Sunday's In My City

I love stopping by Unknown Mami every Sunday. She hosts a great meme, where everyone shares photos of their city.

I intentionally went for a walk downtown today should I could share some photos of houses around my town. Each house is just so unique and different. Hard to believe they are all within a six block radius.

I did take others, but this is a good sampling of what I see when I walk in the residential areas of my town.

Audrey :)

Sunday's In My City

I've lived in Santa Barbara for 16 years now. I've never been to the Mission. This past weekend, I decided it was time to pay the Mission a visit. They had an amazing museum. It was a great afternoon. Here are a few photos from the Mission

Swimming

My daughter came out of her room today in her bathing suit. Yes, our temps were in the 80's today. Can you believe it? Do your kids know how to swim? At what age did they learn? My oldest daughter took swimming lessons quite young. My younger daughter didn't learn until she was 7 or 8. I took swimming lessons all through my teen years, actually passing the lifeguard courses offered. Today's weather really made me think of summer and swimming pools.

Audrey :)

Back to Writing

http://myparentingideas.blogspot.com/2010/02/very-sad.html This was written February 13th.. I really haven't been around much since then.

I've actually missed blogging and hope I'm now back :) I've also missed reading all of your blogs and keeping up with what's happening in your lives.

So, here's today's question. How do you help your kids cope with stress? We all feel stressed from time to time and show that stress in different ways.

As I mom I have two things I want to do. One is I want to remember my kids are feeling stressed today and back off a bit. Two I'd like to offer them ideas and suggestions to help relieve the stress they're feeling.

What's your strategy when your kids are stressed?

Audrey :)

Ants

Last night I was walking past the living room and saw a long line of black. When I looked closer, the ants had come in out of the rain:

What is your tip for getting rid of ants? We get them often, weather dependent.

Audrey :)

Chicken Pox

Did you have the chicken pox as a child? Have your kids had chicken pox? Have your kids been vaccinated against chicken pox?

I had them as a child. My oldest daughter had them at about age 6. At the time I was pregnant and petrified. I did not know how a fetus exposed to chicken pox would affect the unborn baby. I was at both the obstetrician's office and the pediatrician's office. Everyone reassured me my baby would be fine. I chose not to vaccinate her against the chicken pox. She got them when she was about 5 or 6. We had a party with friends over and the next day she had them. Sure enough the other kids got them a week later.

What's your chicken pox story?

Audrey :)

Kids Working

What do you think about 16 year olds working? Here in California, there are many laws about how many hours a 16 year old can work and how late they can work, but they still can absolutely get a work permit.

Both of my girls worked a few hours per week at age 16. The kids who worked like 20 hours per week, I'm just not sure how they did it. With homework and sports there just isn't a lot of time left.

What do you think about 16 year olds working?

Audrey :)

One More Week

We have one more week left in February. Anything you're hoping to accomplish in this next week?

It's my goal to put up a few more blog posts and clean my desk at work. I started it but it really needs reorganizing.

What are your goals for this next week?

Audrey :)

Very Sad

My daughter wrote the most amazing post. I thought I would just share her post here today:

A 21-year old from my town, Santa Barbara, was hit and killed by a drunk driver in Rhode Island at about 2 am this morning. He was a freshman at Brown University. He started college late because he had been serving in the Israeli Army for the last 3 years.

This was some of the worst news I could have woken up to this morning, and our whole community is just devastated. Avi was one of the nicest, most amazing people you could have ever met.

So this post is dedicated to his honor. You'll be missed Avi Schaefer.

It was me who woke my two daughters yesterday morning to tell them this horrible news. Both of my daughters knew him. He and his parents have been a part of our lives for many years. My heart broke yesterday, truly broke. As we've all asked his mom what we can do her answer has been consistant...hug each other. So I've spent the last 24 hour hugging all those whose lives were touched by this amazing young man.

As my daughter said....You'll be missed Avi Schaefer.

Audrey

Dinner Time

When I was growing up, my mom asked that we try what she made. We were not forced to finish what was on our plate, only try it.

With my own kids, I followed my mom's example and asked them to try things.

I know many people who make dinner. If their kids don't like what was made too bad. Finish it or go to bed without.

What are the rules in your house?

Audrey :)

Sunday's In My City

I love stopping by Unknown Mami every Sunday. She hosts a great meme, where everyone shares photos of their city.

I love to walk. So yesterday while out walking, I took photos of what I typically see on my walks.'

We live right by a school. So as we go out to the main street you can see the high school.

We hear sirens often at night. Thankfully we follow the local fire station on Twitter and so we know where they've been dispatched to.

We had never tired this coffee house, so we intentionally walked this way so we could grab a hot beverage at the half way mark.

Coming home we went a different route and one of the things that is cute is this bridge. We have several walking paths here and I've always loved bridges.

Whenever we walk by this tree, I always smile. I don't know who lives in the house, but i love the tree.

And those are the sites I see as I walk through not only my town, by my neighborhood.

Audrey :)

Valentine Gift

Shannon from The Mommy Files hosted a valentines gift exchange. I was so excited to participate. My gift arrived today and I am so excited over the goodies I got.

My gift exchange partner is Brie. She is the owner of Brie-Fly's Blog. Look what I got. It all came inside this adorable mailbox.

When I opened the mailbox, look what was inside, candy, lip balms and a really pretty bracelet in my favorite color ever, purple

Brie, I really can't thank you enough. What a super fun exchange. I hope you like the goodies I sent to you.

Audrey :)

Your Lap

I was reading an article about children sitting in your lap. The article spoke of the parent realizing "oh no, my child is too big for my lap."

Have you had a child outgrow your lap? If so, do you remember it happening?

My kids are 7 years apart. Basically pre second pregnancy, I was still holding my daughter and she was on my lap. After her sister was born, she was 7 years old and had basically outgrown being picked up and being on my lap.

What about your lap and your kids?

Audrey :)

Muddy Kids

Nancy over at Away We Go wrote a great post about her son getting a bit muddy. She then offered a quote:

"Remember, you are not managing an inconvenience; You are raising a human being."
~ Kittie Franz

I wanted to share my comment to her with you:

Oh wow, I love the quote. There are times I've snapped at my kids and yes getting all muddy is one of the reasons. I can remember a few times snapping at preschool teachers for how filthy my kids were at pick up.

So, we decided my real problem was I didn't want the mud/dirt in the house, on the furniture and on the carpets for me to clean.

So...I always had a change of clothes and a plastic bag to put the dirty clothes in. We'd get home. They could take off the cleaner clothes without making a mess and I'd then do all the laundry. It was a win/win for all of us.

How do you handle kids covered in mud, dirt, finger paint, spaghetti sauce, etc?

Audrey :)

Do Your Kids Cook?

Both of my girls know how to cook. They both know how to bake. They both help with dinners. Sometimes one of them will cook a whole meal.

What about your kids? Do they know how to cook? Do they like to cook? Do they help out with the cooking?

Audrey :)

Cussing

Do you cuss in front of your kids? Did your parents cuss in front of you?

When I was growing up, my dad cussed, my mom did not.

I've gone back and forth my adult life. There have been times I didn't want cuss words in front of my kids and other times I was ok with it.

What about you?

Audrey :)

Homework

How much help do you give your kids with their homework? When my kids were super young, they really didn't ask for help. When they were older, some of what they were learning was beyond what I could help them with. So, I never really helped them too much.

As I read other blogs and posts in other communities, I read of a lot of women helping their children quite a bit with homework, even doing some of the projects and research.

What about you? How much do you help your kids with their homework? How much did your parents help you?

Audrey :)

Bookmarks

You can turn pretty much anything into a book mark. Use a piece of construction paper as your base. Now attach movie tickets, concert tickets, Disneyland tickets etc to the construction paper. Laminate and punch a hole in the top. Attach string, ribbon or yarn and you now have a very personalized bookmark.

Audrey :)

Do You Watch American Idol

American Idol began this week. I did not watch the first few seasons, like when Carrie Underwood was on the show. But about 3 or 4 seasons ago, my two girls got me hooked on the show. Now I watch it nightly with them. If we're not home, I tape the show.

What about you and your kids? Do you watch the show?

Audrey :)

Tough Topic today

One of my friends is in the hospital. This happened very suddenly. Very unexpected. She has a daughter. Very few of us plan for the unexpected like this.

So...my wonderful friends and readers....do you have a plan should something happen? I know this is a tough topic...it's just really on my mind.

Audrey :)

Volunteering with Your Teen Daughter – Quality Time Together

As some of you know, I write articles. I am not a writer. Not at all. But about 10 years ago, I was approached about turning some of my forum posts into short articles. What I found was that my life experiences were often helpful to other people. So...here's an article I submitted this past week:

Volunteering with Your Teen Daughter – Quality Time Together

Over the years, I have always looked for ways to spend quality time with both of my daughters. One idea that we love is non-profit.

There are so many ways to give to others and do it together. I’d like to share some of the ways we’ve given to non-profits while spending time together:

1. Animal shelters need volunteers. We have visited our local pound and taken dogs out for walks. What a win/win situation. The dog gets walked. We get exercise and we’re out together doing this.

2. We have a Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic here in my town. Most of what they offer are textbooks. One person reads the books while another person follows along and records. The center has a library right inside where students come and check out the recordings. So we know our efforts are helping our local community.

3. Feeding the homeless. We have a strong group here in town that gets together once a week at the shelter and feeds the homeless. We have a second group that meets once a month and hands out prepared meals right on the street. There is actually a doctor that volunteers with this group and treats those who need a doctor.

4. I have worked on mailings with both of my daughters for different non profits. Sometimes we meet at someone’s house and sometimes the mailing takes place in the non-profits office. Either way, we’re spending time together while helping the organization get their mailing out.

5. There are many organizations that ask for hand made items. We once spent an entire day crocheting small beanies for premature babies. It is a goal to be able to send out at least ten afghan squares per month to those who then assemble them and mail them out.

6. We belong to a congregation that hosts a non-profit day once a year. They offer many projects to choose from. We have always become involved either as members or leading a team if the need is there. This is something we plan for, for the entire year.

7. There are many groups that collect letters and cards to send our service men and women. Our service people love getting mail from home. Many of these men and women have not seen their families for many months. That friendly card or letter means the world to them.

Look in your own town. What non-profits exist? Where are volunteers needed? How can you and your teen daughter give to the community while spending time together? You’ll both walk away feeling great about your contributions.

Audrey :)

Other People's Children

I read an article today that really has me puzzled. The article was written by someone who believed that some times it's ok to discipline someone else's child. She gave the example of her own child. They were at the grocery store and her son was disrespectful to her. A stranger looked at her son and said "son you should not disrespect your mother."

The writer of this article believed it was completely ok for this stranger to offer his words to her son.

What I've done is if I see a mom struggling I might tell her that I like her sweatshirt or I like the kids shoes...something that gives her a few seconds to step away from the child throwing the temper tantrum. But I've never offered my own words to the child.

What do you think? Do you say something to other people's children? How do you feel about people saying something to your children?

Audrey :)

Personal Place Mats

On your childs next birthday, have them save all of their greeting cards. Now take those cards and arrange them on a sheet of construction paper. Take the paper to your local Kinkos and laminate. Your child now has a very personal place mat for the dinner table.

Audrey :)

Overseas

This is the 2nd time my daughter has been overseas in two years. I woke up to a really sweet email from her this morning. She left a party last night and it was snowing. As you know, we live on the central coast in California. It does not snow here. So for her, this was magical to begin 2010 with snow.

It really warms my heart that both of my daughters choose to call and email their mom and fill her in on what's happening.

What a wonderful way to start my new year.

Audrey :)