Summer Boredom

Help!! I'm not sure what is going on but ever since my 6 year old finished kindergarten we have been in an "I'm bored Mom" stage. He doesn't express himself that way, mostly in other ways like pestering his brother and sister, wanting to watch TV constantly, destroying things around the house. Every suggestion that I make is met by a "no." I try to do or go to one fun thing a day and there are friends in the neighborhood to play with, but the attitude and problems remain.
Any suggestions will be most welcome!!

How do I know if my child has a speech or language problem?

This is the most common question I get from parents, friends, neighbors, and the lady standing behind me at the grocery store when they find out that I am a Speech Language Pathologist. So, let me share...

First of all, let's talk about the difference between Speech and Language.

When a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language), or sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings completely (expressive language), then he or she has a language disorder. When a person is unable to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently, or has problems with his or her voice, then he or she has a speech disorder.

This is the way I would explain it to my students: Speech deals with sounds, Langauge deals with meaning.

Speech
So, if you are having difficulty understanding what your child is saying and if they are becoming frustrated, it's most likely a speech problem. You can check an articulation chart to see if your child's speech is developing appropriately. Here is a good handout from Super Duper Inc. or here is a chart from Talking Child.

Keep in mind that there is a wide range of normal development and that charts will also differ depending on when the research that the chart is based on was completed.

Language
If you are having difficulty understanding the meaning of what your child is trying to tell you or you worry that they are not using language at an appropriate level for their age, it's most likely a language problem. Here is a great post from Mommy Speech Therapy that includes some communciation milestones to check. The Child Development tracker on PBSparents is also a great resource.

If you still have concerns after looking at these resources it may be a good time to contact a Speech Language Pathologist in your area.


This is some broad advice to get you started, if there are any specific questions out there I would be happy to answer. And I'm sure the other SLPs on this site are sitting on the edges of their seats ready with advice as well. :)

Raindrops on roses. . .

What is your favorite part of being a mother?

Rachel Pierce Bio

Here's the first bio of many. Rachel White Pierce was my (Megan) freshman roommate at BYU. I have memories of coming home from class with her standing in front of the mirror, cutting her own hair from very long to VERY short, Food-4-Less calamari, and talking all night about (what else?) boys. She studied Recreation Management and Youth Leadership, which translates into "I do as many volunteer programs as possible so that I have absolutely NO free time." It seems her incredible multi-task-ability continues (which is a compliment).

She met her husband Tom (PriceWaterhouseCoopers Accountant) at The Colony Apartments in Provo and they have now been married for 5 years. She has Ella (4), Mia (2) and another baby girl just born two weeks ago-Lyla. Rachel is very good at coming up with visual learning tools for her children, much in the Pottery Barn style. She's an avid runner who is anticipating the loss of the buddha and the gain of the running shoes again after her little one arrives. She self-professes to love "gardening (if this crazy Utah snow will ever stop!), photography, and organizing (OTHER peoples houses)." She is very active in the local MOMS CLUB. She is very loving of others, and a VERY hard worker (as all good moms are).

We're so excited to have her insights on SmartMommies!

Church schedule

Here's the church schedule we use-only it's not the actual binder because that one fell apart.



Instructions: Print/take pictures of various parts of sacrament meeting schedule (ie, hymnal, bread, water, speakers, bishop, prayer, choir). Print, cut and laminate. Cut the soft side of a velcro roll into small pieces, and apply to the back of each picture. Cut the "pokey" side of the velcro into strips and place INSIDE the binder (tip: putting it on the outside will leave your skirt with lots of pokes and snags in it). You'll probably need about 3 rows, depending on how big your pictures are. If I ever redo these, I'll probably try to make them 1.5 inches wide by 2 inches long-2x3 was a little big.

Before sacrament meeting, look at the program and put the pictures on as they coincide with the program. Then, as the program proceeds, the child can take off each event after it happens, and put the picture back in the bag.

This really worked well for about 2 months, and then Brig didn't need it anymore. He was 2 then, so it works VERY well from that age and up.

Sacrament Meeting Woes

I have three children, ages 4, 2, and 5 months. Each Sunday we do our very best to have a relatively calm, reverent experience during Sacrament meeting, but each Sunday we leave church wondering why we bother to come. I understand that at their age they can't be expected to sit perfectly still and listen the whole time, but I really worry when our family becomes a distraction to others.

Part of the problem is that we have to get there about 20 minutes early because I'm the organist and have to do prelude. So, they have to sit there a full 90 minutes, which is long for anyone! One particular problem is that my two-year-old refuses to whisper and gets quite loud, especially when you ask her to be quiet...this provokes even louder talking. We've tried a variety of things, but nothing seems to be too effective. What can we do to help our kids make it through the whole meeting without going bonkers?! Has hanyone had any success in this area?

Toilet training & Teething

So I am an experienced mom with 4 children, but I still like trying new parenting things (especially if they work :)).

My 2 1/2 year old doesn't want to wear diapers anymore so I have decided to potty-train her. I have two older boys and they didn't have any desire to try until they were 3 and they were very difficult. Six pairs of pants & underwear in a day is not my idea of a good time. So any advice would be appreciated!

My 5-month old is teething, which is a joy!?! Any advice on how to make his (and consequently my) life easier?