Parenting Children

This is a great resource for parents. It is a sexual offenders list of all the offenders in your neighborhood. Just put in your address or the address of your children’s school and you can see if any offenders live in your area.

Information is key!

sexual offenders, parents, watchdog

Now that R & L are in school two days a week they come home with a lot of art projects. Paintings, drawings and interesting things made with popsicle sticks.
I didn’t know what to do with them all and I didn’t want to throw them out.
I decided to keep a few of the very special ones and take pictures of the others. After the school year is over, I will print out pictures of the art work and put it in a photo album.

Then we will have record of them forever, but they will also be organized and condensed.

crafts, parenting, scrapbooks

E & I are going to buy new car seats for our kids very soon. The car seats we have now are great, comfy and safe but the 5 point harness will not buckle if they have a jacket on. It is waaay to tight and they have just plain grown out of their car seat. So, we were off to go buy them each a new booster seat.
Then I saw this video.

Everything is a for a reason

car seats, car seat safety

Picking a name for your child is difficult, at least it was for us. It was nine months of “what about this name” and “I hate it”. We reached a decision on my son’s name because it was the only one we liked and my daughter’s name came down to two choices that we decided after she was born.
It was tough.
They weren’t very popular names, and they were not names I had liked forever. We decided them together and we tried to find names that went with our last name.

Here are the most popular names for 2005 according to the Social Security Administration:

Jacob Emily
Michael Emma
Joshua Madison
Matthew Abigail
Ethan Olivia
Andrew Isabella
Daniel Hannah
Anthony Samantha
Christopher Ava
Joseph Ashley

How did you decide your children’s names?

baby names, names

Reading is the best way to acquire information, better ones self and learn skills and being a good reader is something that is very beneficial to your child through school and in adult life.

Here are some ways to make your child and avid reader:

Read to your children at bedtime. Not only is it a good winding down tool, it gives you a couple of moments alone together without distractions.

Keep their books accessible. Keep great age appropriate books in a place where your kids can take one and sit down and just look through it if they want.

If you want to get out of the house with the kids, the library is great. Call ahead and see when they have story time for your child’s age group. My library also has craft time once a week.

Lastly, read yourself. Kids follow by example, if they see you read they will want to also.

storytime, reading, bedtime, books

Mom tip #1
place a little marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent the ice cream from leaking.

ice cream, mom tips, parent hack, snacks, summer, ice cream cones, moms tips,

It is that season again, the ones that all parents dread- cold season. I know that I am more aware of any cold symptoms my kids have, now that they are attending preschool. If your kids do get sick you may forget what to ask the doctor when he prescribes your children medicine. I know I have had to make a call to the doctor’s office after I have left because I forgot to ask some important questions.
Here is a check list on what you may want to ask:

Can my child have an allergic reaction to the medicine? If so what should I look for?

What time a day should I give this medicine? With food?

How is this medicine going to help? Is it just to alleviate symptoms?

Is their any foods or drinks that my child should avoid while taking this medicine?

Of course these concerns can also be brought up with your pharmacist when you are filling the prescription.

medicine, colds, flu, sick kids, what to ask your pediatrician, prescriptions

You know you are a Mom when……….. your child rolls his matchbox car up and down your entire body while you are trying to nap and you just keep on sleeping.

My son woke in the night and called out my name. I got up and went into his bedroom to find him sitting on the edge of his little toddler bed and crying. I asked him what was wrong and he told me he had a bad dream where he was lost and couldn’t find me.

I assured him it was just a dream and that I was always with him and he would never get lost.
He went right back to sleep. I, on the other hand, couldn’t fall back asleep. It made me sad that he had a dream where he was lost and couldn’t find me.

It wasn’t his first bad dream he had some night terrors in the past, but nothing too frequent. I guess it wasn’t something I considered, that even though he is only three he also has fears or concerns that is worked out by his brain in the night, the same as an adult.

In the morning, we talked about his dream and how, if he was ever lost who he should ask for help. I hope that reassures his tiny brain a little bit.

kids, toddlers, sleep, nightmares, parenting

Walt Disney Company has decided to cut down on trans fats and calorie laden food now that its deal with McDonalds has expired.

They are going to offer healthier meal and snack choices. You can read about it here.

I have to say, I don’t think Disney World is that bad compared to other theme parks. I have purchased fresh fruit for my kids from snack carts there and have always been able to find water, milk or fruit juices everywhere I turned in that park. I am glad they are trying to better the food choices, it is only a benefit to the public.

disney, kids, parenting

See that ad over there —–> for Shaw floors? I recently was told they were having a rug giveaway and so I entered to win a free rug and on my first try I won.
It was very exciting because I really don’t win things, nevermind a new beautiful rug.
Now I see today they are a new ad here on my blog.

Coincidence or fate?
Who knows, but go and see if you can win a new rug too!

My kids had such a great time trick or treating yesterday. We visited some of our neighbor friends and then my husband took the kids for a long journey and they came home with huge amounts with candy.

The candy policy in my house is: some candy for the adults from time to time, none for the children. We are big hypocrites I know!
If they get some candy from their grandparents or at a party they can have it. Treats are great in moderation.

Now we are faced with massive amount of candy in my house and I can’t throw it away. I also don’t want to eat it.

So tell me, what you do with your extra candy?

halloween, candy, kids,

My daughter has had problems with constipation since she was 12 months old. There were times where she wouldn’t go to the bathroom for days and then would be scared to go because she knew her bowel movement was going to hurt her. It was terrible and I felt so helpless.

Now my friend is having the same problems with her 2.5 year old son. I could offer her some advice as we have tried it all in this house to help my daughter but every child is different. If your child is constipated, here are some simple ways to address the issue:

Make sure they drink fluids!
Water is definitely the best choice. Your child needs to have a cup of water available to sip on. One way to tell if he is getting enough fluids is to look at the urine, it needs to be a very light shade of clear yellow. The darker the urine, the more likely he is not taking in enough water.

Make sure you are offering enough fiber into their diet. Whole wheat fiber bread, fruits and cereals

Cut out foods that constipate like rice, bananas and dairy

constipation, parenting, pottytraining, SAHM