Today...

Hi,

What did we do today? Not a lot, simply because Sarah found one thing that she wanted to do over and over and over again. We started off by doing a clock:

I plan on changing the arms later with something else because we'll use it in our learning process:) and then, today's hit:

 Yes, she can do it:) I tied yarn to the door knobs and creates the clothes line, very simple! She did not want to stop until I told her we are going to have a colorful bath!!! We filled the tub with water and kept adding food colors, one after one to see the change in colors. It was so exciting. I am ignorant regarding colors so I myself didn't know what to expect:)

After baths, we played with this:

I love that it has letters, shapes and number games. We bought it a long ago for about $16-18. That was all for today. I don't know what we are going to do tomorrow, I have to study but I have to come up with something for this spirited sweet little amazing girl.

Of course, I have to mention that Farida is doing great in tummy time:)  Now, she can also giggle and laugh so loud, these are the good times:) Here's a picture:

Thanks for reading.
Love,
Sherine

House Chores!!!

Hi,

We are back! Can house chores be any fun? Yes, with a curious and helping toddler like mine, it can be. The three of us are alone most of the days, grandpa (my dad) is working most of the day so it's our responsibility to keep the house clean, do the laundry, do the dishes, cook and get the groceries. I am no super woman so I won't be able to do all of that all by myself everyday and entertain my toddler and take care of my baby all at the same time all by myself so I had to ask for some help and Sarah was up to it. This child is hungry for learning, learning everything, her curiosity has no limits and I think this is the best advantage in all kids. In Egypt, a lot of moms, my mom included, think that teaching their kids house chores at young age is not required. Later, when mothers ask their children to help and they do, the children are slow because they were never trained, moms get frustrated so they dismiss the idea in order to finish in time and the children who eventually grow up learn nothing and can't take care of themselves. I'm struggling in cooking because of this, I struggled in organization because of this, I struggled in the beginning of my marriage because of this, I couldn't peal a potato, chop an onion, iron clothes or even fold the laundry BUT I don't want this for my kids so they will learn and they will help.

I am so happy to announce that sarah now can take care of herself to a great extent. She brushes her teeth on her own, changes her panties and pants, takes off her T.shirt, jacket, ..etc, puts on socks and works on the shoes, feeds herself (although sometimes lazy;), washes her hands and dries them and uses the toilet. I taught her to help me sort the laundry long ago by engaging her, she gives me the clothes item and tells me who it belongs to and its color while I fold it and she loves this job. Every morning, she helps me tidy the beds and helps me changing Farida's diapers. She also helps me bathe Farida. Today, she helped me chop apples (to prepare apple sauce) using butter knife and she diced the potatoes with me. She also helped me wash the dishes, we used two trays, one soapy and one with water only and she was extremely happy and focused. She also helped me in mashing the apples. We still have a lot to work on but so far, we are happy and Sarah feels responsible and is so proud of herself when I talk about what she does to her daddy, grandpa and grandma. She is my big girl:) Pardon me, I didn't take a lot of pictures because we were really busy and I had to be very careful watching her using the butter knife, ...etc so here is the pictures I got for today:

And for the record, we cooked the best meal ever today. Here is the recipe for you Liz,

chopped onion with some butter until it turns golden yellow, add ground beef (don't hate my, Liz) until cooked, add green peas and diced carrots with 1/2 cup of water, leave until half cooked and then add the diced potatoes and zucchini with more water until well cooked, add tomato paste and add some lemon juice, salt, black pepper and cumen, cook some more. Scatter some mozarella on the top and move to the oven. leave for about 15 minutes and voila!

Thanks for reading.

Love,
Sherine