I had never heard of this experiment until my colleague sent me a link to this hilarious video. It's an experiment that you can conduct on 4-year old to find out about their ability to delay gratification. Even though he's not quite four yet, we decided to try it out on the little guy. We sat him down at the dining room table and gave him one marshmallow and told that he could eat it right away of, if he could wait for a little while, he would get two marshmallows.
"I want two!," he cried excitedly.
"Okay, but you can't eat that marshmallow until we come back in the room. We are going to leave for a little while so remember, you'll only get a second marshmallow if you wait."
We then left him alone in the room for approximately five minutes. Of course I was spying on him the whole time to see what he would do. He did everything short of eating the marshmallow. He sniffed the marshmallow. Threw it. Mashed it with his hands. Licked it. But he never actually tried to eat it. After five minutes of him yelling, "can I have my other marshmallow now?" we finally gave it to him. The fact that he was able to wait bodes well for his future. Of course in the real experiment the kids had to wait for 15 minutes, so I'm not sure if the results are very accurate. Also, licking the marshmallow could be seen as cheating. Plus, when he demanded that we repeat the experiment again the next day, he ate the marshmallow after waiting only a few minutes and didn't seem to care in the least if he got a second one.
When this experiment was originally conducted 40+ years ago, they did a follow up study with the same kids 15 years later. The children who ate the marshmallow right away (2/3 of them) scored an average of 250 points lower on SAT tests than those who waited. Also, those who were able to delay gratification went on to be higher achievers, were more successful and happier in general.
I'm thinking that once he's four we'll do the experiment again with M&M peanuts, a treat he likes much more than marshmallows!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Fortune cookies don't lie
The little guy just opened up a fortune cookie and pulled out the the little sheet of paper. Daddy asked him what it said.
"13 means giving a hug to love mom."
:-)
"13 means giving a hug to love mom."
:-)
Friday, September 25, 2009
I know I said I wouldn't talk about toilet training anymore but...
The little guy won't pee at school or at nursery school! This means he's holding it for roughly 5 hours every morning. No big surprise that he's been wetting his pants pretty much every day when his caregiver comes to pick him up.
I've asked his teachers to encourage him to use the toilet. But it's like the saying that you can lead a horse to water but you can't force him to drink (or in this case, pee).
We've promised him a Franklin DVD if he starts doing pees at school. He really wants a Franklin DVD. Really, really wants one. But like everything we've gone through with toilet training, promises of gifts don't work. Nothing will work until he makes up his own mind.
Picture day is next week. I'll remind you that it took at least six tries to get him to sit for a passport photo. Oh, and did I mention that he refused to have his nursery school picture taken last year? I've already started strategizing with his teacher on ways to encourage him to cooperate....I'll let you know how it goes.
I've asked his teachers to encourage him to use the toilet. But it's like the saying that you can lead a horse to water but you can't force him to drink (or in this case, pee).
We've promised him a Franklin DVD if he starts doing pees at school. He really wants a Franklin DVD. Really, really wants one. But like everything we've gone through with toilet training, promises of gifts don't work. Nothing will work until he makes up his own mind.
Picture day is next week. I'll remind you that it took at least six tries to get him to sit for a passport photo. Oh, and did I mention that he refused to have his nursery school picture taken last year? I've already started strategizing with his teacher on ways to encourage him to cooperate....I'll let you know how it goes.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Trying to fill in the blanks
Getting information out of an almost 4-year old is like pulling teeth. I never quite get the full story.
We've been drilling him with questions about his first week at school. So far he's told me about snack time (he talks about that a lot!) and that they have a French teacher. He played baseball one day. The bus drivers are nice. And he told me that they have a library inside the school (which, of course, I already knew).
The details we get are sporadic and sometimes don't make a whole lot of sense. A good example of this is when he told Hubby that he sometimes has to help the kids that are "sad and mopey." Presumably these are kids that are having a difficult time adjusting to Junior Kindergarten. When Hubby asked him what he did to help he said, "I did them around." When he asked him to elaborate he said, "I gave them band-aids and poured gasoline on them." I'm sure that cheered them up!
And then there is all the stuff that has gone missing from his backpack. Two days in a row he came home without a jacket. On the second day I got pretty concerned because 1) it was bloody cold outside and he came home wearing a t-shirt and 2) we don't have a lot of spare jackets on hand. The little guy, of course, had no idea where his jackets has disappeared to. I sent a note to the teacher, and one of the jackets made its way home the next day. The other one (his MEC fleecy jacket) is still missing in action. Which sucks, because it is his favourite jacket.
I always pack a change of clothes in his bag in case he has an accident. His spare clothes have also gone missing. I'm beginning to think that by the end of the first month I'll have to buy him a whole new wardrobe! The teacher suggested I call the bus company to see if he's been leaving things on the bus. But why would he take his clothes out of his bag? It doesn't make sense. My guess is they've probably been sucked into a black hole never to be seen again.
Between the missing pieces of information and the missing clothing, I'm definitely not getting the full story about his school day.
We've been drilling him with questions about his first week at school. So far he's told me about snack time (he talks about that a lot!) and that they have a French teacher. He played baseball one day. The bus drivers are nice. And he told me that they have a library inside the school (which, of course, I already knew).
The details we get are sporadic and sometimes don't make a whole lot of sense. A good example of this is when he told Hubby that he sometimes has to help the kids that are "sad and mopey." Presumably these are kids that are having a difficult time adjusting to Junior Kindergarten. When Hubby asked him what he did to help he said, "I did them around." When he asked him to elaborate he said, "I gave them band-aids and poured gasoline on them." I'm sure that cheered them up!
And then there is all the stuff that has gone missing from his backpack. Two days in a row he came home without a jacket. On the second day I got pretty concerned because 1) it was bloody cold outside and he came home wearing a t-shirt and 2) we don't have a lot of spare jackets on hand. The little guy, of course, had no idea where his jackets has disappeared to. I sent a note to the teacher, and one of the jackets made its way home the next day. The other one (his MEC fleecy jacket) is still missing in action. Which sucks, because it is his favourite jacket.
I always pack a change of clothes in his bag in case he has an accident. His spare clothes have also gone missing. I'm beginning to think that by the end of the first month I'll have to buy him a whole new wardrobe! The teacher suggested I call the bus company to see if he's been leaving things on the bus. But why would he take his clothes out of his bag? It doesn't make sense. My guess is they've probably been sucked into a black hole never to be seen again.
Between the missing pieces of information and the missing clothing, I'm definitely not getting the full story about his school day.
Friday, September 18, 2009
His passport
Sigh....Last year we tried six times to get his passport photo taken. Then we gave up. He refused to sit on the stool or look at the camera. He just cried bloody murder. Even with promises of post-passport photo ice-cream treats, there was no way he was going to allow his photo to be taken.
Fast forward to this week. We are planning to go to Seattle at the end of October so we decided that it was time to try again. It took quite a bit of convincing (in the form of Smarties) but we finally succeeded! Whoohoo!
This morning (while we were in a rush, of course) we had to weigh him and measure him for his passport application. No big deal, right? Wrong! At the mere mention of stepping on the scale he started screaming, "No! I don't want to." When I told him that he needed to in order to ride the airplane to visit Amma, he pouted "I don't want to take the airplane!" (Liar, liar pants on fire). After about a 15-minute struggle he finally agreed to be weighed. In retrospect I should have just wrestled him into my arms and stepped on the scale with him....
Measuring his height against the wall. Pretty easy, right? Once again, wrong! Another drawn out scene ensured where we tried to get him to cooperate to measure him against the wall.
The little guy is honestly the most pig-headed kid on the face of the earth. Getting a passport isn't supposed to be this hard.
Fast forward to this week. We are planning to go to Seattle at the end of October so we decided that it was time to try again. It took quite a bit of convincing (in the form of Smarties) but we finally succeeded! Whoohoo!
This morning (while we were in a rush, of course) we had to weigh him and measure him for his passport application. No big deal, right? Wrong! At the mere mention of stepping on the scale he started screaming, "No! I don't want to." When I told him that he needed to in order to ride the airplane to visit Amma, he pouted "I don't want to take the airplane!" (Liar, liar pants on fire). After about a 15-minute struggle he finally agreed to be weighed. In retrospect I should have just wrestled him into my arms and stepped on the scale with him....
Measuring his height against the wall. Pretty easy, right? Once again, wrong! Another drawn out scene ensured where we tried to get him to cooperate to measure him against the wall.
The little guy is honestly the most pig-headed kid on the face of the earth. Getting a passport isn't supposed to be this hard.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Quote of the day
When I asked him how French class went today he said, "Mom, it's a waste of my tongue!"
Sunday, September 13, 2009
First day of kindergarten
It went pretty well, all things considered.
On Friday morning he cried and cried for a good 45 minutes straight, repeating over and over again that he didn't want to go to kindergarten. As he cried all I could think was, "How on earth are we going to get him on the school bus?"
After he ate some breakfast he settled down. He even helped me pack a snack to bring to school. When I gave him the 5-minute warning about leaving to catch the bus he had a mini-meltdown. But as soon as his shoes were on his attitude changed. It's like he had accepted his fate and figured he might as well embrace it. We arrived at the bus stop well ahead of time (video to follow). And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. The bus didn't show so we rushed him to school in our car. What a let down!
We hung out with him on the playground for a good 20 minutes to help him acclimatize. He was too nervous to interact with the other children and, although he was intrigued by all of the cool playground equipment, he just stayed on the sidelines. Finally we were able to settle him into the sand box with two other little boys. There was a pretty cool steamroller there that he simply couldn't resist. Once he was playing comfortably, we decided it was time to go. This idea wasn't so cool with the little guy. He clung to my leg and begged for us to stay. The teacher (bless her heart) came over to give us a hand. She said, "It's time to say goodbye to mommy and daddy. You will be together at the end of the day, just like every other day."
After a quick goodbye hug and kiss we walk out the gate. The look on his face just about killed me. He looked so frightened. So abandoned. So lonely. Did I mention he is still only 3 years old?
When we rounded the corner I burst into tears. And I burst into tears again when we drove by the school yard and I saw him standing alone against a wall looking all sad and scared.
Hubby dropped me at work and then drove back to the school later to spy on the little guy boarding the bus for nursery school. One glance at the little guy told him that things had gone just fine. He boarded the bus with a big smile on his face and then made his way to the very back of the bus. Hubby followed the bus and observed him standing up from time to time to peer out the back window. When he arrived at nursery school he hopped off the bus and ran excitedly into the playground to play with his friends.
The teacher called me at work that afternoon and gave me a recap of his day. He did very well, except for one small incident. When the French teacher (a new stranger) came in to give a lesson, he got up and left the group. The teacher lost sight of him momentarily and then quickly set off to find him. He was sitting in front of his cubby hole, holding his special blanket (tee-tee). "Do you need a little self time?" she asked and he nodded yes. After a minute he put his blanket back in the bag and rejoined the group.
When I asked him about his day, he was absolutely glowing. He did a craft, sang some songs, played with a castle. I asked him what the best part of the morning was and he said, "I liked having snack time." (No big surprise there!). When I asked him what he thought of his teacher he said, "She's really nice Mom!"
So far so good. Let's just hope the bus shows up tomorrow!
On Friday morning he cried and cried for a good 45 minutes straight, repeating over and over again that he didn't want to go to kindergarten. As he cried all I could think was, "How on earth are we going to get him on the school bus?"
After he ate some breakfast he settled down. He even helped me pack a snack to bring to school. When I gave him the 5-minute warning about leaving to catch the bus he had a mini-meltdown. But as soon as his shoes were on his attitude changed. It's like he had accepted his fate and figured he might as well embrace it. We arrived at the bus stop well ahead of time (video to follow). And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. The bus didn't show so we rushed him to school in our car. What a let down!
We hung out with him on the playground for a good 20 minutes to help him acclimatize. He was too nervous to interact with the other children and, although he was intrigued by all of the cool playground equipment, he just stayed on the sidelines. Finally we were able to settle him into the sand box with two other little boys. There was a pretty cool steamroller there that he simply couldn't resist. Once he was playing comfortably, we decided it was time to go. This idea wasn't so cool with the little guy. He clung to my leg and begged for us to stay. The teacher (bless her heart) came over to give us a hand. She said, "It's time to say goodbye to mommy and daddy. You will be together at the end of the day, just like every other day."
After a quick goodbye hug and kiss we walk out the gate. The look on his face just about killed me. He looked so frightened. So abandoned. So lonely. Did I mention he is still only 3 years old?
When we rounded the corner I burst into tears. And I burst into tears again when we drove by the school yard and I saw him standing alone against a wall looking all sad and scared.
Hubby dropped me at work and then drove back to the school later to spy on the little guy boarding the bus for nursery school. One glance at the little guy told him that things had gone just fine. He boarded the bus with a big smile on his face and then made his way to the very back of the bus. Hubby followed the bus and observed him standing up from time to time to peer out the back window. When he arrived at nursery school he hopped off the bus and ran excitedly into the playground to play with his friends.
The teacher called me at work that afternoon and gave me a recap of his day. He did very well, except for one small incident. When the French teacher (a new stranger) came in to give a lesson, he got up and left the group. The teacher lost sight of him momentarily and then quickly set off to find him. He was sitting in front of his cubby hole, holding his special blanket (tee-tee). "Do you need a little self time?" she asked and he nodded yes. After a minute he put his blanket back in the bag and rejoined the group.
When I asked him about his day, he was absolutely glowing. He did a craft, sang some songs, played with a castle. I asked him what the best part of the morning was and he said, "I liked having snack time." (No big surprise there!). When I asked him what he thought of his teacher he said, "She's really nice Mom!"
So far so good. Let's just hope the bus shows up tomorrow!
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Easing into Kindergarten
So Friday is the big day. The little guy has expressed to us that he is very worried about taking the bus by himself. He's also worried that he won't know any of the other kids. We've been reassuring him that all kids starting school feel nervous, just like him. I really hope that he doesn't cling to me and freak out on the first morning....
Tomorrow we are going to do a dry run. We're going to get up earlier than usual, and get dressed before breakfast instead of after. I want to time it out to see how much time we really need to give ourselves to make it to the bus. My suspicion is that I'm going to have to change my routine a lot in order to get out the door by 7:23. I'm going to have to shower, iron my clothes, and make lunches in the evening.
Life was so much less complicated before Kindergarten!
************************
We had a great visit with my brother and family over the long weekend. The little guy was so excited to see his cousins! On Saturday we went to the country fair and all three of the kids went on the rides for the first time. As you can tell from the pictures, they were all smiling from ear to ear.
The weather was beautiful so we spent most of the weekend outside wandering through the Market, at the beach, eating ice-cream, playing at the park etc... The cousins had such a blast running around and playing together. Of course, the adults also had their fair share of fun too!
Tomorrow we are going to do a dry run. We're going to get up earlier than usual, and get dressed before breakfast instead of after. I want to time it out to see how much time we really need to give ourselves to make it to the bus. My suspicion is that I'm going to have to change my routine a lot in order to get out the door by 7:23. I'm going to have to shower, iron my clothes, and make lunches in the evening.
Life was so much less complicated before Kindergarten!
************************
We had a great visit with my brother and family over the long weekend. The little guy was so excited to see his cousins! On Saturday we went to the country fair and all three of the kids went on the rides for the first time. As you can tell from the pictures, they were all smiling from ear to ear.
The weather was beautiful so we spent most of the weekend outside wandering through the Market, at the beach, eating ice-cream, playing at the park etc... The cousins had such a blast running around and playing together. Of course, the adults also had their fair share of fun too!
Thursday, September 03, 2009
The nudist
He's a nudist. What can I say?
Today at the park he stripped all of his clothes off and proceeded to stride about doing his very best blue heron imitation.
"It's time to put your bathing suit on," I told him.
"But blue herons don't where bathing suits," he replied.
"Yes, but they have feathers to hide their private parts."
He couldn't argue that point so on went the bathing suit!
************************
So the little guy is terrified of dogs. Even the tiny rodent-like foofoo dogs. If he sees a dog - even in the distance - he starts trembling uncontrollably. The other day he actually ran into the road to avoid a pug dog. When I got upset at him for running into the street he said, "But mom, there was a dog!" as though his actions were justifiable under the circumstances.
Today I tried to talk to him about his irrational fear of dogs, but he would have none of it. Here's what he told me:
"Dogs should always stay in their cages. Cats can go outside but not dogs."
Then he said, "I'm a cat person and daddy's a cat person, and you're a dog person."
He said this as though I was the scum of the earth or something. How could he have developed such a loathing for dogs when I'm the biggest dog lover in the world? It doesn't make sense! I think we might need to get a dog if he keeps this up much longer. I think it's the only way to cure him.
Hmmmph! Cat people. What's with them anyway?
Today at the park he stripped all of his clothes off and proceeded to stride about doing his very best blue heron imitation.
"It's time to put your bathing suit on," I told him.
"But blue herons don't where bathing suits," he replied.
"Yes, but they have feathers to hide their private parts."
He couldn't argue that point so on went the bathing suit!
************************
So the little guy is terrified of dogs. Even the tiny rodent-like foofoo dogs. If he sees a dog - even in the distance - he starts trembling uncontrollably. The other day he actually ran into the road to avoid a pug dog. When I got upset at him for running into the street he said, "But mom, there was a dog!" as though his actions were justifiable under the circumstances.
Today I tried to talk to him about his irrational fear of dogs, but he would have none of it. Here's what he told me:
"Dogs should always stay in their cages. Cats can go outside but not dogs."
Then he said, "I'm a cat person and daddy's a cat person, and you're a dog person."
He said this as though I was the scum of the earth or something. How could he have developed such a loathing for dogs when I'm the biggest dog lover in the world? It doesn't make sense! I think we might need to get a dog if he keeps this up much longer. I think it's the only way to cure him.
Hmmmph! Cat people. What's with them anyway?
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