Does Your Child’s School Have A “Cheese Touch”?
Post Published: 11 September 2010So the first week back to school for my oldest 2 boys has come to an end. My oldest is in the 2nd grade at one school and my middle son is in Kindergarten at another school. Both had a good week at school and are excited for next week. However, I have to share the highlight of their week with you. When I picked up my second grader on Friday afternoon, he was excited to tell us that there is a “cheese touch” at his school. Let me tell you that my 5 year old is very jealous at this point. He even wants my older son to take him to see it. So at this point I am guessing that some of you are wondering what a “cheese touch” is.
Any of you who have children that have read any of the books from “The Diary Of A Wimpy Kid” series or seen the movie probably already know what I am talking about as this is where the “cheese touch” comes from. The “cheese touch” comes from a slice of cheese being placed somewhere in the school yard on a concrete surface and being left there to age. Everyone likes to check out the aging cheese, but no one wants to touch it because if you do, you will have acquired the “cheese touch”. Once you have acquired the “cheese touch” the only way you can get rid of it is by touching someone else and passing it on to them. I compare this to when I went to school when you didn’t want to get someone else’s “germs” and avoided being touching or being touched by them.
My oldest son had read all of the books, so it was during spring break that I took my oldest 2 to see the movie and how I learned about the “cheese touch”. On our way home that day my 5 year old wanted to create a “cheese touch” in our drive way and I told him no. Then, when we went on summer vacation to my hometown (our road trip), we visited the playground where I went to elementary school. It was there that they boys started talking about leaving a “cheese touch” for the kids there. We joked around about it, but never followed through. So now hopefully you can understand the excitement that there is a “cheese touch” at my oldest son’s school. When I asked him how it got there and how long it had been there he didn’t know. However, I think it is interesting how Turkey & Cheese sandwiches were on the menu for hot lunch on Friday and wonder if that is where it came from. I know that Monday morning my son will be eager to see if it is still there and if so, how much mold or “decay” as my 5 year old puts it has accumulated.
Update: When I picked up my son today, he was sad to report that the cheese touch was gone. My 5 year old’s theory is that ants ate it over the weekend.
Elmo – The Voice Of Influence
Post Published: 17 August 2010
I have to start off by telling out by telling you just how much I LOVE potty training! Do you sense my sarcasm? I will admit that at this stage of what I have encountered in my parenting experience I would eagerly take on the sleepless nights of newborn feedings and even tantrums over potty training. Almost everyone I talk with agrees that their boys were much harder than girls to potty train. I hear amazing stories of 18 month – 2 year olds eager to potty train and there is always one common factor – they are the girls. You also just have to love how everyone has the perfect age of when you should potty train and no matter how you are tackling it you just aren’t doing it right. My oldest 2 boys were 3 and 3 months and 3 ½ before I can say they were successfully potty trained. I am not going to try to embellish upon their timeline at all. My theory is that boys just have better things to spend their time on and personal hygiene is at the bottom of the list. The good news? As only a few people shared with me, is that they were ready for Kindergarten without diapers. Sometimes I say you just can’t sweat the small stuff, but we all know that is easier said than done.
Thus I have decided to take a new approach with my youngest boy who just turned 2 in July. I am turning over the potty training to Elmo. Yes, you heard me right, Elmo. You see I have discussed potty, poo poo, and pee every time he has come in to see me in the bathroom, all the time when I change his diaper and I have even had his oldest brother (whom he greatly admires) demonstrate how everything works. He has acknowledged no comprehension of what any of all this potty stuff is about until 1 week ago. What happened a week ago you ask? I put in for him “Elmo – Potty Time” to watch while I made dinner. Almost immediately after viewing, he started talking about Elmo going potty and it has continued. However when I talk about going potty he continues to show an absolute innocent look of “what are you talking about”. So here is my proposition to Elmo. I am offering him free room and board to come teach my son how to use the potty. We have lots of crayons, but we got rid of our fish so he can bring his goldfish Dorothy with him too. I am sure my youngest would be happy to share his bed with him, I have lots of food and snacks on hand from my couponing, and I’m sure with 5 of us in the house we can offer him plenty of tickles. So if anyone has any connections with Elmo can you let him know about my offer?
Giving Date Night A Whole New Meaning
Post Published: 03 August 2010There is nothing I enjoy more than a date night with my husband! However, this summer I am discovering a whole new meaning to date night. Last fall I was fortunate to win a pretty good stash of cinema cash from a local radio station. Thus, I have been heading out with one of or both of my oldest boys to a movie on occasion. We haven’t been attending the summer movie matinees because my 2 year old has not mastered movie theatre etiquette yet. We tried taking him when Toy Story 3 came out thinking it would be the perfect movie to take him too since he has loved Toy Story since last fall. Alas that was not the case. Since then however, I have started to realize how much my oldest two boys have started to grow up and how much fun it is to go on a “date” with them. Especially with my 7 year old as he and I don’t seem to get the time together just the two of us with him in school. Then that makes me realize how that will soon be the same with my middle son as he starts full day school in just a few weeks. I can’t believe how the past 8 years have flown by, which makes me think that the next 8 are probably going to go even faster. Somehow I am guessing that when my boys are 16 and 14 it is not going to be totally cool to go on a date with me! In the meanwhile I will take advantage of my boys being used to bedtime at 8pm and it being totally cool to go to a movie with mom and getting to stay up until a whopping 9:30!
Not Your Typical Back To School Shopper
Post Published: 29 July 2010How do you shop to get your kids ready for back to school and how much is it costing you? The Krazy Coupon Lady did a post the other day entitled “How To Shop Back To School On A Budget” that I encourage you to check out. The National Retail Foundation has found that on average, people spend about $600 per child on back to school. I have to tell you that just blows my mind! I don’t know how a family can afford that amount. They say that just on school supplies, that most people spend about $96.39 per child.
I remember about 3 or 4 years ago hearing a group of moms talking about and complaining about how much it was costing them for their back to school shopping for their kids and I will be honest in saying that it freaked me out. However, as I listened to them continue their conversation I made note of some things. The first thing was that they were doing “Back To School” shopping trips where they were just deciding on a day to go buy everything from school supplies, clothing, shoes etc all in one trip. While I can see the nostalgia that can go along with the yearly trip, financially you get trapped into buying everything in one trip and paying whatever the prices are at that time. So I guess this is where I fall into the category of not being typical. My children don’t get the nostalgia of that back to school shopping trip. I start buying my kids clothes for their next size as I encounter the sales. Usually this means getting deals of at least 40-60% off and sometimes even greater. I simply refuse to pay regular price for anything. By shopping in advance for things I am not in the situation of “needing” something on a set day at a set price. I do this with shoes and jackets as well. My boys are getting to chose a new bag/backpack for school this year as their special item, but even then we are not paying regular price. I have had them show me what their choice is, as well as a backup choice. I then watch for the sales and or coupons on them and that is when I purchase them. I find it is all about the planning. I have even been able to incorporate getting these items into our weekly budget from the money I am saving couponing on grocery and household items. My older two boys’ winter boots were purchased in March where I was able to get boots that were priced $45 a pair for $11 a pair. This past weekend my 7year old was able to go on a date night with me where we found his school shoes on clearance and then to a movie. Then on Sunday when the weekly fliers came out in the paper, the new bag he wanted for school was marked down to just the right price $9. I have my kindergartner’s backpack left to get and I just discovered today that it is going on sale for 50% off tomorrow. All tallied right now, it is looking like I will have spent around $50 per child for back to school shopping! If you add in the clothes that I have bought over time to get ready for fall it is still going to come out to under $100 per child. To me it is all about the planning and preparation in advance and not leaving things until the last minute. How are you making your back to school fit into your budget?
Still Couponing Strong!
Post Published: 11 July 2010
So it has been a while since I gave a couponing update. Were any of you wondering if I was still at it? The answer is yes, and today is the perfect day to give you an update as you can get the same deals as you see here for the next 2 days. This was all purchased at Albertson’s using doublers that came out in today’s newspaper. I spent $16.73 and saved $154.23. This made my total savings 90%. In this picture is 16 boxes of Pop Tarts (less than 50cents a box and they don’t expire for a year), 8 steaks for $4.76 (B1G1 in store deal combined with manufacturer coupons), 6 packages of Wacky Mac for free, 6/4packs of Dan Active drinks for free, 1/4pack of Dannon Activia yogurt for free, 4 packages of David Sunflower seeds for free, 8 avocados for free, 3/3pack of Fruit Chillers for .29 cents a piece, and 6 boxes of Act 2 popcorn (2 for free and 4 for 20 cents a box). I did have a rain check on the Wacky Mac from their sale 2 weeks ago.
I used a combination of coupons I clipped from the newspaper and internet printable coupons. The blogs I used to help figure out these deals were: The Krazy Coupon Lady, A Thrifty Mom, and Fabulessly Frugal. My 7 year old was more than willing to help me bring everything in and put it away when he saw the Pop Tarts! Pop Tarts are a RARE treat around here and are not a daily breakfast. This is why I pointed out that they don’t expire for a year. I love making Crab Pasta Salad with the Wacky Mac, I am going to use the avacodos for guacamole, and the steaks are going to be great for grilling!
Better Late Than Never
Post Published: 09 July 2010Back when I was pregnant with my first son, I pictured myself taking “Baby And Me” swimming classes. Unfortunately with my work schedule and distance to travel to class it didn’t happen. By the time he was old enough to go into swim lessons on his own, my second son was 6 months old so I decided to check when I was signing him up for classes, only to find that the baby classes were at a different time. This would not work as then I would have no one to watch my oldest while I was swimming with his brother. I also found the same thing last summer when I signed my older boys up for lessons that the baby class was at a different time. By that point I was just resigned to the idea that it just wasn’t going to work out for me to do a swim class with one of my babies. This is why I almost didn’t even check a few weeks ago when I went in to sign up my older two for lessons, but something in me decided to check the times on the baby class anyways. You can imagine how surprised I was to see that they indeed had a “Baby And Me” class that started at the same time as the older two’s classes and ended 10 minutes before theirs! This would allow me to be in the water with my youngest while his brother’s were in their lessons and allow him and I to get changed while the older two finished up. I was excited as I was finally going to get an opportunity that I had given up on plus it would keep my youngest entertained during his brother’s lessons!
This past Monday our lessons began and let me say that my youngest and I have had so much fun in the water this week! I am amazed at how he is learning and while I don’t expect him to learn to swim at this age, I think it is going to give him an edge for when he starts lessons on his own next year. I am so glad for this opportunity just when I didn’t think it was going to happen. So, if you wonder what I will be up to next week, I will be in the pool blowing bubbles and singing “Wheels On The Bus”. He is getting set to turn two next week and I am becoming more and more aware of how he isn’t going to be a “baby” to much longer!
Happy 4th Of July!
Post Published: 02 July 2010I am finishing packing so that we can head to the mountains for the weekend. Yes, my 5 year old is packing his slingshot because he might see a bear or a snake. My 7 year old is looking forward to a campfire to roast hot dogs and s’mores. As we get ready to head out I wanted to share with you our favorite breakfast up in the mountains and wish everyone a happy 4th of July!
This is how we like to make biscuits and sausage gravy:
Jimmy Dean’s Sage sausage
2 packs of McCormick’s Peppered Country Gravy
Bisquick
I mix up my Bisquick to the biscuit directions and get my biscuits ready on a pan to throw in the oven. You can either do drop biscuits or cut them. I prefer the cut so I press out the dough by hand and use a water glass to cut. Then I brown the sausage in a large pan. When I have the sausage browned I stick the biscuits in the oven. Then I add the water (per gravy directions) to the pan with sausage and stir in the gravy mix. I stir gravy as it thickens. The timing usually works out perfectly that the gravy is thickened and ready as the biscuits are ready to come out of the oven.
Here Is My 1/3!
Post Published: 25 June 2010
Do you remember my post with the quote as our family prepared for our long road trip? The 2/3 aggravation involved all the packing for a family of 5, driving over 3200 miles with 3 boys (ages 7, 5 and almost 2), loading and unloading the whole van numerous times and the massive amounts of laundry upon our return home. So forgive me for my lack of posts over the last few weeks, but I have been playing catch up. I really can’t believe that almost a month of summer vacation is gone!
On the first day of our road trip we drove over 800 miles to Rapid City, South Dakota. The next day we were able to head out to see some sites. The first place we went was the Reptile Gardens. It was there in the gift shop that my 5 year old found a new sling shot that we let him get. He was so thrilled that he just had to keep it with him at Mt Rushmore and you can just imagine the site of him walking around and on the Presidential Trail with his sling shot lining it up at various objects. While he had nothing that he could use to load it with, you could see that he was making a few people nervous so we had to have him tuck it in the back pocket of his jeans. I have to tell you that maybe it is the mom in me, but he just cracks me up and I think he is so darn cute! He is my little “Dennis The Mennace”. He had his sling shot with him as we continued to see Crazy Horse, Deadwood, and then onto Bear Country! You can imagine his excitement and his imagination as we drove through Bear Country as he envisioned himself shooting the bears with his slingshot.
After 2 days of sites around Rapid City, we headed out on the road again for Canada to visit family and it was there that he was able to show his Papa Jack his new treasure. The boys got to sleep in their little tent in the basement in sleeping bags and guess what Papa Jack has hanging on the wall? A big black bear that Papa Jack shot over 30 years ago! So my 5 year old got to go out on the farm with Papa Jack and share stories about shooting bears and birds. These are the memories that make up the 1/3 and far outweigh the 2/3! No actual bears were harmed in the making of this story and since we have been home his slingshot has been nicely stored on the shelf by his bed. The vacation is over and so he will move onto some new phase I’m sure!
The Phases They Go And Grow Through
Post Published: 19 June 2010The post below I originally wrote and posted last September before the blogs went down for re-vamping. I wanted to put it back on here for those of you that may not have had the chance to read it so that my next post would make sense
We have all seen phases that are children go through and wonder how long they will last. Sometimes it seems the harder you try to get them out of a phase the worse it gets. This happened with us with my middle son this last winter. It was Christmas Eve when we decided to do a family movie night with a Christmas movie before bed. The movie choice was “A Christmas Story” where little Ralphie wants a Red Ryder BB gun. My husband and I have watched the movie many times and think it is a Christmas classic. Little did we know the effect it would have on my 4 year old. He saw the desire that little Ralphie had for that Red Ryder BB gun and decided he wanted one too.
I started out by telling him in a joking way that he would “shoot his eye out”. He assured me he wouldn’t. I told him he wasn’t old enough and that when he was older he could take a gun safety class if he was responsible. He was quick to assure me that he was responsible now. The more we tried to divert his desire the worse it got. He found my older son’s plastic Fisher Price fishing pole and started walking around pretending it was his Red Ryder. I have to admit that it was kind of cute to see him with it lined up on his shoulder and to hear him go “Now Black Bart you get yars!” just like little Ralphie.
So right about now some of you might be wondering what the problem was. My concern came from a couple of years before. One day oldest son and another child at preschool got put in time out for pretending to build Lego guns. I have to preface this by saying that at that point my oldest son had never even played with a toy gun. There were no toy guns in our house and he had not been watching any movies or TV programs with guns. This to me truly demonstrates that boys will be boys. I don’t think it was/is any more complicated than that. However, because of the times we live in, talk of guns at school is not tolerated. Even in 4 year olds who are just pretending. It seems that the days of playing cowboys and Indians are over. This makes it so hard as a parent . My boys are not encouraged and in fact discouraged from violence towards themselves and others, but what is the harm in them building a gun out of Lego or learning that when they are older and if they are responsible they can learn to shoot?
By the time spring rolled around my middle son was still stuck in this phase wanting a toy gun and the harder we tried to divert his interest, the more it grew. This is when I made the decision to let him get a toy one with his money he saved. I instructed him that he could not shoot it at other kids/people and the dog. He could pretend he was target shooting in the back yard. Then as the end of the school year rolled around, the kids had water day at school and were encouraged to bring squirt guns. How confusing is that? You are told your child can not pretend to be building guns, talk about guns or play any games that involve guns at school, but they can bring squirt guns to water day? As the summer got hotter and their grandparents were here to visit, the decision was made that our oldest two boys could have the super soaker water gun they so desired. Their super soakers were quite the present from their Nana! They had their fun soaking each other in the heat in the back yard and you know what? They weren’t becoming violent towards each other and gradually the talk of a Red Ryder was decreasing.
Then, a few weeks ago, my 4 year old watched Pinnochio and it was like a switch flipped. Do you know what his new thing is? String puppets! Just in time for school starting! It couldn’t have worked out any better. On our last trip to the mountains he found a log that he said he wanted to carve into Pinnochio (like Gepetto) and that he had to make sure he carved his heart too. So now he is either in the back yard finding pieces of wood he can turn into a string puppet or figuring out how he can tie strings onto action figures and pretend that they are his puppets. He has even been showing his teacher how good he is at drawing string puppets. It will be interesting to see how long this phase lasts and fortunately for me, I won’t have to try and rush this phase along. Right now the big question is if Santa’s elves know how to make a string puppet!
Road Trip
Post Published: 26 May 2010It has been 2 ½ years since we took a family vacation. This was before our youngest was born. We are getting ready to embark on a VERY LONG road trip with 3 young children so I felt it was quite appropriate when I read this on a friend’s blog this week:
A vacation is one-third pleasure, fondly remembered & two-thirds aggravation, entirely forgotten.
-Robert Brault
I think this is going to need to be my mantra for the trip to keep my sanity, along with the DVD player and Nintendo DS’s.
Update: We survived over 800 miles in one day! The boys did great considering. The older two boys also have activity books with markers and I packed a really large snack bag!
