How To Make Love Bags For The Holidays (And All Year Long)

Who Are These People?

Have you been wanting to sit down with your family members and capture their great childhood and life stories. Maybe even some words of wisdom?

Or have you tried (like I did) and realized that without the right questions, it became an interview full of facts or just felt awkward because you didn’t know what to ask?

I’m really excited to share something I created out of a need for myself and have spent the last nine months working on…and it is finally done!

Bribe Your Kids With These…They Work.

Over the summer, I got a little spoiled being able to use popsicles as a bribing tool with my kids. I finally caved and bought the sugary, almost-neon ones and, consequently, created monsters out of my kids. The good kind of monsters, though. The ones that can be bribed and lured by sugary treats.

As much as I was loving my parenting with popsicles, I realized I really should have a better plan. And by plan, I mean adding trickery to the bribery.

The BEST gift you can give your kids (Hint: It’s Free)

I’ve been working on a project for a while now that I can’t wait to share with you soon! The project involves connecting with the generations before us to draw out their best stories~the stories that made them who they are. It’s been a lot of fun (and a lot of work) but I think it’s really important so it’s become sort of a passion project 🙂

In my research, I’ve connected with people who share similar philosophies and are doing their own exciting work. One person, in particular, is Jennifer from Tales of a Peanut. She has an online paper and gift shop with all kinds of beautiful paper products. Her latest line is called Handwritten Heritage.

Photo courtesy of Handwritten Heritage

Artful Reminder To Enjoy Your Kids

A phrase my dad often says when referring to my kids is, “Enjoy Them.”

I appreciate hearing that because, quite frankly, I can use the reminder. It’s so easy to get caught up in raising our kids that sometimes we forget to just enjoy them. Thankfully, grandparents are excellent reminders of this.

Supernanny To The Rescue

Whenever I watch Supernanny, I usually just sit in awe of Jo Frost (the Supernanny). She is firm, patient and kind and the kids all love her.

Sometimes watching it is stressful though, because at the end of the day, the last thing I want to watch is a show with kids screaming, running around and misbehaving. I prefer The Real Housewives of Orange County where it is the adults doing that. Much more relaxing.

When I discovered how many books Jo Frost has written, I got very excited. Now I could learn her magic without having to see and hear all the craziness.

I’ve only read two so far but I love how she relays different scenarios and then gives her advice on how to best handle them. She makes every solution seem doable for anyone. Also, I appreciate that her foundation for caregiving is love with an emphasis on discipline and manners.

This is one of her older books which was the first one I read.

And this is what I’m reading now, which is brand new.

Here are a few other titles if you’re interested.

 

She also has a website if you are looking for more, http://www.jofrost.com.

If you have small kids and are looking for some inspiration, I hope this helps. Her advice is basic, timeless, and been proven effective again and again.

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