Breakfast

We have been in a school almost a month now and we are struggling with one and one thing only... breakfast.

None of us are breakfast eaters its just not our thing. We have a very short list of stuff bug will eat. I have however learned a few things...

1. Breakfast does not have to mean breakfast food
2. As long as they are eating something - shut up and dont worry about it
3. Cookie cutters are your friend!

Now the last one may seem odd... LOL! The bug does not like crust. So I bought a dinosaur sandwich cutter. Best $2 I ever spent. It quickly removes the crust, little to no waste, and she gets 2 dinos.

                             
Sandwiches for breakfast? Yes. You know why? See Rule #2... I dont care. Usually it is either Nutella or PB&J. YAY! Happy breakfast.

Sometimes it is just easier to take the road of least resistance. I dont see how a PB&J is any different than if she had toast with peanut butter. So who cares.

I am happy to say this is really the only issue we have had with school starting. :)

Bribes

To Bribe or Not to Bribe? That is the question.

Most of the time parents do not think twice about offering their kid a piece of candy or maybe even a new toy in order to get them to behave when they are out in public. The truth is MOST of the time its okay. Everything in moderation right? I am a big belief of everything in moderation.

My daughter is rarely bad in public, she just has some off days. I refuse to feel bad for the $1 toy or piece of candy that I give her. The fact is everyone is entitled to a bad day. The difference is when you have a bad day you can choose to sit at home and not go out, but your child doesn't get to decide when you drag them to the store or anywhere else.

Bribing becomes bad when its an all the time thing. When you have to provide you child with some type of treat for good behavior. That is not good. Your child has now taken your brides as a reward for bad behavior, which they were never supposed to be.

and as a parting piece of advice...

REMEMBER TO REWARD GOOD BEHAVIOR!!!

Birthday Cheap!

My Daughter loves parties. Not having a party is really not an option with her. Granted I am sure she would get over it, but she loves them. I am the type that I would prefer to spend money on presents more than a party. So here is a short list of ways to keep the cost down

1. Make the banner - that way you can change it with the theme OR purchase a generic "happy birthday" banner and re- use it.

2. Make "Character Circles" or use coloring pages.
 

3. Buy white napkins and clear cups and silverware. (That way if you have extras you dont have to worry about them going with next years colors!)

4. Host the party at home or at the park

5. START EARLY!!! I cannot stress this enough. I start 2-3 months ahead of time, that way I have time to hit sales and make things.

FOLLOW ME!

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Have a Very Homemade Christmas

Yes, it is that time of year again! No matter what religion you are, or what celebration you take part in the holidays can be a stressful time. Especially when you are broke (as most of us are). We are cutting how much we normally spend this year. 1. I don't it to spend. 2. It's not necessary.

Do me a favor... look back on the holidays or Christmases past and tell me what you remember. You may remember a toy or two that you REALLY wanted, but over years and years of gifts most people remember that they saw their family every year. That there was always lots of food and goodies. Children remember the memories you make, not what they get because that is not what the season is about.

We are making all of our ornaments this year. Between Google and Pinterest I have found LOADS of cheap and easy tutorials. So not only are we decorating the tree, but we are going to spend time together making the decorations. I will be posting these with links as we go along, hopefully.

I am lucky that so people love my daughter and are able and generous enough to buy for her. She is going to get loads of presents. So I am not getting her as many as usual, and many of the presents she is getting from me are going to be homemade. This does not make them any less special, if anything it makes them more special.

Spend less, make new memories! The holidays don't have to be stressful!

Try Something New

How many times have parents told there children "Honey, just try it. You might like it." Zoey is only four and I have already said this more times then I can count.

But how often do we take our own advice?

I decided one day last month that I was going to write a story. I had an idea that I was just completely inspired by and decided to give it a shot. Then I remember a program I had heard of, NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month is November. I knew I would not be writing a novel but I thought talking to other writers might be helpful. So I did another new thing and joined the site. The forums were wonderful, it was nice having people to bounce ideas and questions off of. Then I found there was a writer's group in my city! Not only that meets during Nov. but one that also meets all year long.

I am not the most social of butterflies, but for some reason... some burst of spontaneity I did it. And guess what?! I LOVED it. Even made a couple new friends.

So this month I tried 3 new things.

1. Writing
2. NaNoWriMo
3. Writer's Group

When is the last time you tried something new?

Not Cute

Want to know something that bugs me?

Little girls acting like they are stupid (not goofy, but um "I don't know the answer" - when they really do). It's not cute.

Worse, realizing that this is a learned behavior and that they do it because grown women do it too.

WHY?! Seriously?!

In all fairness its not just little girls, I have seen little boys do the same thing but it seems to be more common for girls. Or honestly females in general.

It drives me batty. It's not okay. It's not cute.