Thursday 16 July 2009

Edible activities and a Mommy at the end of her rope!

Here are some activities we did today. They both seemed to have a snack theme which L really enjoyed. The first was making a pasta and Cheerio necklace. I'm amazed she actually made this as she ate about 3 Cheerios to every one that she laced!



We also shelled peas. This was fun for both of us. I love fresh peas. I helped L open the pea pods and she took out the peas and put them in the bowl. This was a really good sorting activity.


Now this is not very Montessori but I have to share. L has refused to take a nap for quite a while now. The problem is by about 4 she is really tired (not to mention I need a break!). She turns from a charming little girl into a wild banshee (well it seems like it at the time anyway). I can only take so much before I loose my patience as I'm really tired as well. So for the last two days I did the "sneaky mommy" and hauled her into the car and got onto the motorway as fast as possible. Less than five minutes and she was fast asleep! Yippee I drove to the park put on Classic FM, rolled down windows and read my book for half an hour. That is all I need to be a good mommy again and L was back to her normal self. We played in the park when she woke up. I did this at 1pm by the way so it wouldn't effect her bedtime.
Does anyone else have any suggestions? or am I doomed to be driving up and down the motorway to protect my sanity??

5 comments:

Montessori Moments said...

We went through the same thing. I am happy to report that it was only a stage that she went through and although it seemed to last forever at the time, I look back and realize that it was not that long!
You are doing a wonderful job with your blog! I find it hard to post about all that we do, and half the time I forget to take pictures. The other half the time I am just busy with having two children. Life sure is different with two!

The girl who painted trees said...

I'm going through the same thing right now! I'm trying to at least enforce a "rest" time during which she has to stay on her bed, but it isn't working very well. She's 23 months. I'm hoping it is a phase.

2 little seeds- The Montessori Potential said...

We went through that briefly but I just did the: tell her gently but firmly that it's nap time,lead by the hand back on her bed and say nite nite and leave, next time she got up it was just: tell her it's naptime and put her back on her bed. Everytime after that I didn't make eye contact and just led her back to her bed. It took about a half an hour of this over a few days but she eventually go the message and there were very few tears. yes, it was exhausting!

Jess said...

Mate, I am so with you on this one. Little Bird stopped napping a couple of months ago, but I found if I put her down around 2:30 she would go off for a while. But then after about 2 weeks of this new routine (when she was 23mths) they again stopped completely.... except in the car every now and then if she is mega tired. We are now at 4 weeks with no naps, bar about 3 she has had in the car and one in a pram. She just wont sleep in the her bed and I cant be bothered making her. i also found if I put her down, when she woke up it was HIDEOUS and she just could not shake feeling out of sorts no matter how much I held or rocked her afterwards. So I decided not to worry anymore. That being said tomorrow I plan to take her for a drive cos she is pretty tired at the moment.

As far as mumma sanity, I just set her up with sand and water and tell her I am having a cup of tea and reading and having some quiet time. She then gets busy doing her activities and I have a rest (most of the time!)

I found she has got MUCH better at dealing with tiredness over the last 2 months as she gets used to missing her nap.

good luck hun. Enjoy your car rides music and book as much as you can. No guilt allowed!!! Its important for you.

Best of luck

PS Think Adventures of Bear also having no nap stuff at the moment - but I cant leave a comment on her page due to its set up (Im glad you changed!)

Elise said...

My little girl also went through a phase of not having sleeps. Thankfully, for now, the phase has passed. When my little girl didn't sleep she still had to go into her room. We always read a few stories together and then she chose some books for "quiet time". I was pleasantly surprised that she actually stayed on her bed and was content with her books. For me, the key was not negotiating any other options, although I could try this approach in the future and it may not work again!!

I've also heard of people having a quiet box and it is set up with puzzles, lace cards, or any other quiet sort of activity. It is a resource to be used only during quiet time.

I hope your little girl quickly gets over this phase and is back to napping in the day again soon, or having a rest during the day.

Elise

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