday present because we were both tired of watching Seasame Street and Cocomelon on the family TV. If people who are part of the village I've set up to help my daughter thrive want to buy her things then I have very few rules about doing so, I'll discuss that later. The tablet was agreed upon and my daughter loves it. It helps her get to sleep because when she is tired watching the tablet means she's holding still and sleep will overtake her faster. The best thing about the tablet is all the educational games that I can get for her. I do recommend using the free modes of kids games until you know what your kid actually likes then paying for the full version of the preferred games to limit commercials or accidental redirect clicks.

Another somewhat big purchase that made all the difference with my daughter was the potty training pants from Walmart. Equivocally they are cloth pull-ups. One of the biggest pieces of advice that my daycare lady, a childcare veteran, gave me was to use real underwear and rubber pants instead of pull-ups. The thought is that the fabric gets a lot more uncomfortable when wet and doesn't feel like a diaper. We followed this until my daughter had gone days without peeing in her pants then we took away the rubber pants. We did use pull-ups during naps and when it was time to go to bed but that was it. The training specific under that my daughter is wearing in the picture was found right before we stopped using the rubber pants. They are thicker than normal underwear and hold up during accidents a lot better. My daughter has paw patrol, Disney princess, Frozen, and Minnie mouse themed ones, so the variety is great. The sets came in packs of six and were a real change in the game for potty training. My daughter is a little more than 2 years and 3 months and is already fully potty trained. I'm glad that we found these game changers at Walmart when we did because before that there were so many accidents with regular underwear.

A couple of small things that I make a point of keeping on hand are high on my list of purchases I am happy to make for my kid. Firstly there's Johnson and Johnson Aloe and Vitamin C Baby Oil lotion, it's in the green bottle. I have been using this lotion on my daughter, and myself, since she was only a couple months old because it works great at repelling mosquitos without any toxic smell or sticky feeling. Next there's the 360 cups, which are even recommended by dentists, because they are great for encouraging independence without the mess. Lastly, the Johnson and Johnson's vapor bath soap because as any parent knows, kids get stuffed up and congested all the damn time. The mentholated bath soap makes for an awesome bubble bath option to reduce congestion, for kids and adults.

I hope some parents find this helpful. I will try to post more stories and tips as I come across them. As any scatterbrained writer understands I have several notebooks that are spread out everywhere containing points to elaborate on relating to parental tips. Some are from when I was pregnant so bare with me as I sort through them all.