Friday, December 21, 2012

Does the Grinch Really Deserve That? And Other Random Christmas observations...

Christmas is such a fun, but interesting time.  For example:
  • The song about the Grinch is really very mean.  When you really listen to the words, it's basically all full of very clever insults so I find it amusing that it's become a beloved Christmas song. (example: You're a Foul one, Mr. Grinch.  You're a Nasty, Wasty Skunk!  Your heart is full of unwashed socks....)  I know he's a bad guy, but he turns out nice in the end...does he really deserve all the insults?
  • What the heck is Figgy Pudding?!?!  (It's from the song We Wish You a Merry Christmas)
  • When you start buying gifts in October (like I did this year), you feel a lot more organized, but end up spending a lot more money because you forget what you've already bought until it's time to wrap everything.
  • Being "asleep" means something very different to me than it does to the kids.  To the kids, it means they want me to pretend to be "asleep" while I actually have to stay extra vigilant in case someone decides to jump on my while my eyes are closed, or get into something they know they shouldn't.  To me, it actually means "asleep". (Okay this isn't related to Christmas, but I still find it interesting).
  • Some of the ornaments and decorations that seemed so lame when I was a teen-ager are now so special to me.
  • How do people get the energy and money to come up with a whole display of lights, going in tune to music on the radio?  Especially if it's at their own house and they're doing it for free?  Kudos to them because we love Christmas lights!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
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Posted by at 12:53 PM 2 comments

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

What a Difference a Year Makes

When I was working on my post about 5 Easy Christmas Ornaments, I noticed something very interesting.  My daughter, who is now 4 and a half, painted several wooden Christmas ornaments.  While she was working on them, it hit me what a difference a year had made in terms of her painting ability.  Now, don't misunderstand.  I have zero motivation for her to become an award-winning artist, unless that is something loves of course, but look at the stark difference.  Here is her ornament from this year.  Pay special attention to the top star.  First she painted the exterior in green and then she painted the inside of the star yellow.  She even painted the individual circles in yellow instead of having that entire area be green:


That may not seem like a huge deal, but look at her tree from last year.  Same exact idea.  Just a wooden tree ornament but with this one, she basically just mixed everything together and didn't have the fine motor control to make separate color regions at all.


I am truly amazed at what a difference a year can make in a child's life!  Merry Christmas to all if I don't talk to you before then!! :-)


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Posted by at 1:24 PM 1 comments

Thursday, December 13, 2012

5 Super-Easy Christmas Ornaments

This year I got several requests for a post about easy Christmas Ornaments that kids could make that weren't messy or expensive.  I have to say that it always surprises me when people think I'm creative!  I am definitely not talented enough to come up with anything super complicated so I guess I've become the queen of the easy craft.  And honestly, I think lots of Moms out there are just like me and want to do something easy and fun that can be done with minimal preparation or cleanup.  So, without further ado, here are the 5 Easiest Christmas Ornament on the Planet, that even the most craft-challenged Moms can do with the kids:

1.  Christmas Tree Ornaments
For this, all you need to do is cut Christmas trees out from green paper.  They don't even have to be perfect.  I know mine wasn't!  Once it's decorated, you could just poke a hole in the top and put some ribbon through there so it'll hang as an ornament.


Then you can help them put anything you want on there.  you could do stickers, glue sequins or red and green poms to look like ornaments, or even do finger prints with finger paint.  We elected to do stickers for a few reasons:  1) It takes a long time to peel off all the stickers and keeps them busy for longer, 2) Stickers are great for developing fine motor skills (look at this pic below, you can just see those little muscles developing) and 3) My kids just adore stickers.


2.  Wooden ornaments
It really doesn't get easier than this one.  You simply buy these from the craft store in all sorts of designs, Santa, Christmas tree, Frosty, etc. (we bought ours from Hobby Lobby) and give the kids some paint.  They cost about $.75 so we bought several and this was by far my daughter's favorite ornament.  One tip is to put the paint into an old egg carton so you don't have to wash anything after you're done.  Simply throw away the old egg carton.  Also, I give my daughter four different brushes so she doesn't have to mix colors but also doesn't have to mess with washing the brushes in between each color change.  We've gotten so good at this that we don't even wear smocks anymore!


3.  Candy Canes
I remember doing these as a kid and I had forgotten how incredibly easy they are!  All you need are some pipe cleaners (red is ideal, but at first we used orange since I couldn't find any red ones and they turned out fine), and some beads from the craft store.  These are also very inexpensive and you can find them in the isle with all the ornament stuff:


Then the kids simply bead onto the pipe cleaners, which is also excellent for fine motor skills and pretty soon, voila!  A beautiful candy cane:


4.  Plastic Balls
You can also find these at the craft store and you can put anything you want into them!  We chose small bits of paper because the kids like to crinkle them up and it's great for strengthening hand muscles, which will come in later when they are learning to write.  I simply cut up a bunch of bits of paper, they crumpled them all up and then put them into this clear plastic ball.  Super easy but it did keep them busy for quite awhile.


5. Sun-catchers 
We have been doing these sun-catchers every week for several months now.  It's one of my daughters favorite projects, so you can imagine her excitement when I came home from Hobby Lobby with Christmas-themed sun-catchers for her!  The great thing is, they paint is provided, so again it's very simple and easy and they even come with holes at the top for the ribbon or twine so they can be hung on the tree.


This isn't exactly what we bought, but you can get the idea:



For more ideas on easy crafts and activities for your kids, please check out my new book!  We have hundreds of ways to keep kids busy in productive way, improving fine motor skills, strength, sensory skills, and much more!






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Posted by at 1:17 PM 4 comments

Monday, December 10, 2012

I Hate Lying to My Kids About Santa

I really hate to even write about this, because I know this might make me sound like a nut job, but I sort of hate the fact that Santa exists.  I remember as a kid, the moment I found out that Santa wasn't real.  I truly felt betrayed and I suddenly began wondering what else my parents were lying to me.  I got over it of course, and I do love the Christmas season and I never had to get therapy or anything (haha), but I still wonder why our society feels the need to tell lies to our kids from the day they're born?

Think about it.  Here are the problems I have with Santa:
  • It's a total, 100% lie.  We tell our kids to always tell us the truth, but we create these extravagant lies about this mythical creature that brings them toys.  Why is that okay, just because we're the adults?
  • We tell them they only get toys if they're good.  They're on their best behavior throughout December, but what happens on January 1st?  They suddenly don't have to behave because there is no elf watching over them?  That's crazy, I want them to behave all year, not just at Christmas.
  • Santa gets all the credit.  I do all the work, the shopping, the wrapping, etc., and they don't feel like they have to really thank me, because they think Santa did everything for them, which also means they don't have to really be grateful, because they think everything is magical.
  • Santa didn't even exist until about 100 years ago, when he was created by a department store.  People survived without Santa for hundreds of thousands of years and still managed to celebrate Christmas in a festive way.
This year I secretly decided that I would try not to really talk about Santa because I thought that if I don't really mention it and make a big deal out of it, maybe they won't feel so upset when they learn the truth.  I tried to just focus on Christmas itself, Christmas lights, baby Jesus, and getting presents for each other.  The problem I found is that Santa is everywhere.  He is at the grocery store, the department stores, he's on TV constantly, and everyone is asking them if they have an elf, if they've been good, and if they're on the Good List or the Naughty List.

I will say that I've had a great time this Christmas, and I've really enjoyed thinking creatively about Christmas, but my experiment clearly failed.  My husband thinks I'm crazy so I've decided to just everything happen without controlling it, but I'd love to know your thoughts.  Do you feel bad lying about Santa, or am I totally crazy?!?

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Posted by at 7:24 AM 16 comments

Monday, December 3, 2012

Mommy I Want to Do it Myself! (Overcoming My Need to Micro-manage)

The other day I was brushing my teeth with one hand while scrolling through emails with the other hand while also trying to wriggle out of my pants in preparation for the shower.  That's when it hit me that maybe I really am in too much of a hurry all the time. For example, my daughter has been trying to buckle herself into her car seat but it's pretty tough and I know she can do it if I give her enough time, but it seems like we're always in such a hurry.  

Being in a hurry though, is all relative.  Susan Case, former Kindergarten Teacher and best-selling author (and my co-author) maintains how important it is for kids to have the time to learn to do practical things by themselves.  She says, "Kids need to feel empowered.  They need to feel like Mom and Dad trust them and that they have the room to grow and learn."

I knew she was right.  When I hurry the kids along or just take over something they were trying to do, I might as well be saying, "You're not good enough so I need to take over."  That's certainly not something I want my kids to learn so I decided to put this in action for Christmas preparations.  When it was time to get my Christmas Cards ready, at first I just wanted to get it done as quickly as possible, and I hated the idea of her getting paper cuts or messing up the envelopes, but I decided to give it a try and she totally proved me wrong (she's four and a half).  We did it together and she stuffed and licked about twenty envelopes.  Not only that, she saved me a ton of time and was very efficient and she took a lot of pride in her work.


Next I let them have a big part in decorating the house.  Overall, they did a great job and only fought a few times.  Little Buddy wasn't quite as interested in helping, but he's getting there (you can see him below, stuffed into a doll bed, which is where he sat for much of the Christmas decorating):




I have to say that I was very pleased with all of these successful experiments.  I love the idea of having little helpers around the house, and I really don't want them to think that I think that they aren't good enough in my eyes.  By the end of the weekend, I got really brave and let her paint her own fingers and toes. I supervised closely, of course, but she painted every single finger and toe all by herself.  And I didn't even clean them up after she was done.  I've come a long way and so have my kids.



For more ideas on empowering your kids and giving them activities to do around the house, please check out my new book, which I co-wrote with Susan Case. The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble, and Motivated to Learn was released this summer.  If you have ever tried to cook dinner while your kid clings to your leg and cries, this is the book for you!  As we did above, we give you a Mom's point of view and a teacher's point of view, so that you can do activities that not only keep the kids busy, but also keep them motivated to learn and develop their natural curiosity.  Kids behave better when they are given challenging projects to work on, which will in turn give you more free time to do the things you really need to do, like washing dishes, paying bills, and relaxing so that you can be a better Mom!

We were thrilled be to be given the opportunity to talk about this to you in person!  Check out this video we created to show you more about the book!

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Posted by at 12:45 PM 8 comments

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Color Chart from Magazine Clippings

I came home the other day to find this beautiful piece of artwork on the floor.  My babysitter said the kids spent an enormous amount of time on it.  



They picked things out of magazines to cut out and then they glued them into a different columns, depending on color.  I thought this was pure genius since:

A) It took them a long time and kept them busy 
B) My preschooler got to work on her cutting
C) They got to work on colors

It was a win all around so I thought I'd share with you!

For more ideas on projects and games to keep your kids busy, please check out my new book, The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn.  It is packed full of information about keeping kids busy, but in productive ways, so that they still have the opportunity to learn while you are stuck doing the dishes!  Here is one of the reviews from Amazon:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a "Must Have" book!!!, July 9, 2012
By 

 This is truly a fantastic book! I was shocked at how many activities the authors came up with - many of which didn't even require a trip to the store for supplies! The Mom who wrote this has great stories & the Teacher has valuable experiences...it's a perfect blend of unique insight. Fun (inexpensive) activities that keep my 2 kids away from the TV, what more can you ask for?!?!? This book is really helping me become a better Mom - Thank you!



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Posted by at 4:47 AM 3 comments

Monday, November 26, 2012

5 Store-Bought Crafts Worth Buying

Before I learned how to be crafty at home, I used to buy craft kits and I always sort of thought, "Who are they kidding with this?"  We never could quite get them to work the way the instructions described, and they always seemed to cause more frustration than enjoyment, but over the past year I have actually bought a few crafts and games worth buying.  Here they are:

1.  Alex Tissue Art: There are some products by this company that aren't worth buying, but this is a great one.  We have played with this on multiple days and even my 2.5 year old could sort of do it and my four year old absolutely loved it.


2.  Suncatchers.  I cannot tell you how many suncatchers my daughter has painted in the past 6 months.  She never seems to grow tired of these.  You can actually buy them at Walmart for less than $1 apiece and they sell the paint for them too since they take a special kind of paint.  Or you can buy this kit that comes with everything.



3.  We have bought different lacing stuff before, but this is the only one that my daughter actually enjoys.  We have taken these on many vacations and they are great because they can keep them busy and pack into a very small area.  Plus, they are great for developing fine motor skills.



4.  Hubby doesn't love these as much as we do, but we absolutely love them.  The kids can color on the windows and then they come off easily afterward when it's time to clean them up (I find this to be a great chore for the kids.  It doesn't quite get done right, but they can sure try!)



5.  I find this to be a great one to do when my daughter has friends over.  They can each get a pile of beads and they can each make a pretty  necklace.  Again, this is great for fine motor and the beads simply snap together.



If you are interested in craft ideas that you don't have to buy, you might be interested in my book!  I teamed up with Susan Case who is a former Kindergarten teacher and a passionate advocate for learning through play.  We give you dozens of other ideas on how to keep your kids busy, but in a productive way, so they are actually learning while they are also having fun!  Here is what one of my readers wrote on Amazon after she read our book:

  This book seriously saved my sanity. I've read a bunch of parenting books but this is literally the only one that actually gave me real and specific advice and ideas for things to do with my daughter. I'm a stay-at-home mom to a 2-year old and I was at my wits end trying to come up with ideas of fun, easy, creative things to do with her that will keep her busy and occupied and help her learn. I wasn't very good at following through on ideas that I heard about from friends or read in other books or online because they seemed too complicated (aka: messy!) but this book broke it down and made it so simple. I highly recommend it!   
 

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Posted by at 5:02 AM 6 comments

Monday, November 19, 2012

Easiest Thanksgiving Craft Ever

Extravagant Holiday crafts are not my specialty.  However, we haven't talked about Thanksgiving very much much lately, so this year, we went ahead and did one...but it was the easiest and most simple craft in the history of crafts.  I simply got a few paper plates, some construction paper, and some googley eyes.  I cut up some "feathers" for them and gave them their glue.  I even sat down and did one with them and they really enjoyed seeing my finished Turkey.  Sometimes it takes so little to impress children that it really thrills me.

Here is my daughter's Turkey (Age 4)


And here is my son's (Age 2.5).  You have to use your imagination a little bit and as usual, he went a little overboard with the eyes, but he sure likes having it hanging up for the world to see!


For more easy craft ideas, please check out my new book! The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn has been out for a few months and people seem to be really enjoying it!  And if you do get it, would you do us a big favor and leave a review?  The more reviews, the better!  

Thank you so much!!

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Posted by at 6:58 AM 2 comments

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

That is the strangest craft I've ever seen

I see a lot of themed art and crafts on Pinterest and I do generally think that's the best kind, but last weekend we made something genuinely unique (and by that I mean bizarre) and we had a lot of fun.  Here's how it happened: It was raining, and it was cold, steady rain, the kind that is sure to last all day.  We knew that Daddy would be gone all day so it was a series of musical rooms while I tried to entertain the kids all day long inside the house.

At one point, I decided to make sheep out of paper plates and cotton balls.  We've done this before, so the kids were familiar.  However, the sheep soon turned into something entirely strange.  First Little Buddy starting glueing eyes to the cotton balls.  


Then Big Sis saw what he was doing and thought she would join in.  Pretty soon, we weren't making sheep at all and they kept asking for me to get out new things for them to glue on.  Honestly, there is a time in my life that I probably would have said, "No, we're supposed to be making sheep.  You only need two eyeballs for sheep."

However, in my old age, I have a totally different philosophy.  Now, I figure if it keeps them busy and they are being creative, I get the heck out of the way so that I can keep doing dishes!  Haha


This really did keep them busy for about 30 minutes, maybe a little bit longer.  As usual, once this was done, they scampered off to do some imaginary play by themselves for awhile, which is the real beauty of these projects.  


For more ideas on projects and games to keep your kids busy, please check out my new book, The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn.  It is packed full of information about keeping kids busy, but in productive ways, so that they still have the opportunity to learn while you are stuck doing the dishes!  Here is one of the reviews from Amazon:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a "Must Have" book!!!, July 9, 2012
By 

 This is truly a fantastic book! I was shocked at how many activities the authors came up with - many of which didn't even require a trip to the store for supplies! The Mom who wrote this has great stories & the Teacher has valuable experiences...it's a perfect blend of unique insight. Fun (inexpensive) activities that keep my 2 kids away from the TV, what more can you ask for?!?!? This book is really helping me become a better Mom - Thank you!


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Posted by at 4:40 AM 4 comments

Monday, November 5, 2012

Out of My Element: Painting my Own Canvas

I have a lot of talents.  I can speak French, I'm pretty organized, and I can definitely sell stuff.  Painting, and art in general, however, are not my special talents, so when I learned that I had to go to a baby shower and paint my own "canvas", I was nervous.   You might be saying, "But you have a blog about crafting!" Yes, that's true, but I'm not the one actually doing them, and we don't care how they look in the end.  This painting would be different, because the idea was to paint canvases for the new Mom and her plan was to decorate the nursery with all the assorted paintings. 

I showed up at the shower and ten blank canvases were set up for us, along with all the primary colors. The girls were chatting and several of them seemed really excited.  We settled into our seats and I selected to paint an owl.  I picked up my paintbrush and suddenly I literally felt a wave of almost panic.  I was so out of my element, I didn't even know where to begin.  

"Can I have the pink paint please?" I asked.

The nice woman smiled.  "You have to mix for pink.  Just add a little red and white together," she said kindly.

"Oh," was all I could think of to say.

I decided to just plunge in and get the whole thing over with.  I began with the outline first, then went on to my green background.  Suddenly I felt very relaxed.  There is something very exhilerating about painting a blank canvas with anything that I wanted.  If I didn't like the color, I just mixed up something new and painted over it.  I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed painting, and even more how much I enjoyed watching everyone around me create something.
Don't get me wrong.  Mine was by far the worst and I feel really badly that my friend will fee obligated to hang it in her baby's nursery.  I might just have to stage a robbery of it so she can have an excuse not to scare her poor child with my owl that looked like it had see-through wings.  But I learned a lot about myself that night.  I learned that it's good to force myself outside of my element every one in awhile.  I learned that I can still enjoy myself even if I'm not the best at everything.  And most of all, I learned that green and white don't make lime green, no matter how many times you re-mix it.
 Here is one of the girl's canvases.  She coped this painting, isn't it incredible?

And here is a "Daddy" Owl, with his arm around his "Little" Owl.  So creative...


And here is mine.  I ended up adding legs and it helped a lot.  Well, a little anyway.
 



 
 
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Posted by at 1:43 PM 2 comments

Thursday, November 1, 2012

3 Easy Steps for Home-Made Leaf Wreath

I love trees, but I never can believe just how many leaves fall from those beautiful trees.  And I can't ever believe how long it takes to clean them all up.  I keep telling myself it's good exercise.

Anyway, during clean-up this year, the kids started collecting their favorites.  They like the ones that have a special shape or color so I went and got a bag to collect them.  Ever since then, we have kept our eyes out for leaves when we go on walks and we have spent several weeks collecting our most favorite leaves from around the neighborhood.  I really wanted them to be able to create a wreath for us, but it turns out that the idea of a leaf wreath is much easier said than done.  After much trial and error, here is how the kids created a wreath that they could do all by themselves:

1.  I bought a letter "O" from Hobby Lobby to use as the starting point.  There are many different options for wreaths and this isn't exactly what I originally envisioned, but I didn't want to have to use a hot glue gun.  I really wanted them to be able to create this all by themselves and this turned out to be the best surface for glueing those delicate but heavy leaves. 


2.  Next, I was able to give them Elmer's Glue.  They simply took the leaves and glued them to the wooden "O".  They were able to glue leaves on top of leaves over and over again.  They really loved this whole process.  They got to pick out their favorites it took them over 30 minutes to get all the leaves attached:



3.  After we let it dry for a few days, we simply took down a picture and hung it up!  Originally it was supposed to go on the front door, but the Elmer's Glue isn't the strongest bonding agent around, and I didn't think the wind would do nice things to this delicate kid-made masterpiece. This isn't the prettiest wreath around, and certainly doesn't look professionally made, but the kids are very proud of their wreath!



For more ideas on projects and games to keep your kids busy, please check out my new book, The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn.  It is packed full of information about keeping kids busy, but in productive ways, so that they still have the opportunity to learn while you are stuck doing the dishes!  Here is one of the reviews from Amazon:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a "Must Have" book!!!, July 9, 2012

 This is truly a fantastic book! I was shocked at how many activities the authors came up with - many of which didn't even require a trip to the store for supplies! The Mom who wrote this has great stories & the Teacher has valuable experiences...it's a perfect blend of unique insight. Fun (inexpensive) activities that keep my 2 kids away from the TV, what more can you ask for?!?!? This book is really helping me become a better Mom - Thank you!
 
Did you enjoy my post?  Don't forget to vote for me by clicking the banner below.  You can also enter your email address below to receive all my updates!  I really appreciate your support!!
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Posted by at 2:00 PM 4 comments

Monday, October 29, 2012

My iPhone Addiction: Will My Kids Resent it One Day?

The other day the kids were playing happily for once and Hubby had just gotten home from work.  I was also still getting emails about work and we were both scrolling through our phones while the kids played in the other room.  My daughter came running in to show me the clothes that she had successfully put on her doll and I barely looked up and murmured, "Very cool, honey." 
 
"Mom, you didn't even look at it!" she replied.
 
I suddenly saw ourselves from the outside.  Don't you think it's so annoying when you go to lunch with someone and they are only half-listening to you and scrolling through their phone at the same time?  I make it a point to never do that to any adults, so why did I think it was okay to do to my kids?
 
I remembered that old song, Cats in the Cradle by Cat Stevens.  Do you remember it?  It's basically about a kid who keeps begging his Dad to play ball with him.  The Dad keeps responding that he just doesn't have the time.  Then one day the Son grows up and the roles are reversed.  The Dad keeps begging the kid to come over and visit and kid suddenly doesn't have the time and I suddenly felt a pit in the bottom of my stomach.  Did I want my kids to remember me only half-listening to them? Of course not!  
 
I suddenly had visions of them growing up, and being teen-agers and young adults with new jobs, scrolling through their phones while I tried to find out what was going on in their young lives.  I pictured myself asking them questions and trying to lure them into a meaningful conversation, while they only half-listened and repaid me for all the years that I'd done it to them.  Well no more!  I vow no more half-listening and half-parenting.  I'm going to print out the words to Cats in the Cradle and read them every morning, to remind myself how hurtful it is when someone just doesn't have time for you, especially when that person is your own Mom.
 
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Posted by at 2:00 PM 6 comments
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Thursday, October 25, 2012

How I Found Time to Read my Novel While the Kids Did Self-Portraits

The other day I was dying to read my book.  I hardly ever get to read while the kids are awake, but I was reading Gone Girl: A Novel, and I couldn't put it down.  So, when my daughter asked if she could do a "project" I knew I wanted to come up with something that would keep her busy for awhile so I could sneak in a few pages (Does that make me a bad Mom?  Too bad!  Haha)

So, I got out the long butcher paper (Spectra ArtKraft Duo-Finish 67004 Spectra Artkraft Duo-Finish Heavyweight Paper, 48" x 200-ft. roll, White) and I taped two long pieces to our kitchen floor.  I told the kids to lay down, and I traced them.


Then we started adding stuff.  I helped her draw a dress for her self-portrait.  Then she started adding the flowers to the dress and I have to say, that the more we drew, the more things she came up with to add.  By the end, her imagination really took over.  On her self-portrait, she drew:
  • A face
  • Hair
  • A dress with flowers
  • A necklace
  • A purse
  • She traced herself holding her favorite doll
  • A "friendly ghost"
  • The sun
  • Shoes and socks
  • The carpet she was standing on
  • A grasshopper on her head (long story.  We had pet grasshoppers this summer)
craft project for kids

Even Little Buddy had fun on his, although I did most of the work while he coached me.  
The good news is that, after the project was over, they scampered off and played by themselves for thirty minutes, and then I finally got to read my book in peace!  It really is amazing how willing they are to play alone after we do a project.  They finally get the "Mommy" time they crave and they feel fulfilled, leaving me time for dishes, laundry, and more importantly, novels!  For more ideas on how to get more free time by providing your kids with challenging projects, check out my new book!  I teamed up with Susan Case, a former Kindergarten Teacher, and we provide you with hundreds of ways to keep your kids busy, but in productive ways, so that they are learning while you get your precious free time!




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