A follow up to Sticker Charts

It's WORKING! I had posted that we were trying sticker charts to get our oldest more comfortable talking to friends in preschool and answering questions when asked by adults. Well, I am proud to report, it's worked. Actually, I asked his preschool teacher to help me out with it and she continued the sticker chart at preschool. She gave him a sticker every time he joined in the songs, answered one of her questions, etc. His chart had 10 stickers on it the first day, 15 the second day and over 20 the next. The following Monday his teacher asked if he wanted to do another sticker chart again and he said "No, I can do it." YAHOO! Though still shy, he's made a huge improvement. And shy is okay! This was one of his rewards for getting his sticker chart filled up. SUP boarding in October? Yes, it was 85 here yesterday (unseasonably warm for the Pacific NW).

Party Planning 101--Intro

I love to throw parties. Birthday parties, baby showers, bridal showers, Christmas parties, Halloween parties, Easter egg hunts, you name it, I love it.

One of my fondest memories from my childhood was of a birthday party I had. It was a Tea Party. All the girls dressed up in their frilly dresses with big poofy sleeves (it was the 80s) and we sipped tea out of my brand new tea set, and ate petite fours and other tiny foods that paired well with tea.  Ever since I have loved parties.

I love coming up with themes, foods to match with the theme, and party games that fit both child or adult personality. I spend hours pouring over idea books, websites, and magazines trying to get creative with decorations, and thinking of ways to make each party special for the individual. Now that I have kids, I pour this out in to their parties. Will they remember it when they get older? Probably not at this age, but it's all character building, right?

Here are some pictures of the "Bug" birthday I put on for my kids last year. My oldest was turning 3 and my "baby" was turning 1.

The picture below is of an ant...it's just hard to tell. I bought it in the summer thinking I could find a watermelon to put in it. I should have known it would be impossible to find a watermelon in December. I had to modify it last minute. It needed the melon to hold the head on but the only melon I could find was too small so I had to use the dish under it. 

Do you have any party ideas to share? Any fond memories of parties from when you were little? Any links to your blogs to share? 

Blessing and a Curse

I've found the internet to be a blessing and a curse. I tend to try to self-diagnosis myself, or my kids for any of our ailments. For example...my son is a talker. Once you get him started, you're lucky to get a word in edgewise. However, he is silent at school. As in does not talk. At. All. So, I looked it up on the internet. Of course, the first thing that pops up is Selective Mutism. Crap. He fits it to a T. He chats us up at home. He doesn't say a word at school (and never did his entire first 3 months of preschool in the spring). He has a HUGE vocabulary and remembers things that were only repeated once, and can then appropriately use them in a sentence. However, when it comes to preschool...this child doesn't speak. When he's asked a question, he doesn't answer. It's like he doesn't hear the person asking the question. So...we're taking a proactive stance. We went to the craft store and allowed our son to pick out some crafts to make his own chart. We then labeled it appropriate for what he's working on. 

We're hoping that the positive reward will work in getting him to at least acknowledge someone speaking with him. So far...it's worked. (sigh of relief) Today is the real test. He has preschool again today. We'll see if it helps him open up at all. After all, there is a prize waiting for him once he gets enough stickers. (yes, I am bribing my child)


Do you use sticker charts for anything? If so, what? Have you found it effective? 

More Car Travel Tips

I recently took both kids to Spokane to visit my college friends while my husband worked on stuff around the house. According to mapquest, this drive was an anticipated 6 1/2 hrs. Having made it 100s of times in college I knew this to be true...if you don't stop for more than 1 quick coffee/bathroom and 1 gas/bathroom breaks. So, I allotted some stopping time and guessed the drive to take 8 hrs allowing for 3 (1/2) hr breaks. Wrong. The way there took 9 hrs and we stopped 6 times, 4 of those hours and 4 of those stops were from Tri-Cities to Spokane (usually took me 2 hrs in college). {sigh} BUT, the kids did great. I know I shared a post before {here} about car travel with kids, but I wanted to share some of the things I learned about taking LONGER car trips.

1. Completely disregard how long it SHOULD take. This sounds obvious, but if you have expectations, you will only find yourself frustrated.

2. Plan on a few places to stop and stretch legs/get the wiggles out. It's easiest if you know the route, but if you don't, solicit friends/family to help. If you can find a few places that have playgrounds or a park to run in, you'll have much happier kids.

3. Test the DVD player BEFORE you leave the house. If you don't, make sure you have a smart phone with gps to the nearest Target. Enough said. 

4. Make sure you have some cash with you. If you're in a rush but need immediate coffee, you don't want to have to look for a drive thru that accepts card.

5. Sit in the driver's seat and test arm distances of items you'll need before you leave. You don't want to be hunting around for things blindly or trying to reach for something just beyond your finger tips. Next trip I'm considering buying one of these.

6. Bring several new toys to bring out after you get sick of hearing "Are we there yet?". The $ store is a great place, or the $ bins at Target. Also, keep some things for the return trip!

7. Music is wonderful.  Even if you remember to bring more than 1 CD, plan on hearing the same song 100 times. 

8. Be silly. See tip #7. Especially important if you forget to do tip #3. 

9. Bring a small cooler with some healthy snacks (string cheese, sandwiches, etc.) and some extra sippy cups of juice or milk. This really comes in handy when the first sippy cup has been gone through within the first 20 minutes. And also helps mommy from eatting so much of the junk.

10. Don't pack a whole lot for yourself.  Once you get the pack n play, toys, dvds, bikes, cameras, etc. you will not have any room left. In fact, you'll be busting at the seems...stuff overflowing. Or, get a bigger car ;)


11. Remember tip #1. If the kids are upset, stop again...and again...and again. And if you have to, wait until they fall asleep, grab another cup of coffee, turn up the Veggie Tales music (maybe with some headphones) and be silly all by yourself...to help keep you awake of course :)

Laundry

Do you ever stop to smell your kids clothes as they come out of the dryer? Your nose, pressed to soft blanket, inhales deeply taking in the wonderful odor of childhood. The smell of clean lingering in your mind before it becomes overtaken by dirt, grass, play dough, food, or worse...

Or, does seeing the clothes flash you back to a moment in time where your child was wearing that outfit? Maybe the new jeans for the first day of school? Or, the orange stripped shirt he was wearing when he was sent to the hospital for the first time. Or, maybe the sweet little footie jammies she wore as her arms chubby arms stretched out to you when you entered the room and you clearly heard "mama" for the first time. (tear) The carpenter jeans he wore when he took a first step. Each piece of clothing representing a day, a season, a moment along life's journey. Do you ever smile doing the laundry?

Do you ever neatly fold each piece of their clothing, pressing along the seams, realizing they won't be wearing those clothes too much longer before they move on to the next size? Realizing it is but a passing moment and all too soon those little clothes will be taken over by something much larger, resembling that of your spouse? Do you ever pause to be thankful while you're doing laundry?

Do the clothes ever trigger a conversation or a sound? The sound of padded jammies running down the wood floor hallway. The sound of a zipper being discovered for the first time. A conversation about who makes clothes, who makes the people that make clothes, who is God? A conversation between you and your child. Do you ever feel connected to their thoughts, their dreams while doing laundry?

Have you ever washed clothes, neatly folded them and set them aside in a box in order to pull out the next size? Have you changing out the newborn clothes for the 0-3 month or put your 3 year old in 5T and realized he isn't so little anymore? Do you ever cry doing laundry?

Yea, me neither... ;)

Dear (fill in the blank)

Dear Woman in Front of Me in Line at the Grocery Store,

Why do you need to scowl at me as my kids are hitting each other and screaming as if I'm abusing them? Here's an idea, instead of scowling at me, why don't you let me go in front of you?  Seems easy enough. You don't have to listen to my kids as long, and I don't have to see your dirty looks. You obviously don't have kids. Because if you did, your look would be one of "I've so been there" or "I totally understand." Not only would the latter look make me feel a little better about myself, but it would probably keep me a little calmer...with an end result of being able to control my kids a little easier.

Thank. You. Very. Much. <insert sarcastic smile here>

Mommy

A glimpse

Today I dropped him off at Summer Camp and watched him settle in.
He blew me a kiss as I peeked back in the window from the hall.
As we always do, I blew him one back and we both reached to the sky to catch our kisses and plant them firmly on our cheeks. 
He's growing up so quickly.

Today he clearly said "eat". He's learning so many new words.
He buried his head against my neck and gave me his famous smile. 
He played for hours with me on the floor of their shared bedroom.
He's growing up so quickly.

Today's "Mommy I love yous" will quickly become tomorrow's "Mom I need these..."
Today's cuddle times will be tomorrow's carpool shuttles.
Today's back scratches will be tomorrow's did you wash behind your ears.
Today's little boys will be tomorrow's grown men.

So I'll pause in this moment today and relish just one more kiss to store for one of those tomorrow days. 
Today I'll take a second longer to sing one more song.
I have a minute to spare to play one more game.
Because tomorrow will come quickly, and they may not want just one more kiss.

I love you sweet boys...Today, Tomorrow, Forever.