Writing Letters to Your Children, Part One: Why You Should Do It

April 3, 2015March 30, 2015 - Mama Leave a comment

Should you be writing letters to your children? Letters make an amazing keepsake for your children, and allow them a special connection, even after you've passed. They're also a great way to convey information to your children. Here are some reasons why you should write to your kids.

As parents, it’s so essential to us to impart as much wisdom as possible into our children’s lives while we have them. It seems like, as kids grow so fast, in a blink it’s gone, and they’ve grown up. It means there’s only a short amount of time that we can give them the wisdom we’ve learned through the years (and hoping desperately that they follow our advice, despite knowing that all of us have to make some mistakes ourselves in order to learn). Writing letters to your children is the perfect way to share that wisdom with them for years to come, even after they leave the nest.

An Open Letter To My Son: I Will Protect You

February 9, 2015February 10, 2015 - Mama 3 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #LoveAndProtect #CollectiveBias

Zach, do you remember that time you climbed that tree? I knew you were climbing too high, I just knew that you’d fall, but you urged me to let you, begged me to let go of your hand so you could reach the next branch. And you know what happened? You made it. You reached it. You didn’t fall. I let go, and you stayed safe. It’s in my nature to be a little bit overbearing at times. I’ll always have worries– am I raising you the right way? Are you growing the way you should? How much life insurance should I have in case something happens to me? What sort of things do you need to know before you prepare for kindergarten?

I want to tell you right now that I don’t have all of the answers, but I do want to make you some promises.

5 Tips to Survive the Cold and Flu Season

January 6, 2015December 22, 2014 - Mama Leave a comment

Cold and flu season is in full swing around here, with some schools locally reporting absences into the double– and even triple– digits. But that doesn’t mean we should be afraid. There are a few great tips to help you get through cold and flu season, without too much downtime.

New Years’ Resolutions Kids Can Make

January 1, 2015December 31, 2016 - Mama Leave a comment

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Affiliate links help support MamaPlusOne, and I’d never post a link to something I wasn’t a fan of. That said, no obligation to purchase using them (and it won’t cost you extra– promise!)

It's easy to pick out the top adult new years' resolutions every year-- quitting smoking, losing weight... but what about great new years resolutions for kids? We've got you covered.

We’ve heard all of the typical resolutions before… I want to lose weight, I want to quit smoking, I want to run a marathon… but what about resolutions that kids can make? Adults aren’t the only ones who want to make positive change in the new year, but sometimes, we get so caught up in our own resolutions that we don’t even know where to encourage our kids to begin. Here are a few ideas:

Soothing Your Sick Child During Cold and Flu Season

December 19, 2014 - Mama Leave a comment

Cold and Flu Season is in full swing… my kiddo has already had his fair share of sick days this year, and it’s just miserable. That said, I have a few tried-and-true cold and flu season tips that will help your child feel a little more comfortable during their illness.

Summer Lunch Week: Grocery Store Games and Math to Get You Through the Store Without a Fight

May 12, 2014 - Mama 2 Comments

Guess what? In case you missed last Friday’s post, today is the official start of Summer Lunch Week here at DigitalEraMom. What’s Summer Lunch Week? Well, it’s a week where I can try to make your life a little easier with ideas, printables, recipes, and more that can make summer lunches more fun, less expensive, and a little easier to prepare. Don’t forget to come back all week long– there may even be a giveaway coming, so stay tuned!

After the third supermarket temper tantrum, I realized I was about at my limit. I had tried everything, from bribery to that free grocery store cookie the bakery section usually hands out. I knew that, as Zach approached 37 pounds, there was no way carrying him kicking and screaming through the store was an option. I knew there had to be a better way.

Then, I realized as we were going through the store that he was very interested in the products on the shelves, particularly ones we bought regularly. I also started noticing that, while he was a great eater that preferred fresh produce to cookies 9 times out of 10, that the packaging grabbed him, and he was after something visual.

I wanted a way to distract him, help him have that visual, and still make healthy choices.

Want to read more?

7 Rainy-Day Boredom Busters for Kids

May 2, 2014 - Mama Leave a comment

I have always loved a good rainstorm. The soft pitter patter of rain on the roof as I indulge in a nice cup of coffee and a good book…. oh… wait… that was pre-motherhood. I’ve quickly learned as a mom of a high-energy almost-three-year-old that rainstorms are one of the worst things that could happen to a day. A rainstorm is the opposite of getting things accomplished and not pulling your hair out.

Where there is rain, there is boredom and that spells lots and lots of energy. I had to do something, so I came up with any method I could, and these are my top seven tried-and-true rainy day boredom busters for kids.

Play a fun game of Shape Squish! Cut out a variety of shapes from different colors of construction paper, then tape them to the floor (if you’re wanting to use them again and again, laminate them first!). Give your child directions, such as “Put your hand on the yellow circle!” or “Sit down on the blue triangle!” For younger kids, you can tailor the game a bit simpler by asking them to go stand on a yellow shape or put a foot on a triangle, for example, allowing them multiple choices. For older kids, try something more complicated, like “Put your right hand on the yellow triangle and your left foot on the pink rectangle!” This is a fun way of quizzing kids on colors and shapes while also practicing gross motor skills. Consider making silly requests, like asking kids to place elbows or ears on shapes and watch the giggles ensue! It’s a perfect boredom buster because it’s an active play game, but keeps kids cornered to one spot, it’s educational in nature, and it can be played in a group or solo, depending on how many kids you have.

Create an Indoor Obstacle Course. This is probably the most tried and true method out there for getting kids to stop losing their mind on a rainy day. Set up couch cushions, pillows, blankets, hula hoops, and masking tape. Do activities like jumping from blanket to blanket, walking a straight line on the tape, and doing a somersault on the pillows. Go around the course and vary the actions. It’s a fantastic way to get kids moving, and by providing plenty of cushions, it’s pretty safe with supervision. After giving the kids the chance to play in an obstacle course, leave out the pillows and blankets and see if an impromptu blanket and pillow fort materializes!

Make a ramp from some cardboard, a long board, or a wrapping paper tube to use with cars or small balls. Slide the cars down the ramp, then vary the height to see how the speed changes at different heights. This is a great physics activity where kids are learning without realizing that they’re learning. It’s fun to show how things move on a ramp. With an older child, you can reinforce this later by having them watch the spedometer as you go up a hill versus down a hill in the car. Does the speed increase going downhill if you don’t apply the brake? What does your child observe?

Create a toy bank. Cut a wide slit in the lid of a coffee or oatmeal can, and put poker chips, play money, or other objects into the slot in the can. You can count as you drop items in, open it up, and take them out. It’s a great way to practice counting skills, and you can pretend it’s a piggy bank. Let kids play kitchen and use the bank as the cash register, or even consider re-using the bank as chore allowance in the future.

Make a cup stack! How big of a cup tower can you make? Can you tear it down quickly? This is a great way of working on balance, and letting kids explore with a new building material. Whether you have a whole slew of paper or plastic cups, or have other kid-friendly reusable cups that can be used, this is a fun activity. Want to shake things up and continue the cup play after the stacking wears thin? Hide a ball inside a cup, move it around, and see if your child can find it. Start out with a few cups moving slowly, but as your child gets better, go faster, use more complicated transitions, and add more cups to make it harder to guess!

Play “Now You Do It!” with your little learner. You do an action, like spinning in a circle, jumping on one foot, or touching your nose, and then say “Now you do it!” Your child learns to listen and look while being active and playful. After awhile, switch roles and let your child lead the game, too! If you have more than one child, allow each to take turns leading their siblings. If you have older kids, you can give a series of actions instead of a single action; try two or three moves in a row, or a more complicated action, and see if they can follow the full series correctly. It’s way more fun than simon says because it gets you moving, too, and plenty of giggles start to happen!

Practice counting in a fun way! Use a marker to draw numbers on paper with the corresponding number of dots. Then, take small objects like cereal or cars or hair bows and put them on the corresponding dots– one object on the one, two objects on the two, etc. This is a great way to teach kids that the written numeral is representing something tangible, that the number 2 doesn’t just show the number two or look like the number two, but represents two objects, two shoes, two eyes, two carrots. Take care to count the objects and point out the numeral that matches. You can extend the activity by using different colors of paper and matching the color to the page for older kids– only putting blue cars on the blue paper, for example. The best part is, if you’re using toys to count, the activity seamlessly transitions into solo play so you actually can dive into that cup of coffee or good book while your child plays, happily entertained after the great mommy-kiddo time they just loaded up on!

Do you have a tried-and-true Rainy Day Boredom Buster? Tell all about it in the comments below!

Looking for more great boredom busters? Follow my Boredom Busters Board on Pinterest!

Dental Care Tips for Kids– WITH GIVEAWAY!

April 11, 2014 - Mama 10 Comments

It can be really hard to encourage good dental care habits in kids. For far too many, teeth brushing time becomes a fight. I have 7 great tips to help keep teeth clean and shiny without fuss or fight. Don’t forget to keep scrolling to the bottom of this post for a chance to win the entire product line from Tanner’s Tasty Paste, a great-tasting toothpaste for little giggles and grown-up grins!

Brushing your teeth with your child is a great way to promote healthy brushing habits! When you brush together, you’re showing them the proper way to brush, spit, and rinse, and open the door for conversation about good dental care being a lifelong process. If you and your child use separate bathrooms, try moving your dental care items into their bathroom so you can join in on their brushing fun. It’s a great way to start good dental care habits early.

Find time to add brushing into a certain part of your routine in the morning, for example, getting dressed, eating breakfast, brushing teeth, putting on shoes, and then going about the rest of your day, to be sure you never miss a brushing! Do the same before bed, such as picking up toys, taking a bath, having a night snack, brushing teeth, and then reading a story together. When you do this routine on a regular basis, it becomes a can’t-miss habit and children will look forward to that part of their routine. Additionally, find a fun brushing song that lasts about two minutes, or set a timer. The one that we love is part of the Daniel Tiger Day and Night app, available from PBS kids, in the Amazon and iTunes app stores. You can set it for 2 minutes and it’ll play a catchy tune. However, any egg timer or 2-minute-ish song will work!

Never make dentists a source of fear by creating threats (like “If you don’t brush your teeth, the dentist will have to fix your cavities with a drill!”) When you make dentists a source of fear, dental visits will start causing some anxiety. Instead, praise your child for a good set of brushing habits, and try a reward for cavity-free dental checkups!

Play pretend with stuffed animals or baby dolls, acting out brushing their teeth with an old toothbrush used for play to encourage more healthy toothbrushing habits. In the same way that you demonstrate healthy brushing habits to your child, they can demonstrate healthy dental care to their stuffed animals. By picking up a worn out toothbrush or a cheap one at a dollar store, they can introduce dental play into their play routine, too.

It is never too early to start discussing the tooth fairy, even though most kids don’t start losing teeth until they’re around 6, and share that the tooth fairy likes clean teeth. You can check out a great book like No Tooth, No Quarter, or a fun movie like the Tooth Fairy, to encourage this conversation, depending on your child’s age and stage. By sharing that the tooth fairy likes clean teeth, and helping kids learn about the process of losing teeth, it encourages an exciting dialogue about dental care!

Start cleaning teeth as soon as teeth start coming in, using a baby-friendly paste and a baby-friendly brush. Early dental care will prevent problems down the road, and establish a pattern of good dental care. Even before teeth come to the surface, it’s good to wipe gums with a clean washcloth or gauze pad to clear off plaque that builds up on the gums.

Help kids anticipate tooth brushing time by letting your child pick out their own toothbrush. Let them choose a color or character they love and have them select a brush they’ll look forward to using.

Also choose a really yummy toothpaste, like Tanner’s Tasty Paste. With flavors like Cha Cha Chocolate, you’ll never have a toothbrushing fight on your hands again. In fact, you might end up trying to use your kids’ toothpaste, too, it’s that tasty! I’ll be honest, when Tanner’s Tasty Paste approached me about trying out their line of toothpaste, I was really skeptical as to whether or not the flavors would be any good, and if they were any good, if they’d taste even remotely like chocolate or vanilla ice cream. Now, my son and I use Tanner’s Toothpaste every day. It really does taste spot-on to chocolate and vanilla flavors and is a great way to get Zach excited about dental care.

One thing I especially love about Tanner’s Tasty Paste is that, beyond listing the ingredients on their website, they tell you what each ingredient does for the paste, so you know exactly what you and your child are putting in your mouth– it’s a great way to feel a little safer about the product you’re using.

Check out the Tanner’s Tasty Paste website here, and see the three flavors they have available! Click Here

Don’t forget to connect with Tanner’s Tasty Paste on Facebook and Twitter!

Now, here’s the big part… a giveaway! Tanner’s Tasty Paste wants to give one of my lucky readers all three of their products: the Cha Cha Chocolate Tasty Paste, the Banilla Bling Tasty Paste, and finally, the Baby Bling tooth paste that is swallow-safe and fluoride free for even the littlest smiles. Would you like to win the product lineup? It’s incredibly easy to enter! Just leave a comment below sharing your top tip for getting kids to brush their teeth, OR let me know which of the Tanner’s Tasty Paste toothpastes you or your kids would most like to try!

The giveaway is open until 4/18/14 at 11:59pm CDT. After that, I’ll email the randomly selected winner!

Disclaimer: Tanner’s Tasty Paste sent me product to try, which is featured in this post. However, all opinions are my own honest views.

5 Ways To Experience Spring With Your Kids

March 11, 2014 - Mama 1 Comment

Spring is an amazing season filled with all kinds of great sensory experiences for kids. There are new smells, new sights, new life, new tastes… all kinds of amazing things. To help you get a jump start on sharing this awesome season with your kids, here are five ideas on how to experience spring together as a family!

Play piggy! When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things to do was dress up in old clothes, have my mom water down a dirt patch in our yard, and let me just roll in the muck. It’s a great sensory opportunity to squish the mud, feel it between toes and fingers, and enjoy the texture. With the right consistency of mud, you can even practice writing letters with your fingers in the mud or spelling words. Otherwise, even the mucky texture is a learning experience all by itself! Pretend to make mud pies, listen to the slurpy sucky sound mud makes when your feet stick in it, and experience the smell of fresh mud. Have some towels on hand, and make sure to schedule bathtime afterwards for easy cleanup!

Plant together, or tend a garden. Zach loved cultivating blueberries with me, and then enjoying the fruits of our labor– literally! Whether you’re planting flowers or food, gardening together is a good sensory activity, plus it allows children a chance to experience growth, cause and effect, and weather, and understand how things are grown. You can discuss color, shape, petal count, and more as you watch your plants grow and change. If you live somewhere where you can’t plant a garden, consider doing a small container garden or an indoor herb garden to get that experience, or…

explore plants in a different setting! You can go on a nature walk locally or visit a local garden center to talk about the colors, petal count, and more of different flowers. You can experience different smells and different sights when you see hundreds of flowers together, and get an appreciation for the plants! You can still point out parts of the flower plant, even if you can’t bring them home.

Get in the kitchen and make a delicious springtime treat! Whether you’re making a seasonal fruit salad with the newest seasonal fruits available, or being inspired by the colors of spring with a sprinkle-topped goodie. There are a lot of good spring recipes right here on DigitalEraMom.com, but any recipe that gets you cooking together this spring is great. From chopping with supervision, to measuring, to pouring and scooping, it’s all educational, and best of all, fun. Some possible ideas are chopping fresh spring vegetables for a delicious homemade pizza, making mini fruit pizzas on sugar cookies, or making a delicious chopped salad. This is especially great to save for a rainy day when you can’t do the other activities on the list!

Don’t underestimate favorites like sidewalk chalk and bubbles! They’re favorites for a reason. Whether you’re drawing a hopscotch board to practice numbers, creating a fun scene, or just practicing fine or gross motor skills while jumping from circle to circle or scribbling a picture, chalk teaches so many valuable lessons. Blowing bubbles is another fun activity, and chasing them is a great way to get some extra energy out. Include some other fun like hoola hoops or cones and you can even have a fun relay race!

Splash during a rainstorm. No lightning associated with the falling rain? Then it’s totally safe to go outside and play or dance in the warm spring rains! Talk about how the rain feels wet on your skin, how it falls from the sky, and about gentle rain sprinkles versus a heavier soaking rain. Make sure you have towels on hand just inside the door, then warm up with a little hot cocoa. Of course, if there is even a hint of lightning, stay indoors! Don’t want to splash DURING the rain? Find some fun puddles post-storm and go splashing in those! Other options are investing in a kiddie pool or water table to splash in on a warm day!

What activities do you love celebrating spring with? Share your favorites in the comments below!

Traveling With Kids: Spring Break Travel Tips that will Save Your Sanity!

March 5, 2014 - Mama 2 Comments

Traveling with kids can be absolutely insane sometimes. A chorus of “Stop touching your sister!” and “Are We There Yet?!” ring out through the car, and eventually, everyone realizes something HAS to give. Whether you’re going by plane, train, or automobile, it helps to have some great ideas to make travel easier!

When I start planning a road trip, or any trip, I consider the old wedding adage and start with…

Something old. A few weeks before a big trip, by plane or car, I make sure to set aside a toy that is oft-played with, a favorite, and hide it someplace safe until the trip. I’ve noticed that kids play with other toys in the meantime, and that specific toy is out of mind for awhile. When things start to get restless on the trip, it’s time to pull out this hidden toy and surprise your child with it. They’ll be so excited to see this old-toy-turned-new that it’ll settle things down for awhile as they enjoy this old favorite again. Plus, it costs you nothing to hide a toy for a few weeks until vacation!

Something new comes next– new things are always an exciting treat! Before a trip, I create a fun trip gift! I buy a small toy (seasonal gift or dollar sections at Target or Walmart are a great resource for finding something small!), a new book, and a small snack and drink, then package it in a gift back. It’s a great way to surprise kids at the start of a trip, with a personal bag just for them filled with an exciting new treat!

Shopping together is a great way to involve everyone in the trip planning. Whether it’s a new bathing suit for the trip, or healthy snacks to enjoy along the ride, it’s important to include your child in the planning and talk about what the trip will be like, including step-by-step discussions of the drive. One thing I love to do in particular is to bring Zach along to pick out great snacks at the grocery store, emphasizing healthy choices, a few days before the trip. Together, we can grab baby carrots and travel-size containers of dip, apples and grapes, and sandwich items, plus his favorite crackers and cookies, to make sure we have some great snacks for the drive and our arrival. It’s a great way to talk about the upcoming trip and get him involved in the planning for what’s going on next.

Play games on the drive! Our family favorite is the “I’m looking for” game, and it gets played on trips short and long. A twist on the classic “I spy,” this is a little easier for younger kids. One player starts, saying something like “I’m looking for a pickup truck!” If someone finds the object, they’re it and get to pick the next one. If a bit of time goes by and no one finds it, the person chooses a second object– “I’m looking for a pick up truck OR a Christmas tree.” For younger players, you can be very general– “A car,” or “A bird” work well. For older kids, you can get more specific “A red pickup truck with a dog in it.” Because this game is easy to tailor to different ages to make it more or less challenging, it’s fun the whole family can play. We’ve gotten really crazy with ours, also– including “A cloud that kind of looks like an elephant,” “A dead raccoon,” and “A blue car with jet skis.”

Plan the route together. You can hang a string through the car with the various points you’ll pass through– major landmarks, special cities, and more– and remove the points as you pass through them. It’s a great visual to show kids that you’re getting through certain points on the road, and to show them that you’re getting closer and closer.

Pick a fun stop along the way. If you’re going by road, it’s a great choice to look at options for stretching your legs. Find a children’s museum, a fun playground, or an exciting restaurant to stop at along the way, particularly about halfway through the trip. It’ll be a great way to get off the road for a few minutes and just enjoy a few minutes. If going by car, even an impromptu choice can be a good one. We had stopped for lunch and had everyone get out to stretch their legs, and found this fantastic coin machine. The goal was to land your quarter exactly right to hopefully push other quarters off! We set a budget of a dollar, and Jeffrey won $2, but then lost them all. Even though he walked away with a dollar loss, it was a fun way to stretch our legs, and we had the whole family and half of Subway cheering him on!

Magnet games are a great way to play with no mess. You can easily find board game boards by doing a Google Image search, or design your own in a program like Paint.Net or Photoshop. Once designed, print the game board and pieces on magnetic paper. Then, pack a small cookie sheet or metal board and allow for hours of magnetic play. No pieces will get lost! You can even create paper dolls or a mini dollhouse in metal mint containers or other small metal containers, allowing for play with no missing pieces and no mess in the car.

A family playlist is a diplomatic way to make sure everyone’s favorites get heard. Before the trip, have every member of the family write down (or dictate) 5-10 of their favorite songs. Track them down and make a mixtape or playlist of the songs on shuffle. During the trip, play the songs and guess who added the songs to the list. With some families who have varied tastes, this game will be incredibly easy, but for families with similar interests, it’ll be challenging! Either way, there will be great tunes, and since everyone picks some songs, there will be no arguments about “How come we only listen to THEIR music?!”

Don’t be afraid to use technology. It’s okay to give your kid a little bit of tech time on a very long trip. It can be sanity saving to pull out an electronic device before you pull out your hair. Before the trip, load up the Kindle, iPad, or other device with some educational games and books, then save it for the last stand– that stretch where NOTHING else is working. Another good option is a brand new DVD. Both Walmart and Target sell a selection for under $5.

When all else fails, follow the rules. Have a tally sheet, and any time someone violates one of the rules of the road (like asking “Are we there yet?!” or pestering a sibling), they get a tally. The person with the fewest tallies gets to pick the next rest stop, or choose an activity while on the trip, or even get a special small treat when you arrive at your destination. Everyone will be working hard to follow the rules and win the Best Traveler Award!

Have any tried-and-true travel tips to keep kids entertained on a long trip? Share them in the comments below!

Mama Plus One

Making Life Easy So You Can Get Back to What Matters Most

Kiddo Care