Comic Relief

Just linking to this post, Seeking an activity the whole family can enjoy, preferably with a George Clooney tie-in, for no other reason than I thought it was hysterical in the kind of way that only parents can appreciate.

-- News Mom

A St. Patty's Day Lunch

This morning my 3-year old very convincingly announced that she was wearing her pink gingerbread outfit to daycare today - St. Patrick's Day.  "Look, Mom, this little candy twist has a stripe of green on it."  Who can argue with that?  Plus, I had to admire her conviction.  So as I read my Facebook friends' comments today about making traditional Irish recipes (save my sister who is making Italian meatballs), I am enjoying a delicious St. Patty's Day lunch of grilled cheddar and "green" avocado sandwich.  Taking a cue from my daughter, "Look, this little bit of my sandwich has a bit of green in it."  It sure is delicious.

Here's how I made it:

2 slices of sliced bakery sourdough bread
1/2 avocado
1 1/2 slices of English Cheddar cheese
Spreadable butter

Mush avocado on a slice of bread. Add cheese slices and top with 2nd slice of bread. Butter both sides. Pop in the toaster oven (or on a skillet). When one side browns, flip and repeat. Yum!

--Cooking Mom

Four

Don't you wish you could go to work dressed like a ladybug just because you felt like it...without worrying that your co-workers would wonder if you really had finally lost it?

-- Commuter Mom

Lawn Care

At a recent visit to my parent’s house, I noticed that my mom had these cups and this book . When asked if she bought EVERYTHING suggested on the Mom to Mom blog, her response was “If it’s good!” Well Mom, this is something good.

I’ve been trying to convince my parents to stop using chemical pesticides on their lawn for a while now. Perhaps I’ll have to move in with my Canadian grandparents to make my point.

--Green Mom

Binoculars: More Crafts Using Recycled Objects

My three-year-old is in a playgroup and the other day, we hosted the group at our house. This falls into the category of things that I think everyone does but the moms at the playgroup (my friends) all voted this as something blog-worthy (because they thought I was a genius – ha ha) so here you go…

Do you save all your empty paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls? Well you should. It is common knowledge that drawing on something other than paper makes drawing infinitely more fun. So the rolls are great when you need to mix it up. But more importantly, you never know when you’re going to need an extra telescope, rainstick, microphone, kaleidoscope or…binoculars.

I kid you not, at the playgroup, the kids were actually fighting over these crazy handmade binoculars. Of all the toys in our house this was the must-have, so if you have anyone going on a bird-watching trip or a safari, you better make these quickly.

You will need:

• Two toilet paper rolls or one paper towel roll, cut in half
• Scotch tape
• String
• As much or as little decorative embellishment as you like

To make:

• Put tubes side-by-side
• Tape inside together by folding tape ever both inside edges
• Make holes on outside edges
• Attach string
• Decorate

Then go looking for wild animals. You wouldn’t believe how many “huge, humongous” bears live in my house.

--Crafty Mom

Thank You Grocery Store Chef

Dear Grocery Store Chef,


Thank you. Thank you for this delicious "like homemade" chicken pot pie. Thank you for always having something quick and easy I can pick up on my way home for work. Thank you for helping me get dinner on the table by 6:30 despite walking in the door at 6:15. Thank you for giving me an extra 15 minutes to play "princess" rather than scrub pans. Thank you to all the other working moms and dads who have been saved by your culinary skills. I appreciate you.

Sincerely,
Cooking Mom

Hey Baby, What Brings You to this Bar?

Matt Gross, and his daughter Sasha, like a good bar -- and not just in Brooklyn.

Here they visit one in San Francisco, California.

Apparently, there is a battle brewing in Brooklyn about whether or not parents should be able to bring their baby to a bar. This article on CNN.com features a Stay-at-Home-Dad who insists he just needs a place to socialize with other adults after spending all day every day home with baby -- and babysitting is just too expensive. The "brewhaha" referenced in the story pits parents like this guy against people who prefer to spend their bar time child-free. And, I have to side with the child-free bar folks. Hey -- I hear him on all fronts. Spending the day home alone with baby is isolating, but has he never heard of the park (New York's Department of Parks and Recreation lists 39 in Brooklyn)? Or Starbucks (more than 10 in Brooklyn)? Or story hour at the library (66 branches of the Brooklyn Public Library all in the borough itself!)? It all seems so debatable when we're talking about upper-class families with babies in Bugaboos looking for a great micro-brew in one of New York's hippest neighborhoods, but change one or two of those factors and would anybody really argue it's ok to belly your baby up to the bar?

Brace Yourself

There’s no generic guidebook for parenting a special needs child, no one-size fits all formula for getting accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans. Because at the end of the day, combinations of challenges vary and the impact on children and their families is as unique as the kids themselves. So you try to keep your head afloat as you navigate the doctors’ appointments, the school systems, the medications. (Case in point, last week I triple-booked my daughter for three different appointments at three different doctors offices in three different towns. And I used to pride myself on how organized I was!)


So you would think that people who work with special needs kids would be quick to share any tidbit that could make it all a bit easier. Think again. My daughter just got her new leg braces, or AFOs (ankle-foot orthotics), which slip under her feet and go up to her knees. Her regular shoes no longer fit, as the braces are rather bulky. So off we went to the shoe store…and the next …and the next. We tried dozens of shoes and nothing worked; if they were wide enough they were too long, and the grommets got in the way of proper closure. It was frustrating for me and nearly unbearable for my daughter, who doesn’t want to be wearing the braces in the first place and just wanted to buy the purple sparkly Mary Janes. So we returned home with the best we could find, sneakers that kind of fit if we spent three minutes sufficiently pushing, bending, and contorting (the shoes, not her feet). That night I went on the Internet and typed in shoes for kids AFOs, and lo and behold there are at least two companies that make shoes specifically designed to fit over the braces. The first one I checked out and ordered from http://www.hatchbacksfootwear.com/ has shoes that are cute, affordable, and most important, they fit perfectly. When I shared the information with the orthopedist who fit my daughter’s braces, he told me he was familiar with the company…he just didn’t think to mention it. So, should you find yourself in my shoes, let your daughter find herself in my daughter’s. Next time I’ll go to the Internet first and save the headache for another time.

Bubble Painting

I love to experiment with new painting projects with my daughter. I recently went to a paint-your-own pottery studio and got to try bubble painting. So much fun! They set me up with a small plastic cup filled with a mixture of paint and water and a straw. Just like making bubbles with your milk, you blow into the paint mixture and it begins to bubble over. Once you get a good pile of bubbles you just touch your pottery to the bubbles and let them pop. I made the coolest picture frame for my daughter's room!

--Commuter Mom

How to Avoid Helicopter Parenting

There's been a lot written these days about "helicopter parenting" -- parents who hover over their children so closely and so long that their children never learn important life skills. Helicopter parents lodge roommate complaints for their college-aged kids, negotiate their children's salaries at their first real jobs, and simply can't let go. But none of the articles felt as valuable and instructional for me, as the parent of a 3-year-old, as Bella English's recent column in the Boston Globe. She reminds us about the simple life skills our parents taught us, and how we have no one to blame but ourselves when our kids, as young adults, don't know the basics of self-sufficiency. But, in her masterful fashion, English does it in the gentlest of ways. It inspired me to make a list of some of the life skills I never appreciated when I was learning them, but now value fully and need to make an effort to pass on to my own daughter. Here are just a few:

• My dad made me help him fix running toilets, change the snow tires on the car, and accompany him to Jiffy Lube every 6,000 miles.
• My sisters and I were not allowed to watch TV unless we were also folding laundry. And if you wanted a specific outfit available on a specific day, then it was your job to wash and iron it.
• We had to take the public bus to religious school (double punishment).
• Raking the leaves and mowing the lawn (with a hand mower) were marketed by my parents as recreational opportunities, and we bought it.
• You want a pet? You feed it and clean its bowl -- and then flush it when you didn't do the first two well.
• You want to go to a friend's house after school or on the weekend? Go happily, but find your own ride (deftly paired with the: You want to borrow the car to go to your friends house? Fine, but you have to drop you sister off along the way).

All that said, I think the best lesson I learned from my mom involved an insane amount of interference. It was this: Go ahead and use all the bad grammar you want. Just know that I will correct you every single time.

-- News Mom

Family Organization System

I am constantly struggling with the best way to organize family stuff. Invitations, gift certificates, reminders from school and of course, exceptional artwork and spelling tests. Some things just can't be out of sight. With limited magnetic surfaces and a desire to keep my kitchen from looking clutter-free, I have yet to find the best solution. But I saw this via Little Green Notebook and I think I may give it a try next weekend. If anyone has any other ideas that have worked for their family, I would love to hear them.

--Crafty Mom

Crib Notes: Make Movies

Do you have a ton of digital photos that you never do anything with?  Mark your calendar every six months to set aside time to make a digital slide show, movie, etc... with your photos.  Most photo software comes with the built-in tools to do it yourself.  You don’t need to buy anything special.  By doing it twice a year, you’re not committing to more than you can fit into your schedule, but it’s also frequent enough that you won’t forget the “who, what, where” details you’ll want for captions.

Audio Books for Kids

My daughter got a CD player (which she loves) for her birthday a few months ago. Since then, I have been on the hunt for great books on CD. Along the way, I have learned a few things. So, here is a list of what I have learned to look for in an audio book:

• Books with lots of words on each page are easier to follow - it gives little hands more time to get ready to turn the page.
• Make sure the CD includes page turn signals. I'm really not sure why people think it makes sense to record a children's book on CD without page turn signals.
• Not all recordings are equal. Some include sound effects, some include multiple voices, and some even include a few songs or poems at the end.

So far, the favorites (that my daughter's and I agree on) seem to be Come Back, Amelia Bedelia, and The Prince's Bedtime. The Polar Express was a big hit around Christmas (at least my daughter loved it; it drove my husband crazy that it was so long), but we put it away with the Christmas decorations. Would love to know what books you listen to with your children...

--Commuter Mom

Pearly Whites

I was just made aware of a new requirement my state’s child care governing board has passed that states that any child care center or preschool setting that has children who stay more than 4 hours a day and who eat a meal there must brush their teeth at the center.


I have a two year old, so for me brushing time is what I imagine wrestling a crocodile is like. For his father, I hear him happily saying Ahhhhhhh and opening wide for a nice pleasant brushing experience. (Why do the Dads always get it easy?). Brushing his teeth each day is about as much fun as changing his diaper – another wrestling match. My point is, I can’t imagine my son’s teachers having to go through that with 9 children. Preschool teachers will have it even worse with 20 children!
 
As a parent, I feel it’s my job to teach my children good hygiene habits. I appreciate the effort in my child care center to teach children how to cover their mouths when they cough or how to properly wash their hands. Not only does this teach my child good habits, but it helps to keep him healthy. However, this tooth brushing requirement did not stem from the desire to prevent the spread of illness. This came from the fact that so many kindergarteners in my state have tooth decay. But where do we draw the line? If a child comes to school dirty, or with remnants of breakfast in his hair, should the teachers have to bathe him? If I send my child to school in stained clothes, should the teachers have to start doing my laundry too? Why not try eliminating fruit juice or sugary snacks from the centers’ or schools’ menus? Not only would this help with the tooth decay issue, but we may see a change in the childhood obesity epidemic.
 

The article states that inspections will be done by state officials to ensure the center or school is in compliance. What I would like the article to explain are the logistics. For instance, in my center, there is a bathroom with a sink between the two toddler classrooms and each classroom has a sink in it. However, there are no shelves or cabinets. Where does the state suggest the children keep their toothbrushes and tooth paste? Sure, they all have cubbies but if the other kids are like mine, they’ll be distracted by the brushes and want to play dentist all day. Also, if there are two teachers and 9 children who all eat lunch then need a diaper change and a nap at the same time, will the state pay for an extra teacher per classroom to stand by and help the children brush their teeth? What about the older infants that have teeth but are not in classrooms with child sized sinks?

We were offered the opportunity to decline tooth brushing…which we did. Hopefully my son's teeth don't look like this forever.

 

 

--Green Mom

Easy Salt Dough Project for Kids

We made these cute Valentines for my daughter’s first grade class. I found them on the long thread blog. And while I’m at it, if you’re not checking both the long thread and Skip to my Lou  regularly when you are looking for good kid crafts, you should be. Bookmark them now.

So, while Valentine’s Day is over, this project was so great for both a 6-year-old and an almost 3-year-old, that I just had to share, because the possibilities are endless. So you use a basic salt dough recipe, which is one cup of flour, a ½ cup of salt and a ½ cup of warm water.

• Mix together
• Roll out dough 
• Cut shapes with cookie cutters (or by hand if after Christmas time you accidentally packed all your cookie cutters in the attic) 
• Bake them at 250 degrees for about two hours or until hard.

My older one was into making the hearts and putting the holes in. NOTE: It is critical that you make the holes large, otherwise they will close up. I gave the younger one a hunk of dough and a dull plastic knife and she was happy as a clam. And if you haven’t worked with salt dough – well it’s like play dough so you can play and play. And my girls did.

Then we painted them with acrylic paint and strung them on the twine. We did use acrylic paint and I think I’ve said this before but will repeat – acrylic paint is non-toxic but it is not washable in any way whatsoever.

--Crafty Mom

The Snack Trap

When my daughter was little, the snack trap was a handy contraption that allowed me to put organic, healthy treats in a bowl preventing Annie’s Bunnies from hopping all around the backseat of my car. Now that she is a preschooler the “snack trap” has a whole new definition.

I recently read this article in the NY Times, Snack Time Never Ends, which asks and discusses the question – do our children snack too much? For someone who was on the “grazing” side of the best way to eat battle (3 meals per day or graze all day), it’s hard for me to admit that I have fallen into the snack trap described in the article. However, I found myself relating to the parents in the article.

One parent mentions the “routine effect” by always allowing a snack after gymnastics class. Yup – done that. In fact, her ski lessons end with the whole group enjoying cookies and juice. As soon as the 2nd lesson, she started talking about cookies before the class was even half over. The funny thing is that she’ll ski for another hour after that snack so I give in. Plus, who doesn’t love a sweet treat after skiing? I indulge all the time.

Another parent of two children admits to using snacks “to stave off tantrums, of course.” Yup – me again. Intuitively, I know that when my daughter doesn’t have a late-afternoon snack in the car ride home from daycare, she eats her dinner. She’ll even try her vegetables. But that whining and begging – I’ve been at work all day and would rather have a happy, peaceful drive.

The nutritionist in the article says, “Parents who give in too many times may find that snacks are the culinary equivalent of letting your 2-year-old sleep in your bed.”  You know what? My two-year old never slept in my bed. She might snack too much but at least I get a good night sleep. We, as parents, have to pick our battles. Mine is to allow the snacking but I’m going to be better about having healthier snacks on hand rather than sugar-loaded sweets.

--Cooking Mom 

Choking Hazards: Hot Dogs and More

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently come out with a recommendation that, to prevent choking, hot dogs should come with a warning label. The recommendation has received both praise and ridicule. Hot dogs, after all, are as American as baseball and apple pie, and a hot dog just isn't a hot dog if you tinker with it. On the other hand, hot dogs couldn't be a more perfect choking hazard for young children if they tried. And, of course, they are many children's favorite food. I think tips about cutting a hot dog lengthwise for young children makes sense, but I think all the brouhaha over hot dogs, while perhaps warranted, neglects the fact that at least a child choking on a hot dog is amenable to the Heimlich maneuver while many other choking hazards are much harder to dislodge. I know this in part because my daughter tends to choke easily, but never on a hot dog, grape or candy. She tends to choke on things like soft lettuce leaves, cooked spinach, non-crispy bacon, and peanut butter -- slippery, sticky and slimey foods that can pose an even more dangerous hazard because they can't be dislodged by normal means. I found this blog entry on US News & World Reports' Web site to be an excellent reference for all parents about all sorts of choking hazards.

Can I Point Something Out?

My friend emailed me a point chart she created to help her daughter get going in the morning. I checked it out to see if there was anything that might work for my morning mayhem, but alas it seems my friend’s struggles are different from mine. Two hours later, she called to tell me the chart backfired – her daughter was so upset about it that she threw a huge tantrum and made the chart into a paper airplane.

I’ve got my own point system going with my 7-year-old. He can earn points for listening at home, behaving at school, and treating his siblings with respect. If he earns 50 points, he gets a prize. Bribery? Yes, I suppose, but it’s working for now.

My sister had two different point systems going for her son. There was the one that broke the school day into 30-minute increments and the one that measured his behavior at home. She tossed both when she realized that their relationship had devolved into giving points, deducting points, promising points, and warning about potential point loss.

It seems like every parent I know has at least tried the point thing. I don’t remember ever being given “behavior points” when I was a kid, and I can only imagine what our children will say have to say about it when they get older. It does seem strange to be “rating” our kids’ behavior. I know there ought to be a better way to encourage them, but until somebody tells me what that is, I’m sticking to the points.

--Modern Mom

Traveling with a 4 Year Old

We recently went to MS for the weekend to celebrate my grandmother’s 90th birthday.  On our way home, we ran into weather related flight delays – our 10 hour trip, door to door, turned into 17+ hours – we pulled into our driveway at 2:00 a.m.…with a 4 year old and no suitcase.  My daughter is a pretty seasoned traveler, but she had been up extremely late the night before for the birthday party and after two meltdowns an hour after we arrived at the small (and I mean tiny) regional airport, I was worried we were in for a very long day.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  Believe me, I’m not particularly eager to spend another 9 hours in an airport with one gift shop, one restaurant, and one coffee shop (that sold us a moldy bagel), but it was kind of nice spending the day together – and she certainly brought some levity to the day. Here’s why it wasn’t so bad:

1. There is always someone to eat a snack with – and the flight attendants are more than willing to give you extra snacks.
2. I am now an expert at playing the prince when we play princess games – according to my daughter, my prince voice is just right.
3. Who else can lighten the moment when you are sitting on the runway for an hour only to be told they are going to go back to the gate because it will be at least another hour before the flight takes off? She looked out the window and exclaimed, “Mommy, we aren’t even in the air yet!”
4. Polly is always impressed with the scenery outside her window.

5. Watching four episodes of Sid the Science Kid back-to-back can be interesting. I know a lot more about dirt than I did before our trip.
6. The repeated question, “Mommy, how is our plane de-late-ed?” made me smile when I told her I didn’t know.
7. Who else would encourage you to buy princess socks at the airport gift shop? I am now the proud owner of some very stylish Aurora socks.
8. I really improved my skills at “I spy with my little eye…”
9. An exhausted 4 year old and no bed equals some good quality snuggling.
10. I am still amused by the comment when she saw the man sitting next to my husband walk to his seat, “Mommy, he has on a Lego shirt.” He was wearing Army fatigues, the edges on the camouflage are pretty jagged...like Legos.

--Commuter Mom

Best Hot Chocolate Ever

Last night, I had the best cup of hot cocoa ever. It was served to me in a little blue tea cup and was made from an empty tin of Dutch cocoa and milk from a sippy cup. In fact it was so delicious, I cried after I finished it.

My son, who has developmental delays, has struggled with pretend play. He usually chooses toys that play music and are easy to use—he loved everything my 7 month old got for Christmas. He does pretend to talk on the phone at times, but only with an actual phone or the remote. But last night, as my husband and I were reading both boys stories and catching up on the day, my son got up, walked over to his kitchen set and fixed me a cup of cocoa. I watched him take the cup, add the cocoa from the tin and add milk from his sippy cup. He then proudly walked over and said “Here Mama”. The thing is, I’m not sure that he’s ever actually seen anyone make cocoa.

Having a child with special needs is a struggle some times, but when something like this happens, it makes all of the work totally worth it.

--Green Mom

Crib Notes: Healthy Snacks

Struggling with whether or not those crackers are really a healthy snack? Check out this list compiled by Better School Food, which is an advocacy organization dedicated to making food in school cafeterias more healthful.

Tragedy at the Vancouver Winter Olympics

I love the Olympics. I love the pomp and the ceremony, and I can spend hours watching sports I know nothing about and athletes whose names are completely unfamiliar to me, so long as it’s under the auspices of those rings. And to top it off, my mother hails from Canada, giving these Vancouver games a little something extra for me to celebrate. So I was really looking forward to getting my 3-year-old daughter to watch a little bit of the opening ceremonies with me, that is until I saw the news flash that Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili had died that day during a training run.

I know that some day my daughter will be able to understand and process tragic events in her own way, but, not knowing how Kumaritashvili’s death would be addressed during the opening ceremonies, I decided this was one of those times to be a protective mother, and we spent our evening with play-dough instead of turning on the TV. As it turns out, it was a good decision. The Olympic Committee and opening ceremonies producers did a masterful and respectful job paying tribute to the luger while maintaining the requisite excitement of the games. But NBC, in its pre-ceremony coverage showed the actual crash itself, something virtually all viewers, and parents in particular, were probably completely unprepared for. NBC has taken flak for airing that footage several times before making the decision to pull it completely.

For the record, I recorded the ceremonies on our DVR and played select segments for my daughter to see the next day. She was completely disinterested in the skaters (despite the fact that she’s learning to skate herself), was somewhat intrigued by the bear in lights, and was completely mesmerized by Nikki Yanofsky’s performance of O Canada. Go figure.

--News Mom