Media Free Monday's!

The small child of the Van Marter house hold filled the hall way's of our beautiful house with a irritating temper tantrum because I had turned off the television and wouldn't let him go immediately to the computer for another media fix. I decided in that moment to instill 'Media Free Monday's' in an effort to curb his attachment to this mind numbing devices! As I contemplated this more while carrying my screaming 3yr old to his room (and shutting the door), a thought came to me... we hardly watched any television in our house growing up yet, we didn't suffer in a wealth of exciting childhood experiences! In this split moment I decided to also extend 'Media Free Monday' into Tuesday mornings and sometime's evenings (Although being a single parent Monday night and Tuesday night in desperation I may turn the tube on!) MFM has been known to infaltrate Wednesday's as well!!  The small child has no knowledge of this extension of MFM (and shall remain blissfully un-aware!!) this "rule" has helped him to extend his creativity in wonderful ways! I have seen super hero cowboys, special cowboy's, superhero's who get along with bad guys and he has found a new tolerances for ART?!? This hasn't come with a few melt downs, tears from mother and son, and a few "exceptions" to the rule but!! after the first few (painful) hours of MFM morning the creativity blooms! Some times it needs help and I have an arsenal of idea's to kick start the creativity! For example...http://www.10paperairplanes.com/  has provided hours of entertainment to our home! Also Crayola Quick and Easy Face Paint has helped to keep the MFM blues away! So has giving B a few CD's and a CD player to sit and enjoy repeating the same song over and over again! More idea's to come... Happy Media Free Monday friends!

MONSTER away!

To you this picture represents a tiny spritz of scent aka smelly stuff but... to a 4yr old boy with a very healthy imagination this is SCARY dream spray! a few dozen spritz's around the room and a healthy dose on his bed and all night time terrors are simply misted away! This is not a JVM(<---my initials) original but it was remembered in not so quite desperation from the endless excuses as to why the small one should not go to bed... Scary dream spray coupled with a flash light and 4 books (because he's four). Has kept the night time "I need a drink of water" etc... at bay! Another rule is he get's one time out of bed (to pee/drink/ect..) any time after that he is disciplined! I praise the Lord he isn't as stubborn as me(SORRY MOM/DAD) it only took 3 nights of disciplines to curb the multiple night time pop ups!(for me I think the parents lost count;) oops! One other "trick" we have found to make night times successful is a quick, easy, simple routine! For you this can be anything as long as it is repeated!

The Small One's Night Time Routine

8:30-Potty and dressed for bed

8:40-floss and brush teeth

8:50-Bible story and prayers

9:00-lights out

(9:15-9:30-he faithfully appears for one last pee)

9:45 he is usually asleep!

Some nights he is awake, in his bed till 10pm or later but! He's in his bed! Quiet and safe:)

Feel free to share your successes! Your routines! Your tribulations! Because this is parenting NOT perfection:)

Just a tip!

Hey! just in case you were ever wondering... I use this (permanent marker) almost every time I have a large get together! For cups, plates, and labeling my pitchers of liquid! Now, I've done this since Mr Clean invented the magic eraser(my Mom has been doing it longer, can't count how many times we had to ask "is this really sugar or salt?")...Never thought about the significance of this organizational tip till my (super awesomely creative) friend said "you should blog about that." So... If your short on time, label makers, or just need to make a note... use a permanent marker! Trust me those magic erasers (even generic) will get it off!! (Now this doesn't apply to children! As a daycare worker found out...duh!?!?) But for almost any and all other surfaces's go for it!! Plastic, glass, refrigerators... you can do it! It helps me keep those half opened jars of sauce used up in time! Open jugs of milk used up in time and lets my guest know which is which (even if they all look like water because you use Smuckers all natural lemon-aid:) Happy labeling friends!

ps. I also tie the marker to something solid during the party so everyone always has access to this wonderful labeling device!!

p.p.s You can use it to mark up your containers that hold sugar, salt, malt-o-meal, etc... I also write the recipe on the outside with tips and tricks for the next time!