Nicola

New additions

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:19:03 GMT

We have 2 new additions to the family - baby guinea pigs. We bought them yesterday and Lori is very excited - she has named them Dorothy and Poppy! They are very timid at the moment much to Lori's disappointment but I am sure they will soon settle down. I think they are going to end up very fat guinea pigs though because Lori wants to feed them all the time - she kept poking grass and vegetables thought their cage yesterday and this morning the first thing she said when she woke up was "come on mummy let's feed the guinea pigs".

I will say, I have had guinea pigs before, and I would definitely recommend them as a child's pet - they are very friendly and will just sit still on your lap and be stroked. I know rabbit's have tendencies to try and escape all the time. I have never known any of my guinea pigs to bite or scratch.

Imaginary Friend

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:21:29 GMT

For about 6 months now, my little girl has had an imaginary friend.

She loves make-believe play and will happily have me doing role-play games with her for hours on end. I can’t really remember when her imaginary friend first appeared, but I do remember doing a little Internet research when I first realised she had imaginary friend just to make sure it was not anything I should be worried about! This is just one of the many articles I read -

"Don't worry, your toddler is not only normal, she's also very creative. Her burgeoning imagination fuels this wonderful fictitious creation, someone who accompanies her as she explores the world. Firstborns often have imaginary friends, as do very bright kids. It's one way children learn to make distinctions between good and bad. Try not to make a big deal about it when she mentions her buddy. That means neither contradicting her ("Oh, come on, stop pretending!") or grilling her about it, nor expanding on it by pretending to meet or talk to her invisible pal. There's no reason to make her feel funny about talking to someone who doesn't exist, but if you go all out and incorporate her friend into your world, then you'll likely have her pal hanging around for a long time. In the meantime, let her enjoy the company of her friend; she'll soon grow out of this common childhood phase"

So that is the line that myself and my husband try to take with her. We certainly don’t ignore her “friend” but at the same time we try not to actively involve her “friend” in our day to day lives i.e.we steer Lori away from trying to lay a place for her “friend” at the dinner table or from strapping her "friend" into the car!

This approach seems to work for us, and we have yet to experience an incident where Lori blames her "friend" for something naughty she actually did herself.......

As an aside, I love to watch Lori playing when she is not aware that I am watching her - it is quite mesmerising and I think you can learn a lot from watching your child at play.

My First Blog!

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Well, half-term is over so it was back off to pre-school this morning, where I dropped Lori off, as I do every morning, She has been going to pre-school since she was 2 and really does love it. I also think it is a very good preparation for school. She will be starting school in September. She will go to school mornings only for the first term. Even though the hours she attends school, will be no longer than the hours she attends pre-school now, I still find it over-whelming to think I will be dropping her off at her “big school” in September. At the moment she seems to be looking forward to school, but I am sure when the day comes she will be a little nervous, as I am sure I will be too!