Order Up!

Know you should be teaching your kids how to prepare meals, but can never find the time?
  

Resigned to the fact that your family will eat out too often again this summer?

...or are you just tired of doing all the work?

What if you could teach skills that will last a life-time,
save money on restaurants, and
make happy memories with your kids?

Organize summer meals by creating a "culinary school" in your own kitchen
and

Make Dinner Matter!

     This summer vacation marks the third year in a row I have made a summer cooking schedule for our family.  In the beginning, I decided to have the kids help me - just so I wouldn't be alone in the kitchen.  Now my food allergic tween proudly prepares entire meals for the family - on her own!  My goal for your family is to keep the expectations realistic and the mood fun.  This means writing the toddler into the rotation too! 
     Sound too complicated?  Hey, you've got weeks worth of soccer practice, or swim lessons on the calendar.  Teaching your kids independence in the kitchen is important.  And less expensive than signing them up for another camp.  What if you just scheduled it in?

For example:
1. COMMIT  I selected the 7 weeks between Monday, June 20th, and Sunday, August 7th.

2. BE REALISTIC  Of the 49 days, I figured 2 per week for special occasions and/or eating out.  Subtracting a vacation week left 30 days to make dinner matter. 

3. ASSIGN DUTY Who gets to cook/help you cook dinner when...?  Put it on the calendar!  (Note: Use the phrase, "gets to," rather than "has to!"  It will change your attitude too.)

Considering?  Read on...

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Make Dinner Matter

Step 1 - Menu Plan

One of the benefits of being assigned a night in our house is getting to select the meal!  If this is new for your family, you may want to select a few kid-friendly cookbooks from the library for inspiration.  It also helps to menu plan once a week and shop for as many items as possible at one time.  To save money, you may want to shop first and hit the sales, then menu plan based upon what you purchased. 

Bonus points - As you schedule the meals, display a few days worth of "menus" on the fridge (or computer screen).  Have your kids write (or type) it up.  They look forward to their meal nights!...Can't write yet?  Kids can glue pictures of items - or draw them.

Step 2 - Make Time

Kids in the kitchen need time to explore.  Make sure you allow enough time for food prep, mishaps, and messes!  Then teach them how to clean-up...

Step 3 - Land the Helicopter

Don't hover.  If a particular task makes you nervous, break down the steps and teach your child how to perform it safely.  If your child has never cut an onion, for example, you have a lot of groundwork to lay (use a cold onion, pre-cut manageable chunks, and be ready with sympathy if eyes are burning).  Learning a new task is nerve-wracking if someone keeps catching you doing it wrong. 

Above all be flexible, be realistic, and have fun!  Think you are going to try it?  Have questions?  Let me know...

Knife Skills for Toddlers 
Food Allergy Organization Tips 

p.s. I have a super-picky eater.  On his nights, someone else prepares the meat for the rest of us, as needed,  because meat grosses him out! 

Explore More Day

Kid Magic

First Grade 

                                                       

I, _______________________________________,

(Magician’s name here)

do solemnly swear to uphold the “Magician’s Sacred Oath” by not revealing how the magic tricks I learned today are actually performed.

Tricks

Beginning Magicians:

#1    The Amazing “Guess the Color” Trick  

#2   “Cotton Ball Cups”

More Coordination Required:

#3   The “Rubber Band Hop” 

#4   The Amazing “Guess the Card” Trick 

The Big Finish:

#5   Disappearing “Penny”!       

SECRETS - Shhhh…

#1        The Amazing “Guess the Color” Trick  (supplies - several crayons)

Hand several crayons to an audience member.  Place both hands behind your back.  Closing your eyes, ask the audience member to select a crayon and place it in one of your hands.  While pretending to think deeply, gently scratch the crayon color onto your fingernail.  Have the audience member retrieve the crayon without allowing you to see it.  Bring your hand in front of you and glance at the color on your nail.  Amaze your audience by announcing, “You selected (reveal the color)!”

#2   “Cotton Ball Cups” (supplies - 3 paper cups, 1 cotton ball, crayon/pencil)

Display three paper cups upside down.  Place a cotton ball under the cup that you have secretly marked with a small crayon/pencil mark on the upside down end.  Ask an audience member to quickly mix the cups around without lifting them from the table.  Pretend to think deeply while watching the cups move.  When he/she is finished moving around the cups, look for the cup with the marking.  Dramatically lift the cup to reveal the cotton ball.

#3       The “Rubber Band Hop” (supplies - rubber band)

Place a rubber band around your second and third fingers.  It will be loose.  State, “Watch closely and I will make this rubber band hop to my fourth and fifth fingers!”  Bend all four fingers toward your palm while quickly pulling the rubber band out with your other hand.  When the tips of your fingers reach your palm, release the band.  When you re-open your fingers, the band will have “hopped.”  Practice makes perfect!

#4       The Amazing “Guess the Card” Trick (supplies - deck of cards)

Fan out a deck (or half a deck) of cards.  Have an audience member remove a card and show it to the rest of the audience.  Tell the audience that you can guess which card was removed from the deck.  Restack the deck, then open the deck in half and have the volunteer place the card into the deck.  Secretly look at the card on the open half.  Fan out the deck again, find the card you saw on the open half, and remove the card that follows.  Hold it up to reveal your skill.

#5       Disappearing Penny!  (supplies - penny, salt shaker, paper napkin)

Remember, the name of this trick is the trick!  It is called the “Disappearing Penny,” but it is actually the “Disappearing Salt Shaker!”  Perform this trick sitting down at a table across from your audience.  Cover the salt shaker with the napkin and put your hands over it.  Place the salt shaker (now covered with the napkin) on top of the penny.  Say the magic words and take the napkin with the salt shaker off the table. (The coin is still on the table.)  Pretend that you are disappointed because the coin didn't disappear and the trick has failed.  Meanwhile, release the salt shaker into your lap.  The napkin will retain the shape of the salt shaker.  Carefully repeat the trick, but this time “accidentally” knock against the napkin and act surprised that the salt shaker has disappeared :)

 Have a little magic show of your own!

Me - Mom

My 9 year-old son has requested an opportunity to Guest Blog again.  

He is proud to present his...

Mother's Day Comparing Poem

Me                                                                 Mom
emotional, athletic, energetic            organized, unhoarded, talkative

Lover of                                                       Lover of
sports, singing in the shower,             Declare Order, cooking, and label makers
and rain

Who feels                                                    Who feels
love, sweat, and hypnotized by tv       organization, sympathy,
                                                                           and the need for an office

Who needs                                                 Who needs
mom, tv, and ipods                                  viewers, clients, and kids

Who fears                                                   Who fears
dark, spiders, and losing                          hoarding, stress, and screens

Like to see                                                    Like to see
The USS Enterprise, The Baseball          sunny days, happy kids
Hall of Fame, Great Grandma                 the Queen of Organizing

Thanks kiddo!  You make me smile :)
Previous Guest Blog

Actual illustrated poem from Mother's Day

 

Six Items or Less - I Did It, So You Don't Have To

Put your closet on a diet!

When it comes to food, you probably know what your bad habits are.  Mine is Coke.  The sugary corn-syruped one.  But what about your clothes?  What bad habits do you have?  Did you even know you had clothing habits?

Before I challenged myself to attempt the Six Items or Less clothing experiment last fall, I think I would have said the following about clothes: "It's hard to find clothes that are comfortable."  And, "My 9W feet are why I don't wear cute shoes."

What I learned was I actually had bad habits.  For example, buying clothes in a hurry that didn't really fit!

Eight months into my journey, I no longer make excuses.  I have learned what works for me and make an effort at the beginning of each month to create a set of comfortable, versatile options.  Down to the toes.

What bad clothing habits do you have?  

Discover what a clothing diet could reveal for you!

I am not suggesting you attempt the Six Items or Less challenge - because I already did that for you!  Your goal (as with a food diet) is to eliminate the bad habits and create new ones.  You can start by reducing (not eliminating!) the percentage of clothing items you have at your fingertips on a daily basis.  Focus on just keeping the good stuff!

Phase 1:
As with any diet - PREPARATION IS KEY!
1.  Locate a "staging" area large enough to temporarily accommodate ALL of your clothes.  Yes, ALL of them.
2.  Sort clothes by type.  Yes, ALL of them.  T-shirts, Cute Tops, Blouses, Long-sleeve shirts, jeans, pants, shorts, dresses, leggings, long skirts, mini-skirts, costumes, prom dresses, sweaters, cardigans,...   
3.  Take a break.  From ALL of it.

Phase 2:

Prepare the environment by removing distractions.  
1.  Select a few items from various categories that fit RIGHT NOW and might be useful in the next 30 days.
2.  Put everything else away.  In your regular closet and drawers. 
It's just 30 days!  No big deal.  You can have them back :) 
3.  Bonus points - Donate some things.  Or give them to your sister.  Or whatever.

Phase 3:

Get your CLOTHING DIET PLAN IN ORDER!
1.  Try on what you did not put away.  Scrutinize the fit.  Eliminate a few more.
2.  With what remains, try all kinds of combinations together.  Eliminate a few more.
3.  Set aside an area of the closet to access these items for the month. 
Get sweaty items, pajamas, and underwear don't count.  Use what you need.  :) 

Did you pare it down to 10? 15?  Put one more away!
Good Luck and Bon Appetit!

Maintenance...
You shouldn't need to pull ALL your clothes out again. :)

It just helps the first time to see what you have.

What to Wear - The Six Items or Less Clothing Diet

Fourth in a series:

Six Items or Less - becoming a habit.   

After applying the Six Items or Less philosophy to my clothes for two months, true change began to set in!  No longer racing around in the morning trying to figure out what to wear, I could focus on the task ahead.  I learned it's NOT all about the accessories (It's All About the Accessories, Right?) and I certainly learned What NOT to Wear.

I also learned that, because of the temperature controlled world we live in, my clothes did not get THAT dirty.  It was rare that I would sweat or play in dirt! without time to change.  As a result, I began changing out of the selected items as soon as possible.  This way, I could get a 2nd, or 3rd! use out of them before laundering.  Two particular cotton t-shirts and yoga pants became my uniform around the house - or when getting sweaty or dirty.

I learned to hang-up my clothes.  I know, not a big deal, but it was not my habit.  Take it off.  Hang it up.

In anticipation of November, I began to scrutinize my wardrobe and add to the donation pile.  Sweaters with any trace of wool - gone!  Too itchy.  Cropped pants - gone!  They look all wrong on me because they hike up in back.   Cute tops that hung limply at the wrong length no matter how much I liked them - gone!

November was upon me, and I was ready.  I thought through my month - Homebound Tutor for special needs child, Battle of the Books coach at the Elementary School, Thanksgiving hostess, Temple Library volunteer...I spent 30 minutes here and there scrutinizing my options.  The clear winner was the black stretch pant, as it could be dressed up or down.  Two cardigans followed.  And my favorite brown corduroys.

In the closet, I pulled 10 brown hangers to use as a guide for my new hanging habit.  And culled my November wardrobe to 10.  No need to limit all the way to six.  I had learned my lessons.

The Six Items or Less challenge reminds me of when I tried the South Beach Diet.  Eating consciously and eating the good stuff - spinach, tomato, and egg omelettes.  I didn't last two months without cheese mixed in, but I carry habits from that experience to this day.  Whenever I need to drop a pound or two, I skip the carbs.  And I always have eggs for breakfast!  

Thursday...Synopsis and takeaways.