Clarasita

January 14, 2012

Dear Clara,
When one of the kids says or does something ugly towards another person I usually make them write down five things nice about that person and then read it to them.  These are two of your recent lists:

To Nora                                                                                    
1.  You are funny.                                                                      
2.  You are cute.                                                                        
3.  Your eyes are pretty.                                                      
4.  You are nice.                                                                                                                              
5.  You have a cute sence of style.                                          

To Mom

1.  I like to play with you.

2.  You are nice.

3.  I think you are a good mom.

4.  You are pretty.                                                      

 5.  I like your lips.  They are gourjis.

And now because sometimes I'm ugly to you, here's a list of five nice things about you.

To Clara

1.  You have a cute personality.

2.  You sing pretty.

3.  I like your dimples.

4.  You have a great imagination.

5.  You're a good artist.

Love, Mama

P.S.  The other day you asked me if my lips were big even when I was a little girl because you were hoping your lips would grow to be as big as mine someday. 

Hair Tips and Tricks

June 4, 2011

Dear Daughters,
     When you grow up you're going to fall in love.  You will then get married.  You will then have children.  Maybe a daughter or two.  You will then have to do their hair every. single. day.

(pic. 1)

Some days they'll cry, some days they'll throw a fit and most days they'll grumble at least a little.  I'm going to share some tips with you to help prevent the tears, fits, and most of the grumbles.

(pic. 2)

** If you turn doing hair into a game, it's instantly more fun.  "Oh hello, Welcome to my beauty shop.  I'm so glad you stopped by today."  This is a good time to find out what's going on inside that lovely daughters head of yours.  "So, tell me how you've been... I heard you have a test today.  Are you nervous?... How is that mother of yours?  Is she treating you good...etc."

(pic. 3)

** All hairstyles in our house now fall into one of two categories.  Braids or Waves.
Saturdays are usually braid days because they keep your hair back for soccer and running around.  On Sunday we then let your braids down and you have waves.  Monday is braids again followed by Tuesday waves.  You get the idea.  This way we only have to really do your hair every other day and it prevents your hair from getting too tangled and unmanageable.  On the wave days you have a bath that evening and the process starts over in the morning.

** When I braid your hair before school I get it slightly damp and then put a palm full of mousse on it to keep the braids in better and help the waves not be so frizzy.  On Wave day I take out the braids and run my fingers through to loosen them.  I then get a palm full of mousse and scrunch the waves.

(pic. 4)

** There are five basic braids I alternate.  Loops (pic. 1), Crown (pic. 2), Knot (pic. 3), School Girl (pic. 4) and Inside Out (pic. 5).  Sometimes we'll even mix it up and do School Girl Buns or Fish Tail.  We're fancy like that.  I've found that these braids are the fastest and eaisiest to do before school.

(pic. 5)

Easy Cheesy Lemon Squeezey, right?

Hope this helps.  Love you, Mama

How to Potty Train Children

March 08, 2011

Dear Children,
     WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!  Four children... ALL POTTY TRAINED!  Thank you for taking it easy on your poor dear mother.  I must say it wasn't all that bad.  I think there are a few reasons why and I shall share them with you so that you too can be potty training pros (ha, ha).

1.  There is no set age or time to train.  These are the ages at which my littles were in undies: 

Jonas 19 months, Clara 23 months, Nora 29 months, Atticus 27 months.  They weren't all the same, but I did reach my goal of never having more than one child in diapers at a time.  That was some serious motivation.

2.  Listen & Watch for the potty time clues.  Things such as grabbing the crotch, dancing around, vocalizing the need to go (or that they already went), wanting diaper off after their business is done.  These are the clues that you look for to know when to start.

3.  Introduction to the "potty" is a must.  Once the clues were recognizable I would start talking to them about where we go potty and take the child in the restroom with me when I needed to do my business.  The toilet is a big, weird, loud, scary contraption so I wanted to make sure they were used to it.  This usually lasted a few weeks (or months)... when I would remember to do it... always very casual.  I only used a potty chair for one child and never really liked it.

4.  I tell them when they need to go, not the other way around.  At first children don't know how to recognize the sensation that they "gotta go" so I had to help them out.  I started by sitting them on the toilet 1) after they wake up, 2) before they eat, 3) after they eat, 4) before they go to bed.  I would usually get lucky and they would go in the toilet because these are "natural" times.  If they did go, a big deal was made of it and they would get a sticker or a small candy (m&m).  This would go on for a few weeks (or months)... when I would remember to do it... always very casual.

5.  After you've had some success put them in undies.  Up until this point only diapers were used. Once they've gone in the toilet for awhile I start talking to them about being a "big kid" and we go pick out special undies at the store.  They now wear these most of the time except for when we are out of the house for an extended period of time.

6.  Don't stress!  By going about this in a more relaxed and slow manner I think it helps the child transition relatively easily.  Once they're wearing undies you'll often have to ask them, "Do you need to go potty?"  Pretty soon though they'll start to tell you when they need to.  They will have accidents, but try not to stress about it (too bad I can't go back in the future and take my own advice).  It took me a couple weeks to potty train Jonas and six months to train Atticus, only because I was way more relaxed (and lazy) with my last baby vs. my first baby.

7.  Diapers are only for nighttime.  When the child is to the point where they tell you they "gotta go" without your prompting them its time to only wear undies during the day and diapers at night.  Start limiting the drinks they have after dinner time.  When they wake up with a dry diaper for more than a week you know it's time for undies during the night too.

Disclaimer:  These are all my own methods and they worked for me, but I'm not promising they'll work for you!  I may have just had crazy good luck and I'm not a potty training pro after all.

Love, Mama

How to comfort and cure sick Children

February 18, 2011

Dear Children,

    It's been a rough week.  A week of fevers, coughing, bloody noses, congestion and throw-up.  It's also been full of naps, cuddling, stories, lullabies, games and movies.  This is the first time all four of you have been sick at the same time and it's been tiring for all involved. 

After Atticus had been sick for a few days I took him to the doctor because I was afraid he had RSV and on our way home Jonas threw up in the van.  Oh joy.  I still needed to fill baby boy's prescription so we went to the grocery store with four sick kids, hoping no one else would throw up.  All week long everyone's wanted my attention and you've all been whiney and grumpy.

(Yes, Jonas sleeps with his scriptures.)

I kept thinking, "What I need is someone to take care of me after this is over.  Someone to rub MY back and tuck ME in."  I wanted to post on Facebook about the horrible time I was having and then have people sympathize with me.  I wanted to take a nap and when I woke up have everyone better and the house cleaned.  What I really wanted was for my own mama to come and rescue me.

(Nora's sock hands to prevent thumb sucking.  No they're not dirty, they just look like it.) 

None of those things happened and when I finally stopped thinking about ME and started thinking about YOU my days drastically improved.  I decided to enjoy the mama time you were all craving.

Every night we got out "Little House" and snuggled up together as I read it out loud.  I was reminded how much we all enjoy story time and you can bet we'll be doing it more often.  

Jonas and I had a few intense rounds of Mancala because he's trying to win two times in a row in order for me to set up the Wii.  

I cuddled you before naps and at bedtime while singing lullabies from my childhood.  My dad always sang "Tru-a-lu-a lu a" to me and he still likes to sing it to the grandkids.  My mom would stroke my hair and sing "There is a Green Hill Faraway" and "I Wonder when He Comes Again" as she tucked me in.

I thoroughly enjoy singing them to my own children now.

You watched more movies in one week than you're usually allowed to watch in an entire month.  Unfortunately none of the "sick movies" were watched though.  Do you even know about the sick movies?  Hmm, I don't think you do.  That's a story (a wonderfully fantastic story) for another day.

Even before Papa was in Pharmacy school he was always the one to make sure you all had your medicine.  He seems to usually be the one to get up in the night to treat symptoms of crying kids.  For some strange reason he enjoys it.  I'm certainly glad he does though.

Comfy?

Prevention is key and this is where I've been slacking.  I haven't been making sure everyone gets enough sleep, uses proper hygiene and eats healthy.  I'm sorry.  Well, since you're already sick I'll share my top ten tips when dealing with sick kids (and adults).  These are a combination of Papa's traditional medicine and my more natural approach.

1.  Extra sleep and water are ESSENTIAL!

2.  A hot bath (with oils), a little massage (with oils) and some extra lovin' can work wonders.

3.  If vomiting- use the BRAT diet: Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast.  Otherwise chicken noodle soup is a good bet.

4.  Ginger is great for settling tummies (real ginger ale to drink, ginger & honey tea, ginger in the bath)  

5.  A sinus rinse or steam bath helps clear mucus and nasal passage.

6.  Avoid sugar and dairy when sick.  Embrace clear liquids.

7.  Vicks on the bottom of feet, under the nose and on the back relieves coughing and congestion.

8.  Getting Zinc (Zicam) in the body will shorten the duration of a cold.

9.  A teaspoon of honey (or two) is the best cough medicine.

10. Vitamin C (papa said it has to be a 4 gram bolus, whatever that means) is your new best friend.

11.  Gargle warm salt water for a sore throat, the salt kills bacteria.

12.  A fever is the bodies way of fighting infection.  Help draw it out with a hot bath (with oils) rather than any cooling method.  It's much more comforting and relaxing this way.  It will break the fever and a good nap afterwards is a must.

Okay, so it's twelve tips.  Just be glad I don't make you take garlic anymore when you're sick!!

I love you all and can't wait for you to be better.

Love, Mama