WOH and sleeping issues
Find a Conversation
WOH and sleeping issues
| Sun, 05-22-2005 - 10:34am |
We were at a dinner party last night at the home of one of dh's coworkers. They have 2 boys, 6 and 4. They have a bunch of sleeping issues (kids 'scared' at night, won't fall asleep in their own bed, won't go to bed without mom or dad cuddling them, etc.) The mom blames herself because since she works all day and misses them so much she tends to cuddle with them late at night and they fall asleep in a pile on the bed all together. She said that if she SAH, they wouldn't have the same issues.
I sah. For us, bed time is a rigid, welcome respite at the end of the day. Dh has no desire to keep them up either, lol.

Pages
Totally OT, but I'm wondering if you might have any recommendations....I have a 10 yo who has been absolutely obsessed with viruses and bacteria for the last 4 months or so. He wants the details: how a particular microbe works, what the symptoms are, why those symptoms occur, what diseases are more dangerous than others (and why) etc. etc. (it's been our main topic of conversations during car rides, at the dinner table, at night before bed...). Anyway, we've done our best to answer everything, but we are both more cell/molecular biologists and don't really know much about books available in the field. Would you happen to know of any good book that is geared towards kids, but with very detailed information? He understands the concepts at a very high level, but would definitely enjoy more fun text and pictures than what is found in the average textbook on the subject. Any web links would be wonderful as well.....
Thanks!
Laura
<>
I thought there was no such thing...that everything was equally fun and enjoyable with kids around? Wasn't that your claim?
Meldi
Well, usually with examples like that, we'd consider various compromises.
Karen
"A pocketknife is like a melody;sharp in some places,
Because mandatory quiet time doesn't ammount to mats and lights out. Thats why. Its quiet time - not pretend you are sleeping time. Even if it did, of course, its a group thing. Not an isolated by oneself in a bedroom thing.
But lets go with your scenario - mats out and lights off = quiet time. If 2 yr old outgrowing naps caused the stress you write about, no daycare accepting 2yr olds could function. Obviously. You should ask yourself about that. By your theory, a dc can convince several 2 yr olds to lie on mats quietly wiht lights out. You can't get one to lie on her bed. Why would you think that would be? Just curious.
All the books I know of are geared towards adults. For a year, I taught microbiology at the most basic, beginner's level geared to non-scientists. But all adults. There are some VERY basic texts out there, but they presume adulthood, even if no science background. One thing I did use that a child might like was The Microbiology Coloring Book. It is, in fact, a coloring book. But not a simplistic one. I used it to make slides for an overhead projector. It seems to be geared towards college freshman who would get a kitschy kick out of learning microbiology from a coloring book. But a 10yo might feel patronized. Sorry I can't be more help. I've never looked into books for kids because I've never needed to. I only ever taught non-scientist adults.
And in keeping with the theme of "do what you love" which qm thinks is a myth, I dropped teaching after 3 semesters (it was a night class after my regular job) because I HATED it. It was just torture. There may be some overlap between teaching an interested 10yo and teaching an English major, but I dunno. All the web links I know of are for adults too. I think the problem is 1)I've never looked because I've never had to and 2)the market for children's microbiology texts may be so tiny as to not make it worth it to publish one. All the kids' books I've come across have been basic biology because it's assumed that even the most science-y kid (like I was) wont get past the generics of biology like cell division.
I really find this to be a great kid misconception.
<>
As far as I can see kids don't make particularily many of their developmental changes gradually in any way that is relevant to day to day life. And they don't do it in one direction either. Lots of back and forth and sideways. Sometimes I think the whole milestone concept needs to be tossed. It doesn't include sufficient imagery for the going backwards part and forgetting all about having already made it to the milestone in the first place. Messes up alot of parents. Who desperately want to see forward only, or manage to believe that if only a toe has touched a milestone, that doesn't really count, its not part of the real process until both feet are squarely planted there and progress must be halted until the child is full ready to JUMP to that next milestone, perhaps skipping over some less desireable milestones in the process.
Sounds like our struggle for good material is not without basis :-). Thanks anyway! I took a look at the Microbiology Coloring Book and I think I might actually order that one this summer. It's a start anyway and it might be a good fit for dd (who is equally obsessed with microbiology and a fanatical arts and crafts kid) if it doesn't work out for ds. I'll happily take a couple of adult websites if you know any particularly good ones?
Laura
Pages