Cereal desserts

I am in love with General Mills anything. For the past few weeks, my after dinner dessert has been Reese's Puffs - peanut butter and chocolate puffs with whole grain goodness. Today, I bought a box of Fruity Cheerios (healthier Fruit Loops) and Chocolate Cookie Cookie Crisp. Now I know these are not the best for me, but much better than me baking a few dozen peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies which has been the go to dessert. My daughters love munching on these cereals and we have also discovered Kix. Since 2005, all General Mills cereals are made with whole grains. The higher your intake of whole grains, the lower your risk for diabetes, certain types of cancer, heart disease and obesity. Nuff said.

The new pacifer

I love gummy bears so when my husband bought home the vitamin kind from Costco, I got joyful. How perfect, my favorite treat with nutrients for my daughter. Lately, this sweet bear has become a pacifier. I pop one in my two year old's mouth as she wakes up cranky or when she sits on the toilet to take her first tinkle. I bite off a little for my 11 month old and another for my oldest as they get settled in their car seats. The ride to daycare is eased if but for savory moments as the sugar pours into their tummies. Oh, and yes Mommy gets a couple too.

We play

Lately I have been really focusing on my kids when I get home from work. I try and do all the big cleaning while they eat dinner and then join them as they finish up. After dinner we usually play in their room and often times I would bring in a load of laundry to fold while they played. But lately I let go of my need to have folded laundry and just play and really enjoy my time with them. Even when they take baths, I have take a magazine in to read while they splash, but lately I sit on the edge of the tub, play and talk with them.

Positive Discipline

Positive time outs? Yes, your kid messes up and you give them time to "regroup". Not in a dark closet or in the bathroom on a cold floor but in their room with a teddy bear. Sometimes the child wants to be near you for the time out or by themselves. But give them time to think about what just happened in a positive space.

I just organized and attended a Parents Brown Bag at my work on this subject of positive discpline. "A misbehaving child is a discouraged child," our speaker said. She introduced and advised the balanced "backbone" parenting style of high kindess and high firmness. What really opened my eyes was making a list of all the things we wanted our children to be at 18 years of age. Our list included: sweet, lovable, responsible, independent, balanced, and secure. Of course we all want this little perfect person in the end but as Melanie showed us, we have to role model it first. Show them consistently the person we want them to be.

Cooking for the masses

I have a friend who makes spaghetti sauce twice a year. He cooks HUGE portions and then freezes them in those reusable Glad/Ziploc containers with the blue lids. We eat spaghetti once a week and I need to make a habit of cooking bigger portions so I am not repeating what could of have been done once instead of four times a month. Even if I could enough for one month that would be a huge win on time for me.

My Friends Tips - Food

Pancakes - I take out the griddle and make a huge batch of pancakes for the week. I put three pancakes in each zip lock bag and store in the refrigerator. Every morning I grab a bag and throw it in the microwave.

Trail Mix - We use cold cereal (honeycomb, cheerios, honey wheat rice chex…something crunchy), sweet raisins, peanuts or honey roasted peanuts, chocolate chips or peanut butter chips, goldfish crackers, coconut, banana chips. We make a huge batch and stick in little snack baggies. She eats it all the time.

Smoothies - We make fruit smoothies and freeze them in red keg cups. When our little one wants one we just nuke it for a few seconds, stir and we are good to go. I add protein powder on occasion.

Tag your it

I have this really good friend, her name is Sharpie. You know how on flickr.com and even this blog site, you can tag your pictures or blogs with keywords. Well, I have moved this latest rage to my house. For instance, I just bought a new case of wipeys, took the sharpie out and tagged each container with the name where it will reside. The key thing here is to keep the container in the tagged room. The one labeled bathroom stays in the basket in the bathroom on top of the toilet and the one in the bedroom stays in the basket with the diapers next to the bed. I also tag my big ziploc bags with "Belle''s Diapers" and "Janae's clothes". Do not underestimate the sharpie. The sharpie is your friend. Embrace your sharpie.