Prom is Expensive

This weekend my oldest son will attend his high school prom for the first time. He has asked a friend of his to go with him and she gladly accepted. Today my husband took my son out to rent a hundred dollar tuxedo. That was in addition to the forty five dollar a piece tickets that are needed to get in the door. On top of that, there is a dinner expense for two which will easily exceed another fifty dollars. That is one fancy night out on the town for a fifteen year old that doesn't even have a job. Looks like he is going to be washing cars all summer!

FCAT

This week two of my children will take the FCAT and for those of you who don't know what that is, it is an acronym for Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. There is a huge amount of stress that comes with taking and administering this test. So, this morning I woke up an hour earlier to fix a special breakfast for my little darlings to prepare them for their big day. They ate a hearty breakfast and then we were out the door. I have done everything on my end to prepare them for the test. At the end of the school day, both boys came home and said that they thought the test was easy. I didn't tell them this, but I really don't care if the test was easy or not, all I want is for them to do their best. They both were so worried and stressed about the test this morning so I was happy when they came home with smiles on their faces. I think I had more of a concern over their anxiety level than anything else. I just didn't want them to psyche themselves out. In the end, I believe that they both will pass the FCAT and advance to the next grade.

Relay for Life

This weekend we had the most wonderful time giving back to our community and sharing the experience with our children. On Friday night we attended Relay for Life which is an American Cancer Society fundraiser. The event started at six in the evening and ran throughout the night until the next day at noon. My daughter's favorite part of Relay is the butterfly tent where she was able to get a little mini make-over. The tent is in memory of a Plant City High School girl who lost her own battle with cancer five years ago. Both of my sons enjoy the Limbo Line which neither of them was limber enough this year to win. Once it gets dark, the  lights are dimmed and there is a candlelight walk around the track in silence to remember all those who we have lost to the terrible disease. I don't know how much my children understand cancer, but what I do know is that they will remember the wonderful times that they had at Relay for Life and hopefully continue the habit if giving back to the community.

I Love Drama Kids

There are parties, but then again there are parties. And I love a good party just as much as the next person. I like to cut up and visit with old friends surrounded by a ton of great food. This weekend, we had a party of that magnitude. My oldest son performed in his final high school production of the year and so we decided to celebrate after the closing show. All of the cast and crew ended up at our house for some old fashioned barbecue. The title of the play was The History of America Abridged, so we thought barbecue would be very fitting with that theme. The kids began to arrive around 9:30 and ended up staying until 1:00. They ate, played XBOX and then acted out random scenes from other previous productions. My husband and I enjoyed just sitting back and watching them hang out together. Oftentimes drama kids get a bad rap for being a little weird. Yes, they are definitely a different breed. Even more important, they are so incredibly creative! Their minds seem to be filled with so many random facts--and show tunes. It will be very interesting to see where these kids are in ten to fifteen years. I am expecting greatness out of all of them!

Please Leave My Daughter Alone!

I think I have a pretty good idea about how five year old kindergartners act. I know that they like to be silly and say funny words. I also know they can be really sweet and show many signs of altruism. My children are not perfect, but they are very kind and compassionate to those around them. Why are they like this? They are like this because their father and I model this behavior for them. So when a child is mean to one of my own children, I have a hard time wrapping my brain around it. I do not like to run to the teacher and tell on another child and I generally tell my children to ignore “mean words” of other children. Recently my daughter has been coming home complaining that a little boy is calling her names in her classroom. This evening she even cried about it. I have talked to her about staying away from him, but this is not always possible in a classroom situation. Now I have to decide if I should write the teacher a note or not. Some mothers would not even hesitate to pick up the phone and call the teacher. I am not like that though. I tend to let situations work themselves out on their own. My daughter's tears got to me tonight. I do believe in this case I should write a little note to the teacher. After all, it is my responsibility to keep my children safe from all harm. Even the harm of “mean words”.

No Txting at the Dinner Table

When I was a little girl, we always ate dinner at the dining room table as a family. At dinner time, I would properly set the table with the dinner and salad fork on the left side of the plate and the knife and spoon set on the right side of the plate.  We would turn the television off and then all of us would sit down together and say the blessing. The meal itself wasn't fancy, but it was a time where we all came together.

Presently, in this very fast-paced technological world that we live in, getting everyone to sit down at the table together is no small task. Since it was such an important part of my childhood, I have tried to have the same sit down meals with my own family. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't happen every night of the week. Four out of seven days of the week, one of us has some kind of extracurricular activity. But on the nights that we all are home, we do manage to sit down at the table for a family meal.

The family dinner table is a place where we can come together to share the day's events and talk about our plans for the week. After a long day at school or work, the dinner table is a place where we can unwind and tell each other about how we are feeling. Somehow, this simple act of breaking bread together brings us all closer and keeps us in touch with one another.

There are two things that I ask of my children and husband when we are sitting down for a meal. The first one is that we turn off the television and the second one is no texting at the dinner table. My oldest son has a hard time letting go of his phone for dinner so we have asked him to leave it in his bedroom. Otherwise, the temptation is just too much when his phone vibrates.

If you are experiencing a disconnect from your family and you want to bring everyone closer together, then why not try sitting down at the dinner table and sharing some dialogue. Unplug from all the electronics that we have grown reliant on and engage in some family time. You have to eat anyway, so why not share a meal. It is a good habit to get into and promotes a strong family bond. Trust me when I say, the family dinner table won't solve all the problems of the world, but together as a family, you sure as heck can try.

Mr.Pants

Sometimes a seemingly innocent act can turn a situation into a fiasco. Last night, while cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, my oldest son ran in and "pantsed" his little brother. For those of you that aren't familiar with the term, it means to pull someone's pants down. This is all just horseplay between two brothers and everyone was enjoying the evening until in an instant the mood changed. In a retaliatory move, my younger son decided to attempt the same move on his older brother and when he went for the pants, his cell phone fell on the tile floor and cracked the screen. This is when all hell broke lose! Casey went into a teenage rage that put the fear of God into his little brother. Kyle immediately went into the ugly cry and ran to me for coverage. I of course, explained to Casey that it was all just an accident which meant absolutely nothing to him because  he was now without a phone.
In the end, they both went to bed angry at each other. The old adage about never going to bed angry doesn't apply at our house. Sometimes when kids are angry, it's just better for everyone to cool off--especially kids. This morning it was as if it never had happened. They were back to their old usual, playful selves.

Snaggle Puss

 

 

There are times in your children's lives that one must use a little force to get them to do what is necessary. To take a case in point, my five-year-old daughter had an extremely loose tooth this week. It was so loose that you could see the very large permanent tooth peaking though the gum line. When she spoke the tooth--which was on the top--would wiggle and cause her to speak with a sort of lisp in her voice. It was driving me nuts and I decided to take some action to extract the tooth. I knew that if I could just get her to sit still, then I could get the little pearl out of her mouth. This would not be an easy task and would require some deviousness on my part.

Granted, I know that it may seem somewhat scary to a little girl that her mother wants to hold her down and pull her tooth. After all , I was a little girl once too and I remember well being told that I needed to tie a string around my tooth and then attach the string to the door handle and give it a hard slam. Wasn't every kid told that when they had a very loose tooth? I wanted to avoid traumatizing my daughter though, so I enlisted the help of her big brother. He has already lost all of his baby teeth and knows the ways of the force. I felt pretty assured that Kyle could talk his little sister into to sitting still long enough so that he could get his grubby boy hands into her mouth and pull that tooth out.

I gathered them into Katie's bedroom at bedtime for our usual bedtime stories and asked for Katie to show us her wiggly tooth. She pushed it forward with her tongue and I could see specks of blood. It was ready to come out! I asked her if she would let me pull it and she emphatically replied, "No!" Naturally, I backed off and then suggested that she let her brother take a look at the tooth. I told her that since he had lost all of his baby teeth, he was now a pro at pulling teeth. Somehow, this sounded comforting to her and she laid down and opened her mouth wide for her brother to see the tooth. First, Kyle twisted the so that it hung crooked in her mouth. It was a funny sight for sure! We were laughing so hard that Katie completely lost all of her fear. Since the tooth was now twisted out of position, it absolutely had to come out. I told Katie to lie back down so that Kyle could pull the tooth. He reached right into her mouth and pulled that little tooth out. Both of the children jumped up in the excitement of it all, ready for the tooth fairy to visit. My plan was a success!

Pukey McPuker

My five-year old daughter woke up last night moaning at our bedroom door. By the time I got up out of bed to get to her, I heard the horrible splat noise. I new what that sound was. I had heard it before. I opened the door and turned on the light to see my little girl standing in a puddle of pink puke.

So I decided to share with you some tips for how I handle tummy viruses at my house. First of all, get an old bucket that can stay by the side of the patient. Seriously, this will save you from having to clean up puke messes that are displaced all over the house. Next, make a bed on the bathroom floor. When children are under the age of 5, it is very hard for them to make to the bathroom when they are sick. Grab some old blankets and pillows and that's right--sleep in the bathroom. Somehow, the coolness of the bathroom floor is soothing to the little patient and it eliminates having to get up and down all night.

Once my child is feeling better and the vomiting has stopped, I introduce the B.R.A.T. diet. The B.R.A.T. diet consists of bananas, rice, applesauce and toast. These are foods that are gentle on the stomach and are not greasy.

Stop the Cough!

Today, a mom friend of mine said that she was exhausted because her sick daughter had kept her up all night. She explained that all she did was "cough all night" and it was hard for anyone in the house to get a good night's rest.

This reminded me of a home remedy that truly works wonders when a mother--or anyone for that matter--needs to quiet a nighttime cough. This is going to sound as silly as the mayonnaise on the head lice, but trust me, it really does work. All you need is a bottle of Vick's Vapor Rub and an old pair of socks. Rub a thick coating of Vick's on the soles of the feet of the sick person and then cover the feet with socks. You will be amazed by how almost instantly the coughing ceases. It usually gives the person several hours of cough free sleep and then another application is needed. I know that it sounds completely wacko! I didn't believe it myself until I was so desperate that I tried it. And I am here to tell you that it really does work!  I don't know how or why it works--and when you are sick you won't care anyway. Just remember, the next time you are sick and you need some relief to try the Vick's on the soles of your feet!

Shrove Tuesday

Today is Shrove Tuesday. And by Shrove Tuesday, I mean the day before Ash Wednesday, the day when Lent officially begins. Some of you may know it as the Mardis Gras celebration that is also called Fat Tuesday.  Traditionally, my family either goes to church to have a feast of pancakes or we stay home and I make a mile-high stack of flapjacks for the entire family. This feast of butter, milk and flour is a symbolic way of clearing out one’s cupboards for the upcoming Lenten fast which is in preparation for Easter.

Now don’t get me wrong, we don’t fast at our house.  I would never expect for my children to give up food for the forty days of Lent—they would never make it and neither would my husband and I. But what I do expect is for my family to have some kind of awareness as to why we aren’t having any gooey chocolate cake around the house for the next month. I want them to be aware that we are taking the decadence out of our lives in a somber preparation for Easter. Through simple acts of kindness and compassion, I believe that my children will learn that Lent can be a time of giving and it no longer has to be a time a misery and suffering.

So at dinner I told the kids that we were entering Lent and that we would either have to give something up or take some kind of good deed on.  At first glance, my teenager says, "yum, pancakes". But on a closer inspection he remembers that Shrove Tuesday means Lent. He then informs me that he is now an atheist; my 9 year old says that he doesn’t want to give up sweets but he was willing to do some extra chores and my little girl said that she would give up M&M’s. I think it’s going to be a very long Lenten season.

Parade Day

Today was a great day for a parade. The sun was shining and the air was warm. Parades are not my most favorite events of the year, but this year my son oldest son and husband were in the parade. So I loaded up the kids with lawn chairs and snacks and headed downtown for the annual Strawberry Festival Parade. This is a time in our town when you see people that you went to high school with and old neighbors that have moved across town.
We sat at the home of the newly awarded "Citizen of the Year". Everyone in town was there. And when my husband and son went by in the boy scout bus, the crowd cheered for them. My two younger children were so proud of their father and brother. These are the times that make memories that I will treasure forever.

Hellman's Mayonnnaise, It Ain't Just for Potato Salad

I can’t believe that I am going to share this with all of you. This is a topic that most moms shy away from in an attempt to spare themselves and their children from any shame. Of course, some will probably disagree with this assertion that head lice is an embarrassment, but then again, maybe that is because they never had to sit with a shower cap on their head in an attempt to kill a head full of lice. So for the sake of those of you that will ever have this experience in the future, I have decided to throw my kids under the bus and share my story after all.  

The other day when brushing my 5 year old daughter’s tangled hair, I decided to pull it back into a pony tail to fix it for the day. As I brushed the hair back, I noticed a black dot on her scalp. As I looked again--even closer this time--I saw another black dot.  This one however was moving! Could it be? Could it really be? I shuddered at the thought. I had heard the horror stories of nit picking and sheet bleaching. Right then, as I sat there scratching my own head, I decided it was war against the little critters. A war that I was determined to win.

I immediately text messaged my husband at work to tell him the exciting news of the day. He was completely appalled by the fact that his precious little girl had an infestation of bugs in her head. My first phone call was to our pediatrician’s office where Lauren, our all-knowing doctor’s assistant, got on the phone and listened to my story. She told me to get some mayonnaise and coat my daughter’s head in it and then cover it with a shower cap. I had heard of using mayonnaise in the hair as a conditioner, but now I was told it could also kill head lice? I asked Lauren, “How does mayonnaise kill head lice”? To which she replied, “It smothers them”.

That evening, after picking out all of the live bugs that I could get my fingers on, I took out a jar of Hellman’s Mayonnaise and proceeded to coat my daughter’s head with the greasy sludge. My daughter began to cry because the odor from the mayonnaise was too much for her to handle. I quickly put the plastic shower cap on her head and put her in her bed. It was awful!

Early the next morning I went into her room to find her without the shower cap on her head and mayonnaise dried and caked all over her pillow case. It was a smelly and disgusting sight. I quickly ushered her into the shower where I began to rinse out the stinky mess. I immediately noticed that the bugs had turned a reddish color. And to my relief, they all appeared to be dead! The mayonnaise had indeed worked in killing the head lice. Halleluiah! I am happy to report that we are now completely bug free at our home. So if you ever find yourself with a head full of lice, remember to get out the mayonnaise because it does work!

 

Smores

At some point this weekend my husband promised the kids that we would roast marshmallows around the fire pit and make smores. Our every move this weekend involved the talk of making smores. My daughter was completely obsessed with the idea and would not leave us alone about it until the ingredients were purchased and the marshmallows were over the fire. Finally this evening, after we had eaten dinner, my husband sent the kids out to find as many twigs for the fire that they could find. My daughter came back with five little sticks that I am sure she thought could build a roaring fire. We all ended on a hunt for sticks and then my husband decided that we had enough wood to build a proper fire. We roasted the marshmallows on palmetto sticks and then we indulged in gooey, yummy smores. It turned out to be a wonderfully fun evening sitting around the fire with the kids taking turns telling ghost stories.

Saturday

Saturday mornings are my favorite times of the our busy week. This morning we woke up and the kids jumped right into the pool. The warmer weather has brought the water temperature up to about 73 degrees which is plenty warm enough for my kids to jump in and enjoy some fun. This morning's swim ended in a screaming match between my two youngest children. It seemed loud enough to awaken the neighbors so I gave the children a warning and asked them to be quiet. Still, the yelling continued and I had to follow through with my threats and make them get out of the pool. You have to understand that there is "fun yelling" and then there is "mean sibling yelling". This had gotten way out of the acceptable range of noise level. It had even turned ugly toward each of them. Trust me, it would have been much easier to just let them stay in the pool and swim, but once I threaten something, I must stick to my word. Right? Suddenly, my favorite day of the week turned sour for everyone. The kids got out and went and parked their butts in front of the TV. That is NOT how I want them to spend their day. Now I need to think of a way that they can redeem themselves!

Storytelling

This week my daughter and I have been practicing her story for the upcoming Storytelling Festival at her school. She has chosen the story of the Three Little Pigs. In the evenings, she stands on our fireplace hearth and begins with, "Once upon a time, there were three little pigs". She is only five and stumbles a bit through the story, but it is still very sweet.  I encourage her to speak in the voices of the different pigs to give the story more depth. She uses hand gestures and acts out the part of the wolf when he blows down the houses. Both of my boys took part in the festival when they were younger and it was a wonderful experience for them as well. It helps them build their confidence when speaking in front of a crowd and they also gain the extra experience of going to the district festival where they hear the voices of other storytellers. Practicing for the festival does take time out of our busy day, but in the long run, I know that my children will benefit from the public speaking aspect that it provides them.  

Food Police

Last week my nine year old came home with a letter from the school nurse that informed his father and me that he was in a dangerous weight range for his age. What is so bothersome about this is that I see what they serve him in the school cafeteria. Rarely are there fresh vegetables and whole grains served on his plate during lunch period. What else makes this bothersome to me is the fact that his pediatrician says that his weight is fine. The pediatrician also reported that many pre-adolescent children gain a little weight before they hit their next growth spurt. She told me not to worry and that my son is a healthy boy. Even with the doctor's reassurance, mothers still tend to worry about her children.

Today on FOX News, there was a story about a new lunch tracking card that is used in Australian schools. The card allows for parents to place limitations on what their child can and cannot eat in the school cafeteria. Parents can go to the web site that is associated with the tracking card and make choices of what their child may purchase from the school's lunch menu. While I am currently allowed to view what my own children eat at school, I am not able to choose a healthy menu for them. I think Australia is on to something! The only downside that I see to this is that students will not learn to make good choices for themselves when their parents aren't around. Not to mention that my son would probably hate me for choosing legumes instead of his usual choice of pizza.

The evidence shows that childhood obesity in the U.S.is definitely a problem that we must address. Everywhere our kids are surrounded by supersized portions and junk food. Perhaps this food tracking card could help parents in the U. S. guide their children to make better food choices in school when there is no adult to do it for them. I guess this would mean that all U.S. schools would now have to provide the healthy choices that are needed for this plan to work.

Relay

Today we started our day with a breakfast for the upcoming Relay for Life which is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. We had to wake up a little earlier and move a little faster on a Sunday morning, but it was well worth the extra hustle. We gathered in our parish hall at church with our family and friends to help raise money for a wonderful cause. My children didn't want to get out of bed this morning, but once I reminded them that it was our annual Relay for Life breakfast, they got into gear. To my two youngest children, the breakfast was just good food and fun with friends. To my teenager, it was just good food. Somehow though, I hope all three of my children will remember that they have been taught about their duties to service and giving back to society.

Fractions

Last week my nine year old brought home a math test that needed to be corrected for a grade improvement. There was a note at the top of the test that had been sloppily written regarding the instructions from the teacher for how to make the corrections. My husband and my son sat down and made the corrections, but did not show their work. My son returned to school with the corrected test and turned it in to his teacher.Yesterday when I went through my sons folder, I found the test with a note from the teacher. The note said that Kyle had not followed the directions and therefore would not receive a passing grade for his math test.This I might add, was a big unit test and now my son has a C in third grade math.

I confronted my husband and asked him why they didn't show their work. According to my husband, "Kyle said that he didn't have to show the work".

Now in the whole scope of this big, wonderful world, a C in third grade math is not a big deal. I know this. I also know that my son will pass third grade and go on to live out a happy life in spite of not following directions. There is something that is truly bothering me about this episode though. I feel as if there is a break down in the communication between his teacher and us. All he had to do was show his work (and he did in fact do the work) and his grade would have been a A. Now instead, he got an F on his third grade fractions test. Are you kidding me? I guess this is a lesson in following directions and not in fractions after all.

I am looking forward to the next conference night!

Melancholy Mama

Today, my precious five year old daughter is sick with fever and vomiting. Her school nurse called me and requested that I come and pick her up. Of course I rushed right to the school to get her. Now we are home and all she wants to do is lie in bed and snuggle with me. She needs me to bring her crushed ice and won ton soup while she watches her movie. She needs me to just sit with her and rub her back. And that is all that I want to do for her. I don't want to read Frankenstein, I don't want to blog and I don't want to write my lesson plans. These are the days that I question returning to school. These are the days that I am wracked with the guilt that I may not be giving my children undivided attention. Maybe I should have waited until my daughter was a little older and could handle being away from me.
Somehow I will get it all done. I will make sure that my daughter is taken care of and I will finish my assignments. She will feel better and life will go on. And somewhere at the end of the tunnel, I will be both a school teacher and most importantly, a mother.

My Son Needs a Job

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and my fifteen year old son wants me to buy his girlfriend a present that he can give to her. At first I said that I would help him purchase a small token of affection to give to her. I thought that I would take him out and let him buy her a card and a small box of candy. I'm no stick in the mud, I understand that they want to exchange gifts. This morning in church though my son quietly handed me a list of items that he "needed" to buy for his girlfriend. The list included the following: sugar cookie dough, Mike and Ike candy, a teddy bear, a Pandora bracelet, white chocolate and a movie that I had never heard of before. "Oh, and by the way," my son said, "Morgan also wants me to take her to Carrabas". It seems to me that his girlfriend might be what some call "high maintenance". After church we talked it over and I pointed out to my son that he was broker than broke. We ended up settling on a family dinner at Carrabas with an invitation extended to Morgan and a teddy bear with a card. Considering that my son doesn't even have a job, I think that they are pretty lucky. I have decided that the lover man will be working the Valentine gifts off by washing my car and babysitting for his younger siblings.

Teenagers and Acne

Over summer vacation my boys attend Boy Scout camp in the sweltering summer months of July. They sleep in tents and shower once a week leaving their bodies smelly and dirty. This past summer, as a result of living outdoors for ten days, my oldest son returned home with the most terribly broken out face. I know that many teens face minor bouts with skin irritations, but this was clearly a case of full blown acne.

I immediately went to the store and bought some over the counter treatments but nothing would calm the inflammation my poor boy’s face.  Next, I called the dermatologist and waited for an available appointment. Finally we were seen and my son was prescribed a series of expensive ointments and creams. He was even put on oral antibiotics and steroids, but NOTHING seemed to work.  There was still one solution that had been floating around in the back of my mind. Since the acne was now affecting my son’s mood, it was time to take it to the next level.

I had heard terrible things about the drug accutane, but I knew we had arrived at the point where we needed to explore the possibility of trying it. I was the one who brought it up to the doctor and she agreed that we needed to start my son on an accutane regimen.  Accutane is a very serious drug which requires blood work, urine samples and special permission from God himself to fill a prescription. Ok, so I’m exaggerating but seriously, we had to jump through hoops to get him started and to get insurance to cover it.

Prior to starting his first dose of the medication, the dermatologist went over the very long list of scary complications that could occur while on accutane. Some that jumped out at me were: weight gain, chapped lips, digestion problems and moodiness. Hmmm, a teenager that is moody. What teenager with a face full of acne wouldn’t be moody? From what the dermatologist explained, accutane has gotten a bad name because of one single depressed teen that committed suicide while taking the drug. The doctor basically debunked it's bad reputation by saying it was all media hype and finished her spiel saying “See you back in thirty days”.

Within three days of taking the accutane, my son’s face cleared up. It was like magic! It does make his lips severely chapped so he walks around with Chap Stick in his pocket all the time, but his face doesn’t have a blemish on it. He is a happy, well-adjusted teen that enjoys the company of many friends and his confidence, which is very important in high school, has noticeably improved too.

I know that accutane may have gotten a bad rap in the past, but I am here to tell you that we have had a positive experience and would recommend the drug to any family that is at their wits end when dealing with teens and acne. No teenager should have to suffer the effects of acne in this day and age.

Birthday Parties

Today I took my son to a roller skating birthday party. My son has known the birthday girl since they were in pre-school together. When I found the invitation in my son's bookbag, I called right away to to RSVP. My son loves to skate so I took a book and planned to read while the kids celebrated. When we arrived at the party, I discovered that my son was the only male at the party. I told him to go skate with the girls and have some fun, but the girls ignored him the entire time. He really tried to socialize with the guests. I saw him several times try to enter the social circle. It was no use, the girls just would not let him in. He was so bummed, which made me upset too. We decided it was best to leave the party early.

In hindsight, I think the mother of the birthday girl should have stepped in. We have had plenty of birthday parties and I always include all of our guests. I'll be the first one to stay out of my kid's social affairs, but in this case, I think it was just plain rude. My son felt left out and was stuck sitting by himself at a table. Not cool!

Bedtime Story Hour

My children love to read. My children love books. My children love to read because I have read to them since they were babies. 

We all read every night before the lights are turned out. This simple act of opening a book has become a tradition in our home. My children's bedtime always involves a colorful storybook and a parent happily reading it to them. This is a special time of the day that doesn’t require television or being plugged in. It just involves a loving parent and a little extra time.

When my kids were toddlers, I read to them because I wanted them to learn about new topics. Every story was a new adventure that they had never heard before. Imagine hearing William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble for the very first time. Or imagine reading Harry Allard’s Miss Nelson is Missing and figuring out for yourself that Miss Viola Swamp is the teacher that the students so love. These are magical and sweet moments that are marked with a special bonding time for my children and me. Not only does reading get us into a bedtime routine, it is also a time where all children can unwind and relax. This in turn helps to lull them into a restful night’s sleep.

Now that my oldest child is fifteen, he obviously doesn’t want me to read to him anymore. Instead, he quietly reads to himself. And let me tell you, the kid loves to read! I can’t help but think that his voracious apetite for reading is a direct result of all the reading I did with him when he was a toddler. I do still read to my two younger children because they enjoy the one on one experience. In fact, all of my children celebrate reading by collecting books for their own personal bookshelves.

Some people collect bugs or stamps. Not my kids though, we collect books.We have books all over our house. My children have books all over their rooms and we even have books in the bathroom. And for presents, guess what? I give books, because they really do make great gifts. Whether it is a birthday present or a Christmas gift, my children can pretty much assume that I am going to find  the perfect book to give them.  

Where do we get our books you ask? I buy books anywhere I can find them…including Goodwill. I also get books at school book fairs, local used book stores and then of course, we always visit the LIBRARY!

If you haven't formed the habit of reading to your children, pick up a book tonight and start a great new family tradition. Even if your children are teens, I suggest a reading night where all electronics are turned off. It’s never too late to instill a love for reading with your family. Tonight after supper, pick up a book and expose your child to the sheer enjoyment of a great story. There are many storybooks that I would like to recommend, below are some of our favorites: 

·         Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel

·         Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle.

·         Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

·         Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema

·         Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky

·         The Full Belly Bowl  by Jim Aylesworth

·         Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

·         The Miami Giant by Arthur Yorinks

The Boot

You would think that after almost 16 years of parenting experience, I would know how to diffuse a child that is on the verge of total meltdown. Trust me when I say, I have read the books and dealt with cranky children before, but this time I was a little late in diffusing the outburst. I saw it coming…I know how she gets.  It was Friday and we had a big evening ahead of us.  My five year old daughter had been chattering about the event all week long. She was so excited to celebrate my birthday.

When she and her brother hopped off the school bus that day her first words to me were “What am I going to wear tonight?” None of my responses satisfied her eagerness to dress as fancy as possible.  I explained that she did not have to wear a frilly dress, but she still insisted.  She sashayed out of her bedroom wearing her Christmas dress, carrying her brown boots.  “Katie, those boots don’t match your dress” I told her.  She did not respond and proceeded to pull the boots on over her feet.  The first one went on without a problem but the second one she started having some difficulty with.  I could hear the stress in her strained voice. “This boot is ruining my life” she complained. Did I mention that my daughter is a drama queen?  It had been a long busy week and I could sense that she was exhausted.  Next thing I knew, a brown boot came flying at my face and hit me square in the lip.  Let me preface that she did not throw it at me, she would never do that. However, in her growing frustration, she slammed her foot down and the boot went flying off into the air. Unfortunately, I just happened to be in the line of fire. I yelped in pain and she began to sob uncontrollably. My lip was now bleeding and when she saw the blood it caused her to go nuts. I think it scared her because the sobbing then turned into a death roll on the floor. There she was, totally out of control, rolling in her pretty dress on the floor, saying, “Oh mommy I have ruined your birthday”. I immediately heard the words of my grandmother in my head. “The only thing you can do to calm a tired child is put them to bed.” I got down on the floor with her and hugged her tired body. I reassured her that my lip was ok and that my birthday celebration would still take place. Too bad for us that there was no time for a nap!

My birthday dinner did go on as planned. Shortly after the meltdown, my husband arrived home from work and we loaded up the kids and headed out to the restaurant. Guess who fell asleep on the ride over to the restaurant? Katie slept all the way there and we arrived at dinner with a refreshed and very hungry five year old. A grand time was had by all!