Category: Kids/Parenting

Tips, tricks and adventures in parenting two kids.

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Kids/Parenting Fulfillment

Crazy Hayden sayings + 20 gratefuls

Every so often, I’ll hear one of the kids say something hilarious or adorable while I’m sitting at the computer, and straight away I open up a new post to write down those cute things. Here are some recent things Hayden has said:

“Mom, Rachel just smells like some weird vampire. Those guys are funky!”

“If you break this fourf wall . . .”

Hayden was playing with a truck and announced that it sold “Chocolate fondues!” Rebecca asked “I haf a chockit fonnu?”

Hayden pulled up a picture of Disney princesses on the Internet and called for Rebecca to come over to see “your favorite blog!”

I mentioned last week that Hayden rode bikes with the neighbors. Back and forth on the sidewalk. It’s cute how much they loved it. (It’s also been cold and rainy, so they haven’t had many chances to do this). Over the weekend, I walked Hayden and his bike across the street to play with the little girl his age over there. She got her scooter out and again, they rode back and forth on the sidewalk till we had to go in.

He needs a helmet and really likes his friend’s bell, so I started him on an incentive chart. He can get up to 4 smileys a day in each category: no whining/fits, be nice to sisters, obey quickly, and extra/misc. He’s just about got enough to earn his helmet (horrible that I made him earn his own vital safety equipment, I know—we did have one, but he’s outgrown it). Next on the list to earn: the bell!

He’s very excited about kindergarten in the fall. He’s working hard on his letters. We’re learning letter combinations now, including ck, sh, st and more—so Hayden has actually read his first words this month! (It was see, in case you’re wondering.) I’m so proud! He drew a cow (when we were learning “ow”):

I’m also proud of this adorable picture he drew of Rachel’s lovey, a caterpillar named Cally (both shown here).

He loves to create awesome buildings out of his block sets and cardboard boxes. We’re regularly impressed by the symmetry and balance of his creations. Here’s one of his buildings: the sign on the awning was dictated to me and our friend Brianna. It reads, “Hayden’s Toy Story 3 [it’s a movie theater, but he and Rebecca insist they’re showing Cars 2 on both screens]. Hayden’s Bookstore. Everything is $18. Hayden’s Fanciest Candy Store and Also Necklace Store.”

The gratefuls! Monday:

  1. Our freedoms.
  2. Those who have sacrificed (and are now sacrificing) to preserve those freedoms.
  3. A day off!
  4. Rachel going from hands and feet to just feet without support.
  5. Craft store sales.
  6. Ambitious art projects (I’m so NOT that, but I’m ready to try now!)
  7. More exciting (and delicious) projects coming up for Wayward Girls’ Crafts
  8. One (and only one) fun find at garage sales/thrift stores over the weekend.
  9. Lining up the first teacher for the first class for my writer’s group!
  10. Ryan putting Rachel to bed.

Today:

  1. Finally, May-worthy weather!
  2. Time at the park (even if we all got a little sunburned)
  3. Takeout for dinner
  4. Lining up more teachers for my writers group
  5. Homemade doughnuts
  6. Going to bed early! Seriously couldn’t keep my eyes open after 10:30 last night.
  7. Rebecca’s imaginary toys at the park (which she told her daddy all about at dinner)
  8. New friends for Hayden at the park.
  9. Rachel said “Hi, Dada” three times this morning!
  10. Man—just a great day!
Categories
Kids/Parenting Fulfillment

Catching up with Rebecca/Suwwy (and her robots) + 20 gratefuls

And my first twenty things to be grateful for:
Yesterday:

  1. Rain—don’t have to water the garden! (Borrowed from my friend Elisa, who’s also participating!)
  2. My garden (okay, my sugar snap peas) is growing.
  3. Ryan just cut both yards and they look very neat.
  4. Hayden’s drawings—today he drew me an awesome cow 😀 .
  5. Getting things done with the rest of the Executive Committee of my writers’ group.
  6. Chopped!
  7. Chatting with my sister, which I missed today.
  8. Contact lenses and glasses.
  9. Already having my pineapple CUPside-down CAKES, done and posted on Wayward Girls’ Crafts for this week!
  10. Sleeping in! (relatively)

And today’s:

  1. Naps, even if in theory only.
  2. Rachel kicking with delight!
  3. Checking things off my to do list (like this post!).
  4. Putting the kids to bed early-ish.
  5. That Rebecca’s hair will grow. (See last picture.)
  6. Potty training! (And being done!)
  7. Finishing off the cookies we made last night—no more temptation.
  8. Left overs and Ryan reheating them.
  9. Tuna salad sandwiches with celery, making me think of my mom.
  10. Hayden including his sisters in playing with his blocks. And his blogs. But more about that next week.

One day—it was a Friday, but that doesn’t matter—there was a little girl—and that does matter—learning to use the potty. And as she sat on the potty, she perched her fingers on her knees, with her pointer fingers out.

“Dees are my wobots,” she informed us. So these are Rebecca’s Robots:

(Her hands. Also note the plate of shredded cheese, which is pretty much all the child will eat for dinner.)

Her robots talk and help her do all kinds of things (being her hands). They love their mommy robots (my hands) especially.

Some cute things Rebecca has said lately:

  • Teese neveh wive in cups! Teese wive in bowws! (Cheese never lives in cups! Cheese lives in bowls!)
  • Wohwa’kates: roller skates
  • Yeh weww: yeah, well (at the beginning of a sentence)
  • Beebee: I’m not even sure what the exact translation of this would be (baby?), but it’s something she says a lot when she’s playing with Pinky, her stuffed animal. It’s either what she called Pinky, or what Pinky calls her. Or maybe both.

And some more:

Another favorite game is MontahINK! (Monsters, Inc.) Rebecca is Suwwy (Sully) and Pinky is either Boo or Mike ‘Akow’ki. I’m usually whatever Pinky isn’t, though sometimes Rachel gets that honor. Hayden has played Mike and Wannaw (Randall). Once I was even Wannanoos (Mr. Waternoose).

Her hair, obviously, spends a lot of time in her face, so today I did this (she cried, but she’s come to accept it):

I’m not really thrilled with how I did, but cutting my kids’ hair too short is something I’m good at.

What do you think? What are you grateful for? Isn’t Rebecca pretty much the best little girl in the world?

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Kids/Parenting

Rachel’s big adventure (and demanding children)

Rachel has cut two new teeth this month, and she’s pretty happy about it:

showing off teeth

We’re just happy to be done with teething. For now.

She has also discovered that walking isn’t just something you have to do when Mommy and Daddy make you walk between them, and she is now taking up to 4 or 5 steps away from furniture to get to toys or to get around her siblings.

Today we had an adventure. We have a trumpet in a case on the edge of our tub in our room. It’s pretty secure there, but today Rachel was trying to pull it down. I was worried she’d hurt herself, so I tried to move it. But when I picked up the case, it opened (it’s broken) and the trumpet fell out.

Right on her face.

She has a little cut below one eye, which might also develop into a black eye. This is what I get for trying to keep my child from hurting herself: I get to hurt her instead. Great.

Par for the course in a pretty crappy day. The older two begin every other sentence with “Mom.” Mom mom MOM mOM MoM mOM Mom mom MOM mOM MoM. “Mom, can I have some milk?”

“It’s right by Dad.”

“Oh. . . . Mom, could I have some milk?”

“No.”

weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth

In fact, the one who probably needs me the most is least demanding:

she's good

I told them today to stop saying my name. Unfortunately, this didn’t end the requests, though Hayden did “take out the ‘mom.'”

Thanks, son.

What do you think? Is this something they outgrow, or can I work on them with this?

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Kids/Parenting

Happy Mother’s Day!

To the mothers who endured nine months of constant nausea, back pain, heartburn, bed rest, and general discomfort.

To the mothers who have brought children into their homes, hands and hearts.

To the mothers who nurture children at work, in school, at church and in the community, but perhaps not at home.

To anyone who has ever endured a tantrum, enforced the rules, set limits, been hated for doing the right thing, been reasonable, danced on a whim, learned to see the world with wonder again, rediscovered all there is to love about something, found innocence again—in short, loved a child.

And most especially to my own mother, who has raised four pretty fantastic daughters, and my grandmothers, who each raised four fairly awesome children.

Happy Mother’s Day

Photo by Chris Enns

Categories
Kids/Parenting

Guest Post: 3 Ideas for Making Bedtime go Smoothly

By Julie

If you want to see a kid suddenly find 20 things to do, just say those magic words: “Bed time.” Suddenly, there’s homework to be done, or a level on a video game that just HAS to be completed immediately. Even though for moms and dads bed time is a sweet reward at the end of a long day, for kids it’s a dreaded sentence. If we’re lucky we can get kids to bed with relatively little hassle and we hope upon hope that they stay there. But most of the time, we’re not so lucky, and wrangling the kids to sleep is like herding cats. But fortunately there are a few things that can make bed time much less stressful for everyone.

Create a Quiet Routine

One of the most important things that can make bed time run more smoothly is an established routine. Sure, life is crazy and it’s hard to know what each day will bring. But a consistent night time routine will help kids wind down and get ready for bed. Watching television, eating, drinking or high energy activities close to bed time are likely to be counter productive. It may seem reasonable that expending energy will make children sleepy, but unfortunately it’s far more likely to get them amped up and hyper rather than tired. Eating and drinking as well can increase a kid’s energy, and will also probably lead to waking up in the middle of the night to visit the bathroom.

Of course the schedule should include necessities like bathing and teeth brushing. But it may also include quiet activities like reading or a lullaby. Baths and showers especially can be calming and help kids get into sleep mode. The more you can structure these activities the more a child will get used to the process and may even find themselves getting tired as a result of beginning the nightly ritual.

Be Proactive About Common Issues

Sometimes getting kids to sleep is a challenge simply because of individual preferences and needs. So it’s often prudent to pay attention to such issues and try to use preventative measures whenever possible.

  • While drinking before bed can lead to bathroom breaks in sleeping later, providing a glass of water on the bed side table could help prevent nocturnal trips to the sink because of dry mouth.
  • Sometimes light sleepers may be more susceptible to sleep delays because of noises coming from other parts of the house. But a soft radio or sound machine giving off relaxing ambient noise can help drown out other noises from activity or the television.
  • A favorite blanket or stuffed animal may be a sleep time necessity. If that’s the case, make sure the special item is located and in place well before bed time.
  • Fear of the dark is a common fear among children. The use of a night light can go a long way toward alleviating this problem. It may even help to have children help pick out a night light in a fun shape or color that they really enjoy.
  • Reassure children that they will not be left “alone” after they fall asleep. Promise to check in later and make sure all is well before heading to bed yourself.

Make Bedtime a Special Bonding Time

The best way to help children rest easy at night is to make bed time a bonding experience with their parents. As I mentioned before, reading is an excellent bed time activity and when children and parents do it together it’s an even better experience. Whether the parent is reading to the child or the child is reading to the parent it’s a great way to enjoy some quality time and prepare for sleep. If possible, try to find a book that will take multiple nights to complete so that children are actually enthusiastic about going to bed to find out what happens next.

Whether it’s a book, a back rub, singing songs or simply chatting about the day’s activities and making future plans, the more enjoyable this pre-sleep time is for the child the less reluctant they will be when it comes around. And parents may just discover that this turns into the best part of their day as well.

Bed time is a dirty word to most children, but if you take the right steps it doesn’t have to be. With a firm bed time routine in place, children will adapt well to process each night. By removing common road blocks to falling asleep, you can eliminate the chances of night time needs or complaints. And when bed time is bonding time for parent and child it becomes special for everyone and will even lead to fond memories for children when they become adults themselves.

About the Author
Julie is a writer for Mr.Beams, a company offering battery night lights and other wireless lights. For the last few years, Julie has been blogging frequently and working as a freelance writer. Though bed time at her house doesn’t always run smoothly, there’s nothing she looks forward to more than a reading to her daughter Natalie.

Photo credits: tantrum—Liza; water—Sean

Categories
Kids/Parenting Fulfillment

Guest post: Motherhood Lessons

By Danyelle Ferguson

Motherhood is a peculiar journey. We never know what our children will be like, what their future holds, nor how it will change our path in life.

I certainly never expected to have a child with mental disabilities. The last nine years have been filled with experiences I would never imagined could be a part of motherhood. But along with the frustrations and stress, there were many joyful moments of success and pride. There are a few lessons I’ve learned during this crazy journey called motherhood.

Love Yourself

The most important criteria of being a good mom is loving yourself. We give so much of our time and energy to our children that it’s easy to get burned out. Don’t be afraid to take time for a girls night out, a long soak in a hot, bubbly bath, or just some quiet time in your car with a drink and book. Whatever relaxes you or makes you happy, find a way to squeeze it in. I’ve had to pick and choose which hobbies or talents to make time for over the years.

For many years, I went once a month to a weekend scrapbooking event. Then my focus changed to writing, so I figured out some time during the week that I could take a few hours to go to a bookstore and write without munchkins pulling on me. If you take the time to decompress from the everyday routine of being a mama, then you will be a much happier person, mother, and wife.

Cross Perfection Off Your List

I used to get so discouraged after visiting a friends whose homes were always spotless. I felt like such a failure that I couldn’t keep up with all my mommy duties and housework like these other women I looked up to. But then, my Relief Society president gave a lesson one Sunday and told us that we needed to cross perfection off our lists. Our Savior Jesus Christ is the only perfect being who ever lived on Earth. While we need to strive to keep the commandments and be good Christian women, having a spotless house, perfect highlights & nails, or the kids with the best grades are not things are not requirements to get into Heaven.

It’s perfectly fine to have mountains of laundry to wade through, toys strewn across your house, and be in desperate need of a haircut. In fact, its absolutely normal! In the last four years, I’ve rearranged my housework. Every Saturday, our family works together to clean the house. Everything gets picked up, vacuumed, and scrubbed. Then during the week, I try to do one or two loads of laundry each day—taking the weekends off. My laundry baskets are never empty and the weekend is the only time my house isn’t cluttered with toys, but I have so much less stress because I’ve accepted that our house isn’t perfect. It’s lived in and the family living there is happy and loved.

Laugh Often

Be quick to laugh, rather than get upset. This is actually difficult for me and I am constantly working on it. But our family is definitely happier when mom’s not a crank. 🙂 Looking back at some of the most stressful mommy moments, I can see that when my hubby cracked jokes and made me laugh, I relaxed enough to think things through better. And my shoulders weren’t constantly tied up with tension knots. Shared laughter is something the whole family will remember forever.

One of my favorite quotes is “Live, Laugh, Love.”

Remember to live your life rather than be focused on perfection, share laughter with your family, and love yourself so you can give the best of yourself to your family.

About the Author
Danyelle Ferguson is the mother of four angels-in-training and the author of (dis)Abilities and the Gospel. You can find out more about her on her website: www.DanyelleFerguson.com or on her blog: www.QueenOfTheClan.com.

Photo of girl hugging herself by Evan Long