Kswl -" A few of my friends have small children and I also have a nephew close to DS’s age. We see them on a pretty regular basis. He seems to be getting to an age where he really enjoys being around other kids and gets excited when I tell him we’re going to see so and so today. Unfortunately there aren’t any small children at our church. “Getting together with other kids is a double edged sword, though, because it may or may not be that much fun for your kid.” There is one little girl that he doesn't seem to mesh with and I've limited contact. She’s friendly but VERY in his face. Until recently he would completely ignore her. I found his reaction interesting because he wouldn't do that with anyone else. I’m not really looking forward to all that comes with school. I’m mainly talking about the interaction with other kids and their families. I’m praying to find balance so I’m an informed parent, but not a hovering, smothering one as he grows. Arcy - Ah, memory games is something I've been meaning to start doing with him! I agree with you about the computer games and tv. We actually only have one computer and our phones are stripped down basic phones. I got rid of the internet and texting quite a few years back (DH never cared to do either). I know I would certainly get used to and enjoy a fancy phone, but I honestly find it challenging enough to manage my time wisely without the extra distraction; which is what it would be for me. As for technology, at some point I know we’ll need to make some adjustments or be left in the dust. Roseabbey - Thank you! We try to see that he has that interaction with small kids most weeks. He loves to sing and dance! I've noticed he’s starting to ‘joke’ around more recently which is pretty cool. We’re really seeing his personality come through. Deeinohio - I didn't think about a library because ours are pretty far away, but I don’t mind a drive. I’m going to look into that! The age thing is blowing me away too! Bestyears - “Make everything hands on and fun.” Sounds good. He really likes to help so we’ll keep going with that. He gets a kick out of helping unload the dishwasher (counting silverware) and when I announce I’m going to vacuum he excitedly puts his toys away and runs to pull out the kitchen chairs! Great ideas! Annie - “I learned to read by the time I was 3…” That’s awesome! “my cousin has a computer game on the ipad which his son started using before he was 2 that was already putting sounds to the letters and he was learning to read words.” See, now this is when I start to question if it’s time to buy an ipad. Of course I wouldn't use it as a keep busy for him, but having a program with the sounds and letters in some type of format sounds like it would be better than me doing it. I’m having a hard time finding the words for what I’m trying to say here so I hope it makes sense. Thanks for the link! Great article. From the link, “…literacy experts emphasize the importance of natural conversations with children, asking questions while reading books, and helping children identify words during playtime.” That’s good to know. In the past I wondered if that was enough or if I should be breaking out flash cards and doing more, but when we started making a conscious effort to talk with him more about every day things and would ask him questions we discovered he knows, and understands, much more than we realized, or that he can even express. Tina - I’m going to check out the libraries! I think he’d like being involved with activities there. I was asking about how kids are tested recently, but need to find someone closer to our area. Anele - Yes, there have been days of seeing the good old ABC Mouse commercials that it left me feeling like a slacker parent until I really thought about it! Pfft. I like the make a book idea. Thank you for the link! I’ve never seen her site before. Great post! Daisychain - I will definitely look at the Curious George section on PBS. Bpathome - We may end up sending him to preschool before we planned. We’ll keep an eye and see how he continues to progress. Nhbabs - Thanks for the additional ideas. We don’t have a sandbox yet, but have been talking about that. He loved the beach and I’m sure he’d really enjoy it. I wish I could get him to stay standing on a chair to ‘help’ with cooking, but that’s one thing he’s currently not interested in. Roarah - “more time on the basics like self zippering and tying shoes. It amazes me how so many three year olds who can read can not zipper their own coats or put on mittens and hats.” I just had this conversation with someone the other week and realized this is something I want DS to be able to do earlier than later. I wish more shoes would have strings instead of Velcro! The few he owns with strings are almost too short for me to tie. I may have to purchase longer ones in the future. Lyfia - Matching socks, sorting, etc. are things I never thought about either. Thanks! Lots of great ideas - loves the idea about money, comparing, and scale reading, etc. Tishtoshnm - Thanks for the book recommendations. We have a Melissa & Doug chalkboard/dry erase easel and he currently seems to prefer this over coloring with crayons. Myfoursquare - I’m hoping he takes more interest in coloring. I really enjoyed it as a kid. Mtnrdredux - That sounds great that you were both able to help in the class room at preschool. Thanks for sharing the stories about how your two sides learned at different rates. There were lots of wonderful thoughts and ideas here that I plan to incorporate. We’ll focus on keeping it fun. A big thank you to everyone!

Wow, lots of neat traditions. I find shopping for gifts wearying. I usually start in October and try to be finished by the end of November. I try to leave time in December for decorating, cookie baking and wrapping gifts. We are also away for about 9 days total in December as our kids play in 2 international junior squash tournaments and so this takes a huge chunk out of our Christmas preparation time and also means we cannot have a real tree as we are away and can't water it. We buy for our 3 kids, in-laws, our staff (about 8 people), couple of aunts and uncles, and assorted family. We have done a draw for the family in previous years so that all the adults names are put in a hat and each person then draws and only has to buy 1 gift. But this has fallen by the wayside as part of the family had moved away and sometimes comes back for Christmas and sometimes doesn't. I am more conscious now in trying to buy gifts that are useful or consumable as we all know how easy clutter comes into our homes and how difficult and time consuming it is to take it back out. Traditionally my DH and I usually buy small gifts for each other, most of which will fit in our stockings, requisite gifts are chocolate bars, socks, paperbacks, I always receive a "For Better or For Worse" comic book and the year's stamp set (Canadian), and a CD, you get the idea. We also buy lots of little things for the kids' stockings. Sometimes there may be one big gift for the family (one year it was a large screen T.V. ) and then, the other gifts will be smaller and fewer. I usually get an Odyssey set of tapes (from Focus on the Family) as one of the gifts for the kids as we do lots of driving trips and the kids like listening to them in the car. Just wrapping all the stocking gifts takes forever, but they are so much fun to open Christmas morning. Christmas Eve, the family goes to Church as our Church does not have a Christmas morning service. Then we open presents Christmas morning, have brunch and relax and then start cooking Christmas dinner late afternoon, in-laws come and another round of gift opening takes place. I really like it that we don't have to go anywhere on Christmas day, it really is quite relaxing. My DH jokes that it's the only day in the whole year when the car doesn't leave the driveway!

Fun, did you have more than one living space growing up? We had a formal living room and a family room so the family room is where our toys were kept. However, we didn't have nearly the same amount of toys as kids do nowadays! The way our family room was laid out, there was a corner where all the toys were kept. I shared an average size room with my sister, so we didn't have much room for playing in there. I'm sure we did a bit but for the most part, we were in the family room when we were young or outside. I also can't imagine having kids' toys in every room. That would drive me nuts! Most of the houses around here have basements or more than one living area so the basements store the bulk of the toys and then the family room, which is typically open to or next to the kitchen is where the main floor toys are stashed. Having four kids has relaxed my anal tendencies but I still go a little nuts with crap laying around. The peninsula in my kitchen becomes the drop zone but I can't stand having that clutter. And dh is the worst b/c he will leave his stuff there and never come back for it but then get annoyed if I move it or ask him to. He's used to clutter from his childhood. I used to have complete order in the house b/f I went to bed, but now I'm so exhausted by then that I have slacked off a bit and then get all stressed when I come downstairs the next morning to clutter and have to clean up b/f I can function. I'm like that with cooking too - I can't start cooking unless the counters are clear, no dirty dishes out, etc. DH looks at me like I have two heads. Am I the only weird one like that? Oops, sorry, I have a habit off going off on a tangent!

I wouldnt want to be in your shoes-anyways,since there are now 8 grandparents to the 2 grand kids in our extended families-I,myself opened a bank account for my grandson-it is in trust,anyone can deposit money if they choose-they also are entitled to seeing it,if they choose so they know that the $$ is only going "in" and not out-it is set up for when he reaches 25 or older-nothing sooner.He right now is only 7 yrs of age,and this Gramma puts in what I can,when I can-usually his bday and other special to him occasions-he "seems" to really enjoy it so far-the kid is $$ crazy and currently,it is the only bank account for him that he is aware of-When his bday rolls around,he also,always gets a little something from me as well-usually nothing more than a styrofoam airplane-which he loves as well.The others,well,the competition is on-more power to them-doesnt work that way in my world.