Mommyhood Tip Archives - JDaniel4s Mom

Changing How You Look At Your Mother In-Law

November 16, 2011 By Deirdre

I attend a moms group on Tuesdays called Mentor Moms. We are reading a book and discussing it at table groups this semester. The chapter last week was on mother in-laws. Before the table discussion a few mother in-laws stood up in front of the group and shared from their life experiences.Each mom mentioned how their relationship with their children had shifted when they got married. Some had really wonderful relationships with their daughter in-laws. Some have had a difficult time.

Here are some of the tips they shared with us that I thought you might want to read before you head to Thanksgiving gathering that might include your in-laws:

They won’t live forever so, try to make some pleasant memories with them
Decide if battling over their serving your child two servings of ice cream is worth it.
A thank you note for even something small may begin to melt the coolest heart.
If their needs to be talk about an issue, have their child be the one to do the talking.
Try to include her in a holiday even if you can’t go to her house by calling, sending a card or flowers, or making before or after holiday plans.
If you are going to their house, ask ahead of time if there are things they would like for you to help with while you are there.
If you are going to their house, let them know ahead of time of allergies or limitations your kids might have they may have forgotten. They are older and older people can forget things.

Remember these things one mom said:

She once changed your spouse diapers. She was once up late at night nursing him as a sick child. She helped him learn how to treat you. She taught him how to ride a bike, brush his teeth, and eat with a fork. She introduced him to interests and hobbies he later excelled at. She held him in her arms when terrible things like scrapped knees and bullies came into his life.

I know not all mothers did the things listed above. Some of you may have mother in-laws that were not great mothers and they may have done many things wrong.

For some reason unknown to anyone God did decide that your special guy would be given to your mother in-law to raise.

She may not always be in the right. She may rarely be right in your eyes.I just ask you to think for a moment about how well or not well things have worked between the two of you.

If any of the above tips can help to make things a little better this year, I am thrilled.

Remember there is a little someone in your life that is watching how your treat your mother in-law and they may apply it to a relationship with a mother in-law of their own down the line.

Disclaimer: I truly have been blessed by a wonderful mother in-law. We do have a couple of things we have worked on. 1. She eats a small breakfast, huge lunch and sometimes remembers dinner. I have learned to bring food with us for dinner or to offer to pick dinner up. She loves getting things brought in and I am not longer starving at night. 2. She leaves out all her breakables with the understanding that I will move the things Jdaniel could accidentally destroy.

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday and Pour Your Heart Out on Things I Can’t Say!

What is Your Biggest Toy Challenge?

April 20, 2011 By Deirdre

We have toys tumbling out of crates, closets, and baskets at your house.

There more toys than one little boy can play with at our house. We have toys for small children and toys for school age children JDaniel isn’t old enough to play with.

Every time we get a box of hand me downs from my sister Kate or my sister Michelle comes to visit we get more toys. I hate to say no to them. JDaniel will grow into the toys for older children eventually. The age appropriate toys always look like fun.

I am just running out of room for toys. If you could look into my closets and under our beds you would find toys stashed away.

Some of these toys are things JDaniel has outgrown but, still likes to play with every now and then some as little as once a month. Yes, those I should let go.

I have a wonderful idea for those extra toys. It will help you sort through all toys you have and do something special with them.

Stay tuned next month to read my Genius Tip on how I beat this challenge!

6 Ways to Use Curious George Number Cards

September 22, 2010 By Deirdre

I found some wonderful number cards on One Little Two, Two Little with Curious George on them. They are part of a totbook activity she developed. I brainstormed and came up with several ways to use them to introduce JDaniel to numbers and counting.

Use chopsticks and noodles to count. JDaniel placed a noodle on each piece of fruit to work on one to one correspondence.

2. Put the number cards in a plastic sleeve and cross them out while you count.

3. Place them on the floor and practice jumping or hopping the number times shown on the card.

4. Lay out the cards and match the right number to its picture representation.

5. Select a number and search the house to find objects that are that number.

6. Create a concentration game with the cards.

What else could I do with these number cards?

Answers To Questions About JDaniel’s Teeth

September 17, 2010 By Deirdre

As part of a Oral Health Media Tour, I was able to ask some questions of an expert on teeth care.

Please click, here to view the answers to my questions.

Disclaimer: I was asked to send in questions on children’s dental health and post the answers to the questions. I am not being compensated for this in anyway.

Reading! Reading! Books and Words Everywhere!- Print Motivation

August 24, 2010 By Deirdre

Last week I started a series on Setting Up a Literacy Center with vocabulary related activities. This week we are going to look at print motivation. Reading words and books everywhere we go.

Ways to work on Print Motivation

Birth to 5-years old

- Read to your child even as a newborn. You can talk about the pictures as well as read the words.

- Engage your child in the story by pointing to the repeated words or phrases and “reading” them together.

- Make book sharing a special time to cuddle and be close to your child.

- Let your child see you reading books, magazines, and newspapers.

- Give books or gift cards to bookstores as gifts.

Visit your public library.

Here are some ways we do this:

- We read our environment. We read boxes, signs, mail, words on trucks, store signs and billboards.

- Books are located in every room of our house. Yes, we have them in the bathroom.

- JDaniel loves to “read” his dad’s book on Fighter Jets. We have been picture walking them for over a year.

- I leave out words in sentences of books JDaniel is familiar with to have him fill in the blank.

- We visit bookstores and the library to look at books a lot.
- Reading stories before bedtime is part of our nightly routine.

- My husband and I have our bible reading times with JDaniel nearby.

- Sometimes I read while he is playing.

We pick up grocery circulars when we go to the grocery store. JDaniel loves to “read” them on the way home and while I get dinner ready.

If you are not a strong reader, you can:

- Check out books with CDs or tapes from the library. You can listen and “read” the books with your child.

- Take your child to storytimes and have them listen to others read.

- Listen to storytimes on the radio or internet together.

Ask your librarian for high interest low vocabulary books. They are available on all types of topic and easier reading levels.

Popsicle Holders: Ways to Stop a Popsicle From Dripping Down Your Arm

June 29, 2010 By Deirdre

At playgroup a few weeks ago my friend Valerie shared all the ways she has tried to keep popsicles from dripping down her three daughters arms. I decided I would try them out on JDaniel and he was very willing to be a guinea pig in this experiment.

The first thing we tried was an old sock. I recently drove over this sock with the vacuum cleaner and that made it available for the experiment.

The sock worked really well. It absorbs the drips and keeps your hand clean.

Next, we tried a cupcake cup. Valerie suggested I silicon cup, but I don’t have any of those.

This worked well too. I think it worked because we weren’t outside in the heat. A melty popsicle would probably drip down the edges of the cups when it is tipped.

Next to last we tried a paper bowl.

This didn’t work well at all. We were outside and the liquid rolled out of the bowl when JDaniel tried to finish off the popsicle.

Finally, we tried the plastic wrapper the popsicle came in. We don’t have a picture of this. JDaniel didn’t like the way the wrapper felt in his hand. He asked for the sock and then ended up holding it one hand while the sock was on the other.

P.S. JDaniel calls them popsissles not popsicles.

Embracing Reading in the Summer and All Year Round

June 25, 2010 By Deirdre

I have always been fortunate that my two years old has loved being read to. From the beginning, I read to him. He didn’t like to sleep much as an infant and I had a lot of time to read to him. It seems that I read Good Night Moon a million times. I started reading it in funny voices or singing the words to familiar tunes.

Now that JDaniel is two I still read to him a lot. He has been “reading” to himself for about nine months. He isn’t really reading he talks to himself about the pictures and retells the parts of story he has memorized.

How am I trying to keep him interested in books:

1. I have surrounded him with books that he loves. We have books in almost every room of the house and in the car beside his car seat.

1. We make going to the library an adventure. A library visit is a mission to find books on the shelves that he loves, capture them in our library bag, and bring them home. Right now that means checking a lot of books out of the library about trucks, front loaders, and trains

1. The library’s summer reading program has excellent prizes. I mentioned earlier this week that JDaniel earned a pass to a water park and free Ice Dream from Chick Filet-A. Even someone that wasn’t a reader might have been motivated for the prizes.

1. JDaniel can see that we enjoy reading. He sees us check a book out of the library for us to read. We can be found reading when the other parent is playing with him. Right now he models a lot of what he sees.

1. I picture walk (tell a revised version of a story while looking at the details in the pictures) him through books that have too many words, but pictures that will interest him. As he gets older we will revisit these books and read the actual story.

1. We have one of his stuffed animals join us in reading. Later I tell him the animal wants to hear the story again. When he doesn’t want to read with me, he likes to read with them. If JDaniel has a sibling, I would have him read to them.

1. We talk about books we’ve read as we go through everyday life and encounter things we have read in books.
2. We act out stories with toys.
3. We go to the library’s website and reserve books that we have loved and want to read again. When we go to the library and they are there, it is so exciting.

Visiting a bookstore on a field trip to read is fun too. Sometimes they have story hours. JDaniel loves to read the book someone else is reading.
Journaling about what you like and don’t like about books is also a great idea. It helps you remember the books you have read and enjoyed. I hope to start this with JDaniel when he gets older.

You may have your own great ideas. If you have some you would love to share, please leave a comment. I am always looking for new ways to encourage reading.

Bouquet of Learning Tools or Reusing Faux Flowers

June 1, 2010 By Deirdre

Here are a few ways you could reuse these patriotic flowers:

Math

Patterning- You could pattern by the color red, blue, white.

Counting- You could count 1,2,3 and on or skip count by two’s, three’s or four’s.

Word problems- You could make up stories about gathering, arranging or sharing them that involve word problems.

Writing

Rhyming- You could make a list of words that rhyme with red, white or blue.

Story Writing- You could write a fiction story about where the flowers came from.

Pretend Play

Plant a flower garden between seat cushions.

Set up a pretend flower shop and display them in fun vases that you craft with orange juice cans or toilet paper tubes.

Set them in a shoebox and hang them under your child’s window for indoor window boxes.

Work on Good Character Traits

As you pass them to your child or have them pass them to you share something you like about them.

Practice sharing them with stuffed animals.

Write a kind note for neighbors and deliver them with the flowers.

Outdoor Play

Use them like a baton in a relay race.

Stick them in the ground and have your children run around the yard like little bees. They have to visit each flower once.

What other ideas do you have?

What Are the Rules At Your House?

May 28, 2010 By Deirdre

Everyone seems to have their own set of rules for their house. Some rules may be the same from one house to another while others may be a unique to a house or two.

Here are some rules I have come across in the last couple of weeks:

You have to take your shoes off when you come in the door. I get this rule. It helps keep the floors clean and cuts down on the wear in your carpet.

You have to ask permission to leave the table at the end of a meal. I like this rule too. We haven’t started it with JDaniel yet. His friend Joseph has started to have to ask permission at his house.

If you find a penny on the ground, you have to give it to the closest business or give it to charity. It isn’t yours so, you can’t keep it. One of my sisters has this rule.

Cough into your elbow. Elmo tried to teach us this rule during flu season. I didn’t teach it to JDaniel and probably should have.

You have to put your toys away as soon as you finish with them. Some people wait until the end of the day to clean up toys. I won’t be able to get around my living room if I waited until the end of the day. I am sure waiting until the end of the day works for lots of families.

You have to take at least one bite of everything on your plate. It is called a “thank you bite”. Several families I know enforce this rule.

You can’t take a drink or food out of the kitchen. I don’t like sippy cups out of the kitchen. Most of mine leak and little drops of milk are not fun to clean up all over the house.

If you don’t pick up a toy, it can get a time out. A mom is playgroup shared this rule. She says it really helps her son remember to clean up.

What are rules at your house?

Hands On Thank You Notes

March 11, 2010 By Deirdre

Kids can use a hand print instead of signing their name on their thank you notes.

My sister Michelle used to have her children’s hand traced at the bottom of their thank you notes. It was a great alternative to having them scribble all over the card. Yesterday afternoon I finally sat down to write thank you notes for all of JDaniel’s wonderful birthday gifts. Last night after dinner we sat down to do his hand tracings. He loved that he was getting to leave a handprint on the cards that were going out to thank his friends and family. JDaniel was very patient as I traced his hand over and over again.