Make and Takes » Family

Spending the Day at Disneyland

Marie — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:40:51 +0000

Thanks to Disneyland, we were given tickets to come and spend a day at the greatest place on earth! We’re a little bit of a nerdy Disney family. Maybe not as much as my friend Oh Amanda, but we would move in if they let us! See the t-shirts (nerdy), and my husband is also decked out in Mickey-wear behind the camera! We try to make our way to Disneyland every other year and we usually go for a whole week (more nerdy) as we want to make sure to do everything. So when we went to California this past summer, we only had one day to spare at our precious Disneyland and we had to make the most of it. Here are a few tips and tricks I picked up that helped us spend our day at Disneyland.

Do a little research before. If you’re able to do a little research before you get there, then you can schedule some of your day. Find out where you want to eat, what characters you really need to meet, and what are the absolute must for rides. We made sure to get in the top 2 rides from everyone’s wish list. A fabulous website with some great information about Disneyland, the ins and outs of it all, is Just Spotted. Those ladies have done a lot of research themselves and can give you some advice.

Wear good shoes. You’ll be walking a lot, as you’re trying to go fast to get from place to place, so you’ll want a good pair of shoes! We have a mix of Skechers, Buster Browns, and Keens. These style of sandal/shoe is a great choice for walking all day and in the heat.

Download the Ride Max program. The Ride Max program is a website that has a form you fill out, choosing your list of desired rides, and then it calculates the day’s schedule for you. It tells you what rides to go on at specific times and even schedules in a few breaks. All the work is done for you, totally worth the $14.95 it costs to use. We were able to get in every single ride we wanted, and some with time to spare. Which was good, as we were also using Disneyland’s ride share program as we had our toddler with us.

Have you been able to do Disneyland in just one day? What’s your favorite thing to do?

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The Room Mom’s Survival Guide

Marie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:54:54 +0000

If you haven’t yet heard of the Volunteer Spot and you have school age children, then get yourself over to check them out. They are a fabulous website sharing all kinds of help for parents with kids in school. I’ve teamed up with Volunteer Spot to help write their latest free downloadable e-book, The Room Mom’s Survival Guide.

We’ve all been there, right? We get a call from our child’s teacher or you signed up on a list for teacher helpers on the first day of school, and you’re then asked to help with a school party. What do you do?! This ebook gets you through each step of the way, from planning, calling other parent helpers, plus 4 themes of activities from me. There are activities for Fall, Winter, Spring, and End of the Year.

Having been a Kindergarten teacher, I wish I could have given this ebook to each of my parent helpers and party room mom’s, aiding them with ways to help make the classroom parties a success without the stress!

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Getting Excited for Back to School

Marie — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:05:10 +0000

Are your kids ready for back to school? Are YOU ready for back to school?! Well, here are a few quick tips for getting back into the swing of things! From clothes and backpacks to books and snacks. I’m posting my 5 tips for back to school over at Snackpicks.

What is your family most excited about for back to school?

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How To Series at Marta Writes

Marie — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:20:02 +0000

I’m guest posting over at the ever wonderful Marta Writes today. She’s posting a series of How To’s and I’m happy to be one of the bloggers sharing a fun tutorial. I’m sharing how to host a children’s birthday party, as they can get a little hectic trying to plan and you want to cover all your bases! Head on over and check it out.

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When Your Child Needs a Little Time Out

Marie — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:20:59 +0000

We’re a family who has a “time out” stool in our home. It’s a place where we send our kids when they need a little time out. It might be time out from their siblings, friends, or an activity, most often times when they’ve done something bad. It helps them, and me, calm down. Here’s a few things I think are important to do if you choose to have time out for your children.

1. Where is time out going to be? It’s important to establish a permanent place for time out. It could be on a chair or stool, in the hall or in the kitchen. I feel it’s better to keep it outside of the child’s room, so that they don’t fear or have bad feelings towards their room or bed. We use this gray stool and place it in the hall. It’s just something generic. It could be cute and crafty, but there’s not really anything cute and crafty about being in trouble or time out. It’s serious time, (mom means business) so I like it to be a place where they are away from any distractions.

2. Let them sit alone. Give them time to be there, even if it’s just 30 seconds for a small child. My 2 year old (yes, we put our 2 year old in time out) can be there for 20-30 seconds. She gets up sometimes, but we just put her back down. For my older children, we let them sit there for a couple of minutes (or longer if I forget, opps!) It’s as long as it takes for them to calm down from being mad or sad.

3. We talk about why they are there. Once they’ve calmed down, we just talk. I ask them why I put them in time out in the first place. Sometimes they don’t know, so I tell them. I think it’s important for children to know the reasons. In some situations, we talk about how they might feel if it was reversed. “How would you feel if Sarah hit you?” Or “Would you like it if Sarah took your toy?” This can help them see things in a different perspective and hopefully think twice about doing it again next time.

4. Saying more than just “I’m sorry”. I feel it’s important for our kids to say what they are sorry for. Here’s our dialogue: “I’m sorry” “You’re sorry for what?” “I’m sorry for _______”. I think this can put more meaning behind the apology.

5. Always end with a hug. After we’ve talked and they’ve apologized, to me and/or the offended, then we hug it out. It’s always good to have closure to an event, especially if it was traumatic, even semi-traumatic, and a hug always does the trick.

Having “time out” has been something good for our family. Our children have been able to put things into other people’s perspectives, as we’ve always talked about what they did and what they are sorry about. It doesn’t mean they are perfect, they still spend time on that stool, but they are able to go through this process with a little more understanding.

What has worked for you when your child has needed a “time out”?

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A Super Simple Tip for Swimsuits and the Sand

Marie — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:19:06 +0000

We recently took a trip to Southern California, part 2 of my Summer Bucket List, as we wanted to play to the beach and hit up a few amusement parks that you’ll hear a little bit more about later. On the road, we were able to test drive an Acadia thanks to GMC. It was the same car, even color, that my Eat Blog Run team used to get us through our relay race and it was bringing back some memories! Here we enjoyed some tailgating as we brushed the sand off our tootsies from the beach!

This year as we headed to the beach, I got a little wiser with what swimsuits to bring for my kids. I’m sharing a quick video with you about a super simple tip for swimsuits and the sand. Just listen to those waves!

What beach tips have you discovered as you’ve spent time in the sand?

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Parenting Advice from 2 Rookie Moms

Marie — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:16:52 +0000

I love all the tips, tricks, and helpful advice given from these Rookie Moms. There are activities for kids and for mom, helping you figure this whole parenting thing out! They’ve even come out with a Rookie Mom’s Handbook. Thanks for sharing what you’ve learned with us!

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3 Ways to Promote Independent Playtime

Marie — Thu, 27 May 2010 09:20:11 +0000

Even though our playroom is a pretty fun place to play, my kids still like to be right where I am. If I’m in the kitchen, they’re running around me in circles. If I’m on the couch, they’re climbing all over me. You might know what I’m talking about. But as summer is ever approaching, I’m going to try to encourage my kids to play by themselves more often. It might be in the playroom or even at the table next to me.

Here are 3 tips to help promote independent playtime:

1. Start fresh. Try to have the play area clean before each playtime. It tends to be much more inviting if everything is all picked up and put away. Often times if their playroom is a mess with toys out all over like landmines, they won’t even go in as they don’t know where to start, or even walk! We’ve learned to clean up our playroom each time we play, either at the start or after. It makes it clean and inviting, ready for action.

2. Set up the environment. Even if the room is clean and ready to be played in, it can be a hard decision for a child to know where to start. They can be apprehensive to dive in and start playing with something, as it might feel that there are too many choices. To help with this, I will set out a specific set of toys encouraging them to play. I’ll get out the farm playhouse and display all the animals around the farm. This helps my kids get excited about playing.

3. Getting them started. There are times when I need to spend a few minutes playing with my kids. This helps them get started and involved in the activity, then they are usually good to keep going on their own. I tell my daughter I will play princess dinosaurs for a few minutes, but then after, I’ll let her stay and play on her own. This can help them know you’ll be there, helping get them started, and they will hopefully be involved enough to stay and play on their own.

How do you encourage your children to play by themselves? Are they wanting to follow you around too?

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Mom, Mommy, Mama, Mom, Mommy, Mama

Marie — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:19:50 +0000

An early present for all you Moms, Mommies, and Mamas out there – Happy Mother’s Day!

Can you relate to that clip as much as I can? It’s Stewie from the Family Guy doing exactly what I hear all day every day from my own cute little munchkin! Here’s my almost 2 year old saying – “Mooooooooooooom!”

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Vote, Volunteer, or Donate to the Members Project

Marie — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 08:54:03 +0000

I have a big place in my heart for kids and any type of organization that can help them succeed is amazing in my eyes. So when I first saw this commercial about the Members Project helping the Harlem Children’s Zone weeks ago, I was really impressed with how a credit card company was giving back.

I was happy to help when Members Project from American Express and TakePart.com, a Make and Takes sponsor, asked me to spread the word about this great project and how anyone, even non-card carrying people, can get involved!

There are 3 ways to make a difference: Vote, Volunteer, or Donate. With many charities and organizations to choose from, you’ll be sure to find someone close to you to help. And they’ve made it easy to get involved with your community, locally and globally.

Vote: American Express is going to donate $200,000 to a new charity every 3 months. But they want your input, helping vote for a charity that should be the recipient. Join and vote today.

Volunteer: They’ve made it easy to help in your own community. Just type in your location and a list of organizations are all there ready for you to choose from. You can also submit your own charity or organization that might need volunteers. And as a bonus if you’re a card member, you’re eligible to receive Membership Rewards when you volunteer!

Donate: If you’re able, they’d love for you to financially help with a cause, or even donate your Membership Rewards points. It can be toward a Members Project or choose from over 1 million other charities.

I’ve signed up and voted, excited to see who this quarter’s recipient will be. If you can, take a moment to help by signing up to vote, volunteer, or donate!

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