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Apr 8, 2013

The Secret to Spring Break: Candy and Cardboard

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Whew! Last week was a little rough on me. Every year I say that I’m going to plan something fun and structured to do when the kids are out of school for spring break, and every year the time comes and I’ve got nothing planned.

That week off of school is always a wild time for us. Cordy thrives on schedule and routine, and even if I did put a routine in place for the week, it wouldn’t be enough since it wouldn’t be the same routine she’s used to with school. So she’s generally either cranky and super-sensitive, or she’s zoned out playing games on the computer. (Which I allow more than usual, because it keeps her calm.)

Mira, on the other hand, wants nothing more than someone to play with her. I sometimes laugh (so I don’t cry) at how we had two daughters who could be such opposites: Mira wants companionship and begs Cordy to play with her, while Cordy wants nothing more than to be left alone and not bothered by her little sister. Whether they are playing together or not playing together, someone is always unhappy.

You can see how this scene plays out over a week of being home from school. However, I’m becoming a very good mediator, so I guess there’s some good to come out of it.

I decided (thanks to a coworker’s brilliant suggestion) to let them eat ALL of their Easter candy on Monday. Yes, all of it. I even threw in some leftover Halloween candy, too. They were also given unlimited TV and computer time. In exchange for this, they were agreeing to let me work with as few interruptions as possible, and to not fight with each other.

I’m somewhat stunned to report that it worked rather well. You’d think two kids with that much sugar running through their bloodstreams would be difficult to handle, but they were surprisingly pleasant and the day went better than expected. Bonus: nearly all of the candy is gone from the house. Double bonus: at one point Mira asked me, “It’s still OK to eat some healthy foods today, right mama? I’m tired of candy – can I have a banana?” WIN.

My mom came to the rescue on Tuesday and part of Wednesday, taking the kids to my aunt’s house so I could get more work done.

Aaron wasn’t working on Thursday, so he was primarily in charge of entertaining the kids. I did join in on a lunchtime trip to Chuck E. Cheese that day before I sent them out of the house to work in peace and quiet.

Friday was the hardest. Aaron was at work, I was home with the kids, and they had officially hit a wall with spring break. The novelty of no school had worn off and they were bored. For Cordy, this means she wants to retreat into her electronic devices as much as possible and avoid all human contact, especially contact with her sister. For Mira, being bored translates into being hungry ALL of the time and a need to bother Cordy. We were reaching Mom Annoyance Threat Level Red very quickly.

Our salvation came in the form of a UPS delivery man with a package. My new Keurig arrived (purchased to replace my dead one) and it was sent in a large box. As I pulled it out, Mira walked into the kitchen and noticed the big empty box. “Wow, that box is big!” she exclaimed. “Look! I can fit in it!”

I nodded as I was rushing to set up my new caffeine provider. I looked back at her just as a moment of inspiration crossed her mind. “Mommy? Can I have this box? It can be my spaceship!”

Her idea took flight in my own brain. “Why yes, Mira, that’s a great idea. You should go grab your markers and decorate the box so it looks like a real spaceship!”

She fell out of the box, scrambling to get her markers before I changed my mind about letting her use them. Returning to the kitchen with the whole pack, she set to work drawing stars and planets and different shapes all over the box.

Cordy even became interested and asked if she could join in. The two of them spent an hour making it look just right, while I sipped my first cup of coffee from my new Keurig. (It was a very, very happy hour for all of us.) The next hour was spent playing in the box while I worked.

I’ve never seen them work together so well and have so much fun with something as simple as a box. Why have we spent all this money on toys and games when all I needed was some cardboard?

To sum up: candy and a cardboard box were the most successful distractions of spring break. Take note, parents! Apparently the simple things in life really are the best.

Still, even with finding some success, I shed no tears in loading them onto the school bus again this morning. We all need our usual routine.

Filed Under: Cordy, daily life, family time, memories, Mira ·


Apr 5, 2013

Spring Cleaning: Time To Let In The Fresh Air!

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It’s Spring Break for us, but the weather has yet to act like Spring yet. I was hoping that with the break from school being so late this year, we might have warmer weather to give the kids more time outside. The days have been sunny, but they’re still wearing their winter coats to go out.

Now that the week is nearly over, I hear our weather is supposed to warm up to real Spring temperatures. If it holds through the weekend, I might get the chance to throw open the windows to let the first fresh air of 2013 into our house.

Our house has been stuffy for the past few months. With a dog, cats, four humans and carpeting, it’s easy for the air in our house to seem stale and dusty. I’ve given up on dusting for the moment, honestly. The last time I dusted (using a product that traps dust), everything had a new, light coat of dust on it within two days.

 Exhibit A: Two of our dust creators.

Of course, I can’t ignore the dust. We’re an entire family of allergy sufferers – even the dog and one cat have allergies! It’s just exhausting to try to keep up with making our air better to breathe. Dusting and vacuuming regularly help, but getting all of the dust and allergens out of the air requires a transplant of fresh air.

I love that first day of opening the windows, too. Feeling the cool, fresh air fill the house is exhilarating. Sounds silly, I know, but after having dry, recycled air pushed around the house all Winter, I’m ready for a change of air. I’ll often dust and vacuum that day, too, hoping the fresh air will carry some of the airborne pollutants out a window with it.  This is also the time for us to clean out the furnace filter.

Opening the windows and forcing some new air in here will be a good temporary solution for us, but it only lasts so long. As soon as Summer is here, the windows are often shut to keep out the heat, and in the fall (Aaron’s worst allergy season), our goal is to keep the outside air OUT of the house to keep his ragweed allergies to a minimum.

We used to have an air purifier, and with kids and more pets now, I think it’s time to get another one. They’re not nearly as expensive and huge as they used to be, and they’re a lot more efficient than the ones of 5-10 years ago. They also aren’t as loud as my old one, which sounded like a cross between a fan on high and a jet engine. (Thank goodness.)

Best Buy is having a sale on their air purifiers, with something for everyone, from small rooms to whole-house. I’ve got my eye on this one for the downstairs. It’s small enough to not take up a lot of space, it has a washable filter, and it’s energy efficient. All I hope is that it’ll keep the air a little cleaner and let me dust a little less often.

If you’re also trying to keep the dust and allergens under control, you might want to check out this 20% off coupon they passed along for me to share with all of you. (Note: I’m using the coupon as well!)

Disclosure: The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

Filed Under: healthy living, home, sponsored ·


Apr 2, 2013

It’s Time For A Diet Tune-Up

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Confession: I’ve gained about seven pounds this winter. Ahhhh, that feels better to admit.

Wait…no, it doesn’t.

I always gain a little weight between Halloween and the end of Winter. I enjoy the holiday eating, and I’m not as active during the cold season. I don’t mind a few pounds of gain, but seven is on the upper end of my comfort zone.

Hibernation season is over now, and it’s time to get back on track.

I’m choosing to start by restructuring my food, which is easy considering all of the junk we’ve been eating lately. Step one is getting all of the bad stuff out of the house. Since I don’t want to throw it all out, that means this week is eat all the food week.  And OH we have a lot of it.

 Please note the Nutella shown here is no longer an issue.

Once it’s all gone, we’re switching to a diet of real food. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, lean meats and limited grains. It’s not quite paleo, since we can’t give up dairy and beans, but limiting our grains should be easy. Aaron is gluten-free already, so his grains are already limited. The goal is to limit processed foods to less than 20% of our diet. Baby steps, folks.

And we’re slowly detoxing from diet soda. I have a hard time giving up my diet soda, but I know it’s for the best because of all of the chemical junk in soda. At the moment we’re not buying soda to keep in the house and only drinking it when we eat out. This has left me with some massive caffeine headaches, partially because our Keurig machine has decided it’s coffee brewing days are done. I broke down and ordered another one, but it won’t be here until the end of the week.

Eating better isn’t just about losing weight. My children also have fallen into some poor eating habits. Mira used to eat apple slices and bananas almost daily, but now she holds out and begs for processed snack crackers instead. (Cordy still eats apple slices all the time. She has a limited list of fruits she’ll eat, but at least she’ll eat some.) It’s up to us to set the right example to get them back on track, too. If there’s less junk food in the house, there’s less unhealthy options for meal and snack time for all of us.

Plus? It’s all about giving myself the best chance to live a long, long time. I lost all of the weight to begin with because I didn’t want to be unhealthy around my kids. Now that I’m a few years older, it’s not just about being unhealthy around them, it’s about living long enough to see grandchildren someday. (Which I want to be a LOOOOONG way off, just to be clear!)

I’m a lot smaller now, but my insides still aren’t so healthy. I’m lousy at full-life adjustments, so it’s about baby steps and making tune-ups to my habits, and now it’s time to tune-up my diet again.

What are your best eating natural tips? I’ll be stalking all of your Pinterest boards for easy recipes this week.

Filed Under: daily life, healthy living, home, me me me ·


Apr 1, 2013

It’s Not Funny If It Makes Me Panic

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I’ve never been a fan of April Fool’s Day. Pranks just aren’t my thing, and fake stories aren’t much fun for me, either.

There are some April 1 jokes that I know and expect now, and because I expect them I can laugh and enjoy the joke. I always expect Google to release some wild new feature that is completely impossible to do at this time. (Today’s Google Nose is pretty funny.)

I also usually expect my favorite online geek store, ThinkGeek, to send out an email showcasing some amazing new products that really don’t exist. And they delivered again this year. I was especially fond of the Batman family car decal set:

The Play-Doh 3D Printer was also brilliant.

However, one prank this morning left me nearly in a panic. As I settled into my morning routine, I glanced down at the clock in my computer’s taskbar to see what time it was, then briefly continued checking my email for a few seconds before the realization hit my brain: it was 9am!!

(In the morning it takes my brain a few extra seconds for processing.)

I was stunned it was already that late in the morning. Wasn’t it just 7:50am when I was in the kitchen making breakfast? How did I lose an hour of time? I frantically started re-arranging the day’s schedule in my head, trying to make up for the lost hour.

I turned around to check the clock behind me and realized it showed it was 8am. Now I had a dilemma – which was the right time? Did Aaron change the clock in the living room to play a joke on me? (Unlikely, he knows about my strong dislike for pranks.)

Grabbing my iPhone, I silently hoped it would settle the issue and not provide an entirely different time. It matched the clock: 8am. And since it had been with me since my alarm went off, there was no way it was tampered with. My computer had changed its clock to set the time forward an hour on its own. The time was correct last night, when it confirmed it was too late and I needed to shut the computer down and go to bed.

Having my time changed on my computer was NOT funny at all. A quick search of Twitter showed I wasn’t alone in the mysterious April 1 time change. Others have had their systems set forward an hour as well.

I haven’t figured out the cause yet, but I’m blaming Windows 8, just because it seems like the most likely choice. I’ve heard it didn’t change for some Window 8 users, but others did see their clocks advance by one hour.

Operating systems should not be allowed to participate in April Fool’s Day pranks. Internet services like Google, sure, but not your own computer. What’s next? Hiding your My Pictures folder for April 1 so you think all of your photos have vanished?

I’m not laughing.

Filed Under: rant · Tagged:


Mar 28, 2013

She’s Too Clever For Childhood Illusions

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As we were driving home from school yesterday, the kids suddenly struck up a conversation about the upcoming Easter holiday:

Mira: What do you think the Easter bunny looks like?

Cordy: I think he looks like a white bunny with white sparkles all around him.

Mira: I think he’s bigger than a regular bunny. Like as big as a grown up.

Cordy: NO! He’s a normal sized white bunny with white sparkles all around him!

Mira: But when we’ve seen the Easter bunny he’s always looked bigger.

Cordy: Maybe he can change size so he’s big enough for pictures?

Mira: Or maybe the Easter bunny is just a person in a suit.

—–
I was a little stunned by Mira’s flat statement. Had she really figured it all out at only five years old?

I can’t remember when exactly I stopped believing in Santa and the Easter bunny. I think I was older than five, but I’m not sure. It’s partially blurry to me because there was a period of time when I knew they weren’t real but never told anyone I knew it for fear that I would stop getting Easter baskets and presents from Santa. Why give up a good thing, right?

Mira seemed to believe in Santa this last Christmas, but there have been plenty of clues that she is starting to wise up to the ways of the world. I blame this partially on Aaron’s involvement in a charity organization where he dresses up as a superhero to visit sick children or support charity events.

At these events, kids genuinely believe he’s Superman. Mira, however, knows that the man in the costume is really her dad. It took awhile for us to teach Mira not to spoil it for everyone by telling each kid who lit up at seeing one of their favorite superheroes, “It’s really just my daddy in a costume.”

So now she looks at any person in costume and wonders if they’re the real thing or just someone pretending to be that character.

Even at Disney World last month, she occasionally struggled to force that doubt from her mind. During most character visits, she suspended any disbelief and fully fell into the magic of seeing her favorite Disney stars.

But there were moments that caught us by surprise. Just after meeting Stitch in Tomorrowland, she wondered how he was out on the street when he was also across the way appearing in his ride. “Maybe his ride is taking a break right now?” we suggested.

Mira frowned. “Or maybe they just have more than one Stitch.”

Later that day, we were rushing to meet the princesses near the entrance to Main Street before we then ran to the other end of Main Street for dinner at the castle.

We were hoping to meet Rapunzel, although Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty were also part of the meet-and-greet. Mira and Cordy still happily met with Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, even knowing we’d see them at dinner in less than an hour.

As Mira gave Cinderella a hug, I told her, “You’ll see her again in just a little bit at dinner.”

“She’ll be at the castle, too?” Mira looked puzzled.

“Yes, she will,” I responded. “She’ll have to hurry like we will so she can get there in time.”

Mira thought for a moment, then motioned for me to lean down so she could quietly tell me something. I bent down closer to her and she said, “Or maybe they have another person playing Cinderella in the castle, too.”

She’s in on the secret. But at the same time, she doesn’t seem to care. Mira still hugged Cinderella at the castle and acted like she was the only Cinderella there could ever be.

In some ways I’m sad that she’s figuring it all out. I wanted her to believe there was magic in the world for just a little longer. But she’s too clever for that and insists on figuring out every mystery.

I’m not ready for my little one to grow up.

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Filed Under: growing up, memories, Mira ·