Wednesday, October 18, 2017

New Childcare Provider Review Site!

Our friends at myChildCareCrush.com have created a wonderful option for parents wanting to know what other parents are saying about their child care provider!


This site is brand-new, and looking for parents like you to add your favorite (or not-so favorite) childcare provider in Ohio or Kentucky and to the list, and leave a review based off of your experience for already listed providers.

Listing and Leaving a Review is easy!
  1.  Visit mychildcarecrush.com 
  1.  Search for your provider name by name, address, or county - add a Review if they are listed
  1. If you don't see your provider listed, click "Add A Provider" on the top right of the Homepage and List for free! Only add the provider's/Center's name and address. 

You will be prompted to sign in/sign up so that you can be notified when your provider has been published.  Once your provider is published, you can then add your review.


   This is a site by parents, for parents!  The more providers that are added, the more of resource it will be for parents looking for new providers!  


If you review customer reviews of hotels before you stay,  why are you just shoving your kids into a stranger's place before getting reviews??




Why I like this site:

1. Signing up and listing a provider is easy- you just need their name/center name and address.
2. Providers will have the chance to respond to your concerns and make it right.
3. You can read articles and discuss child-related topics with other parents in the Tea Time Discussions forums.

Sign up today!  myChildCareCrush.com
 

Friday, October 6, 2017

I disapprove of childcare at church

I almost lost my cool when a man sitting 1 pew behind TOUCHED me to say that childcare was available - just because my 9 month old was babbling a little during service.

Courtesy of Gennadij


CHILDCARE. More and more churches are including them in their ministry - the larger the church, the more likely they are to exist these days.  While I agree that it might be good for infants to be temporarily taken out from the sanctuary when they become overly distracting, I don't think taking them to a childcare room for the whole service is helpful in the long run. 


1.  If your child never sits with grown ups, how will they ever learn to behave as one?
           They attend school most of the week with tons of peer pressure & very few adult role models. We then like to allow kids as old as preteens and such to go off to "Children's" or "Youth Church" while we fellowship during the weekend (This is not to be confused with a breakout session for kids during Sunday School, where everyone afterwards congregates together for the main Word).  When are they actually seeing how you, their parent is behaving?  When are you taking the time to show them how to be an adult? Do you really think they are listening when you "instruct" them?  No, they are more interested in watching behaviors- as most humans learn by experience or my mimicking. Stay-at-home-moms may see this clearly when their perfectly behaved child goes off to school for the first year, and comes back like a totally different child; complete with new unattractive learned behaviors.  If all they are around are other children, they will never learn to behave as an adult.  You need that balance - time spent with children and with adults, so they can learn to reason when to use certain behaviors, and when its inappropriate.  Church is a great way to begin that. Take a quiet toy/tablet for your child if they are super young and need to have their attention caught.  Just show them the importance of being quiet in certain settings, and that you love them enough to keep them by your side as much as possible; which brings me to the next point.


Courtesy Of Honey Onshawee

2. It's YOUR responsibility to rear this child.  Having them in daycare during the week while you work is an evil most working-class parents simply cannot avoid.  But having them there while you praise God is totally avoidable! People have asked me how my son is so behaved during the adult church services and at the movies (See my post on how my son has been movie-going without disturbing others since he was a couple months old), and I answer that it's learned behavior.  According to Galations 5:22, two of the fruits of the spirit is longsuffering and faith. I utilized the patience it needed to guide his behavior through the Screeching phase. It wasn't easy, and even my husband had doubt, but my faith saw us through.   We as parents talk about how smart our babies are, but then stifle their abilities by underestimating them.  My son as an infant may not have understood the words I was using , but he fully understood the tone.  I regularly spoke to him with joy and gentleness when he displayed good behavior, and used a more stern tone when his behavior went south.  He sensed something was different with me - because instead of always handing him off to someone else, HE'D BEEN AROUND ME LONG ENOUGH TO DISCERN MY MOODS. 
        Don't get me wrong, I'd never yell at an infant.. so I kept the same volume, but only changed the seriousness of my tone.  You know your child notices, because they stop temporarily to look at you after your tone changes.  They scan your face to interpret what's going on. Most try the disruptive behavior again shortly after... That's when you reinforce your serious tone again (and facial expression) to show them you're disappointed.  When your child is with you long enough to desire love, respect, and affection from you, you'd be surprised what they do to earn it.  Even at an infant age.    


Don't worry about those families that may judge you for starting the process of integration earlier than they'd do it. Those are the ones, like the man touching me at my church, that are ADULTS TALKING while the pastor is giving the message - which can be even more distracting.  Most speakers know that babies may coo or babble; and the good ones don't allow it to disturb their train of thought.  You'll find that you can share more "family" time with your child, if you trust in God to give you the perseverance, love, and faith needed to begin the journey of teaching your child about God, and the patience that it may require to trust in Him.

READ ANOTHER RELATED ARTICLE HERE

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Will your toddler/preschooler love Disney World's Pandora:World of Avatar?

We loved the movie.  My preschooler was not even born when the movie was released, but my husband had the bluray 3-D disc and my son began his love for Avatar with the amazing colored visuals that seemed to pop right into your family room.  As he aged into a toddler, he began to recognize characters and become more engaged in the plot as well.  Even now, it is one of the movies that can hold his attention in its entirety.  So it was only natural that when we heard of a world of Avatar coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom, we'd make haste to see it for ourselves. Disney World advertised that we'd "immerse" ourselves in this world, and we sure were ready to do just that.  But here's why we were underwhelmed after visiting:


1.  The lack of cutting edge biochemical luminescence that Disney alluded to.
     In the months leading up to the opening, there were many Disney sound bites and video snippets of professional interviews with those integral with the creation of Pandora here on earth - saying how advanced this land would be to the Animal Kingdom.  They spoke about bio-luminescence and how they were going to integrate that with their land.  I almost peed in my pants with excitement. I knew it would be possible because I'd read articles about glow-in-the-dark trees.  I also didn't think it was far-fetched for Disney as they had the wherewith all to bring that dream to fruition.  
But we noticed that although you can interact with the plants by placing your hands in certain areas on the plants, they were not bio reactions, but more so technological reactions. There was a lot of black light usage at night plants that looked more like lamps than actual plants.  That was disappointing. My son seemed fooled enough though, so I was okay with it. 

2. No Animals/No Na'Vi 
     What made the movie was due in part to the interesting animals the Na'Vi people interacted with, and how they were part of the balance of the plant.  I searched everywhere for animatronic dinosaur-like creatures that we were introduced to on the movie.  NOT A ONE animal or Na'Vi person.   The whole planet at Animal Kingdom is just plants and water.  The only animals/indigenous people you see from the movie are in the two attractions - the rest of the planet was just there to serve as a queue for the attractions.

3. What to do?
     There are only two ride attractions in this 'planet' so naturally there were long lines of people waiting.  The only issue is that with a preschooler/toddler, there is only one ride we could enjoy, due to height restrictions for the Flight of Passage. So of course all we could do was River Journey - although the aesthetics were great - and we loved the animatronic Shaman and the overall environment - we were hoping for some kind of story line or way for us to interact.  In the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney's Magic Kingdom, we feel as though we are now pirates, following the crew along on their quests, and even immersed within one of their battle scenes.  There was action and suspense on the Avatar movie as well, and this could have played out on the River Journey ride.


Basically Pandora is great to experience at least once, but I can't see it being a land that brings a lot of return guests within a few years.  You just keep feeling that something is missing as you roam through the area, and it gives off a rushed appearance; like they ran out of time developing and implementing, so they made a lot of cuts.  There is a wide expectation/rumor that the land will be expanded around the time that the newest Avatar movie is released, so we are hoping Disney takes its time and provides us with the space to be truly "fully immersed".

Headed to Disney World soon or thinking of taking a trip? READ more about taking a toddler.