Ways to reuse baby wipes containers

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Next to gallon ice cream buckets, baby wipes containers are one of my favorite things to reuse.  I should say “were” because I haven’t bought one in years, though I still have a lot of them around the house storing various items.  The gallon ice cream buckets on the other hand, well new ones seem to still find their way into my house.

Just a quick look around my house and I found a few examples of baby wipe containers put to other uses.  I am a visual kind of girl, so I included some pics.

Reuse Baby wipe containersDSC01641

 

  • I like to keep a stash of art supplies in my office for the girls.  This may be the most popular way to reuse wipe containers.

 

 

 

  •  Card games and flash cards!  Lets be honest, the rubber band, box, whatever is suppose to keep them together never seems to get back on them.

 

 

reuse baby wipe container

 

 

  • There are just some baby toys worth holding on to for those occasions when a little one comes to visit.  I loved the linking rings when the girls where little.  Old wipe containers are super useful for storing them and other toys with lots of pieces!

 

While handy, my uses are not as crafty as many out there.  Below are links to two other sites with some great ideas and pictures to boot!

Pop Sugar – 9 Crafty Uses For Baby-Wipes Containers

Babble – 24 Awesome Ways to Reuse Baby Wipes Containers

Here’s to the not so clean parent!

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Pacifier finders credit to the twins

Pacifier finders credit to the twins

Finally a voice of reason is shouting out to us parents who believe exposure to everyday germs is not such a bad thing.  Earlier this week the journal of Pediatrics published a study “Pacifier Cleaning  Practices and the Risk of Allergy Development” noting that parents who cleaned a dropped pacifier by sucking on it themselves before returning it to the childs mouth had fewer incidences of allergies, eczema, asthma, and lower levels of eosinophils (a white blood cell associated with allergies).  Ok – I know while you can’t say for sure it’s the parents saliva that is 100% responsible, it does point a very rigid finger at how overly clean we are and how exposure to germs is not the worst thing in the world, especially for a developing immune system.

So here’s to you the mom who picks up the pacifier from the floor and sticks it in your own mouth to clean it then pops it back in your childs mouth!  I’ve done this countless times on the belief that those little microbes on the dirty pacifier would do more good than harm.  Great job dad checking that food with the babies spoon then feeding your child with the same spoon!  Here’s to the parent that abides by the 3 second rule and is willing to stretch it to say a minute or more!   And to you the parent who did not freak out when your child ate dog poop – good for you!  Who has time to dust all that pollen up in the spring?  Watch it shake from pine trees like a yellow haze, breathe it in my friends and grab yourself a little immunity!

 

Don’t hate me, but I made my own baby food.

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First off let me just throw out a disclaimer here – I am not a perfect parent.  I do a lot wrong every day.  I feel woefully inadequate most days and know there is no way on God’s green earth that I will ever measure up to the parent who does it all.  That all being said, I did make my own baby food.  Busy with twins and my family and I made baby food.  I also exclusively nursed and pumped for both girls for a year, but that’s a hate fest for another time.  I had always wanted to make my own baby food even before I was pregnant.  Most people thought I was crazy and over functioning.  ”Oh my gosh you are such a hippie” – um no I am not fond of the Grateful Dead or Phish, and I am too young to have attended Woodstock.   But, really if you have mashed up any food for your child that did not come out of a jar or a can – then you too have made your own baby food!  Simple as mashing up an avocado – Viola, baby food!

Making your own baby food is not as earthy crunchy as it sounds.  Nor is it as time-consuming as it sounds either (I stand by my claim that I was not over functioning!).  Serving your baby(ies) the food you are already cooking can be the beginning of everyone eating the same food – if you’re serving peas as a side dish for the rest of the family then serve puréed peas to your baby(ies).  All you need to do is steam, purée, and freeze what you are not using within 24 hours.  That’s it!  You don’t need to add any sweeteners (NO HONEY, corn syrup, sugar, etc!).  Be sure to follow your healthcare providers recommendations on what you should introduce and when to introduce it.  Remember not to introduce more than one new food at a time.  Mayo Clinic has some good advice on starting solid food in babies.

Equipment:  There are a couple of options.  The only option I did not use listed below was a food mill.  Otherwise I can say they all work well.

baby food making equipment

  • Sauce pan with a lid and a steam basket that will fit inside and allow the lid to cover the pan.
  • Food Mill or Baby Food Mill
  • Baby food maker (processor) - there are a lot of options!  I had the Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker.  You can steam and purée all in the same container.  It worked great, but I would say it is not essential to making your own baby food.
  • Food Processor - you may already own one.  But if you do not you might want to think about going with a small one first as the quantity of food you will need to purée will be small.
  • Blender - I bet you have one already!
  • Fork – ya you have one.  As time goes on, you will only be mashing up food with a fork.
  • Ice cube trays
  • Freezer baggies

Foods

Once you have moved past rice cereal, you will probably only be serving vegetable and fruits along with the cereal for a while.  Fresh is nice and even better when what you buy is in season and is procured locally.  You may want to consider using frozen fruits and vegetables also.  Frozen fruits and vegetables may actually have more nutrients than their fresh counterparts due to being flash frozen at peak ripeness, locking in all those nutrients!  Don’t throw that steaming water away!  Use it to thin your purées!  When your child is ready to move on to meat products you can use the water from steaming vegetables to purée meat products as well.

Recipes

If you feel like you need recipes a quick google search will turn up more than you want.  I was given a baby food cookbook as a gift Cooking for Baby - but I can honestly say you don’t need a book.  I just used the book as a base and came up with my own ideas from there.  You can also find a lot of recipes on-line, just a quick search and I turned up a site called Weelicious!  Looks great!

Storage

Homemade babyfood

The USDA has some excellent advice on preparing and storing homemade baby food.  Any food that I puréed and was not going to serve within 24 hours I froze in ice-cube trays.  You don’t need to buy any fancy storage/freezer containers.  The ice-cube trays work great and you get small serving sizes, about 1 ounce!  Once the purée was frozen, I placed the cubes in a freezer baggie and wrote on the label the date I made the purée and what the purée was (the USDA recommends consuming within 1 month).

So that’s really it – not much to it.  Hate me if you must, but it’s really easy, good for your child, and good for the environment.

The In-between Double Stroller

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Any Suggestions?

Dear Stroller Companies,

I would like an in-between double stroller.  Something for 4-6 year olds that is comfortable for them to sit in where the top of the seat doesn’t hit them right at the base of their head.  Rather it supports their head like it should.  Also my children’s legs should sit naturally, not with their knees bent past their hips.  Plus the seat needs to be wide enough for them to sit without feeling like they are being smushed, yet not so wide that the stroller can’t get through a door.  I would also like some cargo space, not a ton, just enough to put jacket or a snack – I don’t necessarily need a cup holder.  The stroller handles need to be at a height where I can push the stroller with my arms at a natural bend so that I am not using my wrists to push.  A recline option would be great also.  If there is an umbrella, it should not smack my child in the head nor obstruct their view.  I’d like it to open and close without having to fiddle with it like a mad women and when it’s closed up it should stay closed up and not spring open when I don’t want it to.  I need it to be light and durable, with good resale value like my BOB, but not as expensive as a BOB.

Am I asking for too much here?  Oh and I need this stroller by mid May.

Eagerly waiting your reply,

Steph

 

Me? A Role Model Mother? …I think you’ve got the wrong mother.

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Role model motherI was talking to another mother I know recently at a birthday party for one of the girls classmates .  ”Steph, you are my role model for being a mother.”  I looked around, because surely there was another woman named Steph who is a much better parent than I am.  Seeing no one I laughed, because role model I am not.  ”No really”, she said.  ”Everyday my daughter comes home and tells me how you pick the girls up after lunch and what activities you have going on in the afternoon.  She wants me to be more like you, pick her up after lunch and do things together, and I agree with her all the time she’s right I should be spending more time with her.  So I am going part-time at work”.

I have to say – I enjoyed this compliment maybe slightly more than hearing someone comment on how well-behaved my girls are (because this is something I don’t witness often enough).  If there is anything I am insecure about it is whether I am doing a good job parenting.  I feel many times (as many of you do) that I am not doing a good job.  At the end of the day, I always wonder if I could have handled a situation better or if I contributed to one of the girls downward spiraling moods.  I vow to myself to be a better parent the next day.  Parenting has a steep learning curve.  Regardless of all the parenting books out there, it’s a learn as you go gig.  Use the skills you have, build on them, and try to raise well adjusted, polite, happy, and grateful children.  It isn’t easy.

So, I’ll take my compliment (thank you Amy) and I’ll recall it every time I feel like I am not living up to my potential as a parent – so that would be daily.

Snap Painting | Homemade Notecards

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Looking for a little something different to do with stuff you already have?  This is an easy one.  Yes it could get a little messy, but what painting craft isn’t messy?

All you need is:snap painting

  • paints
  • a paint brush
  • some rubber bands (any size)
  • a box  (whatever size that will allow you to get your rubber bands around)
  • paper (I used some precut card stock I had around)

 

 

 

Then…..
Put your paper in the box and wrap a couple of rubber bands around the box (see picture above and below).  Then apply paint to the rubber bands you have wrapped around the box.  Time to get snapping!  Snap the rubber bands back to get a cool Jackson Pollack splattered look!

snap painting

Since we used card stock ours will get folded in half and used as notecards.

Snap painted homemade notecards

Ok so that took about 15 minuets what are we going to do for the rest of the afternoon?

FYI – Weekly Wrap Up

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Kimmidoll JrToys - While skimming the Disney Family Fun March 2013 issue (BTW how is it I receive this magazine?  I never ordered it.). I found these cute Kimmidoll Jr!  They run about $13 on Amazon.

Beyond Paas Egg decorating dye.  Looking for a way to jazz up your Easter Eggs?  Check out this round-up of Egg decorating ideas from Apartment Therapy, Dyed in Style:  Trendy Easter Egg Ideas.  I like the metallic eggs!

Food that I really want to make – Cambodian Style Spring Rolls from Food52

My kids kitchen drawerMost ridiculous organizing tip I have ever seen -Kids’ Kitchen Drawer From Martha Stewart “This idea is a great way to teach your kids where everything goes”.  Take a look at their drawer HERE and tell me how long this idea would last before you drove yourself crazy reorganizing it every 2 minutes.  Are you kidding me?  The point of a kids drawer is so they have their own things to take in and out at will.  Your children are going to have other reasons to be upset with you when they are older don’t give them a reason to start now.

She Blinded Me With Science!  We’ve I’ve been into science experiments lately with the girls.  HERE is a list of 15 Classic At Home Science Experiments from red tricycle.  Nothing says fun like vinegar and baking soda!

Minimalist ParentingNext book I am going to check out.  Minimalist Parenting by Christine Koh and Asha Dornfest.  The first paragraph of Andy Hinds review of the book on the New York Times Motherlode blog drew me in.  He begins it by explaining that he is spending 5 days alone with his almost 4 year old twins – alone and no backup, I do that too , God Bless you man!  I am a huge believer in less is more when it comes to parenting and putting more emphasis on enjoying parenting vs choreographing it.  Andy’s blog is Beta Dad and you can read the full article from the NYT HERE.

 

How to break away from using bribery, rewards & extortion with your children

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The other day I had to take one of the girls to get a bad haircut fixed.  NO!  I didn’t cut it!  But, I probably would have done a better job if I had.  No more walk in hair salons, it was a bit “choppy”.  The minute I tried to get her in the chair she threw a fit.  I had already promised “Old McDonalds” after the cut, so my options were running low.  Public embarrassment always brings out the best in parenting skills.  There were promises of a sucker, playing a game on my phone, more suckers.  Everyone involved (myself, the stylist, the owner, and even her twin), were all digging ourselves into a pit.  Finally, I asked if she wanted to look at pictures on my phone – she decided, “I’d like to watch videos”.  So with that she hopped up and had her haircut as I held my phone for her scrolling through short videos.

I recently read an article in The New York Times about bribery and rewards to influence children’s behavior – “Train a Parent, Spare a Child” by Bruce Feiler.  Apparently bribery/rewards for desired behavior doesn’t work and in fact can have negative effects.  After reading the article I decided this was something I was going to make an effort to work on.  I wouldn’t say I resort to this form of parenting frequently, but I can’t deny that I don’t do it.  You get panicked, something needs to get done now, you are in public, etc., etc.  The excuses line up faster than the bribes.  If I could just slow down, collect myself, and focus on my child and not the external, then I would make better decisions on how to approach the situation.  Oh how I wish I could always do that.

Here you are, my favorite pieces of advice from each expert:

Dr. Deci, Professor of Psychology from the University of Rochester, NY

  • Being clear about why what you are asking them to do is important.
  • Be interested in their point of view.  If it is something they hate doing acknowledge that.
  • Communicate in a way that’s not controlling.  Don’t use words like ‘should’, ‘must’, and ‘have to’.  All those convey to them you’re a big person trying to push around a little person.

Alan Kazdin, Director of the Yale Parenting Center

  • Place more attention on the behavior you want and not on the desired result.
  • Focus on giving your child choice (or at least the illusion of choice).

Daniel Pink, best-selling author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

  • Replace if-then rewards with now-that rewards.
  • Give these rewards sparingly to avoid entitlement.

Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford

  • Allow the child to pick the reward – this gives the child a sense of ownership.
  • Praise is a significant reward – make it specific, and focus on the process that achieved the behavior not the behavior alone.

Sometimes though (and you know when those times are) desperate times call for desperate measure.  To my relief Mr. Feiler noted at the end of the article “all the experts said it was O.K. to resort to old-fashioned blunt rewards on occasion”.  But as Dr. Deci noted, you still need to address the situation at a time when everyone has chilled out and talk about it from all perspectives so that there are no repeats of the behavior.

Little Me Multiple Birth Program Update

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Little Me ClothingI wanted to update you all on a Multiple Birth Program that has become a little easier to apply for.  To apply go to their website HERE.  You will need to upload a picture of your children’s birth certificates and fill out an online form.  Little Me will send two outfits based on your child’s age and gender!    To see other Multiple Birth Programs offered by other companies go HERE.

Winter is getting a little long around here

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NPR reminded me the other day that last year on St. Patrick’s Day it was 80 degrees F.  It will be about 50 degrees cooler this year.  We have had the third snowiest March on record – and March isn’t even over yet.  Needless to say we are all starting to get a little itchy for some signs of Spring.  Apparently, my girls feel that it is time for some hopscotch – which isn’t happening on icy sidewalks.  Yours truly suffered a hopscotch accident last fall and it wasn’t even icy out (note to self DO NOT PLAY HOPSCOTCH IN DANSKO CLOGS!  You are just begging to roll an ankle).  So I found some painters tape and made one on the basement floor.  The girls loved it!  I used painters tape with the idea that if it safe to use on walls it must be safe to use on a tile floor – (apply to your flooring at your own risk)

Indoor Hopscotch

A good use for old button down dress shirts

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Repurposed used mens dress shirts Ok, I can’t claim genius on coming up with this idea.  I actually highjacked it from the movie Rushmore.  There is a scene where kids are painting at school and they all have mens dress shirts on backwards buttoned up.  I remember thinking what a clever idea it was and started repurposing my husbands old dress shirts as smocks for my step-daughters.

What have you repurposed for your children’s use – original and highjacked ideas welcomed.

Children and their fashion sense Allowing your child to pick out their own clothing

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Allowing children to Dress themselves

The fashion police are sure to take me into custody any day now.  It’s my girls.  They have insisted on picking out their own clothes since they were about two and a half.  We’ve worn (well not me) dance recital costumes with cowboy boots to the store, dresses and shirts backwards – “just so you know your shirt is on backwards, that’s ok, but do you want to change it?”  Generally the answer is no, and so we leave it that way.  I would see other little girls dressed so cute in adorable outfits and feel a little pang “this is the only time in their lives where I will have the opportunity to dress them like this” and “this isn’t fair I have two and one at least should let me dress them”.  I wish I could say that taking them shopping with me and allowing them to pick out their clothing helped.  It didn’t.  Even giving them outfit options didn’t work, they wanted full control.  The more mix matched the better.

Initially I gave a little push back on their clothing choices – that lasted about 15 minutes.  I decided quickly that this was not “The Hill” I wanted to die on.  I have one that would probably let me pick out her clothes, but her sister isn’t having any of my input – and as you know obstinate behaviors in children are contagious.  I knew I would have bigger battles to navigate with them in the future, and this one was not worth it.  My only rule was that if we went out of the house, whatever they chose to wear must be appropriate for the season.

I also quickly realized that their little fashionista side wasn’t all that bad.  I found that the girls were more likely to get moving and dressed if they were in charge of the task. The surest way to get the independent dresser dressed and moving in the morning is to tell her I’ll be picking out her clothes.  To which I get a “nooooooooooooo!”  But beyond getting them moving, giving your child some independence when it comes to dressing also has other benefits.

Allowing children to pick out their own clothingSelf-esteem & self confidence
All young children want is to do things themselves, or at least try 100 times before letting you help.  This is a huge confidence booster for bigger tasks ahead.  The world is not going to come to a screeching halt, nor is anyone going to think that you are a bad parent for letting your child walk around in unmatched clothing.  So let them build their self-esteem and self-confidence with a harmless task like this.

Negotiating
There are days that I feel like the FBI’s top negotiator would be seriously challenged trying to negotiate clothing options for the girls.  I lay aside all the pattern clashes going on and only put my foot down when their choice is not appropriate for the season.  If they pick a summer dress and it is winter, then a shirt and leggings must go under it.

Self-sufficient and Independent
Any parent of multiples will tell you that getting multiples self-sufficient and independent in tasks early on is the key to survival.  Even if you don’t have multiples you would be crazy not to foster these traits when your child is ready to take the reins.  There is nothing that warms my heart more than seeing them do tasks on their own.  It may not be perfect, but who cares.  Praise them and don’t point out what they did wrong.  Like I mentioned, if a shirt is on backwards let them know it’s ok, but would they like to turn it around.  My girls love it when I tell them about how I put my hooded sweatshirt on backwards when it’s too dark in my room (get it, the hood is covering my face), we all make mistakes.

Creativity
I absolutely love watching my girls just doing “stuff” – you know the unstructured play stuff.  No one dictates, there are no rules, they just have fun.  They are in the “zone”, using their imaginations and could care less about who is watching.  While the dressing task requires some guidance, try your best to let go a little and allow them to explore how colors and prints look together.  This is their chance also for self-expression and problem solving.

Respect their independence
The more that you fight this minor issue the more difficult it will become.  If you feel you need a little control, try buying only solid colored bottoms and print tops to try taming the pattern clashes.  Just sit back, laugh, enjoy it, and take lots of pictures!

It’s not a question of when you should allow them to do this task, it’s a question of how are you going to handle your child’s desire to do this on their own.   How have you handled this specific issue or other desires for independence in your children?

If you can’t tell them to be quiet, spell it out for them

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Igloo Letterpress Shhh... print

Rarely do I get the chance to browse through a magazine when it arrives.  Happy to say I actually was able to look through my March issue of Country Living before March began.  I found this great print (on page 31) available through Igloo Letterpress!  How I wish I would have seen something like this when the twins were younger.  There are only so many ways you can nicely ask your family to be quiet without sounding like a b– well you know.  But putting it up nicely framed, well that just looks so nice and not so – don’t think I need to remind you what I am thinking.

Now before you say – I could make that at home on my printer (yes you could, don’t think the thought didn’t cross my mind) you should know that this is old school printing – as in printing press!  The result is a handcrafted work – obviously because it was handcrafted. If done on a printer it would look like it was done on a printer.  Plus this not so subtle hint hung outside a babies room is not something you can put a price on!  You can read more about Igloo Letterpress HERE.  They also have a lot of other wonderful items and do custom work!

Traveling with multiples & airports with child play areas

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On a recent trip with the girls we had a three hour layover in Minneapolis.  Eek!  I know that’s a lot of down time with two 4 year olds!  The Delta lounge would not have been very pleased with us just hanging around for the entire three hours.  I recalled seeing a kids play area some time back when we had flown through Minneapolis.  Low and behold at gate C-16 there it was, a nice area for the girls to burn off some energy!  I know I am not the only one out there who has been held captive in an airport with young children, so I thought I’d do a little research on places to hang out with your kids (mainly play areas) while you wait for a connection, delay, or the dreaded cancelation.

On the menu bar I added “Traveling With Multiples“.  From here you will find a drop down menu for “Airports with child play areas“.  And because I am a little obsessive about organizing (the organization keeps me from losing my mind), I further divided the Airports into “Domestic Airports” and “International Airports“.

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