Dollar Store Crafts

Family Time Friday

So it is the end of the summer and your children are tired of playing outside, going to the pool or whatever they have been doing for the last few months.  School is going to start soon and you CAN'T WAIT but they need something to do NOW and you want to spend some extra time with them before school starts and busy life takes over again.   

Go to your local dollar store (can't call them dime stores anymore) and get a whole bunch of art supplies.  You can find lots of packaged ideas for crafts but if you are even a little crafty you just get a bunch of craft stuff.  Puff balls, google eyes, glitter (they love glitter), stickers, craft sticks.  You name it you will find it there.   

Declare one night CRAFT NIGHT, where you get out all the crafts and make whatever you and your children feel like making.  I know not everyone is crafty but even the most "un-crafty" adult or child can have fun.  Maybe your child is less crafty and likes to build things.  Encourage your child to "build" something out of all the supplies.  If you stretch your skills you might find that your child will too. 

I have found that a lot of children that don't like to do crafts don't like it because they are really focused on what the outcome looks like mainly because we adults tend to focus on that as well. So instead of worrying about what the finished product is, enjoy and encourage the process.  If it all falls apart, who cares as long as you had fun doing it.  

Forgive Yourself

HumpDay Dilemma

There are times when I feel like an awful parent. There, I admitted it. But I don’t think I am alone.  In fact I think every parent has times when we regret the way we reacted to a situation, question or behavior.  No one wants to admit it, but if we are really honest with ourselves and others I think that is what we would say.  

There are many reasons we get to the point where we are disappointed in our own parenting behaviors.  Parenting is a lifelong learning experience and I am far from figuring it all out.  However, I have a few thoughts I would like to share with you in hopes that it helps you (and me) to be the best parent you can every day. 

    I am NOT PERFECT.  Contrary to the way most moms (and dads) feel they have to be, I am not and will never be perfect.  And that is ok. No one but me is expecting me to be.  It may be easy to say, but it is much harder actually let go of my unrealistic expectations for me, my family and my life. 

    I need to focus on what is important.  It is so easy in the craziness of life to lose sight of what is important to me.  I often think that my life revolves around my kids, but if I look at where I spend my time I will see that I often let other “things” creep in and take over.  Changing that is hard but it is well worth it.  

    I have to do what I love.  If I do not enjoy what I do for a living, I will slowly begin to take it out on my family, especially my kids. Switching jobs may not be a possibility (or maybe it is), but it is possible to add things into my day, week and month that I love.  I often avoid doing things that take more time away from my kids that might help keep me happy because I think that my children will be the ones to suffer.  The reality is that my children suffer when I do not make time to put myself first.  My children’s needs may be more immediate than mine, but they are not more important. 

   

    I forget to ask for help.  I generally have no problem asking my husband for help, but when it comes to asking others for help I hesitate because I fear people will think less of me as a parent.  I need to get over that and realize that absolutely no one can be a great parent without help.  One thing I have found out in my 15 years in the childcare industry is that the most amazing parents have the most amazing support systems.    

    I should stop comparing.  It is so easy to drive myself nuts by comparing my children’s abilities and behaviors to other children’s.  I have to stop and remember that children are all different.  It is my personal belief that every child has at least one talent that they are meant to excel in.  When I go around judging my kids’ abilities compared to their friends’ talents, I often fail to see what my kids are really good at.  The best thing I can do for my children is to focus on the things they are really good at then validate and encourage them to do that more.  I need to stop looking at what my children lack and embrace what they have!! 

    I find it hard to forgive myself.  Often times when I coach parents I help them work through the mistakes that they feel they have made as parents.  Sometimes they realized that after years of parenting they regret the way they have treated their children.  Others have had a momentary slip-up and they yelled at their children when they did not mean to or something similar.  I teach this concept of self-forgiveness every day, yet I find it to be one of the most difficult things to master as a parent myself.  I am working at it.  The truth is that children are the most resilient creatures on the planet.  Their brains are designed to forgive and forget.  It is only as we grow older that we start to hang on to mistakes.  

   

    Above all else I need to CONNECT with my children!!!!  The single greatest gift I can give myself and my children is the chance to connect with them.  Through this connection all mistakes can be healed and all wrongs put right.  This does not mean that I have to go out and spend money to do things or buy a bunch of stuff.  It does not even mean I have to take a significant amount of time each day.  If I can remember to just work to involve myself more in what my children are  already doing I am on the right track.  When my children are clamoring for my attention, I need to learn to stop what I am doing for 5 or 10 min and play with them or invite them into what I am doing.  If I can make sure they get some time every week where they have my undivided attention, life will be better for everyone because ultimately that is what my children really need. 

Mouse Was Mad

Teaser Tuesday

Mouse Was Mad

Written by Linda Urban, Illustrated by Henry Cole

This picture book has a simple story with sharp, eye-catching illustrations that young children will love.  Mouse is really, really mad.  He tries to express his anger in many ways:  stamping like the bear, screaming like the bobcat, hopping like the hare, etc.  But none of these ways work for him.  In fact, in each scenario he ends up falling into the “mucky mud puddle.”  (a phrase your children will love to repeat for you as you read it)  Then Mouse finally finds the way to express his anger that works for him, and he’s not angry any more.  What a delightful way to introduce a discussion about how to deal with anger!  

Review by Alice Brown 

Check out the book at Amazon 

Child Rearing

Motivation Monday

I looked on child-rearing not only as a work of love and duty but as a profession that was as fully interesting and challenging as any honorable profession in the world and one that demanded the best that I could bring to it.

-Rose Kennedy

I find this quote incredibly inspiring as a parent and a childcare professional for the last 15 years.  The world (and lets face it sometimes we) think of raising children as a great responsibility but not a "real" job.  

I challenge that attitude and believe there is no greater or more exciting job than to love, encourage and mold the next generation.  They may be your biological, adopted or foster children or they could be your charges, students, grandchildren or nieces and nephews.  You may have them every day for the rest of your lives or for a short time.  It does not matter, your job is important. 

It is not a cliche, it is the TRUTH.  Anyone that has ever helped a child go from a small helpless being to an independent person in what seems like the blink of an eye can not deny this truth.  

I hope to bring the absolute best I have to my children everyday and I know you will all do the same.  

Found at http://www.greatest-inspirational-quotes.com/inspirational-parent-quotes.html

I choose Joy

 A few years ago my husband and I embarked on a journey; a journey in adoption.  I wanted to share that journey with you. 

January 4, 2009

So it has been a few weeks since I last blogged about our impending adoption of a now nine month old girl. With out giving more information than I should about this sensitive subject on a public blog, I will just say that the “red” tape is taking a long time.

We had hoped that on the 29th of December it would be over and we would get to start seeing baby G, but it looks like we will need to wait a bit longer. This information came to us this past Friday, while I was working. I was told it would likely be at LEAST another 3 weeks until we are able to see baby G. I had, after getting good news on Tuesday gotten my hopes up, way up. Whether or not that was a mistake to jump to some conclusions does not matter at this point. But it has made me a little sad again. And it has made me reflect on my thoughts a little more closely.

Through this entire event my wonderful friends and family have tried very hard to find the right words to help me. I absolutely love that I have such faithful friends. It means so much to me to have them ask questions, listen and seek to say something to make me feel better. The best thing anyone can say to me is that it is okay to feel exactly how I feel. So often in this process I have felt guilt from within that I should be stronger or more patient. In my head I believe that I should not be so angry or upset or sad. The most helpful thing any family member or friend can do is to listen and tell me it’s okay to feel the way I feel. Somehow when someone says that, I genuinely feel better. The pain, anger or sadness seems to soften a little.

So this past weekend, I have been thinking. I do have moments of sadness of anger and of frustration? But there are other moments too. When I can, I am going to opt for joy. Joy is not happiness. It can not always be felt, sometimes it must be selected. Joy is a hopeful response to the evil things in life. So when we experience set backs in this adoption, in this life we can have joy even when we are sad, distraught and depressed. It’s okay for me to have a day where all I want to do is cry. But I can opt for joy as well.

It's not about ME?

A few years ago my husband and I embarked on a journey; a journey in adoption.  I wanted to share that journey with you.  


December 12, 2008

So the last few weeks have been pretty rough for me. The waiting has really been getting to me. This has been compounded by a few things. Thanksgiving was tough and the approaching Christmas was a little sad too. I began wondering why it always seemed that I had to wait for things. Scott and I waited a long time to meet each other and at times I did not understand why it seemed so easy for so many people to find the right person -not all but many. So now I am more happily married than I ever thought I could be, wanting to start a family and having to wait - again. How could it be so easy for some people to get pregnant and so difficult for others? What was God thinking? 

Last Wed night the 10th of Dec, it seemed like I was at my lowest. I locked myself in my room and had a "moment" with God. During that conversation, it became pretty obvious that God was telling me I was being selfish. I was really only looking at this circumstance from my perspective. When people would say things like, “It will all work out" or "God has a plan" all I heard was God was keeping it from me for some reason. But what I should have been hearing was that the "plan" was to benefit someone else, not just me. It wasn't about me, at least not much. It was about the baby we would someday bring home and it was about the birth family that would not be able to keep him or her. I was so consumed with my feelings; I had completely overlooked the needs of others. I was not "considering others of greater worth than myself" Philippians 2:3 (my favorite Bible verse). 

So as I was locked in my room, I asked for forgiveness from God for my selfishness. The next morning I had the day off and I slept in. I finally started stirring about noon and saw that I had a message on our home phone. Now we don't give out that number to very many people so we almost never have a message on it. I immediately got excited, but I knew I had been falsely excited before. When I heard the message my heart stopped. There was a little girl 8 months old in need of a home. I can't give any specifics about her, but let’s just say that it took Scott and me about 2 seconds to decide we were going to say yes. 

There are still some papers and court hearings to deal with, but it looks like there is a pretty good chance she will come home in the beginning of January. We are finding it hard not to be excited. We are cautiously optimistic that it will all work out. Thank you everyone for concern and prayers. They have been felt and apparently heard too.

City Dog, Country Frog

Friday Family Time

I have promised everyone to reveal who the new blogger is on Your Parenting Questions and I thought Family Time Friday would be a perfect time to do it because.... 

Welcome Alice Brown, my mother.  She will be writing every week for a new segment I am calling Teaser Tuesday, where she highlights a great children's book.  Each week she will choose a different genre from board books for babies to young adult fiction.  She is even going to throw in a few grown up novels that portray healthy loving families.  

Alice has had a love for children's books since, well she was a child.  She worked at her local library in her youth and in college.  When she graduated in 1970 from Western Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science in Education, she started teaching reading and language arts to Jr High students.  

In 1984 she transitioned to 2nd-4th grade students and went back to Carthage College to gain her Masters Degree in Gifted Education.  Her thesis was on Gifted Fictional Children's Characters.  She then taught the gifted program for the remainder of her career until retiring in 2005.  

But that has not stopped her love for books, especially children's books.  For several years she put together a monthly newsletter/blog reviewing the many books she reads each month.  She is active in her local book club and is always scouting out the best and most interesting books to give her grandchildren :)

My mother gives my girls a book almost every time she sees them.  I think she picked this particular picture book because the dog bears a striking resemblance to their dog, Barkley.  

This book reveals an unusual and sweet friendship that you just can't help but imagine.  The illustrations are so vibrant that you wish you were running and splashing with these  creatures.      

"I am going to do you a favor" 

said City Dog when he found Country Frog.  

"I am going to teach you City Dog games." 

City Dog's games involved sniffing and fetching and barking.  

City Dog, Country Frog

Words by Mo Willems

Pictures by Jon J Muth

Check it out on Amazon by clicking below.