Author: lookforjoy

Tiny Town Colorado – Great for Little Ones!

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Tiny Town

I’ve been looking for places to go where everyone in our family can participate. So far, I feel like I’ve been sitting out with my 2 year old watching my older two go on rides at various places we’ve been to. That gets old after awhile. I want a family thing to do, not just something only part of the family can participate in.

So, I decided to try out Tiny Town in Morrison, CO. It was fairly easy to get to and it was a scenic drive.

When we arrived, I found parking to be a bit limited. It’s good to get there either when they open or in the afternoon after people have started to leave.

Tiny Town is full of small houses, built with different themes. The houses are the perfect size for little ones to enjoy. Many have dolls inside to look at. Children can even play in a few of the houses. One of my child’s favorite buildings was an old cinema showing a Charlie Chaplin movie. The characters sitting in the audience were all Disney characters. So fascinating to little ones!

The part that my son loved the most was the train. There were 2 trains that ran. One was a steam engine that had lots of smoke. My kids didn’t want to ride that one. The other train was more modern looking. Maybe it was electric? We waited in line for this one. The trains alternate so you have to time it just right if you would prefer one train over the other.

All of my kids loved the train. My 2 year old was scared at first, but quickly settled down and loved the ride! The train goes through Tiny Town plus another area only accessible by train. You get to see more houses and themed areas – like a bird town, dinosaur town, etc. My kids all loved it! The best part was that we did it together! I didn’t have to sit it out.

We spent a few hours there. Tiny Town has a picnic area and a playground for the kids. They do sell concessions there, but allow outside food.

Overall, Tiny Town exceeded my expectations. It was a place where the whole family could participate, even my 2 year old.

The Duggars and the Pressures of Parenting

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As a mom, we feel pressure to have our kids turn out a certain way. If our child hits another child, we tend to feel like a bad mom. After all, a good mom would teach her child not to hit, irregardless of his free will. There is so much pressure, but we are encouraged by loved ones to let the pressure go. Our child’s choices are theirs and do not reflect who we are as moms (although I think they might a tad). All we can do is try our best and hope our children turn out to be responsible God-fearing adults with integrity.

In light of this, I have seen so much criticism pointed toward the parents of Josh and Anna Duggar during this latest scandal. If the parents had done “X”, then “Y” wouldn’t have happened. If they weren’t so legalistic, then their children would have turned out better. If they weren’t so patriarchy, then Anna would have employment skills and not be forced into a mindless “submissive” wife position (which I don’t agree with). It saddens me. We are such a critical society. We don’t have to agree with everyone’s parenting practices, but we should try to be empathetic and look through their eyes. Most parents do the best they can to raise their children. They don’t maliciously follow certain practices like only wearing skirts to cause ill-will toward their children. They practice what they believe is right.

This is the pressure that all moms feel. Yeah, we are told to give ourselves a break and not let that pressure get to us, but case in point, if our child does something really bad, like Josh Duggar, and it’s public knowledge, then we WILL be criticized and thought of as bad parents.

I’ve read: “If only his parents had not done the TV show while Josh was struggling with sexual sin.” The right or wrongness of having a TV show is a mute point (perhaps), but take that away and it comes down to 2 parents who thought they were doing a good thing. Maybe they didn’t realize the stronghold the sin had on him. I don’t know. It all boils down to the fact that these are real people, trying to raise their family to the best of their abilities. No parent is perfect – no reality show parent, no non-reality show parent. As parents, we should be less critical of others.  Although perhaps we are critical to make ourselves feel better? We tell ourselves: “At least I didn’t put my family on TV”, or “At least my son didn’t do this”…

I wish our society would focus on building people up rather than tearing them down, especially when they are already down. The deeds are done. What can we do “right now” to help “build up” families, not tear them down regardless of what has happened?

Fight of Flight Light Therapy – Checkup #1

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As mentioned before, I am going through Dr Tessler’s Fight or Flight Light Therapy to help treat my PTSD. I did the initial 30 sessions of light therapy with my first light filter and came back to his office for a “check up”.

At the check up, I repeated my initial tests described here. My circle had “widened” outward by about an inch. Not much, but it is progress. This means that I can handle stress a bit more.

Changes that I’ve seen? It’s hard to tell what are “true” changes, not something good that has happened once and won’t be repeated again. Some possible changes are my ability to organize my life better. I was able to organize my child’s birthday party. It was still a challenge, but I was more focused on what had to be done, rather than totally overwhelmed by everything going on. Was this just a good day? I don’t know.

Another possible change I’ve seen is that I’ve been able to visualize a schedule for my homeschool day. Normally, my brain couldn’t wrap itself around what a schedule would look like. I had no idea where to start. This year, I can better visualize it and came up with one easily.

I went home with another light filter – a yellow-green one – and will do 30 more sessions before my next check up.

First Night with Orthodontic Headgear & Expander

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My Daughter just got her orthodontic replacement expander on. It’s a little different from the previous one and has reinforced wires (a wire broke with the first one). It’s one the orthodontist originally wanted to use. If so, why did we originally get the 2nd choice which subsequently broke?

Anyway, this expander is much better. There is less gap between the expander and the roof of her mouth, so less food (if any) gets caught up there. She hasn’t been in any pain from it.

The headgear on the other hand… the first night when she put it on (attaches to expander with rubber bands), she said it hurt. I couldn’t tell what was hurting. She eventually fell asleep. All seemed to be ok until I heard her crying 2 hours later. She said it hurt. It pains me as a mom to see my child crying, in pain. I didn’t know if the pain was normal and I should tell her to push through it, or if it was abnormal and maybe she should work up to her required 12 hours of wear a day. If the pain was normal, it’s hard to tell your child to just push through it. You want to make the pain stop, not push pain on them.

I ended up telling her that I needed to get ready for bed and would come back to check up on her. I hoped that I would know what specific decision to make if I found her still crying. Low and behold, my daughter fell back asleep. I didn’t hear anything from her the rest of the night. In the morning, she wanted to keep the headgear on to make sure we got to the 12 hours needed. She amazes me! She toughed it out and survived. Yay! Selfishly, this helps me feel better that she’s not in pain and that I’m not a bad mom.