Kids sit still for free food-maybe?

So, I usually try to post an amazing or simple recipe on Saturdays. But, since life happens-affordable ways to eat out are good to know, too. It turns out, the more kids that come along, the less you eat out. Forget getting all of them to sit still for an entire meal, just paying for them to eat is tricky-ridiculous. We used to stuff them full of cheese and apples and then just let them eat french fries. Which sort of worked. It is clearly not the healthiest option. However, my wonderful husband came across an amazing list today. This post has a list of where kids can eat free or for $1 on different days of the week. Some are local restaurants, but others are nationwide chains, like Applebees and Red Robin! It is worth checking out!

Or check out this site which allows you to search according to your zipcode and the day of the week. :)

So, once you make it to the restaurant, you are still stuck with keeping children still. A great way to do this-keep a magna doodle or two in the diaper bag! Go to family friendly restaurants where they have coloring books and crayons. After those run out, here are a few other ideas from Parenting Magazine's Melody Warnick:

• Something's Missing: Dump out a few objects from your purse and let your kids study them for a a minute or two. Ask him to close his eyes, then remove on the the objects. See if he can figure out what disappeared. Then let him have a turn stumping you.
• Food Mystery: Play "What did I eat today?" by giving your child one clue at a time: "I ate something green. I at something round. I at something that comes in a bunch." Once you guesses that you noshed on grapes, its his turn.
• Rock the Vote: Have your kid give a thumbs-up or -down as you name different food, TV shows, or activities. You may be surprised to learn what he loves (and hates).

Of course, if you are really brave, you could pull out phonics flash cards or something educational. Or bring that chapter book you keep trying to get through with the kiddos. (We just got Charlotte's Web from Paperbackswap! I am soo excited to read it.)

Cities on the Cheap

Found this new great cheap date, or well, just about anything you may want to do in a city resource. The Aquarium we would love to take the family to for Emily's birthday, so much cheaper thanks to this site. They have city specific versions, which may or may not include your city, but your chances of one day being in one of these cities for a vacation are pretty good. Go check out Cities on the Cheap.

Product Review: Honest Kids Juice

Um, yes, I realize this is more of a food than a product, but even so, I am VERY excited about this new find! We found Honest Kids Juice first at New Seasons for a special road trip treat. But then, we found them at Costco!! 18 pouches for $6.99 (I think, I will double check next trip.) As far as I am concerned, they have no cons. Okay, maybe the disposable little packages, but upon glancing at their website they want you to recycle them so they can make bags and school supplies out of the pouches and they will donate $.02/pouch recycled to a school or organization of your choice. Hm. Here are some of the pro's:

• At Costco, a reasonable price for an organic juice box
• 10g of sugar per pouch (!!! YES! That is all. Less than a serving of plain yogurt!)
• no high fructose corn syrup
• yummy flavors
  
• great for bribes, rewards or just a special treat (I like to use ours for story time, I am reading the kids Little House in the Big Woods, which does not have as many pictures as they prefer, but if they have their juice in hand, they sit still and listen well. And I do not have to fight them. Maybe not the best precedent but we all enjoy the time.)
  

Guest Reader

My children are pretty comfortable with all of the people that show up at the door. It is a rare person that comes to our house who brings out our childrens shy streaks. The first question that comes out of their mouth is "will you play house with us?" Often, they ask people to read them as well.

I could not think of a book to review, so I thought I would just pass along the encouragement to make sure that your children not only get to read with you, but they also get to hear someone else read. Whether its Grandma and Grandpa, the librarian at story time (some books stores also offer story time, although not usually as wonderful,) or an audio book. Listening is a learned skill, and like all skills it helps to practice in different settings. I know of parents that play the Bible on cd, or classical literature while their children are playing to get them some extra exposure. Personally, I like to get ones with picture books, set the kids up on the couch and get something done. My kids, however, prefer to snuggle with Grandma while reading. Either way, it would be difficult to read too much.

A Few Minutes of Sanity or Getting Dinner Made : JitterBug Music

Today was a victory for me (I hope!!) After a week of tricking and forcing Lucy to eat solids, she finally started realizing that she could open her mouth and eat food! Why am I forcing my daughter to eat solids? Well, she is irritable, cranky, and wants to eat every one to two hours or so, day and night. However, she does not want to eat food. She would be content to just nurse all day, but well, I am not. So, in go the solids. She screws up her little face and tries very hard to not get any more in her mouth. The first day or two, we would get her to laugh and then we would sneak it in. Then she learned what was going on, and would clench her mouth closed and just give you a cute toothless granny grin, with her mouth clenched shut. Finally finally today, she started to open her mouth and actually eat the food!! Hooray! Maybe it was the clapping when she put food in her mouth. Probably it was the prayer, either way, I am excited to (hopefully) not be wrestling my 7 1/2 month old to get her to eat solids a few times a day.

The recent newsletter from Cool Mom Picks mentioned jitterbug tv, kind of like a muscial youtube for toddlers. All toddler music videos. It won't buy you a lot of time, but it is music for kids. And a few back to back can break the chaos for a few minutes of cooking dinner. Anyway, its kind of fun. Not to promote plugging kids into electronics (of course, they don't have to watch the video) but its a cute way to spend a few minutes.

Product Review: Green Toys Tea Set

I am sitting here trying to think of what my kids got for Christmas that I could review. How could I have forgotten. The first thing my children ask a guest when they walk in the house is, "do you want to play house with me?" followed closely by "can we have a tea party?" And, oh yes, Joe is quite comfortable having his own tea party with water from the bathroom sink on the floor. But Emily prefers to go all the way with tea, cream, sugar and cookies. Thank you, Grandma, for setting the standard high (and trying to teach my sweeties manners while you were at it.)

Emily was given this Green Toys Tea Set for Christmas. It has all your basic tea set necessities: four tea cups, four spoons, four saucers, sugar bowl, and creamer.

Con's:

• Its plastic-but wait-its bpa and pthalate free, though.
• It is pretty light, and if you are not careful, little hands can slip or tip. But I assume this would be the case with most?
• No pretty patterns. :(
• Well, they can actually put water or tea in it, but I guess that's the point, right?

Pro's:

• Its plastic! It will not break! At least, not yet. My kids are pretty tough on things, but this is definitely going to last a lot longer than porcelain.
• The colors are pretty, and not too girly-which is a plus since what Emily does, Joe does.
• It is "green"-made of recycled plastics. See how green they are.
  
• Okay, the kids love it.
  

All in all, I would have to say it is a great product. I am happy to not be exposing my kids to additional toxins, supporting a company that is paying attention to their impact on the environment, and my kids love it. Besides, unless I help them, at this point the worst that can happen is they spill water on the floor. It has been kept downstairs (wood, not carpet floors) for obvious reasons. (As an innocent bystander noted, there are barbarian tendencies.) So, yes, this is a hit and I would happily recommend it, as long as you are willing to accept the risks involved in tea parties as a general practice.

Ah ha! I found it!

A few weeks ago I knew I had seen a great, simple recipe for home made finger paint. I saw the recipe in the September Wondertime, got really excited about, and set it down to deal with some child-related problem. The story of my life, right? But then, I could not find it when I went to write about it and share it with you. So, this morning, in a rare moment of peace, I found it again! Rather than lose it in a pile of magazines again, this time I tore it out. Here it is:

Edible Finger Paint

Pour 2 cups cold water into a large bowl. While stirring, slowly add 2 cups white flour. When mixed, divide into smaller bowls and add a drop of food coloring to each.*

*"Growing Up: Paint Primer" Lynne Bertrand, Wondertime. September, 2008.

Bountiful Balloons

Toddlers love balloons! Its this amazing thing, worth hours and hours of play! (A few precautions-obviously a popped balloon or a balloon with a string are dangerous for small children-so keep on eye on kiddos while playing with balloons.) We recently blew up a whole bag of dollar store balloons and have had the around the house for fun. Joe has loved tackling and rolling around on them, almost chewing on them. Surprisingly, they have withstood the abuse. Emily really enjoys them as well. Much to my surprise (I was prepared for toddler trauma) they enjoyed throwing them away even more! They brought me the balloons in the bathroom, where I would snip the top, near the tie, and return them to the child to have the air squished out of them. Then I made sure the deflated balloons went right into the trash. (That's why we were in the bathroom-convenient trash location ;) My two toddlers would then go running/waddling quickly from the bathroom in search of more balloons! No trauma. No tears. No why? Just more fun.
I think the best part about this for me was how Emily's big sisterness really shone through. She was amazingly considerate to Joe for part of this, making sure that he got a balloon too, even before she had hers. !! If only it worked like that all day. Its so wonderful to get those encouraging "something is getting through" moments. :)