Independence

I have the best sisters (sis-in-law included) in the whole world!  I just love seeing them in action as they raise their children . . . which I got to do this last week as we had a mini-family reunion -- we were missing our sweet sissy Sarah though. :(  

There have been many conversations over the years about raising kids and our hopes and dreams for them.  Among these dreams that we all share for our children, is to teach them to be independent.

A friend of mine was telling me about her husband and what a great help he was to her around the house.  She said, "his mom taught him really well".  I left wondering what things I was teaching my sons (and daughters) "really well". 

Although I have really good intentions, I'm not so sure that I'm as on the ball with teaching independence as I need to be. 

I recently read a book that I just LOVED, and must share it!

It's called, "The Parenting Breakthrough", by Merrilee Boyack.

She shares all sorts of advice and tips to teach children to work, to learn new skills, to manage money, etc. 

She explains how to develop a "Master Plan" for training kids to be independent.  She has a couple of chapters on financial training.  She talks about establishing a "family identity", "family mottos", and shaping your "family environment".  I also liked her idea of making a "family timeline" with a 10 year projection, listing each family member and what they hope to be doing or accomplishing over the years (including family vacations, etc.).  This allows for better planning as you can see what's coming . . . like noticing that we only have 5 years left before our oldest son graduates from high school!  So we need to decide what we want to do, where we want to go, what goals we need to set, etc. before he's gone!

There are seriously so many things that I liked, that it's really hard to hightlight my favorites.  But another part she included was a BIG breakdown by age of ALL sorts of things kids should be able to do at each age, from 3 yrs. old to 18 yrs. old. 

I just went through these lists and made my own personal list for each of my children of things I'm planning on "training" them to do this summer.

Here's a sampling from her lists:

THREE YEARS OLD

Dress self

Use toilet independently

Beginning to brush teeth

Pick up toys

Say prayers

Clean glass tables

FOUR YEARS OLD

Brush teeth

Make bed

Make own breakfast

Make sandwhiches

Beginning to clean room

FIVE YEARS OLD
Straighten room

Vacuum

Empty garbage cans

Set table

Clear table

Make own lunch

Warm up canned food

Get allowance

SIX YEARS OLD

Take shower

Dust

Load dishwasher

Empty dishwasher

Clean sinks

Run microwave

Water plants

Make and answer phone calls

The lists get better and better as they get older . . . like having a savings account when they are seven; baking, sewing on a button, filling car with gas when they are nine; doing own laundry when they are ten; planning meals and making main dishes when they are eleven; etc, etc.

It's the kind of book you keep and use as a reference over the years -- I've already read several sections over and over again.  Of course you have to kind of put things into your own "context" for your family . . . her personality and her family are different from mine (we're not star wars fans, or die hard scouters), but most of what she shares is quite useful.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.  :)

Now let's go raise some independent children!!

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow.

For babies grow up, we’ve learned to our sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs.

Dust, go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby, and babies don’t keep.

I have had this crosstiched quote in the nursery, since my first baby was born (it was a gift). 

Our days can seem so overwhelming with all of the demands we have on us, and lots of worthwile things to attend to.  I love that it reminds me to pay attention to the very most important things in my life. 

Today I just feel like soaking up my little ones . . . everything else can wait.  :)

Enjoy your day!



I am a bow girl. 

My little one, now 6 months old, is starting to grow some hair!  I am excited to actually be able to clip hair things directly in her hair instead of on a headband!

I made several of these bows when she was teeny.  I love them because they have "no slip grip" to keep them from sliding out of baby fine hair.  I even use them to hold back my three year old's bangs (that she cut herself) when her hair is pulled back in a pony tail.

Here is the tutorial I followed (makeit-loveit).  I found it on pinterest:

First of all, everyone has their own technique.  And there are probably a variety of no-slip grip solutions out there.  This is just what I did and what I used.  All worked really well for me. 

When I was first trying to make a bow that would stay in baby fine hair, I remember seeing bows online that had a no-slip grippy on it.  Some of it looked like velvet, other stuff looked sticky.  Some people used velcro and others used magnet material.  We didn’t have a lot of money and so I was trying to figure out a cheap solution.  I remember walking around Wal-Mart one day, trying to decide what I could use to re-create that no slip grip, and I walked by rows of this shelf liner stuff and had an “ah-ha” moment.  This liner material keeps things from slipping in cupboards and on shelves…….why not baby hair.  So I started using it on my hair clips, and it worked like a charm.

image source

And just when you think you have the best idea ever……..you realize other people have it too.  Ha!  Because I have seen other people use this stuff to make their own bows since I thought it up for myself that one day.  How funny!  I swear, we should all participate in a huge think-tank and share all sorts of tricks and secrets.  It would save us all a lot of grief.

Anyway, to make these hair bows (without actually tying a bow), I used 3/8 inch ribbon.  (Grosgrain works best in my opinion.)  I cut 3 pieces that are 4 inches long.  I also use a double prong hair clip that I always buy at Sally Beauty Supply….and they’re about 1 3/4 inches long.  (I found similar ones online here, in case you don’t have a Sally’s.)  Then I cut a piece of the shelf liner that is the same size as the prong section……so about 1 and a  1/4 inch by 1/3 of an inch.  And a piece of felt that is about the same size.

To begin, grab your roll of ribbon and heat seal the end (I use a lighter).

Then hot glue about a 1/2 inch of the end of the ribbon to the very bottom of the clip with the right side of the ribbon facing out (if you have a right and wrong side).

Then add a strip of hot glue to the next section of ribbon…

…..and then fold it around the contours of the pinch part of the clip.  (Don’t worry, the clip will still pinch and the glue won’t affect the spring at all.)

Then measure how much more ribbon you’ll need by stretching it to the tip of the clip, then fold it back up the length of the prongs.  Cut the ribbon off.

Heat seal this end of the ribbon now too.

Now add a long strip of hot glue down the back side of the rest of the ribbon.  Then lay it flat across the top of the top prong, then fold it under towards the bottom of that top prong…..to completely conceal that top prong.  Press the ribbon together to seal the glue together, and keep the ribbon in place.

Now, grab your 3 pieces of 4 inch long ribbon.  Tie a single knot in the center of one of the pieces of ribbon.   Try to make it a neat little knot and keep the two ends flat and laying in the same direction.  Heat seal the ends of the 2 un-tied pieces.

Then grab one of the plain pieces and bend it into a circle.  Overlap the ends by about a 1/3 of an inch and then hot glue them together (image on left).  Then pinch the circle right in the center, creating half of your bow shape, and add a little dot of hot glue to the inside center to keep it pinched together (image on right).

Do the same thing with the other piece of ribbon.  Then cross the two pieces together……not into an actual “X”, more like a squashed one.  Add a dot of glue between the two, to keep them together.

Then place the piece of ribbon with the knot in the middle, right in the center of the squashed “X” (image on the left).  Place a dot of hot glue right under the knot, so it doesn’t move around.  Turn the bow over and cut off the long ends just a bit and glue them down on the back side (image on the right).

Now, glue the piece of shelf liner to the piece of felt.  Press the two layers together. 

CAUTION: this can get hot.  Test it with your fingers and wait until the glue has cooled from hot to warm and then squish the 2 layers together.  Glue will most likely ooze out.  Just peel it off your fingers and continue on!!

Trim off the excess along  each edge, making a nice clean line around all sides.

Then hot glue the felt side to the top prong.

Then glue the bow to the very top of the clip…..right to the ribbon.

Why I do the bows this way:

• I make the bows in parts so that the bow looks very clean and even.  You can always tie some ribbon into a bow and then glue it onto a clip……but it’s hard to get a nice even bow that way.  It’s totally just preference though.
• I don’t wrap ribbon around the bottom prong because it’s hard to slide it through hair (like for older girls pony tails and such) if there is ribbon on the bottom.  If you leave it bare, it can slide into hair much easier.
• I don’t put the shelf liner on both sides  of the prongs because of the reason mentioned above…..I want to keep the bottom prong bare.

And that’s it. 

  

Also . . . A friend of mine told me about a website called wholesale girls, where you can find lots of headbands and other accessories  -- super cheap!  I was spending $4 for elastic headbands (to pin bows on) that they sell on their site for $.79 or less!  But it looks like we're headed out of the headband stage . . . Yay for hair!

The "Karate Kid" method . . .

Check out these posts about "going Karate Kid" on your kids . . . or in other words, teaching them how to do simple tasks through repitition.  LOTS of repitition.

I LOVE it!!  And am DEFINATELY going to try it.  :)

Here is the post from raising lemons -- and here is one from Power of Moms.

 . . . Have fun!

Spring time treat

I've been trying to eat a little healthier lately.  I get really "snacky" around 3pm . . . when my kids get home from school and I start to stress about what activities or practices we have, and projects/homework to do, extra noise messes friends at our house, and how I'm going to get dinner ready, and feed my baby on any kind of schedule.   

I found these yogurt pops on pinterest . . . easy, healthy, AND yummy!  The perfect treat for the "stress eater".  And even better ~ I had it all on hand.  I used activia . . . stuck some big popcicle sticks in the middle, and froze them up!  They remind me a little bit of the pudding pops I used to eat when I was a kid . . . but they're yogurt, so no guilt!  I think we've also found a good compromise for mama (who wants snacks to be healthy) and kids (who want snacks to be "treats") .  :) 

And since it's been 75 degrees here for the past week . . . it sure feels like "popcicle season"!

photo from pinterest

I liked the shape and amount of the Activia . . . it was perfect for my Claire to handle.  I guess you could use any kind of yogurt (I think the picture above may be yoplait).  I have chobani in the fridge too, but the shape seemed akward.  I bet it would be good though . . . super creamy! 

Now . . . go put some sticks in some yogurt and put 'em in the freezer!

~Enjoy!~