So one thing I have informally done with my kids is dance parties in my living room/ kitchen. I make a mix of kids music on my iTune, Amazon Music and/or Spotify ( Andrew & Polly, Laurie Berker Band, Pharell Williams,Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, Casper Babypants, Recess Monkey, upbeat Disney songs, the Trolls soundtrack, etc.). These are the best on rainy days to get the wiggles out and make memories. This is one thing my parents use to do with me when I was younger. I vividly remember my parents taking turns dancing with me in our living room twirling me around and picking me up to dance. I look back on those as great memories of my parents I want my kids to experience with us. Sure we have to be the ones to put our feet down, but we can also be the fun ones every now and then too. These dance parties usually consist of dancing and cleaning combined for me, but my kids never notice and are giggling and smiling the whole time.
Friday, June 8, 2018
Friday, June 1, 2018
Homebound Activities: Catching Insects
Every year our library hosts a great program done through the entomology department at the UMaine. Our children loved catching insects so much we got the bug houses and butterfly nets to use on their own. When we can't find any bugs in the air/in the grass we start turning over large stones.
Both kiddos just love creepy crawly critters. I realize as adults, we all have phobias. My thoughts on these things are that my phobias do not need to be passed onto my children, nor to my parents phobias need to be passed onto me. When I went to school in one of my teaching classes a professor of mine that I respect greatly said "You may be terrified, but don't let them know". We live in a state of worry over ticks and mosquitos, but forget about how cool and neat bugs can be in their natural environment. Sure, it's not very cool when you have a fly in the house or if a moth finds their way into your laundry. But, in my line of work we call that a "size 1 problem".
I am not discounting or making light of the bug issues facing us in Maine. I had two very real encounters with both children regarding bugs and I will share what I learned. My first instance was with a tick that was embedded into my four year. About a month ago, I was very sick for a couple of days at home during April vacation with my youngest. My daughter still had school and during the days so Billy would bring her on a day hikes after school to let me and the baby rest/ get better. The next morning, I made my way to her room to aid in dressing and doing her hair. As I was french braiding her hair, behind her left ear was an embedded tick. I internally panicking, I called to my husband to get the tick removal kit and an empty baby jar.
I was terrified and felt like a wreck, but my husband said I appeared calm through the removal. I did everything a concerned parent would do right up to saving the blood sucker in the freezer. I called a triage nurse and explained what happened to which my doctor made an appointment. Here is what I doctor told me -- she was not as concerned about Lyme disease as she was a cellulitis infection. She explained while there is a hype about Lyme disease and I may know someone who is infected the probability is 15% that a tick will infect a human with Lyme disease. Furthermore, the treatment on such a small child the benefits would not outweigh the risks. She simply encouraged us to continue doing what we normally do and just make sure we do a better job about making sure we brush down every time they come in from outdoors ( which we do 90% of the time).
As we left the doctors office we did the following, we went to the nearest park and let the kids play. We do not want our kids living in fear of bugs -- they are everywhere. I have a few friends who are entomologists and upon talking to them they share the following -- bugs are everywhere even in the "cleanest" spaces. They are an important part of our ecosystem and provide a great service to us. Sure those select moments were scary for us, we also found there was little to no reason to be scared. I was thinking -- in my lifetime living and playing outdoors every day I have only found one tick on myself. I kept thinking of the probability of this happening again and then the probability of it being a tick with Lyme disease. SMALL. So our conclusion is to not live in fear of tick and make sure we put bug spray on our clothes and check for ticks the best we can.
The second encounter was this week at Eagles Bluff with Liam in a baby carrier. I was not there myself -- but I can tell by the accuracy of the reporting this is a very real issue. Black flies are out early and they are hungry. Both of my kids and my husband came home covered in bites. It used to be only the females were the ones that were really biting, but now the males appear to be on board. We used to only use natural bug repellants alone until I saw what they looked like when they came home this week. If you saw my sons face, arms and neck you would support what I am about to say. We started using deet on our clothes, baby carrier and hats then continued using the natural oils repellant on our skin. We do not make direct skin contact, but we began weighing the risks and benefits. We found DEET has had a 20 year case study of being safe on humans. We are still weary and with children involved we continue to be cautious. I will say we went on a hike to Mt. Kineo this weekend and tested our method. Only one mosquito bite( I got hot with carrier on and took off my sprayed hoody and my arm got bit) was had the entire 9 hour day -- we saw others surrounded by moose flies, mosquitos and "no see ums" and we were relatively unscathed.
So go outside, turn over some rocks and learn from the bugs around you! If you are feeling bored, get out a piece of white paper and sketch what you see. It's a great way to share interest with your children, but not engaging in the touching and mess.
Both kiddos just love creepy crawly critters. I realize as adults, we all have phobias. My thoughts on these things are that my phobias do not need to be passed onto my children, nor to my parents phobias need to be passed onto me. When I went to school in one of my teaching classes a professor of mine that I respect greatly said "You may be terrified, but don't let them know". We live in a state of worry over ticks and mosquitos, but forget about how cool and neat bugs can be in their natural environment. Sure, it's not very cool when you have a fly in the house or if a moth finds their way into your laundry. But, in my line of work we call that a "size 1 problem".
I am not discounting or making light of the bug issues facing us in Maine. I had two very real encounters with both children regarding bugs and I will share what I learned. My first instance was with a tick that was embedded into my four year. About a month ago, I was very sick for a couple of days at home during April vacation with my youngest. My daughter still had school and during the days so Billy would bring her on a day hikes after school to let me and the baby rest/ get better. The next morning, I made my way to her room to aid in dressing and doing her hair. As I was french braiding her hair, behind her left ear was an embedded tick. I internally panicking, I called to my husband to get the tick removal kit and an empty baby jar.
I was terrified and felt like a wreck, but my husband said I appeared calm through the removal. I did everything a concerned parent would do right up to saving the blood sucker in the freezer. I called a triage nurse and explained what happened to which my doctor made an appointment. Here is what I doctor told me -- she was not as concerned about Lyme disease as she was a cellulitis infection. She explained while there is a hype about Lyme disease and I may know someone who is infected the probability is 15% that a tick will infect a human with Lyme disease. Furthermore, the treatment on such a small child the benefits would not outweigh the risks. She simply encouraged us to continue doing what we normally do and just make sure we do a better job about making sure we brush down every time they come in from outdoors ( which we do 90% of the time).
As we left the doctors office we did the following, we went to the nearest park and let the kids play. We do not want our kids living in fear of bugs -- they are everywhere. I have a few friends who are entomologists and upon talking to them they share the following -- bugs are everywhere even in the "cleanest" spaces. They are an important part of our ecosystem and provide a great service to us. Sure those select moments were scary for us, we also found there was little to no reason to be scared. I was thinking -- in my lifetime living and playing outdoors every day I have only found one tick on myself. I kept thinking of the probability of this happening again and then the probability of it being a tick with Lyme disease. SMALL. So our conclusion is to not live in fear of tick and make sure we put bug spray on our clothes and check for ticks the best we can.
The second encounter was this week at Eagles Bluff with Liam in a baby carrier. I was not there myself -- but I can tell by the accuracy of the reporting this is a very real issue. Black flies are out early and they are hungry. Both of my kids and my husband came home covered in bites. It used to be only the females were the ones that were really biting, but now the males appear to be on board. We used to only use natural bug repellants alone until I saw what they looked like when they came home this week. If you saw my sons face, arms and neck you would support what I am about to say. We started using deet on our clothes, baby carrier and hats then continued using the natural oils repellant on our skin. We do not make direct skin contact, but we began weighing the risks and benefits. We found DEET has had a 20 year case study of being safe on humans. We are still weary and with children involved we continue to be cautious. I will say we went on a hike to Mt. Kineo this weekend and tested our method. Only one mosquito bite( I got hot with carrier on and took off my sprayed hoody and my arm got bit) was had the entire 9 hour day -- we saw others surrounded by moose flies, mosquitos and "no see ums" and we were relatively unscathed.
So go outside, turn over some rocks and learn from the bugs around you! If you are feeling bored, get out a piece of white paper and sketch what you see. It's a great way to share interest with your children, but not engaging in the touching and mess.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Book for the Week: My Favorite Things
Growing up my parents had me watch "The Sound of Music", I remember it being one of the only VHS movies in the house. My mother bought this book for my children seeing the illustrations and thinking they resembles the characters in the book with their blonde hair and blue eyes. I recently started picking books on our shelf that the kids normally don't pick and reading one of "Mom's choice" a night. I started singing this book to the kids and now they are hooked. The pictures are elegant and beautiful with fine details and focus on natural beauty and match well with the lyrics. I then went further to download the song off iTunes and burn the song onto a CD. Now my children have their own "book on tape" as well as a new song they can learn.
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Family Friendly Restaurants: Moe's BBQ
Here are our guidelines and how we will be rating:
We LOVE Moe's BBQ (we are a tad bias since we know the owners and my daughter is friends with their children). Here is our kid friendly rating. They have two high chairs that fit in the back room tables only ( 8 tables) . They have a great deal that for every adult meal purchased children 12 and under eat for free all day everyday. They have a great kids menu and my kids love it so much they beg to go here over MickyD's next door. For entertainment they have reusable stick books, coloring books and stickers for the kiddos. The staff are child friendly and as a bonus if you become a regular some remember what your favorite sides and dishes are. Everyone uses to-go soda cups with lids which work for youngsters. They are breastfeeding friendly. The bathrooms are tiny so I don't think they could fit changing rooms in them which is a downside for those with diapering children, but great for potty trained kids where the sink and soap are within reaching distance.
My overall rating for Moe's BBQ is 9.5/10 which a mark down for no changing table.
- High chairs and booster seats
- Have food the kiddos will eat
- Entertainment for said child ( coloring books, toys, puzzles, etc.)
- Changing tables in both restroom areas for both parents
- Atmosphere that is child friendly
- Affordability
- Child friendly staff
- Kids Cups
- Breastfeeding friendly
- Out of the way extras for kids
We LOVE Moe's BBQ (we are a tad bias since we know the owners and my daughter is friends with their children). Here is our kid friendly rating. They have two high chairs that fit in the back room tables only ( 8 tables) . They have a great deal that for every adult meal purchased children 12 and under eat for free all day everyday. They have a great kids menu and my kids love it so much they beg to go here over MickyD's next door. For entertainment they have reusable stick books, coloring books and stickers for the kiddos. The staff are child friendly and as a bonus if you become a regular some remember what your favorite sides and dishes are. Everyone uses to-go soda cups with lids which work for youngsters. They are breastfeeding friendly. The bathrooms are tiny so I don't think they could fit changing rooms in them which is a downside for those with diapering children, but great for potty trained kids where the sink and soap are within reaching distance.
My overall rating for Moe's BBQ is 9.5/10 which a mark down for no changing table.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Helping in Our Communities: Harvesting
So this is a small way of making a difference in a community, but by doing the following you could make someone's day. I know in our neighborhood we have a great mix of ages and things we grow on our respective property. The other day I saw an older neighbor harvesting some lilacs and bringing them to a neighbors house to share who does not have a bush. My daughter saw this neighbor doing this and picked some wild flowers to give to the same girl. Kindness spreads and you never know who is watching :)
Last summer, I had a neighbor grow too many tomatoes and zucchini. Every time a neighbor would walk past her house she would offer one of two to them. We have other neighbor who are so awesome them have volunteered at a garden to grow food for the elderly in our community.This is the same neighbor I baked a loaf of bread for.These things all make a difference in your neighbors lives and work toward a trusting, healthy, happy community.
Last summer, I had a neighbor grow too many tomatoes and zucchini. Every time a neighbor would walk past her house she would offer one of two to them. We have other neighbor who are so awesome them have volunteered at a garden to grow food for the elderly in our community.This is the same neighbor I baked a loaf of bread for.These things all make a difference in your neighbors lives and work toward a trusting, healthy, happy community.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Book of the Week : Pipsie Nature Detective and the Disappearing Caterpillar
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Family Friendly Restaurants: Denny's
Here are our guidelines and how we will be rating:
- High chairs and booster seats
- Have food the kiddos will eat
- Entertainment for said child ( coloring books, toys, puzzles, etc.)
- Changing tables in both restroom areas for both parents
- Atmosphere that is child friendly
- Affordability
- Child friendly staff
- Kids Cups
- Breastfeeding friendly
- Out of the way extras for kids
So I will slowly be adding places to this rating list based on these parameters and expectations. We do not count promptness of service for a number of reasons. Mostly because if they're busy-- they're busy. One that is working cannot control the traffic in and out of a restaurant. Both my husband and myself have worked in food services and know a number of variables that are in the card.
Denny's off the Hogan Rd. in Bangor is a special treat at our house. We live not far from here, but this is the place we go when everywhere else is closed super early in the morning before a long day trip ahead of us or we are hangry after a long day of shopping in the mall area. I remember being super pregnant and having a craving for a banana's foster at midnight and my husband was able to get it to go for me.They have at least 6 high chairs, however I have been there when they did not have enough for everyone who needed one. They have a flexible kids menu, coloring options and a claw machine in the front if you are looking for a way to keep yours kids entertained when they have a wait on tables. Both restrooms have changing tables and make kids food affordable.On Tuesday's and Saturday's kids eat for free, drinks included from 4p.m. -10p.m. Up to two kids get a free meal for every paying adult.You do have to pay for actual kids cups, but you do get to bring them home :) I have not breast fed in this facility so I cannot say how they feel about this topic, but I would not hesitate. The staff are always raving about our kids and are super kid friendly. I give Denny's a 9 out of 10 for their family friendly rating.
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