‘Grazie, grazie, grazie, mama.’

Our little toddler babbles a lot, but he doesn’t have many words yet. We are raising him with three languages: Polish, Italian and English and so his speech at the moment is a combination of a small number of words and short phrases in those languages alongside a continuous and imaginative chatter that we politely follow (frequently bewildered). I often wish I was able to understand what he says to us. To join in in his observations and appreciation of the world. To get his perspective.

The word that our son says often is ‘Grazie’ (‘Thank you’ in Italian). I hear him saying it hundreds of times every day. I take him out of his cot, he responds ‘Grazie, mama’. I dress him, he says ‘Grazie, mama’. I give him bread, tomatoes and pears and I hear ‘Grazie, mama’. I put a scarf on his neck, he says: ‘Grazie’, I open the door for him and again, he shouts: ‘Grazie, grazie, grazie, mama.’. I cover him with his duvet in his cot and he quietly whispers: ‘Grazie, grazie, grazie, mama.’

As I switch the light off and I close the door I feel overwhelmed by his appreciation of the smallest of things that I do for him. He never loses an opportunity to acknowledge my efforts, however small, they are recognized.

It’s delightful.

Where to find information on how to play with a toddler?

Bringing up a toddler means many things, but when it comes to good playtime it primarily means embracing movement. Toddlers love to move, they have the energy and need for action. Frequent runs around the park and playground are one way of exhausting their energy (and they are certainly effective) but it’s helpful to bring variety to our routines and have a set of activities for our toddlers to do at home and outside.

I was looking for a book that would give me ideas on how to play with my two-year-old and would help me with activities for a group of small children. My son is our first child and sometimes we haven’t been very successful at choosing games and entertainments that he would have enjoyed. Once I felt really out of depth while running a community event for toddlers in my neighbourhood. It’s not as easy to get them organised and interested as some may think.

When I found 101 Ways to Play With a 2-year-old I was really really happy and astonished at how easy play with toddlers can and should be. The book offers what it promises in its title (101 activities). Each activity is presented on a separate page and is beautifully illustrated with a drawing that make you immediately imagine yourself and the toddler at play. They are also marked with a difficulty level so you may want to start with the very easy ones and try other ones later as you child progresses towards being a three-year-old. But in all honesty, I wish I had this book even before my toddler was two as really some of these games are fabulous to try even before they pass their second birthday.

Another very strong side of the book is that it doesn’t demand any additional toy purchases or having fancy things around. Everything that is used in the book for good playtime you probably have already at home (a piece of string, shoes, crayons) or you will be able to find in your local park (stones, leaves). I read the book when I have a free minute here and there and I look for opportunities to use the ideas as our week unfolds. It’s all really nice and simple. This morning, for example, while waiting for our eggs to boil, we were making different shapes and patterns out of a piece of string, naming them and having fun together. An easy and lovely distraction prior to the meal.

Title: Angevin, D.; Jackle, A., Langowski, M., Lucky, B., and Torrent, B. (2014) 101 Ways to Play with a 2-year-old. New York: Nanook Books.

This is not a sponsored post. I am just sharing experiences and information.

Bringing up toddlers with relevant books

Reading is what I do for a good part of my week. Partially because of my research, but also out of habit. If I don’t read daily, I feel a hunger for words and ideas.

However, I wouldn’t call last year the most nourishing reading-wise. I read far too many guides on how to be a better mum that made me actually feel confused and not up for the job. My child entered the ‘terrible twos’ a few months back. He became more demanding. Playtime needs more effort now. The titles that I read then were not giving me the guidance that I sought, simply because they were not practical enough.

I wanted to know more about how to play with a two-year old, how to organize our time together and I was in need of having a good range of games and entertainments up my sleeve that would be safe and appropriate for his age. I thought I was a fairly imaginative person, but the things that I was coming up with were not always enthusiastically received by my little and headstrong bundle of energy.

I’ve done some searching and have come across a few fabulous titles that both my husband and I are really taken with. We pick a few activities out of these books and it’s great to see how our son responds to them and plays along. The same happens when I try them out in one of the playgroups for small kids that I run every so often.

I know that some of you have children in a similar age group so I thought I should write a short series of posts with book recommendations. I am pretty sure that some of these titles you’ll be happy to have on your shelves too.

The first post in the Book Recommendations Series will appear at the beginning of next week.

Motivating Myself to Cook

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Leftovers Sandwich.”

“It is impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without soup or bread in it” ~ M. F. K. Fisher

I think that my grandmother would have agreed with this quote, would yours too?

Have a lovely weekend Friends!

Leftovers Sandwich

Thankful Tuesday: Places and destinations

“I reread the Odyssey… which I had first read in school and remembered as a story of a homecoming. But it is not a story of a homecoming. How could the Greeks who knew that one never enters the same river twice, believe in homecoming? Odysseus does not return home to stay, but to set off again.” Bernhard Schlink, The Reader

Last week we just ate clementines. Well, we did other things too but it felt as if it was all that we did. When you have the flu, you want to eat citrus fruits all the time, don’t you? It is really lovely to see that no food is dismissed when its eating is preceded by having an opportunity to peel it, and garlic is no exception (at least not in my toddler’s case).

As our noses were running and temperatures went high, we had to say no to a few events and cancel one too. I must admit I have grown so fond of our little communities recently that I have found it quite painful to stay at home.

There are times however that we find it difficult to appreciate our back and forth travelling. Journeys to work, shops, schools and nurseries. But as much as we love home, as much as we find it easier to return than to set off, there is no doubt that we also meet ourselves in other places. These days even if my journeys are only to the nearest park, I am grateful for having them. For having opportunities to set off. To be in motion. In a physical or metaphorical sense.

They say that small children learn an awful lot while discussing with their mothers all the things that happen on the other side of the window. Quickly, they are drawn outside… they find their favourite places… just as adults do.

Today I am grateful for those places and our destinations that pull us out of bed every morning and make us meet ourselves and meet each other. We belong to the world that’s greater than our home. We must set off.