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FordCQC posted:anyone know a good place to buy stickers, especially those with licensed characters? The local Target is not a good place apparently, unless they are located someplace other than the arts and crafts section. Amazon, Party City, and at Target, look in with the greeting cards, and the kid party supplies. I've gone down this rabbit hole before (Snuffy specifically, harder than it sounds); what are you looking for?
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May 5, 2014 13:34
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AlistairCookie posted:Amazon, Party City, and at Target, look in with the greeting cards, and the kid party supplies. I've gone down this rabbit hole before (Snuffy specifically, harder than it sounds); what are you looking for? My Little Pony stickers, she had two identical sheets which I think came from a sticker book but she's since plastered them all over her slide. I'd rather get a whole pile of stickers for $5 than pay the same for a coloring book with just 2 dozen stickers in the back.
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May 5, 2014 16:13
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Amazon has a roll of 1000 MLP stickers for like 7 bucks plush shipping. http://www.amazon.com/little-pony-1...ny+1000+sticker
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May 5, 2014 17:38
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You can get stickers at Dollar General -- Dora, Disney princesses, super heroes, etc.
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May 5, 2014 18:33
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If anyone has a five year old girl I can testify that the new game (PS3, Xbox) Child of Light is absolutely delightful and gives a cleverly manageable amount of stuff to the kid to do on the other controller. It's flawed in some ways, but I'm really enjoying playing through it with Katya.
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May 7, 2014 05:03
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sebmojo posted:If anyone has a five year old girl I can testify that the new game (PS3, Xbox) Child of Light is absolutely delightful and gives a cleverly manageable amount of stuff to the kid to do on the other controller. Maybe I am just an old fashioned fool, but I have not yet introduced my kids to the PS3 or computer games. I used to let my son play angry birds on the iphone, but have stopped for the most part as his behavior changed a bit (I know, correlation does not equal causation). I'd rather have them running around outside than playing PS3. Says me as I sit inside on a nice morning typing this. :p
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May 7, 2014 12:16
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I might be in the minority to say the opposite... but my partner plays video games (rpgs, mostly) with our four-year-old daughter, and I think it is having a beneficial effect on her. We have watched her ability to understand complicated plot lines and spatial awareness really develop. It's not an everyday thing, but a treat for daddy-daughter time, and she really looks forward to it. Just the other night at dinner, she accurately summarized the current Legend of Zelda game they were playing, and spent a few minutes talking about how the game was different from the other "Link" games, and which one she prefers. I think it's because they chat and interact while playing, not like if we give her the ipad for a bit with a kids game and she just zones out. She gets lots of running around outside time, but our society is computer-based now, and we think she should be taught to use them responsibly. The right type of video game can be very educational and enhance creativity, dexterity and imagination. I have never heard of Child of Light, but I just looked it up just now, and it looks fun! Thanks!
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May 7, 2014 13:41
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My 18 month old loves "playing wii u". He can turn it on and navigate to the right profile and flips through various screens turning games on and off and making the mii's run around. He's not actually playing anything, but he seems to like that he does something and it responds by doing something. Its nice if I just need a 15 minute break to sit on the couch with him.
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May 7, 2014 13:54
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I got my daughter an iPad mini when she was about 2 1/2 (she's 4 now). We've kept all the apps on there strictly educational or things she watches on TV anyways (like PBS kids shows). The things that she has learned from some of those apps is incredible. Learned all the letters of her name, how to count using her fingers, what "plus" means in math. Its nice in the iOS that we can make sure she can't download apps and can't access things like a browser.
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May 7, 2014 15:02
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FlashBangBob posted:I got my daughter an iPad mini when she was about 2 1/2 (she's 4 now). We've kept all the apps on there strictly educational or things she watches on TV anyways (like PBS kids shows). The things that she has learned from some of those apps is incredible. Do have the app list handy, to post?
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May 7, 2014 18:43
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My son is quite a bit older (he'll be 10 in July), but I've definitely noticed video games have had a beneficial effect on him. He hate hate hate hates to read just about any book, but he will happily read in Pokemon, Mario games, etc. I've also noticed an improvement in his comprehension and puzzle solving skills, since he started playing things like Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, and Where's My Water? And they use Wii Sports as a combination reward + gross motor skills thing in his special ed classes.
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May 7, 2014 19:07
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My son has a leappad that's strictly his, he learned to plug in the rechargeable batteries to recharge when they die (I always check to make sure they're not backwards) and he's way ahead of his friends on reading, math and language. I also play Tearaway on my Vita with him. He can actually do almost all the stuff himself but his fingers are a bit small for the back-tapping so I help him with that. It's pretty funny to see some of the creative stuff he comes up with for decorating the characters. He can play the motion controlled sonic racing by himself too, and is probably better than me at angry birds on my iPad now. He spends at most an hour every couple days playing but (confirmation bias incoming) I feel like it's been a net positive to his cognitive development, taken in moderation. We were careful to always stress that it shuts off the minute mommy or daddy ask him to do something else and he's (mostly) good about that.
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May 7, 2014 19:33
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Navigating gaming and screen time limits is my Achilles Heel. I don't ever feel like I'm doing it right, no matter what. I had sworn it off at first, but my husband pointed out that Tim is getting older, and will be going over to play at friends houses more and more, and it would suck for him to not know how to play video games with a friend. And we both game. So Tim plays Wii Resort, and sometimes one of us will play a LEGO title with him. We have no PS3 games suitable for children. I let him play games on PBS Kids on the PC sometimes, and he has his own screen on my phone with some Angry Birds and learning apps. (I like Intellijoy apps, Dinosaur Train, Super Why, and both kids love the Peppa Pig app. Goddamn Happy Mrs. Chicken.) I think what I dislike is that he acts like it's crack. He can never just play it for the set time and let it go (I either set a timer, or give a clear end to device time--like when I get all the clothes folded, or when dinner is ready, with plenty of "I'm almost done" warnings). He almost without fail has a fit about giving the phone back or turning off the Wii or whatever--or "just a few more minutes" me to death. Maybe that's par for the course for his age though--having to stop doing something they really like. But the kids have IPad time in his kindergarten class, so I dunno. Instead of fighting it, I think I need to roll with it. I will say, it definitely does not have to be a zero sum game where any game time means no quality toy/outside time. My kids just spent the past hour plus collecting oak tree fuzz in the yard, just because, and now Liam's sleeping and Tim has my phone (and here I am!). There is a big difference between allowing some game/TV time and letting an IPad be the kid's parent.
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May 7, 2014 19:54
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substitute posted:Do have the app list handy, to post? I can get you a list later when I take a look at her iPad, but I do know that the "Toca Boca" series and the "Endless" series (Endless Alphabet, Endless Numbers) are ones she absolutely loves.
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May 7, 2014 20:02
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FlashBangBob posted:I can get you a list later when I take a look at her iPad, but I do know that the "Toca Boca" series and the "Endless" series (Endless Alphabet, Endless Numbers) are ones she absolutely loves. Seconding the "Endless" series... my two year old *loves* those games and they seem a lot more educational/well done than most. He's actually learned a lot about the concept that letters make up words and words make up sentences too.
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May 7, 2014 22:04
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My kids are school-age, we are weekend and longer-car-trip only on screens during the school year, and it works out quite well. You don't need 14 hours a week to be able to cogently discuss minecraft with your peers, and it is not like they are short of things to do during the week. Making screens not an option at all during the week saves a ton of squabbles over "is your homework done?! Just one more minute!" etc. etc. They aren't short of things to do, between school, extracurriculars, family walks in the woods, and books and legos and neighborhood kids, it's not like they need to make more hours go away. We shall see, the strategy may backfire, when they move away to college and binge-watch future-netflix rather than sit for exams. But so far I don't ever think "Gosh I wish we spent more time with screens"
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May 7, 2014 22:47
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FlashBangBob posted:I got my daughter an iPad mini when she was about 2 1/2 (she's 4 now). We've kept all the apps on there strictly educational or things she watches on TV anyways (like PBS kids shows). The things that she has learned from some of those apps is incredible. Yah. Both our 5.5-year-old and our 2.5-year-old get some iPad time every week. #1 son has, among other things, learned to count in English and Spanish and to our surprise in Hebrew (turned out one of those apps was produced by an Israeli company and he'd managed to get in and change the language setting) as well as our native Norwegian language. #2 son has, on his own, figured out not only how to exit his current app and find others from among his favourites, but also how to find his favourite TV shows (the Norwegian public TV channel has its own free app which lets you stream all of its kids' shows).
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May 8, 2014 11:22
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skeetied posted:Seconding the "Endless" series... my two year old *loves* those games and they seem a lot more educational/well done than most. He's actually learned a lot about the concept that letters make up words and words make up sentences too. Endless apps are great, my youngest (2)really likes Tozzle. Great for shapes and pattern matching. Elmo's ABC's and Nick Jr. Draw and Play are also big hits. Both of my kids have their own iPad's and strictly from a learning perspective they're amazing. My kids are big Disney fans as well, my oldest (4) likes the Disney Appisodes which are kind of interactive games based on a Disney Jr. show. I don't really feel screen time is a big deal in moderation. My kids get a fair amount of time outside playing, and a not unreasonable amount of screen time. Should it be a substitute for parenting? No, but there's no harm in letting the kids watch a movie after their bath before bedtime. Honestly the benefits of educational apps, tv shows, and even youtube videos far outweigh any negatives I can think of.
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May 8, 2014 17:14
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skipdogg posted:I don't really feel screen time is a big deal in moderation. My kids get a fair amount of time outside playing, and a not unreasonable amount of screen time. Should it be a substitute for parenting? No, but there's no harm in letting the kids watch a movie after their bath before bedtime. Honestly the benefits of educational apps, tv shows, and even youtube videos far outweigh any negatives I can think of. The concern that I can understand is- and I say this being fully aware I was born in time for the beginning of the "SCREENZ" generation- is that everyone who's been raised with this really advanced & ubiquitous technology all the time is still pretty young in terms of being able to see the possible effects they have on development in the long term. I mean, it's kind of a moot point as there's not really a good non-biased way to "evaluate" the generations, much less attribute anything to just the technology as opposed to any other form of media/culture that could be influencing the way someone "turns out." I guess what I'm saying is I myself am hesitant and a bit concerned about how much exposure time-wise kids have to screen technology. But I think people also sometimes blow things out of proportion. At recess, kids still run around and play on the playground. Nothing beats that for a kid. Heck, non-screen media still engages pretty well- a few weeks ago I subbed a second grade class and, totally autonomously, after snacktime, all of the kids went over to the reading rug in little clusters, sharing and working together looking at I-Spy books  Everything in moderation. If you get a bad feeling about the amount of time your kid spends with something, as someone upthread had mentioned, you as a parent have the power to change that. It all comes down to being an engaged and attentive parent and trusting your instinct.
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May 9, 2014 01:42
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Cimber posted:Maybe I am just an old fashioned fool, but I have not yet introduced my kids to the PS3 or computer games. I used to let my son play angry birds on the iphone, but have stopped for the most part as his behavior changed a bit (I know, correlation does not equal causation). I think screens in general make children more poorly behaved in the short term; I agree it's a matter for careful attention as a parent. It's also a thing that can be very comfortably provided for good behaviour or withheld if your kid's being a ning-nong, and I really enjoy my daddy daughter game time, so I muddle along on that basis.
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May 9, 2014 02:45
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Part of the problem we have is that a large part of my recreation time (and also paying-bills-and-keeping-house time) is spent on a computer, and for my wife, it's very similar. So I can see where it's reasonable in toddler-logic that if mommy and daddy get to spend so much time with their games, why can't I also spend so much time with my game? Cognizant of this, I've tried spending less time on the computer while she's about, though I'm finding that difficult.
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May 9, 2014 04:09
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Groke posted:Yah. Both our 5.5-year-old and our 2.5-year-old get some iPad time every week. #1 son has, among other things, learned to count in English and Spanish and to our surprise in Hebrew (turned out one of those apps was produced by an Israeli company and he'd managed to get in and change the language setting) as well as our native Norwegian language. #2 son has, on his own, figured out not only how to exit his current app and find others from among his favourites, but also how to find his favourite TV shows (the Norwegian public TV channel has its own free app which lets you stream all of its kids' shows). Which App did you use for helping him learn to count in Spanish? Spanish is my mother language, but as the only speaker of it in our household I'm having a hard time getting my 2 year old to pick it up. At the moment she's loving "Fun Spanish", but I think that said App is a bit too advance for her. She's just learning new words, and I'm pretty sure that she's having problems understanding that there is more than one word for the same thing. I want her to learn Spanish as soon as possible, but I also don't want to confuse her. I usually don't mind letting her have some screen time, since she is SO active and social, but lately it is all that she wants to do. Unfortunately, since I'm still working full time and am currently 8 1/2 months pregnant, it's just becoming a bit too convenient to let her. I hope things will get better once I get off work, and even more so once she has a sibling to play with.
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May 9, 2014 04:29
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Kitiara posted:Which App did you use for helping him learn to count in Spanish? Thinking it over, I'm afraid I don't really know, I suspect he learned that at daycare (the older kids get some iPad time there as well).
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May 9, 2014 06:50
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Groke posted:Thinking it over, I'm afraid I don't really know, I suspect he learned that at daycare (the older kids get some iPad time there as well). Dora the Explorer does a bunch of stuff in Spanish incidental to whatever else is going on so if your kid had seen that it could be the source. My 4 year old can count to 10 and say hola, adios amigo and gracias.
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May 9, 2014 09:26
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So my four year old son has been getting in more trouble at daycare lately. Screaming at teachers when he doesnt want to do anything, hitting kids when he claims they take his stuff. Mornings are usually bad, afternoons he's much better. He can be defiant and yell at us at home, and when he does I'll put him in timeout, but i don't think they do anything to him like that for discipline at school. He had his old favorite teacher leave the daycare about two weeks ago, so maybe that's it? Not defending what he's doing, but the new teacher is new at the job and may have a less of a tolerance for kids acting up and makes a note of it on his daily report that the old teacher may have simply brushed off. Regardless, I sat him down yesterday when we got home and told him that hitting isn't appropriate, and if someone tries to take his stuff he should tell a teacher. Anyone else have experience with this? Is this normal 4 year old aggressiveness or should I talk to his doctor?
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May 9, 2014 12:37
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Cimber posted:Anyone else have experience with this? Is this normal 4 year old aggressiveness or should I talk to his doctor? From what you said, it sounds like it is probably fairly normal kid aggressiveness, coupled with stress from the favorite teacher leaving. I have a lot of experience with this, as my son is very prone to being violently aggressive in school, both towards staff, objects, and inwardly directed through self-harming. Now, my son is in special ed and has multiple comorbid disorders, so my situation may be a fair bit different than yours, but some things to look for are escalating behaviors, especially the violence, and the behavior continuing past a readjustment period. If you feel the behavior is very unusual or it escalates, it cannot hurt to talk to his doctor. If the daycare staff is willing to work with you, and you think this would work for your son, one thing that worked well for us in at least diminishing the aggressiveness is a reward system. If he goes the day without lashing out violentally (given his conditions, screaming meltdowns are to be expected, really), my son gets a sticker on a calender. If he gets a sticker, when he gets home he gets something that he really enjoys (watching a favorite movie or show, an hour with his Skylanders game, a Happy Meal on occasion, things like that). If he gets a full week, he gets a really big reward (go out to the movies, go bowling, etc). At four, he might not really have the sense of time for the weekly thing, but a daily reward may be useful in curbing some of the behavior.
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May 9, 2014 12:53
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Cimber posted:So my four year old son has been getting in more trouble at daycare lately. Screaming at teachers when he doesnt want to do anything, hitting kids when he claims they take his stuff. Mornings are usually bad, afternoons he's much better. He can be defiant and yell at us at home, and when he does I'll put him in timeout, but i don't think they do anything to him like that for discipline at school. Sounds like he's got a bad case of being 4  My son is having a few of the same issues, everything I've read is that it's normal at this age as they learn the appropriate way to express what they want and gain a sense of ownership over things.
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May 9, 2014 16:17
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AngryRobotsInc posted:If you feel the behavior is very unusual or it escalates, it cannot hurt to talk to his doctor. If the daycare staff is willing to work with you, and you think this would work for your son, one thing that worked well for us in at least diminishing the aggressiveness is a reward system. If he goes the day without lashing out violentally (given his conditions, screaming meltdowns are to be expected, really), my son gets a sticker on a calender. If he gets a sticker, when he gets home he gets something that he really enjoys (watching a favorite movie or show, an hour with his Skylanders game, a Happy Meal on occasion, things like that). If he gets a full week, he gets a really big reward (go out to the movies, go bowling, etc). I think increases in negative behavior are to be expected as a result of big changes, like the loss of a favorite teacher, so it isn't as if this is just coming from nowhere, but there are definitely strategies to deal with it that will work.
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May 9, 2014 19:49
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I just want to interject that daycares & preschools are supposed to be experts at navigating kids through these problems. One of the main points of preschool is that it's their first real time where they are required to socialize and obey rules in a group. So they surely have some system in place, and if they don't, they shouldn't be relying on you to discipline your kid hours later. I worked two years in my son's preschool in the 4 year old class and seeing it from both sides, there is a lot of drama that goes on with 4 year olds. If they were 2 and one kid hits another for taking their toy, that's a situation where you separate, "no hitting", etc. It's cut and dried. For the 4 year olds, there is something going on before it gets to hitting 99% of the time. By this point in the school year they're little lawyers who are hyperaware of fairness and sharing. Maybe your kid promised they'd give it up but didn't, so the other kid grabbed it, etc. The point is you weren't there in the moment whereas the preschool teacher was, and the most effective time to deal with it is in that moment. Definitely for the BIG things (and I consider hitting to be big) it is worth a conversation at home, but make it more generalized to "hitting isn't how we solve problems" rather than get tied up in the circumstances "suzy said this and I wanted that". Talk about going to the teacher if someone is bugging you, don't hit them in response. For incentives, make it more like for every day/week the teacher says you cooperated or got a gold star (or whatever system they use) we will go get stickers (or whatever motivates him). My point being, keep the talk about behavior generalized and leave the school drama at school. 4 year olds are still very young and they don't need to have their mistakes at school harped on hours later. Pretty soon they will just hate going to school and it doesn't address the right problem.
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May 9, 2014 20:37
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hepscat posted:For the 4 year olds, there is something going on before it gets to hitting 99% of the time. By this point in the school year they're little lawyers who are hyperaware of fairness and sharing. Maybe your kid promised they'd give it up but didn't, so the other kid grabbed it, etc. The point is you weren't there in the moment whereas the preschool teacher was, and the most effective time to deal with it is in that moment. Quoted for truth. Tim will be 6 on Tuesday, so he's a little bit older, but all this is still so spot on for him and his class. We go through stuff like this every week. He loves his friends, he hates his friends, the litany of slights and issues. My mantra is always the same: Everyone makes not nice mistakes sometimes. Every day is a new day. Always use your words; never your body. Ask Mrs. Teacher for help. And the lawyer-ing. That kid better grow up to be a high powered trial lawyer or politician and retire me and Dad early for all verbal jousting that goes on.  I didn't kick him, Mommy, I just pushed him with my foot.
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May 9, 2014 21:12
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Fionnoula posted:I would also schedule some time to speak to the school and hash out how the discipline is being handled. If timeouts work at home, ask them to do them at school as well. Additionally it could help to really investigate the instigating factors in the behavior - is there a particular activity where this behavior happens more frequently, it is when he is being asked to move from one activity to another, etc? You mentioned that it happens more in the morning than in the afternoons...what does his breakfast look like? I know several kids whose moods go to poo poo when they're light on protein. If he's eating cereal for breakfast but not a lot of protein, try changing his diet up a bit. Thats an interesting question. I dont exactly know what they feed him for breakfast, but one time I had to go back to school to drop off stuff for my daughter, and saw him being given a waffle with a huge amount of whipped cream put on top. I told them to knock off with the sugar and they promised, but I can't be sure if they are not just dousing the food with sugar and sweets to get them to eat with little fuss. but today he had happy smiles both morning and afternoon, so we let him choose dinner. He chose friendly's. 
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May 10, 2014 03:00
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Happy Mother's Day to all the moms here. On behalf of your children, and perhaps your partners as well, thank you. Thank you for reading that same story over and over (and over) again. Thank you for all the snacks, the hugs, the kisses. Thanks for making sure everything is in everyone's backpack each day. Thank you for keeping your children healthy and safe, despite their best efforts to maim themselves daily. Thank you for all the worrying and working, all the making sure that everything that has to be done is done, and for doing it all out of love. I hope your weekends' were joyful, and your families made you feel appreciated. 
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May 12, 2014 00:52
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We had our first mothers day last weekend as well, and her 30th birthday as well. Decided to celebrate by fobbing the twins off on her mom and stepdaughter so we could go out (went swimming) and have dinner etc. And the twins turned 8 months yesterday, developmentally they should be about 6 months. David decided to celebrate by learning to say "bah bah bah bah" over and over again all day until the fiance went and got my earpros. Both boys are also turning over now, they've been going from back to stomach a while but now they can both ways, almost crawling too Daniel:  David:  This weekend we're having an ultrasound checkup of both boys, hoping they can stop their medications (Daniel is on a diuretic and David a beta blocker to help regulate his rythm after his heart surgery).
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May 14, 2014 08:12
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Apparently videos of toys wrapped in play doh is a thing and my toddler LOVES them. He had chosen to watch these for his TV time like every day this week
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May 16, 2014 00:47
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jassi007 posted:Apparently videos of toys wrapped in play doh is a thing and my toddler LOVES them. He had chosen to watch these for his TV time like every day this week Ugh. Can't stand those. My kid loves those videos too.
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May 16, 2014 02:12
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Anyone have any experiences with their kids suddenly having a crippling fear of shadows or being in the dark? My son is almost 2.5 years old, and this has suddenly become a big issue. I understand this is a fairly common thing to occur in kids around 2-3. He has a night-light already... but it is possible that is making things worse, since it seems like he is more concerned about the shadows rather than the dark in general. My wife seems against the idea of a blanket, saying he could accidently smother/choke himself with it if he got tangled up (while I agree there is a risk of that, I think it would be extremely small). He sleeps with a stuffed animal (a stuffed cow), and I've tried to convince him that "cow will keep you safe," but his anxiety doesn't seem to abate without either my wife or I in the room. Previous to this he has done pretty well with sleeping for some time now. My undestanding is that in most children this tends to fade a bit within a few weeks, but in the meantime this is creating quite a bit of havoc in everyone's sleep. Any ideas/experiences/recommendations you could share?
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May 16, 2014 02:46
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What? I mean I understand not giving a blanket to an infant, but 2.5 years? Either that kid can have a blanket just fine or I have vastly endangered both of my children.
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May 16, 2014 02:57
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FishBulb posted:What? I mean I understand not giving a blanket to an infant, but 2.5 years? Either that kid can have a blanket just fine or I have vastly endangered both of my children. Oh I agree, I think my wife is blowing it way out of proportion. I think I will probably be able to convince her that it isn't going to be harmful, but that was just her initial response when I first suggested it.
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May 16, 2014 03:32
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Somehow I picture this kid still sleeping on a mattress on the floor with no blankets and a nightlight at the age of 12.
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May 16, 2014 04:49
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I have 18 month old twins and both would rather die than spend a minute suffering under a blanket. My wife and I like to cuddle with our kids before putting them to bed and if a blanket so much as grazes their little feet it is nothing but furious kicking until they're out from under it. It is amazing.
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May 16, 2014 05:54
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