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How I Got My Kids To Eat Well – 10 Easy Steps
Ok so there are not really 10 easy steps here. Getting your kids to eat well is a process that starts early and is mostly learned from you. All my kids so far have been awesome eaters – we have lucked out in that sense, but I also think our habits have certainly helped. From the very beginning they’ve always eaten some version of what we were eating and been exposed to different flavors and textures from the start so its not a learning curve later on. Okay, Examples Please? If we were making BLATS (think BLT with avocado and cheese) our youngest eater might have some slices of avocado along…
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The Night My Kids Ate Ramen For Dinner
Tonight! Tonight my kids ate ramen for dinner. No, not the instant kind loaded with salt. Homemade REAL mildly spicy ramen and they LOVED it. This was brussels sprouts, mushrooms, spinach, chicken and egg that made its way into their little growing bodies. Plus my son kept wanting to munch on raw garlic while I cooked. I’m a happy mom here! Do your kids like to eat? Not like to eat? Check out my next post How I Got My Kids to Eat Well for how we got here!
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Beach Days
We are just coming off our vacation high and I’m not sure if the laundry will ever end, but I’m giving myself a quick break to check in with you all about beach time with the babies. With summer in full swing and July 4th coming up here in the States I’m sure many will be at least thinking about hitting the beach over the next few weeks if not already spending long lazy days camped out with the littles. While we all now know to be careful about the sun and vigilant about water safety there are still some benefits to beach days that can get wrapped up in…
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Why Did No One Ever Tell Me About Swim Diapers?
Why The Big Secret? Okay. Swim Diapers. Great idea right? Diapers that work in the pool and don’t get gross and weigh your kids down. Awesome! BUT. THEY. DON’T. HOLD. PEE. How is it that this isn’t well distributed information? Like baby 101 “By the way swim diapers don’t hold pee” C’mon Moms! C’mon Dads! Nothing quite like the first hand experience of walking home from the pool and having your kid pee all over you!!! What?!?! Now I change them back to real diapers the second we exit the water – which is a lot of back and forth when you have a toddler who decides he’s done and…
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5 Steps for a Successful Road Trip With Baby
Maybe you’re just driving to see Grandma several hours away, or maybe you’re like us and planning to drive cross-country with three babies in tow (see why in my Road Tripping 101) – either way you’re covered with my five best tips for driving long distance with baby. Step 1: Know your limits and plan your route. Unless your baby is super human they will not spend eight hour stretches in the car without a break – who would? So plan your route, but don’t set a schedule or if you must don’t over-schedule. I always try to keep a couple options for each segment of our trip (best about…
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Road Tripping with Babies 101
Getting ready for the summer? Trying to figure out summer plans? We’ve got a busy few months ahead that I am thrilled about! We love traveling and while adding kids into the mix really changed our trip planning from “Hey, want to drive to Kentucky this weekend?” to planning week long trips several weeks ahead we still enjoy the time and adventure as a family. The summer excitement starts with my brother’s wedding – I can’t believe he’s getting married in just over a week! We’ll be making a vacation of it spending a week in a little pool side cottage and having a few solid beach days with…
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“Positive Parenting”
The Bump featured a great article recently about positive parenting which I recommend you can read here. This is something I love and have been trying to explain to people for years, although we call it logical consequences. It doesn’t mean I let my kids get away with or do whatever they want! It’s simply putting a positive spin on a negative reminder. So instead of screaming “don’t hit the hammer on the window!!!” I give them something they CAN do like “let’s bang on the nail instead of the window” or “why don’t we use that hammer to fix the rocking horse instead!” Using language or modeling gestures as appropriate…
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Lunch
Lately I’ve been struggling with lunch for my kids. Maybe its just me, but I’ve never been one to cook something for lunch – I mean back in the day when I used to babysit I would all the time… make pasta, or chicken nuggets or pizza – but in my own home its just never been a thing. Maybe it’s just the chaos and starvation of my kids “need lunch now!!!!” But I never feel like I have the time or motivation to really cook two full meals a day. Dinner is always my big one and occasionally I’ll cook breakfasts on the weekend (although hubby has all but…
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Cooking at 1 & 1/2 – Crackers!
I’m always trying to think of fun, creative and different things I can do with my kids (if only so I don’t kill myself when I hear the dinosuar song one more time). But finding something that’s quick, easy enough for my not quite 2 year old and won’t take me the rest of the day to clean up can be tough. My son and I get our special time during his sisters morning nap so we always try to do something fun – just us. Although some days it’s definitely laundry. Usually it’s coloring because I’m just not that creative, but today I decided there’s only so much coloring…
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Entertainment
One lesson I’ve learned being a mom is don’t waste your money on toys. My steadfast rule if I’m just looking around is nothing over $10 (I know it sounds cheap) and even then it has to be really worth it. And my kids are very well stocked! Of course we get bigger stuff for their birthdays, holidays etc. and they have some very generous loved ones, but I find most of the expensive toys (unless they are a big ticket item) just don’t pan out. In fact many of my kids favorite toys are the ones you make at home. This morning my kids played with ONE thing…
