parent lessons, puppets, penguins, parks and bbq
Zibby is such a good mommy to her dollies. She diapers them and nurses them and makes sure they are warm with blankets and rocks them to sleep. It is fascinating to watch. If I ask her if her baby is crying, she gets very concerned and runs over to her baby to check. The funniest is when she has the baby switch sides while “having mamas”. Also, she carries her babies either in a small sling or on her hip, in the classic pose. The way she mimics me, and other mothers she sees, is what is the most fascinating thing.
I feel it in myself, when I watch my friends parent their children. When I ask them for advice, or when I just observe them, and learn. This is how we learn things. We observe, then we try it out. We copy, we adapt.
Saturday Zibby I attempted to go to a local puppet exhibition/performance but alas, Zibby was not that interested. We walked back home, had lunch and naps and then went out for bbq. The restaurant was kind of small and crowded and there was another family there with a toddler who was screaming bloody murder for a long time. I felt really bad for her. And the rest of the patrons.
Today, Buzz took Zib to the park, and I got to stay home! By myself! I had a little project to work on. I took some notecards, and skimmed my copy of Alfie Kohn’s Unconditional Parenting, and put some quotes and excerpts from the book on cards. Then I taped the cards to the inside of the kitchen cabinets. I think this will help me really internalize the ideas, and I will get to see them several times a day.
Last night I stayed up late and did some fun scrapbook pages. Basically, I just save up stuff and then do a bunch of pages at once for the last couple of months. I want to do a couple of journally type pages, also. I know how much I treasure the stories my mom wrote in my babybook of my toddlerhood. As much as Zib already loves looking at pictures and movies, I am sure she will be glad to have these scrapbooks someday. And its fun for me!
We watched March of the Penguins today. Zibby wasnt that into it, mostly because she wants to watch Signing Time all the livelong day 
But I thought it was pretty cool. What a strange world we live in. Buzz, who can handle any type of bodily mess, including output from all human orifices, got grossed out by the baby penguins eating from their mother’s mouths. I loved that the baby penguins stayed safe huddled under their parents special flabby guts. And that the parents took turns caring for the babies. It was all good, except for the eighty below, plus windchill business.
