We spent this weekend in the company of my family.  My parents were in town, as well as my uncle, aunt and cousin from Slovenia.  And, my almost 92 year old grandmother was here as well.

There’s something nice about being around family, especially those you don’t get to see all that often.  And, for the boys, it was a wonderful experience in meeting a great group of people who are a part of their family history.

My grandmother is quite spry for her age.  She has her own house, her own car, drives herself (scary as that sounds, yes), is of VERY sound mind, and doesn’t look a day over 60.  She loves to play with the boys.  This weekend, they had a baseball game going, then it was time to dance to “The Wiggles” and after the pie for dessert, they had time to sit and read together.

It is those little moments that I want to stay with my children for a very, very long time.

A great idea is to share the experiences children have such as these through a product like My PhotoStory.  Take a look at it through the link and see the endless possibilities with this!

I came across a magnificent site on eemoms’ site for a program called “Piccassohead”.  It is a great art program online that helps you make a Piccasso-esque picture or portrait!  Go visit it, and send us a copy of your masterpiece!

My older son will have a birthday next month, and already the party preparations have begun.  We’ve done the “home party” with games in the backyard, lemonade and cupcakes, and a pinata to boot.  We’ve had the bowling party, all the friends at the lanes, lots of noise and fun.  And, we’ve had the “progressive party”, moving a small group of friends from activity to activity, ending up at the house for cake and ice cream before sending everyone home.

My least favorite part of birthday parties are the party favors, mainly because I cringe almost every time my son brings one home from someone else’s party.  Party favors typically comprise of a plastic bag filled with candy my kids don’t need and toys my kids lose/don’t play with/forget about after an hour.  I certainly want to make sure that the favors we send home end up in a better spot than the floorboard of a car or the trash can in the driveway.

So, in my aging wisdom, I’ve come up with a small list of ideas, and perhaps some of these will spark an idea or two that you’d like to share as well:

1.  Beach towels.  You can usually find good deals on beach towels in late summer - Target sometimes runs their striped towels for $5, and I have seen Disney-themed towels for the same price at other stores from time to time.  Who can’t use a towel?

2.  T-shirts.  This can be as simple as a white undershirt and let the guests decorate and sign them, or you can go all out and have them silkscreened.  You can typically order shirts with a design for under $10 (I actually have a gal who can do them for $6!  You just have to look around).

3.  Kites.  This is great for those outdoor Springtime parties.  We gave styrofoam gliders one year at a transportation themed party my son had - they cost me all of $2 a piece and the kids LOVED them.

4.  Having a camp-themed party?  How about some cool flashlights, a canteen or a backpack?  A compass?

5.  Puzzles.  Puzzles are always a hit, and you can find them in any size, from wooden peg puzzles, to 1000 piece wing-dingers and giant floor puzzles.  And, puzzles can be found for just about every theme!

6.  Beach balls.  Really, any kind of swim gear would be great for a summer party - noodles, inflatables, water guns…there are endless possibilities!

7.  Fish.  I know, sounds weird, but for my son’s ocean-themed party, we gave each guest a goldfish in a bowl with a small container of food.  Several years later, we still heard about the goldfish as being the best favor by far!  And talk about inexpensive.  I picked up ivy bowls at my local Garden Ridge store for under $.50 each, the fish were 4 for $1.00, and the food was purchased at the dollar store!

8.  Nail polish.  What girl doesn’t want to have a pamper-me birthday party, and a great party favor would be to send the guests home with a great nail color and a few accessories!  Check out your dollar store for great deals there.

9.  Personalized gifts.  This year, my son’s theme is a movie party.  I found clapboard photo keychains at a discount party supply store for about $.50 each.  We will take their photos as the party begins, send them out for one hour developing and put the keychains together before they go home.  Instant souvenir of the Red Carpet event!

10.  It’s your turn!  What are some great party favors you can think of? Email them in!

I love giving gifts.  Simple “Just to say hello” gifts to whatever the occasion…I enjoy it.  My favorites are new baby gifts.

I don’t just give a gift to the new baby.  I always throw in a book or a magazine for the new mom (and a bottle of water - I remember always being thirsty!) and a small gift for any siblings.  This can be as simple as a package of playdough or crayons to a more specific fun toy.

When my younger son was born, one of the most memorable times in those first couple of days was having my older son help me unwrap a few gifts.  And, the look on his face when he found out the book and new music CD were for HIM and not his brother made it all worthwhile.

Don’t forget the rest of the family when honoring those newborns.  It is a big change - for everyone - when a baby comes into a family!

There is much to be said about boys and girls and how they differ.  After teaching public school (and before becoming a mom), I was sure that boys were the way they were because of the way they were raised, and likewise with girls.  It wasn’t until I became a mom that I could see it really didn’t matter.  Boys will be boys.  Girls are always girls.

My older son was raised in what I would call a very non-stereotypical household.  He was given pom poms to use when he danced to his favorite “Wiggles” song.  He wanted to paint his nails and I obliged.  He had his own kitchen, shopping cart, and doll.

And he still turned his toast into a gun.

There’s something about boys that makes them more physical.  Something in the testosterone or other chemicals raging through their bodies that brings out the active side of them, moreso than you typically find in girls.

I have noticed in my pre-k class that boys require more space.  They just do.  They are more active, more physical.  When we’re out on the playground, the boys are always (ALWAYS) running around and around, chasing and playing, pretending and imagining, but always running.  The girls tend to clump into groups and may run some, but they are more content to stay in one place to play.  Even in the classroom, the boys need more space to build and create.  The boys gravitate to the big paper for coloring and painting, filling the entire sheet with bold colors and big strokes of a brush.  The girls prefer the smaller paper, not wanting to do anything too big.

My boys are also more action-oriented, and my girls tend to be more verbal.  If one of my boys has a problem with another child, they are more likely to grab the toy or object away from the other person or try to push to get their way.  My girls, on the other hand, will argue and tattle to get what they want.  No one taught them this; it is their natural reaction.

I can even see differences in storytime.  The boys want the books that are full of movement and action.  But, the girls want the sweet stories with colorful language and characters with emotions.  That’s not to say that the girls don’t like the action stories; it just isn’t something they initially choose.

As a parent of boys, this is valuable to me.  We provide our boys with sturdy outdoor toys, perfect for climbing and riding.  We frequent the big park in town and run from apparatus to apparatus (running being the main goal).  We hone in on the things that interest them.  We do not condone wrestling or turning everything into a gun; we have limits on their physical behavior so that they don’t hurt others or pretend to hurt someone else.  We also provide some of the quieter activities for outdoor play - sidewalk chalk is one of their favorites.  And, when we’re reading books, I make sure we aren’t reading just “Rescue Hero” stories, but we also read “Little Critter” books and the like. 

It is important to find what motivates your child and interests them in order to maximize those teachable moments.  However, it is equally important to expose them to “the other side”.  It is how we learn to get along with people of all types of learning styles and personalities.

I still get those emails every now and then that I got before my second child was even born.  You know the ones…”Your Child: Month 30″.  I usually delete them before looking at them.  Oh, they were interesting when I was pregnant and then when I was dealing with an infant again, but I’m too busy wiping spaghetti off the walls and cleaning playdough out of the carpet to sit down and enjoy them most of the time.

A couple of months ago, though, one caught my eye.  It was on Learning Styles.  I’m quite critical of things like this - you take a survey (and everyone fits into choice A, B, or C???) and it “calculates” your result, in this case, your child’s learning style.  But, I had a moment (thanks to an early bedtime) and decided to check it out.

This questionaire attempts to show you your child’s strongest learning style area.  It might be a combination of two or quite equal across the board.  And, I think that the results would change as a child gets older and aquires new skills.  I’m not even sure if the three styles they mention are adequate to evaluate a child; should there be more?  What would they be?

Putting my criticisms aside, I took the test for both of my children.  And, I was somewhat satisfied.

The survey supposedly measures your child’s strength in auditory, visual and kinesthetic learning.  And, it recognizes that it isn’t an “all or nothing” type of result for most children.  My oldest was predominately a visual learner, although he was strong in kinesthetic learning as well.  And my younger son was very strong in the verbal/auditory learning style and not so much in the others.  However, I think his will definitely change as he learns different skills, like writing and drawing.

The survey does excel in one area - it makes you think about how your child learns and thrives, and it gives you tips for working towards your child’s most dominant way to learn.

So, I urge you to take the survey yourself and see what the result is.  What is your reaction to your child’s results?  In what ways can you see a tool like this being helpful for you as a parent?

This is, by far, one of my most frequented sites as of late.  Type in your location on this page, and it will give you your UV rating for the day.

Protect that skin!  It is the only skin you’ve got!

It is Vacation Bible School week here at my house, and naturally, the songs from the week are stuck in my head.  It is all I can think about and it is driving me CRAZY!

See, I’m the songleader for the entire group - almost 300 children.  It is exhausting because they are all excited, the songs are peppy, and I naturally fall into that “spastic mommy” mode with them.  But, by noon when the whole thing is over, I’m a zombie!

I have to hand it to the creators of our curriculum, though.  They know what they are doing as far as including some key elements of child development in with this week-long program.  One of the most obvious concepts that I have experienced this week is centered around movement.  See, not only do I teach the children the songs for the week, but I also teach them the movements that go with them.

One of the first things I learned in my child development classes was on brain function and ways that we can encourage brain development in small children.  There are things you can do with even infants that will develop a more complex relationship between the hemispheres of the brain.  By physically crossing one part of your body over to the other (bending at the waist from side to side with your arms over your head, touching your right hand to your left knee, crossing your arms in front of your body), you are encouraging snapses to form between the right and left hemisphere.  And, the more complex and related the parts of your brain become, the more “brain power” you have.  Fun, huh?

So, I’m watching these 290-something children, dancing around, following the movements, and having a BLAST, and I notice the sway of the arms above the head from side to side, the motion of the left hand to the right side of the body, and the cross-over kicks they show in the video.  It is amazing to think that, right there, right in front of me, all sorts of exciting things are happening in their heads.  All with a little music and a lot of movement.

So, dance with your child, no matter how young or how old.  Get those bodies moving, not just for your physical health but for your mental health as well!