The Help

I've heard it's hard to find good help these days.

I don't agree at all. =)

I think I've posted it before, but here's a link to an article about children helping in the home. It's not just for parents of older kids either. Kids who are only 2 or 3 can help too!

Manners and Mommyhood

Lately, I've been frustrated with our kids' behavior at mealtimes. It's nothing horrific, but certainly somewhat chaotic and lacking in the manners department. Every meal left me aggravated and feeling like a bad mom.

And then it dawned on me - we haven't taught them manners and how to act. Of course, I know "more is caught than taught", but obviously there needs to be some deliberate teaching as well.

So tonight we made a list of simple rules and after we prayed over the meal we explained that we really want to take them to some neat places to eat on our upcoming vacation to visit the grandparents, BUT our manners need some work. We went over each rule:

• Stay in your seat and sit correctly
• Only talk when food is not in your mouth
• Use a soft, polite voice
• Make every word a gift
• Say please and thank you
• Do not play with your food
• Eat your food

And then we showed them a jar of stones (purchased at Dollar Tree) and told them that each time we caught them breaking a rule we would have to take one stone out of the jar. If the stones are all gone before our trip then we won't be able to eat at the cool places we want to go.

Dinner was fun. Or maybe I should say dinner "rocked". Talking with food in their mouths seemed to be the biggest infraction of the night, but it was humorous to see them trying their best and getting a little frustrated when a sibling broke a rule.

It was such a simple thing, a "why didn't I do this a long time ago" kind of thing.

I have trouble remembering that all those moments of frustration are actually opportunities for teaching. Instead of raising my voice and shaking my fists I need to train and redirect, guide and explain.

Grumpily picking up all the toys after they've all gone to bed only teaches them to make bigger messes since they won't be cleaning up.

Yelling at my son because he got mad and yelled at his sister does no good. I've only reinforced what I'm trying to eradicate.

Consistency, gentleness, and patience. I'm working on it.......

Kid Lovin' Healthy Foods

We've been working to make our household more healthy and while this has been a frustrating thing a lot of times, I've been excited to find some great alternatives for the kids. I'd love to hear what you've found for your own families too!

I do most of our grocery shopping at Walmart (you can't beat their prices!), and although they've started carrying more healthy choices, there are still some things I have to buy elsewhere.

Our kids have always loved yogurt. I never really payed much attention to what all was in there though. Yogurt just seemed to equal nutritious.

WRONG.
Read the labels! Not all yogurt is created equal!

I'm no expert, but here are some things I've found and that all or some of our kids like:

• Horizon's "Little Blends" is an organic yogurt that mixes a veggie with a fruit. It sounds gross but it's actually pretty good. It's made specifically for babies and toddlers.
• Stonyfield's "Yo Baby 3 in 1 Meals" is another organic yogurt that combines veggie and fruit. It's bigger and the flavors are different. They are sold individually for about $1 apiece. Joshua scarfed it down the first time I gave it to him!
  
• Stonyfield's "O'Soy" soy yogurt is surprisingly good if you're trying to do the vegan thing. It's just a fruit and isn't marketed to kids but my younger two like it. (The older two have had the sugary kinds too long and are taking longer to win over.)
• Stonyfield's "Yokids" organic fruit yogurt. The packaging is obviously trying to appeal to kids. It's good! (It still has a hard time competing with the stupid Trix Rabbit.)
  

I can't tell you how thrilled I was to find these next things!!!

• We use the twisted fruit (which is like a twizzler candy but is all fruit!) as a reward for eating dinner good without complaining. What a difference these have made in our home! You'll find them right with all the "fruit" snacks and granola bars.
• Fruit Roll-Ups now has "simply fruit" roll-ups that are 90% fruit. The big kids were opposed to these at first since they knew there were a healthy kind, but once they ate one they loved them! So far I've only found these at Target.
  

• Kashi cereal bars are like Nutri-grain bars but so much better for you. Nutrigrain bars was another thing that just seemed healthy and I didn't think much about. But then I read the label.....
• These Kashi "Dark Chocolate Coconut" bars are absolutely delicious! If you have a sweet tooth and you're fighting cravings you should check these out. Trust me - I should know!
  

• Another Stonyfield product we buy is "Yokids squeezers". These are just like the "'gogurts" (the tubes of yogurt with ScoobyDoo on them) but they are organic and don't have the corn syrups and other junk in them. Walmart doesn't carry them - not ours anyway. =(

• Cascadian Farm Organic "Dark Chocolate Almond Granola" is my favorite breakfast cereal now. I eat is everyday and it doesn't get old. At less than $3 a box I really like this one.
  

• Yea for Capri Sun who finally made 100% juice drinks! Again, my older two don't think these are near as good as normal Capri Suns, but I won't buy them those so they may as well learn to like the new kind!
  

• These all natural fruit strips by Stretch Island Fruit Co. are kind of like fruit roll-ups just a different shape. They come in several different flavors and they've been a bit hit too.

These are some of the new food that work for me! I'd love to hear what's working for you......

Better is a dry morsel....

I read a thought provoking (and for me quite convicting) blog post today that I thought many of my own readers would enjoy. It is based on Proverbs 17:1 which says,

"Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than a house full of sacrifices with strife."

Although I can honestly say that I've made great strides lately, I'm still learning to put first things first. I'm learning gentleness and its great power in child raising. I'm learning to treasure my children and not punctuate perfection.

I'm remembering that those treasures will see (or not see) Jesus in me. I'm understanding that degree or no degree, a job with eternal value has been given to me.

None of the stuff matters. My family matters.

Mrs. Parunak says in her post:

"As is so often the case in the Christian life, attitude trumps accomplishment. We should aspire to do wonderful things with our lives and our homes, but we have to remember to start with hearts and relationships and continually put quietness before lavish sacrifice."

I hope you will read her post in its entirety and I hope it encourages you as it did me.....

Teeth Brushing and our Kids

If you are like me (as in you have kids and brushing teeth sometimes just seems like more trouble than it's worth) then you should really read this post written by a dental hygienist. It's very informative, inspiring (in a "kick you in the rear" kind of way), and a little scary. 

Thanks, Team Hill, for a great post.....

Murphy's Law is Alive and Well

My whole day has been an exercise in proving the existence of Murphy's Law. I was most definitely not a willing participant. The day was filled with things like:

• furious mopping immediately followed by one large bowl of Fruity Pebbles spilled by one 5 year old.....as soon as that was cleaned up there was a very leaky sippy cup that spewed lemonade everywhere
• two freshly bathed babies that both decided to poo as soon as their bath was done - one was wearing a diaper and one was wearing panties. The one wearing panties actually pooed her pants twice tonight.
• trying really hard to get dinner made but the 2 year old kept crawling in the fridge to get juice (even though I already gave her some) - I moved away from dinner to pull her out of the fridge and in the process burned the food and filled the house with smoke.
  
• also in the process more juice spilled on the floor
• during dinner we were serenaded with "heart and soul" on the piano by a visiting family member. i really don't like that song.
  
• the baby was down in bed for the night but the girls decided to go in and turn on the light and get in the bed with him. he didn't go down again for quite a while
• I opened the dryer door to take out the clothes and a little brown perfectly shaped ball fell out to the floor. I picked it up to see what it was - it was poo. Why? How? Who? What? When? I have no answers.
• I desperately need and want a shower, but I think all the hot water is going to be gone. Everyone else in the family bathed tonight and the washer and the dishwasher have been going too.
• The 2 year old just knocked down the ironing board and iron. It's 10:08. WHY are there children awake in my house???
• watching American Idol and the dvr recording ended right before they announced the third wild card winner
• it's 11:20 and there are STILL two little girls wide awake on their beds. they are also methodically stripping down layer by layer. (it's hot here!)
  

I told you. Murphy is mean, mean, mean.

On a better note:

• John found the American Idol result online (they took four? crazy!)
• brownies are in the oven (don't judge me - I earned it today - and yes, there will be ice cream and strawberries and hot fudge with my brownies)
• there is enough hot water left for a shower
• my 8 year old son is going to school in the morning. We need a break from each other. (have I mentioned that he has had strep throat this week? I waited in a community health clinic with all 4 kids for 2 hours to find that out yesterday)
• I'm going to watch CSI while I eat my healthy late night snack (snicker, snicker) after I take a good hot shower.

Take that, Murphy!