9 Discipline Alternative Methods

"Stop fighting." 

"Come here!" 

"Sit down!" 

"Leave your sister alone." 

"Give it back!" 

"No!" 

"Stay away from the door." 

"Calm down!" 

These quotes were  all said within a five-minute time frame.  It's been one of those days when you're obviously fussing at the wall because the kids are not listening.  While I do discipline, I tend to turn to alternatives on days like this.  Because when they keep at it, discipline is not doing the trick.  Discipline alternative methods give them some grace and me some peace.  So everybody wins!  The ones that work best for us are based on the concept of redirection.  

1. Play with The Kids - When I'm on the floor with them they don't fight or fuss; We simply eat our pretend cake & drink our fake juice out of a toy pepper shaker.  This is my go-to because it usually works so well. 

2. Enlist Little Helpers- Sometimes there's too much for me to do around the house.  So instead of playing with them, they help me.  My kids absolutely suck at helping; it drives me up the wall.  They put the clothes in the dryer way too slowly, and the table they wiped off usually isn't too clean.  But it gives them a great sense of accomplishment, and they stay out of trouble.  So it's totally worth it! 

3. Give Them Work- Whether it's a craft project, food to make, or just a coloring sheet. Give them something to do on their naughty days.  They'll be more focused on coloring Elmo's head purple instead of the walls. The more my kids have to do, the better they behave.  

4. Bathe Them- My kids love taking baths.  It seems to have some magical effect on them.  They're still wild and crazy when the bath is over, but they listen better.  And the bath gives me a small break to gather my thoughts.

5. Go Outside (Or Somewhere Else)- Let them run, climb, dance, jump, and play all those negative behaviors away.  In general, there are usually fewer rules outside; so there's less of a chance that they'll get in trouble.  And everyone gets some fresh air.

6. Go For a Ride To Nowhere- This is cheating. But my mother-in-law used to drive my youngest around the neighborhood sometimes because that was what calmed him down from his tantrums when I wasn't around.  I figured if it fixed his tantrums, it may fix his bad behavior too.  It does.  And I can get errands done.  If you don't have a car or don't want to drive, you can walk them around the neighborhood.

7.Read a Story/ Vice Versa- I usually begin reading to the boys. But because they're in a mood, they end up not listening.  So I convince them to read to me.  They love it! They get to make up stories and use up all their imagination.  I'll usually cut them off in the middle of their story and promise them that they can read to me later on if they behave.  This bites me in the butt at bedtime when I have to listen to them read for 30 minutes, but they do behave so that they can tell their own bedtime stories. It's a trick that has not failed for them

8. Have a Secret Weapon- Also cheating, but my weapon is a favorite movie.  Every few weeks or so when I've had it and all my options are exhausted, I will pull out The Lion King.  It's their favorite movie of all time, and I do not let them watch it often. So it keeps its undeniable appeal to them every time I play it. And I can just be a lazy parent for the next 1.5 hour or however long I play it.  A secret weapon is anything they love!

9. Talk!- Talking to kids is very effective.  Use short sentences and small words.  Get straight to the point, and they get it! They understand; they respond. They're smarter than we give them credit for. 

To avoid more time-outs, I got on the floor and played with my boys for an hour today, and then let them read to me while I folded laundry.  We then had a nice talk afterward, just to make sure we were all clear.  I can hear them rowdy-ing up again, but it's almost bedtime.  We made it over 6 hours with no need for discipline...That's pretty good.

Kitchen Creations: Garlic Bread Spinach Alfredo Pizzas

Dinner tonight was everyone's favorite.

The super fast. 

Really easy.

Cheap. 

Ridiculously yummy....

These things are filling & versatile.  You can add chicken or broccoli or just have cheese. 

You can also make tomato based pizzas. We just use the alfredo recipe because it pairs so well with  the garlic flavor, and it has the texture of a deep dish,

Ingredients:

Alfredo Sauce

Garlic Bread or Garlic Toast

Mozzarella Cheese

Spinach 

Directions:

You can make these easy meals alone or with the kiddies, and they'll still clean up easily with the use of foil.  The best part about the garlic bread pizzas is that they are very cheap.  I spend around $6 on the ingredients.  Tonight we just added a box of $1 penne noodles and used the rest of the sauce to make alfredo noodles. We spent a grand total of $7 on tonight's dinner! 

Seriously, you can't get better than tasty, cheap, easy, AND fast. 

At Home K2 & K3 Curriculum (& Schedule)

I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday and just could not sit up long enough to post.  But I'm back today!  I've seen that a lot of kids have started or are starting school; Summer is officially ending for the kiddies. (All non-homeschooling parents are celebrating!) Unfortunately, it's ending for my little babes, too.  Starting September 1 (Thursday) they will be enrolling in Mommy Academy.  I'm so freaking excited, especially since this is my first year with them at home.  So pulling from the daycare I used to work at-- they have an amazing curriculum- and from myself, I made my own 2K & 3K curriculum.
I have not finished my syllabus yet but when I do, I will be more than happy to share. But today I wanted to share the new schedule I'll be implementing, and the curriculums I've made. (Please note my kids already know some of the stuff on my curriculum; this is just things they need to know by the end of the "school year".)

         K2 Curriculum

• Count 1-30 
• Alphabet (letter sounds and recognition)
• Sign Alphabet
• Spanish Alphabet
• Spell & Recognize First Name
• Speak in Sentences
• Seasons (And What They Do)
• Months
• Days
• Weather
• Colors
• Shapes (square, triangle, circle, oval, star, heart, diamond, rectangle)
• Following a Schedule
• Following 3-step Directions
• Body Parts
• Senses
• Personal Hygiene
• Manners
• Proper Eating

            K3 Curriculum 

• Writing Letters & Numbers
• Coloring within the Lines (Not Scribbling)
• Matching Letters (Upper & Lowercase)
• What Day of The Week It Is
• Review, Learn, and Draw Shapes (pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, decagon)
• Using Technology
• Proper Eating
• Manners
• Personal Hygiene
• Review Senses
• Review Colors 
• Review Numbers 
• Write, Recognize, and Spell Full Name
• Sign Letters
• Recognize Sight Words/ Translate Sight Words to Spanish
• Write Numbers 1-30

The boys' schedule is from 9am until 4:30pm, but because it is my schedule: I may go over or under the times set.  I plan on using this as more of a guideline.  But honestly, with my kids, the more I have for them to do, the less they get in trouble. 

Daily Schedule

9:00am Breakfast/ Free Time

10:00am- 10:15am Storytime 

10:15am- 10:30am Songs

10:30am- 11:00am Interactive Circle Time 

11:00am- 11:30am Sky class and classwork/ Zai read books or do puzzles

11:30am- 12:00pm Zai class and classwork/ Sky read books or do puzzles

12:00pm- 12:30pm Free Time/ Break

12:30pm- 1:00pm Lunch

1:00pm- 2:00pm Weekly Activity (Pick a different one each day:Science Experiment, Outdoor Activity, Bible Story & Movie, Music/ Art & Movie, Outing)

2:00pm- 3:30pm Nap Time/ Quiet Time

3:30pm- 3:45pm Snack

3:45pm- 4:30pm Exercise/ Movement

Postpartum Pick-Me-Ups

I'm in an awesome mood today, but that is not always the case when you're postpartum.  A lot of women suffer from postpartum depression and/or anxiety, and that's nothing to be ashamed of.
There are obvious things that help: getting a sitter, going out, or talking to your doctor and getting a prescription.   But for one reason or another, some women just can't do those things. So I've put a short list of my personal postpartum pick-me-ups together.

1. Breathe & Stretch
Shallow breath in, deep breath out. Exhale twice as long as you inhale.  Ground yourself: repeat a mantra, state things around you, whatever will help soothe you.
I repeat: My name , my age, who I am.
It's comforting to me. I spent forever figuring out who I am; so knowing that in a time of weakness makes me feel a little bit stronger. If you don't know who you are list off hobbies and likes, even if they aren't talents. For an example, I consider myself a dancer; dancing makes me feel amazing.  But I don't possess the rhythm or coordination necessary to make a skill out of it.
And stretching just feels awesome and relaxes you!

2. Favorite snack (or some other favorite thing) 
I'm not talking about binge eating. Hey, someone's favorite snack may be blueberries! My tip here is: chocolate is not always good for you, neither is a soda, but depression and anxiety are much worse for you. Having something to look forward to puts me at ease. But you can definitely replace the snack with some other favorite- like a movie, a bible scripture, 15 minutes to dance; I usually pick chocolate. My overall point is: take the few extra calories over a panic attack if you have to. And again I'm not endorsing binge eating; I'm just saying treat yourself.

3. Watch what you eat
Yes, I'm contradicting myself. Here's what I'm saying: one snack a day isn't going to kill you. However, if you constantly eat junk food: it's doing more harm than good.   Eat real meals with vegetables and fruit, vitamins and protein. Constant fast food and chips aren't just bad for your body, they're horrible for your mind too.  It's a huge difference in how you feel once you cut the junk down. I've found that I'm more prone to anxiety when we've had more fast, fried, and unhealthy food.

4. Hot bath/shower
You never have time, right? Wrong (for most people anyway). Disconnect from social media and television, and I'm sure that somewhere in your day you will find that you have at least 30 minutes to take a hot, relaxing bath or shower.  I wake up early just to get my "me" time in. It makes a huge difference in how my day goes and how I feel.

4. Be positive
This is the hardest and easiest. I have not always been optimistic. But fake positivity is stronger than real negativity. Even if you don't believe "it's going to be okay" say it anyway, out loud.  If you're just pissing yourself off, keep saying it. Repeat it. Say it louder. Write it down.  Fake it until you make it. This is actual advice I've received from a professional, and it works the best for me on my worse days. I guess it's hard to remain in a negative mindset when you're forcing yourself to think positive.

Postpartum depression doesn't come in a day, so it's definitely not going to leave in one. There are other tricks that aren't listed that you can do to ease the symptoms. But I strongly encourage you to seek help if you need it; don't ever shy away from calling the doctor if you are the slightest bit worried.  Postpartum depression is very common and very real & can lead to causing harm to yourself or others.  I just wanted to share some of my tricks with y'all (& they may not work for everyone), and let ladies know that you are definitely not alone. 

Fun with Boxes

I know you're crazy about the title right? We have a ton of boxes leftover from recent internet buys, I stopped my husband from throwing them out, and swore I'd find something to do with them. This was three days ago. Last night I was told to do something with the boxes or they were getting thrown out. So the boys and I spent the later afternoon crafting with boxes!

We only had small and medium boxes, no huge boxes.  I usually just sit them inside of huge boxes with some markers and let them go crazy.  I see big boxes as an opportunity to clean, and not have them behind me destroying everything.  

I didn't have that luxury today, but we did think of some pretty cool stuff to do with the boxes.
1. Picnics in a box - the clean up was quick and easy, and they got to eat dinner in front of the television. Everybody wins!

2. Backdrop for dinosaurs! - or dolls or farm animals. Make a stage for whatever your child is into. I'd like to take a second to brag on myself for this backdrop. It turned out pretty good and I have zero artistic talent. So I'm going to pat myself on the back. I used green paint and blue and yellow chalk, and it only took me 15 minutes.

3. Decorate and use for storage- It's a no-brainer: reuse the box. I think this would look super neat with random pieces of wrapping paper all over it, but we didn't have that at hand. So construction and computer paper it was! We spent around an hour decorating the box.

4. Make connecting pieces out of the flaps - they painted & colored them with chalk. I cut them out into shapes and cut (roughly) a 1.5-inch slit in them. When they actually played with it only the big non-triangular pieces with the slit in the middle survived. But the rest of the pieces actually proved to be pretty durable!

Do yall have any ideas on what to do with leftover boxes? 

(Sidenote: I have no idea why the text is highlighted.)  

Home Remedy: Onions

My sweet girl has been a little congested for the last week. I've been trying to wait her out, but I finally gave in & pulled out my secret weapon: onions.

I've been using onions for my family for about 2.5 years.  Whenever any of us get sick: I turn on the humidifier, slap on some vapor rub, and use onion socks.  Onion socks are onion slices inside your socks.  Pair them with a shot of Apple Cider Vinegar and a cup of Chamomile & Peppermint Tea with lemon, cinnamon, & honey, and we are better within 2 days. (The tea is also pretty good when you aren't sick, by the way.)  The natural way works fast, but it seems as if it immediately attacks the cold not the symptoms.  You are getting better; it just doesn't feel like it.  So I give my kids Tylenol two or three times, just to take the edge off and reduce any fevers. 

Another kind of relevant onion trick is for a teething child. It's rumored that cold green onions help soothe their gums.  Both of my boys actually ate room temperature onions, & they were not fussy "teethers".  Isn't it obvious? I swear by onion remedies. 

But I digress. Noelle is only 3 months old. I avoid giving her unnecessary medicine; and I'm definitely not feeding her onions.  About three hours ago, I gave her a bath in a steamy bathroom- she bathed in the sink while the hot shower ran.  I then used the handy nose sucker thing, and let her smell yellow onions for about 15 minutes. To get her to smell the onions, I put them in a napkin, and placed them on my breast during a feeding.  She did not like the way I smelled at all.  She squirmed, wiggled, and hit me a few times, but latched on after a while. And I'm glad she did! It cleared her nasal passages within a few minutes. Just for added measures, I put onion socks on her feet; the mucus has not come back! I actually feel bad now for letting her go the week with congestion.  Yes, my baby smells like a casserole, and the onions are daddy repellent; but my beautiful girl is now happy and breathing just fine now.  Besides, I rather enjoy the smell of onions. 

Kitchen Creations: Fried Steak Ka-bobs

So I've been trying to find a way to cook steaks and give them the "grilled" taste when a grill isn't available.  I am slowly realizing that may not be possible, but I did find a super cool way to make them: frying them! 

And no, I'm not talking country fried; I mean regular fried.  And we actually enjoyed it more than skillet steak (which is our go-to for steak).  It's not the healthiest, but it is definitely something we will do again.  

Before I begin I'd like to add that I cooked both skillet and fried steak yesterday.  I had the skillet as back up (just in case frying it was a complete failure), but I ended up just comparing the two instead. 

The skillet is juicier and softer; it also had the possibility to range from rare to well

The fried is a bit more tender and more flavorful; it cooks really fast so it was well done after about 3 minutes. 

Here's how I made our fried steak ka-bobs!  (Ingredients are in bold)

First I marinated the steak for 4 hours - you can do more or less. More time= more flavor. Less time=less flavor.  I poke holes in the steak before marinating (see the picture below of me threatening the steak with a knife, haha!) , I think it helps absorb the flavor, but that's optional...

 I'm pretty sure any marinade will work for frying, but my marinade was sweet and tangy if you want to try: 

11/2 Worcestershire 

1/2 Cup Catalina Dressing

1 Cup Italian Dressing

1 Cap full of Lemon Juice

I also used this time to chop up our veggies.  We used green peppers and onions, because I knew that they would take the same amount of time to cook as the steak. Use whatever you want here, but note that if you're cooking potatoes they'll have to fry longer than the steak. 

When to do when it is time to cook:

1. Fill pan halfway with oil 

2. Heat oil- should sizzle and bubble when you add water or a pinch of flour

3.Take steak out of fridge

4. Take steak out of marinade, draining excess marinade off of it 

5. Season steak to taste. We are huge garlic fans. So we used garlic powder, black powder, and salt.

6. Once the oil is heated: add steak & veggies slowly

7. Fry around 3 minutes

8. Drain 

9 "Ka-bob" it however you like (put them on the skewers)   (: 

Adding the onion and green pepper gave my tangy marinade some extra flavor and cut down on the sweetness. It all mixed together really well; my husband even ate a few extra ones!  I now have an excuse to buy the stew meat when it's on sale.