It was bound to happen

We haven't been tv nazis with Grant, as the television is often on in our house if for no other reason than background noise. However, as far as shows that Grant actually watches, there has only been one for the majority of his life...Jack's Big Music Show. This phenomenal little puppet show was only produced for two seasons, and has been out of production for longer than that already. It is strictly about music, without all the other social agendas most kids' shows bombard the pre school set with. Not only does Grant get to "rock" with Laurie Berkner, but he learns about accordians, zydeco music, swing, jazz, orchestral music and just about any other type of musical inclination imaginable.

The other really nice thing about Jack (well, except when it come to Christmas gifts) is that there are virtually no marketing items associated with the show. When we tried to find toys for this show at Christmas time, we found there was exactly one music CD associated with the show, and one DVD with 3 episodes on it. Of course, the nice thing is my child isn't constantly screaming for recognized toys in the store.

However, this post isn't really about Jack...it's about my son's sudden change and leaving Jack behind. :( Tis a sad day indeed. He just decided last week that instead of asking for "Jack" all the time, he now wants "Blue." Yes...my kid is hooked on Blue's Clues. (I'm just greatful it isn't an addiction to Barney or even Thomas the Train.)

I knew the transition to Blue's Clues was complete when I was giving him dinner and he kept insisting "a clue! a clue! a clue!" quite emphatically. I tried to tell him it wasn't time to watch Blue, but he kept insisting. Then I realized he was looking at the refridgerator and specifically a little paw shaped magnet with my vet's phone number on it. He had indeed found a clue. :)

I'll miss Jack and Laurie Berkner.

Summer days

So people regularly ask me if I'm worried about Grant's social development, especially since I don't send him to daycare. These questions become more urgent if I mention that I hope to home school him, or some other alternative form of education. It seems that most people believe social skills come from being out in society, instead of being good manners and values that begin at home. This baffles me.

A lot of the research on attachment parenting shows that kids that stay close to their parents during their formative baby and toddler days, do NOT become clingy and shy, despite the predictions of those who don't know better. In fact, being confident in where one's parents are and that they will always be there, increases the confidence a child has in themselves and being brave about trying new things. Afterall, they know mom and dad will be there if they need them.

All this being said, I took Grant to the park today. Usually he loves to swing and use the slide and climb to the point of giving me a heart attack. Today however, they had the splash pad turned on and there were half a dozen toddlers playing. Grant insisted that this was where he wanted to play. Despite coming unprepared for playing in the water, I took off his shoes and sent him into the splash area in his shorts and t-shirt. He ran right to the water sprays. He danced on them, put his face in the water, ran in circles and generally played his little heart out. He also was quick to go up to any and every other child there. Both older and younger kids would catch his attention and he'd run up to them. With older children, he'd approach and look them square in the eye. If they began some sort of play, Grant would follow their lead. If they weren't quick to start something though, Grant would begin to play and expect them to follow his lead. This might entail going to a new splash zone, running to the fence, or playing with one of the random toys that were in the area. Younger kids, Grant would generally go up to, touch their shoulder and then lead them to the water or toys. He was confident and outgoing...and seems to have outgrown the need to hug other kids until they scream. LOL

Of all the kids we saw today, Grant was the only one that played with every other child there and never hesitated to approach anyone. He even interacted well with the other adults there (one mom had a 13 month old with a ball that Grant continually brought the ball to, believing it belonged to the mom and the not the baby.)

It was all quite endearing and showed me that I need not worry about his social skills. He's a confident, friendly and outgoing boy who people seem to respond well to and he seeks out interactions appropriately.

Even though he doesn't go to daycare.