Basics | Mommy Points

October 12, 2007

The Rain, Rain, Rain Came Down, Down, Down

Filed under: Basics, Humor Keeps Me Sane — Chris @ 12:01 pm

The past few weeks we have had unseasonably warm weather. Lots of sun, no rain, and temperatures more typical of July than October. Some people complained about the warm weather. But not me. I embraced global warming. I am sure Al Gore is sending me hate mail right now.

But while people were complaining I think we all collectively forgot that once it decided to get cold it was just going to snap back to it’s regular should have been temperatures. No easing into the cooler weather a few degrees at a time.

I had planned this week to go apple picking and to a corn maze. The driving rain kept us home. Oh, I suppose we could have been brave and gone anyway with umbrellas and rain boots. But, my sanity is too delicate (the mud, the laundry, the dirt tracked in after the “fun”), plus I love my eyeballs (which you know are in constant danger when people 4ft tall are carrying umbrellas).

So far I have not turned the heat on, though I am lustfully eying the wood burning stove, as I sit here typing at my desk with a sweater pulled around me.

This weekend we have three baseball games, if I can’t have warm, hopefully it will at least be sunny.

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October 7, 2007

Taking the Show on the Road

Filed under: Ages 2-4 years, Basics, Children, Humor Keeps Me Sane, Keeping It Real — Chris @ 9:25 am

Last week I went away with my children on a three day vacation. I threw in the “with my children” lest you think I returned home all refreshed and well-rested. Vacationing with children is hard work.

I had chosen the particular hotel I did because it had free broadband in the rooms. I figured there would be no late night partying and that while the kids were in bed sleeping, or at least enjoying the novelty that is watching television from bed, I could work.

I forgot that I have a 2.5 year old who shuns sleep. Sleep, ha! He laughs at sleep. That is for wimps, the infirm, and those they do not have doors to open and slam repeatedly. With no ~~cage~~ crib to restrain him it was a free for all.

And so at 10:00pm when my other child roommates were happily laying in bed, in their pj’s, enjoying the Disney channel, my 2.5 year old was bouncing on the bed, running in between the beds, and making breathy phone calls to other hotel guests.

I did little more than download my photos to my hard drive when I realized that my grand plans would have to be re-evaluated before a) I went hoarse from my incessant shushing, or b) we got thrown out of the hotel for unruly toddler behavior.

I shut my laptop. Turned off the lights. And ~~restrained~~ snuggled him until he stopped resisting and fell asleep. By then I was exhausted and decided that I would get up early to work.

I am sure you already know how that went. The tap tap tapping of my keyboard was too noisy for him. And at 6:00am he was raring to go.

Of course he would later nap for over three hours in a stroller while we strolled through downtown Boston, people shouting, horns honking, the stroller bumping along the sidewalk– none of that hampered his sleep.

They call it the terrible twos for a reason.

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September 23, 2007

Hand Washing the Gateway to Better Health

Filed under: Basics, Children, On The Web, parenting — Chris @ 11:14 am

I have finally recovered from the stomach ache I thought might kill me. After talking to several friends and the mothers of some of my children’s friends I discovered that it is some sort of weird “bug” going around. So just a heads up if you or your child have a horrible stabbing abdominal pain that even hurts to the touch. It probably isn’t an appendix ready to burst.

We joked that perhaps we should look for a meteor laying around town somewhere.

This morning I was reading news online and came across this report that says hand washing in the U.S. is declining. Why? Why, people?

I have admitted before that I am something of a germophobe, but in a healthy way. No, really. I don’t have vats of Purell in my house, or antibacterial soap, nor to I keep my children in a plastic bubble, though I’d really like to for many reasons other than their likelihood to come across germs.

But I refuse to bring them to those McDonald’s or ChuckECheese indoor playgrounds ever since I saw a news expose showing how they were never cleaned and contaminated with e-coli and all sorts of flesh eating bacteria. Excuse me, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

“Fifteen to 20 seconds of friction and soap and water will remove so many germs from your hands and help with your wellbeing. That is a marvelous intervention that will work all over the world,” Judy Daly, director of the Microbiology Laboratories at the Primary Children’s Medical Center in told reporters.

Something as simple as hand washing could prevent the transfer of so many germs.

The article went on to say that only 77% of people washed their hands after using a public restroom, compared to 92% of people who SAID that they did. And men, they were by far the worst offenders. There was a huge discrepancy between the rates of hand washing between men and women. “[J]ust 66 percent of men [were] seen washing their hands in public bathrooms, compared with 88 percent of the women.”

Even 88% seems startling to me.

Your mission this week, should you chose to accept it, is to drill hand washing into your children. Make it a habit in the home so that it will become a habit out of the home as well. And you know what they say about children copying what you do and not what you say. Model the behavior for them.

I will thank you from the bottom of my germ phobic little heart. But even better, you can thank yourself when you are NOT cleaning up vomit from your child’s bedroom floor in the middle of the night. Yes, they will still get sick, but at least you can feel as though you were doing something proactive.

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September 7, 2007

If You Have Something Nice To Say, Here Is The Place

Filed under: Basics, answering your questions — Chris @ 11:49 pm

I have an idea… how about we talk about things we LIKE about the new handipoints site?

I love the new Handiland. I especially think younger kids will like earning the bonus points to buy things for their cat in the cat-a-log. Go to the Dressing Room to not only chose clothing items for their cat, but to chose what sort of cat they have. All the choices also give a brief description of the breed.

My other favorite thing about Handiland is the stamps and stamp collection books. Slightly older kids will love this. I know my 6 and 8 yr olds love collecting things, anything. Having a collection is the ultimate of cool to them.

So tell me what do you like? Do you have any questions about Handiland?

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September 1, 2007

The Art of Being Frugal

Filed under: Basics, On The Web — Chris @ 10:25 am

I came across this today. They are being called the most frugal family in America. They are a family of seven who lives DEBT FREE on $35,000 a year. They are an inspiration for frugal families everywhere.

I should note that I am not one of those frugal families, though my husband might wish that I would be inspired. I have tried in the past to clip coupons, but never found that they saved me any money because I was buying things that I didn’t normally use. And most of the things we eat don’t have coupons.

I wished that they had done a more in depth interview with them. What do they eat? I’d love to see her monthly meal plan. And what do their children think? Some of them looked old enough to have after school type jobs, I wonder if they use their money to make non frugal purchases.

Update: It was brought to my attention that they have a book out. Go check it out of the library. Buying it would definitely NOT be frugal, would it? But I provide the amazon link for your ease of viewing.

In the same vein I bought those Tightwad Gazette book years ago. They are really great books, but the fact that I bought them and then ignored virtually all of the advice shows that I am not a contender in the cheapest family in America contest. Not that I throw money around, I most definitely do not. But, when it comes to reusing coffee grounds and repurposing ripped stockings for other things, well I fall short.

(Edited to add: Comments are closed on this post because of the amount of spam it is receiving that the spam filter is not catching. So frustrating!)

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August 28, 2007

Toys, Lead, Recalls and Thoughtful Living

Filed under: Basics, Children, Keeping It Real, parenting — Chris @ 9:01 pm

Today I read another news article about a toy recall. Yes, they were sold at a chain store. Yes, they were made in China. And yes, it was because of lead.

This time it was watering cans that were sold nationwide at Jo-Ann Stores.

Surprisingly we had none of the toys, I think this is probably due to my hatred of plastic toys. If they ever find something harmful in non toxic wooden toys I will be in trouble.

Link to Mattel recall of more than NINE MILLION TOYS. Holy cow that is a lot of toys! I should note here that many of the toys are being recalled due to improperly adhered magnets.

And here is another Mattel link. This time for the Fisher Price toys that were affected by the recall. Maybe everyone else in the world already knew that Mattel was the parent company of Fisher Price, but I had no idea.

But what it does bring to the forefront of my mind is the idea of being mindful with purchases. Asking yourself if your child really needs that cheap, poorly made, plastic toy. You know the ones that your children HAVE to have in the store. The ones that entertain them until your arrival home. And once home the toy finds it’s way to the back of the toy box or closet never to be seen again.

When toys are inexpensive we tend to think of them as being disposable, which really is bad for our environment on so many levels. Perhaps the easiest step we can all take towards becoming more green is to never bring the things into our homes to begin with. To skip the plastic bags. To skip the products that have lots of extraneous packaging. To leave the cheap plastic toys on the store shelves.

I have been pretty good about this sort of thing for years now. With many children the clutter can add up quickly, and I hate clutter.

My new resolve is to try and buy products that are not made in China. To look more carefully at the items I am bringing into my home. To strive for non toxic wood, hand crafted, not mass produced. Toys that don’t do things, but rather inspire the sort of play that requires children to be the doers. They may cost more, but I would rather have less of quality items, than more, well, potentially poisonous ones.

I am already keeping my eye out for Christmas.

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August 16, 2007

Back to School Means Back to Schedules

Filed under: Basics, Children, Making It Work, parenting, schedules — Chris @ 10:39 am

I know many of you have children that have already started the new school year. Which, wow, what happened to the long lazy days of summer, huh?

Next week we are starting back. Since we homeschool, we have some flexibility to take a day off here and there and enjoy the still nice weather. Soon enough winter will be here and we will be trapped inside, huddled around our wood burning stove. Okay, maybe I exaggerate slightly about being trapped, but I really dislike winter… the cold, the ice, the need to wear sensible shoes.

But back on topic, it is the time of year when suddenly schedules need to come back to the fore front of our lives. Even those of us who are the most schedule adverse, still need to have them since activities have a way of happening at specific times. I know, imagine that.

I am working on our basic schedule right now. I’ll try to post it in all its rough form tomorrow. But, I would love to see yours. Do you have one? Even for the time before and after school? How do you fit everything in?

This is the first time that I am doing enough freelance work that I will need to designate a time for working.

So, show me yours and I’ll show you mine.

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August 10, 2007

kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk*

Filed under: Basics, Ideas, Just For Fun, cooking, parenting — Chris @ 1:30 am

We have lots of blueberry bushes in our yard. I am frequently asked, “What do you do with them all?: I am not big on measuring so I love recipes that are flexible.

Blueberry Crisp/Cobbler

I fill the bottom of a large pyrex baking dish with blueberries.
Mix together:

2cups of flour
1.5 cups of oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup of chilled butter
2tsp cinnamon

Cut all the ingredients together until the mixture is crumbly.
Sprinkle over the top of blueberries.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

I also try to find interesting ways to use blueberries. Because there are only so many blueberry muffins you can eat. This simple salad, I wish I could remember where I read the recipe, was a huge hit with my children and guests.

Salad with Blueberries

Mixed green salad mix
gorgonzola cheese
toasted chopped walnuts
blueberries
toss with Newman’s Own Raspberry and Walnut Vinaigrette

* from Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey

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July 29, 2007

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

Filed under: Basics, Keeping It Real — Chris @ 4:43 pm

Had a great time at the conference. Connected with so many fabulous women. Learned alot, and realized how much I don’t know. Ate at fabulous restaurants, where both the quality of the food and the prices were shocking. Drank many fabulous glasses of wine, where each subsequent glass seemed to be better than the previous one.

And now I am preparing to re-enter my real life. The one that really matters. Where my importance isn’t measured in stats, hits, or comments. Where I am simply important for my mad snack fetching skillz.

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July 25, 2007

without the weeds, there would be no lawn

Filed under: Ages 7 -9 years, Basics, Chores, Humor Keeps Me Sane — Chris @ 7:03 am

This past weekend my husband was lamenting the state of the front lawn. With the constant rain and the breaks of sun being filled up with baseball games, it had grown really long. Long as in it looked like we were living on a prarie, not a suburban neighborhood.

So we were having a “discussion” about mowing it. The front lawn is generally believed to me my job. I don’t mind. It is some extra exercise and I can’t hear the kids fighting over the roar of the lawn mower, so I am able to just lalala my way around the front yard. Except that sometimes I just don’t have time.

My 8 yr old was sitting there listening in and suddenly said, “When will I be old enough to mow the front lawn?” He rested his chin on his hands, elbows on his knees.

I had to laugh. because all of the children have gone through this. They all want to do a chore until they are actually allowed to do it. Then suddenly it is not cool or fun anymore.

“When you are old enough not to want to do it.” I answered.

“I never get to do anything.” he cried.

My husband decided why not let him give mowing the lawn a try.

So I started up the mower and said, “Have at it.”

Each time I glanced up he was running around the lawn. A huge grin on his face.

The lawn, however, looked like a cat after someone tried to shave it with an electric razor. Someone blind.

Patches of grass stood up here and there; long strips of uncut grass made zig zag patterns across the lawn; right in the middle a big circle of foot high unmowed weeds. Clearly 8yr olds are not ready for the front lawn.

He flopped down next to me on the front porch steps, pushed his long blonde hair out of his eyes. “Well, that was easy. And fun. I don’t know why no one wants to do it.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that usually we walk back and forth in straight lines and not run around all willy nilly. But maybe we should. Maybe running around all willy nilly would be a much more fun way to cut the grass.

In the backyard. The neighbors already think we are odd.

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