I Guess I Don't Think Like A Kid

I'm always looking for goodie bag ideas, so any time my kids come home with one, I'm eager to see the contents. Candies, toys, hair ties, pencils, gum, lip gloss - you name it, it's been there.

My daughter brought home a goodie bag today from a party, so as usual I peered over her shoulder as she inspected the contents. There were things you could eat, wear, write with, and so on.

And then there was... what is that thing? A rubber worm? Good grief. What would you do with something like that anyway? Sheesh. I would SO not have bought those to put in any goodie bag I made - what could you use it for?

It was her favourite item, even ranking over the Dubble Bubble gum.

Hmmm... maybe next time I need to make goodie bags, she can help me shop ;)




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My DHA Triumph

Back to the fish oil, and my thus far failed attempts to get it in my kids. Neither one of them are fond of Smart Squirts - the chewable orange flavoured gel caps made especially for kids. Nope, not my kids.

I came up with somewhat of a solution yesterday, if you can live with the idea of orange flavoured powdered Gatorade. My husband buys it for drinks for his lunches at work. I had said no to a trip to 7 Eleven for a Slurpee, and he suggested I make homemade Slurpees with "that Gatorade powder and some ice".

(sigh)

Um, OR... (here's a thought) I could use real orange juice!!! (But where's the fun in that?) Sure enough, my two started jumping up and down, excitedly chanting "Gatorade! Gatorade!". Oh for Pete's sake. I'm stuck now, or I'm the Mom who ALWAYS SAYS NO.

But wait... The Smart Squirts!!! I could add some of those. They'll either drink up the DHA with the Gatorade, or they'll think Gatorade tastes fishy and won't ask for it anymore.

(heh heh)

So I whipped out the Magic Bullet and went to work. Some Gatorade powder, fish oil, water, real orange juice, frozen cranberries, mango, and ice later, I had an orange flavoured slushy concoction that I could live with.

Guess what...

They drank it!!


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Learning To Ride A Bike

A and J have new bikes. I'm shaking my head wondering where they'll ride them, since we live close to some very busy roads, neither my husband and I have bikes of our own at the moment, and they're too young to use the bikes on their own as transportation.

Still, it's a life skill - gotta learn how to ride! Once you do, you never forget. Right now they're both very dependent on training wheels and parental assistance, so that means the only time they can take them out is when my husband is off work (one parent per kid).

We did this yesterday, with much success! We took the bikes to a nearby park with a big enough paved area (walkways and parking lot) so that they could ride continuously on a level surface (unlike on our hilly driveway, or the teeny patio in our back yard). The park was the ticket! We spent about an hour there, and although A still needs her training wheels, by the time we left she was braking and turning (and enjoying the speed bumps :) with much greater ease than when we arrived. J, on the other hand, spent most of the hour running beside his bike pushing it. Hey, that's ok - it was another form of exercise, and he clearly loves his new bike.

We're going to try and do this at least once a week. When the kids have enough solid skill, I'll then be able to take them out without my husband, and jog while they ride. This is still a bit far off, though, because the area we live in has too many hills and too much traffic for my liking. I'll have to see how it goes, I guess.

Meanwhile, so far so good :)



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The Dog Got The DHA

He finished the kids` toast this morning, which I had sneakily spiked with fish oil. Now before you get visions of gutted salmon hanging in my kitchen, let me explain further...

I bought some fish oil softgel caps to increase our Omega 3 & DHA intake. The adult variety cost about $6 for 120 caps containing 1000 MG each. According to the dosage recommendations on the label, this is enough for one adult for one month. Six dollars - not too bad.

The Smart Squirts, however, cost twice that amount for 30 x 211 MG caps. According to their label, this is enough for 2 weeks per child. So I would need to spend... $48 per month.

Ouch.

Why the price difference... I`m assuming it has to do with the orange flavouring in the Smart Squirts. They taste bearable, and are therefor feedable to kids. Not the like adult variety, which is meant to be swallowed without being tasted. Ugh.

So why not, you say, slice open the gel caps and spike food with the adult (cheaper ;) oil! This is precisely what I`ve been trying, with limited success.

This morning, I dripped about three drops each on the kids` toast (they have peanut butter and jam). You could still taste it. My daughter, surprisingly, ate half of hers. My son took one bite and then passed on the rest. The dog got the leftovers, hence the title of this post.

Last night I tried putting some in spaghetti sauce. I managed to hide the flavour, but that was because I only put one adult capsule in an entire pot of sauce. Sigh.

I`ve also tried adding some to my daughter`s OJ in her lunch kit, but it clumps. You guessed it - she won`t drink it.

I`m trying to come up with other ideas, and will keep you posted on my progess. Meanwhile, if anyone has any suggestions, I`d love to hear them!


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DON'T Take This Test

I'm referring to the kid's IQ test on this page:

http://www.funeducation.com/Tests/

My 6 year old is into tests and games (it's her Mommy nerd DNA - I'm so proud!!) and we had some fun with it. It takes about an hour, depending on the age of your child and the number of interruptions, etc.

Luckily I didn't say anything to her about "results", because they don't tell you (until you've spent an hour doing it with your child) that it costs $12.95 to get your child's IQ (or their version of it).

Pffft.

I don't mind paying for testing (Mensa tests aren't free), but don't trick or bullshit me. Needless to say I didn't pay (and I don't need a test to know my girl's smart :)

Just thought I'd share, and save you the trouble...
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Ahhh... One Of The Things I've Been Waiting For :)

At the moment, my six year old is reading to my five year old. My son's relentless queries of "What does that spell? What does that spell?" are being answered by his sister, while I sit in (relative ;) peace and type this.

They're even laughing together! Reading and laughing, and having fun. (Is there a full moon?). Oh my goodness... A just told J to go get another book to read!

w00000000t !!!! (happy mommy dance).

Off to start dinner... post ya later :)
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