Preschool Activity Ideas | Toddler Activity Ideas

Monday, June 17, 2013

9 Things You REALLY Shouldn't Post on Facebook

Some days I love Facebook. Other days I hate it and remove the App from my computer until I can't take it anymore and I admit defeat download it again. In fairness, I mostly hate it because it makes me feel inadequate, like I'm not spending enough time at the zoo, at rock concerts, and at museums with my preschoolers. Oh, and everyone is at a party without me that I wasn't invited to. But I also hate it when people post about:

Anything related to stomach flu/vomiting. Especially don't post about diarrhea running down your kids' legs. It's bad enough when it happens to my family without having to read about it on FB almost every day as it happens to other people. It's making me into an agoraphobic who never wants to leave my house. Plus it makes me want to avoid you for at least one month, for fear on contracting your gross diarrhea.
Weight loss pics. I have honestly seen a thirty year old man pose in the mirror while taking a picture of his vastly improved but very hairy and disgusting stomach. Are you my husband? Then I probably don't want to see your stomach.
Naked baby pics. There are so many issues with these...first, your kids will probably hate you later. Second, privacy/weirdos goes without saying. Lastly, it's never as cute as you think it is.
Food pictures. Are you a professional chef? Great, then bring on the pics and thanks for the free advice. Or, do you have a food blog with a super nice camera with free recipes? Great! Post on! But if not, please don't post a pic of your home-made but gross looking wild rice casserole. I made one for dinner too and it was equally gross-looking.
A list of your daily accomplishments. I really doubt anyone cares about all 15 of your boring daily tasks, especially dishes, vacuuming, etc. I take that back. Maybe your Mom would care so you should call her and she can tell you how proud she is.
Vague, mean comments, directed to one person but no one know which one person. An example: "If only I knew who my REAL friends were 15 years ago I would have saved myself a lot of time and heartache". Now all 215 of your FB friends will be wondering if you're referring to them and what they could have possibly done to offend you. This might be okay if you're fifteen years old and not very mature. But even then, it's an iffy tactic.
Pretty much anything that requires a sad face afterward :-(. It's not really the place for a pity party. Again, call your Mom. Especially if it makes people worried about you in a, "Do you think I should call her? She sounds depressed," kind of way.
Bragging about your kid's ability to say the alphabet at age 2, walk at age 6 months, or anything "genius" related. I mean, my kid is riding his bike without training wheels at age 3 but do you see me bragging about that on Facebook? (You're likely thinking,"No, but you're bragging about it on your blog!" Point taken. My bad, but seriously. He's three.)
Gross pics of your foot blisters (again, it's actually happened on my real FB page.) Spare us please those images can remain burned into an adult brain for days.

If you ever catch me doing any of these, please feel free to verbally abuse me and give me a thorough tongue lashing. I can take it. And for the record, I think politics is fair game. This is America after all. Cute kids pics and sarcasm are also welcome.

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Monday, June 3, 2013

New Ways to Play with Playdough

I was beginning to think there wasn't anything new we could do with Playdough until one day, just by accident, my kids discovered something new and fun to do with it. To back up a little bit, I've been struggling with projects lately. The kids (4 and 3) are growing up and as they do, they really love to ride their bikes, do bubbles, and mostly they are loving playing outside with their neighborhood friends.
Then one morning they woke up early and we had to think of something since everyone else was still sleeping. We got out the Playdough and before I knew it, the kids were rooting through our craft bag for ideas and they came up with this:

They used their little hands to roll out a snake and then they meticulously stuck that snake with pins. It took them a long time before they got tired of this game and I was glad because I knew that Little Buddy (3) especially needed the fine motor skills practice, so the he can learn to hold his crayons correctly eventually. His gross motor skills are doing great with all his time at the park and on his bike, but he hasn't had the patience lately to work on fine motor skills. I don't worry too much about it, since I know he has lots of time, but whenever I can sneak in a little fine motor skills, I always do! Even Munchkin Girl (4) found this to be challenging and she had fun with this for at least 20 minutes before she ran to the front window to look for her friends.

Other ways to practice fine motor skills include:

Pouring sand, water, salt, sugar, rice, or beans using bowls, funnels, spoons, cups, tubes, rolls, colander
Sorting small objects with interesting textures like cotton balls, pastas, sponges, and rocks placing them into egg cartons
Pushing objects through a slot like pennies or buttons into a Piggy Bank or container with a slit in lid; pushing pegs into a board
Picking up marbles and putting them in a jar; for variety, have child stand up and drop marbles into jar or drop balls or other small objects into container or sack

For more ideas on how other great fine motor practice and why it's so important, don't forget to check out my book, The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble, and Motivated to Learn!
This book has been a best-seller on Amazon and has some really wonderful reviews from readers just like you!

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Life is a Journey, not a Hassle

A few years ago my husband was full of Halloween ideas. He wanted to carve pumpkins and even get dry ice and a cauldron. My kids were 1 and 3 at the time. Really? I asked him. Is that really necessary? The kids were too little to use a knife for carving so they'd have to watch quietly while Daddy carved and they didn't understand what Halloween even was. Plus, I knew I'd be left the one cleaning up the giant mess they made. That was the real problem. I was just so tired. Tired of cleaning, tired of the whining, tired of everything. I just wanted to make life easier. What I didn't understand at the time is that I was making life really, really boring for my husband and everyone around me.
Life went on like this for a long time. I would usually give in and just grudgingly clean up the mess until my legs ached at the end of the night and I would think how much easier life would be if we would just trying to do all this special stuff. Of course, I did do lots of fun things with the kids. I took them to the zoo, to the park, to the library, but that was the thing. I could handle the daily stuff. I just couldn't handle anything extra, like Holidays or Vacations.
Until my trip to Charleston a few years ago. My parents and I planned to visit my brother and I was taking only Munchkin Girl. As usual, I agreed to go, but my heart wasn't in it. I just wanted to stay home and do our daily life, which was manageable to me. I didn't want to get us packed, deal with airport travel, and get everything ready for the babysitter while I was gone. I wasn't looking forward to sleeping the same room as my daughter, I knew it would upset our daily routine and I was afraid she would get spoiled by having me in her room.

And then the most amazing thing happened. I had a great time. I truly enjoyed every minute with my little daughter I loved waking up and seeing her sweet smile first thing in the morning. I loved snuggling up with her and watching Sleeping Beauty on our little twin bed. And then it hit me. It's okay if she gets spoiled every once in awhile. These are the memories of her childhood. These are the moments she will remember as she gets older. And on top of that, it made me feel wonderful to give her these memories and I realized how much I was missing by being afraid. I was afraid of so much. Afraid of having to clean up a mess, afraid of spoiling someone, afraid of cavities, afraid of a hassle. That's the bottom line. I was living my life in a perpetual state of trying to avoid a hassle.
When I got home from that trip, I slowly began to change. It wasn't overnight that I became a totally fun Mom, always searching for memories. But slowly and surely, I changed my attitude. In fact, it was such a gradual change that it took me a long time to write about it and even put into words what happened. I started living, not just surviving. People say life is too short to sweat the small stuff. I don't think that's quite right. I think it's too long. Life is way too long to just survive. Life is a journey and if you look at it like that, it stops being a hassle. Now I can't wait for our trip to Colorado this summer. I'm not even dreading the 12 hour car ride or the hassle of getting beds set up in a strange place. Now I drink more water and take my vitamins so I can have the energy I need to be thrilled about life, and about our journey. Not all of the time. Sometimes I still yell and feel tired and my house is a mess. But then I wake up the next day and drink a big glass of water and life goes on so that we can minimize life's hassles and celebrate the sunsets.

For more ideas on how to live more and stop just surviving, please check out my book, The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble, and Motivated to Learn!

Monday, May 13, 2013

5 Reasons I Try Not to Yell (Very Often)

I don't know about you, but I love to feel inspired. I love it when someone can give me solid reasons to improve myself. So that gave me an idea. Lately I have noticed that yell less and I think it's mainly because as a blogger, I have done a lot of research on parenting styles, so I began to compile a list of the 5 Reasons that I try not to lose it with the kids. I don't always succeed, I'm not perfect. Sometimes I scream at the top of my lungs and they cower in fear and promise to stop pestering each other. But lately I've been doing better and here is why:
5 Reasons I Try (But Don't Always Succeed) Not to Yell

There is scientific evidence that says that Moms who are more nurturing and have more patience have smarter kids in the long run. I am very much of a goal-oriented person, so it helps me feel that I am doing something scientifically positive when I take a deep breath and force myself to follow through with a reasonable punishment instead of yelling.
There is more scientific evidence that yelling can be almost as bad as hitting, in terms of emotional scarring down the road.
Yelling is mean. I haven't had someone scream at me in years. I would NEVER scream at my husband so why would I scream at my kids, who are a lot more vulnerable? Bottom line is that I always feel guilty after I yell and I feel crummy for hours if not days. Why not try to avoid that if I can?
Yelling is far more effective if done rarely. Yes, I truly think sometimes kids need to know that what they have done will not be tolerated. I remember the rare times my parents yelled at me it was very effective. But just like anything else, if overused, yelling loses all benefits.
When I think about the kind of parent I want to be, and the kind of relationship I want to have with my kids, it never involves my yelling and them being scared and resentful of me. I want them to be respectful and not bratty of course, and that means effective discipline, but I want them to also think I am reasonable and they can talk to me about things in the future, when life gets more complicated. After all, I think there is a lot of truth to the saying, "Little Kids, Little Problems. Big Kids, Big Problems." Maybe, just maybe, if I have a good partnership with my kids by the time they're teen-agers, I can prevent bigger problems. With teen drug use on the rise, it's worth the effort.

I hope this has inspired you the way it inspired me. If not, don't feel guilty and don't yell at me. Every person and every child is different.

For other ideas on how to avoid yelling at your little ones and try to find positive ways to encourage and spend time with them, I hope you'll check out my book, The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble, and Motivated to Learn!