[blparent] Leaving a Toddler for Several Nights

Thu Jan 27 19:18:13 UTC 2011

LOL about the meat.  Apparently, when I was 2, I didn't like meat either. No
one could get me to eat it.  And then one day, I went over to my friend's
house and ate 2 hotdogs.  And to this day my own mom has not gotten over
that.  Not a bit.  She saw it as a parenting failing that I wouldn't eat
meat for her.  She tells this story whenever she can.  It's been 26 years, 
but still... she is not over it.  I used to think it was just a funny story
about when I was little, but I think it's morphed into something more.  She
cannot let that go.  Anyway, dunno why I'm telling you this.  Just to let
you know that it's just something that happens with some toddlers.  It's 
just a thing.  Someday Sarah
will have her own job and house and family and won't remember when she did
and did not eat meat.  She won't end up a vegetarian, or if she does, it'll 
probably be because it's the cool thing to do when she's in college, not 
because of anything you did when she was 2.  But if she does become a 
vegetarian as an adult someday, you may not wanna tell her the meat story. 
Or at least not more than once.  Instead, tell her the stories about her 
conversations with the rubber ducks in the bath tub. Those are far more fun.

<smile>.
Allison

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jo Elizabeth Pinto" <jopinto at pcdesk.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 4:54 PM
Subject: Re: [blparent] Leaving a Toddler for Several Nights

> Well, we're back, and Sarah did great.  Apparently she asked where I was a
> few times, but that was the extent of it.  More than that, she slept in a
> big girl's bed and ate meat, which she never does at home.  Go figure.
>
> Jo Elizabeth
>
> "Some people see things as they are and ask why.  I dream things that
> never were and ask why not."--Robert F. Kennedy
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Tammy" <tcl189 at rogers.com>
> Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 1:22 PM
> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Leaving a Toddler for Several Nights
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Oh I completely understand where you're coming from, I hate leaving my
>> kids for any length of time.  It always seems that they've change so much
>> when I see them again, even if it's only a couple of days since I've seen
>> them.
>>
>> Tammy
>>
>>
>> From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto
>> Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 3:21 PM
>> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Leaving a Toddler for Several Nights
>>
>>
>> Well, time is short, but I think I could do something simple with the
>> five
>> things for five days idea.  Maybe five of the little suckers she likes,
>> one
>> for each day, and when she eats the last one, we'll be back that day.  I
>> asked her what she wants to take along, and will be sending the big bear
>> she
>> always sleeps with.  She's actually excited to the max because she's been
>> to
>> the place where she's going before, and even spent the night there once.
>> So, like people have said, this may be more my issue than hers.  She's
>> fairly adaptable and outgoing--sometimes I wish I could say the same for
>> myself.
>>
>> Jo Elizabeth
>>
>> "Some people see things as they are and ask why.  I dream things that
>> never
>> were and ask why not."--Robert F. Kennedy
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "Melissa Ann Riccobono" <melissa at riccobono.us>
>> Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 10:52 AM
>> To: "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Leaving a Toddler for Several Nights
>>
>>> This is great advice.  Reading stories in your own voice and recording
>>> them
>>> is a great idea.  Maybe if she likes to look at pictures you could give
>>> her
>>> a small album with pictures of you and her dad, and maybe even all of
>>> you
>>> together so she has something to look at if she gets sad.  You could
>>> talk
>>> to
>>> your friends and see if they would be willing to have her draw a special
>>> picture for you of what she has done each day you're gone, or do some
>>> other
>>> type of small project to give to you when you come back.  Also, as much
>>> as
>>> possible, having her routines will be comforting.  If there's a special
>>> object she sleeps with at night, or a special book, or number of books
>>> you
>>> read, or favorite music she listens to either during the day or at
>>> night,
>>> make sure the friends caring for her know about these things.  Perhaps
>>> you
>>> could buy her something special before the trip.  When I had Oriana I
>>> bought
>>> Austin a Pillow Pet he had been wanting for a long time.  This is a
>>> different situation, of course, but I told him the Pillow Pet was from
>>> his
>>> new brother or sister and was his Big Brother present.  I actually gave
>>> it
>>> to him a couple of weeks before Oriana was born, and he slept with it
>>> every
>>> night.  We really talked it up, and we told him he could bring the
>>> Pillow
>>> Pet to our friends' house when I went to the hospital to have the baby.
>>> I
>>> don't know if it was the Pillow Pet, or the preparation we did ahead of
>>> time, or a combination of the two, but he had no problem going to our
>>> friends' house and staying there for the nights I was in the hospital.
>>> You
>>> may want to try something similar--I don't know.
>>> Preparation is also key.  I certainly wouldn't over do it, but
>>> telling her that you and Daddy have to go on a trip, but that people
>>> will
>>> be
>>> caring for her, and that you will call her and be thinking about her
>>> would
>>> help her at least to understand a bit about what is going to happen.
>>> You
>>> will probably be more upset than she is in the long run, but be prepared
>>> for
>>> tears when you leave and possibly some tearful phone conversations--that
>>> is
>>> if she'll talk to you at all on the phone.
>>> One more thing I thought of...  It sounds as if she's all ready
>>> familiar with the people who will be caring for her, but perhaps having
>>> them
>>> over ahead of time to play with her a bit so she is even more used to
>>> them
>>> might help.  Austin went to Wisconsin this summer with my sister for a
>>> week.
>>> I was really worried about having him away from me for that long,
>>> especially
>>> since he doesn't see my sister very much.  She came a couple of days
>>> ahead
>>> of time however, and when it came time for them to leave for the airport
>>> together it was me who was crying after they left...  He was all ready
>>> to
>>> go.  Believe me, I know this type of thing is hard, but I am sure she
>>> will
>>> be fine, and you will make it through as well!  As always, she'll take
>>> her
>>> cues from you, so the more upbeat you can be about it, while also
>>> acknowledging the fact that she might feel sad and that you will feel
>>> sad
>>> and miss her--but that it's going to be all right--the better off she'll
>>> be.
>>>
>>> Hope some of this helps!
>>> Melissa
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>> On
>>> Behalf Of Brandy W
>>> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 6:32 PM
>>> To: 'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'
>>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Leaving a Toddler for Several Nights
>>>
>>> One thing that tends to help is to read a book on CD or something that
>>> she
>>> can hear when ever she misses other you. Otherwise bring some things she
>>> loves at home, and know you will be more upset than her. Hope it works
>>> out
>>> fine.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some
>>> and
>>> draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day
>>> some."--Robert
>>> Fulghum
>>> Brandy Wojcik  Discovery Toys Educational Consultant and Team leader
>>> (512) 689-5045
>>> www.playtoachieve.com
>>> Follow me on Face Book by searching Discovery Toys- Play to Achieve
>>>
>>> Do you want to: *earn extra income?
>>> *get toys for free?
>>> *get sale updates on our award winning products that have never been
>>> recalled?
>>> Just ask!
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>> On
>>> Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto
>>> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 4:02 PM
>>> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
>>> Subject: [blparent] Leaving a Toddler for Several Nights
>>>
>>> Hi.  Circumstances have come up that have given me no choice but to
>>> leave
>>> Sarah with a family friend for about five days and five nights while her
>>> dad
>>> and I go out of town.  The sitters are completely trustworthy, so I'm
>>> not
>>> worried about that at all, but I've never left her for nearly that long.
>>> Two nights has been the max.  I'm wondering if there's anything I can do
>>> to
>>> make this easier on Sarah.  Have any of you had to do this, and what
>>> helped?
>>> Or maybe it's only me who's worrying too much, and she'll be unphased by
>>> the
>>> whole thing.  Thanks for anything you all can offer, this list really is
>>> a
>>> helpful resource.
>>>
>>> Jo Elizabeth
>>>
>>> "Some people see things as they are and ask why.  I dream things that
>>> never
>>> were and ask why not."--Robert F. Kennedy
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>>
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