I just signed up for The Fresh 20, a meal planning service that provides you with a 5-day meal plan, complete with recipes, grocery list, and nutritional information, every week for a year. I'm so excited! The meals sound delicious, and I'm looking forward to seeing if they make my life any simpler. I'll keep you posted.
Has anyone else tried The Fresh 20 or another meal planning service? If so, how did you like it?
12.09.2014
12.05.2014
random acts of christmas kindness
This year, I was looking for some kind of Advent activity to do with my son, but most of the ideas I found involved the child getting candy every day, and I wasn't too excited about that.
Then I found this blog, which featured a "Random Acts of Christmas Kindness" calendar. I love how this activity brings a spirit of giving into a season when we can sometimes become too focused on the material. So, even though I was a little intimidated by the idea of doing a kindness activity every day for 24 straight days, I'm going for it.
It's only been five days so far, but my son and I are having so much fun! We've given each other compliments (Day 1), taped money to a vending machine (Day 2), made Christmas cards for soldiers (Day 3), picked up trash in our neighborhood (Day 4), and made coffee for Daddy (Day 5).
Although the largest amount of trash we found in our neighborhood was in our own yard (yes, it appears we're those neighbors...), picking up trash has been my son's favorite so far. He keeps asking when we can do it again.
I'm not sure we'll be able to keep this up through the entire Advent season, but we've gotten off to a great start. I'll keep you posted.
Are you doing an Advent calendar this year?
Then I found this blog, which featured a "Random Acts of Christmas Kindness" calendar. I love how this activity brings a spirit of giving into a season when we can sometimes become too focused on the material. So, even though I was a little intimidated by the idea of doing a kindness activity every day for 24 straight days, I'm going for it.
It's only been five days so far, but my son and I are having so much fun! We've given each other compliments (Day 1), taped money to a vending machine (Day 2), made Christmas cards for soldiers (Day 3), picked up trash in our neighborhood (Day 4), and made coffee for Daddy (Day 5).
Although the largest amount of trash we found in our neighborhood was in our own yard (yes, it appears we're those neighbors...), picking up trash has been my son's favorite so far. He keeps asking when we can do it again.
I'm not sure we'll be able to keep this up through the entire Advent season, but we've gotten off to a great start. I'll keep you posted.
Are you doing an Advent calendar this year?
12.02.2014
i love this book: Free-Range Kids
I recently read this post, where a mother described wanting to give her kids a "1970's summer," with days filled with watching classic tv shows, playing outside, scavenging for whatever food the kids can find, and minimal adult supervision.
Awesome! I love it.
I definitely have helicopter parent tendencies, but I love the idea of kids running wild in the backyard, showing up for dinner covered in dirt and with a slight sunburn. Of spending the day making their own fun with whatever they find. (And this is not just because I want a little time to myself. Well, maybe a little bit.)
I stumbled across the book Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Kids the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry, by Lenore Skenazy. You know, the infamous mother who made the news by allowing her nine-year-old son to ride the subway home by himself.
I have suspected for a while that some of the things we do as parents these days might be a little bit... silly. I don't remember my own parents hovering over us at all times. I remember playing outdoors by myself or with my siblings plenty of times. Riding our bikes around the neighborhood. Kids learn from making mistakes. Pushing the boundaries of what they can do helps kids to define their limits. So why was I constantly calling out safety alerts to my son? Trying to prevent him from scraping his knees? Trying to protect him from his own feelings of frustration, anger, and fear? In effect, preventing him from experiencing the things he needs to experience in order to grow and become a well-adjusted adult?
This book confirms what I had been wondering: today's parents may have gone a wee bit overboard in protecting their children from harm. In a humorous and supportive tone, the author pokes fun at our attitudes toward children (those fragile, delicate things), the ridiculous safety equipment that we purchase (do crawlers really need knee pads?), and provides tips, ranging from baby steps to giant leaps, for loosening the grip we have on our children so that they can actually live a little, and have some fun doing it.
The author's goal is to help us understand what situations are truly dangerous and which are not. For example: running out into the street is dangerous. Walking to school at an appropriate age, when the child shows they have the maturity and skills to do so, is probably not dangerous. Parents can help keep their children safe by teaching them safe behaviors, like not running into the street, rather than putting them on lockdown until they go to college.
Many of the suggestions in this book are geared toward older children, perhaps ages nine and up, but I am finding the general concepts useful in parenting my three-year-old.
Author's Note: The opinions in this book review are solely my own. I received no incentive or compensation for writing this review.
Awesome! I love it.
I definitely have helicopter parent tendencies, but I love the idea of kids running wild in the backyard, showing up for dinner covered in dirt and with a slight sunburn. Of spending the day making their own fun with whatever they find. (And this is not just because I want a little time to myself. Well, maybe a little bit.)
I stumbled across the book Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Kids the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry, by Lenore Skenazy. You know, the infamous mother who made the news by allowing her nine-year-old son to ride the subway home by himself.
I have suspected for a while that some of the things we do as parents these days might be a little bit... silly. I don't remember my own parents hovering over us at all times. I remember playing outdoors by myself or with my siblings plenty of times. Riding our bikes around the neighborhood. Kids learn from making mistakes. Pushing the boundaries of what they can do helps kids to define their limits. So why was I constantly calling out safety alerts to my son? Trying to prevent him from scraping his knees? Trying to protect him from his own feelings of frustration, anger, and fear? In effect, preventing him from experiencing the things he needs to experience in order to grow and become a well-adjusted adult?
This book confirms what I had been wondering: today's parents may have gone a wee bit overboard in protecting their children from harm. In a humorous and supportive tone, the author pokes fun at our attitudes toward children (those fragile, delicate things), the ridiculous safety equipment that we purchase (do crawlers really need knee pads?), and provides tips, ranging from baby steps to giant leaps, for loosening the grip we have on our children so that they can actually live a little, and have some fun doing it.
The author's goal is to help us understand what situations are truly dangerous and which are not. For example: running out into the street is dangerous. Walking to school at an appropriate age, when the child shows they have the maturity and skills to do so, is probably not dangerous. Parents can help keep their children safe by teaching them safe behaviors, like not running into the street, rather than putting them on lockdown until they go to college.
Many of the suggestions in this book are geared toward older children, perhaps ages nine and up, but I am finding the general concepts useful in parenting my three-year-old.
Author's Note: The opinions in this book review are solely my own. I received no incentive or compensation for writing this review.
11.25.2014
goodbye, naptime
My son seems to be in the process of giving up naptime. [Sniff.] Please join me in a moment of silence as we look back over the past three years at the wonderful, wonderful thing that was the nap.
11.18.2014
hike
My husband had knee surgery last week. I've been home more than usual lately, but it seems like I've had even less quality time with my son. So we headed out for a hike last Friday.
I was feeling tired and stressed when we got to the trailhead parking lot. I think my son was tired, too, because it didn't seem like we were ever going to complete the short walk from the car to the trailhead. He was distracted by things like jumping over this ravine. (See that crosswalk? That leads to the parking lot. Just to give you a sense of our progress.)
He seemed generally unmotivated to walk. I realized we might not even make it to the trailhead, and I started to relax and live in the moment. Our hike would go however it was going to go, no matter what I did to try to make it fit my idea of a hike. So I pulled out my camera and took some photos.
Yes, it was one of those kinds of days.
See that street sign? That's where the trailhead is. See my son? Completely uninterested in making forward progress. But picking up rocks is fun, too.
We actually did make it onto the trail eventually.
It was about this point that he handed me some rocks and said, "Take these, Mama, I'm tired of carrying them."
We walked a little further until we got to our snack spot. This was the view looking toward the city.
This was the view behind us.
It was a lovely day. Perfect temperature, some cloud cover, and a breeze. Being there, aware of a chill when the wind blew, in the quiet company of my sweet (snacking) son, was calming and rejuvenating.
Normally I'd pack a healthy snack, but with my husband recovering from surgery, it's Pop Tart week at our house. Guess who loves that.
We took some silly selfies, including some classic nose-in-the-eye poses.
On the way back, my son found a couple sticks and began shooting imaginary bad guys along the trail. I'm not exactly sure where the fascination with shooting people comes from, because he doesn't own any toy guns or see anything like that on tv, but my mom assures me it's a normal boy thing.
At some point, a nice man caught us while we were having a quick dance party on the trail. He passed us, and as he disappeared into the distance, my son decided he was a bad guy and began stalking him. He ran down the trail after this innocent man, planning to shoot him with his stick-gun when he caught him. I wasn't clear on exactly what the man had done that was so bad, and asked him how he would feel if someone shot his father. Terrible, he said. And then continued his pursuit. He was quite disappointed when, from the top of a hill, we saw the man crossing to the trailhead parking lot. When a car drove up the street, he asked, "Do you think that's him? Either way, I'm going to shoot that car." Can't argue with that logic.
Back at the trailhead, my son was pleased to find his "Policeman Pole." I asked if that was like a fireman's pole. He said yes, and that he thought policeman probably had poles too.
I was feeling tired and stressed when we got to the trailhead parking lot. I think my son was tired, too, because it didn't seem like we were ever going to complete the short walk from the car to the trailhead. He was distracted by things like jumping over this ravine. (See that crosswalk? That leads to the parking lot. Just to give you a sense of our progress.)
He seemed generally unmotivated to walk. I realized we might not even make it to the trailhead, and I started to relax and live in the moment. Our hike would go however it was going to go, no matter what I did to try to make it fit my idea of a hike. So I pulled out my camera and took some photos.
Yes, it was one of those kinds of days.
See that street sign? That's where the trailhead is. See my son? Completely uninterested in making forward progress. But picking up rocks is fun, too.
We actually did make it onto the trail eventually.
It was about this point that he handed me some rocks and said, "Take these, Mama, I'm tired of carrying them."
We walked a little further until we got to our snack spot. This was the view looking toward the city.
This was the view behind us.
It was a lovely day. Perfect temperature, some cloud cover, and a breeze. Being there, aware of a chill when the wind blew, in the quiet company of my sweet (snacking) son, was calming and rejuvenating.
Normally I'd pack a healthy snack, but with my husband recovering from surgery, it's Pop Tart week at our house. Guess who loves that.
We took some silly selfies, including some classic nose-in-the-eye poses.
On the way back, my son found a couple sticks and began shooting imaginary bad guys along the trail. I'm not exactly sure where the fascination with shooting people comes from, because he doesn't own any toy guns or see anything like that on tv, but my mom assures me it's a normal boy thing.
At some point, a nice man caught us while we were having a quick dance party on the trail. He passed us, and as he disappeared into the distance, my son decided he was a bad guy and began stalking him. He ran down the trail after this innocent man, planning to shoot him with his stick-gun when he caught him. I wasn't clear on exactly what the man had done that was so bad, and asked him how he would feel if someone shot his father. Terrible, he said. And then continued his pursuit. He was quite disappointed when, from the top of a hill, we saw the man crossing to the trailhead parking lot. When a car drove up the street, he asked, "Do you think that's him? Either way, I'm going to shoot that car." Can't argue with that logic.
Back at the trailhead, my son was pleased to find his "Policeman Pole." I asked if that was like a fireman's pole. He said yes, and that he thought policeman probably had poles too.
C the Policeman, to the rescue!
11.11.2014
holiday gift guide
With the holidays coming up, I've been thinking a little about what to give my son and other kids on my list this year. I always try to find toys that my son will get a lot of use out of, so I thought it might be fun to share with you a short list of toys that we've been playing with a lot around here lately.
1. Plastic hanger from Old Navy: This toy is versatile, but we primarily use it as a steering wheel. (Yes, that is a blueberry muffin in his hand. We love them.)
3. Styrofoam: Remember this post? Yep, we're still using this piece of styrofoam, primarily as a camera (see demonstration in left photo) or car tunnel.
The takeaways: The most loved toys are those that allow my son to fully jump into imaginative play. They don't need to be expensive. You never know what is going to spark his interest. And - I have no idea how to top these toys with something I can buy.
1. Plastic hanger from Old Navy: This toy is versatile, but we primarily use it as a steering wheel. (Yes, that is a blueberry muffin in his hand. We love them.)
2. Cardboard box: It may be a cliché, but you just can't beat a cardboard box for versatility and stimulation of the imagination. It seems like there is always a cardboard box being dragged around our house lately, full of "garbage," toys, or blankets.
3. Styrofoam: Remember this post? Yep, we're still using this piece of styrofoam, primarily as a camera (see demonstration in left photo) or car tunnel.
4. Sticks: You really can't go wrong with sticks. They can be used for everything from gates to sword fights. Plus, they're inexpensive. The only thing is, I need to more strictly enforce my "sticks stay outside" policy.
The takeaways: The most loved toys are those that allow my son to fully jump into imaginative play. They don't need to be expensive. You never know what is going to spark his interest. And - I have no idea how to top these toys with something I can buy.
11.05.2014
ghosts in the graveyard
I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!
As part of the festivities around here, my mom and I had a blast making this "Ghosts in the Graveyard" dessert:
As part of the festivities around here, my mom and I had a blast making this "Ghosts in the Graveyard" dessert:
We based it loosely on this recipe, and then substituted gluten free brownies for the base and made those super cute meringue ghosts. Milano cookies made delicious gravestones, once I added some spooky pictures with decorator's gel.
The kids - and adults - loved it.
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