Anyone who has had a baby girl has had someone, at some point, compliment her on her cute baby boy. Unless your darling is decked out in frills, lace, pink and/or hearts, it can be hard for people to immediately tell what gender your child is. But I didn’t always feel like dressing my daughter in everything girly, so sometimes I used a simple bow to give others a hint. Also, they’re so CUTE! 🙂
It can actually fit quite a number of clips!
I bought most of these clips off Amazon
I’m not really that girly, and I don’t expect my daughter to be, but this was a super simple project that was both practical and looked nice. Why not? Also a fun way to display clips if you’re hosting a baby shower and hair clips are part of the baby shower crafting fun
My quest for the perfect art display solution began about half a year ago, when my child glued this masterpiece together:
I loved it. While other parents carefully guided their toddler’s hands to place everything in just the right place, I simply helped her rub glue onto the loose pre-cut pieces and then let her have at it. I call it her Abstract Bear, and I love it. I loved it so much I put it somewhere super special… and now I can’t find it. Thankfully, she has since produced more artwork, and I have been only too eager to find a special way to showcase her talents.
I scoured Pinterest for ideas, looking for a solution that would meet the following requirements:
- Goes on the wall
- Easy to switch out various art pieces
- Accommodates various sizes of art
- Presents the artwork nicely so that even a dot could look like a piece of art
I knew the arrival of a new baby would be tough on her. I knew she’d have some serious adjusting to do, going from being an only child to a big sister. I had devoted the last two years of my life to her (nearly three, if you count the pregnancy), and she knew nothing but my undivided attention and time.
I had expected that she would start showing favoritism toward her daddy. I had expected that she would show some resentment toward her little brother. I expected she would be jealous for my time and attention.
But still, it didn’t prepare me for her bubbly soft and sharp-edged words: I don’t like Mama.
Tears sprang in my eyes and I stood there, unmoving. I was nursing her brother but trying to be part of her bedtime routine to encourage our former connection, trying to invest more of myself and my time in her. I knew she missed me, and that her words probably came from a place of confusion, but it cut to my heart like nothing ever has before.
I don’t like Mama.
I wanted to grab her and hug her and pour myself into her and remind her of all the good times we’d had together. I wanted to ask her, “We had a date at the museum, remember? I took you to the zoo, remember? We played at the park and went to the library and went for walks and played at Gymboree… remember? Remember?? I carried you for nine months, vomiting the whole way through, singing to you and talking to you and loving you… remember? I went through the excruciating pain of nursing you, with tears, sweat, and blood. Mastitis. Sleeplessness. But I persevered. For you. Remember?? I held you through the night and came to you when you cried and played with you in your fort and made you a beautiful room- remember? Remember, little bear? Don’t you know how much I love you???”
Instead, I walked out of the room and cried. It had been a few weeks coming, and this finally broke me. I don’t cry very easily, but it only takes a few words from my darling to break open the floodgates.
The next night, I debated on whether or not to join in on her bedtime routine again. It was asking for hurt. I knew she was going to ask for it, shining her sweet smile at me and asking, “Together? Do it together?” Every night since her brother was born, she asked that we put her down together, reading her book, praying, and swaying in a group hug as we sang her bedtime song. She would wrap one arm around Ben as he held her, and wrap her other arm around my neck, pulling me close to her and holding me tightly. I could hear her soft breath in my ear, and I sang gently and sweetly in her ear. I loved it. Though I am not usually a huge fan of physical affection, I could cuddle and snuggle with my children all. day. long. So I basked in that unusual display of affection and treasured the moments she wanted me close.
But one night, after pulling me in close, she suddenly pushed me away and said, “Just Papa.” I stood there, stunned, and tried to finish the song with Ben, but she pushed me away again and said, “Bye, Mama.”
I had never felt such cold, solid rejection.
I quietly walked out of the room and tried to tell myself it was all part of her transition and adjustment. She was dealing with a lot, after all, and a toddler only has so many ways to process such emotions, right?
The next night, she did it again.
And again.
And again.
Each night, my husband would come out and give me a comforting pat on the arm, offering a sympathetic look. I tried not to be jealous. We were a team. He was, after all, spending most of her waking hours with her, so this was only natural, right? And if she was going to prefer someone over me, it had better be him.
But after a while, you just don’t want to go in and get pushed away again. She was playing with my heart, and I was tired of getting stepped on. Each night, I would resolve to let Ben put her down himself, but when she looked up at me with shining eyes and asked, “Together? Do it together?” I melted each time and thought, “Maybe tonight, just maybe, she’ll keep me.”
And each time, it would end with her pushing me away, shattering my heart in a way only this 1-year old could do.
I knew I was asking for it, yet I kept going back, hoping she’d change.
She hasn’t, yet. Tonight, I walked out quietly again, wondering how many more times I was going to take this.
Why do I do it? I don’t know. Because she’s my daughter. Because some day, she will realize she’s not upset with me, and that I still do love her as much as before, even if I can’t spend as much time with her.
But mostly, I do it because I want her to know that I love her unconditionally, even if she keeps rejecting me. I want her to know that no matter how many times she pushes me away, I will always be there for her when she asks. Because that’s what Jesus would do. Because that’s what Jesus continues to do for us. No matter how many times we push him away, forget him, ignore him, put others before him, He still chooses to love us unconditionally. He is always there, and he will always be there when we reach for him- no matter how many times we’ve broken his heart.
He delights in nothing more than having us pull him close, enjoying the soft gentle song in his voice and feeling him close. He loves to be there for us, and loves to be loved by us. He loves to love us. And he will keep loving us no matter how many times we push him away.
I’ve never known heartache like the way I’m experiencing now. I never thought you could give so much of yourself to a little person, offer yourself so vulnerably to this immature and capricious creature, only to have your heart thrown around like a ping-pong ball.
I now know a little bit more of our Father’s heart- his devotion and affection for us, his delight in us. I also know a little more of the pain and heartache he chooses to endure for the sake of loving us. I don’t know why he does it, but I know I appreciate it a little bit more today than I did yesterday.
Wendy is not only one of my best friends, but she is one of the most passionate and hard-working educators I know. I’ve known her for nearly two decades, and I can’t believe I didn’t pick her brain on one of the topics closest to her heart until now! Now, you all get to hear her perspective and learn from her experience as a special education teacher. Whether you are a teacher or a parent, there’s a lot we can learn about this population and how to love and serve them better!
We decided to go with a question-and-answer style for this post, where I posed the questions. I know she put a lot of thought and time into sharing this information with you and I believe you will benefit SO MUCH from reading it! Please leave your encouraging comments below and share what you learned! ~JoEllen
Inclusive Education
This post originally appeared on http://www.cfah.org/
Please tell us about why you decided to go into special education
I knew I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was in high school. Back, then, I thought I would be an elementary school classroom teacher. During my senior year of high school, I volunteered at a class geared towards kids with Down syndrome. I fell in love with those kids! It was my first experience interacting with children with disabilities and it helped me to see that in so many ways, people with disabilities are just like the rest of us. They, too, need love, respect, meaningful relationships, and a good education. Then, in my time at Cal, I took some classes on Disability Studies. I started to learn more about the social justice aspects of inclusive education and how, as recently as the early 1970s, people with disabilities were often stuck in institutions and denied enrollment in public schools. Since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), children with disabilities are now educated in our public school system. I felt called to be the best teacher I could be for students with disabilities. I wanted to help find ways to facilitate students with disabilities participating in their general education classes, help them reach their academic and social potential, and be full members of a school community. I have stayed in this field because I feel that it has really allowed me to think about and teach each of my students as individuals.
What is inclusion all about? Why do it?
Inclusion in a very general sense is when children and people with disabilities are full members of our society. In the education context, inclusion means that all students with and without disabilities are full, valued members of the class and larger school community. Students with disabilities participate in the general curriculum and in class/school-wide activities alongside their non-disabled peers. Services and supports are given to students with disabilities in the general education setting so that these students can access the general curriculum and make progress towards their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals.
So in case you missed my Monday post, BABY BOY IS HERE! 🙂 He’s doing well! I’m doing well! The family is doing better than I expected… and overall, it’s been GREAT!
It’s been challenging, of course, but really, we’re doing much better than I had dared to hope for. A huge part of this is all the help we’re getting. Not only are our friends super wonderful and bringing us delicious meals all the time, but our parents have been awesome about coming over to help us out.
Having your first newborn to care for is challenging, especially since you’re figuring out everything for the first time. And, if you’re anything like us, you stress over every detail like crazy. I still remember freaking out a couple years ago when my husband opened up the car seat canopy to show off our sleeping baby girl in her car seat, when she was just a week old. I was sure she was going to catch someone’s flu or cold or something and almost had a meltdown right then and there. I know, ridiculous. I knew it was unreasonable back then, too, but… that’s the kind of stress I lived with the first time around.
This time, we had a group of friends over about a week after he was born and at one point, I literally did not know where my newborn son was. And I was totally okay with it. All this to say, having your first newborn to care for is stressful in its own unique way.
But having a newborn when you’ve also got a toddler running amok and requiring lots of your time and attention? That’s a whole ‘nother ballgame. Not harder, necessarily, but a different kind of challenge. The main drawback so far is that we cannot just “nap whenever the baby naps,” because unless my toddler is also napping, somebody’s gotta be up to watch her. This requires so much time and energy– two things parents of a newborn are generally short on.
Which is why I am SO GRATEFUL for the help we’ve gotten from our parents during these last couple weeks! So much so that I composed a list of ways to be awesome just like them. Partly as a reminder to future me, and also in case you are about to have a newborn and want to think of some ways your parents can help. Or in case you’re about to become a grandparent and want to know how you can be helpful to your grown children! Without further ado, my list (in no particular order) of Ways our parents have been super helpful with our newborn:
HE’S HERE! And he’s a delight! And we are doing well!! =D
And I totally should have gone to bed a couple hours ago, but, well… online shopping and me-time. Poor choices, I know.
And then I realized that I have no posts ready for this week. So I wanted to share with you something I made a couple months ago: a carseat canopy!
I could have gotten it for a reasonable price at www.carseatcanopy.com (they have these free deals every so often where you only pay for shipping, which makes it a good deal :)), but I wanted a unique design for my son’s canopy, and I also wanted to make something for him. I made a ton of things for his older sister before she was born, but hardly did any prep for baby boy’s arrival, so this was one of my small projects to say, “BABY BOY! I AM EXCITED ABOUT YOU, TOO!!”
Hello Readers! It is my pleasure to introduce my friend Rosalie Yu, a good friend and fellow educator! Rosalie worked at a childcare center for multiple years, then taught 4th-6th grade before moving on to her Project Specialist role that has turned into her current Curriculum Support Specialist position, where she spends a lot of time coaching teachers. She absolutely loves organizing closets/styling wardrobes, photography, and cooking, and also tries to host a meal for a friend at least once a week in her home! You can see more of her work here at www.blushingroseinc.com.
I have always appreciated and admired Rosalie’s heart to love, serve, and mentor others. It’s been wonderful to see her grow as a wife and mother, and to see how she is applying her skills as an educator to her parenting. She has an amazing eye for beauty, which shows in her photography, home design, fashion, and most of all her appreciation for people. I’ve learned a lot from her over the years, and I am so glad she can share some of her wisdom with us today!
—————–
Celebrating Every Win
A guest post by Rosalie Yu
I’ve known JoEllen since we met at church camp back in high school, but little did we know how our paths would cross time and time again after that. Years later, we found ourselves in the same teaching program when we were pursuing our teaching credential; with her being one cohort ahead of me she always provided sound advice and encouragement. She made things sound less daunting and always gave practical tips. Clearly, her blog has extended her helpful reach to many others. In fact, one of the most memorable things JoEllen did for me was send me a care package during my first week as a teacher. I have never forgotten that gesture of kindness and how meaningful it was. We both ended up marrying gentlemen from the camp we met years ago and went from teaching to becoming wives and mothers. It’s an honor to have been asked to write a guest piece for her blog. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing an important lesson I’ve learned over the years that has worked for my 20-month-old son.
I started working with kids in middle school. I knew I wanted to become a teacher since I was five and in all my years of working with children, I have learned many important lessons, with one that stands out the most. When asked by others what piece of advice I could give to a new teacher or a new mom, I would say it’s to celebrate every win.
We all encounter students, people we’re coaching, teammates, and children who haven’t mastered their craft. It could really be anything, even as simple as learning to cook scrambled eggs for the first time. There are many techniques to everything we’ve learned to do in life, but the thing that I’ve seen over and over as a determining factor in achieving success is the importance of building self-efficacy. We all know that “practice makes perfect” yet the journey to perfection is just as influential in the end result. Teaching children to root for themselves begins with us rooting for them.
Hello Readers! This week, I have a special guest post for you from Ann-Marie, a dear friend and co-worker at the school where I used to work! This all started when I went back to the school to visit with my daughter one morning, and happily bumped into her in the hallway. After catching up a bit, she began sharing passionately about her observations and some frustrations she’d encountered with students who were consumed with technology. I found it fascinating, and asked her to write more about it to share with you, readers! ~JoEllen
How Has Technology Affected Children at School? A Teacher’s Perspective
A Guest post by Ann-Marie
I have been teaching kindergarten for a little over ten years now. I’d give you a specific number, but you start to lose count after a while. I don’t know if I’d call myself a veteran, but I’ve been around the block for quite some time now. A few months back I was asked to write this guest blog post and here I am. Have I ever done anything like this? No. By any means would I call myself an expert? No. Am I parent? No. But I am a woman who has spent a lifetime around children. I babysat, I nannied infant twins for 2 years in college and am a proud “auntie” of two beautiful young ladies in middle and high school. I only tell you this so you know that I know children.
How technology addiction manifested itself at school
The first time I really noticed anything was about five years ago. For the first time in my teaching career I had a new crop of kids that didn’t seem to have the ability to discuss books. Granted I have traditionally taught in schools with a high percentage of English language learners (aka “English as a Second Language”), but it wasn’t just the non-English speakers having difficulty. I would read a book like Goldilocks and the Three Bears and ask questions like, “How do you think baby bear is feeling when his food is gone…when his chair is broken? How do you think Goldilocks feels when she wakes up?” Questions I had asked over and over again for years, but something was different. Instead of a room full of five year olds eagerly raising their hands or shouting out answers, they mostly just sat there. A handful of children wanted to answer, but for the most part I received blank stares. It was the beginning of the school year. I thought…they could be shy…they could be nervous. I came up with a whole host of reasons why this was happening. As I got to know my class in the next month or two and during parent conferences, a common thread appeared: electronics. At the time it was mostly video games and TV.
I had the pleasure of working with Rachel for several years at the same school. Although she taught fifth grade and I was in fourth, I learned a lot from her (including line tag!) and frequently went to her for teaching ideas and advice. As a teacher, I appreciated how she was always meticulous and thoughtful about everything. She did everything with purpose and integrity. As friends, we bonded over our shared love of iced coffee and I especially loved how she was always so unapologetically true to her personal convictions and beliefs.
She is one of the most intentional parents I know, and is often one of the first people I think of when I find myself in a parenting jam. She’s a few years ahead of me on this parenting gig, and when I face mommy problems (“Someone is bullying my child!” or “My child is so clingy I can’t even cook dinner!”) I trust that she will have a well thought-out response to my dilemma. Given my respect for her as both a teacher and a mother, I am delighted that she agreed to write this post on “How Teaching Has Impacted My Parenting.” I know I picked up some great ideas from it, and I’m sure you will, too! -JoEllen
How Teaching Has Influenced My Parenting
A guest post by Rachel K.
Before I became a mom, I was a teacher. And the desire to teach my children and to set them up for success was there even before they officially made their entrance in to this world. I swear I purchased Hooked on Phonics even before my first son was born. And I remember crying (on more than one occasion) because I became overwhelmed just thinking about all of the things I was responsible for teaching them. However, as the weeks stretched into months and the months into years, I began to settle in to routines and put to use best practices from my own classroom. Yes. You read that right. Just like my life experiences shaped who I was (and how I was) as an educator, my life in the classroom helped to make me in to a better mom.
When I consider what to post on my blog, I am always thinking of you, my readers. Though I post on a variety of topics, I think most of you are here for the education-related ones. So I ask myself several questions:
- What unique perspective can I offer as a (former) teacher?
- If I were a parent in a non-education field, what are things I could benefit from hearing from someone who was immersed in elementary education?
- What are some things I learned as a teacher that I will apply as a parent?
I had always wanted to be a stay at home mom (SAHM), and purposely chose a career before that stage in life that would help me do an even better job of SAHM-ing. Teaching seemed like the natural choice, since I would gain experience working with, shaping, teaching, and caring for children. I know this isn’t an option for everyone, or an appealing idea for everyone, but I am so thankful for the choices I made. Teaching for eight years really gave me insight on how to train children well, gave me experience to read and understand them better, and taught me how to teach better. I know every parent wants the best for their child, and one of the goals of my blog is to try to share my “insider experience” as a teacher with my parent friends so they can benefit from the experience that I’ve gained over these years.
When I sit and think about what kind of information I’d like to share with you, I often find myself thinking of my colleagues and other teacher friends. I wonder what they would want to share with other teachers and parents if they had a platform to speak up and share on. Sometimes when I write, I wonder what Hanna would think of my post, or how Ann-Marie might respond, or if Rachel would have any input. I wonder what they would say if they had a blog, and what kind of topics they would find worth sharing.
…So I asked them!
And you know what? They have things to say, yes they do. Most teachers don’t teach just because they need a job. They teach because they are passionate about children and learning and growth. They teach because they are compassionate people and want to make the world a better place. So I have invited some of my respected teacher friends to share something they are passionate about. The topics vary greatly, from special needs issues to technology to everyday parenting. I find them all fascinating, and think you will, too!
Meet JoEllen
Subscribe via Email
Top Posts & Pages
Categories
