School time

Now that its almost time for back to school, I'm trying to plan things for the Babe as if she were in pre-school, like her friends.  While I can't make up for the socialization aspect, I've been trying to work on a modified curriculum.  No, I am not a teacher nor do I have a teaching background.  And no, I do not want to homeschool her.  However, at this time, she cannot be in a school setting due to the presumption that during a three hour or less learning program a child must eat.  So, I have purchased some pre-school teaching books and classroom tools, and borrowed some curriculum materials from my aunt, who after being an elementary education teacher for several years and then being a stay-at-home mom, returned to work for several years as a pre-school teacher.  Does this make me an expert?  No.  Does this give me more patience to work with the Babe?  No.  However, its a start.  The goal is to ease her into writing the alphabet...properly.  As of now she can write her name and some letters.  However, they aren't properly drawn, although mostly legible.  And she keeps asking how to write words, so she's definitely ready. 

In addition, I've been thinking about how to get creative with lunch.  The Babe eats just fine...the same thing over, and over, and over again.  My father-in-law regularly raises his concern about the fact that she almost daily eats hot dogs at lunch.  Yes, I don't like it either, but I try to block it from my mind.  For a long time she was too thin and barely ate anything so now, if she likes it, its hard not to give it to her.  If you saw her, you wouldn't know she was an Allergy Babe (knock-wood), because she's not too thin, and proportioned for her height and weight.  Anyhow, as for lunches, I also partially give in due to laziness.  Yes, fessing up here.  I cook every night, and do the clean-up, too.  That makes me not want to do it more than once a day.  So if she wants the same, easy to make, minimal mess meals during the daytime, I'm not fighting right now.  However, I have begun to research lunchbox ideas, which led to searches of cute Bento boxes.  So, long story short (ha), I bought some cookie cutters.  The first thing I did was make a heart, flower, and butterfly out of an apple.  The Babe loved it, and ate it all too. 

Then, I made hearts from toast (the attached picture isn't great since it was taken on my phone). 

Today, after enjoying some fresh air and a nice bike ride by the Babe, we juiced an orange and I made her flower-shaped chips from toasted corn tortillas. 

It was both a snack and an activity.  Yes, she would have eaten the chips in a regular shape.  However, its more fun this way (for both of us).  If I can come up with more cute ideas, I'll try to incorporate them at lunchtime, so she is willing to go beyond the hot dogs.  Maybe that will be another post one day, "beyond the hot dog".  For now, baby steps.