Ode to Triple A

Quinn and I are always super careful about making sure we have our keys in hand before shutting and locking the door to our house or car. I seriously check like three times before I shut the door just because getting locked out of the house or the car with Caitlyn--or worse, locking Caitlyn inside the car--would be a total disaster. However...last Saturday I ran to the store with Caitlyn to get a few last ingredients for a BBQ and Easter egg hunt with some friends. When we drove up to our apartment I threw the keys in the diaper bag and then decided it would be easier to get Caitlyn out (we have a 2-door car, so between that and a growing belly, that in and itself can be quite a task) and then go around to the passenger side to get the diaper bag and groceries out rather than reaching all the way across to pull them out while also holding Caitlyn. So I got Caitlyn out and walked around with her to the passenger side...which, I discovered was locked. No problem, I'll just go back around to the driver's side and unlock it. Except the driver's side is locked too. Oh. Crap.
It was a really hot day, so my first thought was how incredibly grateful I was that I had gotten Caitlyn out of the car before shutting the door. Legend has it that our retired-cop next door neighbor is a pro at getting into locked doors. So I ran down to his apartment and explained what had happened. He grabbed some tools and came up with us to the car, took one look at it and said, "I can open just about any house door, but I'm afraid I'm going to do some damage to your car if I try this." Since we just spent $500 getting the electronic car window fixed, that didn't appeal to me so much. Visions of flushing $90 away on a locksmith while the sirloin, bacon, asparagus, and Faje yogurt rotted in the hot car began to float through my head. "Do you happen to have any recommendations for a locksmith in the area?" I asked our neighbor sadly. "Hmmmm....do you belong to Triple A?" He asked. Ding!! Why yes! Yes, we do! We joined just before driving across the country to Virginia last summer and have never had to use it for anything car-related, so it didn't even cross my mind! Bless our neighbor for being inspired to remind me!
So we called them up and a guy came about 10 minutes later, unlocked the car (for free!), and drove away about 20 seconds later. Yippeeeeeeeee!!!! Dear Triple A, I love you!
And I am still so, so thankful Caitlyn wasn't in the car when I locked it. The End.

Things to Do, Part III

It takes me forever to get around to doing posts that require me to get videos off Quinn's phone. But the other night when I finally found a minute to do it, it only took me about 3 minutes. I'll try and remember how easy it is so next time it doesn't take me a month to do a post with videos that are 3 months old...
Anyway, when I went to the Hypnobirthing Certification one of the women there mentioned a book they use at her preschool called "I Love You Rituals" and couldn't say enough about how much it helped with the children's behavior.

When I heard another woman talking about the book about a week later I decided to get it. I LOVE it. The author, a Ph.D in Early Childhood Education and Developmental Psychology, has changed the words of nursery rhymes from negative or scary to positive and nurturing. She also has interactive actions you do with the child(ren) while saying the words. Her theory is that these rhymes as well as the other interactive finger plays and games in her book prime a child's brain for learning, enhance attention, cooperation, and self-esteem, help children cope with change, help busy families stay close, and affirm the parent-child bond that insulates children from violence, peer pressure, drugs, etc. (That's what it says on the back of the book.) I loved reading the first part of the book, which expounds on her theories and the effectiveness of the "I Love You" rituals. Her perspective on discipline and power struggles, meeting a child's emotional needs etc. really rang true to me.
Caitlyn loves doing these with us, too. I often do them with her when she's cranky and it really is amazing the effect they have. The author says that these moments of unconditional love invite cooperation into your home, and I usually find that to be true!
Here is a video of just a couple of the rhymes. We did other videos but accidentally made them too long to post. :(

Again, I'm not getting anything for sharing this book on my blog. I've just really loved this book and thought some of you might be interested in it. (Not that there's anything wrong with commissions for advertising good products on your blog, I just felt like I should clarify.)
p.s. Anyone who has or gets this book will see that I'm doing the actions to Mary Had a Little Lamb a different way--Caitlyn didn't like it when I tried to follow her hand around with my hand so I had to adjust. I think the actions in the book on this one might work a little better with an older child.