My Son's First Trip To The Zoo

"I want to throw my feces at you."

On Saturday my family and a good friend spent the morning at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. It was my son's first trip to the zoo.

I think he like running around more than looking at the animals. But he did like watching the monkeys swing around and do funny things. And for some reason, he really likes ducks. He's probably a little too young to appreciate seeing all the cool animals.

For me, I couldn't wait to see the tigers and lions, pictured above. They are my favorite.

Fun was had by all, which was the most important thing.

Photo Credit: Me. Taken with my Blackberry.

Review: Little Tikes Cozy Coupe

We got the Little Tike Cozy Coupe for my DS when he turned one last year. It's basically a little car that is powered by your child's feet. Or, you can push them around. It's up to you.

Here's the scoop:

Assembly

The assembly of this seemingly simple looking toy is horrible. My wife and dad (I'm not handy at all!) put ours together and it took a few hours. I knew it was bad when my dad started using a drill.

Tough assembly seems to be a common problem with children's toys. I'll talk about that in future posts.

Durability

My son doesn't take his Cozy Coupe off road into the mountains. But I can say it's a solid toy. I don't feel like it's going to fall apart when I roll it out of the garage and help him get in and out. It has withstood staying outside during bad weather and I think I've hit it with my car a few times (sans my son inside).

Playing Fun

When we first got him the Cozy Coupe he wasn't walking. It comes with a solid floor you can put in so their feet aren't dragging on the pavement.

This means I pushed him around the driveway. Very boring for me, but he enjoyed it, and that's what counts.

We finally took the solid bottom out so he can push himself along. He does a little of that, and when he does, he likes to go backwards. I hope that's not a habit he keeps when he gets his real driver's license.

Now that he's almost two he can get in and out himself. It takes him a little time because it rolls very easily. He knows how to open and shut the door and play with the fake key. He has yet to figure out the horn.

Verdict

I'd recommend this. As long as you have the patience to put the damned thing together, it's a fun toy for toddlers to scoot around in.

As always, make sure you supervise your little one's play in the Cozy Coupe. If you have an inclined driveway be careful it doesn't roll into the street. Nothing good ever comes from that.

How To Avoid Hidden Danger On Playground Slides

Experts are warning about a new danger on the playground: Going down slides with your toddler on your lap. It appears that well-intentioned parents who do this thinking it's safer than letting their little one go down alone, are actually putting their kids in more danger.

What's so dangerous about going down slides with your toddler on your lap? This Yahoo! article explains:

Parents may not notice when their child's shoe catches on the side of the slide for a second or two, but that, combined with the speed at which the parent and child are zipping down the slide, can create enough friction to break the child's shin bone (tibia). Instead, what parents do notice is that at the bottom of the slide, instead of laughing with joy, the child is whimpering or screaming in pain.

The article goes on to say that even tucking your child's feet between your legs is still dangerous because the shoe can still get caught on the slide. It seems that the only safe way for a toddler to go down a slide is by him/herself. 

Of course, holding their hand on the way down is okay. But if their foot gets caught they can at least stop themselves to avoid injury.

I've taken my own DS down slides a few times, and this never occurred to me. But I see how it can be dangerous. 

My son LOVES going down slides. We bought a little one for our backyard and he laughs every time he hits the bottom. My legs are about as long as the slide, so there's no chance I'd take him down on my lap.

How Do I Kick The TV Habit?

I'll confess that the TV in my home is on...a lot! When I'm playing with my DS on the floor, it's always on. Even while we have snack time or lunch, the TV is still blaring in the background. When he goes down for his nap, the TV keeps on ticking (lately, I've been working on turning it off during his naps to go do other things).

I should mention that just because the television is on, it doesn't mean I'm always watching it. But more often than not, I find myself watching the latest news program or an interesting show on the History Channel. Sometimes I'll even watch a recorded sitcom from the DVR. There's a never-ending stream of shows that I can watch on any given day.

My son is still pretty aloof when it comes to TV. He'll stare at the screen for a little bit, but I don't think he knows it's for entertainment. At least, not yet. He does like bright, flashy commercials and shows. Because of this, I avoid children's programming.

The good news is that we do a lot of stuff outside the house: Like story times, play group, Gymboree and so forth. And now that the weather is improving, we spend time outside running around.

The Television Addiction

The biggest problem with TV is that it's highly addictive. I've been searching around the interwebs about this topic and article after article says that TV has the same effect on the brain as some drugs. That's why it can be a hard habit to kick, because as soon as you stop watching TV for any length of time, you will get withdrawal symptoms.

But the advantages of getting off the TV horse appear to make those withdrawal symptoms worth suffering. I've read that people who have given up TV say they can think more clearly, their creativity improves, their productivity improves and their overall quality of life improves.

It's not hard to imagine those benefits because instead of watching someone else's fake life on television, you're out living your own real life, with real people, having real experiences. One article even pointed out that the actors who play the characters we are addicted to watching on our favorite shows, probably don't watch a lot of television.

Television And Stay-At-Home Parents

I think for stay-at-home parents television can be especially addicting (and dangerous). It's very easy to turn on the TV while taking care of our little ones. I find it very weird to play with my DS with the TV off. It's almost like the house is emptier. 

And for some parents, the television is used as a babysitter. They plunk their children on the couch or floor, put on a children's show, thus freeing them to do other things. I'm not passing judgment on parents who do this because I can sympathize with them.

The solution? Stay busy with other stuff. Like I said earlier, my son and I go to different play groups and activities throughout the week. This keeps us out of the house for a few hours. And when we get home it's lunch and then he's down for his nap.

I wish I could keep the television off for good. It's very much like a safety blanket. The only thing I, and everyone else can do, is ween ourselves off slowly.

My Toddler Son Beats Me Up

My DS is at the age where he can grab things, throw things and pull on things that shouldn't be pulled on. In other words, he's a 30-lbs wrecking machine.

I've been discovering that the hard way. His new favorite hobby is grabbing at my face and scratching it with his long fingernails (my wife does cut them, but it's like pulling teeth, for lack of a better phrase). He's also strong, it usually takes me a few seconds to pry his hand away from the fistful of facial skin he's holding on to.

He's left some pretty impressive scratches on my face. I'm usually too embarrassed to tell people my son is beating me up, so I blame the scratches on my cat.

He also likes to pull my hair and snatch my glasses right off my face. One time he even bitch-slapped (pardon my language) my face with one of his toys.

It seems this is a pretty normal stage for toddlers his age. I think he's just learning how he can use his fine motor skills to terrorize his parents. Further, he probably thinks it's funny to get such a reaction from us.

I'm not too worried about it right now because he'll eventually grow out of it. As long as he's not doing it to other kids he's around or other adults. I don't want him being "that kid" in school who's always biting and scratching when he gets mad.

This is just one more thing we'll look back on when he's 18 and ready to go off to college, and laugh.