Kids in Crowded Places

My daughter loves Black Friday. She plans for weeks where we'll go and what bargains we'll shop for. Most years, it really is a lot of fun. This year we began our day at Old Navy. While shopping, an employee was holding a crying child (guessing her age to be 5 or 6) and yelling into her walkie talkie "code Adam, turn off the music, I repeat, code Adam" The little girl had been separated from her mother in this very crowded store.

This leads me to a question for all of you. How do YOU keep your children at your side while in any crowded place? When my kids were young enough I always had strollers. Once kids are out of strollers, it's so easy for them to wander off. What do YOU do?

Audrey :)

Talk it Through

I spend a lot of time talking to both of my kids. I'm a really strong supporter of choices. Life happens and we have to make choices. Often there no good choices so we have to make the choice that will hurt the least. Other times, every choice looks like a great choice and we know we can't go wrong with our choice.

When we are emotionally involved in something, it's sometimes hard to see all of the choices we have. That's why I suggest talking it with others and listening to the input of those closest to us. They may provide a possible choice we had not yet considered.

I've always encouraged both of my kids to talk it through and see the choices available before deciding which choice will be the best.

Do you talk through choices with your kids?

Audrey :)

Losing a Pet

This past Saturday, we had to make the decision to put our dog to sleep. We adopted him when he was about 4 years old. We've had him 12 years. He was a large dog and so we know that 16 years is more than most could ever expect.

As the days have gone on, I continue to miss seeing him in the house, at the dinner table and by my bedroom door when I get up in the morning.

We received the most loving call from his vet. We put him to sleep over the weekend and so his vet only found out when she came in on Monday. Not only did she call but one of her partners who had seen him called also. Talk about caring. Wow!!

RIP my loyal companion.

Audrey :)

Holidays and Family

I recently saw a friend who has a 2 year old. She was visiting her family. I asked if her daughter remembered the family members between visits and she said yes, because she has photo albums and they look at photos.

I think it's so cool to look at photos and talk about those family members who we don't see as often as we'd like to.

Do you do this? Do you find that it's helpful?

Audrey :)

Scrapbook Calendar

I really want to thank Lynn for asking me to guest post today. My post is about creating a scrapbook calendar. While you're there, take a look at Lynn's giveaways and be sure to post your own giveaway if you're offering one.

We've owned scrapbook and stamp supplies since my oldest child was about 3 years old. Stamping and scrapbooking are a lot of fun for children of all ages. My kids loved to make wrapping paper, gift tags, greeting cards and to create their own scrapbooks from the photos they've chosen. Both of my girls have scrapbooks of themselves from the time they were born forward.

Audrey :)

Helping Your Children Keep Things Organized

There are many times during the year when I find myself wanting to clean up and thin out. This usually happens when spring first hits and then again before the start of the school year.

I'd like to offer some tips in helping your children to keep their living spaces organized and manageable:

1. Ask them to invest ten to fifteen minutes every day picking up and cleaning up. Having the end in sight makes starting much easier for kids.

2. Suggest that your kids tackle just one shelf or one drawer at a time. If need be, allow them to work on one drawer over a two day period. On day one they can take everything out and throw out what they no longer want and on day two they can put those things they are keeping back in, in an organized fashion.

3. One week per month should be devoted to cleaning. This might include washing windows, cleaning blinds, changing sheets or vacuuming. Remember, this is all being done in ten to fifteen minute increments. So window cleaning might only happen every four to five months. Sheet changing might occur twice in a month.

4. Depending on the age of the child, you might need to help them when it comes to cleaning out their closet. We make a few piles: throw it away and give it away. If they've outgrown it, we put it in the give it away pile. If it's completely worn out, we put in the throw it away pile.

5. If your child is old enough they should be doing their own laundry. While laundry will take more than ten or fifteen minutes, this can be their cleaning for the day. My rule is they must wash, dry and remove from the dryer all in the same day. I don't want clothes sitting in the dryer for two or three days.

Messy children's rooms are a sore spot for many parents. Use these tips and see if room cleaning can go from a fight to a daily routine.

An Email

I received an email earlier tonight. I thought I'd get some opinions here on my blog. You see I've written several parenting articles. I completely understand that not all parenting styles work for all people. What I share in my articles is what's worked for me.

Well, someone (she didn't sign her name) read one of my articles and did not agree with me. The email I got from her began with:

"I don't know what planet you're from -- but you are crazy if you think I am going to allow"

It just so happens the article she read was about 18 year olds and what had worked for me and my daughter.

I thought about how this woman spoke to me. My own daughter would never speak to a stranger that way. My own daughter knows that often two people won't agree and will even have to say to each other "let's agree to disagree." My own daughter has unsubscribed to blogs where she didn't agree with the blogger. She would NEVER speak to someone as I was spoken to.

So readers, if you disagree with something you've read online and you felt the need to write the author of the words, how would you speak to them, to let them know you didn't agree?

Audrey :)

Laundry Baskets

Most people think of laundry baskets and think of piles of dirty clothes that need to be sorted, washed, dried, folded and then put away.

Laundry baskets can be used in many other ways throughout your home. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. I'd like to share some ideas with you:

1. Keep small, shallow laundry baskets by the front door for each of your kids. They can put their backpacks, homework, gym clothes and lunch in there for the next morning. Having everything in one place eliminates lost articles and frantic searches the next morning.

2. You can use rectangular laundry baskets to store both books and DVDs. We own a lot of DVDs and we've always stored them in a blue laundry basket which can be moved from room to room or even out to the garage.

3. Keep a laundry basket in your trunk to hold the kids sport uniforms and backpacks. You can also put melons or juice bottles in the basket when grocery shopping to stop them from rolling around your trunk.

4. If you have a two story house, keep a small basket at the bottom of the stairs and fill it throughout the day with stuff that needs to go upstairs.

5. Coloring books, crayons and markers have a way of being all over the place and hard to find. Store the markers and crayons in small plastic containers and then store all of the containers in the larger laundry basket.

6. We have a lot of craft supplies. We have rubber stamps, scrapbooking supplies, beads and more. Once again, having several small plastic containers all in the larger container makes finding the supplies much easier.

7. We are not garage sale people so we keep a container out in the garage to collect our items we want to give away. When the basket gets full, we can load it into the trunk of the car and bring it to the donation center.

These are just a few alternate uses for your family's laundry baskets. How else do you use them?

Audrey :)

Mom Time Outs

What do you do to get a bit of alone time?

I have always tried to get up before the kids so that I have time to check email and just be alone as I start my day.

There are so many ways to get a few hours here and there:

1. ask the other parent to watch the kids for an hour, twice a week
2. swap kids with another mom a few hours each week
3. join a gym that offers day care and enjoy a work out a few times per week
4. have your kids take part in the weekly library reading. Although you need to be there, you can invest the 30 minutes reading for yourself.

What are other suggestions and ideas you have for finding a few hours a week to enjoy something on your own?

Audrey :)

Yelling at Kids

I was shopping downtown last week. There were two women, walking and talking. They had a boy about age 6 or 7 with them. I passed by these women as I was walking up the street. About 20 minutes later as I was walking back toward my car I passed the same women and boy. They too were now going the opposite direction. One of the women was yelling at the boy to behave.

This poor kid was bored to tears. I have no idea how long the two women were talking and walking leaving the kid to trail behind. I do know it was a minimum 20 minutes.

My thoughts are a babysitter should have been hired or another child should've come along to entertain the little boy. I really felt bad for him getting yelled at when he was just bored to tears.

What do you think?

Audrey :)

Reading to Children

I've heard of women reading to children still in the womb. I've heard of women reading to young children and I've heard of women reading to older children for the purpose of keeping the reading bond.

What are your thoughts on reading to children? I did not read to my children while still pregnant, but I did read to them as they developed into toddlers. Once they were reading on their own I seldom read to them anymore.

What do you think? What have you done with your own children?

Audrey :)

Frozen Oranges

I read a tip today that I just loved. Take an orange and peel and section it, making sure to remove all seeds.

Freeze the sections. Give a teething baby a section to bite on. Not only are their gums soothed but they are getting a bit of vitamin C.

Have you ever done this? My kids are old enough my pediatrician always suggested brandy. We used brandy on both girls and it all worked out for us. What do you do for teething kids?

Audrey :)

Boys in the Women's Bathroom

I was in a public bathroom today and a mom had her son in the restroom with her. He seemed really old to be in a women's restroom.

How old do you think is too old for a male child to be in the women's restroom?

Audrey

Live Birth On the Internet

I was just reading about a woman who plans to telecast live the birth of her baby. She is 23 years old, a teacher and believes she can use the birth as a teaching experience for others.

As a parent, I'm not sure this is something I would want my children to view, meaning I would want the site showing this to clearly be marked "adult content"

What do you think?

Audrey :)

Last Names

Today, it's quite common for kids to have hyphenated last names. The child's last name is that of both their mother and their father.

It makes me wonder what will happen in the next generation. When two people marry, there will now be four last names to contend with.

What do you think of hyphenated last names? Do you have a hyphenated last name? If so, how does marriage affect that name?

When I got married I took on my husbands last name. It's hard to remember when I was known by any other name. My last name today has been mine more years than my maiden name.

What's your last name story?

Audrey :)

Crying Children

We all read about the airline that recently asked a mother to leave the plane when her young child started to scream.

What do you think? Do you think the airline was in the right or the wrong? Do you believe parents with crying children have a right to be on the plane? Do you believe other passengers have a right to a quiet plane?

I have a strong opinion here. I can't remember the last time I had a "peaceful" plane ride. Either a child was crying or a person next to me was oversized, or the person behind me kicked my seat the entire time. None of them were asked to leave the plane. I don't believe this mother should have been asked to leave the plane.

What do you think?

Audrey :)

Crockpot Chicken and Cabbage

As you know I love my crockpot. This is a very simple yet tasty recipe:

4 chicken breasts
1 cabbage cut into quarters
1 large can chicken broth
5 large carrots, cut into quarters
salt and pepper to taste

Throw everything into the crockpot and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours.

Note: I love onions so I often cut an onion into quarters also.

Audrey :)

Food In Schools

Schools throughout the country have been making food and beverage choices for their students. Some schools have chosen to go meatless on certain days. Other schools have chosen to remove soda machines.

What do you think about schools making these decisions?

Audrey :)