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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Little Miss Cling

The last couple of months have been amazing ones in which to watch Sophia's development. Despite being frequently sick, she has begun talking more, adding words to her vocabulary daily, and finally conquered walking. She has also developed some of the characteristics of Saran-Wrap, namely very securely wrapping herself around my leg at all times that I am not playing with or reading to her.

Let me tell you, that level of cling makes for a very frustrating and unproductive day. Peeling her off only leads to tears and more frustration. What to do?!

Talk to a mom with twins! Wish I had thought of it sooner . . .

My dear friend Carrie had the suggestion of the year, and I am on day #3 of putting it into play. She asked if I used playpen time with Sophia.

Ummm. No. What is playpen time?

Playpen time is time in a playpen (or pack'n'play in our case) with toys to learn to play INDEPENDENTLY. What a great word, independent!!!

We started the next day, this past Monday. Sophia went in her pack'n'play with some toys and books for half an hour after breakfast. I was able to eat!, and wash dishes, and then sit down by myself for about 5 minutes and plan the day before play time was over. There wasn't even any crying, which I will tell you surprised me.

Yesterday we did the same deal, and I got to take a shower! I usually shower before the Snuggler gets up, but hadn't had a chance to as I went for my run later than usual. No fear, playtime is here!

And today?

When I sat down to write this post, there were 18 minutes left on the timer . . . there are now 9, time to finish up and go eat breakfast! I can hear Sophia talking to her little farm animals/people, and she seems to be having a grand old time. This afternoon we will start the second half hour of the day, for a total of an hour a day. The goal is to shift from pack'n'play to being able to tell Sophia that it is time for playtime in _______ room, and she will go play by herself.

Lesson learned . . . when frustrated by lack of time and clingy child, talk to the mom of twins!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wish I'd heard about that, like, I don't know...31 years ago?!!!

Earlybirdmom

Anonymous said...

I meant to ask you this morning how it was going. I'm so glad it's working!!!

Beth said...

So something funny is that I have started doing this with Matt here and there, especially during dinner prep - it's been a great tool! I stashed the Pack & Play near the front door because the space created by the chair and the wall were the perfect shape for it... yesterday I walked in from shopping or something, and - well, imagine me coming in the door from anywhere with both boys. I want them both to stay on the tile, so Ben's wet shoes don't get everywhere, I want the coats and hats off first thing so we can hang them up, I don't want anyone running off while I try to do this with only two hands... you get the picture. Anyway, I popped Matt into the Pack & Play while I took care of Ben and my bags, and then I moved on to him! Voila! It's like having a third hand, sometimes! :)

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