Posts by: Robin
I find myself in a predicament. I am becoming more and more aware that I have two sides of me. I feel selfish on one side but so limited on the other side.
I call one side my “Pink” side. This is the selfish side. It is the side that wants to only have name brands. I often refer to myself as a “purse snob” or a “name brand snob”. I even shop this way for my kids, like they care. But for some reason this is the way I have been all of my life. I should point out that my parents are not this way. My pink side is also the one that likes unhealthy eating, like soda.
My other side is my “green” side. It is the side that wants to eliminate any harmful chemicals away from my family and myself. It is the side that is raising chickens in an organic manner to have the freshest organic eggs available to my family. It is the side that wants to grow my own organic fruits, vegetables, and herbs. It’s the side of me that is making the necessary changes to eat a whole foods diet and eliminate synthetics from the food we serve at home.
My most recent dose of green, I call it, is trying to limit plastics from our home. If it’s a plastic that is staying I’m trying to make sure its BPA free. This is a harder task than one might think. My kids toys are ALL plastic, except the few I consciously got that are eco-friendly wood or BPA free plastic. This is where the limitations come for us with the green side. My oldest daughter likes only toys that make noise from pushing buttons and if it lights up that’s an added bonus. So I do have to make a few exceptions for her. But overall I can feel better that I have consciously limited the exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.
Pumpkin on her eco-friendly walker
My green side is spreading and it’s bringing my family with it. Not such a bad thing, I know. But, I still want this season’s purse. Maybe I could just speak with my favorite designers and have them use eco-friendly materials. This would be how to keep my two sides from competing with one another.
G is for Giraffe
We went to our local Zoo yesterday evening. There was an exhibit to feed the Giraffes. Pretty much the reason for going really was for this exhibit. My 2 1/2-year-old son LOVES giraffes, he has a giraffe that he sleeps with named “Giraffe”. I ask my son what Giraffe’s name is and the is always “Giraffe” with confidence in his voice.
Bub and Giraffe
My husband took Bub up to feed the giraffe while my daughters and I waited below. We were able to have a great view of the giraffes also. We just did not personally feed them lettuce.
My husband said he thinks the zoo keeper called the giraffe they were feeding “Goris”. My son was so happy to feed the giraffe. We will definitely go back and do this again.
We were also able to see a lioness, a cheetah, lemurs, an elephant (kinda hard to miss), monkeys, and a deer. It was toward sun down when we went so a lot of the animals were not out. We were trying to beat the heat. It was awfully humid but it was worth it.
Cheetah
Our own Monkey I think rather had stayed at home. She played on my phone listening to auto play stories most of the time. But she can’t fool us we saw a few smiles sneak out of her. Teenagers rather be anywhere else than hanging out with their family in public, right? She is no different.
Our Monkey
Another family adventure to keep in our memory books.
I have had three children and none of them came with a manual. I thought manuals were enclosed upon delivery. Nope, not enclosed. I know it has to exist because everyone talks about how they didn’t get one either. I have however heard rumors that there is no parenting manual. Maybe it doesn’t exist? Maybe those perfect moms got their hands on it and they aren’t sharing?
Well look, I want one. So where do I get it? Who publishes it? Who has a copy? Look, I will settle for the troubleshooting section. I NEED the manual.
Why do I want it so bad? Good question. I want to know where the restore button is. The button that lets me start over for times like when I use curse words and don’t want them to become part of my child’s vocabulary.
I mean seriously. I could have used the restore button last night. While I was making dinner I had a little mishap and said “Oh Sh*t!”. Apparently my son was listening because he later repeated it. He didn’t know what it meant because he used it out of context. I asked if he liked dinner and he replied with, “oh sh*t”. He did repeat it several times while we sat at the table eating dinner. But we just ignored it and he moved on. Luckily for me it was a short-lived moment. But I really wish I could find the restore button so I can return my children to their innocent selves before the incidents. Also, I wouldn’t have to live with the guilty mom moments.
I guess I could practice not cursing. I try not to curse in front of my children as it is but I’m not perfect. So I will just keep looking for the manual that makes me the “perfect” mom. When I finally find the manual I will look up the troubleshooting section to erase any wrong moves I have made before. If it were only that easy, right!?
Now I’m off to try to keep my toddler to stay in his big boy bed…Where is that manual?
Pre heat the oven to fun. It is the setting on the oven between a brother and sister letting their imaginations go. I recently purchased a wooden kitchen for the kids to play with while I cook and clean the kitchen. I honestly didn’t expect my 10-month-old daughter to play also. But there she is along with her 2½-year-old brother putting her pretend stew on the stove and cakes in the oven.
With an occasional push from Bub to get his sister out-of-the-way the two of them play pretty well together. The kids play with their pretend kitchen more than any other toy we own lately. This is great, it gives them independent play time and uses their imaginations. Love it!
I try to find things to nurture my children’s imagination because pretend play teaches children important skills. According to a Scholastic article, pretend play builds social and emotional skills, language skills, and thinking skills. Pretend play does not need fancy toys, just an old pair of socks, dolls, wooden spoons, Tupperware, and a telephone that broke (caution: Some old cell phones can still dial emergency numbers even when the service is not connected.).
My children are learning to share while letting their imaginations soar. Did I mention keeps them out of harm’s way from my kitchen too. There are so many great opportunities to let our children’s imagination soar. What do you do to prompt your children’s pretend play?
"STOP!"
My oldest daughter,The Monkey had school today and so I went into town to run some errands. One less child for errands is always my preference so I can get more done in less time.
I am driving up to a red light and hear my 2 1/2-year-old, Bub yell, “STOP!”. I come to a stop as I was already in the process of doing and look back, he has a serious look on his face, then busts into a belly laugh. At this age he finds everything so funny.
We have been working on colors and I couldn’t pass up a teaching opportunity. So I said, “when the light turns green tell me to go.” Bub says, “alright”. He watched the light and when it turned he yells, “GREEN”. I replied to Bub, “Yes, it is green. Does green mean go?” Bub said, “Go”.
We played this game all through out the morning. I would drive up to a red light and he would say “stop”. When I pulled up to a greed light he would say “go”. I would drive up to a yellow light and he would say “yellow”. However, the first yellow light we pulled up to he said, “orange”. He’s right the yellow lights do look orange.
He had hand gestures going for stop and go. Stop he pushed out his hands like the above picture. And for go he would pretend drive with an invisible steering wheel. I have to admit I had fun along with my son playing Back Seat Driver. I look forward to our next outing to see what else we can play/learn together.
Kung Pao, Orange, Lemon Garlic, and Kentucky Fried
Since our family’s recent move out to the country I have been so excited to get chickens. How fun?! Our home has a chicken coop. I originally thought the coop was a dog cage to protect small dogs from the hawks and other predators. This city girl is wrong. It is in fact a chicken coop. We have to build nesting boxes inside but the pen is there.
I did a bit of research for raising chickens from chicks. Although my research took another turn when I was texting with a friend and she informed me she has Ameraucanas. She tells me they lay blue to green eggs. Blue eggs naturally, sign me up. The Ameracauna chicken breed, also known as Easter Egg Chickens, are docile and sweet, yet another reason this breed is a good choice for our family. So I did some calling around locally and found the feed store that is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from us have 1-week-old Polish Ameracaunas.
These chickens will only be used for eggs and as family pets. We are not raising them for their meat. I just can’t imagine myself eating a pet. Might be the city girl in me again, but yep, not going to happen.
Before we went and picked out our new chicks I pulled up pictures online to show the kids. Their reactions were as expected. My son said “oh” with excitement, my oldest daughter seemed to care less, and my youngest pointed at the pictures.
We went and picked out 4 chicks as a family from our local feed store. I was about to buy the brooder starter kit while we were at the feed store but because of the summer climate where we live it just so happens that this is not necessary. The night temperatures do not drop below 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the summer days are up between 100-115 degrees. Although we do not enjoy the high temperatures that summer brings us, we do enjoy not keeping the chicks in the house. They get quite stinky.
We named our pet chickens. Their names are Kung Pao, Orange, Lemon Garlic, and Kentucky Fried. We made our new chicks at home in a medium-sized dog kennel with chicken wire wrapped around it for extra protection. With names like theirs they need the extra protection. And they could escape from between the bars of the kennel so this was necessary for now. They could easily escape the chicken coop that came with our home also so they are at home in the kennel for just a few weeks until they are bigger. By then we will have the nesting boxes in place and they will also be able to run free around our yard during the daylight hours.
We feed them organic only. At four months of age the chickens will start laying farm fresh organic eggs for my family to enjoy. I love that we can go out our back door and get fresh organic eggs every morning.
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