Old Drawers into 'Giant Trays' Project

We accumulated fourteen spare drawers from our closet makeover last December.  Handyman Rex tells me the wood is "marine" and not just plywood... uh, ok.  He sounded like my mom-in-law when she says "Narra wood yan!" of reverent antiques.  

I guess that's good and I shouldn't just get rid of them?  So I checked for inspiration online to repurpose these old drawers - there were so many great ideas!

Like I wish I had the room for this:

And I'm thinking this would be a perfect solution to my lack of side tables:

But the idea I thought would get the most use out of the drawers was to turn them into a giant tray.  It's no secret here that I love trays -- play trays, that is.  Among all the playful learning we do, messy sensory play is Ladybug Girl's favorite -- but it's high-effort in terms of prep and clean up time.

I wanted to have some permanent stations at home where I can prepare sensorial play and not have to pack it all away every time.  That way we can easily play even on weekdays after office.

So on Handyman Rex's last day, I asked him to stick two drawers together and attach wheels to the bottom.

It was definitely looking like another laughable DIY solution.  I even had an extra one made.

I had to live with this eyesore for two weekends until Ladybug Girl and I got over our flu.  Then we got to painting the drawers using some water-based no-smell paint we had leftover.  Reminder to self: always demonstrate first before handing over a paintbrush, as you will soon see why.

First explorations using the brush... and then discovering that paint dribbles.

She used the other side for a modern art piece like Jackson Pollock (he's in her Olivia books)

I sensed the inevitable at this moment.

Fast forward to this.

And this -- sheer, almost maniacal delight!

We talked about how cold, thick and squishy the paint was.

And when we were done, we hosed off outside.  (Water-based paint comes right off)

I had to finish off the painting.  Even the formerly-purple stool she was on got a makeover.

A second makeover, I might add.

She painted this herself a year ago.

Did you notice I left a little memento?

Sniff.  I will miss this preschool stage so much.

Back to the giant trays.  

I let them dry and cure completely for a week, added a plastic bin, and then we put them to use:

Ladybug Girl added food coloring to make a blue ocean.

And some toys for instant beach play.

The best part: packing away for another day is easy.

The next weekend, I brought out some odds and ends for open play.  

The game was that we had to use everything in this box to build a sand castle

I love the look of concentration on her face!

Our finished castle.  Note the crayons, which she ran inside to fetch from her room?

Here's the other giant sensory tray, for use indoors.  

I put a surprise play activity in it - can't wait to introduce it to her (or let her find it!)

It's under an old bench in the living room, so it's a roll-out-and-play tray, then it rolls back in.

I think we'll get a lot of use out of these permanent-but-moveable messy play trays.

Now what to do with the other eleven drawers??

Leave-Behind: DIY Stamp Tray

I once bought a lot of stamp sets but they were hardly ever used by Ladybug Girl.  I thought they were the easiest starter-material for art, but toddlers tend to go bam-bam-bam and the resulting picture is not at all satisfying.

I wanted to get more use out of the stamps so I made an inviting, easy-stamp tray:

The idea is to have a cushioned surface (like a bunch of paper) that makes it easier for the design to stick.  I had all these on-hand: one of our trays, a foamy placemat from Ladybug Girl's 2nd birthday celebration, and any pen.

Now add a little helper.

I asked her to trace around the tray.  She loved it!

Some angles are hard for my little lefty, but when I flipped sides, she got it!

Cut out and just eyeball any extra length or width.  Now it's a perfect stamping tray!

While Ladybug Girl got busy cutting, I got busy putting leave-behind trays together.

This one was quick.  Rip out a workbook page and choose a stamp to mark her answers.  As you can see, this was her first attempt.  Maybe I should have doubled up the placemat.

If she were younger, or didn't know how to read yet, I would make more of an effort to create a match-the-stamp game.

The next one I put more effort into, and it has lasted weeks.  I eyeballed what animal stamps we had and made a story like Noah's Ark for Ladybug Girl to help finish with stamps.

Thought I'd start off the alphabet stamps use with her name.  For toddlers, they can match letters.

Getting better...

And better!

After four trays of this, Ladybug Girl became impatient and excited: "where's the end of the story?!".  So that's out on our shelves now.  Then I'll put the book together and make a big deal out of us being author and illustrator!

The stamp trays also double up as a nice surface to color on.  I've made two more bigger trays since.

At least this has stopped me from buying any more stamps.  Or postponed the need to garage sale them.  

I'd like to think of other ideas to make these stamps earn their shelf space but usually they just come on a whim.  Help?  What on earth do moms do with stamps?

Besides the obvious, I mean.

Make a Mattress Play Area

During the closet makeover project we did last month, we spent two weeks camping out in Ladybug Girl's playroom.  We had two mattresses and three closets-worth of clothes crammed in her space.

With most of her usual art, fine motor, and pretend play materials being difficult to access, we had to find another way to play - so we made a playground out of mattresses!  Wish we had done this when she was a baby and toddler!

Instant excitement!  It became a bouncy slide to roll down...

I may have rolled down a couple of times too

And climb!

We rolled a ball on it to practice her aim and coordination.

Then I would roll the ball up and she would catch it.

She grabbed a bucket to play 'Jack and Jill' which soon became a completely different pretend-story of her own.  Something about a missing pink elephant.

It was a fun way to build her gross motor skills this time.  She's a little behind on it, having just mastered jumping at 3.5 years old and all.  Maybe because she's petite for her age.  

Her same-age classmates are a head taller than Ladybug Girl!

And with her semi-fixed room two months later: we did it again!

Lately she's been jumping, twirling and balancing on things all over the place.  Fun!

When Your Child Is Not Like You

It's challenging to be a mom to a personality that's different from yours.  You could say the past four years has been a decoding project of mine on Ladybug Girl.  What can I say, I'm a brand manager by day so it's second-nature to apply consumer insighting skills on my daughter.

-------

Long, Life-lesson post.

I need a permanent space to turn my discoveries about my daughter into insights to remember when she's the dreaded teenager.

-------  

Ladybug Girl and I are alike in most ways but in very basic ones, we couldn't be more different.  She is a Dove, and I'm an Owl: which means she is a people-pleaser and I'm an unapologetic hermit.  She's highly emotional and I'm highly private.  She is not assertive and I'm not submissive.

She was a nervous baby, shying away from noise and people exclaiming over her

If I were to be totally honest, I want to 'toughen her up'.  I have a sister (also a Dove) who was bullied in grade school and I remember the painful self-consciousness that insecurities bring.  I want my daughter be confident in and stand up for herself.

The preschool version of my wisdom is not very mature:  Hit them back if they hit you!  Grab the toy you want and never. let. go!

Kids will be kids, so when the inevitable grabbing of playthings happens she always lets go.  

A Dove is the symbol for peace, and Ladybug Girl literally fears conflict.  She runs away during those storytelling moments of tension on Disney Junior.  Doc McStuffins has a cold?  Pluto goes missing?  So does my daughter.  When she senses a sudden rise in temper of mine or her dad's, she jerks her hands in panic towards me and pulls my face down to give me a sweet, soothing kiss.

Hands over ears at a pet show : her coping mechanism because loud music/noise = conflict.  I was sad about missing the shows.  Awesome Guy was sad about the under-utilized zoo ticket.

Doves tend to think with emotions, and Ladybug Girl is a huge tender-heart.  She cries during goodbyes with playmates.  She refuses Bible stories because most of them have sorrow and suffering.

I now see the pattern why her little face would crumple in tears when reading together at 2 years old:  an alligator mom scolding her son to say 'please' if he wants a cookie.  A frog who yelled 'out!' to the spider who fell in his lake.  Back then I was so baffled!

Nervous about new experiences: like the science museum, flower girl duty, meeting the school security guard, and even our family Christmas gift giving

Another nervous Ladybug Girl code last Halloween

I like to give her new experiences and then repeat them to build her self-confidence.  I also use books, stories and you tube to let her feel prepared.  I'm so proud of my little Dove when she overcomes her fears and says she had a great time after!   

We've gone back to the science museum over and over and she finally conquered Aedi.

In a birthday party, she watched from afar at first and then actually volunteered for a magic trick!

The effect of her self-confidence is amazing.  Others have exclaimed how she's so much more chatty, expressive and participative.  But I began to get complacent, and I easily forgot Ladybug Girl's nature last December.  See, we took her to Disney on Ice two years ago:

We had to step out a few times, but in the end she said she wanted to watch again next time.

But a full year later, no amount of pre-conditioning via You Tube could make her sit through the octopus and dragon villains from Disney Princesses and so at the show last December, we spent most of our time standing near the exit doors.

Until the finale, that is.  No villains, see!

I was so exasperated because I had paid for floor seats, that I lost my temper when she wouldn't follow me to the entrance.  The end-goal of having a new experience had overshadowed the self-confidence building process.  That was really not my best moment.

It was a sobering reminder for me that a child's real nature and motivations don't change even if her behavior does.  To keep following your child, even when you think you have her codes all figured out.

Do I want to change Ladybug Girl's personality?  Heck no.  If my little dove is like this to her playmates...  

Sharing with best-friend cousin comes naturally to my sweet little Dove.

... can you imagine how sweet she is to her mother?

Oh yes that is her sleeping on top of me.  "Oh mommy, I love you.  You are my heaven.  You are my best friend.  You're my heart."  Having a dependent Dove melts my independent Owl heart.
  

I truly believe Ladybug Girl and I are a perfect mom-daughter match.

But ask me again in ten years.

--------

If you're curious about the whole Dove and Owl reference, there's also Eagle and Peacock...  inquire at http://mindprint.ph.  This isn't a paid post.

My Mommyology linked up to this post and wrote about decoding her own Dove daughter here.  Thanks for the lovely shout out, Jen!