Paper bags

This is really the prime of excitement, folks. Brace yourselves.

Miss Ellen has been keeping herself occupied all week making "puppets" out of brown paper lunch sacks. She colors all over them, assigns them to friends and family, and makes piles of her "favorites" and "not-so-favorites". I even had to make a special trip home to make sure the bags and markers were packed in her overnight bag for a sleepover with the grandparents.

I wish I could take credit for this creativity, but the truth is that this must be all daycare. I've had the bags sitting in my pantry for ages and it never would have occurred to me to pull together this (simple) project. I consider myself a reasonably creative person, but I just can't get it together to do crafty things with Ells. Pinterest, be damned. I think there are a lot of positives that daycare adds to her life, and certainly the crafty / artsy / outdoorsy / adventure stuff is a lot of it.

By the way, I have the paper lunch sacks not because I am packing lunch in them, but because I use them now to make microwave popcorn. It is totally the best thing ever and very cost effective. Popcorn is a favorite treat around here and I hated the thought of the weird chemicals in microwave popcorn for Ellen, plus I don't think it generally tastes all that good. I usually would make it in a pot on the stove with a little olive oil, but let's face it, that requires cleaning a pan.

Now, though, this is perfect:
- take a regular old brown lunch sack
- add some popcorn kernals to the bottom, maybe 1/4 to 1/3 cup.
- don't add any oil or anything
- fold over the top of the bag a few times tightly to keep the steam in, but keep the fold small to allow for plenty of room for the popped corn
- don't staple unless you want sparks and/or fire
- set the bag standing up in your microwave and run it 2-3 minutes, however long your popcorn usually takes. Listen for the pops to slow down.
- Warning: I think I bought the cheapest brown bags ever and sometimes the steam gets the bottom of the bag wet and it tears, spilling some popcorn / kernals. Oh well.

That's it! A perfectly popped, whole grain snack. And, then you can add melted butter and/or salt and/or maple syrup and not feel (so) bad about it.

Worth repeating

Though I posted this on our family blog, I consider it a public service announcement.

I made a serious error in judgement this week. I took Ells to get some new colors and she picked the Crayola Twistables Slick Stix.


Do not, I repeat, DO NOT buy these for your child. Or husband. Or self. I even knew better - I had tried to purchase them before at the Crayola store and the sales gal talked me out of it. That really sums it all up right there. They are like coloring with lipstick that stains permanently and doesn't dry. Awesome - right?

Well, I tried to talk Ellen out of it at the store and just couldn't without a scene. I let her color with permanent markers (I know - crazytown), so I thought this couldn't be worse. She has never colored on anything that she wasn't supposed to and I always supervise. Well ... the royal purple color stick slowly catapulted itself off the table and, in slow motion, I screamed NOOOOOOOO! as it hit the carpet.

I think you can guess what happened. And, it was totally my fault. After a whole lot of Googling (news flash: the Crayola "stain tips" don't really cut it), I thought I would try the good ol' Magic Eraser first. It totally worked!!

Mr. Clean, I think I love you.

Snow day?

How do you spend your time with your toddler on unexpected snow days? Yesterday marked the first of 5 days of togetherness and I know I will need to be pulling out the reinforcements by the time Monday rolls around.

(On a related note, to you full time stay-at-home mothers, BLESS YOU.)

I admit that I succumb to the demand of "More Livia, Mommy. More pirate. More garden. NOW!" When you can't leave the house and can't go outside, TV=sanity preserver.

My sister-in-law let me know about a website for crafty ideas the other day that is probably worth a look: Tools for Motherhood.

I think I've posted some of these before, but here are some websites for crafty inspiration:
The Artful Parent
Make and Takes
Made by Joel
Mini-Eco

Valentine's day is coming up ... maybe you can get a head start on gifts for the grandparents? (Let me know if you do, because I usually get around to that the day before).

In case you were wondering, Ells did spend a significant portion of her day imaginary painting every surface in our house with the silicone basting brush. You could try that, too. :)

Uninspired

We are in a rut.

Summertime should be a really great time to do tons of activities with your kids, but I am struggling to fill our days off. It has been SO STINKING HOT here that being outside isn't enjoyable. We haven't even been to the pool yet this summer because I just can't figure out a way to get there without messing up nap time or bed time or burning ourselves to a crisp.

I also am not feeling creative enough to fill our days (indoors) with crafts and imaginative things. I read a lot of blogs in the evenings after Girly goes to bed and I inevitably find some very creative mom who creates some wonderful play thing for her child. Then I feel guilty and boring. Sigh.

At almost 19 months, I think we are on the cusp of Girly really being able to participate and pay attention to some crafty projects. We try to color, but she chew-chew-chews on all the crayons, then runs straight for the white furniture the first chance she gets. Oh no you don't. I'm wondering if a more tactile project might keep her attention for 74 more seconds?

I like The Artful Parent blog and I just found a post on the Top 10 Art Materials for Toddlers.

Make and Takes has a lot of crafts, including a section for Kids Crafts.

Made by Joel is pretty great - a stay-at-home dad who creates amazing crafts for his kids. A lot of it is beyond the average person, but might inspire something similar.

What are you doing to fill these long summer days? Wanna come do it at my house?

p.s. I usually draft my blog posts a few days in advance. The day I wrote this, I was inspired to try painted pasta necklaces with Girly. We walked to the store to buy our supplies. We outfitted ourselves in smocks and prepped the supplies. We had a massive full-on tantrum that involved paint and dried noodles all over the place. We stomped our feet in frustration. Here's my point ... it's nice to have positive expectations for your child, but don't set them up to fail. Girly clearly wasn't ready for our crafty day and it just made me mad. It wasn't nice for either of us.