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Rhythm pulses through her veins. Melodies fill her brain. Her days are filled with music and dancing. A day without dancing isn’t a day worth living as far as she is concerned. She is a musical soul.
Dancing to her favorite Dragon song 
There isn’t any one type of music that she gravitates towards, although a good beat does seems to help. The only requirement for making the list is that the song speaks to her and makes her want to dance. If she can’t not dance to a song it will become an instant favorite and very quickly makes its way onto her iPod. Her favorites range from Gwen Stefani’s The Sweet Escape, to Adele’s Rolling in the Deep, to Forbidden Friendship from the How to Train Your Dragon Soundtrack, to OneRepublic’s All the Right Moves, to Led Zeppelin’s Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, to Eminem’s Like Toy Soldiers.
Her musical tastes are beautifully eclectic. And, there is just no swaying her opinion, no matter how hard her daddy tries You can’t convince her she doesn’t like a song once she has developed a taste for it and you can’t convince her that she likes a song that hasn’t spoken to her. She usually knows the very first time she hears a song whether it is a keeper or not. There is no telling what her next favorite is going to be either, she will hear a song on the radio or in a movie or something, it makes her want to dance and is an instant new favorite.
I love her love for music. I love how she sings to her self a random times throughout the day and will just start dancing to some tune playing in her head. I’m pretty sure there is always a song playing in her head.
Our pets are a part of our family. Often times they are our babies before we have actual babies. They are often our children’s first friend, and the bond they form together is a strong and beautiful one. Sadly, a child’s first experience with loss often comes when the family pet dies. Talking to your children about the loss of their beloved friend can be difficult, especially when your child is experiencing death and grief for the first time. The age of the child is going to play a big role in how they perceive the loss, handle the grief and how best to talk to them about the death of a pet.
With two aging kitties in our household, age 14 and 13, and a little girl who grows increasingly attached to her kitty buddies every day, this is a topic I have worried about, researched and considered quite a bit. Last week one of our kitties became very ill and at one point it was looking like the end may be very near. Luckily, her condition has improved and it looks like she’ll be around for a little bit longer. As I was back and forth to the vet and busy administering the medication necessary to hopefully improve Miss Laura’s condition I couldn’t stop thinking about how I was going to talk to Maya about all of it. I tried to play over the conversations in my head many times. We talked to her about the fact that Laura was very sick but I didn’t mention the “D” word because I didn’t want to unnecessarily worry her until we knew for sure what was going on. I did, however, do a lot of research so I would be a little more prepared if/when the time comes.
How a child handles the loss of their pet friend is going to vary, just as how we adults handle loss varies. Some children may not appear to be affected and carry on much as usual, this is particularly true for children too young to really understand death. It is normal for children to cry, have changes in mood, appetite, and behavior after the loss of a pet. It is normal for children to ask a lot of questions and even sometimes wonder if something they did caused their pet to die. Children don’t generally understand the permanence of death until around age 7 or so and children younger than that may continue to ask when the pet is going to come back. The most important thing you can do for your child as they grieve for their pet friend is to be there for them, to cuddle with them, talk to them and listen to them. Talking about how they feel and letting them ask as many questions as they need to is very important.
One of the big worries for many parents is how best to explain death and what happens after a pet dies. How to talk to your child about this is going to depend on their age and your beliefs. The best thing you can do is tailor your conversations to your child’s age and understanding of death and to your beliefs as a family. Your child’s questions will be a big help in determining what they understand will help lead the conversation in a good direction for them.
I found several websites in my research last week that provide great information about how children display and deal with grief and how best to help them through their grief.
- The Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement
- The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Family Corner.com
When I look back on this holiday season I’ll remember one thing for certain, the plague that invaded our family and just wouldn’t go away. The Christmas plague of 2011 is a doozy and it holds in to you with its germy little hands and just won’t let go.
Maya was the first of our crew to be infected (I’m guessing she picked it up from school). The Thursday before we were to leave for our Christmas vacation she spiked a fever before going to bed but seemed fine the next day so we figured (or rather hoped) it was nothing. Saturday night in the hotel the evil plague reared its ugly head. She was super stuffed up and coughing all night, had a nose bleed from all the stuffyness and the dry heat in the hotel room, threw up and had crusty eyes. I should have known then that this thing was a doozy but I continued to live in hope that it would go away as quickly as it came. No such luck. The poor kiddo is still sick. She has been battling this god awful cold virus for 3 WEEKS. Today the doctor diagnosed her with a sinus infection and she is now on antibiotics so hopefully it’ll be gone soon.
Each of us has had our turn with the plague. Anna was the luckiest of us and was only sick for about a week. Lorne got it a few days into our trip and was sick the whole time we were on vacation. I thought I was going to be the lucky one when I didn’t get infected while we were away, even though I had to share a room with my little germ breathing family. However, the day after we got home I started to feel it setting in and it has gotten worse every day since then. Last night I even had a high fever, I haven’t had a fever in forever. And, today I took my first ever “sick day” from my stay at home mom gig by making Lorne stay home so I could maximize how much time I got to spend laying on the couch today and could have an extra pair of hands to help take care of the girls. This is definitely the worst cold I’ve had in a really, really long time.
Hopefully, fingers crossed, this crazy plague is on its way out and we will all be healthy again in the near future. Until then, I”ll leave you with a cute picture of the adorable Miss Anna, because she is just so darn cute it would be a crime not to share her with you 
Schools and germs go hand in hand. Every child has to go through more than their fair share of the sickies when they first start school. They have to work their way through all the germs to help build up their little immune system. Not to mention kids pass germs around much more easily than grown ups thanks to all the toy sharing, a tendency to forget to cover their mouth and nose when they sneeze or cough, and the grossest thing of all, letting their nose run down their face (ewww!). Every parent knows their kids is going to get sick during the school year, especially during the cold and flu season. Keeping your child home from school when they are sick is a common courtesy to other families to help stop the spread of germs. But, where is the line. When is a child sick enough to stay home and when is it okay to send you child to school.
Maya has a little boy in her preschool class who has a weakened immune system and is much more susceptible to getting sick and when he does get sick it can quickly escalate into a dangerous illness. Now that we are right smack dab in the middle of cold and flu season the school has reminded us that it is important (especially in our classroom) to keep your child home from school if they are sick to help stop the spread of germs. Some symptoms are obvious triggers to keep a child at home, like a fever or vomiting, but what other symptoms should keep a child at home and when is it okay to send them back? Coughs associated with colds can sometimes stick around for weeks after all the other symptoms are gone. Some children are fine when they have a cold other than being a little stuffed up and maybe a little extra sneezy but are otherwise full of energy and fine to go about their day. It is tough to find that fine line.
Our school has a pretty realistic well child policy and I feel comfortable that the school and the other parents are doing their part. Each school is going to have their own policies and rules regarding when a child should stay home or what symptoms will get them sent home from school. You should always check with your child’s school regarding their policy and, of course, use your own common sense.
Obviously, with an immune compromised child in our class we parents are going to need to be a little extra diligent and considerate when we are making the decision on whether to keep our child at home. So far (knock on wood) Maya hasn’t been sick much this school year, and the times she has been sick have been during the days when she doesn’t have school. But, when that time comes when I have to keep her home I know she is not going to be happy about missing school unless she is feeling really sick. That will be the tough part, explaining to her why she needs to stay home even if she isn’t feeling all that crappy.
When do you keep your child home from school? What symptoms are triggers for keeping them at home and when do you feel okay sending them back?
Dear Maya,
Happy Birthday baby girl! You are 4 years old today. 4 YEARS OLD! How did that happen? How did you go, in what feels like overnight, from this squirmy, tiny little baby who made me a Mom for the very first time, to this opinionated, intelligent, full of life 4 year old?
You have changed so much in the past year. You have really grown up a lot this year. When you turned 3 you still seemed like a little little girl, you still seemed so young. I can’t say that about you today. You are so much more grown up, so much older and wiser. You are “big girl” as you like to remind us and I can glimpse the passionate, intelligent woman you will one day become.
You did a lot in this year since you turned three.
We traveled to Australia for 3 months. You LOVED it there and did a lot of growing up while we were down under.
You came home from Australia and became a big sister. You truly love this new role of yours and adore your baby sister. I love watching the two of you interact and try to imagine the bond you will have when you grow up.
And, maybe the biggest thing of all, you started school. August 18th found you walking through the threshold of your first little classroom and you have loved every moment you’ve spent in school so far. Preschool has done so much to bring you out of your shell and you have really blossomed.
All of these changes and adventures this year have changed you and impacted you in different and unique ways. They have helped mold the girl you are today on your 4th birthday.
Maya, at 4 years old, you are a barrel of laughs constantly trying to entertain us. You love being the center of attention, especially when people are laughing at your antics or clapping for your little “performances”. You are beautiful and passionate. You are full of energy and life, you are on the go from the moment you get up until the moment you go to bed at night. You are so in tune with music and movement and spend much of your day singing and dancing. You are intelligent and curious. You are opinionated and like to push my buttons (sometimes it makes me scared of what the teenage years will be like). You are 100% girl and love to live in a fairy tale world filled with princesses, ponies and everything pink. You are emotional and sweet (when you want to be ). You are you and we love every bit of you, even when you are driving us crazy.
There is so much you love in life. You love reading and always try to get an extra book read to you at bedtime even though we already read 3 every night. You love coloring and creating art projects. Some days you’ll sit for hours and just color and color. You’ve started writing letters too and can write your own name. You are so imaginative and spend many hours each day creating little worlds of adventure for your princess dolls, your my little ponies and your strawberry shortcake dolls. You love to include Mommy and Daddy in your play and even sometimes the cats, especially when it comes to dress up play. You love talking to, playing with, reading to and laughing with your baby sister. You love music and dancing.
I love you sweet Maya. I love that I get to have you in my life and I get the privilege of being your Mom. Happy Birthday, I hope it was everything you dreamed it would be. I love you to pieces baby girl.
