95% Diaper Free at 18 Months

 Dear My Toy Garden friends!

     Those little toes..little nose...mid afternoon post feeding snoozes on the couch...first smiles...first teeth...Those first few months with a new baby are so amazing aren't they?  Universally though parents agree that diapers are one thing they are anxious to be done with sooner than later!  My Toy Garden is here to help with some potty training tips this week!
    As many of you already know, I am a mom as well and struggle to juggle the demands that come with that honor just like you.  Potty training was one area that went pretty smoothly at our house.  Both of my children were fully daytime potty trained by age 2.  Nighttime is a whole other conversation for another day.  :-) Here are a few things I did that worked for me.  May they help those of you about to be or who are in the process of being diaper free!  Please join our popular [FB conversation](http://www.facebook.com/mytoygarden) about the subject and add your ideas for success as well!

First of all, Gear Up!
      You need 2 things before you begin this adventure.
1)  Potty Seat - I used a [step ladder potty seat like this one](http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=537132&cmSource=Search) and loved it!  Using a big potty can be very scary and using a seat like this makes big potties kid friendly and makes the transition to a big potty so easy!  This seat has a step to climb up on which is fun.  The handles and smaller seat makes little buns feel secure.  It easily folds and stows for shared potties.  Best of all, big toilets weren't scary for my little ones because that's what they used from the beginning!  (Side note: I do agree with many of the reviews on this version of it.  I had 2 from them and the previous one was better quality.  There are others like it on the market though.)

2)  Training Pants - Many Facebook fans agree....Do Not Use Pullups!  Repeat...do not use Pullups!  They are diapers in disguise and will delay your child's success.  Your child needs to connect the "need to go potty" feelings with the outcome if they don't make it to the toilet on time. Put them in cloth training pants from the beginning.  A few times of hmm...what is that feeling? to   Hey!  My legs are wet!  will teach your child much faster.  Yes, it's a bit messy but floors can be cleaned.   Good news too is that yes, there are licensed character free underwear options out there!  Read this previous newsletter titled ["Leave My Underwear Alone!"](http://thetoygardenshop.blogspot.com/2012/03/leave-my-underwear-alone.html) for my thoughts on that.

Start Early - In the 1950's 100% of children wore cloth diapers and so parents were highly motivated to potty train.  95% of children in the 1950's were potty trained by 18 months.  Yep, you read that right.  95% of children were potty trained by 18 months!  With both of my children, as soon as they could walk really well, we started learning to use the potty.  By watching for their cues and setting expectations for routines like we use the potty before and after nap and after meals, it didn't take long for them to do it on their own.  Children are capable of far more than we often give them credit for.   The longer the habit of using a diaper goes on for, the longer and harder it will be to teach them a new habit.

Bare Buns - One reason why the average age of a potty trained child now is 30 months is that we are busy, busy, busy.  To potty train quickly, it does require a time investment.  Mark out a chunk of time to stay home as much as possible...slow down a bit....give them lots of water to drink and let those little buns run free around the house.  A week or two of focused opportunities will speed along the process tremendously.  Carpet cleaners can be hired with the money saved by not buying diapers anymore.

Read - Books help child understand things at their level and potty training is a great area for that!  Read about children learning to use the potty and paint the picture for them of what it's all about.  This was on of our favs...[On Your Potty](http://www.valorebooks.com/textbooks/on-your-potty-george-and-bartholomew/9780763612689?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Froogle&utm_source=Froogle)! We got it free from the Carmel library.   You can also get it online... note you can get books from other sites besides Amazon.... I digress...

Potty Toys -  Make sitting on the potty a fun time with toys and books they can only play with while sitting on the potty.  Sing songs, draw pictures, play sock puppets....anything to keep them sitting them for a bit.  

Celebrate - When they are successful, whoop and holler, dance, make up a cheer and go over the top wahoo on them!  Call Grandma and Grandpa...fuss, fuss, fuss!   Everyone loves to be praised and positive energy will take you a long way on this subject.   Sometimes small rewards can be motivating as well.

The Whole Poop - Many report that getting your child to poop on the potty was a challenging milestone.  The best advice I've heard is be aware of your child's system and what does in it.  The more natural foods such as vegetables and water that go in, the better things come out.  Fill them with processed foods and other things and much time will pass before they do.  Most children have a regular time to be regular.  Time to have them on the potty during those times of day with lots of toys and books to distract them.

How a Potty Functions - This last tip comes directly from my youngest.  He was obsessed with how a toilet works.  He loves for you to take the back off the toilet and he'll tell you all about the flapper, the valve and the floater.   For him, a motivator to go is to be able to watch all the magic that happens in that secret back tank that happens when you flush.  For other future engineers, this might just do the trick!

Good luck!  Stay positive with your "this is what we do" attitude and you'll soon be waving bye-bye to diapers!


Playfully,
Toylady Janet

My Power 10

Dear My Toy Garden friends!

     It's time once again.  It's so hard to do and yet I so look forward to it.  I park my car, grab my computer and walk across the parking lot.  I mentally rehearse the secret code.  I slip the key in the door and feel the lock click open.  The beeps begin increasing in pace as I quicken my pace and silence them.  My coat is hung from the hook, the office light turned on and there it is....my desk.  My desk which holds a mountain of tasks and a mountain of possibilities.    Running a toy store alongside being mom of 2 small children, as you can imagine, means my to do list gets a little insane at times.  The temptation when I first arrive each day is to roll up my sleeves and dive into the piles of tasks to be done.  But I don't.  I've something far more important to do.  My Power 10.
     I decided last summer that it was time for me.  Time to take care of myself.  To do things that feed my spirit and center me on what I value.  But how when the puppet strings of life tug this way and that?  The Power 10 began.
      Each morning when I've silenced the alarm and turn to my desk, the first thing I do is set my phone alarm timer for 10 minutes.  I open a book and read.  Totally focused....totally immersed...totally engaged for 10 minutes.  It's MY 10 minutes.  It took practice to ignore the tasks taunting me from all angles.  But now, it's a precious 10 minutes I so enjoy.  Do I do it every day?  Nope.  I miss some days.  Guess which days go more smoothly than others?  I've come to learn that 10 minutes sets the tone for much of the rest of my day. When I choose to pass on it, I find way more than 10 minutes of my day gets tangled in challenges.  When I stick to the Power 10 Plan, my day seems to go so much smoother.
   How about you?  Do you give yourself the joy of just 10 minutes of your day?  10 minutes to do something that blesses you mentally, spiritually, physically?  Do it and don't feel guilty for one minute of the precious 10.   You deserve it.  Start today to commit to that Power 10 once a day and then get crazy and maybe even do 2 Power 10's in one day!
    Ten minutes of truly focused time on a task will reenergize you and help you conquer challenges with ease.  What to do with your 10 minutes?  Here's a few ideas!  Feel free to add more of your own on our Facebook page?
1.  Read something that touches your spirit.
2.  Focus completely on your child.
3.  Focus completely on your spouse. Read something together each night.  Sure makes a difference for Tim and I!
4.  Stretch.
5.  Call a relative or friend to keep in touch.
6.  Tackle a big task in 10 minutes power focus chunks.  Goodbye overfull inbox! Goodbye cluttered closet or drawer!
7.  Do a craft or puzzle from My Toy Garden to release stress.
8.  Close your eyes and do absolutely nothing...my fav and one of my most powerful!

Hugs My Toy Garden friends!

Playfully,
Toylady Janet

Taming the Toy Monster in Your House

Dear My Toy Garden friends!

The tree is hauled to the curb or stuffed back in it's box. The decorations squirrelled away for another year. The belt loosened a notch out and our gym pass moved a notch up. The toys...well...the toys. They have devoured the house like bubbles in a bathtub. They are stacked here and there and over yonder and spilling down the hallway. What's a family to do to tame the toy monster in their house? My Toy Garden to the rescue once again! Below are my top 3 tips for restoring order to your house.

1- Only put out as many toys as you want to teach your child to pick up

This is key. If you offer your child a few items to pick and choose from, there's plenty of choices to entertain yet a small enough amount to maintain. If you put out all of their toys, they...nor you..can possibly keep them picked up. Get a small bookcase and put out 10-12 items. Put the rest away out of sight. Put them in a closet, under a bed, in the basement...but out of sight. If you have a big playroom, put curtains or doors over most of the shelves.

2 - Use the Garage Sale Theory and Rotate Things

You know that picture that's hung on your wall for 4 years or that dress that's been in your closet for longer? It's time for them to go, right? You decide to have a garage sale so you move them to the garage and what happens? Oh, I kinda like it. Hmm...maybe I shouldn't get rid of it... You see it in a new light. Same goes with toys. Leave out all their toys all the time and they become invisible and you have a bored child on your hands. Put out 10-12 like I mention above and rotate a few of them out every week or two and you can have a small collection of toys that lasts for years. Of course, you'll want to have the imagination powered, versatile toys like we carry at My Toy Garden!

3 - Avoid toy boxes and large totes or bins.

These are where toys go to die. What lives at the bottom of a toy box? A sea of lost parts only useful for fun collages. What size purse do you carry? Is it organized? To keep toys organized use individual containers. Clear ones ideally. Facebook Fan Stephanie says they use large ice cream tubs for their toys. Great idea! What ever you use, it should hold one toy and all it's pieces. Clearly label the outside with words and, if your child is a nonreader, a picture. Clip a picture from the box and tape in on or a photograph of the toy in it's happy new stage works great. Even a stick person drawing will help keep toys organized. Another great idea is to use drawstring bags with labels. Hang up coat hooks on one wall and poof! Tidy toys! So what do you use that toy box from grandma for? Pile it the stuffed animals or stuff it with dress up clothes for hours of fun!

More tips to come in future newsletters! Got more ideas? Join the conversation on our Facebook page! 
Playfully, 
Toy Lady Janet

The Comfort Rut

Dear My Toy Garden friends!

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” 
― Margaret Mead

Events such as that in CT last week upset up, cause us discomfort, make us shake our heads. As an elementary teacher for 17 years, this event was very upsetting and my heart aches for those involved. Do events like this change our behavior though? Not usually. We grieve. We mourn. We cry. Then we return to our safe world of routines and this story like others before fade into history. Much like a tire in a deep rut that it travels daily, our behaviors seek the path that is comfortable for us. The path that we know. I invite you to be uncomfortable...to seek a new path..to make a change. Worthwhile change is never easy. It take effort. Our busy lives try to put us back in the rut of comfort. It can be different if you choose it to be...one small change at a time..one day at a time. In light of the sad news from CT, it is more and more important every day that we make changes. What changes can we make?

1. Care about others. Really care about others. This time of year, we mail out holiday cards and buy an obligatory gift feeling that it shows we care. Gift giving is so much more fun when it comes from the heart and you find just the right gift for someone. What gift can you give that shows you truly care? It might be a phone call, dinner together, a shared book to enjoy together, an offer to babysit so a overwhelmed couple can have a date night...lots of possibilities not often found in stores.
2. We can educate ourselves about special needs children and adults and seek active ways we can improve the world for them. As a teacher for many years, the most common concern I heard from my special needs families was the way they were judged by others to be bad parents. Many families are desperately seeking help for children they don't know how to help. My youngest is adopted and has an uncle, Zeus, who is 12 now. His grandmother has spent 2 1/2 years talking to anyone and everyone she can to help her. Zeus is a fetal alcohol child prone to violent outbursts and irrational behaviors. He has pulled kitchen counters from the walls and threatened her with knives. She finally has him placed in a residential facility where he can be helped. It should not have been so hard for him to receive help. We can help by noticing, by offering help, by sincerely caring about one another, by engaging in respectful conversations that move things toward more help for these families. One voice added to another and to another can make a difference.
3. We can learn ways to prevent more children from becoming mentally ill. I believe genetics certainly play a role in mental illness. I also believe nutrition and chemicals in our environment play major roles too. I know in my 17 years in the classroom that the number of special needs children skyrocketed. It's not that we just knew more what to look for. We are creating more and more health problems (physical and mental) for our children through the choices we make in food and chemicals in our environment. There is much we can learn to be more in tune with how our bodies work and what we can do to be healthy. (One website I utilize is Skin Deep Database. It tells you the ingredients and level of neurotoxins in household and personal care products.) Things can be different. I invite you to explore this important piece more for your own family and talk with others about it as well. Now, more than ever, is a time to make changes that make a difference. Now before more lives are lost. Before more families suffer. I can. You can. We can. Together. My Toy Garden is here to support you on your journey!

Playfully,
Toylady Janet

Things My Toy Garden friends whisper

Dear My Toy Garden friends!

It happens at least 3 x's a week. A customer pauses, averts their eyes to anywhere but my eyes and they confess. They always speak in hushed tones and hurry their words together. They inhale as they deliver the news. "I'm been to Toy Store X." they say. They feel as though they've somehow cheated on My Toy Garden by visiting and, oh my, purchasing something from another specialty store in the area.

My reply each time? "Great! Doesn't so and so have a great store?!" I do not perceive any of the other wonderful toy stores in the Indy area as competition. I see them as partners in the important work there is to be done in supporting families and building vibrant communities. I would love to see them all thrive and reach more families. I see the My Toy Garden competition much more in the big box stores and online sites like Amazon. Hmm...should I tell you how I really feel about Amazon? Nah, perhaps I'll leave it for another newsletter topic. All I'll say for now is I never, ever, never, ever, ever, ever shop on Amazon.com. Can't make me. Won't do it. Ever.

This Saturday is Small Business Saturday promoted by American Express and we are very excited to see this celebration growing every year! Small businesses make a huge difference in so very many ways and this week, we invite you to learn more AND we'll pay you to learn! As you know, we rarely offer coupons or discounts believing that our products are fairly priced as they are. So, if you're still reading...enjoy these 3 ways to save at My Toy Garden this holiday season!
1) Register your American Express card for Small Business Saturday. Once you register your card, you then go shop at a locally owned business that accepts American Express like My Toy Garden and spend at least $25! American Express will then credit $25 back on your statement within 6-8 weeks. Oh yeah! There are limited slots to register so grab one right now!
2) Shop at the other delightful specialty stores in the Indy Area! Pick out a few treasures and spend at least $20. When you show us your receipt dated from Nov. 23 - Dec. 16, we'll enter you in a drawing for one of 4 $40 gift certificates to My Toy Garden as our way of saying thank you for shopping local! 
Indy Area Toy Stores:
Earth Explorer Toys - Zionsville
For Kids Books and Toys - Zionsville
Imagination Station - Franklin
Kits and Kaboodles - Westfield
Mass Ave Toys - Downtown Indy
Mudsocks Books - Fishers
Wilbur's Lincolnwood Toys - Brownsburg
The Wild - Noblesville
3) Educate yourself about shopping local! Read any of the following articles, print off 1 page from any of them. Just one page, that's all. Any page from any of the articles below. You pick. That printed page will be your coupon for 20% off of any one item at My Toy Garden. You must have the printed page to receive the discount. Each small business purchase you make helps keep the local lights on!

Playfully,
Toylady Janet

Shop Local Articles:
Sustainable Connections - Why Shop Local?
Babble Blog - Where You Buy is as Important as What You Buy
Project 3/50 - A National Campaign we proudly support...why? Read on!
One Local Family - This blog is the adventures of a family who tried to shop only local for a full year. Great insights!

What?! I Only Clicked a Little!

Dear My Toy Garden friends!

Oh, that'd be great for Sam! Click! Love that for Grandma! Click! Awwww, that's sooo cute for Sophie! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! There, holiday shopping all done..whew! That sure was easy!

Zoom...off goes your dollars from your bank account to the online retailer's account in a bank far, far away never to be seen in your community ever again.

Or...if you will.....one stop shopping! Enter the mega world full of this, that and the other thing. You fill your cart with goodies for beneath the tree. No staff member acknowledges you or can be found when you need them. But no matter, you are done with your holiday shopping...whew...

Zoom...off goes your dollars from your bank account to the corporate office in the land of far, far away. Some of it trickles back to your community in the form of employee paychecks, sales tax paid to the state that funds community projects and offices, and property taxes paid in your community.

Or....one last trip with me if you will...you visit 3 locally owned stores who carry a wide variety of merchandise. You are greeted with a smile, by name. You are personally guided to just the perfect gifts...things only found in special stores like these. Your gifts are gift wrapped for free. You are helped to your car. Your shopping is done stress free. You know everyone will rave about their gifts.

Zoom...your dollars fly from your account to a local bank account that supports the local community. It goes to the retailer's account who lives in your neighborhood, pays community taxes, eats at the local restaurant, gets their haircut at the local salon, shops at the local grocery store, donates to the local charities, hires local employees who do the same local spending. It goes to pay taxes that pay for your schools, your fire department, your police staff, your library.

Where you spend your dollars matters...tremendously! With each local purchase, you send your dollars swirling around the other local businesses you drive past every day. With each local purchase you make, you keep the charm in your community. With each local purchase you make, you nurture a flicker of light that one day will shine brightly in what is now a vacant storefront. You make a difference one dollar at a time.

Playfully,
Toylady Janet

Treats from a Halloween Heart

Dear My Toy Garden friends!

Thursday morning dawned with it's usual to dos. Shower. Dress. Wake the kids. Breakfast. Pack lunches. Load the car. Last Thursday though was a bit different. As I backed out of the garage, a flash of pink caught my eye. I smiled. I let my gaze return to the flash of pink. I stopped the car and returned it to the garage. I got out, grabbed a pair of snippers. There beside my garage door was the most perfect pink rose. It's petals softly opened, still wet with the morning dew. It's stem straight and strong and a deep shade of green making the pink even more brilliant. I snipped the rose and laid it in my car. I knew just what to do with this treasured last rose of summer. The same thing I'd done with each rose that was the first to bloom and each rose that was the last to bloom of the season.

You see this rose bush has some magic to it. The previous owner of our home was a woman named Monica and her family. Monica and her father had one of those rare relationships of deep love for one another. When Monica and her family moved in to the home, her father gave her 4 rose bushes. She planted one on each corner of the house to wrap it in her father's love. One of the bushes especially thrived in it's chosen spot.

Shortly after, they had a family surprise and their brood was due to grow from four to five. This led to a move around the corner to a home with a bit more space. Sadly the rose bush was left behind. As the new homeowner, I began the tradition of taking the first and last rose each summer as a gift to her from her father. It's become one of my favorite memories of each summer.

Last Thursday though, Monica did not receive my gift of the rose. I tucked it in the flag of her mailbox where it proudly stood awaiting it's discovery. Thursday passed. Friday passed. Then Saturday, an email arrived. "I just found a rose on the ground below my mailbox this morning; is it from you? If so, then I'm glad I found it (it looks like it had been there for a few days!) because today is the anniversary of my dad's death-4years now." Tis a magic rose bush indeed.

We each have the power to make a difference in the life of another. In these days of tricks and treats, take a moment from the chaos of life to look, to notice others, to give a treat to a friend, a neighbor, a total stranger. Drop a quarter on purpose in the store. Rake leaves for a neighbor as we did on Sunday. Place a treat in a mailbox. Cook dinner for a friend who could use an extra pair of hands. Write a handwritten note to someone. I love that Smokey Row Elementary used some of their Educator's Shopping Spree money to buy a gift for a student who was in the hospital. It takes but a moment to touch a heart and My Toy Garden is here to help!

Playfully,
Toylady Janet