Parenting Children

Here are some fun ideas for things to do in the snow.

1) track footprints, or paw prints of the animals that are in your yard.

2) use an inflatable pool tube to ride those hills

3)build a for using sand buckets, milk cartons what ever you have in your garage.

4) have a scavanger hunt, place sand toys, balls or pine cones all over the yard and see who can find the most.

snow, snow games, winter, parenting, games

I tried to potty train my kids in the summer so they could run naked outside and try to reduce my amount of “accident” laundry I had to do.
Of course they weren’t ready that summer, they were about two and a half, they weren’t ready until the following winter. I wanted to keep them warm but I wanted easy access to the potty also.
What to do?

I bought these leg warmers:

Not only did they keep their legs warm but they are also fabulous.
It is a great idea for those winter training toddlers.

potty training, potty tips, leg warmers, babies, toddlers, parent hack, kids, parenting

Am I the only parent that gets frustrated when explaining rules of games to my kids? I feel myself getting angry when they don’t understand or listen to what I am saying. I think the games are too old for them but maybe it just is that I can’t explain it correctly.

I know kids want to do things for themselves, to learn but I do find myself wanting to show them how to use the toy correctly. I wish I could get some patience for Christmas.

I need it.

patience, kids, games, moms, parenting, life with kids

Since we don’t live close to any of my family and friends we lose out on all the free babysitting we could be enjoying. Instead we have to hire the neighborhood teens to watch our kids if we ever get a chance to go out and do something without kids.

I get nervous leaving my kids even if the babysitter’s parents do live two houses away. I always leave important numbers and information near the phone for the babysitter in case anything happens or he needs something. E thinks I am crazy when I go over this stuff everytime she is here, but I can’t help it I am a Mom.

Even if it is one of our parent’s visiting they don’t know where are pediatrician is or the name of the local hospital. This information coyuld be vital.

Here is a great sheet you can fill out for your visiting relatives or babysitters.

babysitters, babies, infants, toddlers, kids, parenting, babysitter’s checklist

Instead of buying holiday or birthday wrapping paper, try making some special paper of your own.
I buy a big roll of brown wrapping paper that is much thicker then wrapping paper, at my local craft store. Then I let my kids decorate it with stickers, stamps, or painted handprints. Sometimes they even just color pictures on it.

It always turns out beautifully and it is much more special for all the relatives. Plus, it gives you someting to do with the kids when the weather doesn’t allow for playtime outside!

christmas, holiday, wrapping ideas, wrapping paper, kids, crafts for kids, parenting, crafts

Today I along with both of my kids, we went to Target to look for some Christmas gifts I needed to buy. Of course everything I wanted was not in stock (argh!) so i just got some bread, milk and cheese and was on my way.

On the way out of the store I saw that R had something in her hand. I aksed to see it and she revealed that she had taken a little push up pop from the store.

We turned around and brought it right back to the cashier and she was told to give it back and apologize.

She did just that and I was so proud of her. She is only about to be four but she did know that taking it without asking for it was wrong, that is why she was hiding it in her tiny palm.

I told her asking for it was the right thing to do, never to steal and that if she asked for it I maybe would have bought it for her, but because she took it I was not going to pay for it.

Hopefully R & L will remember this small lesson and not repeat it.
They are great kids.

parenting, life lessons, kids, toddlers, life with kids Moms

There are many traits I see in myself and I hate. I hate how stubborn I am, how hard it is for me to let things go and how OCD I am about cleanliness.

These are things I don’t want to pass down to my kids. They are the faults I don’t want them to see in me never mind see in themselves. But who is without faults?
Do these things come by genetics or by parenting?

Does my constant reminding of washing our hands, make them clean people or worried about germs?
These are the things that run around in my head on a daily basis, the wonder, the questions, the worry, but never any answers.

As small people, they too have different traits. L tends to worry more, to be more sensitive, to react quickly without thinking.
R is too bossy, she wants to be the one who does everything first, she knows how to push our buttons already.

Are these bad things, or do these things make them, well, them? I wouldn’t want to change my children, they are great, smart, empathetic little creatures. They show me the good and bad in the world every day.
They show me the good and bad in myself as a person and a mother every day.
Their existence makes me grow as a person, it demands it. I will work on my faults, I will try to see my weaknesses and let me kids know that nobody is perfect. That everyone sees soemthing in them that they would like to change or be better at.
I will try to teach them that we can always try to be the best we can.

parenting, moms, kids, dads, children, faults, teaching children,

This is a great gift for any Mom on your shopping list.

Mom’s gift, gift for mom, bracelet

Wouldn’t it be easier for all of us Moms and Dads to stop this charade of how easy it is to get great Christmas cards done every year?

It is nearly impossible to get more then one smile child to smile and look at the camera together. Lets get real.

I mentioned that next year I will be sending out a card with a picture of me on the floor passed out with a camera in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.

That’s life.

What about if we have our cards picture us at dinner, pots and pans in the sink, kids with dirty faces, food on the floor.
Or instead of dressing the kids up and placing them in front of the tree, our picture includes our dirty faced kids, placed in front of the massive laundry pile.

I beg of you, parents, to get real and next year join me and send out our real christmas cards with people fighting, bills piled up in the corner and a messy house.

And alcohol.
Lots of alcohol.

holidays, holiday cards, christmas cards, kids, parenting, getting real, life with kids

It is no secret that kids fight. It is years before children learn how to share, show empathy or rationalize a situation.
My kids fight.
Daily.

Even in the womb they fought. My first views of my little shrimps in my belly were that of one kicking the other in the head.

Sometimes it is more then I can take, and I just want to shake the idea into them, that if they don’t like what the other is doing, then leave.
Pick up what you are playing with and play with it somewhere your sister/brother is not.
When that solution is offered to them, they don’t move.
They never move.

They love each other, they are each other’s constant companion, comfort and often, source of misery.

They will chase each other around the house, laughing having a great time, until one scares the other and then they both come crying to me, but do they stop chasing?
We all know the answer to that.
But this scenario plays out over and over again each day.
Never is a lessoned learned.

Or, maybe it is. Maybe they are like an old married couple, they bicker with each other and tease and even hurt each other but at the end of the day, they always go to sleep happy.
Perhaps, they are testing out the relationship they each have with the other in order to really learn about love.

Undying love. A bond that will never be broken.
It is a twin thing.

twins, kids fighting, love, moms, parents, sibling rivalry

How cute is this?

The spoon,fork and bowl stick down to the table top and the baby can eat with it, but not throw it on the floor or across the table.
Maybe you are not as germ phobic as I am, but fork on the floor, any floor, goes bye bye and we need a new one.

I could have used this countless times in restaurants instead of lugging a million spoons around in my diaper bag.
It is a great gift idea for new Moms.

babies, infants, learning to eat, Moms, cutlery set, great inventions

Speaking of stretchmarks…….. Have you seen this site?
It is a beautiful website dedicated to a Mother’s body, before and after she gives birth.

It is one of my favorite web sites and reminds me that I am not alone in the stretch mark department.
And that none of us would have it any other way.

stretchmarks, motherhood, being a mom, moms, birth, pregnancy, baby weight, belly pictures

Elmo TMX, Playstation 3, Wii, ipods.
These are all hot gifts this year. They are not on my kid’s lists, they are either too young or too old for some of the ‘hot’ toys. Thank goodness!

My children would like princess dolls, remote control anything and a new kitchen because their old one broke. I think we can accomodate this list for them.

So, what are the hot toys on your kid’s lists? Can you get them?

toys, elmo tmx, playstation, Wii, christmas gifts, holiday gifts, gifts, Christmas, hot toys

I thought I was in the stretch mark clear when at 7 months, I hadn’t had a one.
I was wrong.

Suddenty they all sprouted like rivers and valleys all over my poor stomach. With 15+ pounds of babies in there, it was bound to happen but sad to see nonetheless.
I consider them a Mommy Scar anyway!
I wish I had known about some of these natural remedies for stretch marks:

*Massage seseme seed and/or oil on the problem areas

*Body Brush your skin before you take a shower or try a microderm abrasion cloth

*Drink plenty of water and exercise

*Put some lavender oil on the areas

*Put cocoa butter on your stretch marks

*Add more green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, and liver to you diet

*Mix some cod liver oil with some aloe vera gel and put them on your stretchmarks

*Add more Vitamin C and Vitamin E to your diet - and get moisturizers with these vitamins in them too

*Mix jojoba oil, almond oil and avocado oil to make your own stretch mark massaging oils

*Apply lotions with Vitamin K

What worked for your stretch marks?

stretch marks, moms, pregnancy,

source

This weekend I decided to take my kids to sit on Santa’s lap for a picture. They were very excited about it and it was all they could talk about as we went into the mall. I had a few stops to make before we got to where Santa was stationed but finally I gave up because they wouldn’t stop asking where Santa was and when we will see him.
I can take a hint.

We waited on the line, but it was short as far as lines for Santa and the Easter bunny go.
I was thrilled, I have been taking R & L since they were 11 months old and I have sat on some long lines. They have never been scared of Santa and always took a great picture.

As soon as it was our turn R got out the stroller and walked right up and sat on his knee.
L froze. I picked him up and placed him on Santa’s other side. He started to cry.
I calmed him down, but at that point he just wanted to be stubborn, he wouldn’t smile.
I reasoned. I pleaded. I bribed and begged.

I turned into the Mother I said I would never become.
The one who makes the small things way more important then it should be. I had a picture with just R & Santa but why not get them both even if L wouldn’t smile.
It is what it is.
In the entire scheme of the world, who cares?There are much more important things to worry about.

Here, my friends, is the picture I am refering to.
Lets title it: Naughty and Nice

santa, pictures with santa, kids, funny kids, parenting, moms, Christmas, holiday stress