What's for dinner?

What’s For Dinner?

When I was a child, this was the first question I asked of my parents when I saw them after school. You know what? That’s now my kids’ first question for me! Then comes the response of either “yes” or “oh no…not again” or “I hate that”. Now I have to admit, I am a picky eater myself so I tend to try to please the kids and sometimes find myself making two different things at dinner time. But how do you handle having picky eaters in your family?

Here are some tips that I found:

The first step is to eliminate any health problems by talking with your doctor.
Don’t discuss eating habits or problems at or around meal time.
Limit your child’s eating time to 20 minutes. If they don’t eat their food in 20 minutes, chances are that they won’t eat it at all.
Include your picky eater in meal planning. Use a children’s cook book and let them help prepare food.
Praise your child when they try small amounts of new food or foods they don’t like.
Make meal time fun by providing an occasional smorgasbord of favorite foods.

Most importantly, eat together as a family as often as possible and enjoy that time together.

Read the entire article here.

Make time for family fun!

My family has now settled into the new routine at home with the kids back in school and our fall activities in full swing. I’m always ready to get back in to a routine after summer, however; sometimes we find ourselves a little ‘over-booked’. Have you ever found yourself in that same situation? We have girl scouts, gymnastics, cheerleading, basketball, after school activities ….and don’t forget the PTA events and birthday parties! Whew! I get tired just thinking about it. We all know that we should pick only a few activities at a time for our kids but how do we pick the activities? I found some good tips that I thought I would share.

· Variety is the spice of life. Young children seldom need to specialize in their interests. No matter how much your son loves soccer, playing it year-round and on more than one team at a time is overkill. If you truly want to expose your children to a variety of activities, choose a sport, something in the arts (music, dance, drama), and something that stresses socialization and personal relationships (clubs, scouts). Being able to jump from one focus to another is something kids are easily able to do and the variety is good for them.

· Attention young jocks: One sport at a time. There are some children who seem to thrive on sports and won’t stop joining teams until you hide their water bottles. Playing more than one sport in a season forces children and parents to race from one practice or game to another, or one of their commitments is going to get short shrift. Tell your child that in order to be a good team member, he can’t divide his time between two sports.

· Rec vs club activities. Community-based, recreational activities are often more low-key, less intense, less costly and require less time commitment than private clubs. Travel and club sports teams, and independent organizations that are operated as businesses are often more competitive and require more commitment from your child.

Before you sign your child up with a gymnastics club, dance studio, or club sports team, carefully research what is expected of you, both financially and in time commitment. Out-of-town tournaments and competitions, uniforms, fundraising and other ventures are often expensive and affect the entire family. Be sure your family can handle the commitment in addition to the other things your children are involved in.

· Reserve some time for free play. Don’t forget that your children are children. They still need time to hang out, play with their friends, goof off and even get bored once in a while. Before you sign them up for a new activity, look at their schedules. If they’re running from one thing to another, eating dinner on the fly, and there are no empty spots on their schedule, start to pull back and let them have some time that isn’t committed to an organized activity.

Article by Diane Laney Fitzpatrick. Read entire article Here

Toddler Rules of Possession

My soon-to-be 10 month old is really developing a personality now that she is mobile and she knows what she wants when she wants it! She can be quite entertaining to watch when she decides she wants something.


She reminded me of the ‘Toddler Rules of Possession’ that I have always loved so I thought I would share. Enjoy!



1. If I like it, it's mine.


2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.


3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.


4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.


5. If it's mine, it must NEVER appear to be yours in anyway.


6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.


7. If it looks just like mine, it is mine.


8. If I saw it first, it's mine.


9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.


10. If it's broken, it's yours.