Oops, I misspoke–did I say purple and orange? I meant jelly and clementine! 
3 Likes
No sharks in the shallows of the lagoons!
ETA: one’s risk of drowning is much, much higher than that of being bitten by a shark. Don’t ditch those bright colors.
4 Likes
My oldest son was home with two daughters ages 6 and 3 while DIL was in NYC on business. I texted him to ask how it was going and he answered: “GD3 threw a chair down the stairs so that’s how my evening is going. Now we have a broken chair” LOL. She is very active. A climber. Will run away from an adult with little legs flying.
7 Likes
Congratulations to all with great news. This may become the most popular thread with all the new babies.
7 Likes
Running away from adult with little legs flying - my 3 YO GS2 has learned that when Nana wants him to come to me, he comes.
Many on this thread may not agree with “I’ll pull your ear” but after doing once or twice, the threat of it with a look in the eye is enough. He doesn’t run away anymore. I will say “come here” and if he is thinking about it I say “I will pull both your ears and spank your bottom” - then he comes to me. I give him a hug and give an affirming statement and say “I love you”. As soon as I say “I’ll pull your ear” he covers both his ears with his hands, so he remembers he doesn’t want his ear pulled. He has learned to ‘behave’ in church as well with a reward of a lollipop - that has taken time; his dad has usually had to take him out – he has almost always been very active in the pew (when DD and I were with the 4 kids we would go to the cry room to manage, which included the baby) - neither of us was ready for a workout during Mass. GD2 seems to be better with church behavior (she is now 1 1/2).
Obviously, the parents may not agree with any form of discipline. Many times, if the child is crying for no reason, having a meltdown - DD1/SIL has them go to the stairs to calm themselves down, and return when they are no longer crying. I also do this in their home when parents are not there, but if the child needs a nap, I will go lay down with them for a few minutes and get them relaxed.
1 Like
Just curious- do your daughter and SIL know you threaten to pull ears and spank their son?
4 Likes
I made my comment because the post I was responding to was about swimming in Hawaii. Hawaii has sharks and tropical fish. While it’s still more likely a child will drown, the probabilities aren’t the same. Plus, it’s easy to buy colors that show up under water, but aren’t attractive to sharks. Some neon colors do look like luminescent fish.
Yes. Only had to enact the ‘punishment’ twice. An ear pull is about like a pinch. Not done roughly.
Some people might use progressive discipline - with misbehavior taking away things. With small children, immediacy along with love lets them know good behavior is rewarded and rewarding for them, and guidance is given to assist with good choices with behavior.
One has to see what is going on which might have the child out of sorts.
In the case of a primary parent being away, some kids will test the limits and also may feel free to behave in ways w/o the consequences and restrictions they normally have. Young kids seem to thrive with routines.
I have a degree in psychology and also am very interested in human behavior. DH and I have done well raising our DDs and can give a lot of love and attention to grandkids when we are with them. I am very patient with them one-on-one or two-on-one with learning activities and play activities. But I do expect them to behave and set a standard - do not run away from Nana, that is not a game.
BTW, dogs off their leash and running away – they think it is a game. If you chase after it, it will continue to run. If you turn your back and walk away, the dog will come back to you (usually). A friend had a dog have to go through a lot of dog training, and they were frantically chasing after the dog when it was running away and into traffic even. Of course a child you would not hopefully have one so young be out in a yard running away into traffic. My example of running away was in the house.
1 Like
Well let’s not compare child behavior to dogs.
And it is entirely possible to implement behavior management with the love you mention and NOT with physical punishment.
That is all I’ll say. 
15 Likes
Some people try to ‘reason’ with very young children - who do not have the brain development to have ‘reasoning’ do any good.
It can be entirely possible to implement behavior management and the love mentioned and not with physical punishment. I am just saying what I did - and ‘punishment’ and ‘physical punishment’ put into people’s minds something beyond a not so harsh ear pull.
TY for your comment.
GD1 can be challenging because she likes to push the boundary. This is how D1 deals with her. I have to admit that I was dubious if it would work initially.
When GD1 is being difficult, D1 would say to her that she (d1) is feeling frustrated by the way GD1 is behaving. D1 would sometime remove herself from the room to take some deep breath. D1 would also say to GD1 that she sounds/behaving frustrated and should practice deep breathing.
Now GD1 is 4 it is almost like a code word with them now. Whenever D1 says that GD1’s action is causing frustration then GD1 would stop or listen to D1 and her dad what she shouldn’t be doing.
Very early on they practiced with GD1 about always to stop at a cross street. GD1 is required to hold an adult’s hand before crossing, but she is free to run/scooter/bike on a sidewalk until she gets to a corner. It took a lot of practice and enforcement.
12 Likes
Great that GD1 learned from words and actions how to focus/stop/listen. They used simple thoughts - didn’t go into a long dialog.
GD1 and GS1 never did the running away nonsense like GS2. Sometimes kids get various ideas and one handles the way they can with that individual child. Two instances of gentle/firm (not rough) ear pull pretty much solved it - now the threat of it is enough for GS2 not to run away from Nana when she asks him/tells him to come to her. They also didn’t have the church difficulties like GS2.
Just throwing in that sometimes kids being kids do things that just make for a bad outcome. One of my sister’s classmates had a granddaughter, age 7, that was playing ball with other kids (probably kick ball, that kind of ball) and ended up chasing a ball out into our small-town street (speed limit 25), was hit by a car and was killed. She obviously was focused on the ball and not much traffic, so the kid’s guard was down. The driver probably wasn’t speeding but didn’t see the kid dart out into the street in time. A very tragic accident.
1 Like
Our grandson is due within 2 weeks now. I’m thinking of sending Wolferman’s bagels,;English muffins and preserves when he arrives . For. the experienced grandmothers out there, did yoour kids like food gifts? We already got them gift cards for a restaurant and a deli near them at Christmas.
3 Likes
My daughter gives a week of prepared meals to her friends when they have babies. They are very very appreciative. The recipient chooses when they want them to come.
6 Likes
Good idea. I have looked at Hello Fresh(who now have prepared meals) but I know there are other companies or caterers out there. My sister sent me something from A Spoonful of Comfort a few years ago. I thought the soup was good but not great. Others may enjoy that though.
My younger son sent meats from Butcher Box recently and we are enjoying that gift.
2 Likes
Easy to grab and eat food is great. With her 2nd my daughter hired a postpartum doula who made them meals like soups, casseroles and energy bites that helped with milk production. You could
Also try to see if there is someone local who does meal delivery to new parents
They recently started getting delivery from Thistle. I’ve no clue of cost but my daughter feels the meals are helpful to her as a working parent.
4 Likes
Thanks! Luckily my son can also cook but meal delivery is another great idea. I know my sister will also bd looking for ideas. They will have a night nurse provided by my son’s employer( or whatever this person is called) but haven’t heard that person will be doing any cooking.
2 Likes
That sounds lovely. FWIW I brought bagels and lox to the hospital when we visited which was a big hit. The kids also appreciated a Door Dash gift card. I expect any gift of an easy meal would be much appreciated.
3 Likes
Definitely yes. D1 had twins during covid. I sent them couple of dozen vegetarian tamales plus green and red Chile sauces in jars. You could open individual tamales, pour some sauce over it, sprinkle some cheese and microwave dinner in 3 minutes.
I cannot tell you how often we made this tamales since the adults in the house took turn eating while the other was feeding or walking the newborns.
SIL’s sister sent frozen quiches from Harry & Davids. Those took longer to cook in the oven, but they were also appreciated.
The biggest issue was they had a tiny refrigerator in their rental house so freezer space was at a premium.
6 Likes
One of my favorite memories from when my S was born is my neighbor arriving at the hospital with a big basket of freshly baked, homemade apple muffins about 5 or 6 hours after he was born!
6 Likes