The Mediocre Mom's Guide to Greatness

Thursday April 28th, 2010

Today’s Activity:

Take a deep breath and enjoy a moment with your children.

Note:

This activity is brought to you by today’s story time:

“Speeding through your whole trip will bring only sorrow.  So slow down today to be happy tomorrow.” (I Knew You Could by Craig Dorfman)

Evaluate:

While cleaning up Elese’s room I took a moment to listen to her tell me about her dress up dolls.  Then after a very hectic attempt at making a good dinner and after spilling half it down my lap I had to run to the bank and then the store for one last ingredient.  Max stayed home with Grandma but Elese tagged along.  I just kept thinking about how I was so embarrassed to go into the store with spilled red sauce on my pants because I hadn’t had time to change…then I looked in the rear-view mirror to see my sweet little chatter box, took a deep breath, and was suddenly calmed down by her endless, completely trivial, chatter.  After that I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I love her and that I needn’t rush through life because she will remember mommy taking the time to let her push the buttons at the self checkout WAY more than she will remember that the new recipe I tried tonight wasn’t perfect.

Tags: enjoy, Relax, slow down
Posted in Quick Activities, parenting | No Comments »

Friday April 16th, 2010

Today’s Activity:

Give your little ones rewards today for good behavior and doing their chores without complaining.

Note:

This is a great way to use up all that left over Easter Candy.

Evaluate:

My kids respond very well to treat rewards.  Max has been struggling with flushing the toilet and Elese has been struggling with wiping so we started giving them a Starburst each time they remember on their own.  It’s worked so well that they are flushing and wiping about 5 times an hour.  We started only giving them only one starburst an hour so we could conserve some water.  So today I had them clean the front room and they jumped at the opportunity when I told them there would be an award.  They were thrilled when I pulled out the candy jar.

Tags: left over Easter Candy, rewards, treats
Posted in Quick Activities, parenting | No Comments »

Tuesday April 6th, 2010

Today’s Activities:

Take a moment to just sit and watch cartoons with your children.  Be sure not to have any distractions.  Just sit with them and enjoy time together.

Note:

So many times we just let them watch whatever they want so it is good to occasionally watch it with them so you know what types of things they are watching.  You might just discover where they have learned all their facts about dinosaurs or possibly some good or bad behaviors.

Evaluate:

When Max was very young (just over one) my husband introduced him to the Batman, Superman, and Justice League cartoons and he watched them ALL the time.  I wasn’t thrilled about this because violence is violence even in cartoon form but I lost out on that argument.  However as Max got a little older I started noticing changes in his behavior and I connected them to these cartoons (and xbox).  At that point we made the rule that he could only watch these cartoons or play xbox on Fridays.  Remarkably his attitudes completely changed and most Friday’s he doesn’t even think about watching cartoons because he would rather play.  Now when he occasionally watches these show’s it has no effect on his behavior.  I enjoyed watching some Justice League with him today and it brought back memories of him saying “Dabadooo” which was the way he said Superman and also naming all the characters in the credits when he was only 1 1/2. I do believe I have a future comic book geek on my hands.  This experience also made me grateful that we realized that it was the constant cartoon watching that was affecting his attitude and we were able to easily fix the problem.

Tags: behavior, cartoons, indoor, TV
Posted in Quick Activities, parenting | No Comments »

Saturday March 6th, 2010

Today’s Activity:

Take a child on a date.  This could be anything from dinner and a movie to going shoe shopping.  Just be sure to do something that they will enjoy.

Note:

Be sure to take a child that you didn’t take last time.

Evaluate:

This is always my favorite thing to do.  The kids appreciate it so much and it helps me focus just on them.  Today I was able to sneak in a “date” with both of them.  First I took Max ice skating all by himself.  He was really getting pretty good…well…at least not so scared to let go of the wall and fall now and then.  I’m pretty sure his favorite part was just laying there while I would put on and take off his skates.  Then I took Elese out to dinner.  She talked the entire time.  To tell you the truth I don’t really know what she was talking about most of the time but I loved just being with her.  After we got home the three of us watched the Tinkerbell movie together.

Tags: date, one-on-one time
Posted in Average Length Activities, parenting | No Comments »

Monday March 1st, 2010

Month Goal Evaluation:

I just wanted everyone who left comments to know that I really appreciate hearing about what you have been doing with your kids.  Sometimes I feel like I’m just going through the motions so that I will have something to post so reading what you are doing really inspires me to enjoy my children more.  Although the contest is over I would love to continue to hear about the fun things you are doing with your children.  I will announce the winner on tomorrows post.

March Month Goal:

This month I want us to focus on giving our children choices.  The idea is that if you give them lots of choices about things that don’t matter, like “Would you like to go to bed in 2 minutes or 3 minutes?” then when you have to lay down the law and say, “Time for bed now” it is easier for them to deal with.  If they happen to put up a fuss then you simply say, “Didn’t I give you lot’s of choices today?  (You could even mention some of the choices that you gave them)  Well right now it’s my turn make the choice.”  If the three minutes are up and it’s time for bed and they throw a fit you can say, “Oh, honey, but it was your choice to go to bed in 3 minutes and it’s been three minutes.”  Pay close attention as you try doing this because you should notice fewer tantrums because they will feel like they have some control.

Today’s Activity:

Sit nearby and watch your children play.

Note:

Don’t really play with them; just observe them as they use their imagination or social skills.

Tags: indoor, observe, play
Posted in Monthly Goal, Quick Activities, parenting | 2 Comments »

Thursday February 4th, 2010

Monthly Goal:

So after some snapping, yelling I was forced to sit down and watch the Justice League with the kids.  They were extremely whinny today and the only way to get them to calm down was to sit with them.  Although it was by necessity, the nice thing I did today was sit and watch cartoons with my kids.

Come on ladies!  Who couldn’t use an extra $25 GC and a little bit of recognition?  Check this out if you don’t know what I’m talking about!

Today’s Activity:

I suppose this doesn’t really constitute as an activity but it will make things around your home more fun.  Rather than just telling your children to clean up their room or do their chores turn it into a race by telling them to see if they can be done before you finish singing the ABC’s.

Note:

Feel free to choose another song depending on how long it will take them to finish the chore.  You could also see if they could finish before you sing it 3 times.  Do your best to let them win this game because then they will want to play it more often.

Evaluation:

I’ve been doing this a lot lately and it’s been working really well.  For the most part the kids get excited about trying to finish as quick as possible.  I have noticed that setting a timer seems to be more effective than singing, at least for my kids.  Today it took them 10 times through the ABC’s but mostly because they would stop cleaning and just sing with me, then about 30 seconds later the house was a mess again.  Thus the lack of a photo, when I turned around from grabbing the camera to take an after photo the house was just as messy as before.

RECOGNITION:

Tracy spent some one on one time with her niece, did laundry, and helped her husband with his homework.

Hannah snuggled with her kiddos while watching a movie and she LOVED it!

Way to go ladies!  Not only did you get an entry into our drawing but you also made the day very special for the ones you love most!

Tags: chores, game, indoor, race
Posted in Quick Activities, parenting | No Comments »

Parenting Tip

I’m not sure this is kosher for me to just copy this from an email but I’m going to do it anyway.  I’ve signed up for the Love and Logic weekly emails and this is one that I really need to hear.  It’s about Threats and Warnings.  I am too often like the first mother in this example when I know I should be more like the second mother.  I am paying for it with a daughter that gets out of bed up to 10 times before going to sleep and then at least two times in the night because she wakes up and her “toes are poking out” of her blankets.

To read about today’s activity click here.  To sign up for the love and logic weekly emails (I HIGHLY recommend it) go here.

Threats and Warnings

Dear Becky,

Little Cleo looked out of the corner of her eye at her Mom with one of those testing looks, then pushed her child sized grocery cart into the legs of her sister.

“Quit that,” warned Mom. “I’ve warned you about that three times already. If you do it again I’m going to take it away!”

Three minutes later Cleo was doing it again.

“Cleo, I said no,” yelled Mom. “Now you stop it! You’re going to be in big trouble! How many times do I have to tell you?”

Ten minutes later, I saw Mom still making threats. I’m not sure she was aware of Cleo’s sly little grin.

During the same trip, I watched another Mom dealing with the same problem. There were no threats.

“Willie, you know better than that. Follow me.” She calmly walked to the front of the store with her son trailing behind.

“Leave your cart with the others here. You can try it again next time we’re in the store.”

“But, Mom. I’ll be good. I promise.”

“I’m sure you will next time we shop.”

A sobbing little Willie followed his mom through the store.

Let’s all give Willie’s mother a big hand. And let’s give Cleo’s mom a moment of silence. The threats and warnings may still be going on while we read this.

Thanks for reading,
Jim Fay

Tags: love and logic, threats and warnings
Posted in parenting | No Comments »