I am not one to go around cursing on a daily basis but I’ll admit there are a few frustrating occasions where I have let a bad word slip while my three year old has been around. I usually realize it right away {or my husband points it out} and I try to keep talking so Hayden doesn’t pick up on it.

Bad Mom Confession coming here: there’s been a few times where Hayden has repeated a bad word that I’ve said. And you know what? I’ve laughed. That is probably the worst possible thing a parent can do when their toddler uses a curse word. Because when a parent laughs, the toddler perceives it as something adorable they have done and they will repeat it!

Honestly though? I don’t think I’m a terrible mom for it happening and Hayden hasn’t repeated it outside the house. In fact, about 5 minutes after the situation, he forgot it.

One of my favorite shows is Modern Family and in last week’s episode “Little Bo Bleep”, 3 year old lily drops the ‘F-bomb’ quite a few times. Before the show aired, I read SO many articles about the Parents Television Council and how outraged they were at this episode and wanted ABC not to air it.

Image Credit: ABC

I was actually glad that they were going to air this episode. It means I’m not alone, right? I know there are parents out there where their child has said a curse word. It’s real life. It happens. And I reacted the exact same way as the character Cameron reacted when Lily cursed. He laughed. {Oh geez, I am totally thinking I am more Cameron and my husband is more like Mitchell}.

There’s a lot of people upset that the episode aired and that a 2 year old was shown cussing on the show. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Mitchell on Modern Family told E! that when they were filming the scenes, the young actress “did not actually say the F-word on the show. We said the very innocent word fudge, but people are all up in arms about that. This is not child abuse . . . We’re not making her cuss.”

What do you think about this controversy? Do you think ABC should have aired the episode?

While going through my three year old’s backpack, I came across a piece of paper advertising sports for preschoolers. I had to laugh, because at three years old, how much were they actually going to learn?

We were able to pick between soccer, t-ball or basketball. I’m pretty sure my shorty wasn’t going t even be able to reach any basketball hoops and I think with soccer it would be more like “herd ball”.

Looking into the idea of toddlers and sports more, it seems like the general consensus is that it’s all just for fun. Kids don’t develop the physical skills or attention span that they need for group sports until about 6 or 7 years of ages. Toddlers playing sports is just a great way for them to burn some energy, be around kids their own age and have fun! The only thing I’m worried about is coming across those parents {you know who I’m talking about!] who will try to be pushing their toddler farther than they should. I’ve already came across some parents like that at Hayden’s school.

But I think we are going to sign Hayden up for some “herd ball” and let him have fun!

Is your toddler involved in any sports?

Since Hayden started preschool, I love all of the suggestions his teachers have been giving me. Something I had not heard of before are sensory tubs. Of course, now that I’ve been researching it I’m finding that it’s a popular activity for toddlers!

Each month at school they have a different themed sensory tub and an everyday sensory tub. His teachers gave me suggestions and I also have found some great resources on the sites Preschool Express and No Time for Flashcards.

So, if you were living under a rock like me you may be wondering what is a sensory tub? 

A sensory tub is a tub or bin that you fill up with various items to let your child be hands-on. Fill the tubs with different textures, so they can feel the different items and talk about them with you – what they are, how they feel, etc. You can hide different items within thee sensory tub so it’s great for exploring also. It seems like the possibilities are endless with a sensory tub.

The first sensory tub that I made was pretty simple. I went to the dollar store and bought a plastic bin, a bag of rice, various bags of different sized beans and a bag of small dinosaurs. Once I got home, I added everything together in the tub, hid some of the dinosaurs and grabbed some spoons and a few more toys.

Hayden was ecstatic! He spent the next 1.5 hours talking and having fun with the sensory tub!

This tub has been great for those cold, winter days and when you’re looking for something fun to do! I highly suggest checking out the No Time for Flashcards blog, she has so many ideas for different sensory tubs!

It snowed the other day and it was TOO cold, so I decided to bring the snow inside for a fun snow sensory tub. We tossed a few toys in and had fun for an hour playing with the snow, making mini snowman and talking about how the snow melts when it gets warm.

Here are two of my favorite tubs I found on Pinterest that I can’t wait to make!

What kind of sensory tubs do you make?

This blog post is sponsored by Giraffe Childcare.