Parenting Under the Stars

Hey, things have been sort of hairy here for us and I’m not going to be able to continue writing for this blog. I love 451Press and everyone has been friendly and helpful so I’m going to miss it. You can still catch me on my personal blog Simple Living Revolution or Suite101. Hopefully I will still see some of you around.

Best,

Sandra

This summer has been hectic but its been fun and full of ups and downs. I won’t whine too much or bore you with all the dirty details of the negative stuff. Suffice to say I pulled my back and couldn’t move for a bit after camping, hiking and lugging around kids.

Camping was a blast. Our Coleman stove was useless because we purchased the wrong sized tank. We managed to cook everything over the fire including chili, hot dogs, burgers, soup, oatmeal, hot chocolate and coffee.

The twins are back to school and the silence is somewhat shocking so I play music more than usual. I like it though. It’s kind of nice to have some time to myself again. My eldest daughter moved out and my stepson moved back in but he’s no bother.

I truly thought we were set for the most part on the back to school supplies but of course that was wishful thinking. It turns out binders must be certain measurements for some classes. Besides that there were no big surprises but I’m bracing myself for more and keeping a float in the bank.

Kitten Adventures

We have two new kittens we have named Squirt & Chester. Squirt is the runt of course and he’s mellow but he’s a suck. If he wakes up and he’s alone, he starts mewing away and running around looking for company. Actually the kids call him Eddie but I think his nickname Squirt will stick.

Chester however has given me grief. i fetched him out of a heat vent one day but then he almost hung himself getting caught in a stroller wheel. i have no idea how he fit his head through but there was no way it was coming back out.

I called the humane society and a guy showed up, shook his head and called the fire department. He took a pic too so I should request it but was too stressed to think of it then.

This is a pic of Chester anyway. He’s a lot prettier than he appears here but he did not like getting his picture taken. He likes to lie on my laptop case if I leave it out.

Anyway, the fire department showed up and so did every kid in the neighborhood. They had to use a hacksaw to widen the hole and get him out. He just sort of shook himself off and walked away like nothing happened. I guess he’ll fit in here because the boys in my family are basically the same. I just hope he stops the crazy stunts soon.

Camping: Fred Green

Our family has been preparing for camping next weekend and collecting supplies. This round we’re bringing tarps for the floor and sleeping pads and foam. My back isn’t what it used to be and I want everyone to be somewhat comfortable.

Everyone is excited. The kids are looking forward to swimming, I’m looking forward to hiking and my husband is looking forward to fishing.

• Mosquito repellent is an important thing to remember to bring. Believe it or not my concoction made with a couple spoons of lavender essential oil mixed with almond oil works but I don’t know for how long. We’re bringing the stronger stuff for back up. I came across the idea to use lavender one day while googling citronella candles because I was making some.

• We’re stocked up on hot chocolate and tea and I must bring a French coffee press. Coffee is one of the few vices I have left and with a press you can make an excellent brewed cup of coffee without electricity. Of course we’re going to need water. I have a twenty liter jug with a spout that we can refill once we use it.

Camping food: I have been thinking about this for awhile and wrote an article about campfire cooking ideas back in June.  I’m looking forward to the baked potatoes with vegetables wrapped in foil.

Because almost every time we go camping it rains, this time we will be better prepared. We have rain ponchos & umbrellas for everyone. Sitting in a tent and listening to the rain has always been one of my favorite experiences. I don’t know why but I find it cozy and comforting especially if I have a good book to read. Still hoping it doesn’t rain for the kid’s sake.

It’s been fun in a crazy busy sort of way having the kids around full time. We made colorful popsicle stick picture frames, rolled beeswax candles and tie dye t-shirts last week.

The tie dye t-shirts were my favorite but I think I was having more fun with it than they were. All we did was mix some water with a bit of clothing dye in squeeze bottles, tied up the t-shirt a few times and squeezed different colored dyes on the sections.

We even tie dyed a baby’s t-shirt and a pair of socks. It can be messy though so wear old clothes and gloves. I didn’t wear gloves and my hands were stained for a couple days.

The candles were super easy. You just cut the beeswax sheet diagonally and roll the wax around the wick. A medium cotton wick seems to work the best.

Luckily I have loaded up on supplies because there will be more rainy days. Even when it’s not raining you can only stay out in the heat for so long before it gets to you.

Our next project will be some pretty patio stones. I have stencils so we’ll put some cute quote on it and stick it near the garden.

The flowers I planted in the section where the hose is are gone but that shouldn’t surprise me. I have no idea what I was thinking when I planted geraniums there. Maybe we will just make a path of patio stones to the hose.

If I hear someone say that “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” one more time I will snap. I think a couple of us had mild cases of heat stroke. I know I did anyway and the heat definitely gets to your head if you’re not used to it.

We did purchase a new hose since it appears someone ran off with ours. There were a couple kids creeping around our back patio a couple days ago looking at our bikes as well. My son spotted them and the next day I heard another kid had his bike stolen.

We filled a couple kiddie pools up with the hose and jumped in once in awhile and that seemed to help. The water doesn’t last long in there though because half the neighborhood showed up to fill up their water guns.

It’s important to remind kids to drink a lot on hot days. Sometimes I forget to drink enough myself and end up with a headache, although that could also be caffeine withdrawal. We keep stocked up on freezies because that’s a good way to make doubly sure they’re getting enough fluids.

Does anyone make their own freezies? We do sometimes because it’s healthier and of course cheaper. Those plastic handled things are a pain in the butt in my opinion but I like putting real juice in them.

Freezie Recipes

• Good Thymes has a great summertime smoothy fruit freezie recipe with bananas, strawberries, orange juice and pineapple juice. Yum. I don’t have half this stuff in the house but sure I can improvise. It appears that they simply used a cup with a popsicle stick in it. Good thinking.

• This mango smoothie/freezie also sounds yummy from Barbara Northwood. I like the simple ingredients such as mangos, orange juice, milk and ice cubes.

If you’re a visual learner or just want to see a video on how to make a smoothie, see this Mom’s Mango Smoothie by dietition Janice Newell from MealMakeOverMoms.com

Parenting twin tweens can bring it’s own set of difficult challenges and rewards. Individual friends, belongings and talents are important to reduce competition in twins.

When your children are both striving for their independence and heading towards puberty it can become more challenging. It’s important for twins to have their own individuality and separate interests and talents should be praised and encouraged.

• Often one twin will excel in one thing while the other has a weakness in that same area. This is particularly true of fraternal twins, which are from two separate eggs. I have fraternal twins and their personalities are like night and day.

If one seems to be struggling to try to catch up or compete with the other, attempt a diversion into another strength that they do have. Of course this is a sensible approach for any child and not just a twin.

For example, one child might enjoy and excel in something like soccer and baseball, while the other may be more musically inclined and creative. Even if the musically inclined twin doesn’t like sports, they may pressure themselves to try to be as good as the other. If their own talents in art or music are pointed out, praised and encouraged they’re not as likely to feel competitive or left out.

Other twin challenges:

It can be difficult with twin tweens to maintain the same rules for each child. One is sometimes more responsible, so the tendency could be to allow one more privileges or responsibilities. In some instances, this can’t be avoided and separate rules have to be given in fairness to the more responsible child.

Friendships are another challenge, especially if the twins are the same sex. If it gets too vicious then you must intervene, but generally children tend to sort friendships out themselves.

Even if they seem like enemies one day they may all be best friends the next. Parents often forget this when they get too involved with children’s squabbles. Sometimes parents are still feuding long after the children have resolved their issues.

I have witnessed this countless times with parents in our neighborhood. Holding grudges long after children have made up doesn’t make a lot of sense and it’s not showing them a good example about how to resolve conflicts.

This was adapted from an article I wrote for Suite101.

Everyone needs some time away from computers and we have been having fun playing in the sunshine.

Yesterday was Canada day so there were fireworks everywhere. July 1st is a national holiday here and it is the 141st year since Confederation.

The day before that we went on a hike and a picnic in the park. First, we got a little lost in the woods and took the long way to reach our destination. It was fun dodging tree trunks, mud puddles and rocks anyway.

My sister brought strawberry shortcake and it was sooo good with angel cake, whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

I am a sucker for sweets so I also brought a tray of butter tart squares. We worked it off with all our running around.

Kids Crafts

If your kids want to make their own fireworks, consider this fun Noodle Fireworks Craft from Sherri Osborn on Family Crafts. It’s a great idea although requires some patience since you have to dye the noodles first with food coloring and then wait for the design to dry.

Another fun craft I found there was the Canada Day Noise Maker Craft. These are fun to any time of year and very easy to make. All you need is paper plates, crayons, beans and glue. Streamers are also a fun touch.

Summer barbecues

Yesterday we purchased a new barbecue. I swear it took a couple hours to put it together. All the wingnuts, bolts and screws were making me dizzy but I did help direct and prevented something from going on upside down.

We had delicious shish kabobs for two nights in a row and the whole family helped make them. We put cherry tomatoes, chicken, onions and peppers on the skewers.

This time I soaked the bamboo skewers long enough so they didn’t catch on fire and we seasoned them with lemon pepper & barbecue sauce. Yum.

Next time I will grab some mushrooms and baby corn so they can really shake it up. If you haven’t tried making them, give it a go. The kids seem to enjoy the food so much more when they help make it.

Summer holidays have begun. It was so funny watching the kids fly out of school like a shotgun. They look forward to this every year only to tell me they’re bored a couple weeks into it.

So far, we haven’t had any complaints and the basketball police haven’t bothered us. I wonder how long that will last. Speaking of complaints, I was reading about a six-year-old girl who was busted for drawing in chalk on her front stoop. (Brooklyn Paper: New face of vandalism?)

What next, bubble blowing, yo-yos, gum chewing and hockey bans perhaps? I suppose hopscotch is no longer an approved game if you have to draw it with chalk. It seems too nit picky to me and insane to criminalize children for something they have been doing for years. There are more serious issues people could be stressed out over.

Check out this gorgeous sidewalk chalk art. It is from Justin Rudd’s fourth annual sidewalk chalk art contest held on Long Beach. Here’s a slide show of some wild sidewalkchalk art . Amazing what those kids grow up to create.

In case you haven’t noticed, we have been having server troubles here on the network. We have been assured that they will be fixed soon. Sometimes I can get on and sometimes I can’t. Within a week or two, we’ll be back in business.

In the meantime, I’m feeling rebellious so going to draw hopscotch for the kids. Maybe I’ll even rig up a net so the kids can throw a ball into it.

Scientists want to rename the hygiene hypothesis because they’re concerned we’ll all simply stop scrubbing our homes, let our children roll around in the mud and handle raw chicken or something. (Dirty homes bug hygiene scientists)

The hygiene hypothesis is that exposure to germs can actually strengthen our immune systems, while being overly sanitized can contribute towards more allergies and health problems.

The gist of it is that when children are exposed to things such as strange foods and germs, their immune system overreacts because it doesn’t have enough previous practice.

It’s sensible to wash before handling food or eating but there does seem to be more hand sanitizing going on than there was in the past. It is coincidental that allergies have increased. Could less dirt mean more allergies?

We now have immunizations for major diseases but the trade off has been an increase of allergies like hay fever, food allergies, asthma and eczema.

Pets boost immune system

Simply having a pet can make your immune system stronger according to a study at Warwick University in Coventry. They tested 138 children and the ones with pets had higher levels of the antibody immunoglobulin A, giving them a stronger immune system.

Other factors that contribute towards a stronger immune system are the size of your family and/or exposure to other children. It makes sense because when they’re exposed to other children and germs, it can help them build up antibodies for bigger things.

Pets will definitely expose you to more germs around the house but maybe that’s a good thing. See BBC News, Pets boost children’s health for more information.

Today I made Sheppard’s pie and my family made me feel like a movie star because of it. It was quite plain really because I didn’t have that many ingredients. Those seem to be the ones they go nuts over.

I mixed the cooked ground beef with some onion soup mix, about a cup and a half of water, a spoon of cornstarch and a can of tomato paste.

The next layer was cream of corn, which nobody likes on its own. The final layer, mashed potatoes of course. I put a lot of milk in them because otherwise they’re too stiff to spread over the top.

A few days ago I blended some onion soup mix with orzo pasta and mixed vegetables and they acted like it was some great gourmet meal. Maybe I’m just catching them when they’re really hungry or they’re just relieved that I’m making something different.

We had a fun filled Father’s Day weekend and the kids gave their dad a ton of fishing paraphernalia. I even found a pair of flip-flops with fish all over them.

I hope all the other fathers out there had a good one. We couldn’t actually go fishing because it was raining but we will be prepared anyway.

I have been slightly snarky because my husband is snoring up a storm but some of the neighbors seem even crankier. There are a lot of kids living here and sometimes it gets loud but for the most part, they get along. It’s the parents that seem to have more issues and there have been complaints about the sound of basketballs bouncing.

Initially I thought they were concerned about their safety because of course they’re often bouncing balls in the parking lot. No, they don’t like the noise in the daytime. So apparently, basketballs are banned in our complex. Soccer balls and beach balls are alright I guess. It just seems slightly insane to me and I don’t know how they plan to enforce this. Perhaps someone will come to the door confiscating all basketballs.

I do understand being disturbed by noise because I’m a light sleeper and have a snorer here. On the other hand, people were quite aware there was a ton of kids living here and they’re not required to be muzzled in the daytime. So, does anyone else have a rule about not bouncing basketballs? If this is their biggest beef with all the children living here, I think they’re lucky to have such well behaved children.

I think we have a Coleman stove, a cooler and one sleeping bag so we will need to purchase plenty of camping gear. It would probably be cheaper to go to a hotel but I really want to go camping as a family. Once we have enough for everyone, we can do it more often.

There are some cute sleeping bags to choose from online like this personalized fire engine from Fantasy Toyland.

Something like this cool camo-forest green sleeping bag would probably be a better choice for an older child. I found it at Fuss Budget in the big kids section.

You can help protect the environment and get a heavy duty sleeping bag at the same time with this kids EcoPro +30. It’s made with 100% recycled fabrics and 80% recycled insulation.

For smaller children or bedwetters there are water proof bag liners that fit any sleeping bag. This is a great idea especially if you’re planning to spend more than one night out camping.

Tents

One year someone leaned into our tent wall and we woke up soaked from the rain. That wasn’t fun but it wasn’t cold and the sun came out later.

We just hung up our sleeping bags on trees and they were fine after a few hours. Our family has grown since then so we’ll need a new tent.

It seems like the easier a tent is to set up, the more it will cost. If you know where to get an easy to set up tent at a reasonable price, let me know. We will need at least a six person tent.

If they’re divided that also seems to jack up the price but I like the ones that have two rooms. I did find an article called Best Family Camping Tents that was helpful. The Coleman Weathermast Elite is my favorite so far. It has three rooms and sleeps 6 to 8 people.

We don’t have a definite date yet but I’m looking forward to it. Planning is half the fun and I’m looking forward to the challenge of deciding what else to bring.

Derek from The Man Page had some wonderful ideas on his post 10 Things to Do With Your Kids This Summer and he got me thinking about more.

Hit the beach. Kids of all ages love hanging out in the water. Bring along balls, beach toys and shovels to make sandcastles.

Don’t forget to pack a yummy picnic with lots to drink. Foods that are popular for our picnics include grapes, strawberries, cucumbers, cheese, buns, sliced meats and tomatoes. We like making our own sandwich buns when we get there so that the tomatoes don’t make everything all mushy.

If you can’t get to the beach, make a picnic anyway and set up a little swimming pool if you don’t have a big one. We usually end up having water fights with those super soaker guns too.

Organize a neighborhood barbecue. Make it a potluck and get the kids to help design and hand out the fliers.

Make sure they let everyone know the date, location and whether to bring a salad, desert or barbecue item. It’s a great way to meet the neighbors and try new foods.

Have a giant garage sale and get rid of some of the stuff you don’t want at the same time. Include neighbors on your street and get the kids to sell lemonade.

Make sure you check everything before it goes out the door though. Our children have fun with this one but they tend to get overexcited and want to give all their stuff away.

Another offshoot of this is to have a book swap.

Go to the drive in if you have one. We have one left in a nearby town and it’s always a blast. Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and play at the playground before the movie starts.

Go rollerskating. I think I love this one more than my children. The flashing lights, the catchy tunes and the fancy moves. I hadn’t been in so long I thought I would forget but it’s like riding a bike.

Plant a garden together. Even the smallest child enjoys helping by digging in the soil and watering the plants. Later when the fruits and vegetables are ready, everyone can take pride in the fact that they helped plant them.

Other things we have fun doing while we’re out there are collecting pretty rocks, picking wildflowers, drawing pictures with chalk, blowing bubbles and collecting leaves to press. If you have some more ideas, let us know.

If you’re looking for ideas for crafts that your kids can make on Father’s day, check out some of these projects.

Crafts for fishermen

• Here are a few for fishing freaks. We happen to have one here and I think he would love this fish craft card. Get the pattern and full instructions on Kaboose. This project is for ages 4 and up.

Decorate a mini tackle box for dad at Makingfriends.com. You just need glue, foam letters, shapes and some tacky glue. It’s a great way of dressing up those boring little boxes.

Father’s Day Photo Frames

• How about a printable Father’s Day frame with a wale, fish, beach and sun from FamilyFun.com.

• DLTK have several printable photo frames with themes. There’s basketball, fish, golf, soccer or simply say “I love you.” That’s my favorite and I think it would make a cute card as well.

• I like this simple handpainted finger frame craft from Amazing Moms. All you need is construction paper, tempera paint and a photo.

• Don’t forget the classic popsicle stick frame from Kaboose. It’s very easy so would be fun for all ages. Multicolored popsicle sticks would be even better.

• Here’s a fun foam picture frame from Enchanted Learning. You could personalize it further by decorating with sparkles, buttons, nuts, bolts or stickers. It would also make a great magnet.

Further Father’s Day Craft Ideas

• Danielle’s Place has a large listing of Father’s Day crafts for ideas and instructions.

• Family Crafts at About.com has quite a few in their collection.

• All Free Crafts is another good resource.

• There are many other free Father’s Day crafts listed at 4CraftyKids.com. I like the decorated can found under the “tool caddy” link. My dad used to have rows and rows of those cans full of nuts and bolts in his workshop. Decorating a couple cans will be fun and we can find pictures in magazines.

Making your own baby food really isn’t that hard and it’s much healthier for your baby. Most jarred foods are very watered down, have added sugar, chemicals, additives and cost more.

Some baby foods that are easy to prepare and good for first foods include sweet potatoes, avocados, pears, apples, butternut squash and rice.

• Sweet potatoes are yummy baked; the insides scoop out easily and usually don’t require much extra blending. Bananas mash up easily when they’re ripe as well but it’s best to use a blender to puree them. You can add either a little baby formula or water to help it blend because otherwise it might be too thick.

• Cook peeled cored apples and pears with a little water on low over the stove for a yummy fruit blend. Once your child has tried a few foods you can experiment by blending a couple other ones together.

It’s better to make up a big batch and freeze it so that you can stock up ahead of time. I used ice cube trays and once they were frozen, just put them in zip lock bags.

Once your baby is around eight months you can start adding a little texture so don’t need to blend the food quite as much. Many babies can tolerate a little herbs and spices for flavor but that’s a personal preference.

• There’s an excellent blog called Simply Baby Food Recipes dedicated to homemade baby food with recipes, instructions and videos for babies from four months to toddlers.