Reasons to Rake Leaves with Your Kids

Sometimes it’s hard to get your children to help out with yard work. If you can show them how fun it is, the chances of them participating increase tenfold. Raking leaves is the perfect cleanup activity for a wide variety of age groups. The folks over at Mommy Lounge have put together 13 reasons why kids should rake leaves. Here’s our favorite:

The special treat you get afterwards: After an hour or two its always nice to reward yourself for a job well done. Some hot chocolate, tea, coffee (not for the kids) and some delicious cookies would work perfectly.

Planned Acts of Niceness

As As a mom, it’s easy to get caught up in a world that consists only of your children and everything that concerns them. But as a person, it’s important to remember that random acts of niceness can go a long way, both for you and the receiver of these acts. A coffee in the morning for a colleague, a gift certificate to dinner for your child’s teacher, or even paying for the next person’s laundry when you pick up yours are small acts that may have big results. With just one small act, you can set off a series of good acts as people pay it forward. You’ll find that when you do, these acts pay big dividends and you’ll begin to do them over and over.  

Recently, I have set a personal goal in order to achieve ‘my random acts of niceness’ quota by establishing a once-a-week good deed. Not only has it provided me a great sense of personal satisfaction when “presenting” the niceness act, it has also kept this niceness “ideal” very top-of-mind for me. And as I’ve filled my quota weekly, I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone is connected, related somehow. It’s that connection that we thrive on, that connection to each other is the very reason why giving back feels so right. It’s our way of claiming a place in the world and with that claimed place comes a desire to serve others in the world community. And as both mothers and people, it’s our job to make sure we don’t forget that.   

Simplest BBQ dinner ever!

Things are crazy, you’re busy, the kids have afterschool activities…. Need a quick and really easy dinner idea? Try this slow-cooker BBQ recipe you can throw together in under 5 minutes in the morning.  You’ll need:

• Your slowcooker  (crockpot)
• A bag of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (you can find these individually frozen in a bag in the freezer section of the grocery store, and they’re quite economical).
• A bottle of honey or hickory BBQ sauce  (get a good one!)
• Optional:  a half cup of dark beer

Place as many of the chicken thighs as you need inside the slow cooker- (I use 1-2 per person, depending on age).  If you are using the beer, mix a 1/2 cup of so of the beer with the BBQ sauce beforehand.  Pour the sauce over the chicken thighs, making sure all pieces are covered.

Turn the slow cooker on low, for up to 8 hours.  Don’t add additional liquid, as the chicken will produce its own liquid as it cooks, and very little liquid escapes during slowcooking.  The meat will be tender and tasty.  Serve with a side of rice and a salad, and you have an easy, quick, and inexpensive dinner that even small kids will eat, especially since the meat is super tender and there is no skin and no bones!

How to Clean a Minor Cut

Children are forever falling, getting scrapes and bruises. That’s why it’s important to keep this tip from BlissfullyDomestic.com close at hand:

Carefully and thoroughly clean wounds with warm water and soap, working from the inside out and going beyond the actual wound area so that the bandage sits on clean skin. Pat dry the area with a sterile gauze pad and carefully apply antibiotic ointment, and cover with a sterile bandage. When applying a bandage it is crucial not to touch the white pad that covers the cut; it is sterile and touching it would introduce potentially harmful bacteria.

Get Your Child to Take His Medicine

I remember when my son contracted pneumonia at 2 years old. That was one of the worst ordeals I have ever been through. On top of general worry, there was the need to get medicine into him every 2 hours, and feeling as yucky as he did, he was not a very willing participant. Battling the will of a stubborn 2 year old is never easy on the best of days. Thank heavens for this tip from Parents2parent.com:

Break them and crush them or indeed take the beads out of the capsule and put it in syrup, honey , yoghurt, nutella or any other thing your child thinks is yummy and give small amounts at a time. Remember when you do this you may affect the strength of the medication but at least you get it in. You might need to strike a deal to get it in.

Encourage Toy Sharing During Playdates

Despite having a best friend to come over and play, your preschooler may balk at letting little Johnny play with his favorite fire truck. Or anything else for that matter. Here are some tips for encouraging toy sharing from Surfnetparents.com:

Prepare some extra activities

While this is a good idea to do anyway, they can come in extremely handy when children begin to fight over toys. It’s always nice to have a change of pace for a while so that’s why extra activities work great. Things like reading books together, playing with play dough or some type of kinesthetic activity or water painting, and one of the best activities for young children is sand and water. Kids will come up with a million things to do with sand and water, or even just water. It doesn’t matter what you decide to prepare, just as long as you have some extra fall back activities to change things up a little.

Clutter Control!

Beyond Easter Baskets!  Looking for an easy, attractive way to control clutter in your house, and in your child’s room?  Try an array of baskets.  The kids can’t seem to keep books stacked neatly on shelves?  Try a laundry basket.  If a big gawky plastic basket doesn’t fit your decor, try a wicker laundry basket.  You can find them at home goods stores or even Walmart, and they make a great portable, simple way to corral those board books that seem to multiply. 

Try smaller baskets for crayons, video games (especially the small ones like those for Gameboys), hair bows, and even kitchen counter clutter like vitamin bottles, coffee accoutrements, and snacks.

Thank You Notes- from the kids!

In today’s world of scattered families, many special events are marked by gifts through the mail.  One of the most frustrating things for grandmothers, family friends, and favorite aunts is to not know if a gift was ever received.  A thank you note is more than just a social nicety or formality.  Whether it comes via email or snail mail, a thank you note not only allows the sender to be sure the gift arrived intact, but lets the recipient express his or her gratitude for someone’s thoughtfulness. 

For small children, however, thank you notes often fall by the wayside.  Try taking a picture of your child opening or enjoying the gift.  Let your kids draw a picture if they are small.  If your kids have reached the age to understand who and where the gift came from, write a note yourself while explaining what you’re doing; once your child is big enough to write simple words, utilize the fill-in-the-blank thank you notes available where stationary and party supplies are sold.  I often write out the name of the sender and the item on a scrap of paper, and let my young son copy into the blanks.  His grandparents like to receive it in his handwriting, and they know he’s aware who gave him that nifty new toy.   For older kids, find a cute set of blank cards and let them write their own- it’s a social skill that will last a lifetime! 

For a good selection of fill-in-the-blank cards, try My Expression.

Get Stuck in a Rut!

Sometimes being stuck in a rut is good- routine is comforting and efficient.  Make a routine for you and your kids each night to make the morning flow more smoothly.  My twins were at the age where they wanted to do everything for themselves.  Rather than have the morning fight over what we would wear each day, I solved the problem by laying everyone’s clothes out the night before- yes, it’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, but that’s because it works! 

I have a small bench in the boys’ room, and every night before bed, their pants, shirts, shoes, and socks are all laid out and ready to go, and the boys have happily gotten up and dressed themselves without issue since they were three.  Socks, preschool nap mats, coats, backpacks, and lunches are all readied the evening before as well, and ready to grad on the way out the door, including mom and dad’s!

Plan a PreSchooler’s Birthday Party with Ease

I am looking forward to my son’s 4th Birthday. It will be the first time that we invite a group of other kids (and parents!) over to our house. And, like every mother, I want it to run smooth and be perfect. So I’m starting to plan now, 10 months in advance. Blissfully Domestic came to my rescue and posted a great solution: plan traditional activities around naptime.

* 2 hours is the perfect length for a preschooler party.
* Get involved in some of the activities yourself. (Become the “fun” mom!)
* Hand out goodie bags as the guests leave.

Become a Better Parent

Being a parent is stressful. Before parenthood I was stressed if I was going to miss out on a tv show. Now, the stakes are much higher. I’m in charge of the happieness of another small being. It’s no wonder that parents are a stressed out mess. With people being laid off left and right, comodity prices going up and not enough time in the day to get everything done I was glad to find 10 tips from eliminatingparentstress.com on how to become a more effective (and less stressed) parent.

First and foremost, remember that being an effective parent does not just mean decreasing negative behaviors on the part of your child. It also means as a parent that you need to be aware of the good behaviors your child acts out, so that these behaviors can properly be encouraged and, thus, enforced. Children cannot just be scolded when they do something wrong – they need to also know when it is that they do something positive. This needs to be acknowledged not only so that the child will learn that they did something good, but also so that they know that you, as a parent, do not just see the things that they do wrong. You are also aware of what they do right and correctly.

Host a Slumber Party

The kids are finally getting old enough for a slumber party and you’ve made the decision to host one. Don’t wait for panic to set in, Parenting.com has 5 tips for throwing a slumber party that everyone will enjoy:

Shorten the guest list. Corralling three kids is easier than eight. Tell your child that she can invite fewer friends than for a daytime party.

Set house rules with confidence. They may test you, but children feel insecure if the adult isn’t in charge — and the more secure kids feel, the more easily they’ll sleep.

Create a quiet zone. The night before, set up a spot away from the sleeping area with snacks and quiet activities for early risers, so kids can sneak down without waking anyone.

Set a firm “lights-out” at the outset. “I let the kids talk after that as long as they don’t make noise or get out of bed. Once they’re in their sleeping bags and it’s dark, nobody makes it long,” says Angela Root, a mom of one also from Portland.

Slow down. Even after the best sleepover, everyone’s tired the next day. Plan a quiet afternoon so both you and your child can relax. And expect crankiness.

Why You Should Give Your Kids Their Own gMail Address

I use Google Mail all of the time (none of those pesky ads) but I wasn’t sure about setting up gmail for the kids… at least as young as the author at flagrantdisregard.com suggested. Until I kept reading. You see, he created email accounts for his 4 year old and 6 year old, but he used a handy little option to create multiple identities within his own email so his children could “feel” like they’re sending their own email. It also lets you control the spam that gets sent in. And it’s pretty simple:

Go into Settings, click Accounts, then Add another email address.
Now enter Johnny’s name and Alice+Johnny@gmail.com as the address.

I still think I’m waiting for my son to get out of Kindergarden before I get him his first email address….

Making travel less stressful for little ones

Taking the kids on a spring break or summer vacation?  Going away to summer camp or to Grandma’s for a week?  Being away from home can be stressful for kids of all ages, from toddlers to pre-teens.  Here’s a simple trip to make bedtime in a strange bed feel more like home:

Pack your child’s special pillow case.  If your child doesn’t already use a special pillow case, buy one in his or her favorite cartoon character or sports team a few weeks in advance, just for fun.  Wash it in your normal detergent so it gets that smell of home.  (As a kid, my mom always used Gain- I still think of home when I smell it!) 

Pack it in your bag, and when you arrive at the hotel or rental or Grandma’s, slip your little one’s favorite pillowcase over the pillow that’s already there.  While adults are known to be picky about their pillow’s fluff factor, kids are generally easier to please and the familiarity of the favorite character pillow case makes it seem more like home; and bedtime just got easier! 

One bonus- buying separate pillow cases with characters for your kids is much less expensive than purchasing the entire sheet set- plus if you choose a neutral set of sheets, you can switch out pillow cases as their latest fixation changes!  We’ve been through Dragon Tails, Scooby Doo, Football teams, etc…..  For some cute ideas try these at Find Gifts.com!

Potty Training Tricks

For boys in particular, it’s important to have a collection of tricks up your sleeve for potty training. This one at Lifetips.com is one of my favorites:

Gather together 3 or 4 toys that can be water toys. They will become special “potty” toys that can only be played with while the child is sitting on the potty! Once the child is sitting on the potty fill a large bowl or small bucket with lukewarm or tepid water, place the new “potty” toys in the bowl and set the bowl of water in front of the child. When the child places his/her hands in the lukewarm water to play with the toys, if the child needs to go potty, the warm water will help to speed up the process.

My personal toilet training tip: for boys, keep a bowl of Cheerios next to the toilet. When it’s time to pee, your little fella can toss a couple in and practice aiming!

Travel meds

If you travel with kids, at some point you’re going to have a sick child on the road.  It might be a bout of carsickness, or an allergic reaction, or even a fever.  Keep these few necessities in a ziplock bag at all times, and grab it any time you hit the road.

• A bottle of children’s benadryl.  It can be used for runny noses and allergic reactions.  It’s also usable by both adults and children. (make sure to follow labeling instructions.)
• A bottle of children’s ibuprofen.  Treats everything from fevers to headaches to other aches and pains.
• A few Tums for kids and parents.  Sometimes too much takeout and riding can cause an ill tummy.
• A thermometer, bandaids, a tube of antibiotic cream, and a liquid measuring cup for meds. 

Of course, if you’re making a road trip, it always helps to have an extra change of clothes for each child and a pack of wet wipes (for all ages) within quick reach.  I always keep a small tote bag with these in the back of my car, even if there are suitcases.  I also line the backseats of the car with a doubled sheet for road trips to catch everything from crayons to crackers to spills (including ‘carsickness!’)

Giving up the Binkie

Parenting.com has come up with 10 ideas to help your child give up the pacifier. My favorite suggestion:

Bring it to the fire station.
Or the doctor: The key is to tell your child that they collect pacis from big kids. They’ll play along.

Our solution: Start daycare. Eventually peer pressure will encourage him to give it up on his own.

Snow in the tub

Yes, it’s spring, but many areas of the country get a late snow in April- it’s cold, wet, and often breezy.  And what do you do with the kids?  Why, bring it inside, of course!  Tired of muddy boots, wet gloves, and pink noses?  Fill a large plastic tub with snow, and haul it into the bathroom.  Don’t worry, it’s light.  Bring 3 or 4 loads in and dump it into a clean bathtub.  Give the kids a couple of big spoons, a few beach toys, and throw some towels on the floor.  It’s clean and it melts clear, and best of all, you don’t have to stand outside in the cold for your little ones to enjoy the snow!  And aside from a few (or a lot!) of drips on the floor, there’s no cleanup- it simply melts and runs down the drain!

The Never Ending Fruit Bowl

I have three boys- it seems like they eat non-stop!  To quell the before-dinner snacking, I filled a big pretty fruitbowl with seasonal fresh fruits that are easy to eat out-of-hand, and sat it smack in the middle of the kitchen table.  The bowl may hold apples, pears, bananas, tangerines, and often those miniature boxes of raisins. 

When the boys come in for a late afternoon snack, I simply point them to the fruit bowl, especially if dinner is within site!  Sure, kids often want to eat junk, but if they’re really hungry, that fruit bowl gets more and more tempting…….. and it keeps them satisfied until dinner!  And if any of the fruit gets past its prime, I use it in banana bread, baked apples, or other simple recipes- That they boys will also eat!

Don’t think your kids are that into fruit? Take them to the grocery store or farmer’s market, or even a local fruit farm and let them pick it out themselves.

Help your Child with their Homework

Sometimes it’s easy to want to step in and do your child’s homework for them - especially when they are having difficulty with a subject that seems so easy to you. The National Education Association put together some tips on how parents can help their children get the most out of their homework:

Homework Hints

* Assume that your children will have studying to do every night.
* Ask your children if they understand their homework. If they do not, work a few examples together.
* Ask your children to show you their homework after the teacher returns it, to learn where they’re having trouble and where they’re doing well. See if your children did the work correctly.
* Stay in touch with your children’s teachers. Ask about their classes and what they are studying. Ask their teachers how you can support what they are studying (flash cards, spelling, etc.).
* Remember, you and their teachers want the same thing — to help your children learn.
* Don’t be afraid to get in touch with the teacher if you and your child don’t understand an assignment or if your child is having a great deal of trouble. Almost all parents run into these problems, and teachers are glad to help.
* Don’t do your children’s work for them. Help them learn how to do it themselves.
* Show your children that you think homework is important. If you are at work during homework time, ask to see their work when you get home.
* Praise your children for doing well. Make praise a habit.
* Maintain a portfolio of “best pieces.”
* Ask your school about tips or guides for helping your children develop good study habits.
* Help older students organize their assignments by recording them on calendars or planners, along with due dates, dates turned in, etc.

Delegate Chores to Your Children

Chores are great things to give your children. Sure they’ll free up a little bit of your time, but they will also teach your child personal responsibility. Follow these tips from BusyMomsOnline.com to ensure a smoother path to teaching your children to do chores - at all ages.

Begin training your children to help you around the house when they’re young. Children as young as two can start learning to pick up their own toys, put their dirty clothes in a hamper, or feed your pets. Toddlers want to help, so start teaching them when they’re eager.

From Field to Table

With all the media attention on fresh, local food, here’s a great idea for getting your kids involved.  Try a local pick-your-own, or U-Pick farm.  These are found all over the country, and kids absolutely love it.  I grew up on a farm, but my three boys are suburbanites, so the chance to get their hands dirty is always a great spring activity for them, especially when it involves food, another of their favorites.  We’ve picked raspberries in California and Northern New Mexico, peaches and blueberries in Florida, strawberries in Louisiana, and more.  Most U-Pick farms are family friendly and don’t frown on eating while you pick.  In fact, if the raspberry farms were really concerned with making money, they would have weighed the boys on their way in and again on the way out!  Most will have baskets to pick in, and some even supply little red wagons for carrying what you pick.  (or tired kids!) 

To find a local farm in your area, visit www.pickyourown.org , which lists u-pick farms by state.

Rainy Day Blues?

Stuck inside during another rain shower? Can’t wait for summer? We may not be able to take care of the weather, but as mom’s we can always plan some fun nostalgic activities. Sometimes thinking back on the days when we were children can help come up with some fun inside games. Organizing Your Life the Easy Way has come up with some fun ideas using the game “Remeber When…” Play a few rounds and see what memories you can share with your children.

Remember When-

You used a blanket, threw it over a table or a clothesline in the basement, and made a tent. It was great, that blanket became a tent, a house, a large size dollhouse, a garage and countless other things. Wasn’t using your imagination fun?

Tips for Cooking with Children

Bright Eyes Learning has put together a list of tips on cooking with your children. From fun ideas to try, to rules you need to set before getting started - making sure that you’re prepared will make this a fun kid oriented activity.

Store plates in a low cupboard so your child can help set the table.

Keep napkins and silverware in drawers they can reach.

Keep anything sharp up and back out of reach of children.

For any job that a child is not ready to do just tell them it is your turn (you may want to tell them why).

Regain Childhood for Your Children

Anne R. Pierce, author of Ships without a Shore: America’s Undernurtured Children made a guest post at BusyMomsOnline.com on the current state of childhood. With children being pushed harder and harder to succeed at an early age it’s easy to lose sight of what it means to actually be a child. Her article helps put things back into perspective.

We have become unsympathetic to exhaustion, vexation, and demoralization, seeing them as necessary corollaries to high achievement. ”Come on you can do it” parents shout as children “try again” to achieve the perfect pitch of the ball, the perfect ballet pose, the perfect runner’s mile, the perfect musical performance. Thus, we are taken by surprise when success strategies backfire; when, instead of gaining momentum, children and teenagers lose energy, motivation and enthusiasm. But, this end result simply makes sense. For, it takes freedom to be creative, time to be a thinker, and opportunities for independence to become inspired. Moreover, when we emphasize outward displays of accomplishment over children’s actual moral and intellectual advancement, children feel a void.

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