Having Trouble Potty Training? This Helped My Son So Much!

I spoke about this book in a previous post and wanted to share it with everyone. The book is well tattered at this point because we've had it for a while. We had a hard time getting my son to use the potty. A few months after he turned 3 I saw a video of one of my favorite people in the world reading this book to his kids. It was adorable, and also I wanted to find out who wrote the book so that I might find it for my son. Listening to Misha Collins read this book, my initial thought was, "This is a bit graphic for a 3 year old." lol. But after thinking about it for a while, I realized that it would be really good for him to learn these things about his own body and sensations, and that it would help him understand why he needs to go to the potty. I came to the conclusion that the Author of this book is a genius!

We received the book a day or tow before I went into the hospital where I spent the next 5 days. I had only gotten to read it to him a few dozen times before I left.... He liked it and when he likes a book he wants you to read it over and over, and over. While I was gone, my mom read the book to him. I'm sure she got to read that thing a million or more times because he seemed to really enjoy it. She said that one day he looked at her and said, "Go Potty like Joshua? I want to use the Potty like Joshua." or something to that effect. So this book really helped my son understand that he must use the potty.

After searching the title and author, I found this book on Amazon (becuase you know I like Amazon) for less than $3. There were several versions of the book. Ones for girls, ones for boys, ones with sound buttons, and ones without. The original I think is a longer version than this one, but this one was fun for him and had all the important stuff in it.

So if you are having trouble potty training, this may be the thing for you! It's always worth a try!

Here, for your entertainment, is Misha Collins reading the book to his two adorable kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9kNGeS804M

Our New Talking Stick

I found this random piece of a wooden post and decided that it would make a good talking stick. I feel that a talking stick will do some good for my son because he's having trouble understanding the dynamics of a conversation. Or, should I say that I think he understands mostly but refuses to engage in a proper conversation. Yeah, that's more like it *chuckles*. At this point in time, he is repeating everything that we say and refusing to answer questions. He has recently started answering our questions such as "Are you hungry". Before a few months ago he would never answer such questions with a yes. He would say no, but if the answer was yes he would just repeat the question. We finally got him to answer these questions with a yes or no, but in the last 2 weeks he has started repeating again, and if it's a question he's not use to hearing he refuses to say anything at all in any form of an answer or even a repeat. I don't completely believe that he doesn't understand. I just feel like he's being silly or pretending something. I had thought that being around other children in head start would help improve is interactions with others and us, but it seems to have made things worse as far as the things that he says to us and how he treats us (however unwarranted).

My Idea was that maybe a talking stick would help him to grasp the concept that we should interact and treat each other with more respect when talking to one another, and that we must give one another their turn for speaking. I used sharpy permanent markers for the talking stick, and when considering whether or not to use paint I remembered that he's 3 years old and that the paint probably wouldn't last. So I chose permanent marker. Of course, nearly every object is a magickal one to me so I used runes and theban script to express what I thought the stick should represent. The largest rune on the front (second image from the left) is a bindrune used for finding answers and truth. The theban script around that bindrune says "Telling the Truth is Imporant". At the top there are 6 different colored lines and each of the have a repeat of the rune Ansuz which I have used to encourage communication. There is also a larger Ansuz on the revers side of the bindrune. I tried to make it as colorful as possible, and since my son has a hard time expressing himself I decided to put some little faces that he can point to in the case that he doesn't know how to tell me how he feels. They say, "Happy, Sad, Angry, Confused". I'm really hoping that this will help him to express how he feels in a comfortable way to me.

I'm waiting for the right opportunity to try this stick out with him and see how he reacts, but it should be soon because I have started my vacation yesterday and am off work for the next week. This makes me very happy since Samhain is coming up very soon. I'm sure I'll be making a post of our happenings! Until then, Blessed Samhain everyone!

From the Mouths of Babes

I know that sending my son to Head start for 2 days a week is the right thing for his social development at the moment, but wow he has come home saying some interesting things! One of the best things about my son is that he remembers everything and repeats everything right now. So at the very least, I WILL know if someone is being mean to him. He's telling me everything that is being said to him. I have to say, if anyone gets any meaner than I've heard so far, I won't let him go back. I understand that one has to be stern when dealing with many children at once (or even just one at times), but being stern doesn't mean you have to be mean.

He comes home acting out what he's been to with the cat. For example: "Get in the line cat! I'm gonna put you in the line!" These quotes are not stern, and not 'as a matter of fact'. These quotes are harsh and mean. Not the words, but the way he says them. I know, it's a silly thing to worry over but I have to consider how he is being taught to speak to others. Also, and quite comically, the wonderful quotes of, "That's mine!". He's never had to say this though I know he's felt it many times before when his cousins come to visit. He's a bit spoiled and I think that he's learning this from the other kids because he thinks everything belongs to him. This is a good thing for him to learn as I hope it will morph into respect for other's things as well as his own. He's also come home telling my mother and I, "Don't say that!" I'm not sure what he said to grant that response, but we are having a hard time making him understand that he can't tell us not to "say that" when we tell him to pick up his toys, eat his food properly, or whatever. It's becoming quite an experience to see what he's learning from others and I truly hope that he eventually begins to understand these things a little better.

The reason I wanted him to go to head start was for more social interaction and because he is lacking in that area. He learns through observation and there is only so much my mother and I can teach him about how children should interact with each other. We do our best to be "in HIS world", but sometimes it doesn't work. I just have to remind myself that I can't protect him from everything, and that I must take the good with the bad and do what I can to help him become a productive and respectful adult while still helping him to celebrate his own individuality. He's only 3 and sometimes I feel like maybe I expect too much or put too much on him. I don't want to do that. I just want him to be happy.... and he usually is.

Blessings, and Thanks for Reading!

Introduction

Hi there. My name is Kelly. I am a single mom with a 3 year old boy who's about to turn 4 in January. We've gone through some hardships, and left his father about a year ago (August 19th 2014). But we've come a long way in the past year. For instance, I am now Assistant Manager at my job (yay me!) and my son can count to 100, knows all of his colors, shapes, body parts, and animals, and just started Head Start 4 days ago. Obviously he knew that stuff before he got there. After his first day I spoke with his teacher. He said, "Well, he's super smart! How does he know all of this already?" My response of course is that "I am homeschooling him so he doesn't really need the education that you are providing. What he needs is social interaction, and a chance to learn better ways of behaving through observation as children do for the most part."

See, he is rarely ever around other kids and there is only so much my mom and I can do as we try to teach him the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors in different social settings. He's had a lot of freedom in his 3 and a half years. I didn't feel the need to have a set schedule for him as far as bath time, bed time, nap time, learning time, or even meal time. I hear many times that he needs to have a schedule because it helps later on to understand that there is a time and place for everything, but the rebel in me said "Let him be who he wants to be! If he's not hungry I'm not going to make him eat. If he's not sleepy I'm not going to make him sleep."

At this point, I regret my decision. I'm glad that he has had so much freedom in many ways, because he may have not had enough concentration to learn the things that he did so quickly. He was free to explore and free to do things on HIS schedule and not mine. He started walking early, and barely crawled before that. He did a lot of things early, regardless of what contributed to that fact. But right at this moment in his life, I have found that it is important that he learn things that others thought he should have learned sooner. He is socially awkward. Mostly because we didn't have any family where he was born, and was never around anyone other than a first time mom who had no idea what she was doing (me) and a father who didn't care. I mean I did, and am doing my best but I can only do so much without prior experience on how to raise a child. I did a lot of reading and researching, tried many things, some successfully and some failed. But the most important thing to me is my son's development and ability to function in this world as an intelligent person.

Goodness I rant! My point is that he really needs to be around other kids and see how they are interacting with each other and the world around him. He is in his own little world because I had allowed him to be so most of the time, but now I'm having trouble getting him out of it so he can learn how to be productive in this world. I may sound like a complete loon, but I'm learning on this journey as I go. Sometimes I will make mistakes just like everyone else, and sometimes I can correct them or learn a better way. In any event, he is attending Head Start 2 days of the week. I'm hoping that it helps his social skills.

So, A little about me? I am an Ordained Pagan Minister, have been studying paganism for about  20 years, and have been practicing Witchcraft in various forms for nearly 19 years (as of September 2015). I love to sing, paint, write, and read. I am also interested in Photography and have my own amateur photography that I'm quite proud of. I enjoy researching interesting subject, reading spiritual texts from various sources, and creating digitally enhanced images like the Header Image at the top of this blog. I love cats. Mine is a black cat named Fairuza (with permission from F.B.). And I tend to ramble if you haven't noticed.

A bit about my son? His Name is Kadanz Lisife which was chosen before his conceptions. It means "Song of the Lightbringer". We call him Kade for short. He was conceived durring a Beltane rite in 2011 and came to us later in January of 2012. I say (with affection) that we conjured him straight from the pits of the underworld because he can be a little beast when he wants to. We held his Paganing on the following Beltane 2012 and presented him to our Gods and friends at that time. He's a funny little guy. He's obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine and he's spoiled with way too many trains including a Thomas roller coaster in our living room. It's pretty awesome. His favorite song right now is called "Primo Victoria" which is a cover by Van Canto (original by Sabaton). It's about Normandy June 6th, 1944. He knows every word, and I think it's great because he learns a lot through music. Now he's learning history. lol

So that's me and my boy. I hope that I'll be able to share some useful information for you in upcoming posts about pagan parenting and pagan homeshcooling. I am learning as I go, so why can't you?

Have a wonderful week!