The Ladybug Week That Wasn't

I was so excited about the up-coming week.  I thought it was going to be my favorite week because we were going to do a thematic unit on ladybugs (ladybug is my pet name for Stella). I had all my printables laminated and cut out (oh, they were so cute).  I had purchased a toddler book on the life cycle of ladybugs (science unit). I had called my local nursery to check on purchasing live ladybugs for the girls to observe and then release into my daughter's soon-to-be planted garden. I had several Ladybug Girl books and even a Ladybug board game to play with Stella. We were going to make Playdoh ladybugs.  I had done my homework and I was prepared.  As I stepped into my daughter's house on Monday morning, I caught a glimpse of exhaustion on Andrea's face.  Stella had come down with the stomach flu and Lyla wasn't feeling well, either.  Oh boy!!!  This was our second round of sickness within a three week period. 

We got the girls settled down for breakfast. Neither one ate.  Andrea left for work and after the girls watched a little morning television, I brought out our "Book Box".  We did our morning Bible story and then read a few ladybug books.  I was able to get Stella to do a few preschool activities, but she shortly grew tired and tearful.  She wasn't feeling well.  All activities stopped and we just rested.  Neither Stella nor Lyla ate the rest of the day.

On Tuesday Stella started having diarrhea.  I called the doctor to see if there was anything over the counter we could give her to stop it.  Nurse said "no".  As long as Stella was drinking fluids and staying hydrated, we were good.  The bug was just going to have to take it's course.  At 2:00 pm, my daughter Andrea came home from work sick.  Within the hour, she was slumped on the bathroom floor throwing up. Ugh!!!

Wednesday finds my daughter home sick and Stella still battling diarrhea.  On this day; however, Stella is not drinking fluids.  I offered her water, soda, juice, and even her favorite "pink" sorbet, but she was not interested and she was as limp as a rag doll.  A call goes to the doctor, again.  Better bring her into the office.  I drove her to the doctor's and got her checked out.  She was not dehydrated, but we need to get her to drink fluids.  When Stella and I got home, we found daddy (Paul) home sick.  They were falling like dominoes.  Lyla, too, was still not feeling well and not eating.

On Thursday both Andrea and Paul went back to work, but still feeling yucky.  The girls were somewhat feeling better, but we still just needed to rest and relax.  No activity this day, but we read every book about Ladybugs several times and Stella was excited to tell mommy and daddy about the first life cycle of ladybug eggs.

Friday I called the nursery about the live ladybugs and found out they did not come in.  They were running two weeks behind, which was okay because my daughter's garden didn't get planted.  Stella and I did get to play the Ladybug Game, though. 

The week that I was so excited about didn't turn out as I had planned.  On Saturday, I put my ladybug curriculum back into the folder waiting to use it again in a few weeks.  Some weeks are just like that.  No matter how much planning or preparing you do, life just happens.  I'm learning to just go-with-the-flow and enjoy the days that don't work out the way I had planned.

Talking On The Go

Our daily schedule has been "off" the last two weeks.  One week both girls and my daughter were sick and then last week we just had a difficult time getting back on track.  We did do some preschool activities, but not our "normal" routine.  So instead of showing what we worked on, I thought I would share with you a great book titled, Talking On The Go - Everyday Activities To Enhance Speech And Language Development, by Dorothy P. Dougherty and Diane R. Paul. It might sound boring, but believe me, it's far from boring.

 

I found this book at Stella's speech therapist office.  The book is filled with simple and fun suggestions and activities for parents to help their child in the development of speech and language.  The book is divided by age groups from birth - 6 months, 1-2 years, 2-3 years, 3-4 years and finally 4-5 years.  All the work has been done for you, just follow the exercises that have been written out.  Fun! 

 

 Any and all children can benefit from this book. I think it is a treasure and I'm looking forward to implementing it in our daily routine.

 

Thanks for letting me share.