Monday, July 13, 2009

Tuesday's Tips for Summer Survival

Life In The Car Pool Lane

Tuesday's Tips for Summer Survival (TTSS) is a weekly carnival to help mamas survive the long summer days. The goal is to share kid-friendly tips so we can end up on the other side of this summer with what little sanity we had when we started.
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So yesterday I came clean about the fact that I haven't been surviving summer. I got such supportive comments which meant the world to me. I cried reading each and every one.

I'm doing the only thing I can do...taking it one day at a time.

I haven't put together a post for today's Tuesday Tips for Summer Survival but I did want to at least post the link widget so others could share ideas.

I have so appreciated your participation and have actually done several of your survival tips...and if I ever get my good computer up and running again I plan a post (with pictures) of some of the great suggestions I've used with my kids as well as a mid-summer recap post of all the ideas.

Thanks again for your support and participation!
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Here's how you can participate in TTSS (and please do):
Grab the code for my button (over there on the left) and write your own post about a kid-friendly idea that might help a mama keep her sanity this summer. (Feel free to include the obligatory cute kid photo!)

Then come back here and add your link to the widget built by my wonderful and geeky talented husband. (Pays to be married to a geek!) Simply add your new (or even an old) post's link to the form below.

Then, most importantly, visit the other blogs that have linked and leave comments, hopefully encouraging them to give us more good ideas next week.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Ugly Truth About Summer 2009

I feel like lately I've been barely getting by...barely getting by writing posts and reading my friends' posts, barely getting by with cooking and cleaning, barely getting by with the boys. Seems like every week I manage to post two or three carnival posts but nothing original. It's because I've been hiding...

Lately I've been having a very hard time with the boys. Should be good fodder for the blog but its more really bad behavior and not naughty behavior that borders on cute. But I know I should write about it...this blog is my family record, for better or worse. And though its hard to admit openly, it should be recorded that the summer of 2009 has been a really hard one.

I'm embarassed and frustrated and mortified and exhausted. I spend all day alternating between crying and shouting and, of course, niether is making a difference. And it seems like I'm bombarded with stories from other moms (IRL or through their blogs) about their kids sleeping in, fun family vacations, hanging out and snuggling in PJs half the day, different outings and classes and camps.

This could not be further from the ugly truth that is my summer. Sure I've had the odd sweet moment with my boys...an unexpected kiss on the cheek, a big grin for me while at the pool. But by and large, summer has been tantrum after tantrum and wild behavior after wild behavior.

I'm not sure there will be a Tuesday's Tips for Summer Survival post this week. I don't know if I have it in me to put on a fake smile and pretend like we are actually surviving when my head is so far below the surface of the water...

Let's see if I have the guts to publish this...1...2...3...


Monday, July 6, 2009

Tuesday's Tips for Summer Survival - Art Table and Free Movies

Life In The Car Pool Lane

Tuesday's Tips for Summer Survival (TTSS) is a weekly carnival to help mamas survive the long summer days. The goal is to share kid-friendly tips so we can end up on the other side of this summer with what little sanity we had when we started.
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Art Table:
The boys have a small table with two chairs that they used to use for drawing and art projects. Unfortunately it is placed right up against a cream colored chair meaning they need a lot of supervision and the table is so small that there is a lot of jockying for space.

At the start of summer Jack would ask me everyday if he could use the markers and I'd have to stop what I was doing to go make sure the furniture was not getting colored.

Then I had an "ah ha!" moment. You know that big dining room table that never gets used? What if I turned it into a permanent art table (well, at least for the whole summer) that the boys could access whenever their little hearts desired?

First I laid out paper and crayons. Then I added markers and scissors and colored pencils. And from there it has just taken off. Every couple of days I add something else for them to use. And I keep their artwork out so they can keep adding to it. So for example, I have their marble paintings out so they can use them to make a mixed media art project.

The boys spend some part of everyday at that table. Jack even asked me the other day whether or not he's an artist. Here is what you'll find on our art table:

The basics (left out all the time):
  • full size sheets of paper (8.5" x 11")
  • half size sheets of paper (8.5" x 5.5")
  • index cards
  • colored pencils
  • markers of different thickness
  • crayons
  • scissors
  • rulers
The occasional supplies:
  • glue
  • glitter glue
  • cotton balls
  • pipe cleaners
  • foam stickers
  • leaves and sticks and small flowers
  • pom poms
  • egg cartons
  • empty toilet rolls
  • empty paper towel rolls
  • pieces of thin cardboard (like the backing to a pad of paper)
So far we haven't used anything too messy like paints or stamps but I'm guessing that as the summer progresses we will.

I really wanted to break up this text-heavy post with pics of the boys at their art table but I'm having major computer issues and am just lucky that I managed to get this posted at all!
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Free Movies:
Wednesday, July 8 starts the 6 week free movie program at a nearby theater. They are encouraging kids to read a book and complete a form (book report) for admission to a second run kids movie. (And since we don't have $1 theaters where I live this is a great deal!)

Even Logan, at 2 years old, completed a book report last year by drawing (scribbling) a pic on the back of the form.

This is the link to the program through the National Amusements chain but if this chain doesn't have theaters near you, I have heard of other chains offering the same type of program. In fact, if you know of one, please leave it in the comments for others to check out.
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Here's how you can participate in TTSS (and please do):
Grab the code for my button (over there on the left) and write your own post about a kid-friendly idea that might help a mama keep her sanity this summer. (Feel free to include the obligatory cute kid photo!)

Then come back here and add your link to the widget built by my wonderful and geeky talented husband. (Pays to be married to a geek!) Simply add your new (or even an old) post's link to the form below.

Then, most importantly, visit the other blogs that have linked and leave comments, hopefully encouraging them to give us more good ideas next week.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

"Not me!" Monday

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By now, you all know that I am a perfect wife and mother. All who meet me IRL or through my blog are generally amazed and dazzled by my perfection. I am always confident, talented, forgiving, creative, thoughtful, patient, in control, kind, nonjudgmental...just to name a few of my traits. To prove my exemplary mothering, wifing and homemaking skills here is a list of things I did not and would not ever do...

I did NOT feed the boys Crispix with strawberries, bananas and milk for dinner tonight.

I did NOT leave our beach bag sitting in our family room a full two weeks after I took the boys to the beach. I did NOT finally clean it up only because our housekeeper was coming.

I do NOT make my boys have their time-outs in our bathrooms.

It has NOT been 1 million years since I last worked out.

I did NOT only do a whopping two miles on the treadmill...with no incline.

I do NOT only own one bra. I did NOT have to wear it to my late night workout then rush home to wash it so that I could wear it the next day. (And no, I'm not talking about a sports bra...I don't even own one of those!)

I did NOT make sure that Scott had sunscreen on his back while spending all morning at the pool. He did NOT get horribly sunburned.

I did NOT eat my dinner standing in my bathroom watching the boys take a bath.

I did NOT preheat the toaster oven, put in frozen chicken nuggets, turn them over at the halfway point and take them out when they were "done" only to realize that the toaster oven was not plugged in.

Visit MckMama for more "Not me!" Monday posts.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Fun in the sun?

Did you know that 3 out of 5 sunscreens either contain dangerous chemicals or don't adequately protect your skin from the sun? Crazy, right? And the worst offenders are brands you know well...like Banana Boat, Neutrogena, Coppertone. To make matters more complicated, sunscreen companies can essentially put any claims they want on their product because the FDA doesn't monitor them.

When you consider that I'm talking about a product that you slather all over your body and the cute little bodies of your kids, this is a big deal. A huge deal really...

I've got a little box over there <------- where you can type in what sunscreen you are using to find out how safe it is. Sunscreens rated 0-2 are recommended by the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit independent organization. I do have to warn that the recommended sunscreens aren't cheap. But aren't you and your family's health worth it? You can price compare on amazon.com and drugstore.com. Target.com also states that they carry one of the kids' brands, California Baby, in store.

Have fun and be safe in the sun this summer!

And happy 4th of July!

And in case the widget isn't working, the Environmental Working Group's 2009 Sunscreen Report is here.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The other side of the camera - Sleepy time

Forever In Blue Jeans
I'm participating in what I think is a really smart weekly challenge hosted by Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans. It seems like mamas spend an awful lot of time behind the camera. The idea of this challenge is for mamas to get on the other side of the camera in at least one photo a week.

When my boys grow up they'll inherit hundreds of thousands of photos taken from their childhood, but how many of those will show their mama? At least for this year I can answer 52!
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This week we went to one of our favorite summertime parks. Not only is there a large grass area and sandy playground but in the summer there is a large water play area. We met up there for our weekly playdate with Jack and Logan's school friends.

After all that hard play, the boys decided to rest with me for awhile. Before I realized what was happening they were both sound asleep on my legs.