A Calmer Trip to the Grocery...Finally!

Just because the kids are home for break does not mean I get a break from grocery shopping.  So, this morning, we loaded up in the car and did something I absolutely dread...went to the store as a family (minus Dad who is working).  Normally, I like going places with my kids.  In the past week, we've been to the zoo, the museum, and the library.  But the grocery store?  This is the one place that gives me nightmares.  What is it about this place that brings out the screaming, running off, touching everything side of children?  And it's not just my children.  Even when I go by myself, I see other people's children doing the same things.  It's why stores like Target and HyVee give out cookies.  They know it buys a few moments of sanity for mom.

A while ago I saw an idea somewhere (sorry, I don't remember where) of giving kids their own shopping list.  This couldn't possibly work, right?  I mean, it seems way too easy.  But this morning, I was desperate for anything to save me the agony of a normal grocery trip with three children.  So, I made up my list on my cell phone.  Then I picked out 10 items that the kids could easily identify: bananas, carrots, canned pineapple rings, tomato sauce, bacon, honey, butter, eggs, bread, and frozen green beans.  I made two lists with 5 items each, in the order they would come across them in the store. I printed them out and handed them to the kids.  Here is G's list:

They were SO excited!!!  J did start to run off at first...he really wanted to get to those bananas on his list!  Once I reigned him in, we had a great trip.  I figured C was a little old (he's 8) for this, so I gave him a couple of other jobs: he was in charge of helping J with his list and he got to order the meat at the meat counter.  He loved being in charge of ordering, and the guys at the meat counter were great with him.

Now, I'm not going to give up my solo trips.  No way.  But, this idea will hopefully keep our trips to the store this summer peaceful!!

Kids' Summer Schedule

The day after tomorrow starts Spring Break for our local elementary and preschools.  I am really looking forward to having my kids all home for a week.  I have some plans to do some really fun things with them like going to the zoo and the museum.  Are you looking forward to Spring Break or Summer Vacation?  Or are you, like some of my mom friends, dreading the sibling squabbles, the “I’m Bored”s, and the messy house?  I know we’ll have some of those, especially once we hit summer.  Luckily, in the last 8 years of parenting, I’ve learned a little something about myself and my kids: we are schedule people!

Do you need a daily schedule?  That depends on you and your kids.  Some kids do really well just going with the flow.  Mine don’t.  Mine function a lot more happily when they know that at X’o’clock we are going to the store and when we get home I expect them to help put away the groceries before they head outside to play.  They are a lot less likely to fight over what WiiU game they are going to play if they know they only have an hour and need to make the most of it.  And they won’t spend nearly as much time in front of that WiiU (or the computer, tv, iPad, DS, iPod, etc.) if they aren’t left to do “whatever”.  Some people would probably roll their eyes and say I overdo on scheduling.  These are the same people who will be complaining after about a week that their kids are bored or fighting.  I’d prefer to schedule than referee.  

My schedule won’t work for everyone.  This is what works for us.  You can change things up, make it more flexible or more rigid depending on what you need.  I have one “Master Schedule”, but there are several variations, depending on what our plans are for the day.  I call this Master our “At Home Day Schedule”.  This is for a day where we don’t have anywhere we have to go: no shopping, no classes, no field trips.  Just a “normal” day.

7:00AM

During the school-year, my kids get up at 7:00.  I won’t force them out of bed in the mornings during the summer, but we will try to stick to the same time.  This way, when we get to fall, we won’t have to fight a battle adjusting to school.  Once up, the kids work on their morning checklist.  I got this idea from Inspiring Moms, but made my own checklist that works for us.  Once they’ve done everything on this list, they are ready for the day: dressed, fed, rooms cleaned, beds made.  The last thing on the checklist is to write in their journals.  C & G will work on writing using prompts from our Journal Jar.  J is still too young to really journal, but he can use the prompt to draw a picture.  

8:30AM

Cleaning can be done two ways: 1)I can do it by myself while the kids do something else.  2)We can do it together.  I like to have the kids help me.  The hope is that if they are responsible for helping me clean, they will be more likely to keep their stuff picked up.  We’ll see how well the hope meets the reality!  We clean in Zones.  Our house is a tri-level plus basement.  That gives us four zones pretty naturally.  The fifth zone will be outside.  We’ll start with basic picking up, then the kids can help with dusting and cleaning windows while I vacuum.  Outside, we’ll pick up toys, sweep the patio, and maybe pull some weeds.  One zone a day won’t take long.

9:00AM

My kids love to read.  This summer, we will be doing the Summer Reading Program at our library.  In addition to that program, I found this Summer Reading Challenge that I thought looked like fun.  If they complete the challenge, I’ll reward them.  Probably with a new book.  Obviously, the challenge is meant for the older ones, but I’ll find a way to make it work with J.  J can’t read on his own much yet, but he can look through picture books or use the TAG reader.  While the kids are doing their independent reading, I will do any cleaning they can’t help with - bathrooms, etc.  I’ll also start a load of laundry.

9:30AM

C and I found this Lego Challenge.  So for some creative thinking time, we are going to try and work on this over the summer.  Each kid can make their own project - C & G out of Legos and J with Duplos.  

10:00AM

I don’t believe in spending all day sitting around.  We will get out and spend some time doing something physical.  Depending on the weather and what is going on, we might go out in the yard and practice baseball for C and J.  Or we may work on dance for G.  Or we may go for a bike ride or walk.  If it’s raining or just too hot to be out, we’ll do something inside like kid yoga or maybe try Just Dance on the Wii.

10:30AM

Unstructured outside time is important during the summer.  We have a playset and sandbox in the backyard.  Plus all kinds of balls and frisbees and sidewalk chalk.  While the kids are out, I’ll switch the laundry and then head out to work in the garden.  I’m hoping a little scheduled time in the garden each week will force me to keep the weeds under control.  I hate weeding.

11:15AM

I have always believed in learning over the summer.  I know a lot of people enroll their kids in classes - language, art, etc.  C took a great animal class at the zoo one summer (when G was a baby).  But with 3 kids, it’s hard to schedule something for all of them.  So, we do “learning time” at home.  We’ll do 4 days a week (one day off for a field trip), rotating between math, reading, and writing.  We do this sitting at the dining room table.  Each kid has something to work on on their own (writing the alphabet or a letter, reading a story, a math workbook).  Then I go around and spend 15 minutes working with each one individually.  It works for us.

12:00PM

Lunch

12:30PM

J still naps, although I think we are close to giving it up.  C and G don’t nap any more, but they do still each need some quiet, personal time each day.  A little time alone is good for all of us!  Quiet Time in our house lasts 2 hours.  The kids will rotate between 3 “stations”: computer time in the living room (they can choose between EverydayMath, SpellingCity, Scootpad, and PBSkids), quiet play time in the playroom, and puzzles/reading/writing in the dining room (they can read, finish their journal, or put together puzzles).  They are separated into different rooms so they have their own space, and they rotate every 30 minutes so there is no fighting over who is where.  The last 30 minutes of quiet time, they get to watch a tv show that they agree on.  During quiet time, I get to workout, shower, and do anything I need to get done like grocery lists, menus, or cub scout plans.

2:30PM

C wants to learn to play the piano this summer.  We’ll have a lesson once a week, and then he’ll have practice time the rest of the week.  While he is doing piano, G and J will be coloring or painting.  One day a week, C will get off from practicing and we’ll all do some sort of craft project together.

3:00PM

C is a cub scout.  If you have done cub scouts, you know that there are somewhere around  100-150 “electives” that the boys can do.  Plus, beltloops and pins to work on.  Last summer, I found a fun way to work on those was to make an Activity Jar.  We pull out one or two activities each day to work on.

3:30PM

During the afternoon free time, the kids can be inside or outside.  They can play toys or use electronics or even watch tv.  As long as they aren’t fighting, they can do what they want.  I’ll use this time to fold that load of laundry we washed earlier and put it away.

4:30PM

Time to head back outside after that time of sitting and playing video games!  It’s also time for mom to start supper.  If it’s raining, I’ll pull out the playdough or some board games for them while I’m cooking.  Or if they are interested in helping cook, they can take turns doing that.  Normally they aren’t, but you never know.

5:30PM

Supper and Cleanup

6:00PM

Evenings get kind of lazy at our house.  So, if the kids get their showers right away, it’s going to happen.  Otherwise, it might not.  Of course, if they are going to play outside, or if we have a baseball or t-ball game, or have some shopping to get done, we’ll do it when that’s done.

6:30PM

Free or Family time, depending on what everyone has going on.  Baseball ends up taking up a lot of our evenings in May and June.  Two boys in two different leagues makes it difficult.  On the evenings we are home, we tend to just relax, maybe play games, maybe watch tv.  

8:00PM

Like the morning, we have an evening checklist.  Again, I got the idea from Inspired Moms, but made my own to suit us.

That’s our Master Schedule.  I do have a couple of “Variations” on this.  They are all printed out and I hang up the one for that day on the fridge, next to the morning and evening checklists.

Variations:

Shopping Day: The morning schedule gets altered to allow for time to go to the grocery store.

Library Day: A weekly trip to the library will hopefully keep everyone in fresh reading material for the summer.  Basically the same schedule as Shopping Day.

Field Trip Day: The plan is to do one field trip day each week.  We are members of the local museum, children’s museum, and the zoo.  There are also several nice parks we can visit.  On these days, once cleaning time is done, we take off and (usually) get back at lunch time.

This is my way of dealing with having three kids home, either for a week during Spring Break or for 3 months during the Summer.  It works for us. 

Finally! I can find their homework!

The routine has been the same since the beginning  of the school year.  Home from school, empty the backpacks, look at the papers, pile papers on the wet bar.  What was that?  You were supposed to turn in a form today?  YIKES!!  Where did that go?  Followed by frantic shuffling of papers and, more often than not, a last minute filling out of said form.

Not anymore!

I have a new solution!  I found this idea on Pinterest, and I LOVED the look of it!  Message boards for the kids!

To make these, I first did my layout on the computer, then bought supplies and cut the paper.

These are in a 16x20 black poster frame.

For the back ground, I used a 12x12 piece of colored cardstock that I cut into strips and glued onto the backing that came in the frame.  Next time, I will use poster board, but this was due to a shopping goof on my part, and I didn't want to go back to the store.

In the upper left corner is a 4.5"x6.5" piece of colored cardstock in a a darker shade than the background. This is topped with a 4"x6" black and white photograph.

The upper right corner is a 4.5"x8.5" piece of colored cardstock in the same color as the upper left.  On top of that is a 4"x8" black and white patterned piece, topped with a 3.5"x7.5" patterned piece in the same color as the background.  On top of that is the kid's name.  (By the way, I did all my cutting on the Cricut.)

The left side has a 6.5"x8" box with the days of the week.  Under that is a 6.5"x6.5" calendar, with the days labeled but no numbers and no month.

The right side has an 8.5"x11" page that I patterned on a diagonal.  Directly under that is a 8.5"x4" piece, also patterned on the diagonal.  Over the seam, I added an 8.5"x1" black strip and a 2.5" disc, just for decoration.

I glued all of these pieces onto the backing included with the frame, and framed it up.  Then I purchased some silver magnetic clips to put on the outside.  The magnet wasn't necessary, but I couldn't find anything I liked that wasn't magnetic.  I used hot glue to attach the clips over the top center of the 8.5"x11" piece.  Then I attached a circle cut to fit in the indent in the clip out of the black and white pattern and topped that with the kids' initials.

Using a wet erase marker, I can write on the frame! The day of the week section is for keeping track of playgroups this week, t-shirt day at preschool, homework that needs turned in, etc.  The monthly calendar has the schedule for the month.  The clip I can use to hold forms, homework, calendars from school.  In my youngest's case, his potty sticker chart.  At the bottom under the form area, I can write any notes that I need to keep track of.

So far, I feel SO much more organized!  Hopefully that is the end of the mad dash for filling out papers!

Snowflakes, Snowflakes, Everywhere!

I think every child does it.  It's like a right of passage or something.  Paper, scissors, and a little imagination.  What do you get?  Paper snowflakes.  I decided today was a good day to introduce this magical paper artform to my oldest two children.

I personally have never been much of a paper-snowflake-artist.  My snowflaking abilities never really progressed beyond about the 5th grade level.  So when I saw these patterns on pinterest, I thought I'd give them a try.

I started by copying the patterns by hand onto graph paper.  I thought graph paper would make it easier, but really regular paper would have been just as good.

Then, when my oldest got home from school, we sat down to make snowflakes!  First, I had to teach the 7 year old how to fold the paper.  Of course, since I haven't  done this in YEARS, I had forgotten how myself.  So I looked it up here.  Then we cut.  I used some of my patterns.  He used his imagination.  The 4 year old made confetti.

I strung the finished snowflakes on fishing line and we will hang them in the window.  Mine may look a little "nicer" but his are wonderful.  I will treasure this memory forever.