picture books – Paige is Parenting

The return of working mom guilt

This past Wednesday, Jameson got hurt at school. He was running towards the slide, slipped, and rammed headfirst into it. This resulted in a seriously big bump that required me to leave work and take him to his pediatrician to get looked at.

The entire drive to his daycare had my mind reeling with how bad it might be. When the director called me that morning she had told me to “prepare myself” for how bad it looked, even though he was running around again and seemed to be doing fine.

Needless to say I was not doing fine as I pictured how horrific his head might look.

To try and calm my nerves I called my mom…which turned out to be the opposite of a good idea, as she went over the many reasons why she thinks our daycare sucks and we should pull him out of there.

Thankfully, when I got there he was in good spirits. The bump was large, no doubt about it, but still better than what I had been picturing in my mind after the daycare call.

All smiles for mama when I picked him up early for a doctor visit

Even with the relief of seeing that he wasn’t as injured as I had imagined and hearing from his doctor that he didn’t have a concussion, I still felt terrible.

My child got hurt again at daycare. My child got hurt while being in the care of someone else. This wouldn’t have happened if I was home with him, the guilty voice in my head scolded. I should have been there.

Never mind that toddlers trip all the time. Never mind that my son has fallen, tripped, and somersaulted over apparent thin air while in my care. He had never gotten a bump like that, and for that I was racked with guilt.

So what did I do to quell said guilt? Talk to another mom about it to make myself feel better? Journal about it even? Heck no.

I did the stereotypical working mom penance of ice cream and material objects.

One scoop of vanilla ice cream with a mountain of sprinkles and whipped cream at eleven in the morning? Coming right up!

Not one, but two new Halloween books from Barnes and Noble? Sure, you deserve it!

And why don’t we throw in a ten dollar realistic elephant toy since you’ve recently learned the word elephant and it will make mama feel better for having abandoned you at your very pricy daycare all day?

Picking out one of his new books at Barnes and Noble

Now here was my injured but happy as a clam child, thumbing through the pages of his new pop-up book with a belly full of sugar.

And there I was on the other side of the camera, feeling guilty still but placated by the fact that there was a smile back on my child’s face.

D came home later that evening and shook his head at the impulse buys I had made.

“He didn’t need any of this stuff, honey,” he said.

“Maybe not,” I replied. But I needed it.

What I read to my toddler this week: March 25th

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Jameson is mildly obsessed with this book at the moment, as his teachers have also been reading it in daycare. I think it’s safe to say this book has been the favorite of the week (and month)!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Yes, we are on an Eric Carle kick this week. This is one of my favorite’s to read to Jameson. Every time we get to the part where the caterpillar becomes the butterfly, he goes “woah!” It is the cutest thing ever.

A Visit to the Fire Station

Jameson loves fire trucks and dogs, so this book was able to hold his interest pretty well.

I Love You to the Moon and Back

A very cute book. I think I liked it more than he did, but it will still stay in our rotation!

What I read with my toddler this week: February 5th

It was a 4-day work week for me, which meant more opportunities to read with Jameson (and get some of my own reading in).

Here’s what we read this week:

T. Rex distributed by Smithsonian Kids

This is Jameson’s current favorite to skim through during diaper changes. He loves roaring like a dinosaur!

Also, the finger puppet aspect of it made for lots of giggles when we read it together. 10/10. Highly recommend!

On Mother’s Lap by Ann Herbert Scott

I loved this book for many reasons. The story was, of course, a big part of it. The takeaway being that there is always room on mother’s lap.

I also appreciate a book with beautiful pictures and diversity. This book checks both of those boxes.

Jameson sat with me for part of the reading and played nearby for the other part.

He seemed to like the pictures, as he kept coming back to peek at the next page.

Scholastic mini board books

Jameson has taken a serious liking to these in the past few months. We read one of these books at least three times a day!

Romeo and Juliet: a counting primer by Jennifer Adams

Full disclosure: I bought this book at a secondhand bookstore solely because of my love of Romeo and Juliet.

When I was in high school, I must have read through the play dozens of times.

I loved that each reading meant discovering something new in the story, and how beautiful the lines were.

When I sat down with Jameson to read this, I was pleasantly surprised that he really enjoyed this book! Maybe it was the beautifully contrasting colors on every page, or the counting aspect, but he loved it.

He even requested a reread, which I always count as a sign of a well-loved story!

What have you been reading with your child this week?

What I read with my toddler this week: January 21, 2022

Man, was it a hectic week! Lots of work, a couple of family doctor appointments, and some Junior League obligations made for one exhausted mama.

But we still made time to read some new books (and a few of his favorites, over and over and over, of course)!

Here’s what we read this week:

Good Morning, Good Night by Melanie Mitchell

Jameson liked listening to this book but he wasn’t as into the “touch and feel” aspect of it, as he usually is. I think maybe because all of the textures were pretty similar.

Dinosaur Dance by Sandra Boynton

Okay, so this book didn’t really get a fair shot with us and we only read it halfway through. It was a night that Jameson just wanted to read one of his favorites (Fly! by Xavier Deneux), so by page two he was trying to push his preferred book into my lap! Maybe next week!

What Do You Say, Little Blue Truck? by Alice Shertle

Jameson was a big fan of the animal sounds of this book! This was one we went back to quite a few times throughout the week.

P is for Potty (a Sesame Street Book)

Another book Jameson couldn’t get enough of! He loved all of the little “lift the flaps” on every page. This was a book he kept going to on his own and flipping through for fun. I highly recommend it!

I love sharing what we’re reading with you all, and hope you do too!

What have you and your littles read this week?

What I’m reading with my toddler this week

One of my earliest childhood memories is of my mom reading Disney’s picture book version of The Jungle Book to me.

I’ve always loved to read and I think a big part of that was my mom making a point to sit and read with me every day, until I was old enough to read on my own.

Reading with Jameson when he was just a bitty peanut

It’s why I also make sure to read at least one book a day to Jameson.

Have I skipped a day before? Of course! Life can get crazy and I’m only human, after all.

But more often than not, we read our one book a day (which usually turns into 2 or 3 once we get started, but 1 book is our minimum!).

We are lucky enough to live close to a secondhand bookstore, and get lots of great pictures books that range from $1-$5 each!

Shopping secondhand is great for picture books because 1.) picture books can be PRICY when purchased new and 2.) shopping secondhand often means finding interesting and lesser known books that don’t always make their way into the big bookstores for very long.

Here are the books I read with Jameson this week:

Cute baby tootsies for the “toe” part of this title!

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

This book is visually beautiful and great for introducing mimicking movements to toddlers (“Can you do this? I can do it!”)

Jameson sat in my lap and was really engaged throughout our reading. This book will be a repeat in our home for sure!

If I were a puppy by Anne Wilkinson

A cute touch-and-feel board book. He liked feeling the fluffy tail the best.

Potty Superhero by Parragon Books

This was a cute book for introducing potty training to Jameson. He’s not really into superheroes though, so it didn’t hold his interest too much.

Pop-Up Peekaboo I Love You

This is one of Jameson’s favorites! We read this book every other day and he now imitates smooching noises when we get to the two sheep kissing on the last page.

Where’s Spot by Eric Hill

Another favorite of Jameson’s and an almost daily read in our house! This is a fun lift-the-flap book that has good, simple repetition for toddlers to pick up language.

After a couple weeks of reading this book, Jameson began to say “no!” along with me as we searched for spot (and cracked up laughing)!