Birdie Boot Camp - Guidelines & Session One

If you've been following along in our little "learning to play" saga, you know that this weekend marked the official start of Birdie Boot Camp.

Just so we're all on the same page, I wanted to share a couple of decisions Ryan and I have made in the last couple of days.

First, Birdie Boot Camp will take place on Saturdays.  And that's it.  During the week, Lily's been in school all day and no one really feels like doing much of anything around here in the evenings.  Besides, between getting everyone fed, showered, ready for bed, and then getting organized for the next day, there's not much time for anything else.

Secondly, what we will be working on during the week, along with Birdie Boot Camp, is some "life skills".  We're going to start with having Lily bring her plate and cup to the sink after mealtimes, as well as put her napkin in the trash can. I think if we begin with a few small things, I'll see quicker progress.  Once that has become fairly routine, then we'll add another skill to the mix.

And lastly, we will still be using the iPad, just on a more limited basis.  That lovely little device gives all of us moments of respite throughout the day.  

And now, without further ado, I give you Session One - Painting with Yogurt.  You might notice in the first picture that we started off using some Q-tips to spread the "paint" around.  Those were quickly set aside in favor of using fingers.

Here's Lily checking in with Dad to make sure he's watching her work so hard.

It didn't take the Bird too long to discover this was some pretty tasty "paint".

And since every artist must sign their work, Lily personalized hers with a lick.

The finished product.

Next up on the agenda:  a nice, long walk on Town Lake.  This is one of our whole family's favorite Saturday activities so Lily was more than happy to participate in this portion of Boot Camp. 

Next up, we just fooled around with dominoes, little spinning tops, and some one inch colored cubes left over from my teaching days.

All in all, I would say that it was a good start for us.  Lily was sometimes happy to participate and sometimes took part very grudgingly.  It helped that we were sitting there painting and stacking alongside her.

She did wonderfully well at bringing her plate and cup to the sink and throwing away her napkin.  Of course, there was much cheering and hoopla when she did so I'm kind of surprised that she didn't attempt to throw away every single piece of trash she could find.

Don't you think she looks pretty doggone proud of herself? 

It may be a long road, this learning to play, but with a smile like that, it's worth every minute!

Be sure to check in tomorrow because we did one more activity that was the clear favorite and I've got some pictures you don't want to miss!