family fun

August 5, 2019 0 comments

Summer travel with kids

If you’re taking off for the beach, mountains, river, camping, or just a day trip, you want to make sure you’re well-prepared with health and safety supplies, and some entertainment for the road. Here are my top ten packing list essentials (plus links to some other great ideas!):

Sun screen and bug spray. Nature is a beautiful thing, and you don’t want to spoil your enjoyment with burns or bites. I personally like to start with a citronella candle, and then some natural repellent in case they are persistent. Depending on the age of your kids, they may like putting their lotion on themselves, with you doing a final check (same as with teeth brushing).
Snacks and water. Let them pick out some of their favorite choices, and then add in whatever you need for nutritional balance. On a long hot trip you can put ice in their water bottles too. If they drink juice, you can plan ahead and make some ice cubes that will be colorful and add a bit of special flavor. (Just make sure you rinse out the bottles right after to avoid gunk getting dried in the straws.)
Medications. Always a good idea to have some ibuprofen, anti-histamine, and something for upset stomach on hand. Full Suitcase has a more comprehensive list of supplies for a first aid kit.
Wipes. I don’t know any parent who travels without these, but I couldn’t leave them off the list! Very Well Family has more ideas for critical items you might forget, along with some important safety tips.
Stroller. Even if your big kid doesn’t usually use one, extra long walks can get tiring for them and you don’t want to end up carrying or stuck with a melt-down halfway through. (P.S. I got this idea from the Minimalist Traveler, they have some other great suggestions too.)
Car toys. Their favorite music and audio books go a long way to keeping them from boredom. Fidget devices, drawing materials – including their own map to decorate, and anything that’s new to them (and that you are confident they can manage using on their own without frustration) can be helpful. My brother and I liked to play simple I Spy games – looking for colors, shapes, or animals along the way. This could be even more fun with a set of binoculars or a paper towel roll “telescope”. The Mama Notes suggests bringing a metal cookie sheet to use with magnets or post-it notes, and a few other great ideas.
Ball & bubbles. Taking breaks along your route frequently might seem to make the trip longer, but getting the wiggles out at rest stops could make all the difference in keeping kids’ emotions balanced.
Camera! Make sure to upload your phone photos before you leave so there’s plenty of space for new memories. Let you kids take some pics too so you can see what they are interested in and they’ll remember what was important to them.
Their favorite…. blankie, binkie, bedtime book, jammies, toothpaste.
Your favorite… face cream, snacks, bedtime book, jammies, and anything else that makes you feel cared for on what is bound to be a slightly stressful and super fun adventure!
Since my kids are a bit older, I’m probably forgetting some key items for the younger ones. Fantabulosity has a checklist for you!

July 22, 2019 0 comments

Summer self-care tip #3

Note: this post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you purchase through the link. I only link to products I use and love.

Okay, I’m super excited about today’s family self-care idea, because it’s one of my favorites, and because it’s going to make all of the others so much easier. Are you ready? Here it is:

Screen Free Days! I promise you this one activity will have a bigger impact on your state of mind and your connection with your kids than any other. This may seem obvious in theory, but, like the fire drill experience, the effect is so much greater in practice than I had imagined.

(If you are one of the blessed single parents / WAHPs who don’t turn to screens in times of desperation, I apologize this post isn’t as exciting for you. I’ll make it up to you with my second best idea tomorrow! Hint: it involves candles.)

The idea of a screen break came to me via Meagan at Whole Family Rhythms. I mean, the idea of a screen break is self-explanatory, but she actually has an official plan. According to her website, she’s been almost completely screen free for years, which is totally inspiring, and also seems completely impossible right now. But, a week? Probably doable. One. single. day? No excuse not take that challenge.

When I did the Unplug Childhood training earlier this year, I prepared myself for some tears and foot stomping. It was actually surprising how little resistance I met. I think part of it was the pre-planned activities (like bubbles, playdough, and morning provocations), and my willingness to forgo some of my own time to really dedicate to playing – which is always my goal anyway. Focusing my energy in this direction was just extra incentive to be more organized. It honestly only takes 5 minutes to set up a simple play activity like blocks or playdough for the morning, have an idea of an art experience for later in the day after nap, and if all else fails we head to the park!

Here is another lovely source of ideas for keeping busy while you adjust to losing your free babysitter. My goal was to make the approach light and easy, not pressured. The idea is to lower stress, so making it hard on yourself defeats that purpose.

Edit: found another great set of screen-free toddler activities from Mom Life Made Easy.

In the long run, your child’s emotional regulation will benefit so much from interacting with the physical world using multiple senses, leading to more peaceful problem-solving and a happier, more connected environment.

If you missed the first two posts in the series, you can find them here, and here.

July 21, 2019 2 comments

20 days of Summer Self-care for Families, pt. 2

On the first day of this series, I talked about one of my favorite ways to relax on a hot summer night: sharing a soothing foot soak. With the heat even more intense now, I’m realizing that some cooling mint leaves would be a perfect addition to this treat!

Today I’m sharing a great spur-of-the-moment stress reliever that is especially helpful for kids who love to be active. I was going to say, “Are there any who don’t?” but honestly I was that kid who could generally be found curled up with a book, and only played outside, reluctantly, when dragged out by my cousin or pushed out by the recess bell.

Fortunately, I’ve since found some kinds of physical exercise that I actually enjoy, and one that I’m lucky enough to have in common with both of my kids is dancing. It’s the next best thing to going to the beach.

When my house is out of control, and everybody is out of sorts, I can usually just turn on some music and once we get moving I can keep going to get the work done. My older child and I don’t have much overlap in our tastes in songs; we converge on musical theater tunes, but I don’t find them very danceable – even though they are totally designed to be… just maybe I would need actual dance skills to make it work.

So I get most of my dancing done with just the four-year-old. Thankfully, he is a big fan of some of my favorite artists: Beyonce, Janelle Monae and Imagine Dragons (at first I thought he was just attracted to the weirdness of some of the videos, but he gets his bop on to the car radio too.) **Some of these linked songs have words that might make some people’s grandparents blush :)**

Dancing is like super bonus self-care because it’s good for mind and body. It gets my blood pumping, it often gets me singing which leads to deeper breathing, and it’s just so fun! Next time the stress level in your house starts to bubble over, try taking a time out for a dance party – at the very least, you’ll have to kick all of the toys to the wall to make space on the floor, so your cleaning will be half done! If you need some inspo in the music department to get you started, I’ll share some kid friendly ideas below, and if you want my personal “dance lessons” playlist, here ya go. (As with the links above, some of these lyrics may not pass G rating, but the ones below should, except for maybe the lawnmower song.)

Some of Q’s current favorites are Yellow Submarine by the Beatles, Perry Gripp’s Space Unicorn and Raining Tacos (warning: not a vegetarian song), and All American Rejects’ Gives You Hell, which as a toddler he called “the lawnmower song” (watch the video and you’ll understand why.)

He has also recently become enamored with silly movement songs (and anything else silly) like “Tootie Tah”. It’s not really danceable per se, but it’s fun anyway. I found a Dr. Jean version that’s pretty heckin hilarious – few things in life more entertaining (except maybe this), than watching a middle aged preschool teacher who wouldn’t be caught dead in a club find an excuse to shake her booty. (I say this as a middle aged preschool teacher who needs no excuse and can often be caught alive and well at Crush or Tonic shaking it to cheesy 80’s pop or whatever DJ Aurora is playing.)

I’ll be back tomorrow with my very best family self-care tip… I know I should probably keep it for last, but I think it’s going to be the most fun, and help with all of the others, so I’m bringing it out early. I also have a scented playdough Instagram round-up in the works so stay tuned for that as well.

xxoo
Anne