[blParent] Accessible Monitor or Surveillance System

[Judy Jones]

Ben, Thank you, I know what you are talking about.

With our second daughter, teething was very hard for me, not so much her.  Our joke is that she lost her Off button at birth.  She would wake up around midnight, being fussy with teeth, no matter when put to bed earlier, and would finally settle around five in the morning, during the interim she either wanted to nurse or cuddle, so we took up space during those hours with the TV and rested on a comfy couch in the family room.  

Hubby worked fulltime then and he was getting up around 5:30 to get ready to go to work.  We had a four-year-old at the time, so mom did a lot of survival sleeping back then.

Regarding the searching for, we actually received that tip years before having kids, from training with guide dogs.  😊  The trainer told our class that if you can't seem to find Fido, instead of repeatedly calling out for the dog, go start hunting for him.  Then when you find him, be very matter-of-fact, oh, there you are!

What this does is allows you to keep control of knowing where Fido is.

Fast-forward to toddlerhood of our daughters, we did the same thing.  If they didn't answer when we first called, we took the initiative, would find them.  With either girl, we didn't have issues of them hiding from us or running from us, as we didn't give them the chance to develop that idea.

Fast-forward again to last week, when our second daughter, now age 33, with two toddlers, called me.  She says, "Mom!  I am putting bells on my kids' shoes.)  She lost one of them at a church kids Easter party, and couldn't find her with all the taller bodies around.  But it didn't take her long to find the little one, but really scared her.

Judy

“Embrace each day with His mercies and blessings.”

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent <blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ben Vercellone via BlParent
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2023 6:36 AM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List' <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: ben.vercellone at mailbox.org
Subject: Re: [blParent] Accessible Monitor or Surveillance System

Hi Judy,

My wife and I listen to our daughter very consistently throughout the day.
The bells on the shoes sound great. I also find the idea of not calling out "Where are you?" and things like that to be interesting, although we often do search for our girl rather than call her. The reason I e-mailed this list is to find a solution that will allow us to go out of earshot of anyone in the kitchen, like when one of us needs to use the bathroom. Yes, our 3-year-old daughter gets into minor-league but irritating trouble that quickly. At least a system I'm looking for may help us know exactly when she entered the kitchen. Thus, my wife or I have a mental timestamp which allows for much better short-term time management and strategizing. We also have a 7month-old daughter. I work full-time. My wife and I often need to take a short break. We don't take nearly as many breaks as some people think are healthy. I know life doesn't line up with text book or health book knowledge very often, especially with young kids. A prime example is how difficult it can be to get 7-to-9 hours of sleep. We get far, far less, but we make things work. But a system that I'm researching will at least in theory help our mental health somewhat throughout the day. It's really not much different than how parents use classic or even high-tech baby monitors before babies can move about the home independently.

Sincerely,
Ben

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent <blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Judy Jones via BlParent
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2023 4:42 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Judy Jones <sonshines59 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [blParent] Accessible Monitor or Surveillance System

Hello,

Speaking as another blind parent and now grandma, the best surveillance system is you.

Our second daughter was very busy, and inquisitive. they need their freedom to explore, but you need to be aware. We had bells on our kids shoes as toddlers, which helped, but there is nothing to substitute for parental awareness, and this can be done very unobtrusively.

Avoid the "Wherre are you," and "What are you doing," questions. You go find out.
Judy
sent from my Samsung Galaxy phone

On Mon, Apr 24, 2023, 2:33 PM Ben Vercellone via BlParent < blparent at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
>
> Can anyone suggest a technology that I can use to increase my success 
> rate when it comes to knowing that my lovely 3.5-year-old has 
> mischievously entered the kitchen again? I'm guessing that even 
> something that aims an invisible beam across the entrance to the 
> kitchen and makes a noise when the beam is broken would work. I don't 
> want to go much more advanced than that, to be honest, but I'm up for 
> any suggestions. The gate has officially been useless for several 
> months, and has therefore been removed. Lol. My wife and I rent, and 
> We'd rather not drill or use adhesives at this point, since we'd be 
> charged for any damages. We do use fasteners for the lower cabinets 
> where
> 2 doors swing shut toward each other and the handles are therefore 
> close together when the doors are closed. It's in these cabinets that 
> we put the soaps and other cleaning supplies. But my princess steals 
> things that she can reach whenever she gets a chance, and I dare 
> anyone to try to have a better attention span than me. Haha. I could 
> use some medium-tech help
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ben
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> BlParent mailing list
> BlParent at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> BlParent:
>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/sonshines59%40gm
> ail.com
>
_______________________________________________
BlParent mailing list
BlParent at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
BlParent:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/ben.vercellone%40mailb
ox.org


_______________________________________________
BlParent mailing list
BlParent at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for BlParent:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/sonshines59%40gmail.com