Category Archives: parenting

A Christmas Tradition & Holiday Books

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One of my favorite family Christmas traditions occurs on Christmas Eve.

Every December 24th, usually in the afternoon, Santa’s elves deliver a holiday book (or two) and leave it at our door.

Once everyone has showered and put on pajamas we get into bed and read the book.

The kids love receiving the book and I’m pretty sure Santa loves giving it just as much.

Over the years we have built up quite a collection of holiday books.

Here’s a peek at some of our favorites:

The Berenstain Bears Christmas by Stan & Jan Berenstain

The Berenstain Bears’ Christmas Tree by Stan & Jan Berenstain

 Santa Claus by Rod Green

This is an amazing book, just gorgeous illustrations and just magical for kids 5 – 10 yrs old.

Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma WilsonSanta’s Reindeer by Rod Green

Another unbelievable Christmas book. Tells all about Santa’s reindeer, where they sleep, how they fly, and more. This one will not disappoint.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

 Cajun Night Before Christmas by “Trosclair”

Just a few lines of the beginning to give you the gist of this favorite of mine – lay on a thick french/country accent as you read it 🙂

‘Twas the night before Christmas

An’ all t’ru de house

Dey don’t a t’ing pass

Not even a mouse.

De chirren been nezzle

Good snug on de flo’

An’ Mama pass de pepper

T’ru de crack on de do’.

 Do you have any family traditions or holiday books that are special to you?

Weekend Bloggy Reading

The Slide

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“This is going to be so exciting kids.”

“Let’s race, Mom.”

“OK, but this is just for fun.”

Here we go….

I’m ahead right now, yes!

Nice tactic Alex but leaning will get you no where when you’re racing me. You might as well pack it in right now suckas’.

Man, I’ve got skills – I might have been a professional luger had we lived in the right climate.

Ha! They are slowing down and my body keeps going – God knew what he was doing when he created this winning machine.

Oh, oh, oh, my legs are clearly across first.

Yes! I AM THE WINNER!

I mean, wasn’t that so much fun kids.

 

Our Little Elf

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In our family we get to decorate the Christmas tree everyday.

You see, we have an elf.

This little person likes to shop our tree, complete with her very own shopping bag.

She’s very methodical hitting only the areas she can reach.

At least that used to be the case.

Now our elf  has taken to climbing at higher elevations to reach her prize.

The reward seems to be satisfying every time.

It’s questionable whether Santa would consider her a helper.

Either way, she’s out little elf.

Car Trip Survival

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Here’s how to successfully complete a 10 hour car ride with your 3 children.

Yes. Let them watch movies. Lots and lots of movies.

In my opinion, Redbox movies and their kiosks are perhaps one of the greatest inventions ever. 

Now I am not a person who advocates letting your children watch tv all day but for car trips I make an exception.

Over Thanksgiving I drove my kids to visit my parents for the week. My husband flew in Thanksgiving morning to make a guest appearance.

Typically, people describe a road trip by the weather, the traffic, or the snacks consumed.

Our trip, however, can be summed up by one word – movies.

I present to you the first journey of our trip…

…and because the first trip was so successful, here’s our return trip.

Happiness, contentment, and serenity (there was a moment of screaming from our two year old when my son put in “The History of Space” DVD but I’ve completely erased it from my memory).

All for the low low price of $10.44 round trip.

It may be $10.44 to Redbox but to me it was priceless.

Always Be Prepared

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My son just walked in on me in the bathroom.

His face was a look of horror.

But it’s not what you think.

I was using his old baseball shirt to wipe my daughter’s rear end since there was not a proper wipe to be found in our house, our car, or her school bag.

I really don’t know what he’s so worked up about.

After all, he’s a boy scout and you know their motto.

“Always be prepared.”

I was.

Later while flipping through his Boy Scout book I realized my diaper changing skills earned me the Home Repairs, The Pioneering, and the Plumbing merit badges.

A Quick Closet Fix

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Our system for putting away gloves and winter hats worked quite well until it became cold and we actually had to find those items on a daily basis.

There were plenty of  “I can’t find my hat,” and “I can only find one glove,” so I decided something must be done.

If you remember way back in February I shared our closet redo which took care of book bags, coats, and hats.

Effective for those items but we neglected to designate a place for winter hats and gloves.

Until now.

We decided the best place for some containers would be in our garage.

We took a trip to our trusty IKEA and found the IKEA RETUR Recycling Bin.

Ten boxes later we had some winter organization.

 

Best part: The closet floor is clear.

Now we are ready for winter.

Though, ironically, it’s suppose to be 70 degrees tomorrow.

No Team Here

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I had planned to write about something else today. Something cheerful and happy. Instead, I just got off the phone and feel like crying.

Last year one of my boys played on a winter basketball recreation league. We were invited through a friend who knew the coach. It was an eight game season with one practice a week. Being his first season, my son was hesitant at first but came to love going to practices. He always had a smile on his face and always followed directions.

My son was not the best on the team, the son’s coach was. My son didn’t play all the time, the coach’s son did. 

But.

My son never cried on the court, the coach’s son did. My son never threw a fit in a game,  the coach’s son did.

My son was just thrilled to be on the court. He once said to me, “Mom, one day I’m going to play in the NBA.” He barely touched the ball during games but he thought he was a star.

For the past month I knew registration for winter basketball must be approaching. Today I looked on the website and saw that the registration deadline ends in two days. We never got an email from the coach.

Good riddance I thought. We’ll get on another team.

But suddenly the tail end of a conversation made sense to me.

Last week at soccer practice I walked up on a conversation between our soccer coach and two moms. I heard, “So they’ll both play?” The response was, “Yes.” The coach then quickly walked away.

Fast forward to today when I called one of those moms and asked if their son is playing basketball. She awkwardly told me the coach had asked her son to play on his team for the upcoming season. Outwardly I was laughing and making light of the issue but I had tears forming.

Again, someone doesn’t want my kid on their team. It feels like shit – I want to scream and shout and say, “You’re missing out on a great kid! He wants to play!”

What happened to “we are a team,” or “every person on this team is valuable?”

Joining a team at six should not be about ability, it should be about fun. Yes, you can learn techniques and be excited about wins but a bigger message should rise above it all. Sports are fun and can be for everyone. Sadly, the adults involved are forgetting this message.

Ever gone through this?

 

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It’s been a week since I wrote the post above. Though still annoyed, my husband and I have found another avenue for our son to play basketball.  We have signed him up with a Christian youth league where the emphasis is on everyone playing and having fun. While we feel really hopeful that this will be a positive place for him to be, it hasn’t stopped me from making snide internal comments to the soccer coach during the last two weeks of practice.

Art

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Normally, I encourage the artisitic process around our house.

Yesterday, not so much.

This looks like a crime scene.

Fortunately for my two year old, I didn’t turn it into one.

We will be renting a steamer very shortly since she decided to paint the carpet which is ONLY ONE YEAR OLD as well.

I was cleaning up a room and thought my husband was watching her.

My husband was sitting with our son during his piano lesson and thought I was watching her.

There was some crying involved afterward and a discussion about how painting is only done on paper.

Apparently the message was not enough for any of us.

The next day I discovered her hiding behind this board…painting it.

Again, my husband and I both assumed the other had her.

We are idiots and she knows it.

When my husband questioned her about painting, she said, “I paint on paper.”

She’s really right.

It was hard to get angry with her when I realized there was a silver lining to all of this.

Her clothes stayed clean.


She worn an apron both times.

Halloween Giving

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As a parent, I am always trying to find ways to help instill “giving” and “thinking of others” in my children. My kids are very blessed and I would like them to view themselves that way one day, even now. I think it can be a delicate balance to try and keep kids innocent while at the same time allowing them to be informed people.  I try and choose opportunities which allow them to make some choices and feel ownership in their giving.

I was reading the paper a week ago when I came across this brief news item.

Kids Hospital Seeks Halloween Costumes

I instantly felt this was a project my kids could be involved in. This was the same hospital we had visited only a month earlier. Honestly, I hadn’t thought once about the kids at the hospital in October. I always thought about families celebrating Christmas at the hospital but never Halloween.

The costumes needed to be new and in a bag to limit germ exposure. They were looking for costumes in size 10 and up and 2 and under.

I showed the kids the article and asked them if they wanted to participate. The catch was that I asked them to donate $1 of their money to help cover the costs, I would pay the difference. My six year old immediately said yes while my nine year old was hesitant. After a little pressure from his brother he agreed.

After school one day I took them to the Halloween store and let them choose a costume to donate. They examined the costumes for fifteen minutes, discussing each one in detail.

They finally settled on a Clone Trooper costume from Star Wars. Caroline and I settled on a ladybug costume as our choice.

We paid for the costumes and left.

I was extremely proud of my children. Not once did the boys ask for a costume or an accessory and not once did they complain that their costumes were made from Goodwill clothing.

The kids went with my husband to the hospital to drop off the costumes. They left them at the front desk for the child life specialist to pick up and bring back to some deserving child.

Hopefully two ill children or their siblings will enjoy dressing up and being a kid in those costumes. More importantly, I hope this is a giving tradition our family will continue for many years.