Toddler

Motherhood, Sponsored, Toddler
5 Backpack Must-Haves For Preschool
- 1:47 pm
- 2 Comments
- by Adanna Dill
This post contains affilate links.

By now most of you know that The Super Knight will be starting preschool in a few weeks. Well, last week the doorbell rang and the delivery guy had me sign for a box that happened to contain my little guy’s new backpack. This was followed by him jumping around and asking me to Facetime everyone so they could see him model his new backpack. Since then he’s been saying “Bye Bye” to me as I busy myself cleaning up or cooking to head to imaginary school. It’s so cute to see his excitement and even to see the little toys he tosses in his backpack. However, as excited as he is about wearing his backpack he gets really shy whenever we mention that he will be making friends and meeting his new teachers. Who wouldn’t blame him? Even as an adult in my early 30’s, sometimes I get nervous when I’m meeting people for the first time. What I want is for him to learn is a little discomfort and new situations while a little nerve wrecking is important for advancement in life.

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But not too much discomfort, because at 3, I don’t ever want to traumatize him and make him reluctant to step out of his comfort zone or worst yet hate school in the future. To me, the balance is sending him off with as many comforts from home as possible so he feels confident and loved. Fortunately, I’ve been down this road with his sister before so I made a quick list of things that I remembered helped her at his age and hopped on the computer to placed a few quick orders.

Here are my 5 Must-Haves For Nursery School Kids:

1. Water Bottle

We make sure that our little ones are hydrated by offering them water often and monitoring their water intake. When they’re are at school it’s not as easy to monitor their water intake so I like to pack them water so they can remain hydrated throughout the day. My preference is stainless steel bottles with their favorite characters.

2. Packet of tissues

Sure the teacher’s desk will have a box of tissues but I think it’s important for my little guy to have his own packet of tissues especially for the first few days of school when he may be a little nervous to speak up about his needs.

3. A photo of your family

My daughter’s preschool was really cool with this and each kid had a photo of their family at their seats and their cubby. I think this made their days easier and were great conversation starters. I’m not sure if my son’s class will be set up for him to display our family photo (I hope so) but I will definitely place one in his backpack that he can look at if he ever starts missing us during the day.

4. Lip balm

My kids both like to keep their lips moist. I usually hold on to my little guy’s lip balm and apply it when I see fit but I’m going to hand that responsibility over to him so he can apply it if he ever feels like his lips feel dry.

5. Extra outfit and socks

At 3, accidents are highly likely between potty accidents and just spills. I’m going to send my guy extra outfit, socks and underwear. If you’re doing this, make sure to switch to weather appropriate backup outfits as the season’s change. Also, don’t forget to label everything.

What else would you add to this list of must-haves for nursery school?
Baby, Motherhood, New Born, New Mom, Toddler
6 Tips To Help Your Toddler And Newborn Bond
- 12:53 pm
- 0 comments
- by Adanna Dill
You just had a new baby and everyone is really excited. Well, everyone except your baby (now a toddler). This is the first major adjustment your kid will ever have to make and it wouldn’t be easy especially if up until the day you came home from the hospital, he was soaking up all of your attention. Don’t be surprised if your toddler went ahead and behaved like the new baby didn’t even exist or was that just my kid? This was one of the things that made me extremely nervous when I had my second child. My daughter was 3 months shy of 3 and still really young. Three years later, I must say that I love to see their bond and how close they’ve grown so I wanted to share a few of the things that I did to facilitate that relationship:

1. Get your toddler excited about the new baby.

Do everything you can to make your toddler really excited about becoming a big brother or sister. Take your toddler to all of your doctor appointments, show him/her ultrasound photos so they can see their baby sister or brother.

2. Read about becoming a sibling.

My daughter loved reading books about other kids who were also getting baby brothers or sisters. My daughter would make me read the book Big Sisters Are the Best by Fran Manushkin almost daily while I was pregnant and we got the book When Mommy Has Our Baby by Rachel Armstrong Cedar after having my son which she loved and I wish we had it earlier because the author does such a great job at addressing what children can expect to change and how to process their feelings in a really positive and upbeat way.

3. Don’t ever tell your toddler that they are no longer the baby.

As far as your toddler is concerned, he still deserves all the attention he’s always had. Sharing you with the new baby may be hard. Don’t make it harder by saying things to him like “You’re no longer the baby” all your toddler is going to do is get jealous of the baby and may even resort to baby like behavior to prove it.

4. Make special time for your toddler.

Leave the baby with grandparents or a babysitter and head to the park with your toddler. Make sure he gets to do all the things he loves and to feel very special doing big kid stuff that baby can’t do yet.

5. Encourage bonding activities.

Bonding activities that worked for my family including reading and listening to music with both kids. They both still love listening to music and snuggling up to read books together. My daughter even reads to her brother now. You can read some of the bonding activities we did here.

6. Give your child ownership of the Baby.

Make your toddler feel important by referring to the baby as “our” baby. This way he will feel more inclined to be gentle and protect the baby. My daughter used to always ask if we could “keep the baby” since she loved him so much.

What did you do to encourage bonding between your kids?

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Activities, Family Travel, Motherhood, Sponsored, Toddler
7 Tips for The Perfect Summer Family Beach Day
- 10:09 am
- 0 comments
- by Adanna Dill
This is part of a sponsored collaboration with HBO and DiMe Media. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

As many of you know, I grew up on the beautiful island of Grenada in the Caribbean. There are so many beaches on the island that you’re never far away from a beach no matter where you go. I’ve shared that my family spent a lot of time hanging out on the beach and I loved those times especially playing in the sand. It brings me so much joy to see that my kids love sun, sea and sand as much as I do. Those of you who follow us on social media know that we had our first beach trip of the year on Monday. With a long cold winter behind us, this was really a nice time for us to enjoy our family and savor the moment. But the beach can be an awful experience for us moms if we’re not properly prepared. I wanted to share 7 tips with you to ensure that you enjoy the perfect summer family beach day:

1. Schedule your trip for after 2 pm.

If you’re heading to a beach with little or no shade from the sun, aim to go after 2:00pm. Why? Well, the likelihood of you and your children getting a sunburn is pretty low although the best time would be after 4:00pm but with most beaches closing at 6:00pm that may not give you enough time to enjoy the beach. Not only is this time of the day more comfortable for kids to play in the sun but if you have babies and toddlers they would have a chance a to take a nap by this then and are energized to enjoy their time at the beach.

2. Bring sun protection.

Okay, so this is an area where I have failed before and let me take a quick moment to explain why. When I was growing up, all the beaches on my island had trees that we were able to use as shade at the beach. Once I moved to the United States, I assumed there would be trees on the beaches but I’ve found that on many beaches (here in New York) there are no trees so I had to learn the hard way by struggling under the piercing heat of the sun. Now, I always ensure that I protect my family from the sun by walking with hats for the kids and sunscreen with UV protection. A beach umbrella, hat or UV protected swimwear are also great for added protection.

3. Stay Hydrated.

Whenever we spend a lot of time outdoors during the summer especially on the beach, I make it a point to ensure that our family is properly hydrated. I’ve shared before that we love sparkling water and it’s one of the first things I pack infused with a slice of lemon or fruits. My kids favorite fruits for beach time snacking are grapes, oranges, and papaya. An advantage of going after 2 pm is that we’re still full from lunch so we can pack lighter meals.

4. Bring toys for the kids.

One of the few times, that I’ve seen my kids really focused is when they are busy playing in the sand building castles and domes. They could literally do this for hours if they’re never interrupted. It’s like the sand has some magic that keeps them contented to play with it. Here’s my little guy in his own little world playing in the sand. A bucket and spade, molding toys, beach ball, kites, and bubbles are all great options for the beach.

5. Extra bag for wet clothes.

Forgetting to bring an extra bag (I use plastic bags) to store wet clothes can be annoying so make sure to pack one or keep a few stashed in your beach bag.

6. Focus on bonding.

As I shared on Instagram and Facebook, my daughter and I had a fantastic time collecting shells and splashing each other in the water. We played with the beach ball as a family which my husband really got into it. We had fun taking photos and recording clips fo Snapchat but the best moments were when we put all the electronics down and just enjoy some good old school family fun.

7. Keep toilet seat covers handy.

With two small children, I know that the words “I need to use the bathroom” can be a downer for moms. The public bathrooms at some beaches may have wet floors or are littered with sand, trash etc making it uncomfortable for kids to use the toilet. I always walk with waterproof disposable toilet seat covers that the kids can sit on without worry.

My children are always excited about summer beach days but on the days that they’re not on the beach you would find us getting into other outdoor activities or hanging out with Elmo and friends on Sesame Street. You can catch new episodes of Sesame Street every Saturday morning at 9:00 am ET/8:00 am CT on HBO.

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Do you have any tips to make summer family beach day perfect?