Heavy Rainfall Warning

You know how it is... when you have nothing to blog/talk about, there's always the weather ;-)

Today we have a heavy rainfall warning. We get those quite often where I live (the south coast of B.C., Canada). Yup, heavy rainfall.

This meant that my daughter had no choice (because Mommy is the Dry Clothes Warden) but to wear her rain boots and then change into her shoes when she got to class. It also means that The Boy (because he is Mr. Trippy) will change clothes several times today.

Last but not least, it meant that we were late for school today, because Mommy Warden thought she'd be clever and keep Mr. Trippy and Miss Too-Much-Of-A-Diva-To-Change-Her-Shoes out of the rain as long as possible, but messed up on the time. As a result, Miss Diva missed the second bell and needed a late slip from the office.

Oops. Baaaad Mommy...

Pinata Tip For Birthday Parties

Alyssa went to a friend's birthday party the other day and they had a pinata. Her Mom had an idea for filling it that I'd never seen, and I thought I'd pass it on.

We've had pinatas at our kids' parties in the past, and endured the mad scramble and ensuing madness as all the kids try and grab as much loot as they can. For the less aggressive, there can be hurt feelings if other party goers end up with more candy and are not well mannered enough to share.

As a solution, my friend prepared in advance small baggies of candies and put those in their pinata. That way each child got the same amount.

So simple, yet such a great idea!!! I'm definitely doing that if we ever have another pinata.

The Effects On My Children Of Setting The Clocks Back

Never mind them... the effect on me is that bedtime is an hour later!!!!!

OK, I'm a grownup. I can handle it. I think.

It hasn't been too bad - there has been only one crying episode so far today, and at the moment they're both playing nicely. Not bad considering if we hadn't set the clock back, lil' J would be asleep by now.

So far so good, and only ten minutes or so left until I can whisk The Boy away to the bathroom to brush his teeth...

Sneaking Nutrients Into Food

I'm always looking for ways to sneak nutrients into my kids' food, and here something I tried the other day that worked (good thing they don't read my blogs ;-)

I sprinkled some wheat germ into their peanut butter sandwiches.

Victory!!

The idea is to not go overboard or they'll notice. Better to have them eat sandwiches with a little bit added each time, rather than have them reject them entirely.

This is a handy trick if your kids are very "bread colour oriented". My kids prefer white bread because it's softer and it's what Daddy eats, but if I simply say "not today!" for white, they will eat whole grain, and I never pack anything but whole grain in A's school lunches.

However, I know there are kids out there who won't eat bread unless it's white, so sneaking some wheat germ (or flax, or bran) inside might be a solution that works.

Finding Socks That Fit

Our niece, who's petite, can wear her ten year old's shirts. A friend of mine has a twelve year old daughter who, at 5'7", towers over her and borrows her clothes. Being the Mom of a four and five year old, I'm still a few years away from this.

Or so I though ;-)

I was out of socks this morning, and starting digging in the clean hamper for whatever I could find. The last time I was at Zellers I bought J (my four year old son) some socks that are a bit too big (the next size down would have been too small). I was thinking at the time that he might get more wear out of the bigger ones.

Little did I know, so would I!!

They fit me better than they do hm. Now the only question remains is when he notices (and oh he will), what will his reaction be?