Tag Archives: toddlers

Busy Mom’s Favorites {Quiet Time Activities for Kids}

I remember when my first son was really small and I would look forward to his naptime so that I could have a break and grab a shower. I remember the joy that I felt when he finally settled into 2 naps a day: the glorious 2 hour nap in the morning and the wonderful hour nap right before dinner. I also remember the terror and fear that struck my heart when he switched to one nap a day and then the disappointment when he stopped napping altogether.

When boy #2 arrived it was the same roller coaster of emotions. When he started showing signs of giving up naps I knew that I needed to find something that would let me have a few moments during the day to regain my sanity and something that would help my boys get the rest and downtime they needed. Quiet time activities were the answer!

Quiet Time Activities for Your Non-Napping Children

When my boys stopped napping I knew that they still needed time to rest during the day even if they didn’t need to sleep. I came up with a list of things that they could do in their rooms quietly for an hour while I had some time to get some work done or occasionally get some rest myself.

Audiobooks are our favorite quiet time activity. My boys love listening to the stories and the thing that I love is that I can tell them to listen to X number of chapters or the whole thing before they get up or come out of their room. This keeps them from coming out or yelling down the hall every 5 minutes “Is it time to get up yet?”. Here are some of our favorite audiobooks:

Other activities that work well for quiet time:

Making the Transition to Quiet Time

My boys usually listen to an audiobook in their beds for about and hour and then get up and play quietly in their room for another hour. It took some time to get to this point. If your children are really young or new to quiet time you may need to start in smaller increments and work your way up to your desired amount of time. Use a timer so that you child won’t have to ask you every minute if quiet time is over. Also make sure that everyone has had lunch and some time to run around and burn off some energy before starting quiet time.

Here are a few other tips to help you get started:

A baby gate is a helpful for little ones so that they don’t leave their room. It gives them a safe, structured place to play.
Be consistent: if you are going to transition to quiet time, stick to it. Don’t allow your children to argue or negotiate with you.
Rotate activities so that your children don’t get bored. Have things that only come out during quiet time or maybe have a scheduled rotation.

Do you have any favorite activities or tips to add to this list? What do your non nappers do?

Teaching Our Kids About Honor

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Yesterday, I was in a grocery store with my daughter. She was glancing at magazine covers as we unloaded our cart contents onto the conveyor belt. Aside from the usual gossip magazine covers, I noticed that several major magazines had lead stories about young people (and a few not-so-young people) who were making the most of their celebrity status—by behaving foolishly.

A magazine cover indicates a certain sort of honor, doesn’t it? That’s what my young daughter assumes.

Have you ever wondered why it’s important that we use wisdom in giving honor? You don’t have to look much farther than the newspaper and national media to figure out that we’re not exercising much discernment in bestowing honor these days. Here’s who we are currently elevating to “celebrity” status:

Athletes whose lives off the field are a wreck
Pastors who have a “following” but lack personal integrity
Reality TV personalities
Bloggers (hello!)
Actors
Musicians

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying that these people are not worth of honor. But honestly? It’s not hard to see we have a problem where honor is concerned in our culture. The Bible has a lot to say about the importance of bestowing honor.

As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.

In Romans 13:7, Paul instructs us to give honor to whom honor is due. When we honor people such as athletes simply based on their skill and ignore their personal lives, we do everyone a disservice. When we honor celebrities who clearly have huge moral deficits, what message are we sending to our children?

I believe the message is clear: we’re telling our kids that as long as they can produce something that other people want (like a winning touchdown), all bets regarding their behavior are off. There’s no clear solution on the horizon, either. As a culture, we need to do a better job of honoring those to whom honor is due. Christian or not, behavior matters.

As parents, this translates into everyday life with our children. When we praise our children for their achievements regardless of their behavior, we’re not doing them any favors. Praise them for their integrity, courage, kindness, respect and honesty. Let’s help our children to make wise choices by making wise choices ourselves. When we honor the wise choices they make, we are teaching our children what is worthy of praise.

Where Is the “Easy” Button for Parenting?

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Did you ever sing The Bear Hunt song at school? I remember it well. See if this brings back any memories:

(Leader)
We’re going on a bear hunt!
(Group)
We’re going on a bear hunt!

We’re gonna catch a big one!
We’re gonna catch a big one!
I’m not afraid!
I’m not afraid!

As a third grader, I loved this form of adventure. It was a way to get the wiggles out while pretending to be brave for that cute boy with the messy hair and big blue eyes who sat two desks behind me.

The other day, I was talking with my friend about mothering. We were laughing about the ups and downs of every day life when the conversation turned to the difficulties of homeschooling. Eventually, we landed on the topic of raising children. So many of us spend money and time looking for that perfect solution for raising kids. Surely there must be an easier way. Last night when I was reflecting on our conversation, it came back to me. “This journey of parenting is a little like going on that bear hunt,” I thought. I couldn’t remember the whole thing, but after a little time on Google, I found it. I recalled repeating after my teacher as she said:

Oh, no! ” ”
It’s a big puddle of mud ” ”
Can’t go around it ” ”
Gotta go right thru it ” ”
Yeuk! ” ”
Well, let’s go.
Squish, Sqwish, Blaaahh.

Squish. Blaaaaaah. Are you struggling a strong-willed child? Maybe you are at odds with your teen. Squish. Plod. Can’t go around it. Can’t go over it. Can’t go under it. Gotta go through it. Sound familiar? It’s easy to think that if we just put our kids in school, our lives would be easier. Maybe, if we had more money or if our child was more obedient—or maybe less strong willed—life would be easier.

Precious mom, don’t think for a moment that this journey you’re on as a mother is only about the children you’re raising. I assure you; it’s as much about you as it is about your children. Parenting is the hardest, best thing that most of us will ever do. It’s not easy.

If you’re struggling today, don’t lose hope! Parenting isn’t supposed to be easy! It’s the struggle that’s teaching us! The journey is filled with challenges, both big and small: not unlike that Bear Hunt from so long ago …

We’re coming to a wide river ” ” (my child is strong-willed)
And there’s no bridge going over it ” ” (no book is going to fix it)
No tunnel going under it ” ” (there’s no way to ignore it)

If you feel overwhelmed by the many responsibilities and pressures of parenting, , know that you don’t have to go it alone. Those who love you won’t feel burdened by listening to you and helping you along in your journey. I can almost hear my friend Margaret talking to me as we dealt with our first fevers, fussy toddlers, school, adolescence, and finally adult children. I’m a “Mamsi” now—and I can’t wait to hold my grown daughter’s hand as she begins to cross the wide, wide river …

It’s just plain old water ” ”
And we’re gonna have to swim ” ”
All right, dive in!
Start swimming
Do the back stroke
Do the side stroke
Do the doggie paddle
Try the little cat paddle
OK Jump out, shake yourself off

Parenting is hard. There is no “easy button” for it—and that’s okay. It’s one of the reasons we need each other. It’s one of the reasons we crave relationship. We were created for relationship. We need to know we’re not alone.

Shhh, it’s a cave ” ”
Looks like the kind of cave that B-bears live in ” ”
I don’t know if I want to go in there
You think we oughta go in?
Are you nuts?
There’s probably a bear in there

Parenting requires both perseverance and authenticity. We need each other. As we go through the struggles of parenting, hopefully, we’re growing too. Are you helping that new mom or the mom who is struggling through a problem you have faced?

All right I’ll go in, You stay here,
And if I find a bear, I’ll come out and get you
And we’ll all go in and grab him together

The next time you see an exhausted mom sleeping through “Mommy and Me” class or posting about having too much laundry to do, encourage her! Since there is no “Easy Button” for this journey, we had better stick together.

I’ll come out and get you—we’ll all go in and do this thing … together.

Group hug,

The Gift of a Terrible Two!

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Brianna was only two years old, and I was so proud of my girl. She was the kind of toddler that did everything right. She never yelled, “NO!” She obeyed quickly. She was a happy little girl who wanted to please those around her, and she loved everyone. I decided that it was because I had done everything right. We were faithfully disciplining her, I was a stay at home mom, we had family bible time. Yes. I was doing it right, and the fruit of my rightness was an obedient two year old. The two’s don’t have to be terrible! I would say with self-confidence.

Then I gave birth to my second child.

Things started out in a similar fashion as they did with my first child. He was a happy, content baby. We started disciplining him early. I was a stay at home mom and he was included in Bible time. Our daughter was three years old and loved her little brother. Things were going well.

Then he turned two…

I’m not sure what happened on the second birthday of my second born, but my “the “twos” don’t have to be terrible” theory was slowly becoming a fallacy! The “twos” were terrible! They were awful! I would look at my husband and ask, “What are we doing wrong?” He would shake his head and say, “I don’t know!” I began to wonder if I would ever enjoy being a mother again.

“...God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5

I was a prideful mommy, and God was using my son to humble me!

Twenty years later I can see very clearly what was happening, but in the moment I was desperate for help. I am so thankful for the gift of a “terrible two” because it was exactly what this girl needed to be humbled. It’s the very thing that I needed to begin the process of learning that I can really only do so much. God has to work in the heart of my child. He has made individuals, not robots that respond to the “do’s and don’ts” of parenting!

God has made each child to be an individual. In some ways that makes it a little harder for us as parents, because there’s really no cookie cutter way of parenting. But if we allow it to, it forces us to drop to our knees and pray for continual guidance on how to direct each child. I have found that as I view my children as individuals, I am learning to appreciate them for the unique people that God has made them to be. I learn to love them in a deeper way as I get to know them as people…not just my kids.

Ask yourself some questions:

Do I view my children as the kids that I need to parent, or as individuals I have the privilege of getting to know?
Do I consult parenting books (which CAN be very helpful.) more than I do God and His Word, about the children He created and gave me?
When I give parenting advice, do I automatically share all that I have done as a parent, or do I encourage others to pray and ask God to lead them as individuals?
When people give me compliments about my children, do I take the credit or do I give God the glory for anything good that is seen?
Am I allowing God to use my children in MY life? Do I see that God is using them in my life to mold me into His image just as much as he is using me in their life?

Yes. Our children are individuals. Unique. Precious people. I am a better person having known my children. I sometimes feel that I have learned much, much more from them than they have learned from me! I am so thankful that God has given me 24 years of pointing these two precious people to their Savior!

And now that they are completely grown, if you see anything good in them, the verse that I will share with you is this one:

“…all that we have accomplished HE has done for us.” Isaiah 26:12

10 Things to Do At the Park

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One of my favorite places to hang out with my boys is the park. Living in Florida means that it’s usually warm enough to go outside all the time. While the playground equipment provides a lot of fun for my boys, I have found that there are many other things to do at the park that are just as fun {and sometimes educational}.

10 Things to Do with Your Kids at the Park

1. Have a picnic: On a really nice day pack up lunch and head to the park. I have an old comforter in my trunk that we use for our picnics at the park. One days when we just need to get out and get some fresh air a picnic can be just what we need.

2. Read a book: This one goes well with #1. When we have a picnic at the park I always take something to read. I will read to my boys while they eat their lunches. Sometimes it’s something for school (a history book) and sometimes it’s whatever read aloud we are working on. I also take something to read by myself while my boys play.

3. Take a nature walk: My boys love to explore and this year we are taking more time for nature walks. When we are at a park I try to take a 10-15 minutes when we first get there or right before we leave to go on a nature walk. We walk around the park and observe nature. We look for plants and animals. One year we visited the same park every week and we got to watch as ducklings hatched and grew. My boys also found a tadpole pond and we were able to watch the transformation from tadpole to frog.

4. Art: My boys love to paint and create and make messes. The park is a great place for this because there’s no mess in your house to clean up. My boys love watercolors and chalk pastels so these are usually what we take with us to the park. They get to draw or paint things that they see at the park or whatever pops into their heads. This can also be a great tie in with nature walks. Sometimes my boys will draw something that we found on our walk.

5. Fly a kite: My boys love to fly kites! Sadly I take after Charlie Brown when it comes to kite flying. But the park is a great place for kite flying. There’s lots of open space and grass to run. And if you need some help there’s usually someone there to help you out.

6. Target practice: My boys love to shoot things. We have cap guns, swords, nerf guns and archery sets everywhere. There really isn’t much room in our tiny apartment for my boys to really have fun with these toys so from time to time we take our armory to the playground.

7. Games: Re-live your childhood by playing some of your favorite games (hide-n-seek, red rover, tag, etc). My boys love to play hide and seek at the park because there are so many places to hide. If you have a big group of people red rover can be a lot of fun. My boys are always asking me for new games to play with kids at the park.

8. Ball Game: Grab those soccer balls, footballs and baseballs when you head to the park. Take advantage of the extra space to run and play and the extra kids to add to the fun!

9. Climb Trees: My boys love to climb trees. Every time that we go to a new park they run around looking for trees to climb. I love watching them climb like monkeys. Our favorite park has many trees and I love watching as my boys get older and are able to climb more trees.

10. Have fun: Get out there and play with your kids! My boys love it when I slide and climb and run around with them at the park.

What are some of your favorite things to do at the park?

Triple Threat For Raising Boys

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If someone had told me years ago that we would end up with five boys, I don’t think I would have believed them! Right now our boys are 19, 16, 15, 13 and 9 (we also have 3 girls). They are all unique with varying temperaments and personalities.

If you are reading this, there’s a good chance that you have been blessed with one or more of these amazing little or young men! I say amazing because I am constantly floored at how God has so obviously created them very different from women. In general, we don’t think the same or have the same responses as they do. They have an insatiable need to conquer, sometimes to the detriment of their own safety. For example: If a girl gets hurt doing an activity, usually she doesn’t do it again. If a boy gets hurt he tends to repeat the activity. The temptation is to think our boys are just dumb for doing this. The truth is they are trying to figure out a way to do this thing BETTER (without getting hurt) re-doing it until they CONQUER it! This is the stuff that makes history…new inventions, better ways of life, new worlds explored. It’s a gift, moms!

I’m not going to lie…that “gift” has put many gray hairs on my head and probably shortened my life by several years. Numerous trips to ER, near heart attacks (for me), adrenaline rushes, and sleepless nights. But the flip side is that I have come to appreciate and respect the God-given nature of men. I’ve learned a lot about how to embrace it and encourage our sons in the way that they are created.

Here are three things that I have learned (and have to remind myself) of what boys need. I used 3 “B’s” to make it easier:

BREVITY: Keep your words to a minimum. Boys aren’t generally good at taking in a lot of words and there are tons of studies out there to prove it. Somehow, we think if we say more, it becomes more meaningful, but the opposite is true: they tune us out. I remember last year, I was REALLY frustrated with all of our boys on the whole. I spent at least an hour telling my husband all about it. Afterward, he looked at me and very sweetly said that I use TOO many words! The more words I use, the less the boys respect me. Respect is crucial in keeping their hearts. Keep the conversations and confrontations simple and clean! Boys are pretty good at handling ‘blunt’. They often prefer it.

Which brings me to the next point:

BOUNDARIES: It is very important that our boys KNOW what the boundaries are. When I say it’s important, it means that, in general, boys will test the boundaries REPEATEDLY (there’s that conquering nature again) to be SURE that they are still in tact. There are days this feels like relentless torture as moms because, if we love our sons, we WILL hold that ground. (Proverbs 13:24, 23:13-15, 22:15, 29:17, 19:18) Truth is, most boys learn the quickest through painful consequences. Find out what their currency is and use it to motivate them (either by taking it away or rewarding with it) There ARE times I have realized that a boundary I am holding to isn’t a hill worth dying on after all. God has used the persistence of our sons to teach me better priorities. I have also learned when I am not enjoying our kids at least 80% of the time, it’s usually because I have failed to keep the boundaries clear and intact.

BLOW-OFF: Boys are generally high energy and if that energy is not fairly well-directed, they will pretty much dismantle the house, board by board. Using a routine that incorporates chores and physical activity (especially outside) is very helpful. Boys are amazingly capable. When they “conquer” new skills and we praise them for it, they are more responsive to us in general. When our boys become too ranbunctious I make them jump on the trampoline for 10 minutes, run around the outside of the house ten times, do push ups or give them a chore like weeding, shoveling snow, sweeping the deck, chopping wood, etc.

It can be challenging raising sons, but the investment you make into your boys’ manhood will come back to you many fold. As ours are approaching adulthood, I often find them being my greatest allies and defenders. They seem proud to call me “mom” and I pray that will always be true.

“The choices, loves, and beliefs of a boy’s mother craft his character. Mothers are a powerful presence in their sons lives. This knowledge shouldn’t frighten us; it should motivate us. Boys need more of their mothers in order to be greater men. And any mother who follows her maternal instincts, examines her own motivations, and does the best she can, will be a good mother. Boys don’t need perfection; they just need you there.” -Meg Meeker

What’s For Lunch: The Best List of Lunches

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Lunch time. Personally, I find the daily “what’s for lunch” question much more difficult than “what’s for dinner”. Lunch is, well, a challenge. Although it’s yummy, I want to feed my children something more than the standard sandwich and chips option. However, I don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen. And neither do you, right?

On an average day, the breakfast mess isn’t cleared until after 9am. Then, in order to get supper on the table at a decent hour, prep begins around 3:30. With errands and homeschool lessons in between, that doesn’t leave much time for a satisfying, thoughtful lunch. So what to do?

As with any successful endeavor, a good lunch starts with a good plan…and a heavy dose of reality! As much as I would love to make an original lunch for my children every day, I know that’s not feasible with our schedule. So rather than overwhelm myself and create extra work, I do my best to fix a crowd-pleasing lunch once a week. No more, no less. The other days of the week we alternate between sandwiches, leftovers, breakfast foods, and sometimes soup.

But what to fix? <insert eye roll> I used to run out of ideas often. That’s why I started to keep a running list of lunch ideas (Evernote is great for this!). Today, I’m going to share some with you. The recipes below run the gambit, from easy, interesting sandwiches, to crock pot and freezer meals and everything in between. They are all sure to help break you out of your lunch rut. Bookmark your favorite ideas and plan a great lunch this week!