DHA And Mom's Persistence

Ahhh!! The "monkey see monkey do" phenomenom worked for me today with the DHA and Lil' J.

I was taking a gel cap myself, and he wanted it. He wanted the adult sized, must swallow whole if you don't want to chew on fish oil, capsule. He insisted he could swallow it. He begged me for one! Hmmm. I actually briefly contemplated letting him have it but reconsidered, since it's been awhile since my husband and I took that parents' first aid course that covered, among other things, choking rescue.

Must take refresher course.

Anyway, I remembered the orange flavoured Smart Squirts that I had in the cupboard, and opened the bottle to take a look. Hmmm. NOPE, you're not swallowing that either.

"Here, Bud, chew on it, ok? It's yummy!"

He did it. I mean he actually chewed the whole thing and swallowed it, and asked for another one! (The first time he tried them he didn't like them AT ALL).

I promised him another one after dinner. Fingers crossed that he keeps liking them...
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Magic Age

THIS is why you have more than one child. Right now, I'm finally seeing it.

I had this (and other reasons too) in mind back when we were trying for our second pregnancy, but now it's coming to fruition. Finally (just when I thought it was never gonna happen!!!), my two kids play nicely together more often than they fight with each other.

They have fun together, help each other, co-operate, you name it - all those things I've dreamt of but never really seen until now!!! Yippee!! (See? It wasn't all just wishful thinking!). My readers with younger kids who haven't reached this blissful time can take heart in knowing that it is, in fact, coming!

As I conclude this post, they are yet again giggling together, this time because one of them made a "play do booger!!". Hey, as long as no one eats it, we're good...
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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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