A monthly online magazine chock-full of insightful articles for busy mothers.

by Laura Cecil

Getting children, especially toddlers, outside to play on snow days is a challenge. Experienced mothers know that the time that it takes to dress and undress them for the experience is about twice as long as the length of the actual outdoor experience. I’ll never forget the first time that I dressed my firstborn for his introduction to playing outside in the snow.

He had been looking out the window at the neighborhood children, all older than he, and babbling on about wanting to play with them. His thinking was that I could simply open the back door and let him out. My attempts to dress him appropriately were met with some serious opposition, and I can’t say that I blame him.

First, he had his snow pants put on, with straps over his shoulders, followed by a sweater, a hooded jacket, ear muffs, a scarf, and mittens. When he was fully prepared for the trip outside, he could barely move, looking like a short telephone pole standing perfectly upright with his arms spread out from his side like cross beams. Naturally he resisted. His new cocoon didn’t feel natural, and I’m sure it didn’t help that the adults in the room were laughing a bit too loudly over his appearance.

When he finally did get out through the back door and onto the snow covered rear deck, his outside visit lasted about five minutes before the banging on the back door began. His experiment with the outdoors was over for that day. He had a frown on his face when he came back in, proclaiming loudly that he didn’t like his mittens, his scarf, his hood, or his boots. The next day, when he again wanted to join the neighborhood children outside, he was quite verbal in his insistence that he not wear the mittens, scarf, hood, or boots. What’s a parent to do?

The weather that day wasn’t too bad; the sun was out. I decided that experience would be the best teacher and determined to try a little “tough love.” I put on his snow pants and his hat, but left off his scarf, mittens, and boots, and I zipped up his jacket without pulling up the hood. He was one happy camper with a big smile on his face as he bounded out the back door in his severely modified winter wear. Five minutes later, he was back in the house crying that his feet were cold, his ears were cold, his hands were cold, and that he hated winter.

Later that day, as he stood staring out the window at the neighborhood kids enjoying their sleds and snowball fights, I explained the facts of winter life to him. That the cold could hurt him, that unlike our pet dog, he had no fur and needed clothing to keep him warm when he was outdoors. The following day, when he once again wanted to go outside, I let him decide what to wear. I asked if he wanted his mittens, and got a yes response. The same thing with the other winter wear. He was reluctant, but seemed to realize that he had to suffer with the clothing, or suffer more with the cold. He quickly adapted to the need for bundling up, and his ventures into the cold outside became of longer and longer duration.

While he learned to accept the necessity of bundling up, I learned a few things about making the needed clothing less cumbersome and easier to use. The hat and hood combination has since been replaced with a ski mask type head covering called a balaclava. It keeps his head and neck warm and allows more flexibility. (It’s also a favorite in the neighborhood, and wearing one makes him feel like “one of the guys.”) We’ve also replaced mittens with gloves, which are much easier to manipulate. We’ve also learned to keep an extra pair of gloves in the kitchen for an immediate change when the gloves that he is wearing become filled with melting snow.

It took a little time and a small dose of reality to get my child to accept the necessity of winter clothing. Forcing him would not have worked as well. Letting him go outside for a short time without adequate protection was a great natural training experience, letting him decide for himself that he needed to dress properly to enjoy the outdoor experience in the winter.

Laura Cecil, a single mother of three kids and the editor of www.Livesnet.com, a site that reviews the hot baby products and gives parents parenting tips. And her single parenting life has been totally changed since she had built this site with her friends several months ago. She really likes sharing her reviews and her parenting tips with all parents. Want to take your kids outside or enjoy a wonderful trip, let’s see if uppa vista 2011 stroller can help you or not!

What should you tell your kids about the hurricane?

Try to keep calm. If your children exhibit anxiety, help them to talk about their feelings. Try to be honest, depending on your child’s age (don’t reveal too much if your child is very young). Try to keep to schedules that you usually observe, if possible. Use activities below to relieve anxiety, such as the hurricane tracking chart. If you are evacuating, tell them you are going somewhere to be safe. Take along some small games for them to play with and their favorite stuffed toy.
Have kids check out Weather Wiz Kids designed by Crystal Wicker especially for children.

She has a hurricane tracking chart to print and an info page to print on
What a Hurricane is.

Make sure you have thouroughly prepared so you can help to relieve your own anxiety. Use this time to do some family reading, game board, card playing, whatever you like to do together.
Take a look at the Hurrican Links page. Be safe!
Hurricane Links…find printable emergency supply kits to make and so much more.

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How To Keep The Kids Busy On Bad Winter Weather Days by Shelly Hill

During the Winter Season we are often hit with bad winter weather here on the North East Coast. That bad weather can consist of blizzards, snow storms, ice storms, sleet, freezing rain, you name it, we pretty much get it all here.

When the bad weather strikes, businesses, schools and daycare’s close down by the thousands, leaving many children stuck at home with not much to do. When our daughter was little, we decided to make “bad weather days” our family’s arts and crafts day. As I look back over the years, we made some pretty awesome things…many of which I still have today.

The first thing I recommend that you do is to make up an arts and crafts bin by purchasing a plastic bin at your local discount store. Then, you will head to the dollar store and your local craft store and pick up some supplies. You should really fill up that bin! Here is a list of general supplies that every craft bin should have.

Straight Edge Scissors, Designer Edge Scissors

All Purpose Liquid Craft Glue and Glue Sticks

Construction Paper, Watercolor Paper and 8″ x 11″ sized scrapbooking paper

Stickers, Rubber Stamps, Ink Pads, Magnet Backs, Wiggle Eyes

Scraps of Ribbon, Lace, String, Yarn, Feathers, Popsicle Sticks, Craft Sticks

Buttons, Charms, Beads, Faux Gems, Rhinestones, Small Silk Flowers,
Jewelry Findings

Markers, Colored Pencils, Crayons, Water Paints, Finger Paints, Acrylic Paints and Paint Brushes

Modeling Clay and Optional Clay Molds

Paper Mache ~ Trinket Boxes, Ornaments, Photo Frames, Etc.

Coloring Books, Water Paint Books, Activity Pads

Foam Craft Sheets and Sheets of Craft Felt

Once you purchase the basic supplies which are suited for both boys and girls, you will want to keep your bin in a handy place. Once all of those “bad winter weather” days hit, you will be prepared for some Arts and Crafts fun with your children! You can visit various online web sites to get some great craft project ideas to use up all of those supplies. Keeping children busy during bad weather days doesn’t have to be a stressful task so view it as a great way to have some family bonding time.

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in central Pennsylvania who enjoys crafting with her daughter and grand daughter. Shelly has been crafting for over 30+ years and enjoys crocheting, beading, scrapbooking and cross stitching. You can visit Shelly’s online craft blog called Passionate About Crafting at http://passionateaboutcrafting.blogspot.com for free craft project ideas and patterns

Article Source: WAHM Articles

by Marilyn Bohn

Do you remember that commercial Staples had on a few years ago that was aired in July? It was the one where the music was the Christmas song “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year”. Every time it came on I just cracked up laughing. Along with the music a father was zipping around the store loading his cart with school supplies with the happiest smile on his face. The children were standing there watching with sad expressions.

I had five daughters; four of them were under four so I always had a busy, busy summer. It was a lot of work planning and implementing worthwhile activities, trying to keep them sharp for school and having a balance with play activities and just play. I admire mothers who can home school their children. But frankly I am just not the mother that can have my kids around me all the time. I was happy when school started again in the fall.

So whether you send your kids off to public or private school or you home school or are on year around school this is a good time of year to get the little and big ones ready for the school year.

Before you head out to the stores and grab up the great buys they are offering this time of year take stock of what you have at home. Check to see how many pens, pencils, lined paper, notebook paper, note pads, erasers, and other supplies you have. If you haven’t designated a place in your home for paper/office supplies, do so now. This will save you a lot of time and money. Label the shelves, use containers to separate items. Containers can be check book boxes, plastic baby food containers, plastic Crisco containers—you do not need to rush out and buy containers, first look around your home to see what you have that you can use. Store the extras behind the items that will be used currently.

This is the ideal time to also set up a homework area. According to the magazine Psychology Today in the September 2007 issue,”Creating a functional, organized and comfortable area for your child to do their homework can increase their productivity and give them confidence to do well in school”. Notice it doesn’t say you have to have a desk and all that goes with it; it needs to be an organized, functional and comfortable area. If that area isn’t a desk have supplies they need for home work assignments convenient for them to access.

Create a filing system where they can put their art work or home work they want to keep ‘forever’. Right now is the time to set ground rules on how many pieces of paper they will be allowed to save. Three pieces of paper a week will add up to 864 pieces pre-school through sixth grade.

Set up a designated place to manage everyday paperwork. Make this accessible for them and for you. Have baskets or sorting bins (metal kind that sit on a desk or the kind that hang on the wall) labeled with each child’s name on them and one for the parents. When they come home from school teach them the expectation is they will unload their backpack by putting their papers in their designated spot. If there is something that has to be signed by you and returned to school this goes in your slot. But don’t just rely on them putting it in the right place, check their slots also.

You could separate your slot into more specific slots such as To Do, To Pay (picture day forms, field trip fees etc) and To File.

Okay, now you can dash to the store for all of those great buys. Go alone if you can, you will probably buy less and it won’t be a hassle without little voices saying, “Buy this, buy this, can I have this?” When you get the specific list of what your child needs then they can go with you to buy those specific items.

I hope this school year will be the best ever for you and your child/children.

Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors and their families create space and end clutter in their homes and offices by setting up custom made systems.

Marilyn invites you to visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com where you can find solutions to your organizing needs. She offers free tips in her blogs, articles and videos for your home and office organizing solutions.

Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors & their families to create space and end clutter in homes and offices by setting up custom made systems.
Visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com for free organizing tips.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

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