It’s all sinking in at some beneficial level, right?

[Anonymous]

I think it’s great you are interacting and engaging your child but I would try to not get overly invested with milestones and meeting certain targets. Kids develop differently and develop certain interests that may differ from your own. I see a lot of parents who try to live vicariously through their kids or place unrealistic standards on their children and get disappointed when they don’t meet them.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it’s all beneficial!!

Your post made me smile. I remember finger painting with my then toddler and all he wanted to do was paint his little toes. Paint didn’t hit paper for the better part of a year!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes! It’s all sinking in!

Your post made me laugh. I was all about cooking and baking with my son including “our daily bread” and event the started telling me to call him when it was done.

* eventually he started to tell to call him when it was done.

LOL. My DD is 4 and it's getting a little better with collaborative cooking/baking ventures...but this is still pretty much how it always ends up with me finishing everything alone!

And yes, OP, I am sure on some deep level it is sinking in. And, you're continuing to build and strengthen your love for each other through these shared experiences, which is really the most important thing.

Same!

All that “cook with your kids” stuff lasts about three minutes!! But I press on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is a fun three-year-old. I’ve really tried to do fun, educational and interesting projects with him and he has a ball but nothing seems to impress him or teach him.

Example: we mix different primary color bath tabs in squeeze bottles to make secondary colors. He likes to mix them all together. But he still doesn’t get that blue and yellow make green or red and yellow make orange. He’s completely unimpressed.

Another example is our terrace garden. We planted flower seeds in boxes and watered them every day. The tiny seeds he held in his little hand are now flowering plants taller than he is. He’s like “meh” while I’m amazed (I’ve never done this before).

We read, read, read all the time which he loves and he has a room full of books but he never wants to talk about the story.

Coloring and art: he likes to put the caps on the soft crayons and take them in and out if the box. Sensory play? He’ll gladly play in rice, beans or water beads if there’s a truck and digger involved (I actually don’t know what I’m supposed to do with the sensory stuff anyway).

It’s all worth it though, right? It’s doing something for him, isn’t it?

Literally, everything in his life is new. It can't be amazing because it's all amazing and he's taking it all in.
Think about what he encounters in a day:
New food flavors and textures
New expressions from friends and teachers
Dozens of new words
New streets he's never been on
New dogs he sees on the street
An automatic door at a new store
New feeling of heat and humidity

etc.

[Anonymous]

It is all sinking in. What young kids need most is play -- play with you, other kids, anyone. That's how they learn.

As a parent of much older kids, the only real advice I have is to not forget yourself in your attempt to make sure you do all the right things for your child. Sometimes taking a break and giving yourself a chance to think of something other than your child/parenting can be really beneficial.

[Anonymous]

OP, your kid will learn primary colors at school. The point isn’t for you to teach him X. But when you do all of this stuff, what he’s really learning is that you love him, you guys can do stuff together, talk together, etc.

(Of course, there are some things that school won’t teach! But I don’t think that’s what your post is really about. Remember, no matter what the topic is, the underlying message to your kid is “I love you.”)

[Anonymous]

My son is very similar and he turned 3 in March. That said, he understands a lot and gets things really fast. For example yesterday he found a “stick” in our garden. I explained to him that that is not just a stick, that is a root from our tree. I also told him that roots in th ground bring water and food to the tree. Today he explained all of this to his nanny. He actually wanted to show our nanny that those “sticks” are not sticks, they are tree roots and bring water and nutrients to the tree. I think that’s pretty cool.

He also does not like to draw and can’t hold a marker correctly while my daughters were drawing people at his age…

[Anonymous]

I really don’t think it matters that much. My DH and I were raised in a laissez faire manner without all of the curated activities and we did very well academically, professionally, socially, and emotionally. My children were raised like yours, with nanny and high quality preschool and lots of those activities. I don’t necessarily think they will end up much different than us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your kid will learn primary colors at school. The point isn’t for you to teach him X. But when you do all of this stuff, what he’s really learning is that you love him, you guys can do stuff together, talk together, etc.

(Of course, there are some things that school won’t teach! But I don’t think that’s what your post is really about. Remember, no matter what the topic is, the underlying message to your kid is “I love you.”)

+1. Absolutely this! He's learning that his parents fun, engaging, and love him. That's the most important thing! I think it's impossible to read too much to a toddler, and things like sensory bins and putting tops on markers are good for motor skills. But actually learning "stuff" like colors and how plants grow is no big deal for that age. Do it because it's fun, not because you want him to learn XYZ.

[Anonymous]

What I've seen that has sunk in is talking to my kids using adult words (not "boo boo" and other kid words) and reading to them about lots of different things. It's surprising what they understand.

My FIL is a farmer. I overheard my youngest DS telling him all about poison ivy- how to spot it, that it's shiny and what happens when you touch it. He's 3! FIL was amused.

[Anonymous]

Yes, this is called building background knowledge.

Also add that three and four year olds are a lot more interested in the process versus the product. They are also very focused on the present and don't always have the complexity of language to talk about the recent past or hypotheticals I think that kicks in more at like 5/6/7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, this is called building background knowledge.

Also add that three and four year olds are a lot more interested in the process versus the product. They are also very focused on the present and don't always have the complexity of language to talk about the recent past or hypotheticals I think that kicks in more at like 5/6/7.

+1. Building background knowledge is important and OP’s efforts are definitely sinking in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t think it matters that much. My DH and I were raised in a laissez faire manner without all of the curated activities and we did very well academically, professionally, socially, and emotionally. My children were raised like yours, with nanny and high quality preschool and lots of those activities. I don’t necessarily think they will end up much different than us.

You know you can’t prove a negative, PP. No one can say how much better you and DH would have been had you been exposed to those things discussed.

[Anonymous]

It is all sinking in. My 4yo talks about things we did 1, 2, and even 3 years ago. You are building their culture, one brick at a time.

[Anonymous]

Enjoy him. That's the most important thing you can do. Forget all the Joneses bullsh*t and just enjoy your child without wondering if he is already surpassing everyone at life.