I’ve Created A Monster
©Lisa Barker

I have another theory about why my youngest is so brash and demanding.  He’s a celebrity.

I thought he couldn’t read, but he must have discovered his starring role in the Jelly Mom column and now he treats the whole family like we’re dim-witted assistants that he can just order around and fire at will.

“Here’s your breakfast, kiddo.”

“I said I want eggs!”

Oh, don’t worry.  I don’t fry him eggs.  I just take away his only option for breakfast.  It makes him a little more courteous at lunch.

“Here’s a tuna sandwich.”

“I said!”

“Yes?”

“That I want peanut butter.  Please.”

It’s a token please, tacked on the end after great personal struggle with himself, but now we’re finally getting somewhere.

Just about the time I think I’ve civilized him again and think he might actually ask for his snack in a more polite tone, his older brother comes home from summer school bearing gifts he earned for behaving all day.  I can just read the youngest one’s mind:  See ya, Mom, and all your stupid rules about courtesy. Big Brother brought me toys!

Well, soon enough the two boys are fighting.  Big Brother has repossessed Little Brother’s toys because he can.  He says Little Brother was rude to him, but I know that Big Brother giveth and Big Brother taketh.  (Sometimes I wish he wasn’t so generous in the first place.)

Yet I take Big Brother’s side when Little Brother pops off with rapid-fire demands:  You give me the toys!  You play with me out back!  You stupid idiot!!

He comes crying to me for justice.  “Momma, no one will play with me.”

It’s not easy being the youngest in the family.  All those promises about how great it is to be a big boy and you still don’t get your own way, still can’t make people do what you want them to do, still can’t do nothing!
He thought that when he turned five-years old he would start going to school the very next day.  He packed his backpack, carried a book and told me he needed a lunch to go.  But I said he had to wait until the fall, some mysterious other time that is still too difficult for him to fathom, sometime after an equally puzzling thing called ‘summer vacation.’

He gets up at the crack of dawn every day, just in case that’s the morning school starts.  He can’t be late for the bus!  He packs his backpack again and I tell him to wait some more.

I almost pity him.  But when I give him grapes for his snack and he screams at me, “I wanted apples!” I pity the kindergarten teacher he will get.

For now, someone needs a nap.

—————————————————
Jelly Mom™ is written by Lisa Barker, author of “Just Because Your Kids Drive You Insane…Doesn’t Mean You Are A Bad Parent!” and syndicated through Martin-Ola Press/Parent To Parent. To publish Jelly Mom, buy the book or leave comments, please visit www.jellymom.com.

Oddly enough, I wasn’t a big pizza lover when I was a little kid. I started liking it around the high school years and then in college would eat it cold for breakfast and silly things like that.

Most NORMAL kids, however, love the taste of pizza and for the most part it’s a pretty healthy meal and snack so why not embrace it.

This recipe incorporates pizza toppings as the dip mixings - then just take some cut up veggies, dip and munch away. The nice thing about this recipe is you can make it in advance and then either pop it in the microwave or reheat it on the stovetop when it comes time for the kids to enjoy. Give it a try! This will make a great lunchtime meal for your preschooler or a fun afternoon snack.

Pizza Veggie Dip

What You Need:

2 (10.5 oz) cans prepared pizza sauce (we like Pastorelli sauce)
2 TBSP cornstarch
1/4 lb. pepperoni or Italian sausage, chopped fine
1 TBSP onion, minced
1 tsp. oregano
1 (16 oz) pkg. processed cheese spread, cubed
1 TBSP parsley
¼ tsp. red pepper sauce (optional)
Fresh mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, celery sticks, carrot sticks and green bell pepper slices

How to Make It:

In a saucepan over medium heat pour 1 can of the pizza sauce and mix with the cornstarch.
Heat the mixture until just starting to simmer.
Add the remaining pizza sauce, meat, onion and oregano.
Stir continuously until heated through.
Remove from heat.
Add the cheese a few cubes at time, stirring after each addition until completely melted.
Stir in the parsley and optional red pepper sauce.
Serve as a dip with the vegetables.

Don’t have pizza sauce on hand? Try it with just regular spaghetti sauce!

When my girls were little we spent so much time reading.  They loved it and often they’d ask for the same book to be read to them over and over (and over and over). Repetition is a good thing for little ones but, as with music, with books it gets old for mommy after a while. Unless you find a great one like “Can’t You Sleep Little Bear?”

This book quickly became a favorite for both of my girls as well as me.  I always tried very hard to “do the voices” in the books that we read together and something about this book called out for a cute little teddy bear voice for Little Bear.  It was SO fun to read and the girls loved it every time.  In fact, now that they’re teenagers we still pull the book out occasionally and remember it fondly.  I especially like to hear one of my girls read it to a younger child here for a visit.

This is definitely a book you’ll want to keep on your bookshelf for your own kids as well as future grandchildren. I’m serious - it’s that good!

I was out and about searching the internet and came across this great post all about funny animals out there.

Click Here to see comic animals like penguins, tapirs, monkies with long noses and more!

Your kids will get a giggle at some of them - you will too!  Animals are facinating creatures. I love the one of the proboscis monkey

and the whole idea of the Flouder facinates me.  Spend some time with your little ones looking at these pictures and talking about how wonderful and amazing the animal kingdom really is!

Today’s healthy snack Friday uses another great appetizer recipe for a kid’s healthy snack.  I love these because both adults and kids like them so you can mix up a bunch, put them in the fridge and the whole family can enjoy them together.  Today we’re using Pimentos which are mini peppers. They’re not always easy to find fresh but often you can find the canned variety and they’ll work just fine too.  Our local costco sells small peppers in red, orange in yellow.  Those would work fine too.

Pocket Pimis (Pimentos)

What You Need:

1 C green peas, cooked (fresh, frozen or canned are fine)
1 C small curd cottage cheese
1 small onion, chopped fine
Salt and pepper to taste
8 small whole pimentos, cleaned and peeled
1 C seasoned bread crumbs

How to Make It:

In a bowl mix together the peas, cottage cheese, onion, salt and pepper to taste.
Stuff each pimiento with the pea mixture.
Spray a cookie sheet with a non stick cooking spray.
Preheat oven to 350.
Place the stuffed pimento on the cookie sheet.
Sprinkle with the seasoned bread crumbs.
Bake 5 minutes or until the bread crumbs begin to brown.

I’d love to hear what your kids think of this one.  As a kid I wasn’t much of a pea eater so I didn’t serve it to my own kids much either.

These would be great with chopped up ham or turkey ham in the mixture too.

Off I go on my blog tour again and wanted to update you on some great stuff happening out in the world of parenting and preschool blogs that I love.  And again, if you know of another blog that I should include on my monthly tour, let me know!

Over at CutestKidEver.org they’ve got this cute meme each Thursday called “Dear Kid Thursday”.  The idea is that you write a blog post as a letter to your child about something that happened that week.  Such a great idea!  Check it out when you click here.

I liked the post over at Kinderinfo.com about watching television and toddlers.  She gives some good tips on what to do instead of TV too, which is great.  I can’t believe how many children have their own TV in their room - wow!

My friends over at EasyToddlerMeals always have great things on the menu but this week she’s got a great recipe for Mini Meatloaf that your kids will love!  Check it out!

There’s a fun contest for those of you in the UK and EU over at the Play-Activities blog - cute prizes!

Listen to the Natural Moms Podcast where Carrie interviews Donna Batemen about your child’s brain development.  Some of the moms from my church and I have been talking about this and it’s really fascinating.

Miss Lisa over at the Bookworm Broadcast gives some tips about raising early readers.

You have until Monday to get in on the DeliciousBaby.com giveaway.  Click Here to check out the details.

Another great contest is going on until Wednesday over at Tips for Toddlers.  You can win a K’NEX building set - check it out HERE.

Don’t forget to stop by the Educational Toy Factory too and sign up for their newsletter.  She’s got a bunch of activities there as well.  Check out THIS post for more details.

And finally there’s Dawn over at “Because I Said So” who always has a great story to tell!  Head on over for a giggle!

That’s it for this month.  Hope you enjoy it!

Veggies in sugar?  Probably not the first thing you think of when you’re thinking of all things green and healthy but this is actually a wonderful way to get some of the healthiest veggies into your kids - and they’ll come begging for more - another great healthy snack for your kids!

This is a rather big recipe so make sure you have a large glass jar or bowl to store this in and room in your fridge too or make 1/2 a batch to start.  The marinade is simple to make - just make sure you stir really well to get the sugar to dissolve.

Frosted Veggies

What You Need:

1 cup cold water
1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 pound fresh mushrooms
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups cauliflower florets
2 large red bell peppers, cut into 1 inch strips
2 cups carrots, cut diagonally into strips

How to Make It:

Place the water, sugar, vinegar and salt in a large bowl.
Mix until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Add the vegetables and stir well to coat.
Cover and refrigerate overnight or longer before eating

The longer these set the better they taste.  The sugar makes this a slightly sweet treat.  Cucumbers and onions also work well in this marinade.

I’ve been looking around for some other great resources for all you parents of preschoolers and toddlers and wanted to make a note of a few things for this week.

1. Our friends over at Play-Activities.com are hosting the Carnival of Parenting Podcasts - make sure you check it out:

2. If you’ve got plans to visit Disney World or Disney land anytime in the near future with your little ones, make sure you check out the tips over at TipsForToddlers.com. And don’t forget your credit card - it’s expensive!!!

3. My friend Suzanne over at KinderInfo.com has some cute snack ideas that are inspired by Dr. Seuss! I think it’d be great to head to the library, get a few of the book titles she recommends and have a Dr. Seuss week - read a book a day and share the snacks - too much fun! Our favorite Seuss book was “The Foot Book”
I notice she doesn’t have a snack to go with that one… hmmmm…

4. Lisa over at Educational Toy Factory reminds us about National Museum day that’s coming up this Saturday and she’s got some other great posts there including some challenging Thursday Thinkers (she stumps me all the time!)

5. Lisa’s also got a great site called ScienceForPreschoolers.com - make sure you check that one out - fabulous info there!

6. More great meal and snack ideas can be found over at EasyToddlerMeals.com and this week she’s got a great sample 5 day meal planner that will be extremely helpful!

7. Miss Lisa of the BookwormBroadcast.com tells us about a Tricky Sentence Exercise. Make sure you check out her adorable story videos too!

Don’t forget to enter our contest - you can do that by CLICKING HERE!

We’ll take another blog tour next week! And if you know of another great blog or website geared toward parents of preschoolers, please let me know. We’d love to add them to the tour next time!

Make sure you read this entire post and enter the contest!!

Am I ever excited! A few weeks ago I got in the mail this fun CD that’s all colorful and cute called “Be The Tree” by a new group called “Boy in the Shade”. The girls and I popped it in the CD player in the car to take a listen and although they kind of rolled their eyes (they’re a little older than preschoolers now, remember, they’re in their teen years) we all giggled and laughed at the fun tunes and adorable words of the songs that were playing - me in particular.

I remember the days when my girls were little, listening to the same kiddy songs over and over. I do believe that repetition is a good thing for the preschool age group but after a while it can drive a mommy just a bit batty.

That’s where these guys come in. The music and the words of these songs, though geared toward the preschool ages, are still enjoyable for a mom (and dad) too.

So I was thrilled when the two founders of this group agreed to get on the phone with me and talk about their project. You’ll enjoy the interview. These guys love kids and love music. And they have a passion for helping kids develop a love for music through their work together. They’ve involved their families in the project on all levels too - I just really appreciate what they’re doing and am glad to spread the word about them.

We’ve put a couple of song snippets in there too so you can hear a bit of the music on the CD and even better - I’ve got a CD to give away to one of our readers/listeners!

First, here’s the interview:

 

 Boy In the Shade [15:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you want to find out more about Griffin and Steve and their Boy in the Shade project visit their website when you go to www.boyintheshade.com. You can read more about their upcoming live shows, future projects as well as learn more about how these guys got together to create the Boy In The Shade brand.

and here’s where you can purchase Be The Tree on Amazon:

And now to get in on the contest to get your very own copy of “Be The Tree” by Boy in the Shade for free from us, just comment below.

AND if you want to supercharge your chances of winning, comment below with the answer to ONE of the following questions answered in the audio interview - then your entry will count for 5 entries instead of one!

1. How old are Steve’s kids?

or

2. What is Griffin’s favorite Boy in the Shade Song

or

3. Name one song from the Be The Tree CD that we played during the podcast

or

4. How many times do I say “Album” instead of CD when referring to a little disc that plays music?

Only one entry per person please and we’ll announce a winner on October 10th! Spread the word!

Chores Are a Chore
©Lisa Barker

Does it make any sense to you why a child that’s been responsible for a certain chore for, say, seven years suddenly can’t remember how to do it?

Here and there I’d find a dirty dish in the cupboard, some crumbs on the floor or a cup on the breadboard that was forgotten.  No big deal.  Now, the garbage is overflowing and recyclable items are stacking up around the receptacle they go in which is also at maximum capacity.  The stove looks like something blew up and died on it.  Come on!

‘Doing the dishes’ mainly involves loading and unloading the dishwasher.  But I also expect the sink to be cleaned, the counters wiped down and the floor swept. That’s total child slavery, I know.

Does it get done?  No.  Not unless I tell them every single night that I expect these things to get done.

So now the kitchen and the rest of the house have this general ’scuzziness’ feel to it because this laziness has bred and all chores by children have been infected.

‘Pick up after yourself when you get up from the table’ now means only pick up your plate, utensils and cup but go ahead and leave food and crumbs on the table and floor.  In fact, ground it in.  Then move one chair over for your next meal and repeat.

‘Tidy your room’ means create a large pile of dirty clothes and stuff the toys under the bed perhaps hoping that Momma will faint at the site of the laundry and not see the cat digging his way out from beneath the bed where you inadvertently buried him.

‘Clean the bathroom’ means….  I don’t know what it means anymore unless it’s code for go in there and stare at yourself in the mirror for thirty minutes, flush the toilet and then come out.

“You cleaned this?”

“Yes?” a forlorn child asks.

“With what?  A sweaty undershirt?”

And then, every single child when held accountable gives me this completely blank stare.  We just look at each other for a few moments not saying anything. And then I get, “Can I go now?”

“Newsflash!  You actually have to use cleaning products and water to clean things in here and toothpaste is not a sink cleanser even if you can make bubbles with it.  And you people out there rotating dirty dishes!  I want them cleaned or I will take every single dish out of every single cupboard and you will wash them all by hand.

“And you, Crumb Boy.  Here’s a broom and dustpan.  Get to it.”

“But it’s too hard!”

“So was giving birth to you.  Now get busy.”

Man, it’s a chore getting these kids to do their chores.

—————————————————
Jelly Mom™ is written by Lisa Barker, author of “Just Because Your Kids Drive You Insane…Doesn’t Mean You Are A Bad Parent!” and syndicated through Martin-Ola Press/Parent To Parent. To publish Jelly Mom, buy the book or leave comments, please visit http://www.jellymom.com.