S/O Miquon for Kinder? SpyCar help pretty please?

[BikeBookBread]

Okay, I think I've finally decided on my math curr. I really like Miquon. MUS was a finalist, but I just didn't like the idea of using a DVD as a teacher. I want to be involved.

 

But....is Miquon appropriate to begin in Kinder for a 5 1/2 year old? She's been in pre-K until last week, and knows counting, basic addition (with some help). She's confounded by money. We're working on time using a Kumon workbook. I've done a bit of thread searching, but I don't see anyone addressing Miquon in Kinder.

 

Help SpyCar!

[arcara]

I'm not SpyCar, obviously :) I appreciate his posts, too. Thanks to him, I've recently taken a turn in our math lessons towards Miquon and MEP :)

 

Unless I'm mistaken, SpyCar is using Miquon with his 4.5yo. I'm starting Miquon with my 4.5yo as soon as I get my Cuisenaire Rods early next week! You can use the curriculum different ways. You can do the books in order, from back to front. Or, you can look in the Annotations book that lists topics covered in ALL the books and the page numbers. That way, you can cover counting until you feel your dc needs a change, and or addition, or fractions, etc. Also, you may look at using more than one curriculum, like MEP, to use for a different perspective or to use when your dc may be stuck in Miquon and needs time before moving on, if that should happen. Or, you could keep Right Start's card games on hand to use for these times.

 

So, in my VERY limited experience with this program (basically reading posts here and reading the Miquon books that I have) I think it would be fine to use Miquon with your K'er!

[Zoo Keeper]

Well, I'm not Spy Car, but I don't think Bill will mind if I let you know my own experience with Miquon. My five year old loved, loved, loved using the Miquon materials and exploring with the cuisenaire rods this past year. My not so mathy seven year old also loved it as well. We combine Miquon w/ Singapore, and we find that visual aspect of Miquon enhances the abstract parts of Singapore nicely. My seven year old needs the visual in order to understand abstract concepts, but my five year old uses the Miquon to reinforce and explore the abstract he already has racing around in his head. Anyway, that is my long answer to let you know that yes, Miquon is very do-able for a K'er. It is not a traditional math program though, so don't be surprised if you and your K'er end up using it and understanding it in different ways. Either way, I highly recommend it.

[Spy Car]

Sorry, I'm out the door...but you've received very good advice from the other posters.

 

Kindergarten would be a perfect time to start Miquon.

 

I be out all day. But I'll look back tonight if you have questions.

 

Cheers,

 

Bill

 

:auto:

[stripe]

Not really related to Miquon but .... money is tricky, as is telling time, so these seem a bit separate from math, if you ask me. (Normally kindergarteners just learn time to the hour / hour and a half, not to the minute, especially as that involves multiples of five.) And, as you know, there are things like Kumon or Mammoth Math, that are topical workbooks rather than an entire curriculum.

[BikeBookBread]

I am so excited! I just ordered this from Timberdoodle:

 

Books 1 and 2

Lab Annotations

Rods

Rod Track

 

For my 3 yo I got a subscription to the http://www.themathworksheetsite.com because she will HAVE to be involved, too! (What a cool site, BTW...)

 

I'm excited for math for the first time since gradeschool! Math was always my buggaboo (as my Mom would say), so we're going to learn this together.

[Aurelia]

We started using Miquon recently with my 5 year old, and she really enjoys it. I think K would be a great time, since it's about using the rods and exploration to understand math rather than to spit back rote facts.

[patchfire]

We started Miquon w/ dd when she was still 4, doing pre-K work. It was a nice, gentle introduction. I really like Miquon. :)

[K&Rs Mom]

My younger (4.5, we're calling this kindergarten) is doing Miquon slowly, a page every other day; the older (6.5) is halfway through book 3. They're labeled as 1st-3rd grade, but the first book starts with counting, so no problem for most K'ers. If she gets stuck, do more practice in that area until she really understands it. That's part of why I like Miquon - there's little drill, so it's easy to supplement just the necessary topics, without getting overwhelmed by the amount of practice. Money doesn't really happen in Miquon, and the way they handle time is different than most (better, IMO, because they learn with AND without numbers on the clock face). They hit fractions pretty early, but it hasn't been a problem here - kids understand intuitively whether something is cut in half correctly.

[Lovedtodeath]

Okay, I think I've finally decided on my math curr. I really like Miquon. MUS was a finalist, but I just didn't like the idea of using a DVD as a teacher. I want to be involved.

The DVD is not the teacher. It is supposed to teach you how to teach. It is not meant for the student to watch.

 

For starting out I would still go with Miquon first. If you find Miquon to be a struggle, then switch to MUS.

[FO4UR]

Kindy is perfect for starting Miquon!

 

The younger the better - for free play with rods.;) When you get the rods, in fact, I would not say much about them and just let them be for play at the table while you are making dinner, etc... After a few weeks of just play, begin asking your dc to build stairs. Have her make yellow trains and orange trains and white trains...ask which are longer, which have more rods...etc...Have her line the rods up (or make patterns) on 1cm graph paper and color rod pictures. Let some time pass doing those things, and then give her two rods and ask her to find the sum (I teach the terms adden and sum early...before the + - = symbols even...) Then color those on graph paper (if she loves coloring like mine do LOL) Note: up to this point, no writing of numerals necessary.

 

That's how I started mine - then I just pick and choose through the books as we go. Kindy doesn't need to be structured or complicated - I tried several different currics for my ds's kindy year and he learned most when we were between curricula and he just played and added with rods:001_huh: About the time he turned 6yo we started with Singapore 1A - he is flying through it b/c it's all stuff we've done with rods. We'll continue to introduce concepts with Miquon before hitting them in Singapore.;)

 

Read the First Grade Diary and Lab Sheet Annotations!

 

I wouldn't even worry about money or time, for now. Those are more easily learned later. I haven't taught time beyond "you can go outside when the big hand is at..... and the little hand is at......" (I want him to learn as much as possible casually before I take the trouble LOL....as long as he gets it by the end of 1st grade, I'm fine) and I use money as a manipulative when adding/subtracting. Introducing dimes when you hit adding to ten, adding over ten is perfect; quarters when you hit basic fractions, etc.

hth

[Ali in OR]

Well, I'll be the dissenting voice here and say that I found Miquon frustrating in kindergarten. I think it might depend on what kind of thinker you are, but I much prefer a systematic approach like Singapore. Instead of having kids try to discover how to add numbers, there are some specific strategies that can make it a lot easier than what they may come up with on their own. I much prefer Singapore's direct instruction on how to make a 10 when say adding 8 + 6 rather than just playing with the rods. I no longer have the Miquon books around here so I can't be more specific about the things that bugged me--just a general feeling that things were thrown at kids to try to figure out on their own before building some skills that would help them out. And we do still have our rods and use them to demonstrate concepts, for play, etc. etc. But I think some of us are systematic thinkers who benefit from seeing a well-thought-out explanation on how to approach some types of problems. I remember wishing that I had dd through Singapore 1A before tackling Miquon. Anyway, we abandanoned Miquon as a supplement. Didn't suit us.

[Spy Car]

What a day!

 

I have so much to say but I've been in mixing stages and editing suites all day and my mind is fried.

 

But in a way I'm glad I held back because others were able to come in and say in their own way many of the things I might have said less well.

 

I'm going to reiterate Paula's advice (and maybe include it every time I mention Miquon to the point where it becomes a mild annoyance) that parents do read the teacher's materials. You can't do the program without the "Lab Annotations" (you just can't) but the "First Grade Diary" is where you find the heart and soul of Miquon. And Notes to Teacher (which should not be $6) has things on sequence, and on beginning play with the C. Rods, and what-not that really should not be missed.

 

In almost every case where a parent has said they tried Miquon and it didn't "click" for them, and I've asked them about it they have said they never read the "First Grade Diary". And I don't think it is really possible to fully understand what makes Miquon "tick" without reading this book.

 

I am no great math-wizard. Far from it. I'm not an unintelligent person, but math as about my worst subject in school. Part of that may have been my own fault, perhaps I should have found a way to make it more interesting on my own. But the way I was taught in school, math bored me.

 

When my wife was "with child" I thought long and hard about my responsibilities as a father to my future child. And on my list (among a great number of other concerns) was making sure my child had a better math education than I did. It was a big concern.

 

But I was still pretty "lost" at how to achieve something better. I read Liping Ma's book which compares American models of math education, and it solidified my understanding of what was wrong with the way math has been taught in this country. It certainly devastated the "algorithm only" here's-how-you-solve-it-understanding-be-d*mned way I was taught math. And I began to understand alternative methods existed. But I wasn't sure what they were.

 

I still didn't know "how to do it". And I'll freely admit I felt an apprehension that despite my best hopes, that I might simply not be up to the task. That I might fail. And I didn't want to fail. Miquon helped me. It helped me as much or more than it helped my son, and he helped him immensely. What it did for him was world-changing.

 

I don't want to over-build the First Grade Diary, because this warm and human book is not the be-all-end-all last word in math education. It's not. Instead it is a very practical journey along with the author of Miquon, Lore Rasmussen, and you see how she teaches. And I kept saying : Ah ha! I see. Interesting. Well done. What about if you did this? I might add that. Oh here would it be great to explain it this way? That's good, but an even better way to teach that would be....

 

In that journey I felt moved from somewhat anxious novice, to having a lot of ideas of my own. *I* was becoming a teacher. How often can you say an encounter with an author gives you that feeling? And a felling that was at least half-grounded in reality, and not just "positive thinking". I'm being very honest here. This what these works did for me. They helped me become a teacher.

 

It's a horrible cliche but Miquon awaken a sleeping giant with-in me. Or if not Giant , at least tall person :tongue_smilie:

 

It put me in better tune with "how" children learn. The kind of things they capable of learning. How we can use thing such as Cuisenaire Rods to make concepts clear. That it is a good idea to let them discover values and relationships when they are 4.5, or 5, or 5.5. That children can think. And that we should promote that thinking.

 

And when I saw the Miquon section on fractions I was almost dumb-struck. Because looking back on my own math education, I have a clear memory of my father making a hand-make booklet to help teach me fraction, that looked almost exactly like the lab-sheets in Miquon. And I've always remembered those sheets my dad made as something that profoundly helped me as a child.

 

And here, now, was a whole program in the same vein that I could share with my son.

 

Miquon may not be "perfect". What is? There are some things, "telling time" among them that other program teach "better" (RS is marvelous there). When, or if there are better way to teach some particular things than the way Miquon does, I use other ways. And I do use other ways. A lot of other ways.

 

But nothing else beats it (or comes close) in the areas where Miquon is brilliant. And that is in getting little kids to see values and to start thinking critically from the start. Developing their "deep-minds" not just their shallow "math-fact" minds. There is a difference in what kind of mind you help your child form at this age. I believe minds are malleable, and that one can help "wire" a child's mind to "think" and help them build a highly functioning cognitive mental matrix, or not.

 

I'm grateful we started my son out with Miquon because I think it will forever inform his relationship with math.

 

It sounds silly to say that an under-5 year old thinks "mathematically". But I believe he does. And by this I don't necessarily mean he can spit out his "math facts" (although on this measure he is pretty solid). What I care about is that he can think.

 

He can focus and solve problems that take logical critical thought.

 

My son is a boy-boy. With all that entails. When I introduced him to Miquon he was "squirmy" by nature. Having challenges, and the tools to solve the challenges at hand brought concentration, focus, calm and confidence. So am I happy we went this way? I would sound over-the top if I said how much. I get emotional if I think about how grateful I am.

 

And the exposure to Miquon fed me too. I started thinking like a "teacher". And with Miquon a teacher who could "set things up" but then step back and let him solve the challenge. I started thing about what we could do that day in our "Math Lab". What to teach. How to show it very clear means, and in as many ways as I can think of (or steal from others). It has become a passion with me.

 

So tonight I'm very excited to open the brand new Singapore Math Model book that arrived in the mail today. That was my "birthday" present. The man who's worst subject was math, finds his heart is beating fast thinking of what treasures I might find, what ideas I might "steal" from a math-education book. Life is funny sometimes. Don't think I don't know that.

 

The box awaits me as soon as I finish this novel :tongue_smilie:

 

Maybe not everyone will find the Miquon materials as inspiring as I have. But I know I'm far from alone in appreciating how different, and how developmentally enriching Miquon can be.

 

Parents who understand Miquon (and you do have to understand it for it to be of full value) have told me time and again how they feel Miquon helped make their kid's mathy. Beyond kids, I feel Miquon is helping making me "mathy". At 50 (well now 51) I'm starting to have a mind that swirls with ideas about First Grade math. And I'm loving every moment of it!

 

And if I keep it up I'll get through Second Grade math :001_smile:

 

Bill (Did mention I was going to keep this brief? :tongue_smilie:)

Edited May 30, 2009 by Spy Car
typing skills even worse than math skills

[Amber in AUS]

Great post Bill :hurray: :thumbup:

[memmerrill]

Excellent advice! I often wondered when a good time to start Miquon was. :thumbup:

[FO4UR]

Well, thanks for the great post Bill! I relate. (read: I made it through calc and physics in HS without ever understanding what in the world I was doing with all those numbers....:001_huh:.....but I made A's and B's.....:001_huh:.....it looks good on paper anyway:tongue_smilie:) When I started researching homeschool, my biggest academic goal was that my kids UNDERSTAND.:iagree:

 

 

btw Ali-

Miquon doesn't stop with rod play. Kids don't have to figure out everything for themselves. In the beginning for us, Miquon was 95% play with Mommy observing - 5% casual suggestions (You ran out of orange rods. Try two yellow and see if it fits.....this said in the context of buiding houses or trains, etc..) We *worked up to math concepts* from there. (It is not a thing where kids go from play with no instruction- to doing the workbooks on their own.)

 

You MUST MUST MUST read the teacher's materials!!!! If you tried the workbook w/o understanding the method, you didn't try Miquon. My ds didn't see the workbook for more than 6mo after me reading the teacher's materials. Those early days were ALL "teachable moments"....between nursing and potty training my younger two dc.;) When we did start the workbook pages (and Singapore...I do love Singapore's structure) I did very little actual teaching....I just pulled out the rods and explained that number bonds are like finding the rods that match......and he was off and running. In fact, one day, I had a lovely lesson planned for teaching adding two numbers that = more than 10 ....I opened the page in the book, got distraced by another child...came back to find my ds working the problems with the rods - no help from me. (what a waste of a lovely lesson:lol:)

 

I don't consider my ds naturally gifted in math, and I think in a ps classroom he would be average w/o help at home. I have tried several different maths currics (Saxon and Horizons....plus some) and ds gave me that "deer in the headlights look" and just wanted to know what numbers to put in the blank so he could go outside and play.:blink: Miquon truly pulls the focus away from completing the page to seeing the math. If you tried Miquon and didn't see the math, you were robbed. LOL

[Lovedtodeath]

Okay, now I want to get Miquon.

 

 

AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

 

 

 

So how much time does it take? Could we do it every other day maybe?

[FO4UR]

Okay, now I want to get Miquon.

 

 

AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

 

 

 

So how much time does it take? Could we do it every other day maybe?

 

It is teacher intensive in terms of reading and understanding the method. I read stuff like this while my dc play outside. The actual lessons are not teacher intensive at all ime.

 

Buy it - let your dc play with the rods for a few weeks while you wrestle with the teacher's materials....and jump in!

[sagira]

Bravo, Bill :cheers2: Reading First Grade Diary was an eye-opening experience for me as well. I actually enjoyed reading a book about math! :eek::w00t: I haven't read Notes to Teachers yet, but I'm looking forward to doing so. I'm buying both books. We both enjoy Miquon.

[BikeBookBread]

What a day!

 

Bill (Did mention I was going to keep this brief? :tongue_smilie:)

 

HEARTFELT THANKS!!!! :hurray::hurray::hurray::hurray::hurray:

 

I so appreciate all of the amazing advice you give to anyone who asks, Bill. Truly. You don't know me from a flea, and yet you gave such detailed information.

 

I just ordered the "First Grade Diary" used on Amazon (I hope I bought from a homeschooling re-seller; I think I did!). I did buy the notes as well from Timberdoodle, so I think we're set. I'm going to the advice of others I read and just let the girls mess around with the rods for a few weeks (while I SOAK IN the books...)

 

Again, Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

[Spy Car]

HEARTFELT THANKS!!!! :hurray::hurray::hurray::hurray::hurray:

 

I so appreciate all of the amazing advice you give to anyone who asks, Bill. Truly. You don't know me from a flea, and yet you gave such detailed information.

 

I just ordered the "First Grade Diary" used on Amazon (I hope I bought from a homeschooling re-seller; I think I did!). I did buy the notes as well from Timberdoodle, so I think we're set. I'm going to the advice of others I read and just let the girls mess around with the rods for a few weeks (while I SOAK IN the books...)

 

Again, Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

 

You are very welcome. It is a small enough thing. And if it proves to enrich your daughter's lives, that would bring me joy to know.

 

Think of Miquon as the start of a journey, not as a destination. Have fun with it. Allow yourself to become creative.

 

While "guiding" your children and being with them to share their discoveries (their seeing your pleasure is part of what makes this approach successful), do let them do the mental work (play). Demonstrate with examples when helpful, hold back a little when you think better. Trust yourself to know our child. Trust yourself to "skip" or add pages if your judgement tells you too.

 

This method does take parent involvement. But it is an involvement of a guiding partner in learning (and sometimes just a play-mate). The parental role is not to be overly didactic.

 

Not that there there aren't times I don't try to present ideas "directly" and with concrete examples. I do.

 

If it proves you like this route there are other things we can talk about that have folded in nicely for us. Base-10 "flats" to show 100s values (to use with the C. Rods). And programs like MEP, Singapore, and Right Start. Or MUS for children who gain from the "concrete" explanations but need a more "mastery" approach.

 

I don't mean to leave an impression that Miquon will be the perfect program for every parent or every child. If you ask yourself: Do I want to set up a "Math Lab"? Do I really want to think outside the box? Do I want to be (can I be) really involved with my child during this time of creative play? Do you want to walk around (voluntarily or not) thinking about another new way to expose your child to a concept?

 

If one thinks: Maybe not. I want a "the facts ma'am" approach, then Miquon would be a poor fit.

 

And some kids like to swim and others like playing the cello.

 

But if Miquon helped a child (or their parent/teacher) even half as much as it helped us, it would (IMO) be worth taking the journey.

 

My very best wishes to you and your family. May your Math Lab be a place of wonder and joy for years to come!

 

Bill

Edited May 30, 2009 by Spy Car

[newlifemom]

You know Bill, for someone who is an athiest(right?) you sure are making a believer out of me.;) In the words of an old time pentacostal: "preach it!" :D

[Spy Car]

You know Bill, for someone who is an athiest(right?) you sure are making a believer out of me.;) In the words of an old time pentacostal: "preach it!" :D

 

I dunno. I'm not religious. I've never been religious. At least not in a "super-natural being" type way.

 

But "loving your neighbor", even trying to love ones enemy? Sounds good to me.

 

And I try to learn what is good from where-ever I find goodness.

 

Which I understand is a problem for some people (not you), and not something I care to debate here ;)

 

In the Jewish tradition there is a concept of "tikkun olam". Roughly translated it means to help trying to repair the world.

 

I take that to heart. That's why I took the time to post to be honest. It's the small little repairs, a help when needed, a way to make the future for a child incrementally better than the past. Those things I believe (I hope) can mount. I can't save the world, but if in a small way I can help "tikkun olam" I try.

 

And sometimes that means fighting battles (even when I'm not in the mood) :D

 

I guess that's my religion.

 

Bill

[Lovedtodeath]

If it proves you like this route there are other things we can talk about that have folded in nicely for us. Base-10 "flats" to show 100s values (to use with the C. Rods). And programs like MEP, Singapore, and Right Start. Or MUS for children who gain from the "concrete" explanations but need a more "mastery" approach.

 

You know, we played with the MUS blocks a lot. We built trains and found out how many different ways we could build 10, and 12 and 9....

 

Anyway, I think that I can get the first grade diary and implement what I learn with MUS. That way I don't have to start all over with a new rod system.

 

And I am pretty comfortable teaching and playing through multiplication and division. I might get the MUS level on fractions... just the TM, so I know what I am doing.

 

Anyway, just wanted to ramble my thoughts out here. I don't think I need to get the whole Miquon kit and kaboodle.

 

I am curious how Miquon does subtraction with the rods. I started out teaching DD to 'take away' x amount of pennies and then when we switched to MUS and she was to 'cover up' instead of take away, we were not pleased.

 

Abeka is working great for now though. :) I will have to hash this all out again when we buy something new for 3rd grade.

[newlifemom]

I dunno. I'm not religious. I've never been religious. At least not in a "super-natural being" type way.

 

But "loving your neighbor", even trying to love ones enemy? Sounds good to me.

 

And I try to learn what is good from where-ever I find goodness.

 

Which I understand is a problem for some people (not you), and not something I care to debate here ;)

 

In the Jewish tradition there is a concept of "tikkun olam". Roughly translated it means to help trying to repair the world.

 

I take that to heart. That's why I took the time to post to be honest. It's the small little repairs, a help when needed, a way to make the future for a child incrementally better than the past. Those things I believe (I hope) can mount. I can't save the world, but if in a small way I can help "tikkun olam" I try.

 

And sometimes that means fighting battles (even when I'm not in the mood) :D

 

I guess that's my religion.

 

Bill

Well you can "tikkun olam" any time. :D

[Lovedtodeath]

Well you can "tikkun olam" any time. :D

:tongue_smilie::lol:

[Spy Car]

I'm going to be out for the day meeting with our composer (Lol Tolhurst of the Cure).

 

Our documentary is shaping up so beautifully. We screened it yesterday for the first time all the way though. And I cried several times, and I've been working with this picture day-in and day-out for 6 months.

 

It's a blessing when you can find "tikkun olam" in ones own work-creations. And can tell an inspiring tale. I'm excited, but dead tired.

 

I'll be in a "session" all day, but I'll check the thread later.

 

Enjoy the day everyone!

 

Bill

Edited May 30, 2009 by Spy Car

[ElizabethB]

And I am pretty comfortable teaching and playing through multiplication and division. I might get the MUS level on fractions... just the TM, so I know what I am doing.

 

I really like how MUS teaches fractions! I understood them a lot better that way. Pie pieces really confused me as a child.

 

I also like Hung-Hsi Wu on fractions:

 

http://math.berkeley.edu/~wu/

[Lovedtodeath]

I really like how MUS teaches fractions! I understood them a lot better that way. Pie pieces really confused me as a child.

 

I also like Hung-Hsi Wu on fractions:

 

http://math.berkeley.edu/~wu/

 

Thanks. How have you experienced MUS fractions? Isn't your DD the same age as mine?

[Garga]

Did anyone already say that MUS isn't DVD driven?

 

He says right at the beginning (either on the DVD or in the intro section of the Alpha book) that the DVD is for the parent to watch to understand the lesson, then the PARENT teaches is.

 

The kid can watch, too, if they want, but the DVD isn't intended to be the teacher.

 

With that said, you make whichever choice you need to make! Miquon or MUS, they're both great.

[ElizabethB]

Thanks. How have you experienced MUS fractions? Isn't your DD the same age as mine?

 

I had trouble with fractions, so I've been looking ahead to see how to best teach them. My daughter is not there yet!

 

I looked over the manual at a convention, they also have good samples online that include fractions (I think it is Gamma.)

 

Interestingly, I think she'll be better at fractions than me no matter how I teach them, although she hasn't picked up basic math facts as easily as I did, she did very well on fractions on her ITBS even though she hasn't done any yet. (I test a year ahead, I find it very interesting to see what she can and can't figure out that hasn't been taught yet, and what she knows but doesn't answer correctly because of wording or other problems--like just picking an answer because she likes it better, even though she knows the correct answer! For now, since we just test to get her used to testing in case we ever move to a must test state, I don't mind that and think it is kind of amusing.)

[Lovedtodeath]

DUH! I didn't think to look at the samples. LOL I do that all the time with other programs and find out a lot. I even use samples with DD.

 

So did you take the kids with you to the convention? You were able to look it over because of the big lollipops that I suggested right?

[ElizabethB]

DUH! I didn't think to look at the samples. LOL I do that all the time with other programs and find out a lot. I even use samples with DD.

 

So did you take the kids with you to the convention? You were able to look it over because of the big lollipops that I suggested right?

 

I did give them junk food halfway through! I don't normally let them eat junk. They both got sprites, but my daughter only opted for a muffin and fruit! My son got chips and a muffin.

 

I think the really nice coloring books and prayer were what helped the most, though. They usually get cheapy brown paper coloring books, they had nice white paged ones, they thought it was great.

 

Aliens are still a possibility, however. I still can't believe it was my actual children, they were so good. (They're usually pretty good, but not for car trips or 3 1/2 hours in a stroller. They were good for the car trip, too.)

 

By the next day I was sure they were my actual children!