Clearing away the Cobwebs

Two year olds: Can't live with them, can't live without them!
This is my excuse for why the blog hasnt been updated in way too long, but I'm back, happily :)
It's also the excuse for why all the work I have done on the Brilliant Bundles interactive video project has been in hibernation as well.

Update: My daughter, Lucy will be 3 years old in two weeks! (I cant believe how fast that goes.) She's a happy, healthy, and very active little girl with a good head on her shoulders to boot. If you're just joining my little blog, I am a single stay at home work at home mom. Pretty much the work at home part can only start after she goes to bed and so sleep is not really my thing.

This should say "Next American Idol" :D

Update #2: I found out in January that Lucy was accepted into the class I wanted her to be in for preschool in the fall!!! I worked at this school for about 8 years in the infant, toddler and preschool classes so it makes me really happy and excited that she'll be with all the people I've gotten to know, love, and trust over the years, on top of it being an incredibly great school to begin with. 

So this got me thinking. Do I need to do anything to prepare Lucy for preschool? What is it that she should know/be able to do before entering an environment that is completely different than that of our home life and schedule? There was one thing that stuck out to me as being potentially problematic. It wasnt that she can't socialize. Lucy is the definition of social. (I feel like if I dont teach her soon that in some situations, it may not be ok to hug, pet, and try to kiss EVERYONE she meets, we're going to get in some sort of trouble.) It wasnt that she's lacking in language, manners, or an inability to use any motor skills, or that she wasnt potty trained yet (5 months strong now yay!!) 

It was simply that I had never really set  any strict rules on her having to sit in one place while she ate the whole time, and I've never had a problem with her leaving one activity to do another before I thought the activity should have been over. My worry was: "Man...they are going to have their hands full with this one cause the first time they tell her she has to sit down and not graze while she has a snack, she's going to flip and probably throw some sort of fit!"

The thought of that was enough for me to really sit down to try to think of a solution. 

Our day used to go something like this: Shed wake, Id struggle to get out of bed. Finally Id get up, make her breakfast, and turn on the tv while she ate, hoping to get at least 15 more minutes of half awake rest on the couch. Shed graze and then demand that I get up and play with her, which of course I did. After that, really there was no schedule at all. Wed find things to play with around the house, go on outings, or shed run errands with me and Id spend the day feeling like a zombie from being up so late working the night before. By no means was I neglecting her during the day. She definitely had reign of the house and what she wanted to do, we did, but I realized while I was around her and playing with her during the day, I wasn't actually engaged in the day, or really even fully engaged with her because of how independent shes become, leaving me time to get a couple things done in the office while she played in playroom (which is in my office) or get laundry or cleaning done while she ate her lunch. This wasnt working for either of us. She NEEDED a schedule, and as it turned out, so did I.

In the last week and a half of January, I embarked on a mission to come up with one. The first night, I did nothing but research, and gathering of project ideas, pictures, printouts and online videos. I decided I should just pick a theme, and make the entire month center around that theme, adding new projects and information every couple days. An ocean theme stood out to me not only because of how much  you can do with it, but because Lucy has some mad love for anything that swims. This started out as a way for me to help keep her engaged and busy during the day (and me as well) and to try to introduce the idea of a schedule to her while also making it educational. If theres one thing Lucy loves, its learning!! But me, being the over achiever perfectionist that I am, ended up spending at least 50 hours putting together our plan and making all the cutouts, games, getting custom flash cards printed...etc. 

And so here's the best part: Since I have spent so much time putting this together, (and enjoyed every minute of it) it would be a shame to go to waste after we are done with the month and not share it with anyone who is interested! I LOVE sharing anything and everything I can that I think would help, inspire, or  educate and motivate. 

So the new Brilliant Bundles project is complete DIY monthly themed lesson plans (can be for ages as young as 1yr even all the way to kindergarden level) that you can follow along with! 

(I do still plan on the interactive handmade dvd project but that will come together when Lucy is old enough for me to be able to have the work hrs needed for such a huge undertaking) 

We are now almost half way through our February Ocean month and I have documented our projects and progress on my Pinterest Board

This post was an informational about whats going on, and within the next few days I will start on posts for each individual project for the month with pictures, examples, resources, and complete DIY directions! 

Love,

Laura