The other day as I frantically cleaned my house, pending the arrival of several guests, I desperately tried to get my kids to help me. After several FAILED attempts I realized where I had gone wrong. It all goes back to a few years ago. I always cleaned the house when they were down for naps. They never saw the work that went into keeping the house clean, thus they never had to help. Fail on my part, big time! My kids had no accountability for chores and certainly no consequences for not completing chores. This had to change! Introduction to chore charts. I found this awesome Etsy store, Abbies House, that sold great chore charts and some awesome magnets to boot. My husband I discussed which chores we thought were appropriate and also added some for the future as they got older. We comitted to a purchase and we are in LOVE with these charts! (Just an FYI- Abbies House didn't ask me to do a review, I am doing it simply because I am so pleased with the quality and the … [Read more...]
Mocktails–Fun Summer Drinks!
Summers are filled with picnics and BBQs, pool parties and lazy days at the beach, weekends at the cabin and camping trips. We love any excuse to get together with friends and family. Often, the coolers are packed with delicious food and lots of ice cold beverages. If you happen to be pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant, are the sober cab for your fun get togethers, or want special drinks for the kids to enjoy, the Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (MOFAS) has some refreshing ‘summer sippers’ that we think you’ll enjoy. With help from supporters, they have compiled a whole recipe book full of great non-alcohol drinks worth checking out, whether you are a mommy-to-be or not! 049 These mocktails/summer sippers are super yummy and are not only good for pregnant ladies, they make perfect drinks for kids, and some are a great substitute for calorie filled alcoholic beverages if you are on a weight loss challenge like Jamie is this summer! Nightlock We wish … [Read more...]
The Importance of One-On-One Time With Your Child
On Monday, Lindsi did a post titled 9 Ideas for One-On-One Time With Your Child. Today, I'm going to emphasize why it's so important to do ideas like these, and spend one-on-one time with each of your children. As you may know, I recently reviewed the book, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Moms." In my review post I said that the chapter "Make Special Mommy and Me Time" really struck a cord with me. You see, I spend a lot of one-on-one time with Tottie. She is my youngest, isn't in school yet, and hasn't made many friends who's houses she can go to on her own. I feel very connected to Tottie because of the amount of time I spend with her. On the contrary, I spend little to no alone time with Nutty, my oldest. She just finished Kindergarten, has many friends, and always has to deal with her little sister being around when she is home. I feel like I do not have a strong bond with Nutty. To be honest, I don't think Nutty and I ever had one-on-one time after Tottie was born … [Read more...]
I’m a #DontSweatMom! You can be one too–Giveaway
A few weeks ago I (Jamie) decided to join the campaign to become a Don't Sweat Mom. What is the Don't Sweat Mom campaign? It is based on the book "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff For Moms" by Kristine Carlson. The campaign is creating a community of moms that are coming together to stress less and choose happiness more. It’s about finding our joy in everyday parenting. As Colorado Mountain Mom said in her book review, I too had a little blogger regret after I signed up for this campaign. Like her, I didn't think I was going to have time to read the book. I quickly discovered, however, that the book was broken up into short, easy to read chapters. It doesn't have any particular flow, so it's convenient to simply pick the chapters that you want to read and skip around. In fact, this blog post has taken me MUCH longer to write than actually reading the book! There were many chapters in "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff For Moms" that struck a cord with me. "Make Special Mommy & Me … [Read more...]
Finances and Children–Guest Post
Today we have the pleasure of having Dr. Deanna Cole, a a licensed psychologist with a broad background in neuropsychological and psychological assessment, therapy and psychoeducation share her thoughts on finances and children: It’s important that parents talk about money and money issues with their children. Kids are often aware of their parents’ financial burdens even when adults attempt to shield their children from life’s stresses. They should also be made aware of the good things money brings! Teach your kids the value of financial planning, saving and possibly even investing. When you enjoy a vacation, a trip to the circus or a simple trip to the ice cream shop, you have a perfect opportunity to talk about how nice it is to have money to enjoy life’s luxuries (and slip in a bit of education or your own financial wisdom as well). Better yet, work out a plan with your kids ahead of time to come up with the money for a special event. Have them get creative about ways your … [Read more...]
Free Tooth Fairy Certificate Printable
My oldest daughter had to have her first two teeth pulled instead of losing them because her permanent teeth were growing behind her baby teeth. She was devastated that she didn't get to lose her teeth on her own so I thought I needed to do something extra special from the tooth fairy. I searched the internet for some fun ideas and got a ton of inspiration! I also discovered that a lot of those ideas cost more money than I was willing to spend! Me being quite computer savvy decided that I could take that inspiration and make something on my own! Thus I came up with my own free tooth fairy certificate and letter. It started with a letter to and from the tooth fairy because Nutty wanted to keep her teeth for show and tell at school. She was nervous that the tooth fairy would take them even if she didn't put them under her pillow. The next night came an Official Certificate Of Record, money, and she got to keep her teeth!! The … [Read more...]
