Monday, June 17, 2013

9 Things You REALLY Shouldn't Post on Facebook

Some days I love Facebook.  Other days I hate it and remove the App from my computer until I can't take it anymore and I admit defeat download it again.  In fairness, I mostly hate it because it makes me feel inadequate, like I'm not spending enough time at the zoo, at rock concerts, and at museums with my preschoolers.  Oh, and everyone is at a party without me that I wasn't invited to.  But I also hate it when people post about:
  1. Anything related to stomach flu/vomiting.  Especially don't post about diarrhea running down your kids' legs.  It's bad enough when it happens to my family without having to read about it on FB almost every day as it happens to other people.  It's making me into an agoraphobic who never wants to leave my house.  Plus it makes me want to avoid you for at least one month, for fear on contracting your gross diarrhea. 
  2. Weight loss pics.  I have honestly seen a thirty year old man pose in the mirror while taking a picture of his vastly improved but very hairy and disgusting stomach.  Are you my husband?  Then I probably don't want to see your stomach.  
  3. Naked baby pics.  There are so many issues with these...first, your kids will probably hate you later.  Second, privacy/weirdos goes without saying.  Lastly, it's never as cute as you think it is.
  4. Food pictures.  Are you a professional chef?  Great, then bring on the pics and thanks for the free advice.  Or, do you have a food blog with a super nice camera with free recipes?  Great!  Post on!  But if not, please don't post a pic of your home-made but gross looking wild rice casserole.  I made one for dinner too and it was equally gross-looking.
  5. A list of your daily accomplishments.  I really doubt anyone cares about all 15 of your boring daily tasks, especially dishes, vacuuming, etc.  I take that back.  Maybe your Mom would care so you should call her and she can tell you how proud she is.
  6. Vague, mean comments, directed to one person but no one know which one person.  An example: "If only I knew who my REAL friends were 15 years ago I would have saved myself a lot of time and heartache".  Now all 215 of your FB friends will be wondering if you're referring to them and what they could have possibly done to offend you.  This might be okay if you're fifteen years old and not very mature.  But even then, it's an iffy tactic. 
  7. Pretty much anything that requires a sad face afterward :-(.  It's not really the place for a pity party.  Again, call your Mom.  Especially if it makes people worried about you in a, "Do you think I should call her?  She sounds depressed," kind of way. 
  8. Bragging about your kid's ability to say the alphabet at age 2, walk at age 6 months, or anything "genius" related.  I mean, my kid is riding his bike without training wheels at age 3 but do you see me bragging about that on Facebook? (You're likely thinking,"No, but you're bragging about it on your blog!"  Point taken.  My bad, but seriously.  He's three.)
  9. Gross pics of your foot blisters (again, it's actually happened on my real FB page.) Spare us please those images can remain burned into an adult brain for days.
If you ever catch me doing any of these, please feel free to verbally abuse me and give me a thorough tongue lashing.  I can take it.  And for the record, I think politics is fair game.  This is America after all.  Cute kids pics and sarcasm are also welcome.

 

Want to see all my posts?  Put your email address here to become a subscriber!
Enter your email address:

Monday, June 3, 2013

New Ways to Play with Playdough

I was beginning to think there wasn't anything new we could do with Playdough until one day, just by accident, my kids discovered something new and fun to do with it.  To back up a little bit, I've been struggling with projects lately.  The kids (4 and 3) are growing up and as they do, they really love to ride their bikes, do bubbles, and mostly they are loving playing outside with their neighborhood friends.

Then one morning they woke up early and we had to think of something since everyone else was still sleeping.  We got out the Playdough and before I knew it, the kids were rooting through our craft bag for ideas and they came up with this:


They used their little hands to roll out a snake and then they meticulously stuck that snake with pins.  It took them a long time before they got tired of this game and I was glad because I knew that Little Buddy (3) especially needed the fine motor skills practice, so the he can learn to hold his crayons correctly eventually.  His gross motor skills are doing great with all his time at the park and on his bike, but he hasn't had the patience lately to work on fine motor skills.  I don't worry too much about it, since I know he has lots of time, but whenever I can sneak in a little fine motor skills, I always do!  Even Munchkin Girl (4) found this to be challenging and she had fun with this for at least 20 minutes before she ran to the front window to look for her friends.  


Other ways to practice fine motor skills include:
  • Pouring sand, water, salt, sugar, rice, or beans using bowls, funnels, spoons, cups, tubes, rolls, colander
  • Sorting small objects with interesting textures like cotton balls, pastas, sponges, and rocks placing them into egg cartons
  • Pushing objects through a slot like pennies or buttons into a Piggy Bank or container with a slit in lid; pushing pegs into a board
  • Picking up marbles and putting them in a jar; for variety, have child stand up and drop marbles into jar or drop balls or other small objects into container or sack
For more ideas on how other great fine motor practice and why it's so important, don't forget to check out my book, The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble, and Motivated to Learn!

This book has been a best-seller on Amazon and has some really wonderful reviews from readers just like you!