This Morning at 11

Solomon and I are going to the Chevy Chase Library (right on Conn off EW Hwy) to see the DC Chinese Youth Club do their Chinese Lion Dance. Just thought I'd let you all know in case anyone is interested - its free and different from what we usually do.

And, if anyone has any good recs for books re: dealing with toddler craziness, I would greatly appreciate it. My little angel has been such a monster of late! He had a complete meltdown last night because I took his shirt off before he was ready. Poor little guy, he was really upset about it.

First Post from Sheila and Theo

First off, thanks for inviting me and Theo to participate in the group. It's always good to meet more moms and kids in the neighborhood! I included a picture of him in what must certainly be a very familiar location for all of you.

Second, I wanted to pass on information about this free event tonight. I won't likely make it but my husband might attend. It seems geared towards kids a little older than ours, but the topic seems all-too relevant! See below for details:

cheers,
Sheila and Theo


Silver Spring Day School’s Parent Education Series presents:
Positive Discipline for Preschoolers

Sydney Frymire, LCSW-C &
Rebecca Whitmore, LGSW, M.Ed.
Parenting Coaches and Consultants

Thursday, March 25, 2010
SSDS University Campus, 801 University Blvd. West. Silver Spring
Babysitting Available (must register for babysitting in advance)
7:00 to 8:30 pm

Preschool children bring joy, energy, and challenges to every family.
Join us for a dynamic discussion about parenting your preschooler and
supporting a strong relationship with your child. Explore positive
discipline approaches including constructive ways to listen to and
talk with your child. Develop new strategies to build structure,
notice good behavior, teach new skills, and set limits when needed.
Speakers will present information from the Center on the Social and
Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL), a national resource
center promoting the social emotional development and school readiness
of young children.
Attendance:
Attendance is Free
Registration for attendance is not required.
Babysitting:
Registration for babysitting required by Monday, March 22, 2010
To register for babysitting, contact HYPERLINK "mailto:mvassepdx@gmail.com" mvassepdx@gmail.com
Costs: SSDS Families: $10.00 up to 2 children
Non SSDS Families: $15.00 up to 2 children

Sydney Frymire is a licensed clinical social worker, parenting coach,
consultant, and speaker. Ms. Frymire has worked in private practice
and community mental health clinics in Montgomery County for 21
years. Rebecca Whitmore is also a clinical social worker with an
extensive background in early childhood and special education. Both
speakers have vast experience working with children and families.
They specialize in helping parents and teachers build on positives and
manage a child’s challenging behavior to encourage success at home and
at school. They currently work in a group practice, Positive
Development for Your Child, in Bethesda, MD.

Sunday at Sebastian's

I think we are long overdue to host! We'll have to play the weather by ear...doesn't look like it'll be as nice as last weekend.

1703 Cody Drive

See you then.

Heather & Sebastian

No More Parallel Play for Our Boys

Here are some great shots from Sunday. Great to see you all!

response to Joanna's post/ how add people to blob

Hi everyone,
I did a new post so everyone would get my response to Joanna's e-mail. I love the idea of a system for last minute play dates. I guess the high-tech method is texting or, for folks with blackberries, e-mail. I personally am a bit of a luddite, so neither of those methods really works for me.

One of my friends lived in a community where a yellow ribbon on the door meant the kids were available for play. Also, if anyone is ever out for walk, feel free to come by our place and take a look to see if we're out in the back yard -- if we're outside playing, we'd be happy to have someone stop by, whether it's for 10 minutes or an hour.

Other question: does anyone know how to add Sheila to this blog so she gets the e-mails?
Michelle

Come play in King Solomon's castle

If we have it set up by Sunday... Our neighbor is giving us their old outdoor play castle so I thought this would be a good weekend to inaugurate it. Its supposed to be warm, but with a possibility of showers, so we can play the outdoor part by ear.

Solomon has been missing his friends. He went next door to Ben's house last week and said, "my other friends are coming soon?" When I told him it was just Ben, he said, "Evan's not coming?"

So, hopefully we will see some of you on Sunday. If not, we'll surely be at a playground on Saturday, since its supposed to be beautiful.

On a somewhat related note, I was thinking it would be nice to have some type of system by which we can alert each other of our availability for a last minute play date. Both days this weekend, after naptime, Solomon was cranky and just wanted to be out of the house. So, we went for walks in the rain. I kept thinking that it would have been nice to stop in at someone's house, but since I'm not a fan of unannounced drop-ins, I assumed others weren't as well. If anyone has any ideas (a ribbon on the door or something higher-tech) let me know.

Maryland Science Center

Have any of you been? I just looked at their website for the first time and it looks awesome. Its pricey, but the kids get in free until they are 3, so its a bit more reasonable for the next several months. If we make it up there, I'll report back.

www.marylandsciencecenter.org

Used Formal Dresses

I responded to the woman's post on our neighborhood listserve re: donating used formal dresses. She is coming to my house tomorrow (Wed) night to pick up a dress or two that I have, so I thought I'd survey this group to see if any of you have dresses you'd like to drop off at my place to save this woman the trouble of driving all around. It sounds like the dresses are donated to an organization that provides "gently used" prom dresses to girls in D.C. - pretty cool idea. Let me know and you can just leave them on my porch today or tomorrow - I could also push the pick up back a day or so if folks need more time.

Playgroup at our place/ Add new member to the group?

Hi all,
Ryan and I would like to host this Sunday (posting early -- before I forget).

Also, there's another mom in the hood who'd be interested in joining us. Her name is Sheila, and she has a son, Theo. Her son is younger than our boys, I think she said he's about eighteen months now. I first met Sheila when she bought an acid-reflux pillow from me when I was clearing out infant stuff. I've run into her every now and then, and what seemed like a huge gap between our kids' ages (Ryan was 8 months old, her son was a newborn), has kind of disappeared!
Michelle