Mise en place for turkey cheese tortilla wraps

Week 177 motherhood with 3 year old and 13.5 month old:

February 1 to 7, 2024:

• February 1:  The 3 year old is singing in English.  DH says she already sings in English but this time I heard her using more English words than usual!!  It begins.  Lifelong #operationcantonese to maintain her mother tongue!
• This has been happening for a while now but I don’t think I blogged about it yet.  When we’re in the bed and the 1 year old isn’t sleeping yet, she’ll sometimes go to the end of the bed where the logo of the bed rail is and she’ll point to it and essentially ask me to read it.  I read it to her, “Regalo” and spell it out for her “R-E-G-A-L-O” and say there’s a “sum sum” there (a heart) and read out the tagline at the bottom too, “For the most important people in the world”.  She gets a kick out of it and keeps pointing to it for me to repeat and read out there for her haha.  This does this very often
• Up to this point, this was the extent of my reading to her because she didn’t have much patience for books and would flip the board book page quickly and not sit still for reading.  However, recently in the past month or so, she’s taken more interest in listening to books that I read to her and she will point out books on the bookshelf as well.  Yay!  Progress in reading.
• We attended the “Mindful Me” EarlyON program this past week.  It was a longer drive to the Dufferin and Steeles area and to a new location of EarlyON that I’ve never been to.  I love visiting new places!  I love that we got there and I found out that it’s located in the school with a separate entrance (and you take off your shoes before you enter so everything is very clean inside).  Unfortunately, there was only one other family (one mom and her son) who were in attendance so it was quite quiet there.  On the other hand, we basically got the whole place to ourselves.  That was nice.
• The “mindfulness” activities included dot markers for stamping and washable markers on a lit-up surface for drawing with mirrors for self-reflection.  There was also a great big sand box with beautifully clean white sand!  The 3 year old gravitated towards this right away and played with the sand.  I did too for a while.  It was fun to see the white sand fall through from the container.
• She used the dot markers to stamp on the yellow construction paper.  She had a blue marker that turned into green dots on the page.  I showed her this and said that blue and yellow makes green.  Same thing for the pink marker which turned an orangey colour on the page.  As she was using the markers and making lots of dots on the page, the other boy (2.5 years old) came and grabbed the marker out of her hand abruptly.  Ugh.  I wanted to take it back from his hands but he ran away already.  I exclaimed that he shouldn’t have done that.  His mom came over (she was scrolling on her phone on the other side of the room and not looking after her son…) and I told her that he took it out of her hands.  She didn’t do anything about it or said anything.  Ugh.
• After this happened, the 3 year old stood up and said she was done drawing.  So unfortunate that this happened because she could have continued making more dots with the markers had she not have her marker stolen out of her hand.  I put her finished product near the clothes area and told her that the boy shouldn’t have stolen her marker and that the mom should have taught the son too but she didn’t say anything.  Ugh.
• The 3 year old also drew with the washable markers on the lit-up surface.  She enjoyed drawing her “square-ish” sculptures.  I’m so glad that she didn’t need convincing to start drawing.
• The 1 year old also came over to play with the markers and draw too.
• During our EarlyON visits, grandma is the one accompanying the 1 year old while I’m with the 3 year old.  The older one doesn’t want me to be with her sister, so it is always this arrangement unfortunately.  It means I miss out on seeing the 1 year old play and seeing how she engages with toys and her surroundings (and thus take less photos of her)… but also, once the 3 year old goes to kindergarten this September, I’ll be able to spend more one-on-one time with the 1 year old then.
• I was talking with the facilitator and she actually told me that their Journey to Kindergarten classes for the Thornhill location will begin in March/April!  I was pleasantly surprised as when I asked the Richmond Hill staff about theirs, they said they were going to start in the summertime.  I really hope that the 3 year old gets to attend them.  They will be for 6 weeks consecutively.
• At the end of the 2 hours, the facilitator asked us if we wanted to sing some songs or keep playing (since there were so few of us).  I asked the 3 year old and she said she wanted to sing songs.  Thus, we had the small circle time of us 3 kids and 4 adults.  She wouldn’t say her name.  We did the good afternoon train song, the more we get together, wheels on the bus (her request), and the facilitator taught us two breathing techniques for kids:  One was smelling through the nose and then breathing out like you’re blowing a candle.  Easy to understand for kids, but the 3 year old said she didn’t know how to do it still.  The other technique was to go through the fingers and breathe in when going down one finger and breathe out when going down the other finger.
• I really enjoyed this EarlyON location.  It was so big and beautifully laid out and had a lot of nice toys.  Unfortunately, if it turns out to be this empty for the Mindful Me class again next week, it feels awkward and also the kids miss out on socializing and seeing other kids play (which is really important too).  We shall see…
• DH brought the kids over to his parents for dinner and it was a difficult time because the 3 year old was afraid of the bruising on her grandmother’s face.  It scared her.  She wouldn’t leave DH’s lap.  The 1 year old was also crying and didn’t want to sit by herself either… kudos to DH for making it through the evening.
• The next evening, DH brought the kids over to his siblings’ to play.  The 3 year old would not get out of the car when they got there and they sat for a long time before she finally caved.  DH was asking her why she didn’t want to go inside and she kept saying she didn’t want to.  By the time they left though, she was all warmed up and he said she was singing songs in English.
• The past couple of nights, the 3 year old has been sleeping in grandma’s bed.  She’s been quite attached to grandma recently too.
• We attended Zumbini on Friday morning and the 3 year old would just not stand up to dance by herself.  She wanted me to hold her.  I could not and would not.  Thus, we had to sit down for some of the dances.  I don’t know why she’s so clingy when we had been there before.  The 1 year old wanted to nurse and came over to me but the 3 year old pushed her away which made the baby cry.  I took them both out of the room and tried to nurse the baby but she didn’t want it anymore then.  The 3 year old was super uncooperative.
• The mom sitting next to me at one point seemed apologetic that her 2.5 year old daughter was so “mono”-faced (she had the same name as the 3 year old).  I said it was okay.  When we left to go outside of the room, she would realize that her daughter observing everything is not a problem at all — I had bigger “behavioural” issues with my child.
• It’s too bad that the 3 year old didn’t want to stand by herself.  I really enjoy the active part of Zumbini too; I get a workout in as well!
• Same thing when we’re at home and they’re fighting over the same toy, I’ll just take the toy away completely.  If the 3 year old doesn’t want to take turns, then no one gets to play with it at all.
• I found a pair of baby shoes for $5 on marketplace and we got that for the 1 year old.  She tried walking with them on at home and she was so confused and stayed in place.  It was like she didn’t know how to walk with the shoes on.  That is such a normal response.  Humans aren’t actually meant to be wearing shoes on our feet.  It’s better that we walk barefoot.  She did eventually start walking with them on and was hesitant about it.  We only tried them on first.  Next, we washed them.  She’ll be wearing these in public places when we go to the mall next time.  At home, she’ll still be walking in barefeet.
• I’ve been starving the past couple of nights despite eating mostly over my calories.
• February 7:  Ah, found out why.  It’s because my second postpartum period arrived.  I’m pleasantly surprised because my cycle has been fairly regular this time around rather quickly after giving birth.  Last time, it wasn’t this “regular”.
• We did the Creative Chefs class at the new location in Concord.  And despite it being a pre-registered class (meaning they are usually very good), it was just mediocre.  I think the staff were very nonchalant and didn’t seem very passionate or excited about the program.  It’s too bad.  The kids made a marble cheese, turkey, lettuce, and hummus whole wheat tortilla wrap.  It was only me and the 3 year old this time (the 1 year old stayed home).  It was a nice little drive to and from the elementary school.  It was peaceful.  We arrived there early and the child read some books before we had a small (and way too fast) circle time before the “cooking” began.  The grabby “naughty” boy from the other class was present during this one too.  (He ended up kicking and screaming and didn’t want to go home.  The mom didn’t do anything to help him be consoled… well, she did pull out her phone with Cocomelon on it and right then and there I understood why her son was so “behavioural”.)  The kids were giving a cutting board with a wooden knife to cut the lettuce with.  There was no real guidance on what they had to do.  Just spread the hummus, put the ingredients, and then fold up the wrap to eat.  The ingredients were of quality, but there could have been a bit more done to educate and encourage the kids to be independent.
  • My girl is used to all these creative chef classes now and actually did 90% of the cooking this time herself.  The only part she isn’t so used to yet is using tongs to pick up the ingredients.  Hopefully we’ll get to play with some toys that have tongs again in another program so she can feel more comfortable with using those.
  • After making her wrap, she rolled it up and started eating right away.  She was the only one of the 8 or so kids who ate really quietly and diligently.  A few bites in, the other kids said they were full and wanted it packed home.
  • I was talking to another parent about this and she was complaining that her 2.9 year old son was a picky eater.  I asked her what he eats.  She said yogurt and oatmeal.  I was like, “Oh!  Well, that’s about the best pickiest items that you could have your child eating.  Much better than if he ate only cookies or candy”.  She found him odd for not liking candy or ice cream or chocolate… wow.  So weird.  If my kid was picky and only ate yogurt and oatmeal, I would be fine with it as a growing stage.  Those are two very nutritious options!  It’s interesting how hard a parent is on themselves sometimes.  Every parent needs some grace.
• After the cooking and eating, the 3 year old went to exploring the classroom and this new environment.  She read a few more books and then played with the Melissa & Doug cleaning set.  She found a piece of garbage on the floor and actually used the brush and sweeper to throw it into the trash.  Same thing with another small piece of tissue that she found on the table too.  Good job, little one.
• There weren’t too many other things that she was interested in here.  We have three more classes at this location for this month and I’m hoping that it will be more lively and engaging next time.  There seems to be a cap on the number of bodies in the small room too so I didn’t even try asking the facilitators if I could bring my mom and youngest child here next time too.
• We attended the “Twinkle Toes” program, the first class of four, for the first time.  It was a structured class where we did singing and dancing.  It was really good.  I liked how one of the facilitators was really into the singing and dancing.  However, I found that once the other kids and parents were tired and weren’t participating anymore, they ended the class right then and there despite me and my child still obviously active and participating.  Are we not “here”?
  • I also found it unnerving that when I was telling the facilitator about my child being clingy recently at a Zumbini class that she cut me off in the middle of my share and talked to another parent.  I was turned off right away and felt really sad and invisible.  She then commented on my child’s toe socks and then talked to the other parent about how her kids are grown now and they don’t keep up with these new trends anymore.  Toe socks are not a “trend”.  They’re actually the best thing for your feet because they keep your toes separated and not scrunched up together.  …   I mean it didn’t help that I was already on my period and moody, but I found her comments and lack of sincerity soul-crushing and upsetting.  All I wanted to do was share and she didn’t even listen to the rest of what I had to say.  Why would I share anything more if I was being cut off in the middle of my own sentence?  So rude.
• February 7:  The 3 year old had the special Creative Chefs class today where they made dumplings from scratch!  The dumplings are in anticipation of Spring Festival/Lunar New Year coming up this Saturday.  The child cut up the cabbage herself, rolled the dough herself, scooped the dumpling filling herself, and tried to mold the dumpling herself too.  Really, really proud of her!  She sat by herself so nicely and waited oh, so patiently too.  It was a long wait time today (just like that time when we did the holiday tarts and punch) as each table of kids went up to the table to collect their items and they had to wait for their dumplings to be cooked one set at a time by the facilitators too.  Surprisingly, she said she was full and only tried a small bite of her dumpling after it was done.  During dinner at home that night though, she tried more of it and said she liked it.  Such a good job.  The 1 year old stayed at home to sleep while grandma had her tai chi class and DH worked from home.  It was really nice that the EarlyON facilitator remembered us from the Zumbini class and remembered her sister’s name too!  She gave her a shoutout during the “chef train” song as well.  That was really nice and special.
• I liked that she sat independently by herself today too.  She didn’t need to sit in my lap.  More attendance of these programs show her how other kids behave, so she behaves better too.
• The 3 year old is getting taller.  There’s evidence of this as she tries to crawl through the learning tower to get in from the back, but now it takes her a longer period of time because her body is so long that she can’t just slide in easily anymore.  It takes her to crouch to fit through the slats.
• The 1 year old will go up the learning tower easily these days if she wants to.
• We attended a math workshop tonight from the TDSB board on Zoom.  There were about 650 attendees!  (These included parents and/or students.)  This workshop was meant for those with kids from kindergarten to grade 8.  Having attended teacher’s college, I was familiar with “progress math” and what it looks like nowadays for the kids in the Ontario curriculum where they have to “show their work” and it’s not just about getting the correct answer anymore.  They really have to understand the math concepts and how to add, substract, multiply, et cetera.  A lot of the (mostly South Asian) parents were complaining about how the alternate ways to get the answer were “too long” and “tedious”.  It was quite interesting.  The facilitators sure had to be really patient and try to explain to these parents why there’s merit in showing kids how to get to the answer instead of just rote work.  It will be interesting when the 3 year old enters school this year.  We will see what the kindergarten curriculum will be like then.
• Speaking of kinder, I was alerted by the Markham EarlyON staff today that they are also starting their journey kindergarten class in March!!  Wow!  I can’t believe it.  Last year, they started the program in May.  How come so early this year?  Is my 3 year old ready for the independent part of the program?
• I also realized that starting in September when she enters school full-time, I will no longer be by herself 24/7, seven days a week.  Being at home with her every day since she was born, I know where she gets her influences from, where she gets her songs from, and what she is learning.  But when she is in school soon, I’ll have no idea where her influences come from.  The facilitators mentioned that it’s not just the kids having a hard time adjusting to school but the parents too.  It will be our heart that will have a tough time adjusting.  Sigh, another chapter to unlock…
• The 1 year old learned how to do “peekaboo” from the EarlyON classes and started doing it at home with us.  She would cover her face with her hands and abruptly remove them and smile.  I’d say “peekaboo” in response.
• She also started nodding in response to a question!!!  So neat because the firstborn never did this when she was this age.  The 1 year old knows how to shake her head no when she doesn’t want to be held by someone else and now knows to nod her head yes when we ask her if she wants something! 😀