I just found a cute new app through www.babycenter.com for the Apple iPhone. The app simulates a "fake" phone for your kid to pretend with. If you have an iPhone, this app would be great for entertaining your little one while at the doctor's office or in the grocery store. Love it!
If you don't have an iPhone, another trick that I have used with my toddler is a calculator. I carry a small calculator in my purse and use it to entertain her while we are out and about. It works great. She can push all the buttons she wants, and I don't worry about her dialing a foreign country or texting my boss!
Check out the Phonyphone App today!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Fresh From the Juice Box
Tales from a toddler...
As a parent we do everything we can to make sure our child is learning all the right things, like the ABC's and 123's, but sometimes we do too good of a job.
The other day, my daughter was having a toddler tantrum over not wanting to help pick up her blocks. The more I asked her to help, the more she messed them up. She even started throwing the blocks around the room making more of a mess.
I had enough, so I told her that I am going to start counting to ten and if she didn't help me I was going to start taking toys away from her for the rest of the day. She looked me dead in the face, picked up a block and threw it! "That's it!" I started to count "One...Two...Three..."
Then, she bursts out "Four...Five...One...Two" (she only knows up to five). She then walked around the house counting over and over to five. What I thought was a brilliant lesson is chances, turned out to be a briilant lesson in counting!
As a parent we do everything we can to make sure our child is learning all the right things, like the ABC's and 123's, but sometimes we do too good of a job.
The other day, my daughter was having a toddler tantrum over not wanting to help pick up her blocks. The more I asked her to help, the more she messed them up. She even started throwing the blocks around the room making more of a mess.
I had enough, so I told her that I am going to start counting to ten and if she didn't help me I was going to start taking toys away from her for the rest of the day. She looked me dead in the face, picked up a block and threw it! "That's it!" I started to count "One...Two...Three..."
Then, she bursts out "Four...Five...One...Two" (she only knows up to five). She then walked around the house counting over and over to five. What I thought was a brilliant lesson is chances, turned out to be a briilant lesson in counting!
"30 Minute Meals" in 3 minutes?
The idea behind of celebrity chef Rachel Ray's "30 Minute Meals" concept is clear - quick, easy, tasteful meals. But what happens when you don't even have 30 minutes to feed the hungry mouths around the table? I need 3-minute meals!
One of the biggest challenges I have as a working mom is dinner time. I commute 34 miles each way to work. My daughter is in full-time day care near my office, so by the time I pick her up and head home, we're pushing dinner time. She is starving the minute we walk in the door, most often I am too. These days, it seems no matter how fast the meal seems to cook, it's never fast enough for my little toddler who is already tired from her long day and commute.
On our worst day, we pick up a pizza or fast food and shove it into our face on the drive home. On a good day, I've made something in the slow cooker. Yet, there are only so many roasts and chili you can eat and we definitely do not want to continue the eating out situation. Small snacks sometimes hold her over, but often fill her up and ruins her appetite for when dinner is finally ready.
Solution! Well, my new concept - I don't think its really "new" so I am not even going to claim to be inventive on this one - but Tonight's Dinner Tomorrow. Basically, make tomorrow's dinner the night before so all you have to do is re-heat. Dinner is ready in seconds when my family walks through the door each night.
For this to work, clearly you have to plan ahead. It also helps to be able to "re-purpose" meals. For example, take your left over pork roast from the night before and make pork sandwiches or tacos the next night. The key here is to re-heat, not cook. Think about this when you're grocery shopping. It's not only a time saver, but a money saver. Re-purposed left overs can really add up to some extra dough in the bank account by not throwing so much in the trash on expiration day.
So for all you mommy chefs on the go, try this concept out and let me know if you find any great recipes to share with us.
One of the biggest challenges I have as a working mom is dinner time. I commute 34 miles each way to work. My daughter is in full-time day care near my office, so by the time I pick her up and head home, we're pushing dinner time. She is starving the minute we walk in the door, most often I am too. These days, it seems no matter how fast the meal seems to cook, it's never fast enough for my little toddler who is already tired from her long day and commute.
On our worst day, we pick up a pizza or fast food and shove it into our face on the drive home. On a good day, I've made something in the slow cooker. Yet, there are only so many roasts and chili you can eat and we definitely do not want to continue the eating out situation. Small snacks sometimes hold her over, but often fill her up and ruins her appetite for when dinner is finally ready.
Solution! Well, my new concept - I don't think its really "new" so I am not even going to claim to be inventive on this one - but Tonight's Dinner Tomorrow. Basically, make tomorrow's dinner the night before so all you have to do is re-heat. Dinner is ready in seconds when my family walks through the door each night.
For this to work, clearly you have to plan ahead. It also helps to be able to "re-purpose" meals. For example, take your left over pork roast from the night before and make pork sandwiches or tacos the next night. The key here is to re-heat, not cook. Think about this when you're grocery shopping. It's not only a time saver, but a money saver. Re-purposed left overs can really add up to some extra dough in the bank account by not throwing so much in the trash on expiration day.
So for all you mommy chefs on the go, try this concept out and let me know if you find any great recipes to share with us.
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