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A 6 Year Old and Her Artwork--What To Do?

My 6 year old daughter, Amanda, arrives home from Kindergarten every school day with a folder-full of artwork and school papers. She truly enjoys going through each paper with her dad and I and we relish this special show-and-tell time. Of course, when show-and-tell is over, we're left with lots of paper!

The current week's stuff is proudly displayed on the refrigerator. When we get the next week's batch, all the previous art, etc. goes into a box that we've designated for temporary storage of these papers.

At the end of the school year, which is quickly approaching, I plan to go through the box, recycling any 'canned' artwork--like coloring pages and art she accomplished by pasting pre-cut pieces together--and keep only the contents that have lots of meaning to us that showcase what she was capable of at this young age. This will include special pictures she has drawn from scratch, theme papers (these are super cute when your child is just learning how to read and write) and original art creations.

I just purchased a stack of 12 x 12 inch black cardstock. I plan to mount her special drawings and artwork on those pages. Later, I'll hole-punch the cardstock and bind her artwork into a fun 'book' that we can enjoy now and that she will have to show her kids when she grows up.

For the artwork that's too bit or bulky to fit, I plan to have Amanda hold her art and I'll snap a photo of it--the photo will easily fit into the book and we'll get rid of the original piece.

It's very important to be discerning. I plan to limit myself on the art work, themes, etc. that I keep to no more than 25 pages per school year. I look forward to this project and can already envision the fun end result!

Children Don't Hear Fire Alarms

This is an alarming news clip, but definitely something I felt was worth sharing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XKedodF2pk

Where is my pink sparkly barrette?

(Click photo to enlarge.)
When is it prime time to come up with an organizing solution? Often when you find you're painstakingly spending time searching for something on a fairly regularly basis.

This recently came to be with my 4-year old's hair accessories. How many hair accessories does a 4-year old need? In Amanda's case, lots!

So this past weekend, I stopped at Shopko and picked up a scrapbooking embellishment organizer to get those hair accessories under control and organized.

The results:

a) Amanda loves looking through the organizer each morning and picking the perfect accessories.

b) Mom and Dad are relieved that we don't have to waste time searching for the pink sparkly star barrette in a disorganized pile.

c) Everyone is happy . . . and that's what being organized is all about!

Mom, Can I Have a Snack?

I used to hear this question all day long from my 3 year old daughter, Amanda--until I came up with a new system.

I always allow a certain number of healthy snacks throughout the day, as long as meals are eaten. Instead of trying to think something up every time Amanda asks me for a snack, I get all of her snacks ready for the next day--the night before.

* In the pantry, I have a kid-size Hello Kitty bucket. Using small zip-lock snack bags, I portion out appropriate snacks such as raisins, Quaker Oat Squares, nuts, pretzels and graham crackers.

* In the kitchen, I've dedicated the bottom shelf on the refrigerator door for Amanda only. I include pre-portioned snacks such as fruit, apple sauce, yogurt and cheese.

* There is also a small fruit basket within her reach on the counter, with apples, bananas and so on.

Now, whenever Amanda wants a snack, she just looks in her bucket, basket or on her fridge shelf and takes what she wants. She knows she cannot take from anywhere except those snacks designated specifically for her.

If, for some reason, she doesn't eat most of her regular meals, the snacks are then off limits--the bucket gets moved to a high shelf for example, until she eats her next meal and at which time it gets moved back into her reach.

We've been using this system for a week now, and it's working like a charm. We never hear, 'Can I have a snack?' and we know exactly what she has been eating during the day. In the evening, there's often snacks left over that she hasn't chosen--which stay in the bucket, basket or fridge for the next day. We replenish her snack 'areas' each night and we're all set for the next day.

Sometimes Twice as Long is OK

We're all ready for Halloween in our house. My daughter, Amanda, is going to be a kitty cat. Her costume is in the closet, as well as the makeup we'll use to draw a nose and whiskers on her face. We also have treats to hand out to the neighborhood trick-or-treaters when they come.

I like putting the treats into treat bags for the kids. Rather than filling those bags with candy, I include a variety of little treats for the kids to enjoy.



This year, each treat bag contains a packet of fun dip, a pop-up character, a hand stamp, a notebook and a flashlight. Of course, all of those little treats have to be separated and inserted into the treat bags.

I lined up all of the individual treats, in assembly line fashion and began filling the bags. My curious daughter saw me doing this, and asked if she could help.

I thought about it for a minute, calculating all the additional time this project would take with a 2 1/2 year old 'helping.' But, in the end, I accepted her offer. I thought it was so sweet that she wanted to assist, and I knew it would be fun for her.

I picked up each treat bag one at a time, and had my daughter hand me each of the items to be packed inside-- one by one.

When we finished, she was so proud of the fact that she helped mommy. She already told her daddy, one of my neighbors that stopped by, and the mailman!

It took about twice as long to get the job done, but the big smile on her face during this process was worth every extra minute.

It's Getting Darker Earlier

This time of year, with each passing day, darkness arrives much earlier in Wisconsin.

In the summer months, we'd tuck Amanda (our 2 1/2 year old) into bed between 8:15 and 8:30. We couldn't get her to sleep much earlier, because it was so light outside. She insisted it was still daytime.

Each night that passes, however, we're managing to get her into bed 5 minutes earlier than the night before. By the time we set our clocks back an hour, she'll be in bed between 7:00 and 7:15 each evening for the fall and winter months.

Although I don't look forward to the approaching winter weather (I'm a spring and fall gal), I do like the idea of my daughter going to bed a bit earlier, so that my husband, Joe, and I can enjoy some extra (uninterrupted) personal time doing things we enjoy.

Joe spent some time playing guitar last night and doing some recording. I enjoyed an hour working on a scrapbooking layout. Afterwards, we both sat down on the sofa and watched some television together--news programming and old Waltons reruns. It was so relaxing.

Of course, getting Amanda into bed by 7:00 requires some organizing and rescheduling on our part. For instance, I start preparing dinner around 4:45, so that it's done by 5:30.

I help Amanda take her bath immediately following dinner, while Joe rinses the dishes and loads up the dishwasher.

Then, Joe and I both have time to spend with Amanda playing a game, reading to her or doing some other fun activity before she turns in for the night.

Once 7:15 hits, Amanda is drifting off to sleep and we have time for us.

Impromptu Cookie Party

It has been raining for the past week in Watertown, WI. It doesn't really matter to me as I'm happy our plants, trees and grass are all being watered, but for a two year old, the perspective is totally different.

Amanda has been begging me to take her outside. Although she plays really well with her Play Dough, Coloring Book and AquaDoodle indoors, she can't wait to be able to go outside and just water the flowers or take a walk.

Unfortunately, the weather just wasn't cooperating for her this week, so yesterday when I saw her leaning against the sliding doors singing 'rain, rain, go away,' I decided to throw her favorite friend, her Hello Kitty doll, an impromptu cookie party.

To make things really easy, I used frozen, already-mixed dough. I basically just had to scoop it onto a cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes.

While the cookies were baking, I had Amanda set the table and gather all her stuffed animal friends for the big bash. I found an old party hat and some party ware left over from Amanda's birthday in January.

When the cookies were done, I put them on the table. We turned off the lights, lit a candle (a tea light sitting in a votive holder) and sang Happy Birthday to the Hello Kitty doll.

What a huge smile Amanda had on her face the entire time. She loved the cookies and our special time together. As soon as her sitter arrived at 3:00, Amanda ran up to her and said, 'It's Kitty's birthday, I had a cookie party!' And she still remembered yesterday's event this morning when she woke up.

It has been a super busy week for me, but I couldn't resist taking this short break in my day yesterday. It took so little to make her day, and her smiles motivated me to get back to work afterwards and get all of my To Do's done while the sitter played with her for a few hours.

Oh Well, What Can I Do?

Today, I overheard two moms in a restaurant booth behind
me. Both moms had toddlers with them--about 18 months old
or so--both literally wearing their macaroni and cheese
lunches on their faces, hands, and hair. The one noticeable
difference between the two kids was that Mom A's child was
wearing a bib and Mom B's child was not.

Baby wipes, of course, cleaned up both kids well at the end
of the meal as far as their bodies, but Mom B's child's
clothes were a disaster. And I recognized the outfit style
from Gymboree--a fairly high-end kids' clothing store--so I
knew she spent a pretty penny on it.

Anyway, the portion of the conversation that caught my
ear . . .

-----

Mom A: Why doesn't Katie wear a bib? Her clothes are
getting stained.

Mom B: She doesn't like to. She pulls it off. I hate that
her clothes that I've spent good money on are so stained.
I'm so tired of changing her outfit after each meal and
then spending my evenings stain treating and laundering her
clothes. Oh well, what can I do?

-----

My conclusion: This poor little girl has been living her
toddler years in stained clothes and her mom feels this
is just the deck of cards she has been dealt.

I felt like offering some suggestions like . . .

1. Pin your child's bib closed with a safety pin so it's
nearly impossible for her to pull it off.

2. Don't let her win. You're the mom. She's the kid. Teach
her to keep her bib on or she gets a timeout for not
listening.

3. Have her wear an artist's smock instead--one she has to
put her arms into and velcros shut so it's not easy to
remove. If she can still remove it, have her wear it
backwards with the velcro in the back.

4. Bring an extra shirt and pull it over her current
outfit to minimize stains. Have her use that shirt whenever
you go out to eat--it will be stained, but that's only
one shirt and not every single outfit.

5. Strip your kid's shirt off until she's done eating. You
probably wouldn't want to do this in a restaurant, but it's
perfectly acceptable for your home, or grandma's house.

. . . but I held my tongue.

Anyway, my point here is not only about bibs, but about
choices. There are almost always a number of choices to
help solve life's little annoyances, whether it's a baby's
stained clothes, a filing system in which you can never
find what you're looking for, or a room in your home that's
so cluttered that you would faint if anyone saw it.

As long as you're always in continuous improvement mode,
with an "I'll definitely solve this problem if it's the
last thing I do," attitude rather than saying, "Oh well,
what can I do?," you'll find that those little annoyances
start melting away one by one.

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