My 12 month old daughter started throwing her food on to the floor when she was done eating. We don’t even have a dog for her to watch eat the food. It made our kitchen floor a mess. I had no idea how to stop her from throwing food on the the floor so I asked McKenna, one of the authors here at The Mom Crowd. She told me that Ace was throwing her food on the floor when she was done, because she had no other form of communication with me.
McKenna said that I needed to do 3 things:
- Teach her to put her food in a special place on her tray when she is done.
- Tell her “No, we don’t throw food on the floor” and pick it up.
- Teach her how to sign “all done.”
I had never done any sign language before only because I wasn’t sure if I really needed to teach it to her and I was being lazy. Hopefully, if I gave her a way to communicate with me, then she wouldn’t throw her food.
After about a week of being diligent and saying “no,” teaching her to put her food in the cup holder of the tray, and signing “all done” my daughter did it! She signs “all done” when I ask “Are you done?” I immediately pull Ace out of her seat when she signs it. An added bonus of signing “all done” is that she looks adorable when she signs it.
She has also learned where to put her food when she doesn’t want it anymore. She very rarely throws food on the floor now. It still happens occasionally but it isn’t every single meal.
I love that I am able to communicate with my baby who isn’t saying many words. I wasn’t a huge believer of signing until just recently. I went back to McKenna and asked her to show me some more signs. We are working on signing bread now. Ace will get it.
McKenna’s wrote a post on signing called, “Ready, Set, Sign” if you are interested in reading more about baby sign language.
Did you have a problem with your little one throwing food on the floor? How did you handle it?
There are only five more days left until Father’s Day! It’s time to show the fathers and grandfathers to our children how much they are loved and appreciated! My favorite gifts for Mother’s Day are the personalized ones. I am a sucker for cards with poems about two tiny handprints! My husband really likes personalized gifts as well, although he also is a sucker for anything “Spurs” related. For Mother’s Day each year, my husband has the children create artwork for me. I have a collection of the sweetest paintings and cards the kids have made with their dad over the past four years. Here are some gift ideas for Dad!
Children’s Books about Dad
- My children always give their dad a children’s book about Dad so he can read it to them at bed-time. He really likes this tradition. Here are some children’s books about Dad: “Froggy’s Day with Dad” by Jonathan London, “Father’s Day” by Anne F. Rockwell, “My Dad!” by Charles Fuge, “The Day the Dog Dressed Like Dad” by Tom Amico. Head over to your local bookstore and you’re bound to find a whole section of children’s books about Dad ready for Father’s Day.
Personalized Photo Book
- You can make a personalized photo book on Shutterfly, Snapfish, and similar photo hosting sites. All you have to do is upload the pictures, arrange them on their templates, type in any special wording you would like and wait for the order to arrive. Don’t forget to hunt for coupon codes before pressing “Submit payment.” My friend did this for her husband and I thought it was a GREAT gift idea!
Day of Pampering
- Start his day off with a special breakfast, give him a massage (or a massage gift certificate!), rent one of those action movies he keeps wanting to see that you keep rolling your eyes at, remind your kids all day that Father’s Day is all about Daddy! You can also have the kids make him a homemade coupon book. The coupons can include washing the car, household chores, foot rubs, 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to watch sports, etc…
Photo Shoot
- Have professional pictures taken of your kids without telling him, or include yourself in the photo shoot. You can also give him a gift certificate for a “Daddy and kids” photo shoot or a whole family photo shoot. You can buy a cute frame for his desk at work or have the kids decorate a frame for him.
Guitar Hero
- What Dad doesn’t like Guitar Hero? Even dads who don’t typically “game” will enjoy this game! You will probably enjoy it as well! It’s my favorite past time these days.
What’s his “thing?”
- As mentioned above, my husband loves the Spurs. When I’m in a rut for finding a good gift for my husband, I can usually drive up to the Spurs gift shop and find at least one gift that is sure to please him. Other gift ideas include purchasing a Sports Illustrated cover of his favorite athlete and framing it for him, hiring a tennis instructor, increasing his hard drive space on his computer, or planning a fishing trip for him. Think about what your husband enjoys doing and you’re sure to have a few great gift idea for him!
What about your ideas? Do you know any other great gift ideas for Dad?
Have you ever been sitting on the floor playing with your little one and felt bored or lonely? I know I have. I consider myself an outgoing person. I have plenty of friends. My husband is even a work at home dad and I still get lonely and bored at home.
I know I can call my friends and set something up. We have to coordinate naps and schedules and let the stars align. Also, on a selfish level I struggle with the thoughts “I always initiate,” and “Why can’t someone call me for once?” Whenever a friend does ask me for a play date I always try to say yes just because I am so happy they asked.
When I first came home I coordinated a mass play date with almost every stay at home mom I knew. It seemed to go okay but no one really seemed interested in continuing the group, so I didn’t try to keep it going.
The internet and blogs keep me going everyday. I am so thankful for having a blog to share my thoughts on parenting and to meet other moms. However, there is still something about seeing a friend or anyone in real life that meets a need on a different level. The grocery clerks that know my daughter by name don’t count.
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This morning I assigned each entry a number based on the order that they entered the contest.
1- Jennifer James
2 - Stephanie
3 – Brittany
4 – Velveteen Mind – Megan
5 – Nancy Brown
6 – Heather
7 – Crunchy Carpets
8 – Amy in Ohio
9 – Cheri @ Blog This Mom!
10 – Carol L. Skolnick, Clear Life Solutions
11 – Stephanie Elie
12 – Tricia
Then I randomly pulled a number from cyberspace using Random.org.
Drum roll please…
and the winner of the BlogHer Full Conference Pass valued at $348 is…
Amy in Ohio!
Thank you to everyone who entered the contest! I bought a pass and it turns out that I won’t be able to go. I am very glad that I am able to pass it on to another woman who will enjoy the conference.
I saw Waitress this week, which stars Keri Russell as Jenna, a talented creator of dozens
of delicious-looking pies. She is unhappily married to a loser named Earl, and in the first scene, she discovers that she is pregnant with their child. This is not good news to Jenna. She doesn’t want to be congratulated for getting pregnant the night Earl got her drunk: “Thanks, but I’m not so happy about it like everybody else might be. I’m having the baby and that’s that.” Her doctor says, “Un-congratulations.” Jenna responds, “Un-thank you.”
Throughout the movie, Jenna continues to make and serve incredible pies with names that reflect how she’s feeling, like ”Strawberry Chocolate Oasis Pie”, “Lonely Chicago Pie”, “Spanish Dancer Pie”, “I Hate My Husband Pie”, “Pregnant Miserable Self-Pitying Loser Pie”, etc. As her belly gets bigger, she writes letters to her unborn child, expressing her feelings with gut-wrenching honesty. Jenna is a sad and flawed mother-to-be, and she doesn’t try to hide it.
She finds comfort in her friends, her doctor, and her pies, but things look pretty bleak until the last part of the film. I’ll refrain from spoiling anything other than to say her time in the hospital is incredibly significant, just as it is for any new mother. I’ll also say that this movie has hope in it. It’s got plenty of humor and sweetness mixed in. Think Juno, but 10 years older, in the south.
Have you seen Waitress? What was your reaction to it? Did it make you want to try a slice of Marshmallow Mermaid pie?
