Motherhood

Meals that Keep Kids Busy

Why would you want to keep the kids busy during mealtime? If your children are anything like mine, they are nearly bouncing off the walls by dinner time! There are times when the kids are off from school and they need activities to keep them busy. I plan on meals the children can help to prepare.

For lunch, I like to place a dish of celery stalks on the table and include bowls of different toppings. Cream cheese, peanut butter or pimento spread works perfectly as the “filler” for your celery. For toppings put out bowls of sunflower seeds, raisins, diced apple, crushed pineapple, shredded or diced cheese and granola.

Do your children like yogurt? Place several flavors in bowls on the table. For toppings, try thawed mixed berries, granola, coconut flakes, cereal and graham crackers. For the main course use pita bread or flour tortillas. Let the kids add shaved turkey or ham, tuna, cut pickles, black olives, shredded cheese, sliced eggs, lettuce and tomatoes.

What could be better for dinner than individual homemade pizzas? If you don’t want to deal with making your own dough you can purchase small pre-made crust rounds. Standard pizza toppings are wonderful choices, including black olives, pepperoni, pineapple, onions, green peppers and mushrooms.

Tacos or chili are great dishes to cook when you want your children involved with the preparation. Older kids love to grate cheese, chop veggies and stir ground beef. They can also measure spices and pour in cans of tomatoes or sauce. Let the younger kids arrange bowls of toppings on the table or chop the lettuce with a butter knife. If chili is too spicy for the young ones, simply add tomato sauce to ground beef for “kid chili.”

You can let the kids make dessert pizzas with cream cheese mixed with powdered sugar as the “sauce.” Toppings can include fruit, M&M’s, coconut, skittles or gummi bears. Yummy!

How to Avoid Migraine Triggers

As I sit here looking at my computer screen, I realize that I am not seeing the letters clearly, I think maybe I need new glasses. It’s been a couple years, yes it is time. Then I remember that this has occurred before and the computer screen is one of my migraine triggers. I should probably get off the computer.

As an at-home web developer, I am on my computer all day so when things are difficult to read, I know I need to take a break to avoid getting a migraine that can take me off-line for days. The lighting on my screen is a trigger for me. My work load is high right now, so that would not be a good thing. It’s better to take the rest of the day off and restart tomorrow well rested without having to deal with a headache that makes you put your head under a blanket because light and sound are almost impossible to bear.

For triggers that can set off a migraine, see below. Some I didn’t know but at this moment a few of these are apparent, lacking sleep, overly tired and so busy with work that I have forgotten to eat and probably haven’t had enough water. This is a terrible pattern I know but when a client has malware on their website and Google blacklists it, you may need to stay up all night to fix it. Not that I did that, no not at all!

I didn’t realize that exercise could trigger a migraine, good reason to not go to the gym, ever, lol. The last one looked like “Certain Smiles” so I think it’s time to turn off the computer and hope to avoid this headache. Bye for now. Things may be clearer tomorrow.

Common Migraine Triggers

Stress
Menstrual periods
Changes in your normal sleep pattern
Extreme fatigue
Certain foods and drinks
Too much caffeine or withdrawal from it
Skipping meals or fasting
Dehydration
Changes in the weather
Exercise
Smoking
Bright, flickering lights
Certain smells

How to Avoid Migraine Triggers

Eat regular meals and don’t skip any.
Reduce caffeine. Doing so too fast can cause a migraine in some people so slowly decrease it.
Get enough sleep and set up a good sleeping pattern.
Decrease your stress levels and spend more time with people you care about. Meditate or pray more and exercise, unless it is one of your triggers.
Drink more water!
Give up smoking. Again do so slowly.

Identifying your triggers is the first step. Writing down the foods you ate and what you were doing when your migraine began can be an important factor in avoiding them. Asking yourself questions like, have I gotten enough sleep, have I been stressed and so on. WebMD has some good suggestions to help treat migraines and is a good read.

Nail Polish that Lasts

I knew it! Nail polish that lasts does not have to cost you an arm and a leg.

Over the summer my adult daughter told me about an inexpensive nail polish that was as good if not better than many high end brand polishes. Drumroll please… the winner is Sinful Colors!

Consumer Reports put Sinful Colors up against a $27 bottle of Chanel and it came out on top. The report says that 4 out of 10 who tested the Chanel brand said it chipped the day they applied it. See image below. Now this report came out several months back, but I just found it.

Chanel wasn’t the only polish that tested poorly. Nutra Nail was the next highest priced nail polish on their list which claims to have ding-free protection. Nutra Nail did the worst in the testing since it required three coats of activator and two coats of polish. Seven out of the 10 who used the polish said it chipped on the same day they put it on. One person said that the smell was so horrible that they wouldn’t used the product again based on that fact alone.

The price isn’t the only thing special about Sinful Colors. This polish dries super shiny like a gel based manicure that takes me about an hour in the nail salon. I can do this at home at just $2 a bottle that will last me many applications. I do admit that I use the Sinful Colors base and top coat and use their quick coat so I can move around quicker without smudging which does add to the cost. But I don’t mind.

Sinful Colors holds up better than any brand I’ve used and I’ve used the best.

I wait to buy mine when it is on sale at just $.99 a bottle at Walgreens or buy one get one and then stock up. Watch for sales at other drugstores. Wal-mart carries it, too.

Love, love, love this polish!

NOTE: We did not receive any compensation for this review. It is an honest opinion from my experience with this product.

7 Best Mom Giveaways – Websites

We’re always on the lookout for best giveaways websites for moms. It’s so nice to be able to win giveaways no matter how small and who doesn’t love getting a package delivered to the door.

Some have low entries and that makes it easier to win.

Talking to your Daughter about Her Menstrual Period

When my mother was a young girl, she said parents didn’t talk about things like the Birds and the Bees or a menstrual period. When it came to learning about her period my grandmother said, ?When you are a little older something will happen to you and here is what you will need. Times have certainly changed, giving moms the freedom to speak openly to their daughters about their periods.

My daughter has known about menstruation since she was young. While in the bathroom with me she asked what “those things are for.” On the spur of the moment I answered with a completely honest answer, although a simple one.

There wasn’t a bit of fear in her eyes after hearing my quick explanation. I gave her just enough information to satisfy her curiosity without asking more questions. But the seed was planted, allowing her to ask about it when she got a little older.

And ask she did. I gave her a more in depth explanation, describing the lining of the uterus and how it “cleans itself out” monthly if you don’t get pregnant. I was asked if it hurts and how long it goes on, but that was about it.

Now that my daughter is almost ten, the “finer points” have been discussed. Again, the questions were prompted by her. “How do you feel?” “When will it happen?” “Do those hurt?” Not only does she feel no fear, but she is a little excited about starting.

I have to admit to telling her about cravings for chocolate and the occasional bad mood. I will never forget fussing at her about something and her asking, “Oh, do you have your period?” As innocent as that question was, I had to laugh out loud.

Have you had “the talk” with your daughter?

How To Get Your Child To Do Chores

When you were a child, did you have household chores? I’ll admit, it’s not always easy to get our child to do chores. When I was a child, I was in charge of setting the table and clearing it while my brother emptied the trash. We won’t dwell on the fact that I had my nights of whining and stomping my feet with each trip to the table. I was in second grade and was perfectly capable of the tasks I was assigned.

What do my boys do? One of my teen boys knows how to fold laundry while the other is a whiz at the dishes. They don’t do these chores every day, but when things are hectic they are asked to chip in. The boys also pick up the living room sporadically, but this is usually when the majority of the mess is theirs.

Set a Time for Your Child to do Chores

When is it a good time to give chores to your children? Children as young as three will love helping mommy and daddy and can be given tiny tasks to do. Maybe your little one can be on ?crayon patrol,? picking up crayons and placing them in a special basket. Little children can be assigned the occasional small age- appropriate chore to help him or her feel like a part of the working family.

To assign chores to your school aged children, you might want consider your child’s interests. Does your son or daughter enjoy watching you cook? Perhaps they can become a part of meal preparation. Some children find window cleaning fun while others don’t mind taking the trash to the street.

Consider allowing your child to select their own chore. They may be less like to fight among siblings of chore selections. Why don’t you create a chore list as a family and assign someone to each chore. Be sure to include Mom or Dad, because dinner preparation or lawn mowing are certainly necessary chores in the house.

When school is in session, I have my teens focus on their school work during the week rather than on chores. They do not get home until after 6 p.m., so time is short for homework and studying.

On the weekends children can help with the dishes and laundry. When children complete their chores, it provides more time for family time or time to go out with friends. Children should be more accountable over the summer for various jobs around the house. When parents work full time, it is especially true.

Children may feel more like a part of the family rather than hired help when they are involved in chore assignments. Every child is unique and holds his or own special interests and talents. Use those to the advantage of the family unit, making chores seem less like a chore and more like an important family job.