Discipline can make me stronger - Tricky Tuesday

I'm not sure if I posted this before, but Jack put Lightning in TO for some unclear reason and then came up with a whole scenario about how he needed some quiet time to think about what he'd done.....the tables are turning, mostly for the good, but sometimes it makes my head hurt!

Yesterday:
They are constantly dawdling instead of dressing, so I upped the ante - whoever was dressed first got the Lightning computer first in the van of awesomeness. To get Harry to hurry, I added Leapster (his favorite) into the mix - if they tied, they could have the Leapster in the car .... in about a nanosecond, Jack slowed down so that they could tie and I think I saw Harry wink at him. Man, they wear me out!

And that's not the only way they have to play us...it was rainy yesterday, and Jack says "It's a nice day for a nap....I've always wanted to do that!" The enthusiasm he can muster for a nap really suits us ;-)

Jack also received his fourth 'yellow banana' today at school - his teacher has a green, yellow, red discipline technique; since their theme is jungle and monkeys, she moves their banana for misbehavior. He's got a good friend that he is constantly getting into trouble with - they just get silly and don't listen...at least it hasn't gone much past that, as far as I know. We talked a lot about how they can stay out of trouble...it probably *is* working, considering this is only the fourth time, but still....

(And if you're wondering, Harry barely speaks at school, at least so far!)


Joe Jackson

Nobody No's Me Like My Baby

Monday was gorgeous, and we had the added bonus of our favorite man working from home...once his workday was done, we headed to the park and ran a few errands

Harry is very proud of his prize-box sunglasses
and took his first solo flight...

...with a little landing help from Daddy

Jack can find a tic-tac-toe game just about anywhere these days

(and thanx Ms. Correne for teaching him to play table tic-tac-toe today!)

Hi-Ya!

Four friends watching the paint dry on some road repairs after lunch...life in the big city ;-)
Thanx for introducing them to Chinese Ms. Keisha, Darius, Spencer and Ms. Correne

My friend Jackie gave me a gift certificate for my birthday, and I ended up getting a few things, including this book - it may be preaching to the choir a bit, if you think I'm strict, or a good thing if you think my kids are out of control ;-) So far, I'm really liking it, and happily lifting lots of tricks. I'm reading about the effects of our Yes culture...scary stuff.

Do you have any favorite ways to say no to your teenies?

Lyle Lovett's Nobody Knows Me Like My Baby

To go down to the store - Tricky Tuesday

I'll admit that I'm sitting here wondering what I was thinking with this silly series....I'm an old dog and need some new trix, folks, so send 'em in please!


It was a normal day of errands and activities, so you're stuck with the mundane ones today.


I like to park near the cart return so that it's easier to load the bags, get the kids into the van, then return the cart without having to risk life and limb or kidnapping before I can get back to the van.


People often go 'aha' when they see the drinks loaded onto the side of the cart, but we can load UP a cart, so it's good to use all parts (I used the duoglide's underbasket and stroll'r swivel'rs to get thru stores the first year)






And just in case you're wondering, it is very rare indeed that they willingly get into the cart to ride....man, they are so big lately. They usually push around the little kid-sized carts if I'm patient enough - Harry gets the cold stuff while Jack gets the rest in his basket.

Happy Shopping!

Arlo Guthrie's Grocery Blues

Big Shot - Tricky Tuesday

I recently heard of a trick to help reduce the fever and injection-site swelling or knots from the gazillion shots that kids endure. My brilliant friend Jackie credits a 'nameless old lady at Walmart,' but she swears it has worked for her own two loves. After the shot is given, rub some Vicks Vapor Rub onto the injection site.

I'd love to hear from others if this works - our next round is in March. HTH!

Billy Joel

Resolution of Happiness - Spin Cycle & Tricky Tuesday

Jen's Spin Cycle challenge for the week is to share your resolutions with the blogosphere. This is a tough one for me because I typically follow JB's approach in Trip Around The Sun (Jimmy Buffett):Yes, I'll make a resolution(Martina McBride):That I'll never make another one. I make little goals about once a week, sometimes once a day, and only occasionally meet them.

I like the idea of a resolution of happiness, and found these fun articles today. I'm killing two birds with one stone, which makes me happy, so there you go...already on the way 2 whole days early - yay me!

10 Real-Mommy Resolutions

Toddler Behavior Resolutions

Happy 2009

Everclear's Don't Change

ETA: I hit publish before thinking that it's only Monday. sheesh! An update on our behavior paper chain - they liked it enough to start another one for January. I have no scientific evidence that it worked, but I do know what Jack said this morning: "I want to wear this shirt, but if I let Harry wear it because he wants to, will I earn another link?" Woohoo!

We could drive up - Tricky Tuesday

I have my friend Christina to thank for this trick, one we have yet to use ourselves because I never remember in time, but I have passed it on to others who love it!







When we are meeting to play at a fast food restaurant, she'll drive thru and order the food then take it inside; thereby missing the torture of standing in line with one or more tiny tornadoes.







I usually like to make things harder for myself, so I've suffered through many a nightmarish wait in long lines while they learned to stand still. It's good to teach them, but it's also good to know the limits and adapt as needed. The next time I see a really long line inside, I'm jumping on this to save us all the stress.

Hope you can use it!





Alabama's Christmas In Your Arms

Santa's Got A Brand New Bag - Tricky Tuesday

This is a trick stolen from a twin mom friend, Jackie, and put to good use at our house over the last few years. We started having the boys clean up their toys about the time they could drag them but were struggling to get them to clean things up in a timely manner when we asked. Jackie told us about her trick:



Set an acceptable amount of time and agree to what 'clean' looks like.

Tell them how long they have to clean it all up (we use 5 minutes)

Anything not cleaned up goes in the bag (could go to trash, donations, whatever you choose)





The theory is to tell them calmly, not have to remind them thruout that time (de-stressing bonus for you), and calmly pick up all the toys that are not in place when time is up....sometimes it works better than others, but they will really move when we start walking to the cabinet that holds the garbage bags.



Thanx to Jackie for a great idea that has really worked at our house!

Paper chains and mistletoe - Tricky Tuesday

Santa doesn't seem to be holding his own against behavioral temptations these days, so I'm trying something that I took a half-hearted stab at last year. They seem to have the words and understanding for it more this year, so I'm jumping in with both colors! (Jack is red and Harry is green....not really, those are just the colors they chose, silly!)

For every good deed, they will earn a link in the paper chain - I'm hoping to keep it positive. It won't hurt me to see all the positives, and hopefully there will be less room for the negative behavior if they're busy building a chain. We're either going to put it on the tree or use the chains as decoration. I'll update at some point - wish us luck!

This is their good start from today :-)

And since I don't have enough on my plate with all the holiday festivities, I'm going to try to post something handy every Tuesday. Please add any great tricks of your own in the comments section or thru email....some of my favorite trick are borrowed ;-)

Neil Innes's Tinsel and String