Category Archives: Home: Kid Tips & Tricks

Apr 9 2012

Substitute for Easter Basket Grass

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I forgot to buy “Easter grass” basket filler. The baskets just didn’t look right without some kind of filler in the bottom. So the night before Easter I was wracking my brain to figure out what I could use.

I finally settled on shredded paper. I used pink and yellow construction paper and ran it through the shredder. It was quick and cheap and did the job just fine. Here is a finished basket.

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Lucky for me my kids are curious but not suspicious, so they didn’t notice the shredder sitting in the kitchen or the few bits of white paper mixed in with their basket grass!

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Mar 30 2012
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Getting Kids to Eat Vegetables

My kids are now 5 and 3½ and although they don’t eat as wide a variety of vegetables as I’d like, they are making improvements all the time.

Getting kids to eat what you want them to eat can be a source of stress for moms. We all know our kids need to eat a healthy, balanced diet. What we don’t always realize when we’re feeding Baby pureed peas is that around 2 years old, that kid will likely go into the “beige food” stage. At that point moms have a few choices: a) hide pureed vegetables in other foods that they will eat, b) give in and offer only beige, or c) put the vegetables on the plate – even though you know you are going to have to throw it in the trash.

I was in the camp of “c” most of the time. I didn’t do the pureed veggie thing because I figured hiding the offending vegetable was not going to help learn to eat vegetables. If they can’t taste it and don’t know they are eating it, then they are not learning anything.

Instead I opted to put those vegetables on the plate.  Sometimes they would only take one bite (as required by me) but that was fine. My rule for all foods is “You just have to taste it.” Just one bite and they can be done.  Yes, a lot of vegetables went into the trash, but over time they started to become more willing to try new things and it was less of a struggle.

I won’t lie to you, there were plenty of times when I would just skip it. Instead of offering a plate of food I knew they would not eat I would give in to nuggets or macaroni & cheese with some fruit on the side instead of vegetable.  You have to pick your battles and sometimes a weary Mommy is too tired to fight.

I now only make them a different meal if we are having something spicy. They eat what we eat 90% of the time. They will eat broccoli, corn, carrots, peas, green beans and sometimes spinach or lettuce. I’m glad that we are making progress and I feel confident that they will continue to try new vegetables from here on out. So hang in there all you moms – it will get easier!

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Sep 22 2011

Preschool Workbooks at Home

I have several kinds of workbooks for Sean and Audrey. The type I like the best for writing letters is Kumon. Audrey likes to do the lines in the first book – Tracing, which is the precursor for the Upper Case Letters book.  Sean also has a Pre-K sticker workbook we purchased from Costco.  I took the many pages of stickers out of the book the first day so they wouldn’t be wasted as decorations when I wasn’t looking.

I was trying to get Sean to do a few pages a day in one of his books, but he’s become resistant.  And if he’s feeling resistant he’s not willing to try, and he won’t be learning anything.  I put the books aside a few weeks ago.  They are on the bookshelf with the coloring books and story books.

I was pleasantly surprised when Sean brought me his sticker workbook the other day and wanted to do some pages.  He probably did 15 pages in one sitting.  Audrey had to join in as well, so I spent an hour going between them – erasing the previous pencil marks out of the Tracing book, and giving Sean his stickers for each page.  I cut out one section at a time and explained what the instructions were for each page.  He happily matched like items, completed scenes and worked with me on letter sounds.

A happy lesson: Don’t push too hard, take a break and come back to it later!

Home Pre-schooling (for an afternoon, at least)

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Jul 26 2011

Sandbox as a Kiddie Pool

It has been warm here on the Central Coast of California.  Nothing like what the East and Mid-West folks were experiencing last week, but it’s definitely feeling like summer.

My mom bought the kids a plastic sandbox shortly after we moved.  I filled it with nice play sand from the hardware store. None of that gritty beach sand that I got as a kid!  Well, somehow my kids managed to make two bags of play sand disappear in just six months. When I opened the lid last week all that was left was a few handfuls of sand.

A few days ago the kids had a friend over and it was getting hot.  I set up the water table and that kept them busy for a while but we needed something more.  I dumped  out what little sand was left drug the sandbox over to the patio.  I hosed it out a bit and “ta da!” we had our very own kids pool.  And they loved it!  They thought it was the most amazing thing that they now had their very own kid-sized pool to play in.  So, if you are feeling the heat and short on cash give the sandbox pool a try!

Coincidentally, sandbox toys make good pool toys!

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Jun 28 2011
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Family Restrooms Create a Better Shopping Experience

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The tiny toilets are the best!

I have to tell you all how much I appreciate stores that have “family restrooms”.  I was thrilled to find one at my local Kohl’s this week.  If you don’t have kids then you may not know that these exist or what is so great about them.  A family restroom is typically a single large room with locking outer door.  Those I have used are about double the size of a regular handicapped restroom.

A family restroom features a full-size toilet, a preschool toilet (a real toilet about half-scale), a changing table, and sink.  Some have a sitting area.  There is plenty of room for you, the kids and even a stroller to come in if necessary.  It’s a private space so you don’t have to worry about your kids looking under the stall next to you or getting in the way of other people tying to use the sink.  You know, the general chaos that children bring to a restroom.

The best part is the tiny toilet.  The kids LOVE being able to easily get on and off the toilet. The toilet has kid-size seat so they feel comfortable.  It is a wonderful thing for those who are potty training! Having both the standard and tiny toilet makes it possible for everyone (including Mom or Dad) to get their business done quickly and stress free.

So far I have only seen these family toilet set-ups in department stores, but I hope to see them in other large stores like Target and Wal-Mart as well. It makes shopping (and the inevitable trip to the restroom while there) much nicer for parents and kids.

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