When the Kids are Driving me Crazy....

The other day we had one of those days where the kids really felt that it was their solemn duty to irritate the crap out of each other and out of me.  For example, Little Buddy was playing with a bouncy ball.  He would throw it up in the air and when it would land, Munchkin Girl would take it and run away cackling, knowing full-well that he wanted it and would be upset that she took it.  I would put her in a time-out and she would yell and cry but then would promise to be better.  Then, when she got downstairs after her timeout, she would start playing with a doll and Little Buddy would steal it and run away.  Then she would tackle him and he would pull her hair.  Nothing worked.  They were just intent on being naughty and no matter how many threats, timeouts, and screaming fits I had, they weren't going to change their overall attitudes.  We were stuck in a vicious cycle of crazy. 

I have been doing some solemn research on this topic and I have found that when this happens, there are only four ways to reverse the atmosphere:

1. Let them watch a TV show.  Sometimes just getting their minds off the cycle will change the mood for the entire day.  Experts say kids shouldn't watch too much TV, but let's be honest.  It works.  And sometimes you just need it.
2. Get in the car.  It doesn't matter if I just drive in circles.  Getting everyone out of the house gives me a break and again, it takes their minds off the cycle of bad behavior. 
3. Play tag and/or hide and go seek.  They often just need to burn energy.  Just chase them around the house and let them scream.
4. Put on music.  Have a dance party.  Do a piggy back ride and sway to the music. (I have found the song Monster Mash to be particularly effective)
5. Put on an exercise tape!  I was amazed at how my kids (ages four and 2) loved to follow along and raise their arms when instructed.  The bonus is that I got to exercise and they burned energy at the same time!

If all else fails, call your husband/Mom/neighbor and beg someone to come give you a break!  As my husband and I often say, "It's time for a change in personnel".

Tell me what you do when your kids are driving you crazy!  And again, thanks so much for visiting and commenting!  I truly appreciate hearing from you!

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Mommy, Why is Daddy Never Here??

Isn't it funny (and a little scary) how every good memoir is based largely on the childhood of the main character?  A bad set of parents can elicit some of the most wonderful and poignant memoirs (such as The Glass Castle: A Memoir, Driving with Dead People: A Memoir etc).  And yet no one wants to be those bad parents, even though interesting children are always a bonus.
Which leads me to wonder what our kids will say about how they were raised.  There are a few things I know for sure: they won't say we abused them, they will say their Mom was always forgetting things and most likely they'll say their Dad was gone a lot.
Sadly, Hubby is an orthopedic surgery resident and has been gone a lot lately.  In fact, he hasn't seen the kids in almost a week.  Granted, he's been traveling on fellowship interviews as well as working, so it's a little more crazy than usual, but you can only imagine how I felt when my daughter said, "Mommy, why doesn't Daddy come home anymore?"
I explained how he has to work a lot since he's a doctor and helps fix people's bones.  She was very thoughtful for a few minutes and finally said, "Mommy, I'm really glad for the people that Daddy helps, but I'm just sad that he has to be a Doctor.  Can't he be a policeman or sell stuff like you?"
Tears sprang to my eyes...both from sadness but also from joy about what a thoughtful and sweet little girl I have. I feel like that is pretty insightful for a four year old.  And I have to admit that I share her feeling...it's hard to be thankful that your husband is a doctor when he's gone all the time.  Granted, he's still a resident and everyone knows those hours are hellacious, but sometimes you wonder if there is any light at the end of the tunnel.  I did my best to explain that policemen have to work a lot too and how much her Daddy loves her, and to Daddy's credit, he does his very best to be home when he can and call when he can't.  And, I'm happy to report that tonight Daddy made it home just in time to kiss the kids to bed tonight so it wasn't a full week that passed without him seeing them.  Thank God for small miracles.  I also want to say how much I appreciate you readers and your comments.  I have gotten really busy with my job again so it's been hard to keep up this blog.  Your comments really keep me going so THANK YOU!!!
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Did We Get Robbed? Or Did We Do That to Our Own House?

Yesterday I walked in the door with the kids after running an errand and I couldn't believe my eyes.  My first thought was, "Oh my God!!  We've been burglarized!!  Someone has ransacked our house looking for something!!  What were they looking for?  I need to call the police!!"
Then I realized something even more scary.  We did that ourselves.  And I didn't even notice before we left the house BECAUSE IT SEEMED TOTALLY NORMAL TO ME.  Ahhh, the joys of children.  The fifteen outfit changes before lunchtime.  The searching for that one particular doll named Sarah that we haven't played with in about four months but suddenly it's crucial to our life's happiness.  The milk cups spilled everywhere.  It really never ends, does it???
Later that night, after we cleaned up the house, I made the brilliant decision to let the kids go upstairs and start getting ready for bed by themselves.  They are 4.5 and almost 3 now and I thought it would be heavenly if they could begin the bedtime routine by themselves once in awhile.  I had successfully performed this magic trick twice in the last week and I was thrilled to find them upstairs brushing their teeth peacefully by the time I got upstairs.  The problem is that I got over-confident.  I must have left them alone a few minutes too long because suddenly my daughter was downstairs, staring at me.
"Yes?" I said.
"Mommy, I'm afraid I have some bad news," she said.  "My brother has pottied all over the floor."
I ran upstairs and sure enough, there is my little guy, with his underwear around his legs, standing in a pool of potty.  I have to admit that it was pretty hard not to laugh and okay, Little Buddy isn't quite ready for the solo bedtime routine.  And I guess it's safe to say that my house will never be the cleanest house on the block, but I guess it's all in your definition of the word, "clean", right?  And I plan to re-define that word, for the good of Moms everywhere.  Are you with me???
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4 Easy Snowman Crafts

It snowed right before Christmas this year and it was the first time Little Buddy (2.5 years) had really seen snow.  The kids were thrilled to make a snowman with Daddy and they've been talking about it ever since.  So, we've been doing lots of snowman crafts and as usual, all of our crafts are very easy!  Here are four easy ways to make snowman crafts:
PAPER SNOWMAN For this one, I cut up several different sizes of circles in all different colors.  I simply laid out the collection of circles and let the kids choose which color and which size to glue on for their snowman.  Since there were so many options, they each made several of them before they grew tired of this.  Plus I let them glue on some Poms that were left over from Christmas.  This was a good exercise in choosing bigger over smaller since they knew that the biggest circle should go on the bottom.  Plus it was good for fine motor to glue on the little poms.

COTTON BALL SNOWMAN For this one I just drew out a snowman and gave them some cotton balls to glue on.  I always like to let them use real glue when I can because squeezing it out is so great for hand strength
BEAN SNOWMAN I drew out a snowman and gave them glue and beans and they glued the beads to the outline.  Of course, Little Buddy's didn't quite look this good, but he did enjoy it and then it led to sensory play with the beans!  This was also great for fine motor control as they had to use their fingers to pinch the beans and affix them to the page.

BASIC SNOWMAN This was definitely the least messy!  For this, I just drew the outline and she used her markers to decorate it. I actually didn't originally intend for her to do this, but she grabbed the markers and had a blast.  Later we used paint for the same purpose.  


For more ideas on easy crafts, I hope you will consider buying 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.  If you have ever tried to cook dinner while your kid clings to your leg and cries, this is the book for you!  We give you a Mom's point of view and a teacher's point of view, so that you can do activities that not only keep the kids busy, but also keep them motivated to learn and develop their natural curiosity.  Kids behave better when they are given challenging projects to work on, which will in turn give you more free time to do the things you really need to do, like washing dishes, paying bills, and relaxing so that you can be a better Mom!

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