Teacher Mom

I LOVE that Callie is at the age where I can put my teacher skills to good use. I can almost SEE the neurons firing, making connections, doing what they're supposed to do. It is EXCITING! The past week has reminded me of some important things about being a successful teacher, and also a successful parent.

1) Structure and Routine is Awesome. On Thursday night I put Callie to bed at 8:00 or so and headed to Target expecting a wonderful, calm, solo shopping experience. The second I got there I knew I was in for a completely different experience because the number of people there with their little kids (like 3 years old and under!) was ridiculous. And it wasn't just single parents making a medicine run or something like that. It was a bunch of duo parents pushing big shopping carts around with the little ones strapped in. And the majority of them were screaming. I couldn't help but feel thankful that my toddler was at home sleeping. And it reminded me why Chris and I are real sticklers about Cal's sleeping routine.

2) Consistency and Repetition are da bomb. Being a special ed. teacher, those two qualities are crucial for me. There are some crazy statistics out there that say kids need to have things they're learning repeated like a million times (okay, slight exaggeration) in order for it to stick in their brains. I'm using that same idea for Callie and it is working great. Just this morning we were reading her big 100 Words Book and she can point to various things that I ask her to...because we've done it over and over.

3) If you don't like, or are concerned about, a specific behavior...plan to do an intervention! Remember when I mentioned the book reading hissy fits? We started teaching her the sign for "please" early last week, and throughout the week we stuck to our guns. We wouldn't read her a book unless she signed for it. For the first many days we had to physically move her hand for her, but *TA DA!!* this morning she got it!

4) Light Bulb Moments are what it's all about. They are why I go to work every day, and why I can't WAIT to watch Callie continue to grow and learn.

Here is just a small example of an almost-14-month-old's light bulb moment.

Pre-Intervention (the baseline data, if you will):

Reading Before from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Post-Intervention (the results, if you will):

Reading After from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

So cheers to structure, routine, consistency and repetition.

And cheers to many more Light Bulb Moments.