A letter from your child

Love's teacher had sent home "A memorandum from your child." It was a cute list of rules to remember when raising children mostly regarding our parenting emotions and habits when reacting to certain situations. I loved it and printed out a few copies to give to the parents of the kids I was watching at the time. I've since lost the file and the paper, but I sort of remember a few of the words of wisdom from them, so in an attempt to recreate it, I'm going to write a letter from my 6 (going on 16) year old to her Mommy and Daddy.


Dear Mommy and Daddy,

            I know the years have flown by, and so it's hard for you to understand that I'm not that little girl that needed to hold your hand through every new experience. I am enjoying discovering new things all by myself (but I really love having you there, just in case.) I am making new friends (and boyfriends) everyday, friends that are helping me to grow, learn, and develop a whole new perspective on things you may wish to shield me from. Although, I need you to teach me right from wrong, trust me to come to my own conclusions. Don't forget, I love trying new things, I need to try these things in order to grow into a confident young woman, please put up with it and encourage me to be more independent when I feel I can't. Listen to my questions, feed my curiosity, I'd rather learn from you, than to seek other sources.
           I am not perfect, I do many things throughout the day that may have you ready to sell me on Ebay. Please don't nag at me, it'll only teach me to ignore you, but do be firm, it actually makes me feel more secure. Give me consequences, I need to learn from my mistakes just like you. Also, don't try to make yourself perfect, It gives me unrealistic expectations of myself and my peers. I love you for all you are, and everything you are not, just as you love me.
       When you do need to correct me, please don't do it in front of other people, my attention will be on them and not you, I'll listen better when we are alone. Also, please take a moment to calm yourself before correcting me, yelling and force make me feel rebellious. I will respond better to eye to eye discussions about why my behavior is not acceptable. Don't make my mistakes seem bigger than they are, upsets me and makes me feel smaller than I am.  Remember I can't explain myself as well as I should, don't take faith in everything I say. Don't be upset if I say "I hate you", I really don't mean it, I just want you to feel sorry for what you have done to me. Don't ever feel like you can't apologize to me. I need that to understand that mistakes can happen to everyone, and it kind of makes me feel more bonded to you.
             Know that I will test you at every chance I get. I'll ask for things I know I can't have, I'll trick you into giving in, so please stay consistent and don't spoil me. Don't make any promise that can not or might not be kept, I don't like being let down, and it makes me lose trust in you. Don't ignore my bad habits, they are a sign something is wrong deeper inside. Don't be afraid to discuss what I am feeling with you, and don't take offense to what I say during these discussions. These are my emotions and I want you to understand so we can have a stronger relationship.
            Know that our time together is not what matters most, it's how we spend that time that will impact my memories for my lifetime. I know you may not always be with me, but give me a small sign, like a falling leaf or the wind brushing my cheek, to remember you when we are apart so I never feel alone. Cherish every moment, I will continue to grow faster than you could imagine, in just a few short years, I will be a teenager who wants nothing to do with you. You will find it hard to keep pace with me, but do try to keep up, it will make our bond inseparable. 
          Remember, I love you all the time, just like you love me, and nothing, even my teenaged years, can change that.

Love,
Your Child ( the good one)



I encourage you now to sit down and write out a list of rules that your child may say to you. Enjoy walking in their shoes. If your child wants to join in, have them write out their rules and see how they compare to yours.


<3 bethanne="" p="">





 

Easter Crafts 2: Embroidery Floss Egg

In the Hatching Pom-Pom Chick in a Nest Craft post, I mentioned an Easter egg craft I tried to do in conjunction with the nest craft I found from Mommy Trying to Survive Monday.

This egg just looked too pretty for a paper bag so I decided to write this one as a separate blog post.

I found this idea originally via a Pin on Pinterest from Crafts for all seasons. She used fabric stiffener, but I wanted to use something I already had around the house, so I Googled a little and found Simply Modern Mom's Yarn Egg Surprise Tutorial. I loved the idea of leaving surprises inside for the kids. Of course, I wanted to add a few of my own twists, but I kept mostly to the same craft.

Here is what I did:

The kids will get to have the surprises I put inside on Easter.

 What you'll Need:

Scissors

Pin or sharp object

Embroidery Floss (Various colors)

Water Balloons

1/4 cup Mod Podge

1/2 cup of water

Plastic Cups

Surprise Treats

Newspapers - I didn't use these, but I wish I did! Be sure to put a few layers down on your work surface!

1. Blow up the water balloons by mouth or with a pump.

 

2. Mix Mod Podge with water. It should look milky. (be sure everyone knows it is NOT milk!)

 

3. Unwrap the Embroidery Floss and soak in the Mod Podge mixture.

4. Wrap the floss around the balloon

Love took these photos, forgive the fuzziness.

5. Allow to dry overnight (24 hours is best).

6. Pop the balloon and add the treats through one of the holes.

7. At this point, if you want to close up large holes, you can wrap a new floss around and dry another night. 

This was relatively cheap, although I ended up going out to buy pretty much everything. Total cost was $13.58.

Hatching Pom-Pom Chick in a Nest

I've spent the better part of the last two weeks looking for some fun and easy Easter Crafts for the kids to do. As with most crafts I end up doing most of it while they watch because it's too much or too dangerous for them to do certain pieces. I wanted them to do most of the craft this time, while I helped with the cutting and that's it. Luckily, A friend of mine, over at Mommy Trying to Survive Monday, posted up this very cute Nest Egg craft. I loved the idea, and thought maybe I could tweak it a little bit. I made different egg craft using Mod Podge to go inside but it didn't look right sitting in a paper bag, so I decided to make a Hatching Chick to go in the nest

I'll post up the other Egg Craft next.

Here is what I did:

What you will need

Glue (I love this Fabri-Tac, but Elmer's glue works just as well)

Scissors (Safety scissors for the kids)

Paper Bag

Orange Felt

1 large pom-pom

1 medium pom-pom

2 small pom-poms

googly eyes or use two tiny black pom poms

Plastic Easter egg

1. Cut the paper bag in half and add fringes to the end.

2. Fold the bag down, crinkle the fringes, and cut the other half into strips.

3. Crinkle the strips. Add to the base.

3. Cut out a heart shape from the felt and glue to the large pom-pom.

4. Cut out two small triangles from the felt for the beak. Glue the eyes and the beak to the medium pop-pom.

5. Cut a bit of fluff away from the two small pom-poms for the wing shape.

6. Glue the head and the wings to the large pom-pom.

7. After the glue has dried, stuff the chick inside the Egg.

 

8. Kids can have fun "hatching" the egg, taking the chick out, throwing the chick at their siblings....

"Don't freak out!" (Yes, that's another Tangled reference)

The number one rule of parenting an accident prone kid? Keep calm and mommy on. Pretending that huge gash that is squirting blood all over the walls, carpets, beds, etc...is nothing more than a wee little paper cut. That is the moment you know you know you've aced this whole mommy thing. You got that mom of the year trophy, In. The. Bag!
Yes, you have refrained from screaming, "Oh my god!! Holy eff! Your arm is separated from your body" and instead replied with a simple, "ok, it's just a little cut, we can do" (holy Jesus cresus, did I learn about severed limbs in first aid!?!) "Umm. Ok, it's umm, it's ok, Momma's just learned about this in doctor school. Let's get an ice pack and some towels." "Sugar pie, can you get momma's phone while momma tries to find the other bones that go with your sisters hand?" "Thanks dear. Now can you do me a favor? Do you know how to call 911? Good dial it NOWWWW!!!!!"

Luckily, my night was not nearly as scary, but when your kids are hurt it kinda feels like that no matter what.
Love decided that the door way needed to be kicked as she entered my room for story time. Apparently, that particular door jam was on her shit list. Her 4th toe is a bit swollen and she refuses to walk on it. Pretty sure it's broken or hopefully just bruised? I don't know, I didn't really go to Doctor School, just CPR and First aid. We shall see in the morning. With her mommy having a non healing broken hand & wrist & arm fracture and seeing her fear whenever she touches my hand thinking she is going to hurt it further, as well as the fact that I broke a knuckle while making her bed today, I know she thinks broken bones are the worst thing to happen to a person. (Wait til she sees a severed limb for real!)
In the meanwhile I've explained to her ice packs and the whole R.I.C.E method. We put babe's Lightning McQueen Ice pack on her and I explained to her why we wrap ice instead of applying it directly to an injury. I told her that her toe was only a little bit bruised. Mentioned nothing of a break and after 15 minutes of ice she was fine. Morning should bring about more answers but it is probably nothing more than a stubbed toe. And yes, I win mom of the year, because I continued to play Candy Crush Saga as she screamed and cried out in pain.

Little helpers

The kids are on a spring cleaning kick right along with me. I told Babe the list of things we had to do today and he immediately asked to help. YES!!! Love helpers!
So I turned on some music, told him first things first, we need to wash the sheets. He went upstairs and took all the sheets off his and Love's beds. I went and took my sheets off and threw them down stairs, told him to throw his down as well. 
Then he started a load of sheets in the washer for me, he already knows how to do that (yes, you're kid may be an honor student, but mine does laundry willingly!). Next on our list was to tackle the bathrooms, but there wasn't really anything for him to do, so I made up a bunch of small things he could do, things that didn't really need to be done. He helped me clear everything off the sink, take the trash downstairs to be dumped later, and take the bathrug and towels downstairs, get the broom and the dustpan/brush, I swept a little pile for him to scoop into the trash. In the meanwhile I had gotten done everything as far as the toilet and bathtub goes, but I let him wipe down the sink while I cleaned the mirror. 
Next we put new sheets on his bed, and he started picking up his toys. I have been so annoyed by the number of stuffed animals on his bed, but Hun doesn't want to hang up the animal net we have because he doesn't want holes in the walls, and command hooks didn't hold it. So Babe and I did this:

Now everyone is happy.

 As long as he doesn't try to climb in there, it should hold. I just need to figure out a way to hang Love's net too, without putting holes in the walls. Any suggestions?

After this he gave up on cleaning and so I've gone about doing the rest of the chores on our list and I only have 3 more chores to do, out of a list of 20 or so.

3 glasses of wine later

Spring is in the air
Which means I’ve gone from Couch potato to June Cleaver in 60 seconds. I am determined to get this house so clean that it shines for miles inside and out.
I got this new app on my iPhone. Well, not really new because I had it last year and it worked out great, so I decided to download this year’s copy!  It’s a yearly todo list, so each year you’ll have to download a new one.  It’s called Motivational Moms 2013. It has a free version which kept crashing on me and only gives you two weeks of chores, but the paid version is well worth the price tag, and the more you wait to buy, the more the price goes down. I paid the $7.99 last week because I know I’ll use it.
The point of the app is that when you wake up in the morning, all of your chores are already planned out for you. It’ll tell you when the carpets need to be steamed cleaned, when to dust the blinds, when to clean the baseboard, when to clear away the cobwebs and your sorrows, how often to change the kitchen towel, when to do laundry, clean toilets, renew prescriptions, take medications…you get the point.
What I NEED it for is to help with spring cleaning. It has the whole year planned out for you. It’ll tell you when to open the pool, when to close it, when to hang your Christmas lights outside and when to take them down., when do shop for groceries, when to defrost your fridge, cut kids nails, Change the AC or Furnace filter. It even gives you a bible verse to read each night, if you are into that sort of thing. But my favorite is what I am doing now. Enjoying my “quiet time!”
Yes, this thing even makes sure that at the end of each day (or the middle, or beginning- it’s your call) you get time for yourself. It also had a special “Do Crafts or Hobby” to do item. I like to complete my daily chores prior to doing anything. Then my reward is catch up on my weekly shows, or to play “Candy Crush Saga.”
Have I mentioned, I live on my iPhone? Yes, it’s Hun’s Pet peeve, his biggest pet peeve, as well as my moms, but “Whatever, Whatever! I do what I want!”
Truly though, My iPhone is what makes me wake up in the morning and puts me to sleep at night. (Really, I have my alarm on there, and Pandora radio sings me off to sleep). It gets me through doctor's office waiting rooms, and keeps my kids entertained in the grocery store. I have the ability to record any moment at any given time, even if it’s just babe picking his nose and eating his boogers – evidence of his grossabilty to show to his future girlfriends. It allows me to show my friends how awesome I am, as I defeat them and remain as #1 in any and all games. It helps me find my way when I drive aimlessly and end up in East Bumblefuck. I get my mail, check my bank accounts, keep up with birthdays, manage our custody schedule, and keep tabs on my bank accounts, all thanks to the awesomeness of iPhone Apps. I was even able to use it for my daycare, by creating daily reports sent to parents via email.
It is my only social outlet most days, as my main means to connect via facebook and twitter. I even post my blogs using the Blogger App. Not only has this phone helped me to stay organized, I now know what my body is going to do, before my body even knows, thanks to the iPeriod app. In future times this same app will be helpful in planning # 3, which if a girl is to be named Sarah (love picked that out) and if it’s a boy Babe has selected Alien for his brother's name. Pray for a girl…3 years from now. Wow, I went from Spring Cleaning to planning baby Number #3 in a few paragraphs, that's what wine does to me, gives me ADHD. Now you know why Hun prefers me sober.

Bethanne

***I played with www.dafont.com to create this blog post ***

Interview with my vampires

I made this interview for an annual activity to do with the kids. It’ll be fun to see how their answers change as the years go by. I also recorded the interviews to remember their silliness and how they talk. For instance, Babe still doesn't pronounce all his words correctly, he says dem, and I sink, and wif, and all sorts of funny things. Love was in the silliest mood doing this on a car ride home from school, I had to interrupt her and ask for a serious answer for #29. Feel free to steal my questions or create your own, and send me the link, I’d love to read your children’s answers because kids really do say the darndest things!

1.       Why do you like being a kid?

Babe:  I can play all day.

Love:  It’s so much fun because I can play with my brothers and on PBSKids

2.       What is something that mommy always says?

Babe:  No, don’t touch!

Love:  I love you

3.       If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why? 

Babe:  A Elephant, because I always like to drink water from a straw.

Love:  Hello kitty, because she’s an animal, she’s a kitty cat

4.       What do you love most about your sibling?

Babe:  I love her when her is being nice

Love:  He helps me fix my Barbie wheel on my Barbie car

5.       What is your favorite thing to do in the summer?  

Babe: Play outside and go on a boat in the ocean to catched crabs, but not when they pinch me.

Love: Play at the castle park and hit the button really hard in the car wash at the park.

6.       What do you think makes a person good-looking?   

Babe: They make doctors

Love: Make-up

7.       Name two things we should do as a family on the weekend. 

Babe: See the Croods, and eat, and play at the park.

Love: Make pizza and make pasta

8.       What is the grossest thing you can think of?  

Babe: Spiders

Love: Eating your boogers

9.       How old is your Mommy?  

Babe:  Umm, I forget, maybe number 15.

Love: I don’t know, I guess 21 but I’m not sure

10.   What time does your Mommy wake up in the morning? 

Babe:  Really early.

Love: Late

11.   What do you like best about your mom? 

Babe: Umm, Playing. No kisses!

Love: Helping me

12.   How old is your dad?  

Babe: Um, I think he is 14.

Love:  I think he’s 36.

13.   How strong is your Dad?  

Babe: SUPER Strong!!!!

Love: Very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, strong!

14.   What is your favorite thing to do with Dad?  

Babe: Play and cut trees with him

Love: Go to our favorite restaurant and I can color with Emma, because he dad works there

15.   What do you like best about your Dad? 

Babe:  Umm, Going out to lunch with him, and Breakfast, and he plays with me, and he is silly all the time

Love: I hold on to his arm and he pulls us up

16.   Where do you want to work when you grow up?

Babe:  With mine daddy but I’m going to have two computers when I buy one.

 Love:  A animal doctor

17.   What do you think you’ll be doing ten years from now?

Babe:  I’ll start eating some vegetables, but not right now, only when I grow up to be a daddy, then I will do it.

Love:  Playing the wake up in the morning (kesha) song in my car.

18.   What is your favorite toy? 

Babe:  My fire truck like Geo.

Love: My Hello kitty squinkies and the hello kitty machine for the squinkies

19.   What is your favorite book?  

Babe: The how much my love will find you book.

Love: My CareBears book

20.   What is your favorite show?

Babe:  Umizoomis and Diego

Love: Curious George

21.   What is your favorite song? 

Babe:  Umm, Old MacDonald.

Love: The I throw my arms up in the air sometimes, saying ay oh, baby let’s go

22.   What is your favorite color? 

Babe: Red and yellow and green and blue

Love: Yellow

23.   How much do you weigh? 

Babe: 4 pounds

Love: 31 pounds

24.   What makes you happy?

Babe:   Birthday things, and when I get some food.

Love:  Playing with my hello kitty toys

25.   What makes you sad?

Babe:  When you tell me to go to time out

Love: When you yell at me

26.   If you had one wish, what would you wish for? 

Babe: Umm a new boat, a toy one, cause we need all of em.

Love: That my brothers could be twins because they are both 4, and I wish to be a butterfly, and I will get my butterfly net and catch myself.

27.   What do you like to eat? 

Babe: Fruit and healthy things. Yummy and good things.

Love: Macaroni and cheese, and pickles and carrots

28.   Who cooks better mommy or daddy?

Babe: Daddy because you are a dangerous cooker

Love: All of you are good cookers, but you always burn your fingers

29.   What do you like to order at restaurants? 

Babe:  Cheese macaronis and grilled cheese. and chicken.

Love:  Ice Cream, and bubbles. (Mommy: you are being silly today aren’t you, what do you really order for dinner silly head) Pickles and Carrots.

30.   Where would you go for vacation? 

Babe:  To the place we went to with the food, on the vacation. Great lolf lodge. I liked to eat there.

Love: Ocean City, to the beach and swim in the ocean

31.   Are we done asking questions? 

Babe: I don’t think I can anymore, but I do think I can do more.

Love:  No we have 5 more left

32.   What are you afraid of?

Babe:   The dark, and spiders, but I like the blue spider because he is nice.

Love: Bugs, but not butterflies and lady bugs, they are nice bugs

33.   What is your favorite holiday?

Babe:  I like the Christmas tree one. Because we even get 100 presents!

Love: Halloween because I can be a Hello Kitty and a Candy Corn

34. What do you think is funny?

Babe: When you tickle me and when daddy makes silly faces,  

Love: When my brothers are being silly.

35.   What do you not like about being a kid? 

Babe: I’m too little, and it’s not fair not to go on the big rides, and always daddy says no when I want to ride the big rides at Dutch Wonderland. 

Love: Going to bed early.

The best brother and sister

Cousins!

 

Making pasta

Great Wolf Lodge

Another picture spot at Great Wolf Lodge.