Parenting Children

My kids and I love going to the movies. I started taking them when they were about two and a half and since then we have gone the the theater many times and they sit nicely and eat popcorn and enjoy life.
Last Saturday E was working so I took them to see Happy Feet.

I thought it was a cute movie with funny things for the parents as well as the children. I had no idea conservatives were comparing the movie to an animated version of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”.
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My kids always crack me up, they say the funniest things to me and they are just finding out about jokes. Here is a joke from my son, “knock, knock”
“who is there?”
“My name is not jack!”
Then he falls onto the floor in a fit of laughter.

This is a funny from my daughter:
R: “mom, can I have a cookie treat today?”
Me: well let’s see how you behave at the stores today”
R “I will have”
Me: “no, it is BEHave, as in behavior”
R: “but Mom I AM hav-ing!!”

I just gave her the cookie, it was too cute.

kid’s jokes, kids, toddlers, moms, parents

We have always taken R & L to go see Santa at the mall. We dress them up, get a picture with him and have some lunch it is ually a great day. This year I wonder if they will be scared of him. I remember being scared of the mall santa as a child, but I never wanted to pass up an opportunity to let him know just what I wanted for Christmas.

I think R will be fine, she is bold and loves to do and try new things. L is different, he needs a lot of reassurance and he is more timid. Sometimes, if R is doing something he will do it just to keep up, other times he will stick with Mom.

This year I think we will send some letters to Santa via email, of course. Go to emailsanta.com and fill in the blanks of your child’s name and what they would like for Christmas. Print out the letter from Santa and let your kids keep it.

Santa can call you.
For a price. $15.00 for three to five minutes will get the big guy to call your house, at your time and date, and mention a few specifics about your child and what he would love for a gift.

Santa, letters from santa, Christmas, pictures, holiday ideas, kids,

My kids are big breakfast eaters but they can be picky. They hate eggs with the fiery passion of a thousand suns but sometimes I can sneak it into a breakfast sandwich.
We are still working on liking oatmeal. I keep making it for them every winter but I think they hate the texture.
Some days they only want crackers and cheese for breakfast, which is fine by me as long as it is something good for you, I don’t care what they eat.

Here are some ideas for your picky breakfast eaters:

Whole grain bread with natural peanut or almond butter

Low fat yogurt with blueberries

Oatmeal made with low fat milk

Scrambled eggs with cheese on a whole wheat english muffin

breakfast, picky eaters, toddlers, kids, food ideas, parenting breakfast ideas

My friend, Monica has a two and a half year old son, Nicholas. Nicholas is allergic to peanuts and most tree nuts. How did Monica find out her young son was allergic to nuts? She was eating peanuts herself and handed him something. Just from the peanut residue on her hand, he had an allergic reaction.
How scary is that?

After she told me this, I wondered why food allergies are so common in kids these days? Peanut butter and jelly was a staple in my lunch as a child, now as I walk the halls of R & L’s preschool I see signs on the doors declaring it a “peanut free zone”.
When did this happen?
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My kids are generally very healthy.
R has gotten a bad cold once a year for the past two years, but that has been it. L seems to get little colds that last two days about twice a year.
This year, though, L has had a cold that left him with a bad cough for days. Then the cough and cold went away and now *poof* the cough is back. It is enough to not let him sleep well at night and to bother him.

I have tried some over the counter cough medicines, even though I normally steer clear of those and let the cough do its job, but nothing seems to work.

Do you have any tips or tricks for getting this cough to leave my poor son in peace?

colds, coughs, kids, toddlers, sick, flu, parenting, Moms

My daughter had cradle cap, it wasn’t the worse case I have ever seen, but the baby dandruff made me crazy.
Her brother didn’t have one little flake.

This is what I did to get rid of the pesky flakes. I put a couple of drops of baby oil on her head, then brushed away with a toothbrush. She hardly had any hair at all until she was two, so a comb was too rough for her but a baby toothbrush worked well.

Then once a week or so, after a bath I would leave a little oil on her head overnight. It cleared it up in a week. Every once in awhile it could come back but if I used the oil trick it went away every time.

cradle cap, babies, infants, mom tips

Today we decorated the inside of our house for Christmas. It is always surprising to me how much stuff I have but it never stops me from buying one or fifty things each year for my house.
The kids loved looking at all the candles, plates, wreaths and knick knacks adorned with snowmen and santa’s face. They had a great time setting them on tables and counter tops just right.

It also was a good way of killing two hours! This week we will start baking some Christmas cookies and make a gingerbread house. I have never made a gingerbread house before so we will see how that goes.

The holidays are just so much more fun since I had kids.

Christmas, decorating, kids

Did you get the right gift for your child this year? How will you know it is the right gift?
Well, they act like this:

funny kids, kids, gifts, christmas, wish list

Do you have lots of scraps or odd pieces of wrapping paper during the holidays like I do? I felt bad throwing it away (wrapping paper is expensive!) so I would roll it and put it somewhere but inevitably, it would get ripped or thrown away.

Now I tear the scraps of wrapping paper and use it as filler for gift bags. It looks festive and I don’t feel like I have wasted anything.

holidays, wrapping, gift wrap, parent hack

This year was a tough one for me. I had health scares, operations and set backs for myself and my family. During these times it is hard for me to feel good about my place in life and appreciate all the good things I have.

I made a promise to myself that in the coming new year I will be more positive and send out the karma I want returned.
I think today is a good day to start.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the health of myself and my family, for the house we made a home, for the husband who will understand when I cry and listen when I vent, to my parents who taught me the importance of family, for my friends who support me and most importantly, for my sweet children. Even the worst days melt away when I creep into their room after they are sleeping, and listen to the hum of their breathing. It is the sweetest, most angelic sound in the world and it is my privilege to hear it every night.
That is what I am most thankful for.

thanksgiving, giving thanks, family, children, thankful, love

As most of expactant mothers do, I read a lot of parenting books. I was not a fan of the ever popular What to Expect When you are Expecting, but I read my share of parenting twins, pregnancy and even baby name books.
None of them let you in on a little secret.
A dirty little mothering secret if you will: Being a mom is boring.

There, I said it.
What no other mother wants to say. Sometimes it is just plain
B O R I N G.

Should I feel guilty for feeling this way? I think other mothers feel the same way, that if you are not super excited about being a mom and say things like “yes! I can’t wait to change your diaper again today while you try to escape” and “wow, yes, please lets do this puzzle again for the 3439784 time today!”, then you are not a good mom. I feel like you should be able to say that the indoor play park is boring unless you have someone to talk to or that playing with matchbox cars all day stinks, without being judged.

Sometimes being a parent is like groundhog day, the same routine, same lunches, same toys over and over again.
It is ok not to love every aspect of being a parent, I still love it and wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Now if you will excuse me, I have puzzles to put together.

toddlers, moms, parenting, pregnancy, parenting books, life as a mom, being a mom, babies

baby clothing can help a baby when he or she is feeling bored. Just buy clothes were funny or cute patterns. Seriously, it works!

My kids love puzzles. My daughter has loved doing puzzles since she was two and my son has just started liking them a lot.
The problem? We have at least 20 puzzles with varying size pieces and they tend to get lost, or mixed up with other puzzles. Many of our puzzles didn’t come in boxes either.

I put the puzzle pieces in a ziplock container and write “Dora puzzle” or “United States” on the outside of the bad. Then I store the puzzle and the bag of pieces in the drawer or bookcase.
Now even if the bag is misplaced I still know what puzzle the pieces belong to.

puzzles, playrooms, organization, organizing, parent hack, cleaning, parenting, kids, toys, toddlers, messes

We talked about co- sleeping recently and the risk of SIDS. I did not co-sleep with my kids, I didn’t feel comfortable doing so. That is not to say I didn’t have many a night, in my almost four year career as a parent, where I had a child (or two) in my bed.

If you feel that co sleeping is what is best for you and your family, here are some guidelines to follow for the safety of your baby.
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In October a woman was on a flight with her her husband and 22 month old child. While she was sitting in her window seat in the second to last row, she breastfed her child.
A flight attendant brought over a blanket and asked the mother to cover herself up because she was offended. The woman refued and the flight attendant kicked the family OFF THE FLIGHT.

When are we as a society going to do what is best for our children? When are people going to get over their sexualized ideas about the breast? When are we as women, whether you breastfed your children or not, going to demand a change from this country, the companies who employ us, our citizens and make sure we can feed our children safely and without judgement?

Well, now we can start here, today. You can go here and sign a petition for Delta Airlines and COngress. Then you can email Delta and tell them that you will not be flying with them until they change their “policy”

breastfeeding, breastfeeding in public, breastfeeding on Delta, Delta airlines, babies, infants, parenting, mother’s rights,