Surviving Sick Season

Having sick kids is not fun.
On top of that we live in a time where we have been told that children under two cannot have most over the counter (OTC) sick meds.  This puts families of babies and young children in a very difficult situation when they find that their little one is sick.
The good thing is that the longer you live in that world of having a sick kid and no meds, the more you figure out tricks to get them better or at least feeling a little better.

I'm not a doctor.  I'm a mom.  Because I have no medical background I have linked anything medical in this post to a reputable medical source.

I've been through many of the typical childhood illnesses with my kids.  Here are all of the tricks and things that I've learned along the way.

Five Faves: A Week of Fun Discovery Bottles

Discovery Bottles (aka Sensory Bottles) might be my very favorite thing  to make for kids (and adults) to play with.  I first learned about them when I was a teacher.  The preschool room nextdoor had made a few and I was completely enthralled.  The ones they had made were just oil and water in bottles.  I say "just" but that is one of the coolest discovery bottles out there.  I could hold an "oil and water bottle" for minutes on end just moving it back and forth and watching the reaction inside.  There are millions of things that you can put in discovery bottles and they are not only fun but can be used to teach LOTS of concepts and (as long as you make them tamper proof) they are great for any age!
Here are five of my favorites!!  It was really hard to pick just five.  There will probably be a sequel to this post.

Eggcelent Ideas for Plastic Eggs!

Through the years as a teacher and as a mom I've seen so many different fun things you can do with a couple of cheap plastic eggs.  I think it is safe to say that there is no other more versatile holiday decor out there.
So here we are.  Easter is done and you have a bunch of plastic eggs lying around your house.  You've probably stepped on at least one... ouch!  Time to put them to some good use.

Five Faves: A Week of Dough and Goo

There are a ton of recipes out there for kids these days.  Play dough recipes and ones for different kinds of fun slime and goo.  The problem is that many of them don't make a very good product.
I've put together a list of 5 excellent recipes.
I've created these "Five Faves" posts so that you can do one project each week day!  These posts are particularly good for school vacation weeks.  Use them however you wish
and
Have Fun!

Change for the Better

Close your eyes and think... do you know someone who makes your life challenging because of their personality? Often people that we feel that way about are people that we have to be around all the time: bosses, family members, classmates, coworkers, etc. Here is a technique that could change that forever.  This is a post (see link below) that I wrote almost a year ago. It's a technique from the behavior class that I took, but unlike most of the techniques that we learned, this one can be used with any age. To quote the post "It can be done with any person you know from about age 2 (maybe 1 1/2) up to 102." This method is easy to do and has an almost magical result.

IALAC: Take a Walk In Their Shoes

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."  from "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

Here's another technique we learned in my behavior class.  Not exactly a direct behavior method but a technique that can open your eyes to what your child (or another individual) is feeling like, living their day-to-day life.  Maybe their behaviors stem from the prevalence of negativity in their world.

IALAC stands for "I am lovable and capable."  This is a method of keeping track of the negative and positive moments in a person's day.  Like the Change the Label post I did, this is also a technique that you can do on ANYone... not just kids.  You can even do it on yourself!  Actually now that I think about it you could even do this on your dog!  Cool... I hadn't thought of that before.  Ok, "dog people" you can try this at home too!

Here is how it works:

You and Me and These Same Four Walls: Dealing with Bedrest, Sickness or Bad Weather with a Toddler

Recently I saw a blog post on my facebook news feed.  The topic caught my eye.  It was a post about how to deal with a toddler while on bedrest.  I read it, excited to hit "share" as soon as I was done since I have a friend who very well may be in this situation in the near future.  The post was short.  It included 3 or so products to purchase to entertain or help the toddler play indoors.

The post was followed by a list of negative comments from readers.  I didn't hit share.

Instead I took on the challenge of writing a post of the same kind.  This post is chock-full of ideas for any parent or caregiver *with a toddler* who is on bedrest, sick or trapped inside due to weather.

Change the Label... Change the Behavior

Tonight I was going to post about something that is not behavior related because I don't want to define my blog as a blog that is only about behavior methods.  However, I have been having trouble writing the post that I was working on so I am going to go ahead and share another behavior method... the coolest and easiest one.
We learned this method on the second night of my behavior course.  It can be done with any person you know from about age 2 (maybe 1 1/2) up to 102.  Try it; you'll love it!

Here's what you do.
Make a list of your family members, your class, coworkers or any group of people that you are around on a regular basis.
Now, write down the first word you can think of next to each name.
These terms are not suppose to be carefully chosen.  They are not suppose to be kind or nice, just true.  Don't worry you can burn the list later.  In order to do this you need to be completely honest with yourself.