Sensory Play, the Easy Way

The Widge was in a funk today and I didn't really know what to do with her. I tried going out for our regular morning walk but she kept wanting to be held and carried. This is pretty unusual for her so I decided to skip the walk and just head home.

I tried books, blocks, crayons, favorite snacks, a bath (usually a big favorite), even Yo Gabba Gabba but she wasn't into any of it. She didn't seem sick, just out of sorts.

I've been meaning to do some more sensory play with her lately but I haven't bought any supplies. She's kind of tired of play dough and I didn't have any cornstarch to make paint. I dug through the cabinets and didn't come up with much so I just threw some uncooked rice into a container and hid a bunch of small toys in it. I added funnels and a couple of spoons. Simple!

A box full of rice - pretty self-explanatory.

The box of rice didn't completely cure Widgie's foul mood but she did play happily with it for quite a while. She was less into the sensory experience of digging her hands down into the rice to find the hidden toys and more into putting rice into the funnel and then flinging it in the air.

This made an enormous mess but dry rice is easy to sweep up. Lily even attempted to help clean up with her little broom. It was entirely unhelpful and actually just spread rice everywhere, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Here are some less lazy sensory play ideas from the Imagination Tree if you're up for doing a little more than dumping rice in a bucket.


I am always looking for simple ideas to keep Miss Lily entertained. What do you and your toddler do for fun on a day when none of the usual activities are cutting it?

Why Widget?

What did you call me???

I've been asked why I often refer to my daughter, Lillian, as Widget on this blog. At times I also call her Widgie and the Widge. There's really no rhyme or reason to it. When she was still just a tiny collection of cells and we had no idea of her gender, we just started calling her Widget. The name stuck and the whole family now calls her some variation of that nickname. She also answers to Lily, Booboo, Stinker, Bubbie and Bug. I don't really feel bad about saddling her with a collection of goofy nicknames since she referred to me as "Dada" until just a few months ago.

Who's Afraid of the Dark?

This doll's head night light tutorial is the latest post on Mark Montano's wonderfully weird craft blog (recommended by reader, wnabtokio. Thanks!)

Doll's head night light from Mark Montano

I can't decide if this is the coolest or creepiest night light I have ever seen. Do you think it will give Lillian nightmares if I make one for her room? She's not afraid of the dark yet but this nightlight might change her mind.

Some other fun nightlight options:

I like these organic cotton bunny night lights from Papili. They are photo luminescent so they can charge under the lights all day and then they are ready to glow at bedtime. They are soft and cuddly which seems like it would be extra comforting.

Organic Cotton Photo Luminescent Night Light/Doll from Papili.

Plasticland ("Purveyors of kitsch curiosities and retro clothing since 2002") is just full of fun. Check out their little robot night light below:

Retro Robot Nightlight from Plasticland.

So there you have it. A few fun ways to chase the boogeyman away.

The Weekend in Photos

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend. 

I tried to remember to photograph this weekend's activities but I missed a couple. We had a pretty mellow time. It was so nice to have my husband back home. We skipped all the chores and spent the weekend playing backgammon, attending a cookout with friends and taking the Widge to Studio Grow and Wee Play. Here are the photos that I did take:

Top left: flip-flop chicken at a friend's house in Bernal Heights. Center: Widge and her dad at Studio Grow. Top right: Widget building a tower at Wee Play. Bottom left: Me and the Widge, ready to head out for the day. Bottom right: My Creative Thursday order arrived Saturday! This adorable postcard was included in the package.

We also had breakfast with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and niece. Lily and her cousin had a great time together and I am bummed that I didn't get any pictures of the cute cousins. It's hard to balance being in the moment with the Widge and documenting the experience. I know that I loved looking back at photos as a kid and I want to have that for Lily but I don't want to just follow her around with a camera all the time.

Anyway, we had fun, ate good food and played, played, played. My sister-in-law gave us a really cool backpack carrier that my niece has outgrown. I can't wait to take the Widge for a hike!

I did not get any work done on my office. I didn't even take "before" pics. Maybe next weekend...

Friday Blog Recommendations

My husband is back after a week of working out of town, so we are looking forward to some family time this weekend. I am also planning to hand off the Widge for some daddy-daughter bonding time while I sneak away for a bit. How will I use my time, you ask? I'll go where the wind takes me. The library, the coffee shop, the bathroom by myself... Possibilities abound!

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend (hi, Mom!). If you have some free time, here are a couple of blogs that I recommend checking out:

Design is Mine

Design, beauty, photography, loveliness. Visually stunning, this blog never fails to inspire me.

Photo by Jacqueline Harriet via Design is Mine.

Unruly Little Things

A spin-off of Alyson Brown's Unruly Things Blog. Inspired by the birth of her son, Wolf, Alyson created Unruly Little Things. She shares baby and child related experiences, design and products. A really cute site with lots of great info, too!

Wolf in Sheep's Clothiing from Unruly Little Things.

What blogs are you reading? Tell me! I'll add them to my list.

Our Week in Pictures

Picnic lunch at Totland

I haven't written much this week. My husband was out of town working on a project, so the Widge and I have been on our own. Between hanging with the Widge, working on the store and doing the odd household chore, time has flown by.

I really like the week/weekend in pictures roundups that I've seen on other blogs. I thought I would make that a Friday tradition here. And maybe Mondays if I can remember to take pictures on the weekend. I love that I can put the best part of the week up and just forget all about the odd tantrum (mine or Lily's) or the night that I had kettle corn and barbecue potato chips for dinner.

I should probably title this Lillian's Week in Pictures since I don't seem to have photographed anything else this week.

Widget hard at work at Studio Grow.

She insisted on wearing this bathrobe all day on Wednesday.

Next week I'll try to take some pictures of the office space that I'm hoping to organize and decorate. It's a converted garage so the space is large but I share it with my husband and his oscilloscopes and tools and an old, grumpy cat named Henry. I'll take some "before" pics this weekend. I would love to hear your suggestions on how to make the most of the space.

Motivation

I opened Darling Starling Gifts in May and at first it was a frenzy of excitement and activity. It was so thrilling to be up and running! And then, nothing. Sales trickled in at a glacial pace and I ran out of fun tasks to do and had a hard time staying interested and motivated to do the mundane tasks (accounting, yuck!).

I really only like the parts of running the store that involve shopping for inventory and interacting with the wonderful designers and our customers. I'm less interested in web design, or figuring out the best and cheapest shipping methods, or budgeting and planning, or the constant, unending accounting (double yuck!). I also get bummed at times because I come across so many things that I would love to carry in the store but just can't squeeze into my tiny budget. Like these incredible organic mattresses by Nook that I fell in love with at a trade show (trade shows are a really fun part of my job!).

Incredible organic mattresses from Nook Sleep Systems.

But then I have a day like today. Filled with sales and emails from happy customers. The store was even mentioned (favorably, phew!) in the Shopify Blog article on building customer trust. I am filled with renewed dedication and motivation. Positive feedback is such a motivator for me. I suppose no one really likes to work in a vacuum.

I didn't really understand what running a small business would be like until I was actually doing it. I'm still so new at it and there is still so much to learn. I'm trying to embrace that process and relax a little about results. Learning itself has inherent value, yes? It is a good lesson in delayed gratification and perseverance. I've always been a starter of projects but rarely one to see them through to completion. Here's to hanging in there and to more days like today!

How do you stay motivated when projects take longer than expected or turn out differently than you'd planned? Are you a planner or do you just leap in and learn on the fly (that's me, so not a planner. Drives my husband crazy).