Naughty Sticks, Discipline Sticks, Consequence Sticks- whatever you want to call them! This is an idea that I came up with along with the help of my husband. He and I have often come to heads when discussing a consequence for a negative behavior with our kids. We sat down together a couple of months ago and talked through the problems at hand: When our kids see us disagree on a consequence they have learned that they have the upper hand because they saw that we don't agree. Because we didn't agree on discipline they often shopped for answers (they would go to one parent and get an answer and then go to the other to see if their answer was better). Time outs just didn't make a change in their behavior. The kids actually would "take the time out" just so they could continue on with the negative behavior. Cue the "naughty sticks!" My husband and I sat down for about an hour after the kids were in bed and discussed a handful of consequences they we both agreed upon. They … [Read more...]
50 Ideas for Road Trip Bags
Tis the time to start thinking about Holiday traveling. After all, Thankgiving and Christmas are just around the corner and I'm sure many of you travel. Twice a year we make the journey up north to Papa Tractors house....it is a six-hour drive each way. Over the years I have fine tuned our trip to include things to pass the time. This year I put all those things together into one bag! Each kiddo got their own, personalized, basket for the road trip. Here are a list of 50 things you could pack into a road trip bag to keep the kids entertained. Crayons Sheets to color on (I found 100 foot rolls of coloring paper in the dollar section!) Traffic BINGO (didn't we all play this as a kid?) Library books (This was a huge hit because they were something new, not books they've seen before) One snack for each hour (this helps our kids know the answer to the dreaded question "how much longer?") Water bottle (gotta stay hydrated) Batteries (for any electronic device) InnoTab … [Read more...]
Britax Convertible Car Seats #Spon
September is baby safety month . We thought that this would be a good time to share with you, our lovely readers, our thoughts and opinions on Britax’s Boulevard car seat. While we were contacted by Britax and received compensation in exchange for a review post, all opinions expressed are completely ours. The Britax Boulevard car seat is jam packed with some pretty incredible safety features! In fact, they have safety features in place that the US government doesn’t even require yet. While there is no federal regulatory standards for testing, Britax has gone above and beyond to ensure its passengers are the safest possible. The have their own crash test simulators around the world and use strict global certification requirements. They care so much for your child’s safety that they FAR exceed the federal standards! In my opinion, and in many others, Europe has much stricter guidelines than the US for car seat safety and Britax has made sure that their car seats go above and … [Read more...]
Back to School Meals Made Easy with Relish (Sample recipe included!) #Spon
Last year we told you about meal planning made easy with Relish! We enjoyed them so much that we're here to remind you that your back to school meals can be easy with them too!! What is Relish? Here's how they describe themselves: A weekly menu planner aimed to help busy families put wonderful meals on the table every night. No sloppy casseroles or expensive kitchen blunders. Instead look for everyday food...with a gourmet twist. We can vouch for the fact that their meals are easy, made with normal, fresh foods, and definitely taste gourmet (even though they don't take the gourmet time or skill to make). As far as the planning part of it goes...It takes me 15 minutes to come up with a menu for the entire week including a detailed grocery list broken down by store aisle!! With slightly extra time, I can make a menu full of freezer meals for busy weeks. That's how easy Relish! makes menu planning! Vegetarian family? No problem. Picky kids? No problem. Having … [Read more...]
11 Tips For Keeping Your Family Healthy This School Year #Spon
This sponsored post from iVillage could not be more perfect for us as we are both nurses who have kids in school. As nurses and mom's with experience, we know what it takes to keep your family healthy during the school year. Here are 11 tips to help keep your family from getting sick: 1) Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands! We know you've heard it before, but we're going to say it again and again...wash your hands! Good hand hygiene is the number one defense against getting sick. 2) Cover your cough and sneeze with your elbow. If one of your children has a cough, encourage them to cough into their elbow or upper sleeve instead of their hand. This will help prevent the spread of germs to the other family members. 3) Change your tooth brush after you've been sick. Don't forget that germs live on tooth brushes. If you or your child has been sick (especially with something like strep throat) make sure to change your toothbrush after you've started … [Read more...]
How To Avoid Back To School Blunders #Spon #BacktoSchoolwithBSK
We've gotten pretty lucky when it comes to back to school time. I honestly can't think of any major blunders that have happened in the past years. Of course, we've only had to deal with two back to school days as Nutty is entering 2nd grade. This year, however, might be a little different. Hubby and I are going on a cruise the week before school starts. I just KNOW I'm going to forget something for Nutty. Here's what I'm doing, and what you can do, to help prevent blunders this year: Make sure you have all the back to school supplies packed and ready to go in the backpacks the night before. Double check it! Pack your lunches the night before and store them in the front of the fridge. If you are packing something that you don't want to make the night before, leave yourself a note of exactly what you want to pack. Make sure your camera has enough batteries, your memory card is in your camera, and that you have enough room on your card. I can't tell you how many times … [Read more...]
