belladonnis

Hey!!
Id like to start a place where those of us with kids and those just starting can share there ideas, get advice and just tell some of the funny stories about raising our kids!

belladonnis

Slumber party massacre! My daughter Ash and her sissy Zoe had a sleepover last night. Oh my.....six little girls with more energy that an atom bomb!
I'm always looking for new ways for them to have fun and be creative. Any suggestions for the next one would be great!
Here is what we did on this one. Kids like to eat.......and eat alot, but instead of just opening the chip bag we decided that we would make our own snacks.
It was messy but so much fun.
I bought the pizza kits and prepared the dough. Then divided it among the kids and let them work it for a while. After it set I gave them pans and large cookie cutters and they made thier own little mini pizzas. Some wanted to make the cinnimon treats.
They turned out great and as far as the mess, they wanted to help clean it up!!!! A win win situation!!

Dragon

My niece loves to do arts and crafts. Her favorite is a kind of plastic bead project. They have all these little plastic beads that you put on a form shaped like cats or horses or butterflies. Then you put a piece of wax paper over it and iron it until beads fuse together. Flip it and iron the other side and you've got a little multicoloured horse or cat etc. I wish I could remember the name of the beads but I've never met a little girl who didn't love them. (A lot of little boys enjoy this too)

Robindcr8l

My son and I have always loved to bake together. 2 summers ago, he decided to enter some of his baked goods into the youth competition at the Fair. He won 3rd prize for both his snickerdoodles and his banana bread. The thing I loved the most about it all, though, was hearing him call my ex's dad (Grandpa is a beer-drinking, truck-driving, deer-shooting redneck kind of guy!) and tell him he won a ribbon at the Fair. I only wish I could have seen Grandpa's face when my son bragged that it was for BAKING! LOL It still tickles me!

solosater

I don't have kids but I was one at one time...

I like that you were a part of the party and didn't just disappear and leave them to do what ever they pleased, that’s never a good idea.

Also cooking together is something families do that gives parents time to talk with and teach their children at the same time. It’s possible that one or two of the girls there don’t have that at home so I’ll bet they really enjoyed that. And they wanted to help clean up, that’s wonderful, but even if they don’t want to they should as they are being gifted with the fun of a party the very least they can do is clean up after themselves it’s a learning experience for them as well.

Kudos to you for being the kind of mom who has kids that already do this.

As for ideas for the next time, I make jewelry and have had the most fun sitting around a table with friends who also make jewelry and having all the supplies in the middle and just everyone going at it and sharing the latest gossip and all.

You can get inexpensive bracelet/anklet kits at Walmart or I’m sure at the local craft store. They could make up longer ones for anklets that would be bracelet sized when they grow some too.

Alternatively you could buy:
*A spool of beading wire or even monofilament (fishing line, it wont last forever but it will save a couple dollars) You could use the elastic beading line but I don’t suggest it, I’ve been at it for years and still I can’t keep a knot in the stuff
*A bunch of small packs of glass beads in varying sizes and colors, silver & gold colored beads, and some natural stone & wood beads if you like
*Some closures (I would suggest magnetic closures for children, they “breakaway” when caught on something and are quite easy to put on by oneself if you can’t find those the next easiest are toggle closures)
*Crimps & crimp covers (the covers are purely cosmetic)
*A couple pairs of needle nose pliers, the kind with teeth (don’t let anyone talk you into a crimping tool, it’s way to complicated and if you do it wrong the wire will back itself out of the crimp)
*A yard or two of cheap felt in off white or lightest brown (the beads don’t roll away and are easier to see on the light, solid background).
*A measuring tape (the kind you use for sewing) to measure the wrists/ankles of the girls and the wire/monofilament to cut the right length for each piece
You have a kit for a jewelry making party.

Cut the felt into placemat size rectangles for each girl. Spread a sheet over the table or the floor (wherever it is easies to sit for a couple of hours), put all the beads on paper plates sorted by color in the center and have the girls sit all around them then give a little instruction and go to it.

You could make up a color wheel and use the opportunity to teach the girls about colors that contrast and colors that compliment and so on.

Also every girl will come up with a different design, some will be very symmetrical and some will be wildly not symmetrical, you can show them that different is a good thing and that in art there is no wrong way to do it.

It also requires sharing and to some extent good sportsmanship in that everyone should be complimentary to each other about their work.

You could have them all make up one for themselves and one for a sibling or parent or teacher as well, that would make them have to use their minds to think about another persons taste and needs etc. Or even, if you’ve got the right number of girls, have them pick a name out of a hat and they make a piece for one of the others in the group (to keep it secret you’d need to have measured all the wrists/ankles ahead of time and that info would be included on the paper with the name on it).

Be sure to make your own too, you’ll all have a souvenir of the great time you had.

I would suggest that you have the other parents pitch in some money to cover the cost 3-5 dollars a head or something like that and perhaps ask ahead of time the favorite colors of each girl so there is enough purple to satisfy the four who are crazy over purple and you don’t end up with a pile of oranges beads left over you’ll never use for anything.

I can write up some simple instructions for making a bracelet and post it here if you like, let me know.

solosater

As I said this is great fun for adult too, add a bottle of wine or some margaritas and have yourselves girls night in!

I would suggest you go for some Austrian crystal and sterling silver and gold-filled beads for that party and absolutely get the real beading wire and crimp covers.

polenta

I like the topic. Sorry that I have an only son who is 33 and is not even married. The thing about inviting children and letting them do the cooking or baking sounds interesting. Could they come home and do some housework while I give them instructions about how to do it? NICE EXPERIMENT!!!

ZeroMerc

my kids love, love, love tents.

Doesnt need to be anyting fancy, just a couple of bed sheets draped over some kitchen chairs, tape and BANG! instant hide out!!

One thing my father always did for me the couple of times i had friends over was haul a tv to my room and set up the tent over the TV and instant personal movie theatre!

matthew

My daughter just turned 5 recently... Today @ my mother's memorial service, she walked up onto the stage durring service carrying with her a picture she had drawn of the many members of our family. She explained who each person was including my mother who she calls memaw... She was quite proud & unafraid to tell of her love for her family...

That was one of the most moving events of my life...

Ash12

matthew I know you are so proud of her. You and your family are in my prayers.

belladonnis

These are some great ideas!
Yes solo that would be great!
The tent idea is great to.
My kids actualy want to go tent camping for real. I just havent had the courage to try that one yet. I think we might try it in the back yard first. (lol) Not for the kids sake but for mine! Ive got alot of friends that like to go tent camping and have even been to the beach. It sounds like fun, if we can survive the yard we may tackle the state park.

belladonnis

Hey polenta if you can get mine to clean their rooms they are yours!!! I think I might try a theme of room make over and if their friends are over they might want to do a better job of it!!!
I was a late bloomer getting married and having my children, perhaps like your son. I have great nieces that are 6 and 8 years older than my oldest daughter thats 11.
Id like to hear some of your stories on raising your son and also I might need your advice sometime!

autumn

I had my 5 year old great neice for about 7 hours today and OMG I couldn't find her off button...my cats still won't look at me.
one of the things that entertained her for quite a while was I gave her a squirt gun and a rag and she squirted and wiped my appliences and cubboard doors. win! win! lol

I have boys (27 and 29). we loved tent camping. we started with just my pickup then moved up to a sheet..we also started in the front yard.
there is a book by Patrick McManus, Kid camping from AaaEee to Zip! best book ever. don't think it is still in print but I have found copies on ebay..
tells you all you need to know bout tent camping and it is sooo fun to read, my kids and I giggled for hours over his books.
another thing we did was they took a white sheet and drew roads for their hotwheels with permenent markers, they added pics of houses and businesses in town, we still have that sheet..it was part of our tent for a while.

autumn

please excuse the many spelling errors, lol

belladonnis

Thats not a bad idea squirt guns! I might try that with windex and get my windows clean!!

Can anyone explain this to me?
We went to a birthday get together today for a friend of mine and OMG the food.
Shrimp boil with corn on the cob and potatoes.
Smoked ribs, boston butt, potato salad.......the works.
All my kids wanted was chicken Mcnuggets from Mcdonalds.........Its gotta be a kid thing!!!

solosater

My mother, a single parent for the vast majority of my life, was not capable after working all day (two jobs) and then making sure we were clean & well fed to really worry about our manners so there was never the rule of trying a little of everything even if you think you won't like it.

When I was 12 years old I started baby sitting for a woman who really became a mentor to me, funnily enough she too was a single parent but for some reason she seemed to cope better.

When I ate at her house the first time, and I haven't a clue what it was (probably hummus or some such, she was into the whole macrobiotic diet), I passed on something and the look she gave me, not an angry one but a shocked and disappointed one, embarrassed me to the point that from that day on I've never turned my nose up to anything without at least trying it first.

I've even learned to really like some things that you couldn't make me even try before. She taught me how to cook things that were quite removed from the norm at my house too; French lentils and black beans and lamb (still not a fan of lamb) and she introduced me to new ways to cook some things I'd always liked but was preparing in an unhealthy way. She even got me to enjoy fresh tomatoes once or twice (heirloom tomatoes that tasted like they should all taste, sweet and refreshing).

Even so I still don't like seafood, I will never eat chitlins (sp?) again and I really don't like tomatoes as they more often than not taste foul to me.

Your children will develop their own tastes as they grow but try to introduce them to new things and make it a rule that they try things before deciding they don't like it, they may find they've been missing out.

polenta

Belladonnis, when I raised my son there weren't even DISPOSABLE DIAPERS.
We had to WASH THEM AND IRON THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Prehistory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He was a very good baby, toddler and child.........but when in his early and late teens..................I would have sent him in a spaceship to Mars. LOL!!!

polenta

Sorry, I forgot to say today is Children's Day in Uruguay and since we have no children in the family I almost forgot.
I've heard the toy stores are crowded.... but for me it's just another day. When my son was a kid he had millions of presents on this day.

polenta

http://www.jugueteriapalacio.com/

At the end of the website above, you will see big sky blue letters that come on and off saying 16 DE AGOSTO (August 16th) DIA DEL NIÑO (Children's Day).
This is the evidence I'm not lying. LOL

belladonnis

Hey polenta!
I can remember my mom using real diapers on my brother.....it never failed that she would always stick him with the pins! Im surprised that all of her children dont have wicked scars from al the pin pricks!
Children's Day, how interesting. How did that come about? Please tell me!
Do also have a Mother's Day or Father's Day in Uruguay?
Ive got two more years before I experiance the teenage years with my oldest, I have to say thay frighten me alittle. You try to raise your kids right but it seems there are so many more bad influences out there for them to fall into than when I was a child. Well perhaps not more just easier access to them.