Art therapy

What to do when your son tells you he does not like you? Indulge in some art therapy I guess. Just over 2 hours ago, I put T in a timeout for being naughty and unruly. Moments later he uttered those painful words every parents dread,' I don't like you Daddy'! I was so shocked and disappointed, I marched over to him and told him to take it back, which he did. Still reeling and slightly upset after he had gone to bed, I grabbed some pieces of paper  to channel the anger and disappointment I was feeling. I was shocked by what resulted. I have named the pictures 'mean cross daddy' and 'smiley happy daddy'. They are on the wall now and the next time T is being disobedient I can point at them and tell him the choice of which daddy he likes or dislikes, and the daddy he has to deal, lies fully with him.

He made himself a ring

T and I woke up this morning and soon as we walked into the living room, he spotted a piece of his DIY tool kit and some left over foami piece on the floor. Almost immediately he sat down and got busy with them while I went to the kitchen and started making breakfast. Moments later, I got a tap on my thigh. Look I made myself a ring, he said, showing off his creation. I love it!

Awesome new arts and craft creations

Went from this...

To this, thanks to the help of some few YouTube tutorials

Have fun playing with them T x

Happy Valentine's day

T made cards at playgroup today and I was so glad when the teacher asked who the cards are for, he mentioned us his parents, not his best pals, L and B. I am so going to treasure this and every other cards he makes and dedicates to me while I can because heaven knows, he'll soon grow up and this won't be the case every time anymore. Sending abundant love to you all today and always x

Bunny hat

I made T an Easter bunny hat yesterday at our friends' house. I'm not being partial to myself or anything, but I do think the finished product looks great. OK, OK the bunny is missing whiskers and my other half did say it looks like a pig but it's still cute nonetheless.

Happy St Patrick's Day

St Patrick's day card

T made a St Patrick's day card at his play-group today for the celebrations taking place over this coming weekend and he couldn't help but show it to everyone that walked past us today on the way home. Perhaps I might make him some crushed apple cider to celebrate on Sunday... if he carries on being sweet till then that is.

Scrapbook

It has been such a busy day for me because I have spent the most of it cutting and clipping pictures to finish T's scrapbook which one of his very lovely nieces started and gave him for Christmas. It is so much hard work but I guess it will all be worth it when it's finished.  Okay no more time to blog today, there is more work to be done.

Papa made him a hat

I think he likes it!

Colour me Badd...

...Because crayons and colouring is fun and great for his motor skills!

He made a plane!

Sitting down eating breakfast this morning and what does T do? He bites his bread into a shape, says 'airplane', and gives a brief demonstration

It's okay to be different

Had some interesting stimulating play with T earlier today using Play-Doh as visual aid, and the book 'It's okay to be different', by Todd Parr as aural aid. Educational play... I need to do it more often!

His first art exhibition

Family portrait

Spectrum

Happy Thanksgiving

Elmo goes to Trinidad

Happy Diwali

Autumn leaves

Using your imagination sure rocks

I remember when I was young and had no toys and I used to use my imagination to make up toys or add new dimensions to the toys I made to keep myself entertained. So these days I find it rather amazing that we spend a fortune filling our houses with expensive toy after toy for our kids stifling their imaginative abilities in the process? I am guilty of it. I used to fill T’s bath with lots of soft ducks and all the likes only to see him flick them out one by one, grab the empty shampoo bottle and start playing with it while giggling away. It made me think of all the other ways he could be expressing himself imaginatively had I not crammed two crates full of noisy electronic battery consuming toys that he hardly ever plays with under the chairs in the living room.

Now I am certainly not Martha Stewart but these days instead of buying expensive toy after toy, donating my money to China and ToysRUs, I often rely on my childhood experience to cook up cheap and cheerful ideas. For instance T was really into his shaker at his playgroup today so afterwards I took him to the shop and we brought a pack of 6 giant balloons for a less than a pound. When we got home I dropped a few grains of rice and lentils into the balloon for the extra sound effect, tied it and... voila we had a shaker for the fraction of the price we would have paid for one in the shop. He is running around playing excitedly with it now <you can hear him screaming with delight in the video below>. The added bonus is this shaker not only makes acoustic noise, he can find lots of imaginative was to play with it- bounce, throw, kick, box, pound it against furniture- without fear of injury or damage unlike a real sturdy shaker.

Get creative and make it fun

T was instantly repulsed the first time he came in contact with Play-Doh. Nothing would ever make him want to play with or touch it whenever he saw it. As fate would have it, he got Play-Doh in his Christmas stocking and I have been trying to get him to play with it ever since without much luck.

A few days ago I was on Youtube and stumbled on a Play-Doh video where a lady was using it to make a Christmas chain. Instantly I had a Eureka moment. I grabbed T's tubs of Play-Doh and made some colourful arm bands and neck-chains. He didn't need too much prompting to try them on and pose for a picture as soon as he saw them. Struggling with getting your toddler to try something? Get creative and make it fun!