K is for Kid who drives me nuts!

We reviewed K and had an "eventful" morning...

     First, I used my little chalkboard easel to go over how to write K.  M asked if she could try it. :) After I did a little happy dance in my head, I told her she could try it.  One nice thing about a chalkboard is that after erasing an image, the lines are still faintly visible.  Makes for perfect writing practice for little ones.  M traced the faint lines and was very proud of her K.

     Since M is into princesses, I thought it would be fun to discuss Kings (aka..the dads of our favorite princesses). She liked talking about them.  Just carrying a dialogue with a preschooler can be so fun and support creative thinking and visualization.

     We set up M's new bowling set (dollar store item) in the kitchen and did some bowling.  My girl loves to bowl! I stopped playing long before she did.  I explained to her about the term "kingpin" and "kegler" because they both start with K! Works nicely doesn't it?  Did you know that "kegler' means bowler? Neither did I until today. We both learned something new. Haha.

MID-MORNING TANTRUM: After she was finished playing the bowling game, I asked M to clean up the set.  She tried to run away and I physically picked her up and brought her back to the set and said she had to clean it up. She threw a lovely tantrum.  She cried and screamed "I can't! I'm so tired!" It was not fun.  I had to stare at this screaming crying face and explain to her (using an angry voice) that she was going to clean it up whether she liked it or not and that sitting there crying was not going to change that fact.  My explanation did not make it any easier and it did not make her calm down.  She cleaned up each piece while still crying her eyes out and I wanted to tear my hair out. But the set was cleaned up and I didn't give into her excuses.  I don't think I handled it quite right but I hope someone (her or I) learned something from the frustrated outburst. At this point, I'm just glad it is over. But I wish I had gotten a picture of her flipping out. It would have been funny for the blog. Oh well, next time...and I'm sure there will be many next times. Haha.

     K IS FOR KING ART: After taking a time out (my time out), I gathered up my energy and we did an art project.  I printed out a K outline and instructed M to color in the K however she wanted.  I told her to cut out the K (her favorite part) and to glue it down.  I cut out a crown shape for her and she glued it onto her K to make him a "king."  I then gave M some sequin confetti to bedazzle her King's crown.  I loved watching her eyes light up when she saw me dump out the sparkly pieces on the table. The whole project was done calmly and with smiles, as if the prior incident never happened. It's funny how quickly we can move on from frustrating events.

   
     We had our ups and downs, but overall it was an educational morning. We learned about K. K is for Kindness and kindness does not come easily during a tantrum. ;)