5 Tips for Reducing Children's TV Time

image source

Last Lent (2011) we gave up TV, including John. I didn't think it was going to be that hard, but it made me realize how much I was letting John watch TV during the day. He usually watched a half hour show during the day, which is probably less than average. It was a nice break for me and he enjoyed that TV time. He would usually watch an episode of Blues Clues, Kipper, Thomas the Train, or Dragon Tails. I didn't see any harm in it... until we gave it up.

During the first week of those forty days, John would get really crabby because he wanted to watch a show and I realized that I had been using that TV time to get things done. Essentially, it was babysitting John for me - something I vowed would not happen when I became a parent. But it's such an easy thing to get in the habit of! It turned out to be a great Lent and my eyes were opened to see that I can get things done without having the TV on for John. After Lent was over, we started watching shows again, but it's different now. He typically watches TV once a week and it is now a family time, where we all watch it together (minus Peter of course!).

If you are a parent who wants to reduce the amount of TV your children watch and still have time to get things done, here are some tips that helped us make the transition:

--- 1 ---

Set up Play-Doh or another craft that isn't too messy at your kitchen table. When he was younger, I would put John in his highchair to contain him and the mess. This works well when I am making dinner.

image source

--- 2 ---

When your children are playing alone, use your time wisely to get important things done - this could be anything from relaxing to scrubbing the toilet - whatever is most important to you! In my experience, if I am deliberate about what I do in my "free-time", there is plenty of time to get things done without having to use the TV as a babysitter.

Add caption

--- 3 ---

Audio books can be a great alternative to TV because they are entertaining, don't require parental involvement and still utilize your child's imagination. We have Strega Nona on CD, read by the author, and John LOVES it! Be sure to check out the audio book section at your library!

image source

--- 4 ---

Keep your kitchen sink clean and empty so you can pull up a chair and have your child play in the water with some plastic toys (another good activity during dinner prep). I put a towel on the chair to make it less slippery and use it to clean up any spills after playtime.

Hard to believe this was over a year ago!

--- 5 ---

Have kids "help" with the chore. Some examples:

• Dusting: give your little one a cloth so they can help
• Sweeping: give your child a little dust pan and brush
• Vacuuming: give them the attachments so they can pretend to vacuum also

Check out this post for ways kids can help in the kitchen at every age.

image source

Do you have any other ideas? I'm always looking for new things to try!

Happy Birthday!! {How to make straw rockets}

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Andrew's birthday - or as John would say "Daddy's happy birth-dee." This year, John got in on the gift giving. A couple of days ago we made straw rockets. You can see below that we have Super Daddy, Super Mommy, Super Johnny, and Super Peter. I drew the figures and John colored them (I colored the capes).

Stapled to the back of each figure is a paper tube that I rolled around a crayon which was slightly larger than the straw. You can't roll it around the straw because then it will be too tight and not fly off easily - trust me, I tried it! Then you just put the figure on the end of a straw and blow! It's lots of fun for a 2-year-old and his daddy!

This morning I told John that it was Dad's birthday today. He ran to where we hid the gift and brought it to Andrew (who was still sound asleep). Andrew woke up and opened his gift. It was so sweet to see John's excitement! I know that Andrew is his hero!

Adventures in Cloth Diapering: New Wipes!

Since I just got a bunch of new diapers, I thought I'd freshen up my wipe stash too. I have been using wipes made by a friend which are one layer of flannel surged around the edges:

They definitely did the job! But I recently envisioned a new wipe that was more heavy duty, because sometimes you just need a little more than flannel. So I made some new wipes that are the best of both worlds - one side is terry cloth (for the dirty work) and the other is flannel (for a smooth finish!).

I started using the new wipes with John and I really like them. I am usually able to do a big job with only one wipe. I made a set of 20 wipes so that should be plenty. I still use the same spray bottle solution to get the wipe nice and moist before using it.

Valentine Cake

As the leader of the Pro-Life Youth Committee at our Church, I put a lot of work in planning our annual Couples' Dinner which was last Saturday. This year our theme was"Wedding Reception." Part of the evening included a couple (randomly chosen) cutting a cake. I wanted to have a cake that was very pretty but also frugal. So I decided to make it myself. I used this recipe to make the fondant. The cake topper is a Valentine figurine that I got at the Dollar Tree. I also couldn't have done it without borrowing a lot of supplies from my friend who is a pastry chef (Thanks, Emily!).

I was very proud of the end result!

 

Advent & Christmas Crafts

My goal is to do a few crafts each year so that a lot of our Christmas decorations will eventually be homemade. This year I made a tree skirt that was inspired by this pattern.

I also made a stocking for John.

I made a few batches of cookies and attended a cookie exchange. I really think cookie exchanges are the best way to get a great variety of treats with the least amount of effort! John even joined in my cookie decorating efforts! I got the idea from Life as a Mom. She suggested using pastry brushes, but I didn't have any so I used baby spoons. I think brushes would have worked better - I had to help John a lot! Mom St.Hilaire told me that she used to have her kids paint the cookies before they were baked with an egg yolk mixture, which looks neat when baked. I think I will try that next year!

We did not have an Advent wreath last year or for most of this year. I ordered one from Bronners, but it didn't come until the 4th week of Advent. To tide us over, I drew a wreath on the chalk board in our kitchen and added a flame each week. We also hung the cards that we received around the boarder:

Craft Time - Making a Clubhouse

John is getting more and more hands-on. I bought him some toddler crayons which are a little advanced for him, but he likes trying to use them anyway. We put the crayons to use on this box we got from Costco. We had a few crafting sessions, and (with a lot of help from me...) in a short time, we made this clubhouse for John. He really loves sitting in his box clubhouse!

Toddlers only - cause there's no way I would fit in it!!

He liked trying to put stickers on the box

Who knew you could have so much fun with a lettuce box!

John's New Rocking Chair

I bought this little old rocking chair from a rummage sale at our church for only $1.50!! I think it was a good purchase, and with a little TLC it will be a good chair for John. So far, I have fixed it up by making new cushions. Maybe someday we will sand it and put a new finish on it. John sure loves sitting on it and reading his books!

Before:

After:

Family Traditions: Growth Chart

As John's birthday was approaching, I kept thinking of all the traditions that I wanted to start. Having a growth chart was one of those traditions. I wanted to make it so it was very personalized and less expensive. I'm not sure if I saved any money by doing it this way, but I am very pleased with how it turned out - and that is worth a lot!

As you will see in the pictures below, I chose the theme of "Growing toward Heaven." I used holy cards to depict Heaven at the top, and the earth below with a picture of Jesus with children on the grass. Then, there is the lonely St. Jean Vianney on a cloud in the middle. He will (God willing) have more Saints to join him on their own clouds when we have more children. Each year we will mark the growth of our children on their birthday.





When John was born he measured in at 21 inches. On his first birthday we measured him at 31 inches - He grew 10 inches!

(Funny story - after birth, the nurse told us he was 19 inches and at his four-day appointment, the doctor told us he was 23 inches! There is no way he grew 4 inches in four days! - So we decided to average it out and say he was 21 inches at birth.)

Leaf Craft Project

I found this project on the Crafty Crow. Krystal (mentioned in the previous post) and I gathered leaves a few weeks ago. Last week, she brought two of her sisters over and we painted the leaves with mod-podge. This preserves them and gives them a shiny look.

Ta-da! ~ A beautiful fall centerpiece!

Thanks Krystal, Mary, and Bridget! John and I had a wonderful time! =D