Preschooler Eye Drop Tip

So, I googled around for advice on ways to make eye drops for preschoolers/toddlers easier. I did find one tip that seems to work:
Have your child lie on his back and shut his eyes as tight as he can. Place one to two drops in the inner corner of each eye. Tell him to relax his eyes. The liquid will seep into the eye without tears or fuss! Wipe off the excess with a clean cloth or tissue.
I've used this with Jane, and she still fights the drops, but it's easier to do (takes fewer hands to hold flailing limbs, pry open eye lids and squeeze the drops in). Thought it was a good one.

There's also this funny post I found on Today's Parent (but it has an ad wall before it will show you the post, just FYI).

Parenting Wobbles

SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!

The refrain when we were at a church leadership retreat meeting on Saturday was overwhelming. Everyone commented on Jane's physical beauty and adorableness.

It's true! She's a precious little moo-hoo who is also very pretty.

But I forget! I know she's beautiful, inside and out, but in the frustrations of life with a "threenager" I can look past her beauty and only feel the frustrations and see her disobedience, defiance and willfulness. Everything feels so hard.

This week she has been sick. Started with a cough on Sunday evening, so I'm guessing she picked up something at church -- passing the peace is NOT my favorite, but especially during cold and flu season. (But partly my fault because I didn't get the hand sanitizer on her hands or make her wash her hands before we took her to the nursery/Sunday school -- I would think they would wash their hands in Sunday school before a snack, but they do not.)

The cough progressed and added a runny nose and leaky eye, which is usually her first symptom of a cold. No fever though, and still she hasn't had one. She went to school on Tuesday and I got a call to pick her up after a couple hours. Her eye was hurting and the school said she had pink eye. We went to the doctor -- possibly our first (second?) sick visit in her 3+ years. Doctor diagnosed an eye infection (so yes pink eye?) and prescribed drops.

Wrestling a 36 pound preschooler (who is 3 feet, 4 inches tall!) to get a drop in each eye is a really difficult thing. I'm going to attempt my first solo drop placement after lunch. It's going to be impossible, as it's really a struggle even with Shawn helping. Ugh.

She is some better, but still sneezy and coughy and tired. So we decided to have her stay home from school today. It is fine, but I'm so disappointed and sure that it's the wrong decision. She'd be having a better, more engaging time at school. When I called the office to tell them she's staying home the secretary seemed to be trying to talk me into bringing her in, because she isn't contagious re: pink eye once she's started her drops, if that's even what it is. But it was too late (to get her together to go and I'd already texted her teacher and asked a friend to bring her Valentine cards by after school).

Yeah. Jane's missing her first class Valentine party and card exchange. She won't get to make her card box craft or celebrate love with her friends. I'm way more disappointed than she is, and it's definitely FOMO (fear of missing out), which I happened to read about on Mommy Shorts this week. But decision made, we're missing out, etc. I know my regret and unhappiness with the decision will fade (probably by this afternoon even).

I also am missing out on alone time for myself, and next week the school is closed for Mardi Gras, which is pretty much the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Oh, and I'm teetering on the verge of being sick myself -- sore throat and just tired, part of it worry about her and lost sleep from getting up in the night again with her from the coughing.

TIBTIL: Chi Shampoo & Conditioner

I first saw Chi Infra shampoo at Ross in Danville, but I knew I didn't want to weigh myself down with extra liquids on the flight back no matter how good the deal. I have loved the smell of Chi products for a while, since a couple haircuts ago when the stylist used Chi Iron Guard 44 and I was swept away by the smell. Since I knew I could find a deal on it and I needed new shampoo I thought I'd shop for it locally.

I first tried my Ross here, but they are a real run-down, ramshackle store with no real beauty section. Later I tried TJ Maxx and score, they had the shampoo and conditioner (called Chi Infra Treatment). Unfortunately they only had giant, 32-ounce containers, but they were only a couple dollars more than the much smaller 8-ounce containers you can find at CVS or Target. I was in a snit mood anyway, so I dropped the cash am loving the smell of my hair ever since.

I had been using Trader Joe's tea tree oil shampoo, which was OK but didn't keep my hair clean very long. And my hair does not do well being washed too often. This Chi stuff gives me several days of clean-enough hair and smells fantastic. Have I mentioned I love the crisp, clean smell?! I know it's just chemicals and just as bad for me as a floral or something but my nose knows and I love it. I wish there were a curly product -- like mousse -- so I could have my hair smell great no matter the style.

I also think I would like a Chi perfume. THAT's how much I love this smell.

Amazon affiliate links used throughout.

it's MARI time

A friend of Shawn's came across this and sent it. She's even wearing purple..


Your Three-Year-Old: Friend or Enemy?

Your Three-Year-Old: Friend or EnemyYour Three-Year-Old: Friend or Enemy by Louise Bates Ames

I didn't actually write a review on Goodreads, but I'm stealing their formatting for links and the cover image. This book wasn't that helpful, but I was drawn in by the funny title. I was looking at parenting books at the library and saw this one. I am such a frustrated parent much of the time now. It's like I am the tantrum-prone toddler with trouble controlling my emotions (or at least I have my moments, with and without Jane around).

The book was published in 1985 and the advice is funny. There are several sections that talk about Father not understanding -- expecting too much of his children's table manners so better for the 3-year-old to eat supper alone in the kitchen before the family meal. LOLOL.

A running theme is: PUT YOUR CHILD IN NURSERY SCHOOL FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING. They write a lot about how people who are not the child's mother can get better results with a 3-year-old so take advantage of that. Also they say several times to find a local high school girl to babysit. (I don't think that flies now since high school girls are probably overscheduled with after school activities, college prep and dates.)

For us Jane is in preschool a couple mornings a week, and we love it. I was very resistant to it at first, but she's really liked getting to make friends, which is something that I am so bad at. It's also given me a little time to work on projects myself. BUT I also respect the choice to keep kids home for as long as possible (or even home schooled). I have fears of her picking up bad behaviors from other kids, but for us I think that's a trade off we're willing to accept for the socialization aspect (since I'm lacking in that area -- or something like that). She's also learning a lot and having experiences that don't include me, which have to happen eventually, no matter how weird it seems to me.

The book also advises against feeding your kid food dyes, since they've been linked to behavioral changes in kids. They say if you and your kid are reasonably happy with their behavior you don't need to change anything, but if there's "deviant" behavior that you can't figure out look to the diet and eliminate foods with dyes. That's not to blame for Jane's behavior (none of which is deviant, all of which is typical 3-year-old stuff, however much I dislike it in the moment), but I will still do my best to keep food dyes out of her body. (That's another mark against going to school because she's fed crap on a somewhat regular basis ... although they say they're "treats" it doesn't seem so much because it's so regular. I'm especially not happy with the King Cake that will be part of next week's lessons -- green, yellow and purple food dye are the main ingredients in the frosting ... not to mention the sugar, which is another thing we really limit in Jane's diet.)

There's got to be an up-to-date parenting book for preschoolers, and maybe I'll stumble across it or seek it out. (If you have a recommendation, let me know!) For now this was fun enough to read and probably gave me some insight into child development, at least as understood in the 80s (which is when I happened to be a 3-year-old myself, and my mom said it was the worst age!). I'm going to keep on loving my girl and do my best to keep my own emotions in check.

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