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Am I messing up my kid really bad?
Just kidding, kind of.
Oops, hit enter too fast.
Here is my question: how much is normal in the day in terms of stimulation? Sometiems V is so happy on her own, for almost a full hour she will kind of just crawl around talking, touching things, coming over to me occasionally. I try to get her to read with me or do an interactive song, and she just squirms away. We got to baby play group about 5 days a week since being here, and will continue. But the rest of the day I'm either getting her to sleep or kind of supervising her. Or she wants to play but on my lap on her own. We don't even have tv, so it's not like she is zoning out. I'm worried that by being home with me she is missing something she'd be geting like in a daycare setting? Or is it more a personality thing? I'm confused.
Re: Am I messing up my kid really bad?
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In all honesty, I think she is probably fine. Most babies/toddlers/children I know are not content if they are not being stimulated enough, they usually act out and will be a complete pain in the butt if they not stimulated enough (I have one at the moment that is like this, can't wait for school to start on Monday). If she is enjoying exploring her new enviroment let her. She is learning a lot more than we (grown ups) realise as she see's things, hear's things and feel's things a different way to us.
Ok, that is my 2 cents.
Edit: I had meant to add that when James was at nursery at 1 years old they would provide a 'tactile' activity, i.e. play with shaving cream/jelly, etc every now and then and read to the children in general, but most of the day the kids were free to roam and just play with toys or chill or sleep. They were more just supervised. (there was songtime as well, but I don't think anymore than what you would have in your groups already)
Are you worried she's missing interaction with other kids, or certain routines, or certain stimulation? For other kids there play groups, play gyms, stuff like that. For the routines, some of us here can tell you about our experiences with our kids in daycare or us working at a daycare. For stimulation, there are a lot of resources about age-specific and age-appropriate stimulations and skills.
Honestly, it sounds like V is just fine. She's happy, safe, exploring, learning, and it's a blessing that she can entertain herself for a while. Enjoy and foster that skill.
This! Boredome would mean (in my experience at least) crying and whinging. I wouldnt' worry - she's exploring and engaging, like Nanner said. She'll let you know if something is wrong!
I think you're amazing for this - i love that you're going to Japanese baby groups. Are you able to communicate?
Thanks! It sounds like I'm brave, but really I had to find the baby group stat or else V and I actually were going to die of boredom. Haha! No, I can't communicate unless you count smiling and thumbs up and using my fingers to show how many months old V is. Also, despite it taking 1/2 an hour to explain her name to them for the name tag, everyone calls her Bun-koo. hahhaa
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You did!
In my humble opinion! I just talked to DH's mom on Skype and was talking about this and she basically described him as a child the way you described yourself. I know I was a rather calm kid too, but in my head I'm always finding something to worry about I guess!
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traveling turtle, that blog post is really interesting! Such a good point about how 'basic' toys used to be.
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Good luck with finding the baby group. I hope you have success with that. We had only one play group per week and it was really good for both of us. I have no idea if it is the same in Japan, but in S. Korea, they have something called cultural centers in the dept stores or grocery stores and it can be somewhat of a playgroup because the classes sing songs or baby massage. Don't worry about the language barrier, just go. Look into it, if you cannot find a play group.
P.S. I can totally relate to the smiling and nodding to people on the street.
This was the first thing I did! Went 4 days last week actually, it was perfect for us! Took a couple of hours out of the day and V was totally exhausted from it!
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BFP Apr 2012, EDD Dec 19 2012 * twin h/b at 6wk, 9wk scan * Baby A lost at 12wks, Baby B was my rainbow born at 36wks