Tag Archive for children

| January 12, 2011
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Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months

chicken soup with riceTitle: Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months
Author: Maurice Sendak
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (March 15, 1991)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 006443253X
ISBN-13: 978-0064432535

MY THOUGHTS
Chicken Soup with Rice was a huge favorite in our house when my daughters were young that to this day, whenever I cook chicken soup with rice, verses from this book automatically spew out. So this January when we were actually slipping and sliding on ice for once, I made a huge pot of chicken soup with rice to warm our soul and brough out extra matouk to warm our bodies.

This is a beloved book and if my girls were any indicators, all children love the cadence and rhymes of this story. I personally have always loved the imagery from the illustrations in the book and whenever the words start pouring out, I can almost smell the scent of piping hot chicken soup with rice!

If you’re not familiar with the book, just watch the video below and I’m sure you’ll be converted in no time.

Category: Books, children | Tags: , ,
| July 30, 2009
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Family Rooms

This may sound weird when you’re single but when you have kids, especially young ones, bathrooms in public places take on added importance in your life. It becomes a deciding factor in where you go or how long you should stay. Call me neurotic, but when you have kids who immediately have to use the potty as soon as you get anywhere (sometimes before you even get there), it becomes very important that you have access to a clean restroom.

I’m glad my girls are older now and are more independent. I don’t have to worry as much about letting them go to the bathroom alone when we’re out and about but I’m afraid I’ve passed on my neuroses for bathrooms. They will not enter a public restrooms unless it’s clean. If it smells, they will rather hold ‘it’ than use the bathroom. You can forget it for some reason pest control has been overlooked because they will zoom out of anyplace so fast if they even see anything crawling. Actually, it doesn’t even have to be crawling. It can be dead in the corner and they will refuse to go in the room.

family restroomI’ve noticed an increase of Family Bathrooms in newer malls and public buildings and I am glad. These family rooms allow mom, dad and kids to use one large room together.

This alleviates mom from doing all the bathroom duties as it was in our case. Since we have daughters, it fell up to me to take them to the bathroom every time. I couldn’t have my husband take them to the men’s restroom after all. Can you just imagine little girls in the men’s bathroom? It’s not even funny. I’m always sympathetic when I see a lone dad urging his little girl into the ladies room by herself. It’s a helpless feeling when you can’t go in with your child. It’s not even a matter of safety, although that is certainly a big concern, depending on how tall they are, they can’t always reach the commode or the sink comfortably. Or they could be like my youngest daughter who used to be afraid of the noise the hand dryers make.

When you have to do diaper changes or just general kid mess clean up, family bathrooms are a godsend! They are usually equipped with a changing table and you just have more privacy to undress your child and get them cleaned up properly. Another neat feature of family bathrooms is the kid sized potty. This is great when you’re potty training because the kids can use the little potty just like when they’re at home and they don’t get traumatized about using the adult sized commode. My girls used to be scared the would fall in and I was always scared they would touch the sides or other parts they’re not supposed to have their little hands on.

I like family rooms and support all public places that have them. I wish they had more of them when my daughters were younger but I am glad they are now more widely available for families with young children.

Category: Living, Travel | Tags: ,
| July 1, 2009
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Book Review & Giveaway: Your Family Constitution by Scott Gale

Parents know all about drama and meltdowns and not necessarily all from the kids. That’s what Scott Gale had when when he lost his cool on a Mother’s Day and ended up walking home for twelve miles.

We’ve all have our meltdowns but we’re too embarrassed to talk about it. Scott Gale was not embarrassed by it, the experience opened his eyes and it’s the catalyst that  lead to his book, Your Family Constitution – A Modern Approach to Family Values and Household Structure.

In this book Scott walks you through, mostly by example, the process of evaluating your household and identifying hidden signs that your family is becoming ‘out of control’. Oh, I know, most of us are in that river in Egypt and won’t readily admit that something is wrong with our dynamics. Us? Of course not. That can’t be us.

Read on and you’ll start seeing glimpses of yourself and your family in the examples that Scott cites in Your Family Constitution. I mean, my children are in their teens now and Scott’s are still young yet I saw so many similarities that it was uncanny. When he talked about ‘losing it’ with his son I couldn’t help but cringe at the memory of either me or my husband hovering over our daughters and just going off on them. It’s not a pretty  vision and it felt even uglier. We always felt like jerks after wards.  We too went through a process of evaluating and revising the way we deal with our daughters but we didn’t quite go as far as Scott Gale did with his family.

He established a written constitution that they live by and it grows as they grow. We have one too in our house, but it’s not written down. It’s something that just hangs over us lol! It’s an unwritten code but I suppose as long as everyone is in agreement it could work. Every family probably has a constitution and don’t even know it. Well whether you have one or not, you will benefit from reading this book. It will give you tips on resolving not just everyday family issues but it will help you reconnect with your kids and enhance your family communication.

Visit the Your Family Constitution website if you’d like to learn more about the author and the book. The website also provides you with additional tools to get your started on strengthening and structuring your household. You can also buy the book directly from the website.

OR

YOU CAN WIN A FREE COPY RIGHT HERE!

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED AND WINNERS NOTIFIED. WINNERS ARE:
Loretta of Just Not Martha and Monica of First Time Mommy. Congratulations! You have been contacted via email and the publisher will be sending your copy of Your Family Constitution.

Thanks to Vered of Mommy Grind who contacted me about this book, I can giveaway two copies to my readers.

Winning the book is easy, just leave me a comment and tell me:

DO YOU HAVE A FAMILY CONSTITUTION? HOW DOES IT WORK?

If you’d like additional entries you can also do one or all of the following:

  1. Twitter – tweet about this review and giveaway by re-tweeting. Use the button at the end of the post to make it easier. Add me as friend @JMom and leave the link to your tweet here.
  2. Share – you can also share this post on Facebook and other media using the share button at the end of this post (leave me a separate comment with a link to it if you share it with more than one media)
  3. Blog – blog about this review and giveaway or include it in your giveaway list and you’ll get another entry (please come back and leave a URL so I can verify)

You have until July 12, 2009 to enter this giveaway. Winners will be chosen by Randomizer.org and will be notified by email and announced here as an update.

The publisher will be mailing the book directly to you, so you must contact me within 48-hours or I will select another winner.

Category: Books, Finance, Giveaways | Tags: , , , ,