Susie Allison - Busy Toddlers Guide To Actual Parenting: From Their First No to Their First Day of School (and Everything In Between)

BUSY TODDLERS GUIDE TO

ACTUAL

PARENTING

FROM THEIR FIRST NO
TO THEIR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
(AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN)

BY SUSIE ALLISON

Creator of Busy Toddler

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020936000

ISBN 9781943147854

Text copyright 2020 by Susie Allison

Photographs copyright 2020 by Susie Allison

Photo credits:
Page 288 and cover photographs by Chuck Allison
Page 14 photograph by Amy Martino of Amy Walton Photography
Page 15, 75, and 240 photographs by Dannie Melissa Wit of Abeille Photography

Published by The Innovation Press
1001 4th Avenue, Suite 3200
Seattle, WA 98154

www.theinnovationpress.com

Printed and bound by Worzalla
Production date July 2020

Cover lettering by Nicole LaRue

Cover photograph by Chuck Allison

Book layout by Tim Martyn

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and The Innovation Press was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

All of the activities in this book are intended to be performed under adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution is recommended when activities call for any objects that could be of risk, such as hot glue, sharp scissors, or small objects that could present a choking hazard. If you are unsure of the safety or age appropriateness of an activity, please contact your childs doctor for guidance. The recommendations in the activities in this book cannot replace common sense and sound judgment. Observe safety and caution at all times. The author and publisher disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in the activities described in this book.

To Fe and PK, the best actual parents a girl could ask for.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my husband, Chuck, who walked side by side with me in our long quest to become parentsthank you for never wavering as we reached for this dream.

Thank you to my publisher, Asia, for giving me the best advice of my life: dont write a book (ironic, huh?). Or at least, dont write a book until I start my own publishing company and come up with the blueprint for us. Thanks for guiding my life since 2016.

To Lauren, Beth, and Erica, the best board of directors a lady could ask for. Youve shaped my motherhood (and this book) in more ways than I could ever count.

To my partner, Beth, from dayswithgrey.com, I am forever grateful for your support.

To my colleagues Kristina from toddlerapproved.com, Jen from mamapapabubba.com, Katie from happilyevermom.com, and Clarissa from playteachrepeat.comthank you for activity inspiration and most of all, friendship.

To Sam, the miracle who made me a mom

To Kate, the surprise of my lifetime

To Matt, the caboose we needed to finish the set

You kids are the best. Plain and simple.

Thank you to my community of support, both online and offline. Parenting is a journey best traveled with others and Im so grateful to have had a village surrounding me.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dont worry, the irony isnt lost on me that this is, in fact, a parenting book and it does, in fact, have my name on it.

Parenting books are an interesting breed. Theres either the yup, kids are awful books, the youre an awful parent books, or the your child is a flower waiting for your calming wisdom to help it grow books. Look, no offense to anyone who reads or wrote those books, but they dont really fit my life.

Ive always wished there was a parenting book out there that went right down the middle and was filled with real information about day-to-day life with kids. You know, one that shared things like, Yup, its totally normal that your kid just licked that tree. Ive decided to write that book and FYI, I have seen all three of my kids eat bark before and its been fine.

Im an actual mom. I have three actual kids and I actually really like them. I dont always love that they like to hang out with me when Im going to the bathroom or that they ask for a second helping of dinner the moment I sit down (solid eyeroll), but theyre still pretty awesome.

I also look at parenting life from a teachers angleits given me a unique perspective and background for this job. I taught kindergarten and first grade for eight years, and I have applied my knowledge of education and child development to help my family flourish. Through my Busy Toddler website and Instagram account, Ive also helped hundreds of thousands of others with quality parenting tips and appropriate learning techniques. Im so honored to get to help you now too.

We live in a really interesting time to be parents and I dont think anyone who was a parent before us is super jealous about how things look for our generation. In the past, kids ran outside to play capture the flag. Today, kids are more likely to watch someone unbox a flag in a web video than to actually capture one.

Our parenting load is bogged down by social media perfectionism, academic pressures on our kids, and unrealistic expectations of what parenting should look like. The world is telling us that our kids are terrible, were doing a bad job parenting, and we should feel all the guilt from this but you know what? I dont buy it.

Maybe thats my parenting secret: I dont buy into the culture of guilt and excessive (and misguided) expectations placed onto us and our children.

Im living with all the anxious conversations floating all around me, but Im refusing to listen. I see all the same expectations on social media and feel all the same pressures, but Im doing everything I can to block it out and focus on what matters most: my family.

I want to help you do that too.

My parenting book will feel a little differentgah, admitting this is a parenting book is the first step. I want to share with you the ins and outs of actual parenting life, thoughts on early childhood education, and nuggets of wisdom from my years of teaching and raising kids. I also promise to reassure you that your stage 47 clinger/toddler is normal, and most importantly, you are not alone in parenting. I want you to end this book with your head held high and some good ideas in your pocket to help things go even better.

Its hard out there right now, I know. But you dont need to feel so overwhelmed by it all especially when youve got someone else in your corner with you. We can take this one day at a time and walk the road together.

I took the kids for ice cream one June.

They were 20 months old, 3.5 years old, and newly 5 years old, and it was a very impromptu ice-cream-for-lunch type of trip. The kind of trip that as you finish saying the words, Lets get ice cream, youre already having cold sweats because you didnt really think this through and now you are fully committed. You cant un-ring the ice cream bell.