(I didn't get around to a couple of the dinners last week, so sorry for the repeats)
Monday - Ham and Pineapple Pizza
Tuesday - Italian Baked Chicken and Penne (Giada DeLaurentiis)
Wednesday - Chicken Pesto Packets on the grill with baked potatoes and salad
Thursday - Beef Enchiladas (with leftover pot roast)
Friday - Healthy Turkey Pot Pie
Saturday - Rachael Ray's Meatloaf Roll Up with baked potatoes
Sunday - Pretzel Crusted Chicken Fingers
I think I take more family pictures than the average mom. My kids seem to grow and change so quickly and I like having a current picture displayed in our home.
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I realized recently that the family pictures I have on our walls are all from last summer...very unlike me. Too bad I'm huge and pregnant with a round, chubby face right now. (*sigh*) Then it occurred to me that if I wait a few months to get a NEW family picture with the squishy-faced baby in it, I'll not only still have my post-baby weight, I'll also have huge bags under my eyes. And newborns seem to change every week, so the picture would never really be "current" of him until he's about 6 months old. So I wait until April to get a new family picture? I think not.
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Friday night, Mike and I had a date, which usually creates a good family photo opportunity. I go all out for my man and actually shower and put on make up for our dates (I know...I'm a giver...) plus throw on something other than a tank top. But more importantly, what creates a good family photo opportunity on date nights is that my mom is here to TAKE the picture.
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The pictures didn't go well. Kaylin insisted on the cutsie head tilt in every shot...
Ryan wouldn't be serious...
Then when I finally DID get Ryan to calm down, he was trying out this new cheesy closed-mouth smile. (Thinking back, I went through this phase when I was younger, too)
There was ONE picture that was good of all of us (even though Ryan was doing his new smile) that I accidentally deleted when going through the pictures on my camera. I meant to delete the bad shot after it and hit the wrong button. Needless to say, this whole thing was a lost cause.
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But we did get this beauty. Yes, I am posting a picture of me giving myself a double chin. Who couldn't love this pretty face???
I'm still trying to get used to the different dynamic of Ryan being gone all day. When he gets home from school, he and Kaylin take a while to get back into their groove and it takes a LOT of patient reminders for them to be normal to each other. She has a weird, "I'm the queen of this castle" mentality and gets all bossy on him and he has an, "I'm older/mature/cooler than you because I'm in Kindergarten" attitude and I have to gently knock them both off of their high horses to get everyone to get along and be respectful. I wonder if my irritation shows through my forced-patient comments? Because it feels like I'm speaking through gritted teeth. It's hard keeping up my non-yelling-mom self promise when they're so nasty to each other!
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My newest mantra is, "Who is in charge?" I'm done with their over-controlling comments to each other. It's like they're trying to establish rank or pecking order or something. "Stop singing"..."Don't talk to me"..."You can't have more pretzels until your sandwich is gone"..."You didn't ask to be excused from the table"..."That's mine...don't touch it"..."I wanted to put the forks on the table...that's my job!" It's ridiculous.
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And it seems never-ending. "You're not the adult - she can sing if she wants to"..."It's rude not to answer someone when they speak to you - please answer his question"..."It's not your job to tell her when she can have more pretzels"..."Who's in charge? It's my job to remind him to ask to be excused"..."We share our toys in our family"..."You put the forks on the table yesterday - how about getting everyone a plate tonight?"
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The "who's in charge?" question seems to be working. They can't argue with the fact that I'm the adult and they're the kids. I don't want them monitoring each other to make sure they're following the rules. That's definitely my job and I've had to revert back to reminding them that they aren't allowed to tattle on each other unless it's a safety issue.
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Ryan came home from school yesterday announcing that there's a phone in his class that only calls Mrs. Bindergarden. If the kids need to tattle, they call Mrs. Bindergarden "because she cares." (I laughed out loud when I heard that, remembering, "Here's a quarter, call someone who cares," from a few years ago.) They've been instructed to whisper their complaint into the phone, "but she never answers...she just listens." Ryan's Kindergarten teacher is a genius. (hey - I just realized that Bindergarden rhymes with Kindergarten...cute!)
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Ryan only had a half day of school today and lunchtime was rough. Then suddenly, out of no where, the kids started getting along and playing like usual. I don't exactly know what happened or who lost their bad attitude first, I'm just glad it happened. Otherwise it would have been a loooooooong afternoon.
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Now everyone's in their rooms, resting, and all is peaceful again. Ryan was just too crabby to argue that he didn't need some down time. And with that, I am going to go relax myself. My brain needs a break - I don't have much mental energy these days!
In establishing a new routine for just me and Kaylin, I was mentally grouping activities into crafts, learning, alone-time play, games, etc. Ideas were popping into my head like crazy (which is rare) so I wrote them all down. When I meal plan, I pull from my list of recipes and online links...why not do the same when helping Kaylin find something to do?
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CRAFTS/ACTIVITIES (to do with me nearby)
- Stamping
- Cutting and pasting (toy ads, shapes, etc.)
- Glue pasta, cereal, buttons, confetti shapes, etc onto paper
- Painting, finger painting, pudding/Kool-Aid finger painting
- Play Doh
- Popsicle Stick and Pipe Cleaner crafts
- Paper Plate crafts
(the Family Fun website also has a bunch of great age-specific craft ideas)
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CRAFTS/ACTIVITIES (to do independently without me nearby)
- Coloring
- Stickers and foam pieces on paper
- Blowing up a balloon and letting it go, watching it fly all over the house (repeat entertainment for my kids)
- Aqua Doodle
- Puzzles
- Mr. Potato Head
- Magnetic dress up dolls, Princess color forms
- Blocks, Legos, Tinker Toys
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GAMES (to play together)
- Memory
- Connect 4
- High Ho Cherry O
- Tea Party
- Dress Up
- Ring Toss, Bowling
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LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- Letter tracing books, maze books
- Color and shape flashcards
- Sorting colors, doing patterns (using Legos or other colorful toys)
- Opposites
- Sequencing cards
- Lacing (helps fine motor skills to prepare for writing)
- Letters and sounds of the day
(When I was considering homeschooling, I stocked up on flash cards for letters, sounds, numbers, and time, plus tracing books, matching games, sequencing cards, things like that. So I have a huge pool of resources to keep Kaylin busy - and help her learn - while I assist Ryan with homework every afternoon.)
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OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES
- Swimming, Slip 'n' Slide, swing set, park, go on a walk
- Bikes, scooters
- Sidewalk chalk
- Bubbles
- Balls, frisbees, kite, water guns
- Watering can and buckets
- Bucket of water with paintbrushes to "paint" the sidewalk
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I'm pretty excited about this list. It contains most of the stuff my kids enjoy and when I'm having trouble coming up with something, I know I'll refer back to it. Do you have anything else to add or activities we should try?
Due to all of the birthdays and several invitations to friends' houses for dinner, I haven't meal planned in a couple of weeks. It was nice to take a break, but the couple of times we DID eat at home, coming up with dinner on the fly stressed me out. A couple of times, I waited to make dinner too late and Ryan needed to be in bed for Kindergarten, so we had smoothies for dinner. Pathetic! Shockingly, the kids didn't wake up as malnourished and starving as I would have thought. I'm very glad to be back in planning mode. For now, I'm just going to plan dinners this week.
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Monday - Crock Pot BBQ sandwiches with green beans
Tuesday - leftovers
Wednesday - Chicken Pesto Packets on the grill with baked potatoes and salad
Thursday -Chicken Noodle Soup with Whole Wheat French Bread Rolls
Friday - Beef Stir Fry with brown rice
Saturday - Breakfast for dinner: Waffles and eggs
Sunday - Italian Baked Chicken and Penne (Giada DeLaurentiis)
I had a nice little birthday today. Mike tried bringing me breakfast in bed, but I was in the shower when he came upstairs, so it was really more like breakfast in the shower...poor guy, after rushing around before work and everything!
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Then once I decided to stop hand-washing dishes with hot water and folding hot laundry and pitting out my shirt before leaving the house at 7:45 to walk to his bus stop Ryan in the hot 100++ Arizona sun, I relaxed and enjoyed my day.
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This is me at 33 years old and 29 weeks pregnant. Can you say, "Holy Fat Face, Batman???" And how do you like my new stripper boobs? They arrived last week. None of my bras fit...back fat spillage is not a good look for me. I'm 90% sure this is what I looked like when I delivered Ryan and I still have 10.5 weeks to go. And I surpassed what I looked like when I delivered Kaylin over a month ago. Either this kid is going to be huge or I'm going to have mega weight to lose postpardum!!!
I prefer this impromptu picture that Kaylin took. I'm just going to pretend that my face looks this thin all the time. I might even replace it as my profile picture since I'm sportin' my new hair color.
Mike's mom watched Kaylin while my mom took me to lunch, shopping for a birthday gift and a couple of fun outfits for the baby, then for pedicures and a polish change for my hot date with Mike tonight.
Then she babysat while Mike and I went to dinner. We missed all of the 7-something movies, so headed home early, just after the kids were in bed. Overall, a wonderful, relaxing day.
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And thanks to Facebook, I think I received more birthday wishes than I ever have in my whole life! Seriously, like over 50!!! Not counting e-cards and emails. I love my friends. And the old classmates on Facebook that I haven't talked to in 15 years. And those of you who are my Facebook friends that read my blog but I've never met. I just feel...loved.
This idea was taken from the book, Home Improvement, The Parenting Book You Can Read to Your Kids, by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.
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Sometimes the best way to help a child is by doing nothing and staying out of the way, allowing a natural consequence to provide the teaching. You’ve probably learned a number of things through natural consequences. Maybe more than you’d like to admit.
- save your sales receipt so you’ll have it if you need to return what you bought
- buy gas when your tank is on “E” even if you’re late for work
- don’t forget to water your plants
- don’t wash your husband’s red sweatshirt with his white underwear
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Natural consequences allow life to provide its own lesson without outside intervention. When a parent intentionally stays out of a problem and makes little or no comment, the child has an opportunity to learn from life.
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In the Bible, Peter was allowed to experience a natural consequence of lack of faith when he stepped out of the boat in Matthew 14. After he began to sink, however, Jesus was there to help him. Jesus also allowed Peter to make the mistake of denying him three times. No lectures or rebukes were needed; just a look from the master’s eyes and Peter was overcome with remorse. Many times in the gospels, Jesus allowed life to be the teacher and he took on the role of counselor or coach.
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Natural consequences often happen if we, as parents, learn to keep quiet. The four-year-old who goes out to play on a hot day wearing a turtleneck learns by experience. The six-year-old who chooses to skip snack because she wants to continue her game may feel the pain later. The ten-year-old who spends all his money on one thing may wish he had not done so. Each of these experiences can be a learning opportunity if the parent responds wisely.
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The question then is how are we going to respond? These may be tempting opportunities for parents to condemn, lecture, or put down a child. When you identify these situations in life, they are excellent opportunities to come alongside, express empathy, and help a child learn problem-solving skills.
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