Parenting Children

Today is one of the best days to be a kid. Pretending to be someone you are not, carving pumpkins and the candy, my gosh, the candy!
Nothing is better then candy and the sugar high that comes with it.

My kids are so looking forward to trick or treating tonight, the don’t remember doing it last year so it is all new to them. We will go to a couple of houses in our neighborhood, just enough candy for three year olds.

Here are some safety tips for trick or treating tonight:

-make sure your kids have bright costumes or flashlights to carry
-if you are painting their faces, make sure you use a hypoallergenic and non toxic face paint.
-remember to have good lighting in front of your house
-make sure costumes aren’t too long or too tight
-go trick or treating in a neighborhood you are familiar with
- HAVE FUN

halloween, kids, candy, parenting, moms,

The change of seasons always gets my head all stuffy and sometimes I usually get a little cold. My children, although gernerally very healthy get the same this time of year.

I have been thinking a lot about if my kids will get sick more this year because this is their first year in school.
Here is some new information on vaccines.
It is something to think about when it comes to our children.

I know I like to know everything that is put into my child’s body.
It is something to think about.

vaccinations, flu, kids, colds, parenting, SAHM, WAHM, vaccines, MMR, flu vaccine, mercury

My son and daughter were born with slight tufts of hair, nothing much to speak of. My son’s hair grew in as light brown ringlets, so soft and thin. My daughter’s hair grew in so slightly over the first two years of her life, but it was beautiful hair, the color of an angel’s.

It was my son, L who needed a hair cut first at about 18 months. I finally realized that the old man comb over look wasn’t such a great idea!
We brought him to our local kids hair cutting store, I was sure that was the best. The place was filled with other kids and loud movies playing. It was very over stimulating for me, I could imagine for him.

When it was our turn he sat on the elephant like a big boy and didn’t even flinch. Until those scissors came near his ear, that he hated and he let it be known. Although the hair stylist was swift, he wasn’t going to hold still for one more second. He started crying and reaching for me to pick him up, I pleaded with him for “just one more minute”.
He had enough.
I couldn’t blame him.

We came home with his certificate and his first lock of hair and put it in his baby book.
Now that he is almost four, I bring him to a regular salon for his hair cuts. He sits nicely, still hates when the scissors come by his ear but it is quick and painless.

Firsts can be traumatic but in the end, the lollipop makes it all better.

What firsts were traumatic for you or your child?

babies, firsts, parenting, SAHM, moms,

Here is a fun, easy craft to do with your kids for Halloween
You will need:
construction paper
orange and black crayons
black tempera paint and brush

Using crayons, help your child draw an outline of a pumpkin on a piece of construction paper. Press hard and fill in the outline with plenty of thick coloring. Then have them paint the picture with black paint. The wax from the crayons will repel the water and the painting will “glow”.

Very cute for decorating the windows of your house.

Still haven’t got a costume yet for your kids? Cannot sew for you life?
Check these no sew costume ideas out!

They are very cute and very ingenious.

Moms are always tired, Here are three signs you need to slow down and take a nap:

1) You get into the shower with your bra on

2) You forget the words to the alphabet song

3) You call your child by the dog’s name, your dog your husband’s name and you can’t remember the cat’s name

[tag]parenting, moms, being a mom [/tags]

The first night my babies came home from the hospital we put them to bed with a soft nightlight on and quiet classical music. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was the start of our night time ritual for our kids.

My kids are no exception to the bedtime ritual rule, they love to do the same thing night after night. Although E and I complain sometimes about the content of the ritual or the lenghth, we still do it for them as much as it is for us. We love it.

My son has had some nightmares lately, so I came up with “bad dream spray”. It is a spray bottle fileld with water. We each spray it into the air while we chant “go, away bad dreams!” and *poof* fears of the night and darkness go away.
Then we would read a book but now the kids like E to play his guitar and sing a couple of songs. They sing some children’s silly songs and some of E’s favorite classical rock songs.

Of course my kids love to have their special blankets and stuffed animals with them in bed.

It is just so good to be a kid sometimes.

What are your bed time rituals?

My kids love to dress up. My daughter is fascinated with all things princess and my son likes to be a doctor, batman, construction worker and spiderman all in one day.
Actually more like all in one hour!
These dress up items can be really expensive!

Take advantage of the after halloween sales to pick up some deeply discounted costumes and accessories. You can pick up some butterfly wings, fireman helmets and princess dresses not only at halloween stores but places like Target, CVS and Old Navy.

They make great holiday gifts!

Did you ever see a picture of your child and it reminds you of one of yourself when you were their age?
That just happened to me yesterday, I found a picture of myself at age three and I made the exact same face my daughter does sometimes.
Researches have found the expressions we make may be genetically linked.

I recently came across this article on how there is probably a genetic component to facial expressions.
Next time I see myself in my kids faces, I will know why!

There are some things you always need to have on hand as a parent. Some of them you may get at your baby shower, some of them maybe you don’t realize you need until after you have your first baby.
I have complied a list of essentials you will want to keep on hand, in case of illness or injury.

thermometer
ice packs (I keep some in the freezer at all times)
nasal aspirator
saline nose drops
antibiotic ointment
band aids
cotton balls
cotton swabs
tweezers
medicine syringe
infant or child tylenol
mylicon infant drops

medicine cabinet essentials, what you need for baby, new moms, babies, infants, sick kids, pregnancy, what you need for a new baby, parenting, family essentials, medicine essentials

I remember trick or treating as a kid, how much fun I had, how I loved the costumes my Mom made me and the CANDY!
The best part of trick or treating was laying out all the candy on the kitchen table to see your loot. My Mom would look with me and I always thought she was looking for “bad” candy that could be tainted but now, as a Mom myself, I know she was looking for her favorite candy.

My kids have been trick or treating since they were two and a half years old. I would take them to neighbor’s homes that we were friendly with and they would get their treats. If they received candy that I didn’t allow them to have, I would trade them out for raisins or granola bars and my husband and I would eat all the candy.
Scandalous!

This year my kids are almost four and the swapping out candy for raisins will not be as easy. Instead I have come up with plan B: candy mongering.
I will try to get my kids to get my favorite candy in the face of a bowl full of choices. I figure the odds are in my favor with twins and all.
Finally the tides have changed and now I will be the one to scour all of the candy on the table under the guise of tainted candy.
I will prevail!
Hopefully with a almond joy and apeanut M&Ms in hand.

My kids were recently invited to their first school friend’s birthday parties, and I realized what a production it can be.
I remember my birthday parties and they were family over the house for some home made food and cake. Nothing fancy, nothing over the top.

These days birthdays, Bat Mitzvahs and sweet sixteens are huge productions complete with activities, chocolate fountains and brand new cars. You already know this if you watch MTV’s show, Sweet Sixteen, where parents spare no expense at giving their kids a huge gala for their birthday.

I wonder if the cast of sesame street arriving for a first birthday is a regional thing. Big expensive parties and weddings are the norm here in the tri-state area (NY, NJ & CT). There is almost a peer pressure/ competitive thing that goes on with the parents. One trying to outdo the other. Whoevers party is the biggest or best loves their child more.

We know that money and parties don’t replace love or time for your children but what message does it send them? Do we have to outdo the year before’s party this year? What do we value more, learning the value of a dollar or a big fiesta?

If you have the money and that is how you intent to use it, good for you, but my kids will not be expecting Dora and her friends at their party this year.

My son has been fighting a small head cold all weekend, today it worsened. I thought I heard him wheezing, so off to the doctor I went.

Every time my child is prescribed medicine, which thank goodness has not been often, I run home and check the medicine, side effects and benefits on the internet. I always ask the doctor, but I don’t always trust what they say. Especially when it comes to my kids.

Do you always trust your doctor and the advice and medicine they give you?

There is something most Moms don’t tell expectant Moms. It is something of a “dirty little secret” kept hidden away or something we don’t let ourselves admit to for fear of not being the best Mom.

It is the loneliness.

Going from a corporate environment working 40 hours a week in an building full of co-workers, peers and friends to your house where your only companion is a tiny,drooling, bald person is a leap. A huge leap.

The isolation, for me, didn’t take its toll right away, because I was so busy with this new role in my life but it did come, and I was very surprised.
I noticed how starved I was for other adults when my husband started coming home I would race to the door full of questions. How was your day? Who did you see? What did you have for lunch……..was it good?

Nobody had warned me of this, nobody talked about it until I voiced my loneliness to other Mothers. Then people would share their own experiences with it to me and they would act relieved that they were not the only one who felt this way. It was ok to feel lonely if other Mothers were as well.
I wondered why we hadn’t spoke of it before or if we would have talked about it at all if I didn’t speak first.

It is almost like that we, as Moms, should get our fullfillment as a person, solely from the baby. That is just not the truth, we are people that need adult interactment, entertainment and something to occupy our mind without it being baby related.

I say, let that load of laundry wait, go grab a friend with a kid and get some coffee.
I promise, it is a start.

Since I wrote my last post on sleepless nights as a parent, that is all I have seen on television or read about.
I thought this article was very interesting and it also give some tips for those sleep deprived Moms, like moi.