tips – Thinker Mommy

Easter Collage

This year is totally different from last year – after a fake-out warm week, we’re back down to below freezing!!! The good thing about Easter Egg Hunts though, although they’re usually outside, is that they’re over in about 2 minutes (if you’re not organizing it yourself, of course). But, that same pro can turn into a con if the hunt is not handled correctly. Nobody wants to see older kids with brimming baskets and tiny toddlers in tears who weren’t even able to grab a single egg. And I cannot believe we hear stories every year of kids getting hurt or trampled when parents go crazy.

This year we got 2 egg hunts due to interstate travel visiting the grandparents that weekend. But since I have a 5 year old, we’ve got a few years experience. Let me share what we’ve found works best:

Completely separate egg hunt areas by age group. Preschoolers hunt in one spot, bigger kids in another (and if you can break it down even further to 3 or 4 different areas by age group – even better!). The bonus here is that you can lay all the eggs in plain sight for the little ones without worrying the bigger kids will scoop them up first. And you can make the hunt a nice challenge for the older kids.
Sometimes you just don’t have an easy way to create separate areas. For example, we went to a hunt in one small town that was using their large village green. However, they helped solve the problem by having the big kids go to the far end of the field, while the little ones stayed close, with the goal of meeting in the middle.
An egg limit! If the eggs are filled, post a rule of no more than, say, 10 eggs per person to ensure all kids get some. Repeat, repeat, have the kids repeat, repeat again, and make signs. That should ensure at least 60% follow the rule…
Even better than an egg limit? Empty eggs!! If you take away the greed factor – where it doesn’t really matter how many eggs you pick up – kids are generally better behaved and more likely to let a little one take that last egg. Have all the kids turn in their eggs at the end of the hunt by dumping them in a big box, and then hand out pre-packed, identical goodie bags to everyone!

Remember: your local Easter egg hunt is not The Hunger Games.

Beware the fancy diapers!

I thought we were doing my daughter a favor by getting her the really soft disposable diapers. Sure they were more expensive, but she was our firstborn, our baby! I gathered up all my diaper samples from the various baby expos I’d attended and did a complete, almost scientific, brand test. Some of the diapers leaked on us, some were so papery they crinkled every time she moved and I worried the rustling would be loud enough to disturb her sleep (yes, I was paranoid), and some just seemed really scratchy. Didn’t we love our daughter enough to spend a few extra dollars to prevent an itchy and uncomfortable feeling that we wouldn’t put up with ourselves? Well, when you put it that way…

I later discovered our fancy disposable diaper brand also had a loyalty rewards program with some pretty cool “free” stuff we could earn (with points from our purchases) and I’m a huge sucker for that kind of stuff. So that, plus the fact we had no complaints (no rashes, etc), kept us from switching brands as she got older. We did eventually get a big plastic Little Tikes grocery cart for “free” which I still find totally awesome (please do not reply with logic about how with all the extra money we could have saved by buying cheaper diapers we could have bought 10 grocery carts – I don’t want to hear it. It was free I tell you, free!!).

It was free I tell you, free!! (doll not included)

Then came potty training. Or it should have. We passed her second birthday and her third and still my daughter had no problems being wet or poopy. Like no problems whatsoever. She would have stayed in one diaper for the rest of eternity if left to herself. As I scoured potty training guides and parent manuals, many said the first step was for your child to show readiness, meaning discomfort being wet or soiled, or at least notifying you in some way before or after. Of course this is all usually supposed to happen a lot sooner too. We got nothing. I might have tried the “run naked and free until you feel pee dribbling down your leg” method but we have carpet throughout our house so I stuck that in the last resort file. I also read that rushing potty training can seriously backfire (constipation, taking longer to train overall, etc.) so I just kept telling myself, it’d be fine, no one goes to prom in diapers.

Our 3rd potty – the self “flusher” that says “hip hip horray” made this one the winner

We decided to move our daughter into Pull-Ups even before she was “ready” to potty train because 1. she was too big for the changing table, 2. we wanted to associate the changing table with babies, like her brother, not big girls like her and 3. we wanted her to get in the habit of pulling her diaper on and off by herself. But we stuck with our expensive brand out of habit. I tried giving O lots of liquids and asking her to try to use the potty every 10 or 15 minutes but she would go in her diaper directly before or after sitting on her potty. I tried demonstrating for her. I even tried a different potty that mounted onto the big toilet. Still no success. I think she knew exactly what I was asking for, but her body wasn’t cooperating; it just hadn’t clicked yet.

CVS brand pull up diapers. AKA not fancy.

Then we went to a CVS I’d never been to before due to a mix-up with a prescription at the pharmacy. I have a secret love for drugstores like Walgreens or Rite Aid; stores where there’s a little bit of everything and you never know what you’ll find, and where there’s always a holiday section filled with cheesy adorable themed knickknacks you don’t need (I always end up buying 1 or 2). While living in Boston, I discovered that very CVS is different, so I’d always wander the aisles whenever I was in a new store or just had time to kill (this is all related, I swear). While wandering this time for new and interesting products I didn’t know I needed, I noticed a super sale on the CVS brand pull-ups and I swear a light bulb clicked on above my head. What if the super plush, super absorbent, fancy diapers were part of the problem? What if she needs a flimsy, cheap diaper to feel that she’s wet and that wet is not good? What if she needs an uncomfortable diaper to motivate her to switch into comfy cotton undies? I still had fears about leakage but the sale was enough to prompt me to give it a try. Wait… what are my design options? Adorable alien monsters and/or pink butterflies? Ok, Sold.

It was like magic. Once we started wearing the cheapy diapers, O started telling us when she wet her diaper. So we started regularly asking her if she had to go, or to just sit and give it a try, and finally she successfully used the potty. I went the bribe route by offering m&ms for every attempt which worked sometimes but O was still going in her diaper frequently. The turning point was when she had 2 total leak-through accidents within 2 days (something that would never have happened in her expensive pull-ups) and suddenly the switch in her brain flipped. She’s been using the potty like a pro ever since. She has actually requested to wear her undies at night too and has stayed dry (5 nights and counting!!).

So there’s my cautionary tale. Should have saved this post for Halloween, haha. Beware!!