Tuesdaily with Toddler Entertainment
Feb. 4th, 2014 08:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellenmillionI have a few stories from our trip to Oregon, but they are still in bits and pieces in my head, and will require unpacking.
I was surprised by a few items of entertainment that worked ridiculously well on our trip:
Beans
My mother, having survived me as a child, knew just how to distract the Guppy: beans. Most of a bag of white beans, a spoon, and a few tupperware containers, and this child was happy as a clam - for HOURS. And she remembered it the next days, too, pointing at the cabinet and demanding "Beeeeeeaaaaaaans!" like a good little zombie.
Apparently, when I was young, I managed to get one far enough up my nose to require an ER trip, so it does still require a little supervision. Though possibly, Guppy is smarter than me.
Also to be noted, she would not tolerate the sole black bean in with the mix. "Little racist!" I scolded her. She threw the bean across the room.
Baby!
The in-flight magazine had an advertisement with a photo of a baby in a hat. And you'd think, okay, baby in a hat. *flip*
Not so, for Guppy.
I swear, she spent over an hour, each direction, 'losing' the baby so that she could ask "Where's the babeeeeee?" "Where's the babeeeeee?", find it (or make me find it) and exclaim in delight, "BABEEEEEEEE!" With the occasional addition of "Babeeee in a hah!"
Where's my hand?
"Where" is a repeated theme in her entertainment. We've been playing a low-key 'where'd your hand go?' while getting dressed over the last couple of months, and this trip, she volunteered it, sucking her hand into her sweater and asking, "Haaaan? Where's the haaaan go?" Then she'd peek the fingers out and cackle in glee. Over and over and OVER again.
Feeding the ducks
There were tame ducks in a nearby park, and we went to feed them. That was a HIT. Such a hit that she woke me up at 5:30 one morning. "Feeeee the duck? Quack? Quackow? Quackoooooow?"
I was not amused.
She took her duck-feeding duties very seriously. I couldn't capture her with a smile.
I was surprised by a few items of entertainment that worked ridiculously well on our trip:
Beans
My mother, having survived me as a child, knew just how to distract the Guppy: beans. Most of a bag of white beans, a spoon, and a few tupperware containers, and this child was happy as a clam - for HOURS. And she remembered it the next days, too, pointing at the cabinet and demanding "Beeeeeeaaaaaaans!" like a good little zombie.
Apparently, when I was young, I managed to get one far enough up my nose to require an ER trip, so it does still require a little supervision. Though possibly, Guppy is smarter than me.
Also to be noted, she would not tolerate the sole black bean in with the mix. "Little racist!" I scolded her. She threw the bean across the room.
Baby!
The in-flight magazine had an advertisement with a photo of a baby in a hat. And you'd think, okay, baby in a hat. *flip*
Not so, for Guppy.
I swear, she spent over an hour, each direction, 'losing' the baby so that she could ask "Where's the babeeeeee?" "Where's the babeeeeee?", find it (or make me find it) and exclaim in delight, "BABEEEEEEEE!" With the occasional addition of "Babeeee in a hah!"
Where's my hand?
"Where" is a repeated theme in her entertainment. We've been playing a low-key 'where'd your hand go?' while getting dressed over the last couple of months, and this trip, she volunteered it, sucking her hand into her sweater and asking, "Haaaan? Where's the haaaan go?" Then she'd peek the fingers out and cackle in glee. Over and over and OVER again.
Feeding the ducks
There were tame ducks in a nearby park, and we went to feed them. That was a HIT. Such a hit that she woke me up at 5:30 one morning. "Feeeee the duck? Quack? Quackow? Quackoooooow?"
I was not amused.
She took her duck-feeding duties very seriously. I couldn't capture her with a smile.
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no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 05:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 07:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 08:09 pm (UTC)*cries laughing*
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Date: 2014-02-04 09:14 pm (UTC)(With me it was a bead. I still remember the loooong instrument the doctor at the ER stuck up my nose)
no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 09:24 pm (UTC)ahahaha. We had my nephew for a month last summer, and I was astounded at how easily both my mother and my husband's mom (each of whom raised three kids) could wrangle that child. It was like MAGIC. He was a pretty well-behaved kid in general, but a real attention hog, and trying to get some time by myself was a constant struggle. My mom would just work some kind of mom spell, whip out some paper and markers or a travel-sized game to play with, and he'd settle down for hours and let the adults do adult things.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 10:17 pm (UTC)It's too bad we lose that wonder after a while. *sigh*
My mom used to do the same thing with me and beans, but she'd mix them up and tell me to sort them out by color and then re-sort them so there was an even amount in each cup. Hours of fun and distraction (and bonus math!).
no subject
Date: 2014-02-05 01:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-05 01:24 pm (UTC)I have a picture of me somewhere at five years old, mortally offended because the duck I was feeding 'bit' me, and instead of consoling me, my grandmother took a picture of my expression.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-05 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-05 10:24 pm (UTC)What do you feed them? I've been trying to figure out a good thing to give 'em now that I know bread is bad for them.