milkmama, I like your idea of leaving love notes for your toddler. Early each morning I either go for a walk or exercise, so my husband is there when Annabelle wakes up. I suppose I could leave a note for her as a happy wake up since I am not there for her first 30 minutes or so each morning.

Abbie, thank you for sharing the biological benefits of reading to our children. I like that your dad made reading a pleasant ritual with you and your brothers and that he encouraged mathematics in a fun way. I notice that my husband also likes to create fun learning games for our toddler . . . in some ways, he is more creative that way with her.

I remember my parents reading to us when we were little. One of my dad’s favorite things to do when he got home from work was read to us.

On another note, we loved to play “The Math Game” before bed. My dad would give us age appropriate math questions, 2+2, word problems, and we’d love to figure them out and answer them. I loved the long ones, like 2+3-4+6-3+2+1-2. It’s funny, but we loved it and really thought of it as a game. I think that’s why my brothers and I did so well in math, since we really enjoyed it and liked to solve problems. Perhaps when Annabelle’s older you can play the math game with her as well.

Children love to imitate. So if we’re eating, they want to eat, if we’re talking they want to talk, if we’re reading, they want to read. Learning seems to boil down to simple imitation and repetition when you look at it! So, did I use flash cards? Not so much, what do flash cards have to do with anything that we grownups do? But we read, read, read, read when my first son was young. Every night before bed. We read a lot of the same books quite naturally as they were favorites. And sometimes I picked out books with repetition, like the Biscuit Books, both because they help with reading and because they’re fun!

Sounds like you’re on the right track to me! Enjoy your time! I’ll be interested to see how you’ll balance all when baby comes!

Heart,
H

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