At least one or twice a week, my husband and I hear little footsteps in the dead of night, traversing from across the hall and into our bedroom, with “Mommy, I had a bad dream”. Usually, we are both too exhausted to take them back, so we end up with one (sometimes two) little bodies squeezed in between us. And putting them to bed is even more of an issue, with claims of “Mommy I’m scared”, “Mom I don’t want to be alone” (even if they aren’t alone, “Mommy I have bad dreams” etc etc., making the bedtime ritual stretch out even longer until bone tired Mom is about to pass out on the bunk with them.
So when I saw this product on My Daily Om, I thought, What a clever idea, I wish I thought of it!….followed by… I have to get one!. Formulated by a Mom, this fabulous spray gets rid of those bedtime monsters both physically and psychologically. Physically, because it uses essential oils and works it’s magic through aromatherapy, and psychologically, well, you know. We Moms are all amateur doctors, right?
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Whether it’s on the days leading up to Christmas or on Christmas day itself, after the presents have been open and everyone is stuffed full, happy and needing a good laze on the sofa, one tradition my family loves to do is to watch a Christmas film.
Here are our favourites:
1. It’s a Wonderful Life – No need for introductions here, who doesn’t know the Jimmy Stewart classic that makes me and my husband cry, no fail, every Christmas. Our kids have so far been a little young for this, but this year we’ll be trying it out on Nat (who’s 7 in February).
2. Miracle on 34th Street – This was one of my favourites growing up, and while I think the new version (with the fellow from the Practice) isn’t bad at all, the classic film with Natalie Wood is still the best.
3. The Grinch – My kids like the Jim Carey film and actually watch it all year round, but I prefer the old cartoon – obviously because it’s what I grew up with, and also because the cartoon Grinch is much more charmingly evil than Jim Carey with all that weird makeup.
4. Scrooge – We love musicals, and so this rendition of “A Christmas Carol” is something the kids enjoy too. Lovely old-fashioned songs, the classic Dickens tale, a film we can’t miss watching every year.
5. The Santa Clause (1, 2,3) – Tim Allen makes us all laugh in this household, and the festive effects in all 3 films are pretty wonderful. The modern twist is also fun to watch – and makes my kids wish it would happen to their Dad!
6. A Christmas Story – I love coming-of-age films, and this one is a firm favorite – just the thought of the “leg” lamp in the “fragile” package makes me laugh out loud! Letting the kids see the “olden”, simpler days of the 50′s is also good.
7. A Charlie Brown Christmas – Ok, so my husband who’s not so big on cartoons won’t join us for this one (also because he’s English, so Charlie Brown isn’t really something he grew up with), but I love watching this with the kids for its quiet, jazzy music, old-style humour (you blockhead!) and nostalgic feel. Perfect!
From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!!
Teething Bling
As any Mom (or Grandma, or Aunt) will tell you, babies love jewelry, especially if its hanging from your neck, as they can grab, pull and chomp on it. NOT good if we’re talking about precious gold, bejewelled, fatally-chokeable stuff. GREAT if its bling which the kid can actually chew, tug and and not only will it not break, but it’ll look good on Mom too!
And that’s exactly what the very clever people at Smart Mom made – lovely pendants and bangles which Moms can wear precisely for their babies to chew on. And as a proud owner of an orange pendant and bangle, I can honestly say that baby Wills, LOVES it too. I love love love the idea, especially because of what it’s made of:
“…We use only the highest-quality, phthalate-free, federally approved silicone in our Teething Bling™ line. The material is non-toxic, latex-free, food–safe, even dishwasher-friendly! It is the same silicone used in many other popular teething products and SGS test reports are available upon request. Although we stress that this is adult jewelry not intended for children to wear, all of our pendants come with a breakaway clasp as an added safety feature.”
And best of all, the Moms who made this great product are also giving a part of their proceeds to charity, like Cure Search and Dress for Success.
So if you haven’t thought of a Christmas present for another Mom in your life, or as a treat for yourself, Teething Bling is a fantastic idea.
Madonna's Sprained Ankle
Since my sprained ankle, I’ve been stuck at home for the past three days, trying very hard not to go mad. You see, I’m the kind of person who can’t sit down for more than half an hour at a time (uh-oh, now I know where my daughter gets it). My bottom actually starts hurting and I have to get up and busy myself with something, anything, on my feet. That’s why I love to cook, I find it somewhat gratifying to labour in the kitchen, over a hot stove for hours on end. No stools needed, thanks.
So you can understand that the doctor’s instructions of RICE or Dr.ICE for the past 48 hours has not been fun. Well at least I’ve been able to catch up with my photo album-ing (forget scrapbooking, that was B3K – before 3 kids!) which have been sorely neglected as my husband always likes to point out (he did so admire the book I did for our firstborn).
While the kids are at school and baby Wills is asleep I’ve also managed to catch up on my DVD watching, which has been impossible in recent months (ok, years). Like most other Mothers, we are no doubt at the bottom of the dibs-on-the-tv list- with kiddie shows, sports and even Baby Einstein taking precedence over things like that latest Spanish film with subtitles that make everyone in my household pull faces.
Speaking of television, I’ve also discovered that quite a few celebs have been seen up and around town sporting their sprained ankles, giving me a boost in thinking I can make it to the supermarket this afternoon and look as cool as Madge (pictured above). Poor thing, it happened right before her 50th birthday bash last August too. Another celeb sporting the same injury as moi is one of my daughter’s favourites, Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers fame. Nobody really know how he got it, because like Madonna, they seem to think there’s some reason for secrecy here.
Photo via The Daily Mail
I was watching TV last night – a very rare occurrence to be sure – when I something caught my eye. Oprah was featuring several families who were challenged to change their lifestyle and to live on less what they normally did. The idea appealed to me so I set the remote control down and tuned in.
The idea was for all the members of the family to abide by the rules that Oprah had set. These rules were varied, some of them were to only have 1 hour of television or computer in a day. This included video games. Lights that were not used were to be turned off. The whole family was not to spend on anything except for food. The challenge lasted for a week.
As I watched the footage of the families trying to live up to the challenge, I felt a mixture of emotions run through me. I felt irritation at the children who acted like brats. I found myself blaming the parents for raising their kids that way. Then I felt admiration for them for wanting to live up to the challenge. I felt sad because the kids were miserable without their gadgets and they felt that they didn’t have anything to do. In the end, I felt challenged myself.
The whole idea was more than about living on less. It involved setting limits as a parent and setting a good example. There was this mom who couldn’t control what her children did because she herself could not help but break the rules – she needed to shop online. She needed to watch a movie.
I realized more than ever that raising kids is such a huge responsibility. We cannot afford to spoil them and let them do whatever they want if we want them to be responsible adults. Again, teaching by example is something that we all have to do.
Photo via freefotouk
It is allergy season indeed and if your kids – or even you and your spouse – have seasonal allergies, then you know how difficult this time of the year can be. I ran across a really old article on ABCNews detailing some common misconceptions about allergies. I was surprised to read a couple myths that I thought were actually true!
Air purifiers help – I really thought they did! After all, if the air inside the house is clean, it would lessen allergy attacks, right? Based on that article, pollen is NOT removed by air purifiers. I honestly didn’t know that. So if anyone at home is allergic to pollen, having an air purifier will not do much good.
Another myth that I re-discovered is that cold medication helps. Deep in my mind I know that in a sense they really do help alleviate the symptoms but also that they do not really address the issue. No matter how many different types of cold medication you take, if you are allergic to something and you are not dealing with the source of allergy, then guess what, the cold will be there for quite some time!
Some people may take allergies lightly but as parents, this is one thing that we cannot afford to do. There have been studies highlighting the negative impact of allergic reactions on children. More than the physical aspect, chronic allergic reactions could have adverse psychological effects on children as well.
What do you do to deal with your child’s allergies?
If you remember my last entry, I was musing on the fact that children should be taught how to help out at home. In my point of view, it is never too early to teach children how to handle responsibility. More4kids, a blog on parenting, has an entry on various chores you can start your children on and I agree with almost all of them. Let’s talk about a few that I think are the most feasible and productive.
I think that at the toddler stage, it would be perfect to start teaching our kids responsibility. More4kids outlines various chores such as:
-picking up toys
-helping with the laundry
-watering plants
-feeding pets
-cleaning the floor.
I personally like the first one best. Children these days have tons of playthings. Making it a point to have them clean up and put away whatever they play with is a very good start in instilling a sense of responsibility in our children. Learning at this early stage would make it easier for them to take on larger tasks as they grow older.
So when they get out of the toddler stage, what other activities can they start doing? I think that making their own beds is a must. Tidying up their own rooms should be another “have to.” Also, I think watering the plants and helping out in the garden (if you have one) should start at this age as the activity would be more suitable for older kids. Walking the dog (perhaps with an adult) is also a good way to get kids outdoors. Of course, doing the dishes and setting the table should be thrown in there as well (I know, I really don’t like these chores).
How about you? How are you teaching your children responsibility through house chores?
“My tummy hurts!” That was my perpetual excuse from my childhood years to my teenage years. This usually happened right after we had lunch or dinner together as a family. What triggered it? I didn’t want to do the dishes.
It is a bit humorous when I think about it but now that I am no longer a child, I realize the importance of teaching our children how to do basic house chores. We were not rich but we were comfortable. Our parents taught us everything around the house – from doing the dishes to doing the laundry and even basic plumbing and electrical work!
Today, I realize that not many children know how to do even the most basic of household work. I was talking to a friend of mine about this and he said that he does not care whether or not his children help out at home as long as they did well in school – that was their job. I do see where he is coming from but I also know that I prefer my children to know how to take care of themselves in the house.
I was reading this blog post on Mum-Mum, a web site dedicated to kids and parenting, which aggregates blog posts from all over the web (yep, they do link to our posts, too – thanks!). I like how the writer outlined different chores that children of all ages could do at home. Maybe I’ll talk more about specific chores for kids in the next post.
This morning, when I got back home from dropping N at kindergarten, I came home to find Jennyfer, our nanny, suddenly scream out and start weeping.
We rushed to her, only to find that she had received word from her sister, that her baby neice had died today. Tragic and sad, but whats worse is that the same sister had a four-year old who also passed away a few years ago, and the most likely reason for both deaths was poverty.
When I spoke to Jennyfer and asked her what had brought this tragedy about, she simply said that her sister and family simply did not have enough money to see a doctor, to buy medicine, and in recent weeks did not even have enough for rice.
I was mortified, asking her why didn’t she ask us for help? That of course we would help her family if only she has told us. In between sobs she just looked shyly at me, obviously grief-stricken and even a little ashamed.
Jennyfer’s family, you see, live in the province of Leyte in the Philippines, and she supports her 9 siblings and parents, being the only one with a job at 22 years of age. Jobs and affordable or free medical help are rare in the area, and sadly, many children and infants die an early death.
On the upside, infant mortality rates in the Philippines have declined a little, by around 2% since 2003 – with 22.81 deaths for every 1,000 births. Nevertheless, it was with a heavy heart that I gave her some money to send back to her sister this morning, money for the funeral and some rice, wishing that we could have somehow helped save this child’s life.
What is it about germs that make them spread like wildfire, especially with kids? While we were at hospital Dr.J warned me to try and refrain from getting too close to O, and not kissing him or sharing drinks, food and so on. Was she insane? Did she think I would stay at an arm’s length of my son who was in hospital for the first time? Bring on the outbreak and let me kiss my baby.
By the next morning, O had started to recover fast. After finishing his bowl of clear soup, he moved on to some white bread (I made the exception because of the circumstances), and by lunchtime, he was up and about, roaming the pediatric ward while I held his I.V. drip.
Big sis came to visit with Grandma, and despite more stay-away warnings from Dr.J, she promptly jumped into the hospital bed with her little brother (to his delight!) snuggeling to watch the Playhouse Disney channel, which we don’t get at home. Being the affectionate (well, sometime) bis sister that she is, I think she felt sorry for her little brother (with a needle and tube stuck on his hand, no less) and wouldn’t stop hugging and kissing him. When it was time for Grandma to take her to lunch at the mall she refused to leave and eventually was persuaded to go downstairs to the hospital cafeteria.
By the following day, you can guess what happened. O was nearly back to his old cheery self, my daughter was vomiting and I had diarrhea.
[tags]outbreak, hospital, virus[/tags]
