A little modification

Modifying things for people is not my strong point. It's hard for me to think of different, better ways of dealing with people or situations.

Today, Melanie was not making good choices. To put it simply, she was being downright disobedient.

I sent her to her room and told her to think of 2 good choices she could make today. A few minutes later I came back to hear her thoughts. She said "I can't think of any." (In a whiny voice.) I said, "ok well you can stay in here until you think of some and I'll be back to hear your answer." Next time I came back it was the same thing. Whiny voice, no answer.

This time, instead of making her voice her answers I told her to get a pen and draw 2 good choices. She loves to draw.

The next time I went upstairs to get her good choices answer she had drawn 5 pictures. Here are my 3 favorites.

The green picture is her holding my hand in a parking lot, the yellow picture is her walking nicely next to the shopping cart while I'm pushing Skyelynn, the orange picture is her saying "yes, Mom".

This little drawing modification worked out a lot better than the first option of just thinking of good choices to make.

Take Ten! Modify!

No yelling unless there's a fire!

My kids scream when they get riled up and it's something we're working on changing. Sometimes it makes me jump out of my skin when a random squeal of delight is mistaken for someone being hurt.

I've taken to telling them that there is no yelling in the house unless there is an emergency. Yesterday, not on purpose, and not at all planned, we got to take a tour of the fire department...The place that helps us during emergencies!

We went to hang out with grandma and while we were out we decided to get new bike helmets from the fire department. Little did we know we would spend a little time there and the kids would have some fun!

Go check out your fire department. They seemed to be really happy to entertain the kids! Take a look at our pictures below!

Take Ten!

P.E.

I do not care for exercising. It has never been my thing, unless it is playing pickle ball, or some other game like dodge ball or frisbee. That is fun for me.

I want to make exercise more of a priority, so the other day the kids and I exercised...and it was fun! I taught them jumping jacks, push ups, running in place, lunges, and touching toes. We still need to work on form, but they are so cute learning.

Try it! Take ten for exercise!

Train them up in the way they should go...

Yesterday, while I was reading Skyelynn some Sesame Street books, Melanie started telling me everything Sesame Street teaches babies.

"Mom, Sesame Street teaches babies the letters, how to count, how to brush teeth, shapes, and all the things they don't know. But it doesn't teach babies about God."

Kids are awesome at observing things like this. I took this opportunity to ask her an impromptu question and record her response. Try it. It's fun to see what kids will say and you'll be surprised at just how wise they are.

Take Ten!

Wear them out...

This is what I do on semi nice and nice days to wear my kids out. We race!

This activity is great because it not only encourages exercise but also helps with learning to follow directions.

Here's what you do:

1,) Tell them where to line up for the start of the race.

2.) Give them a direction (touch your nose and run, pat your tummy and walk, skip, etc)

3.) Count while they are coming to the finish line and tell them how long it took them to get there!

I promise you, they'll love it! And they'll be ready for bed time sooner rather than later. Double score!

We did this at the park one day, it started out with just my kids playing and within 5 minutes we had 8 kids playing along with us!

Take Ten!

Make it up as you go along..

Kids love to imagine, they love using things in different ways. An old toy can become something totally new and exciting by creating a new way of playing with it.

This morning the kids and I were playing catch. Easton brought the hula hoop over and I decided to make the game more exciting. Hula hoop basketball was born.

Not a super creative game, not really difficult, but different enough to hold their attention and get them moving and having fun.

The game also helps with hand-eye coordination and depth perception.

Take ten to play something new with your kids!

The simplicity project...

Sometimes keeping things simple makes life and kids a whole lot happier. We don't need complicated projects and activities to keep us entertained. Ain't nobody got time for that! :)

Easter activity #2...I haven't blogged about Easter activity #1 yet.

1.) Cut out ovals (eggs) out of bright colored construction paper.

2.) Find Easter stickers (I bought some on sale 2 years ago and forgot about them until this year.)

3.) Let kids decorate.

4.) Have fun!

Make your kids laugh...I made a crown, glued it to Easton's egg and called it "King Egg".

Take Ten!