Sal’s best friend had an accident the other day - he fell trying to get out of his crib.  He’s 19 months as well.  Poor guy bent and cracked his humerus bone - taking him out of commission for a while from his toddler activities.  It was a big wake up call for us and something we can all learn from. 

I had heard from other moms that it’s a good idea to put a tent on top of the crib - even before they start climbing - so that it can be encorporated into the bed time ritual and that they’re used to it even when they get to the age where they might start trying to climb out.  We waited despite the good advice.  As Sal grew older I noticed he was a climber so  I bought one - but never got around to putting it on.  Well - it’s on now.  Wish we could have warned Sal’s friend too.  The crib tents are pretty straight forward to put on and add a great peace of mind.  It’s worth the money and the time to invest in - one of those safety things that just doesn’t get as much press for child safety.

The other big lesson that was learned by our friend’s family was what a difference going to a children’s hospital vs. a regular hospital makes.  For anything serious where time is of the essence and decisions need to be made quickly - it’s best to go to a children’s hospital or a pediatric emergency department where they will be able to act quickly and know what is best for a child rather then treating it as if it were the adult equivalent.  Sal’s friend got outfitted w/ a hard cast.  Later they found out from the pediatric specialist that this put him at risk for nerve damage, and trying to remove a hard cast will be another danger for futher injury -it’s a scary thing for anyone to go through - but hard to explain to a toddler that they will be ok and they need to stay still so that he doesn’t hurt himself more.  Kids are different, and when they’re hurt it’s an even scarier thing to go through since they don’t understand everything that’s going on - only that they hurt.   A children’s hospital will know what to consider, and be a lot more kid friendly to ease some of those fears.

So seriously - take some time to figure out where your local children’s hospital is.  Note the contact information.  If you’re in the ambulance - tell the driver to take you to the children’s hospital.  All of this were some hard earned lessons and could save you a lot of unnecessary grief that our friends went through.   

I’m one of those parents that loves to do classes w/ her kid.  I worry about it ever becoming overwhelming, he is only 19 months old, but so far I’m pretty sure we’re both having a blast.  There seems to be a lot of classes geared to lil’ns.    Music classes has been an interesting search for me.   I feel lucky that my mother had a background in music.  She studied it in college and encorporated music into our lives.  i’ve been hoping to impart even a small part of that to Sal.

We started classes when Sal was about 6 months old.  He was starting to really engage in the world, could sit and starting to crawl and explore - it seemed like a good time to be able to get into classes.  One of the first classes I searched for was a music class.   People typically look a little confused on why I’d bring such a young baby to a music class, but once I explain it is really more for the exposure, movement, and time together - people seem to understand I’m not looking for Sal to come out of the class to be a music virtuoso.

Still, you’d think all classes are about the same to someone this age.  They’ve got a teacher, their songs, some simple instruments, and a bunch of children.   Children’s programs seem to love to throw around a couple buzz words about cognitive development, bonding, motor skills.  I’ve gotten so used to it I pretty much skim it quickly to see if there is anything outside the ordinary.

Today, instead of reading first about the class - I experienced it instead.  We had previously taken Sal to Kindermusik.  He enjoyed it well enough, got familiar w/ the songs, loved playing on the instruments, but I always had a slight discomfort with the class that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.    Today we tried Music Together, and I felt like this class, taking similar elements, had a couple key fundamental difference that I really appreciated.

The class was a mix of ages.  There were babies and kids all the way up to 4 year olds.  Kindermusik had us sectioned by age - which - although I can see how it may feel like you can “specialize” for the age, I think it left a lot to be desired as Sal grew a little older for the baby group.  I like the Montesorri approach of mixed ages - Sal seems to find fascination in both kids younger and older.  I think he gets a chance to pick stuff up from the older kids as well.  This was a nice change of pace. 

Since we were in a mixed age class, I think it was easier to keep to a philosophy of not forcing the children to participate by moving them for them.  For once, we were in a music class where we weren’t trying to force the kids to do certain movements.  The teacher was clear on just modelling, and allowing the kids to choose on their own what they wanted to do.  Some kids chose to watch, some kids chose to mirror the actions, and some chose to run around.  In all cases it was fine.  The movements weren’t overly complicated either - no complicated dance steps that a lil’n, if they so chose to follow, would have a hard time encorporating.

And the music - all catchy, repetitive songs.  Not all of them had words, not all of them had rhythms.  By breaking down some of the elements it made it easier to focus on those elements.  The songs w/out words but just sounds like “la la la, ba ba ba” were a lot easier for Sal to participate in. 

Afterwards - I read some more of the classes literature.  Instead of just using the standard jargon - it actually had some words about children picking up music.  I liked that.  It also talked about how parents are the most important role model - and watching and listening to the parents participating was the strongest reinforcer - more then doing the movements for the child.  Made sense. 

I don’t know if my experience of Kindermusik is representative of it or not, but just going by the materials and the thought that went into it - I can say I prefer the philosophy of Music Together and it looked like Sal did too.

I frequent a bulletin board geared towards toddlers who hit their milestones early.  It’s not so much that I think Sal is an early milestone toddler - I think overall he may be slightly ahead - but nothing like what some of the kids on this board achieve so early.   The real reason I do it is because I’ve found a lot of creative moms who are struggling to keep up w/ their bright kids - who have found things that have sparked their lil’ns interest.   Things like Cariboo, the Letter Factory, and Starfall all came from reading these boards.

A debate that I notice that comes up on the board every couple of months is what happens for gifted vs. hothoused kids.   Hothousing commonly refers to tactics that parents use to push their kids to learn early - unlike gifted kids who’s natural curiousity and brightness helps them pick up on many advanced concepts.  The mom’s on the board are clearly against hot housing, some relishing in the fact that hothoused kids typically lose their ”advantage” when they get to 3rd or 4th grade.

It’s an interesting line - when are you encouraging your child’s development vs. when are you artificially pushing them to “recite” concepts that they are not ready to understand?   I struggle with this since I want Sal to meet his potential and I know the area we live in is intensely competitive, yet,  when do you cross the line?

Right now we try to let Sal decide what he wants, but we definitely influence his choices and what he gets exposed to.