Tag Archives: Toddler

5 Tips to Help Your Toddler Swim Without Floaties

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Mila has always loved the pool.

Her first summer, we were constantly in the pool. She seemed to be at her happiest when we dance around and swam, so that’s what we did. It helped become familiar with the water and gave her a lot of pool confidence early on.

The next summer, I worried whether or not she would like it as much. But, she loved it and had no fear of getting in with her floaties.

Last summer, she mastered jumping in by herself (with her puddle jumper) and swimming to one of us. It felt like a victory! We spent so much time during our COVID summer swimming around.

When this summer came along, I wondered what she would want to try this year. I had no idea she’d be confident enough for no floaties.

I will say, my anxiety definitely stepped up. All the thoughts of what could go wrong flashed through my head. Yet, when I saw her excitement and determination to do it, I calmed down a little.

Since it’s been a process, I figured I’d share some tips that worked for us through it with other parents.

1. Set rules.

This was so big for my anxiety and Mila being pool safe. Not everyone’s rules will look the same, here’s ours.

  • You have to wear floaties if there’s other kids in the pool.
  • You don’t have to wear floaties if there’s an adult in the pool already.
  • If you’re practicing swimming without, you have to have an adult beside you.
  • When swimming between adults, let them know where you’re going.
  • Only jump in without floaties if someone’s there watching.
  • There has to be breaks.

These are the rules that work for us. My main focus is Mila’s safety. I want her to know she cannot swim without floaties by herself. She seems to be receptive with our rules too.

Although she does like to challenge us and push her limits.

2. Be confident and open.

Toddlers and kids can immediately tell what their parents are feeling. If you’re not confident and open to the situation, they’ll feel that.

At first, I was really anxious about it all. She was too! The more I let myself be okay with her swimming by herself, the more confident and stronger she became.

I think by having some sort of rules and guidelines for her, it calmed my anxiety too.

3. Get active with them.

Monkey see monkey do, right?

To put it out there, you can teach your child to swim confidently if you’re not in there with them.

While we’re in the pool, there’s someone showing Mila different ways to swim. Or they’re going under water with her. Just being active and involved goes a long way.

I also think the more she sees confident swimmers, the quicker she’s going to get there too.

4. Give them feedback.

At the beginning of this no floaty journey, I felt like I nit picked everything she was doing. Just because I wanted her to be safe.

Now, I’ve been able to give her constructive feedback.

The biggest one I’m always saying is to use big arms. She forgets halfway through to keep moving them. Once she’s reminded, she does it the next time. It’s all just a learning process!

Obviously, try not to bombard them with feedback. That can be discouraging, but there is a good balance to keep them safe and swimming.

5. Have FUN!

As with anything, the most important thing is to have fun!

I encourage Mila to jump in and show me different tricks. That’s always a hit! When we’re in the pool, we have races and make waves too. We make sure to play games while she has her floaties on too. Some games we play are hide-and-seek and building forts.

The stronger she gets as a swimmer, the more games we’ll get to play. I know she’s really excited to be able to dive for diving sticks and toys.

I hope our experience with swimming and these tips can help you with your toddler or child too!

What are some of your tips and tricks that helped you or your child swim?

Toddler Activity: Marshmallow Painting

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S’mores are obviously a huge part of our summer. We have tons of fires and we’re always craving the gooey treat. Sometimes, you can have a ton of leftover marshmallows. Instead of just throwing them away before they get hard, try this Marshmallow painting.

It’s a fun way for kids to play with their food and wait for the s’mores to get done!

If you’re by the campfire making s’mores, you have almost everything you’ll need.

  • Marshmallows
  • Paint
  • Sticks
  • Canvas

To start this activity off, I had Mila go find sticks. It gave her some time to explore and find the perfect ones.

While she was doing that, I prepped the painting area. All you need to do is find a spot for your canvas, get a palette (I used old cardboard) to put the paint, and get out marshmallows.

Once Mila got back with the sticks, I stuck the sticks in the marshmallows to make a ‘brush.’

Before she started painting, I asked her to tell me a campfire story through her art. So, while she was painting, she was telling a big story. Everyone color represented something different.

The storytelling part of this activity is my favorite! People have been telling stories around the fire since the first humans.

I can’t remember exactly what Mila’s was about. There were a lot of details.

What I do recall is the story was about me, Mila, and Max. We rode on a bike to get plants and a tree. She was purple, I was pink, Max was orange, the plants and tree were green, the bike was blue, and there’s some colors she used again that I don’t remember why.

I should have been recording her tell the story, but I didn’t think about it until after. Either way, when I look at her little painting, I smile.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a little s’more and told more stories. It was such a fun activity to start our evening. Summer nights like these are my absolute favorite.

In the next week or so, I hope I can start writing down her stories. She’s been telling a lot of them and I want to make sure I always remember. When I do, I’ll make sure to write a post about it in case you’d like to do something similar.

Have you ever painted with marshmallows before? If not, what’s your favorite camping or summer craft you did as a child?

Here’s some other summer/camping crafts you might want to check out too!

10 Thoughts On Taking a Toddler Fishing

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A few weekends ago, Mila went fishing for the first time.

We decided to go for Father’s Day. It’s been a while since my dad and I have went, but we had been talking about it in front of Mila. She had been asking for days and it felt like the perfect time. Father’s Day weekend was a free fishing weekend, so we got a few fishing poles and found a spot by the lake.

What I didn’t realize was how different fishing was with a toddler. Just like my thoughts on Mila’s dance class, I knew I had to share what was going on in my head here too.

Feel free to laugh along with me.

What’s the difference between worms and night crawlers?

Seriously though… what’s the difference? Plus, is it really kosher that I’m buying whatever they are at a gas station? Either way, thank goodness I don’t have to touch them. Maybe Mila will be braver than me.

There’s a lot of gear and snacks that go into fishing.

Fishing pole. Check. Kid’s fishing pole. Check. Snacks. Check. Chairs to sit in. Check.

Did I forget something? Probably.

Thank goodness Papa is here to get everything in working order.

If it was just Mila and I today, there wouldn’t be a ton of fishing. It’d be more of me chasing her around than casting out and catching! She’s grossed out by the worms… I guess we have more jobs for Papa.

It’s time to fish!

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Our poles are ready. Mila is excited to catch a big fish. Let’s see if we can…

HOOOOOOOK!

Toddlers and sharp objects are not a good combination. Especially when said sharp objects are being hurled through the air. I guess we should have started with some ground rules to begin with and a few practice casts.

Why am I doing more fishing than her?

After the first few casts and no fish, Mila is highly disappointed.

Apparently in her mind they were all going to flock to the worm/night crawlers. I guess no one sent out the being patient while fishing memo to her.

I got one!

Cue the yelling to Mila to help me reel the fish in. As she ran over, I realized I probably scared the rest of the fish away, but this was a BIG moment for her.

No, you don’t have to touch the fish.

After the intense reeling, she eyes up her prize. Once it starts wiggling around, she’s not so sure about touching it. Finally, I convince her to pet it before we throw it back in. Of course, Papa had another job of unhooking it.

Thankfully, Mila stepped up and threw it back in the lake.

I need to catch all the fish for her!

Hours seem to pass quickly and her excitement makes me want to catch even more. We do our normal fish routine, but mixed in is the patience memo she missed.

I guess the boredom helped her get more brave in touching the worms.

This is pretty relaxing.

As it’s time to pack up, the day has been quite relaxing… minus the almost getting hooked every time Mila casted out and the persistent whining. Right before we leave, Mila proclaims that next time we catch a really big fish so we can eat it.

I guess that’s a goal and story for another time.

Have you ever been fishing with your child? If so, what was your favorite part of the experience?

Looking for other camping related activities? Check out these fun ones.

S’mores Banana Boats

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After a weekend full of fireworks, bonfires, and food, I had to share my latest creation. This time I skipped the strawberries and used bananas instead!

Of course, it’s s’mores related.

Since everyone loved the Whole Strawberry S’more, I knew the S’mores Banana Boats would be a hit.

So, let’s talk about the obvious, the strawberry s’more looked a lot cuter than this.

It’s not easy taking pictures of bananas.

What you can tell from this picture is how ooey gooey this campfire favorite is. Once you have one bite, you’ll go back for more!

This campfire treat is perfect for those who don’t want to sit and hold a stick. Just have some tin foil handy, wrap it up, and throw it in the fire.

Here’s all you’ll need…

  • Bananas
  • Chocolate
  • Marshmallows
  • Foil
  • Tongs

One thing I’d suggest is to buy mini marshmallows. I thought I had some, but instead had the huge, flat ones. Don’t fret if you don’t have minis. You can easily tear them apart.

To start off, take your banana and slice it longwise down the middle.

You can stuff the chocolate and marshmallows in there tightly. I ended up taking some of the banana out to make some room.

This lessened the mess!

Then, I wrapped it in aluminum foil and placed it in the fire.

I’m not sure if the exact amount of time I had it in the fire because I kept checking it. It was probably around eight minutes.

Pretty much, you just want to make sure the chocolate gets melted and the marshmallow gets a little gooey. It probably would’ve taken less time if I hadn’t kept checking in on it!

Once it’s done, let the foil cool down, grab a spoon, and enjoy.

Like I said, it’s not the cutest thing to take a picture of, but this S’mores Banana Boat is absolutely delicious.

The next time you’re around the fire, try it out. You won’t be disappointed.

What’s your favorite campfire treat?

Before you go, check out what others moms across the Internet bring for their families to snack on while camping.

DIY Stars and Stripes Sign

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Hello July!

I can’t think of a better way to start the month of than a DIY sign. Especially when a three year old is doing all the heavy lifting! With the Fourth of July right here, it seemed fitting to do a patriotic Stars and Stripes sign.

On Pinterest and Instagram, I’ve been seeing so many cute, patriotic signs. I knew Mila and I had to make one too. When I went to Joann Fabrics last, a wooden sign was calling out to me.

*I’ve looked all over Joann Fabrics’ website and Amazon to link the sign. There’s nothing comparable, but something still could be in your local craft store. Whenever I go, there’s a multitude of wood signs! Plus, you might find something else you like more!*

Unfortunately, I got too excited to actually take pictures of the plain wood. I painted the outside of the sign blue. Then, red and white went on the ‘stripes’ in the middle.

I just used craft paint and it worked fine!

Usually, I set up Mila’s activities and projects when she’s asleep or working on something else. When she saw me painting, she was not happy with me! She didn’t understand why she wasn’t painting either! Oops.

I promise the next part makes up for my apparent painting betrayal.

After the sign was dry, I laid out her part of the activity. She requested we use light blue in the sign too… which was a fantastic choice.

All we ended up using was:

Of course, I laid down brown paper to protect my table and a paper plate to dip in the paint.

Thankfully this isn’t the first time Mila has used something other than a brush to paint. She knew she had to push down hard to get the paint off.

It always amazes me how she creates art. I have no idea what her method is, but it always turns out so cute.

She ended up layering all the star sizes and blended the colors. I love how some of the stars turned out ombré from navy to light blue. The pops of light blue are actually my favorite.

Since the sign wasn’t huge, it didn’t take too long to fill the inside up.

I went back and forth on adding words or something on the blue ring of the sign. Eventually, I decided it was perfect how it was. I didn’t want anything to take away from the stars. Sometimes less is more.

If you can’t find star cookie cutters, sponges would be an amazing alternative. We haven’t used sponges to paint a ton, but it’s on our list this summer!

I am SO happy with how our DIY Stars and Stripes sign turned out. It’s proudly hanging on our front door now.

My favorite part is just making art with Mila. It’s something I’ll always treasure.

The next few days will be ones to treasure too! I’m excited to see her react to our community’s festivities and fireworks. As a child, I loved being around my family for the Fourth and hope Mila does too. Check out her second Fourth of July here.

I hope you have a fantastic July as well!

Do you craft or make signs for different holidays? If so, which is your favorite holiday to craft for?

Whole Strawberry S’more Recipe

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It’s campfire season and I had to add my strawberry summer twist. If you’ve liked all my other strawberry recipes so far, you’re going to love this.

I actually saw this on a Tik Tok video and had to try it. Two of my favorite flavors are strawberry and s’mores.

Honestly, I can’t think of anything that screams summer more.

To make these, you’ll need:

This recipe is pretty self explanatory.

All you need to do is dip your strawberry in the marshmallow fluff. This is a little more difficult than I thought. The best way was to deeply dip the strawberry and twist. You can adjust how much marshmallow fluff gets on there!

Then, roast it like a marshmallow.

Seeing a strawberry roasting looked hilarious to me. It felt like I was roasting the biggest marshmallow ever!

Roast to your preferred marshmallow done-ness. I like mine slightly burnt.

The next part is MESSY… well it was for me.

Drizzle chocolate sauce over top the strawberry marshmallow combo. It might have been easier to dip it, but I just drizzled over a plate.

Now you’re ready to eat it!

Although I didn’t take a picture of it, I added crushed graham crackers to this whole strawberry s’more. It gave it the crunch that I love about s’mores.

Here’s a bonus strawberry s’mores idea.

Since I was just making random s’mores, I tried slicing strawberries and adding them to a regular s’more.

It’s a real game changer!

I loved both strawberry twisted s’mores, but loved the chocolate bar taste on this a little more.

Either way you make it, I’m telling you, add strawberries to your s’more agenda. It adds such a fresh bite to a sweet, summer treat.

Do you add any extras to your s’mores? Let me know in the comments.

Toddler Activity: Mermaid Swim Party

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With summer heat waves, it can be hard to stay cool when you’re outside. Our favorite way is to add water play to our routine. This week started off with a Mermaid Swim Party.

Every day, I like to do a hands on activity with Mila. In the summer, that usually happens first thing in the morning. It’s a great way to set the mood and guarantees extra learning for the day!

A win-win right?

Since Mila loved the beach sensory play activity earlier this month, I thought I’d bring those themes back.

The best part, we used actual water this time!

A mermaid swim party wouldn’t be complete without these:

This activity was pretty simple to set up. The hardest part was getting the sprinkler in the hose.

All I did was setup the sprinkler (which wasn’t that hard at all), grab the items for the sensory bin, place them in, and fill up the bin with water. That’s all!

Before I let her play with the bin, we read a book. I believe reading books everyday is so crucial for a child’s development. They’re able to expand their vocabulary with every new word they here and start becoming familiar with sight words.

For this activity, we read That’s Not My Mermaid from the Usborne series.

It was a fun stepping stone to get her describing the differences of our mermaids during the activity. Plus, Usborne books are so educational. We love this series and find different ways to learn from it each time.

I would recommend the That’s Not My series to anyone!

After we read the book, I showed Mila her sensory bin and let her do whatever she wanted with it.

She went wild!

Between the water, the mermaids, and the sprinkler, she thought it was the best activity. I loved the way she reacted to it all. It’s always so much fun to see her growth through play.

I’d love to say I watched her the entire time, but she played with this activity for two hours. Yes. You read that right THREE HOURS.

For some reason, she really just thought this was a blast. We did different educational activities like talking about the resin letters and talking about the differences in the mermaids. She also loved pretending and making up stories about them.

At one point, Mila even got into the sensory tray to try to play with them more.

Eventually, after three hours, Mila was finally done with this activity and playing with the the hose. I was amazed that she was so engaged. It allowed me to wash the dishes, change the laundry, and tidy up. Of course, I kept checking on her, but it was hot!

Honestly, it makes me so happy to see how much she loves to play, use her imagination, and be outside. If creating simple activities helps, I’ll keep doing just that.

What are some of your favorite ways to beat the heat waves? Do you stay inside or like to play with or in water too?

Make sure to check out these other water inspired play ideas too!

You’ll never believe what Mila did…

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Throughout parenting Mila, I’ve been pretty open about the ups, downs, and plain weird things that she does.

I could go on and on about her messes. There’s been powder sugar, grout, and flower all over my house. Her and Max love to play in the mud. Then there’s just her every day messes that always seem to accumulate.

This time though… I was shocked.

WARNING! I’ll be talking about bodily fluids so if you’re squeamish, don’t read on.

Mila has been potty trained for a year. It was fairly easy for her since she hates the idea of pee and poop. I was always thankful for the somewhat easy, but comical potty training times.

For some reason, in the last month, she’s been having an issue going number two in the potty.

It might be because she’s busy playing and doesn’t want to stop. Honestly, that’s the only thing I can chalk this story up to.

One night, I was making dinner and Mila wanted to chill out in my bed. I think she was watching a movie with Max and playing with her stuffed animals. When she plays, she constantly talking, but then it got quiet.

Every parent knows that when kids get quiet, something is up.

All of the sudden, I heard her yell, “Mom, I need help!” Then ran in there to see what was happening.

Her voice was coming from the bathroom, but the sight I saw in the bedroom was haunting.

At first glance, there was popcorn everywhere. Then on closer inspection, there was poop underneath of the popcorn. It was everywhere and I couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened in the moments before.

Poop covered in popcorn was all over the floors and on the bed. It was a trail going into the bathroom.

So, I followed the trail and saw Mila.

*not taken from the popcorn poo incident*

She had climbed on the toilet and cried while she told me she didn’t make it to the potty.

I hadn’t noticed…

Her body and the toilet was covered in just the poo. Not quite knowing how to go about the situation at large, I put her in the shower and cleaned the bathroom first.

Then I just stared at the… scene in the bedroom.

I didn’t know how one would ever clean up popcorn crusted poop, but I quickly found out.

The term ‘rage cleaning’ took a new meaning.

After I had a mini breakdown while cleaning, I had to ask her about her thinking. I just could not understand the popcorn addition.

She told me she threw the popcorn over it so Max could eat it. Her explanation was, he likes popcorn she he could just eat both. I guess like a chocolate bar? As she continued to explain, I realized she did it so she could cover her tracks.

I didn’t know if I should laugh, be mad, or how to feel after the whole thing was over.

What I did know was that I had to share with others. Shockingly, after I did, friends and family let me know they’ve had similar potty mishaps. Just minus the popcorn wildcard.

Hopefully some were able to laugh at Mila crazy idea and realized that motherhood is wild. No kid is perfect and I just like to keep it real.

Has your toddler ever done anything similar or is mine just a little bit crazy?

Pinky Got Out! Children’s Book Review

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Happy National Pink Day!

Did you ever know there was such a thing? Me neither! Yet, if you peered into our house, you’d think we’d know all things pink.

To celebrate all things pink, Mila and I read and interacted with our latest Little Bookish Wardrobe box. Inside was the book Pinky Got Out! by Michael Portis and illustrated by Lori Richmond.

You may be wondering, what’s in the box? (Not meant to be read in Brad Pitt’s voice from Seven.)

In the box was the book, that beautiful PINK outfit, and a little craft. Mila wasn’t that into the craft this month. It was a mask and I think she doesn’t like the feeling on her face. Maybe when she gets older we’ll revisit.

But, she LOVED the glorious pink skirt, hair piece, and leotard.

I have to admit… it does look pretty cute.

Back to the good stuff though.

Little Bookish Wardrobe always picks out engaging books. This book was just so much fun for Mila to interact with.

It’s set in a zoo with a flamingo named Pinky that likes to get in a little trouble. A group of students are on a field trip and quickly take notice in the flamingo’s antics.

Throughout the book, the class see and learns about different animals, which is very educational to the reader too.

I didn’t know some of the facts in there!

The best part, even though it’s educational and you’re learning about animals, it’s fun for children to find Pinky. He escapes to every animal enclosure and always looks like he’s having fun.

Mila’s favorite part of this story is finding Pinky and laughing at his silly whereabouts.

The illustrations in this children’s book are amazing. I love the way Pinky looks. Even though the pictures are simple, they’re very impactful and help make this book fun for adults and children.

It’s a great way for kids to stay focused, recall what they’re looking for, and laugh along the way. I also like how there’s so many opportunities for learning extensions.

You can also quiz your child about the different animal names, what sounds they make, or the information from the story.

This would be a perfect book to read before the zoo or really anytime at all!

We hope that you have an amazing National Pink Day and check out Little Bookish Wardrobe. It’s a great way to get new books and additions for your child to fall in love with stories.

Do you do anything special for holidays like National Pink Day? If not, what’s your favorite pink thing?

Or you can check out this amazing pink Strawberry Fluff by Mom Buns and Mayhem. It looks so yummy and only has two ingredients. Plus, you all know my strawberry obsession lately!

Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles

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Looking for a cool treat this summer? Try this three ingredient Strawberry Yogurt Popsicle recipe. I promise you won’t want to share with anyone!

Before I go on… I know I’m hitting the strawberry game hard this summer. They’re just tasty.

This recipe is actually my favorite snack not frozen. It’s simple to mix up and has so many good flavors.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • I cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
  • 1 cup Strawberries
  • 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
  • Popsicle Mold

All you have to do is combine the three ingredients in a bowl. Then, mix them up.

Next, transfer to a popsicle mold. I got this cute one here. This part can get a little messy. Just make sure if you get it on the mold to wipe it off.

Last, pop them in the freezer and wait!

I left mine in the freezer for about six hours, but overnight would have taken the ‘hurry up’ feeling away.

This is quite the tasty treat. I love how refreshing it is. It also feels like an adult popsicle. I’m all for sharing with Mila, but there’s real ingredients and I can actually see the strawberries!

Hopefully, I’ll expand to using other ingredients this summer. If not, they’re still really good.

What’s your favorite popsicle flavor?

If you need some other popsicle recipes, check out these!