I twice had the pleasure of getting an e-mail response from Susan in regard to ThriftyFun, and was so impressed that she'd even take the time to personally answer. My deepest sympathy to all of her family, friends and loved ones. Blessings and peace to you all in such a difficult time. ... View related article.
I'm a preschool teacher and a mom of a preschool age son too, so I've seen LOTS of tantrums over the years! :) Here are a few tips that I hope will help! Sometimes children have a hard time with transitioning. Say, for example, they're playing but you need to run to the store. Instead of just scooping them up and away from what they're doing (which could cause a tantrum), what I do with my son is give him forewarning. I'll say, "Okay, you can play for a few more minutes, but after that, we have to go to the store". That way, he knows what to expect.
Also, before you go into a store or other public place, let them know what kind of behavior you expect from them. For example, "We're going to be using inside voices and walking feet while we're in the store". I know that kind of language seems silly, but terms like "walking feet" and "inside (or quiet) voices" are easy for kids to understand and clear cut.
If a tantrum does happen, at home or in public, try to remain calm. I know--easier said than done! But the child needs to know that you're the one in control. Calmly tell them that their behavior is not okay, tell them what the consequence will be if they don't stop, then FOLLOW THROUGH. If you don't, they'll know that they can throw a tantrum and get away with it with no consequences.
My son recently was playing in his room and I heard yelling. I went in and he was throwing a toy car across the room. I asked what was going on, and he was angry because it wasn't working the way he wanted it to. I told him, firmly but calmly, "I know you're angry, but you do not throw your toys. If you do that again, you'll have to put the cars away and can't play with them". That was enough to make him stop, but in other instances, I have had to follow through on what I'd said, and now he knows I'm serious. Children at this age are testing their independence.
Maybe give them a few choices once in a while: "Would you like juice or milk?" "Do you want to wear the blue shirt or the yellow one?". That way, they feel like they have some sort of control too. Wow--what a long suggestion! I hope that some of it helps though! ... View related article.
Wow--I could've written this myself--it's so much in my same vein of thought! I've been a preschool teacher for about 13 years. I can attest that all of what you've said is true. You'd never believe how many times I've heard "Why don't you look for a better job?" (I have a university degree, so people assume that a daycare job is "below me"). Well, I love my job and have a preschool age son, so it's an ideal situation at this stage in my life. However, I recently had a yearly review at work with a new supervisor. When I told her that I've spent a decade at my center and don't even earn a dollar for each year I've worked there, she seemed shocked. Luckily, this resulted in receiving a raise. However, so many other preschool teachers aren't as lucky, and work very hard, only to receive a very low wage (not that my new pay rate is high, by any means). It's amazing to me that in this country, people who care for and protect others (daycare/preschool teachers, firefighters, police officers, those who care for the elderly, etc.) earn low wages, while athletes and celebrities are millionaires. What a sad commentary on where our priorities lie. ... View related article.
I'm a fellow Packers fan, in Kenosha. Go, Pack, Go is right--Superbowl NEXT year, right?! Ha ha! Very neat doilies! Keep up the great work--you ought to send one to Brett & Deanna... :) ... View related article.
I don't want to discredit any of the other advice given, but as for keeping bottles around and letting the child have them while lying down--having a bottle while in bed, etc. can contribute to tooth decay. The milk sugars, etc. can pool in the mouth and cause tooth decay over time. This happened to a child I know who had the bottle with her in the crib every night, and her baby teeth actually had black spots in them over time! So a bottle while lying down may not be a good habit to get into. ... View related article.
I would try to gradually taper off the breast milk, slowly mixing it with formula. For example, start out with a bottle of mostly breast milk, but then day by day slowly add more formula and less breast milk. That way it isn't a rapid change, and she can adjust to the taste of formula gradually. It may take a little time, but hopefully she'll be more likely to make the change this way. I hope this helps--good luck! ... View related article.
Hi--I think it was my tip that I submitted that you're referring to! :) So far, I haven't had a big problem with a lot of spam, etc. In some cases, if they ask for an e-mail address, I use one that I rarely use. Then if I get any kind of ad from them I just delete it right away. Also, I just give the bare minimum information--that is, I don't fill in any of the "optional" information boxes. Of course, I can't guarantee that you wouldn't get spam--it depends on the company, I suppose. I just think this is a pretty simple way that I can try to help out, while being on a limited budget myself! Some people may not be comfortable with having to give their information to get the samples, but if you don't mind, it's an easy way to help out! Glad you liked the tip! ... View related article.
Thank you to everyone who has posted a response--some great ideas here! I'll be trying most of them out, I'm sure. In response to a post, it's not that my son refuses to eat meat, just that I'm pretty health-conscious and trying to steer away from a lot of processed, nitrate-laden meats. We're Wisconsinites, so cheese is a staple around here! Ha ha! It's not exactly that I'm fighting to get him to eat, more so that I want to vary his diet a bit. Even if there was a power struggle, I'm a teacher, so it usually wouldn't end in me giving in--I stand firm! :) Thanks again everyone, and if you have any other ideas, please keep them coming! ... View related article.
When I got married 5 years ago, my mom and I had gone to the florist and got a quote for the bouquets, boutenierres, flowers for the chapel, etc. My mom is pretty crafty, so we sat down and figured out that some of the flowers could be artificial. I wanted to keep the bouquets and boutenierres real flowers, as well as the flowers that would be on the reception tables, but my mom made silk arrangements for the chapel (the altar was pretty far from the guests, so it would be hard for them to know if they were real or fake flowers anyways)! We managed to cut the cost of the flower bill in half by doing that. Also, if you serve alcohol, what we did was bought some reasonably priced bottles of champagne for the toasts and put one or two on each table. (I believe we got a "bulk discount" since we bought more than a dozen bottles). We had an open bar for a few hours, and then after that we served beer, wine and soda free--the guests bought their own mixed drinks if they preferred not to have beer, wine or soda. I wanted to have certain music played during the reception, so I made my own CDs with the music I wanted played, and hired a DJ to just play the CDs and make sure it all went smoothly. Since they didn't have to do much work (putting on a bunch of different CDs, etc.), they didn't charge very much. I could go on and on, but hopefully some of these tips help! Good luck, and have fun! ... View related article.
I actually did get my wedding gown off of eBay, and was VERY happy with it! I, too, was a little concerned about the sizing or it not being very high quality (since I wouldn't be able to see it in person), but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm more of a "full-figured" person, so I didn't have much luck at stores in my area--lots of smaller sized dresses, but not very many dresses I liked in the bigger sizes. So I tried looking on eBay, and found one I loved. I did take it to a seamstress for some alterations, but I paid so little for the dress (about $300), that I didn't mind spending a little extra for alterations. So if you aren't able to find any online stores, you might want to just take a peek at eBay and see what they have. Best of luck to you! ... View related article.
