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Family

Time Out Bottle

November 18, 2012 8 Comments
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Oh my sweet boys.  Now that Drew is 2 and can verbalize himself a bit more, Aiden isn’t as quick to lose his temper and get annoyed at his little brother.

But it happens, and boys will be boys.

Drew pushes Aiden’s buttons because Aiden knows he can’t be nasty back to his baby brother.  And Aiden wants desperately to be independent and do things himself but Drew is his little copy-cat shadow…Which drives him (Aiden) nuts.

But Aiden does have a quick temper and pouts with his whole body when Drew steals a toy out from underneath his nose.  And by, “with his whole body”, I mean (picture this, moms, I know you know what I’m talking about) a simultaneous foot stomp, arms across his chest, lower lip stuck out, a pout-y sob and a bum or whole body on the floor all within 1.2 seconds.

We’ve talked about calming down with 3 deep breathes, as they teach the kids in his Dina-school preschool class.  This works for Aiden if he’s dealing with adults or kids his own age.  Drew clearly falls outside that box.  We’ve talked about how timeouts aren’t always a bad thing, but that he can use the time on his step to calm down away from the situation and take his deep breaths away from Drew and just chill out.

But sometimes he just can’t calm down.  He’s fit to be tied and stomping in timeout while Drew is around the corner also in a timeout of his own.

My mom used to tell me that I would get so mad that I didn’t know how to let the “fire” settle down with myself to think straight.  And what was the fire all about anyway?  My dad would then tell me I wouldn’t know this if I was just mad to be mad.  My sweet boys are truly their mother’s sons.

So there I was looking for a calmer, quieter timeout experience. For their sakes, and for our sakes.

Enter another super cool Pinterest inspiration for a timeout timer/relax bottle!  The method here is for your frustrated child to take his anger out on the water bottle by shaking it into a hurricane of glitter swirls then calm down while they watch (mesmerized) as the glitter settles.

This time I grabbed my 40% off coupon to Hobby Lobby to get my supplies (except the water bottles I used were Ethos from Starbucks, only because I had a coffee date there with Joel this morning).

  • Water bottles (Ethos from Starbucks)
  • Glitter glue
  • Clear glue
  • Superfine glitter
  • 1 super cute 4 year old to help make his very own timeout timer

Fill up the water bottle with super hot water from the tap, about 3/4 full.  The heat from the water made the glue on the labels soft enough to remove the label, but all of the goo didn’t go with it.  I did not have Goo Gone, but I did have rubbing alcohol swabs.  I used these to remove the sticky residue from the bottles.

Add glitter glue ~ I used 3 small tubes from the standard 12 packs of assorted colors for each bottle.  Aiden chose 2 green & 1 blue, Drew chose blue, red & silver and silver.  It will stream in like a ribbon, but the hot water will help dissolve it when you start shaking.

Add clear glue ~ this is to help with the consistency of the glitter versus water.  How long do you want your timeout timer to last?

Then, add a small tube of superfine glitter.  Again, Aiden chose green (his favorite color) and Drew chose blue.

Close the lid and shake, swirl and roll.  Every which way you can, move that water and glitter glue around to help break up the solids and make a hurricane of a mess in the bottle.  Set your timer.  If it settles too fast, add more clear glue or another tube of glitter glue.

Here, it’s partially settled, but too fast.  I added more clear glue.

When you get the consistency/time you want, seal the lid with gorilla glue.

The white bubbles at the top will go away, don’t fret.

Even Joel was caught staring at these colorful bottles in awe.  I really hope these timeout timers will help Aiden focus on not freaking out and finding a better way to calm down.

Thank you fellow Mom’s for sharing your secrets, and thank you Pinterest-ers for helping a sister out!

I’ll update on our (hopefully peacefully quieter timeout) progress!

Peace be with you…and also with you.

~pw

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Written by: Phanneth
Family Life

Be Good Jar

October 29, 2012 No Comments
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Truth be told, I’ve been having a little trouble corralling the kiddos lately. Partly because they are 4.5 and 2 years old, and partly because I’ve need to search for my own patience and maybe look at the way I’m communicating (or not) with them. And mostly because I seem to always be in a hurry…

Yes, I admit, I’m not a “perfect” parent, but I’m a good mom! I just needed to find ways to overcome some of my recent challenges. Such as…

Parenting tip #1: Kids don’t care that you’re running late, nor is it usually their faults initially.

As in, not Aiden’s fault that he can’t brush his teeth faster than I can blow dry my hair since MOM is the one who slept late).

Parenting tip #2: Even siblings don’t always get along and sing in harmony while they play.

My bad! I thought brothers and sisters loved each other to pieces all of the time…

Which leads to Parenting tip #3: An abandoned toy isn’t cool enough until another kiddo plays with it.

Then suddenly everything is “mine” and all heck breaks loose.

So how do I solve for these?

Now, judge me if you must, but I saw this on Pinterest (which isn’t something I thought I would ever say) and thought I would give it a shot. A teacher blogged about a visual tool for positive reinforcement using a fishbowl (find her post here) and it clicked with me that I can totally use this idea tailored to our own situation.

I ran to Target on my lunch break to see what supplies I could find (I’m sure a craft store would have been a better deal, but Hobby Lobby doesn’t sell laundry detergent and we were in desperate need, so Target would have to do!).

I found a medium sized glass jar with a lid ($5.49), a pack of puffy stickers ($2.99) and two sheets of clear-type scrapbooking stickers ($.99/ea) and a pack of fuzzy pom-poms in different shapes and sizes ($3.99). For a grand total of $14.45, we now have a visual positive reinforcement tool that the boys are already having so much fun with.

 

All together at the table, we put the boys’ names on opposite sides of the jar and the words, “Be Good” and “Kind” on the other sides with the alphabet stickers. Then, we let them decorate the rest of the jar with the scrapbook stickers. GREAT teamwork exercise for the boys, by the way!

 

 

Aiden saw the pom-poms and immediately asked me if he could have one. I told him that he could earn one by being kind and helpful to his brother, to me and Joel, or a friend, Miss. Sally (his teacher) and even Nana/Papa & Grandma/Grandpa. He chewed on that for a little bit, then immediately went to help Drew find his pacifier ~ without being asked!

Then, I told him that every time he is kind, good, patient, he uses his “listening ears” (so he didn’t have to be asked something twice), if he didn’t talk back or pout (this list goes on, but we focus on a few each day) he could earn a fuzzy that he could put in his jar, like a piggy bank. When it’s full we can “cash-in” the pom-poms for a prize!

At this age, a $1 Hot Wheel from the grocery store is a big deal, so he knows he can earn a Hot Wheel, a small bag of Skittles, a page of stickers, a yo-yo, an eraser, a pencil, a folder, etc…pretty much anything from the $1 bin at Target.

Easy-peasy, right? Sure this could be construed as bribing, but it works!

So now, Aiden tries to get his morning routine done before I do, he’s putting more thought into a game for two so he and Drew can play together rather than a game for 1, and he doesn’t panic when Drew takes interest in a toy Aiden saw first (prevents the snatching and the freak outs and pouts) because he knows no-fuss events earn him a pom-pom for his jar.

And we get to focus on the good stuff rather than the bad stuff.  And wrestling with each other is fun again, not ferocious.

He’s really proud when he gets to put a new pom-pom in his jar. He had a sleepover at Papa & Nana’s this weekend and I sent him with one for his pocket with the instructions that if Nana didn’t have to take it away (if he was naughty) he could put it in his jar when he got home. At the end of the weekend, he still had it and was so proud of himself when he got to add it to his jar.

Being a parent is one big adventure without a real instruction manual and no kid is wired the same. I wasn’t even sure this would work for Aiden and Drew, but it does work for them and it does work in our house. If you decide try this, or a variation of this, with your munchkins, let me know how it goes!

Keep the faith, keep encouraging goodness and keep the focus on the positive. Amen.

~pw

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Written by: Phanneth
Life

Leprechaun Trap

March 16, 2012 5 Comments
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Happy St. Patty’s Day Eve!  I think every holiday, event or day worth celebrating should have an ‘Eve’.  For example, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, Friday Eve (Thursday) and now St. Patrick’s Day Eve!

I have to stop myself from doing everything in shades of green for St. Patty’s and overdoing it.  Good thing I have boys; I already have TONS of green stuff.

And good thing I married an Irishman; I have plenty of excuses to have cute little shamrocks decorating my house.

And my wonderful mother-in-law gets me something new and clover-ish every year (thanks, Denise!).

I actually love the color green.  It’s bright, vibrant and gorgeously warm, happy and springy.

With St. Pat’s day around the corner, I’d been thinking about making a leprechaun trap with Aiden, but didn’t know how much he “knew” about them.  He’s only just turned 4 and his memory bank doesn’t recall anything from last year’s St. Pat’s day…but this year, when I went to pick him up from school, he had just made fool’s gold out of some rocks and giggled and jumped when I asked him if he thought a leprechaun would like it.

Now, keep in mind too that I’m not a very crafty-type of mom.  When I say “leprechaun trap”,  in my head I can picture a shoe box propped up by a ruler, his newly made fool’s gold, some green skittles, and anything else green or shiny.  So naturally, that’s pretty much what we did.

Oh yeah, this baby is catching a sneaky little leprechaun for sure!

Aiden is so sure of it, he went right to bed when I told him the leprechauns won’t come until they know he’s sleeping.  Joel helped him set up multiple traps to give us better odds of catching a sneaky little lad or two.

I told him leprechauns love all things green.  That made him laugh because he loves all things green too.  I’m tempted to make green eggs tomorrow…except he definitely doesn’t like eggs.  So we’ll skip the green eggs, but I probably will serve up as much green as I can on St. Patrick’s Day.  I’ve got green cabbage ready to go with my corned beef…I’ve got lime green Otter Pops and O’Brien green limeade slushies (good thing it will be warm and sunny! … and good thing my boys love sour limes!) and a bag of fresh sugar snap peas and green grapes.  I spent a part of my evening looking for green marshmallows, but honestly, I’ll probably food color the heck out of plain old white ones just to make green rice crispy treats.

Ahhhhhh!  I’m a dork.  I love green.  I love St. Patrick’s Day & I love the luck of the Irish.  I even love Notre Dame (sorry, Joe).  And I’m catching us a leprechaun, Aiden!  Wait and see…

~May your blessings outnumber the Shamrocks that grow.  And may trouble avoid you wherever you go~

Yours Greenly,

~pw

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Written by: Phanneth

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Instagram post 2272265904946805462_9478705541 Before settling in to work from home today, I loaded up my diffuser with this trio and stepped out of my comfort zone and participated in a virtual yoga flow.  Oh how my soul needed it! 💗
⠀⠀
💧Frank (2) to increase my spiritual awareness, deepen my meditation, improve my attitude, uplift my spirit and keep me grounded. ⠀⠀
💧Peppermint (2) to stimulate my mind and help me focus ⠀⠀
💧Tangerine (3) to promote happiness and calming and combat irritability ⠀⠀ Biggest takeaway from my flow was consciously make an effort to SMILE every day 😀 ⠀⠀ I know these times are scary and there is so much unknown but we also have community and love and light. I hope you find time today to find something to smile about. ⠀⠀ STAY IN and spread joy to those in your social distancing circles as best you can. ❤️
Instagram post 2263483285362807049_9478705541 Does anyone need me to order Thieves Cleaner (ultra concentrated), Thieves Spray, or small Thieves Hand Sanitizers for them? 🙋🏻‍♀️
⠀⠀
I’m putting in my monthly rewards order and an happy to hook you up 😘
⠀⠀
I’m a firm believer that effective cleaning products shouldn’t include toxic warnings or fake fragrance, especially when I’m using them around my kiddos, on things they touch and surfaces they eat from or am gifting to pregnant mom-to-be’s or sending to use in the kids’ classrooms 🌿
⠀⠀
Google “Thieves Chicken Test” or “Cleaning Products Lung Function” to see why we switched. There are plenty of articles supporting the power of plant based cleaners and many against VOCs; none penned by me but plenty to be eye opening 🤢😳
⠀⠀
My wholesale discount with Young Living is like my Prime membership for good-for-you cleaning products, bath, hair, makeup, AND oils. When everyone started going crazy stockpiling sketch-for-you cleaning products, I logged in ONLINE and put in my order for all kinds of Thieves things and got my package in 2 days. Just sayin 🤓
Instagram post 2188615754102258949_9478705541 Yay!! YL’s Black Friday sale has been extended through today! 😱

So thankful for a company that takes product quality (we own our own farms!), and its members’ non-toxic health and wellness seriously! 🧡

These are wholesale member prices so let me know if you want to jump on my order TODAY to try a few out OR use the link in my profile to jump in and get your membership. 🙋🏻‍♀️ You can add these specials to your cart, along with your membership enrollment, when you check out and will get the wholesale membership pricing for these PLUS a membership kit. Membership kits start at $35 (1 oil and a few samples + your membership discount, no diffuser). PM me for deets on the other options 💜😘💜
Instagram post 2136542016121041567_9478705541 🍂 Let me know if you want an invite to this Facebook event / class. It’s all online so you don’t “go” anywhere! ⠀⠀
🎃 We’re sharing which essential oil combos can make your home smell like all the fall, all the pumpkin spice, and all the cinnamon apples WITHOUT all the toxins you’d get from a “fragranced” candle. BONUS: mood + wellness support, focus, calming or happy dancing could be side effects of diffusing these natural plant juices around your family. 🧡
⠀⠀
🙅🏻‍♀️ My boys all have allergies so we had to break the candle habit and I’m so grateful we did. Huge difference! ⠀⠀
🤩 *plus* one lucky person will win this super cute oil shelf just for sharing the invite with a friend + interacting with the posts. EASY!
⠀⠀
🍎 here’s a sneak at one of the diffuser blends / recipes we’re sharing. .
.
.
#PSLminusthetoxins #pumpkinspice #applepie #fallintooils #diffusercombos #winterwellness #falldiffuserblends
Instagram post 2112527759708737321_9478705541 We are getting out of our comfort zones! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
💫 We made it to the starting line of The Denver Color Run!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Wish us luck and pray we make it to the finish line!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🏃🏻🏃🏻‍♀️ 💜❤️🧡💛💚💙 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻
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#thecolorrun #thecolorrunlovetour #wildchild #babytiger #mykidrunsfasterthanme
Instagram post 2060224138392770421_9478705541 Real girls wear sweats, Valor and Tranquil on windy sailboats across the Aegean Sea. 💜
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@nike @express @youngliving @yocolorado .
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#valormademedoit #onceinalifetime #vacation #realgirls #nike #express #youngliving #santorinigreece #vacationstyle #aegeansea #mybigfatgreekvacation
Instagram post 2043276215343012223_9478705541 These poor flowers got the short-end of the stick yesterday. The lucky ones went home with some incredible baseball moms. The rest got shoved into a bag, into a wagon, sat on by a 5 year old and smooshed by baseball gear in 75 degree heat. 🤦🏻‍♀️
.
They’re fighters though.
.
💧 Add 1 drop of Purification to your water to make flowers last longer. 🌹 They not only perked back up but are starting to bloom when I thought for sure they were goners. 😍
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#flowersformomma #bloomsfordays #makeflowerslast #flowersmakemesmile #sunshineandflowers #lifehack #tipoftheday #baseballmoms
Instagram post 2017785085102112881_9478705541 Baseball season is back at our house! ⚾️ Love this super cute + super comfy shirt I got from my girl @archersarrowsbychele ❤️ ( she makes all my EO labels too y’all )

My kiddo threw +80 pitches yesterday and really brought the heat. He went 3 innings, only allowing 5 runs off 4 hits and struck out 5. He also hit a triple that might have been an in-park home run except he spent 2 seconds too long watching his ball sail to the fences. 😁 .
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fireflytales.essentials

+ natural wellness & essential oil education & inspiration 💕
+ YL oily recipes 🌿
+ positivity & motivation💪💋❤️
+ grab a kit and join our team! 💜

Instagram post 2272265904946805462_9478705541 Before settling in to work from home today, I loaded up my diffuser with this trio and stepped out of my comfort zone and participated in a virtual yoga flow.  Oh how my soul needed it! 💗
⠀⠀
💧Frank (2) to increase my spiritual awareness, deepen my meditation, improve my attitude, uplift my spirit and keep me grounded. ⠀⠀
💧Peppermint (2) to stimulate my mind and help me focus ⠀⠀
💧Tangerine (3) to promote happiness and calming and combat irritability ⠀⠀ Biggest takeaway from my flow was consciously make an effort to SMILE every day 😀 ⠀⠀ I know these times are scary and there is so much unknown but we also have community and love and light. I hope you find time today to find something to smile about. ⠀⠀ STAY IN and spread joy to those in your social distancing circles as best you can. ❤️
Instagram post 2263483285362807049_9478705541 Does anyone need me to order Thieves Cleaner (ultra concentrated), Thieves Spray, or small Thieves Hand Sanitizers for them? 🙋🏻‍♀️
⠀⠀
I’m putting in my monthly rewards order and an happy to hook you up 😘
⠀⠀
I’m a firm believer that effective cleaning products shouldn’t include toxic warnings or fake fragrance, especially when I’m using them around my kiddos, on things they touch and surfaces they eat from or am gifting to pregnant mom-to-be’s or sending to use in the kids’ classrooms 🌿
⠀⠀
Google “Thieves Chicken Test” or “Cleaning Products Lung Function” to see why we switched. There are plenty of articles supporting the power of plant based cleaners and many against VOCs; none penned by me but plenty to be eye opening 🤢😳
⠀⠀
My wholesale discount with Young Living is like my Prime membership for good-for-you cleaning products, bath, hair, makeup, AND oils. When everyone started going crazy stockpiling sketch-for-you cleaning products, I logged in ONLINE and put in my order for all kinds of Thieves things and got my package in 2 days. Just sayin 🤓
Instagram post 2188615754102258949_9478705541 Yay!! YL’s Black Friday sale has been extended through today! 😱

So thankful for a company that takes product quality (we own our own farms!), and its members’ non-toxic health and wellness seriously! 🧡

These are wholesale member prices so let me know if you want to jump on my order TODAY to try a few out OR use the link in my profile to jump in and get your membership. 🙋🏻‍♀️ You can add these specials to your cart, along with your membership enrollment, when you check out and will get the wholesale membership pricing for these PLUS a membership kit. Membership kits start at $35 (1 oil and a few samples + your membership discount, no diffuser). PM me for deets on the other options 💜😘💜
Instagram post 2136542016121041567_9478705541 🍂 Let me know if you want an invite to this Facebook event / class. It’s all online so you don’t “go” anywhere! ⠀⠀
🎃 We’re sharing which essential oil combos can make your home smell like all the fall, all the pumpkin spice, and all the cinnamon apples WITHOUT all the toxins you’d get from a “fragranced” candle. BONUS: mood + wellness support, focus, calming or happy dancing could be side effects of diffusing these natural plant juices around your family. 🧡
⠀⠀
🙅🏻‍♀️ My boys all have allergies so we had to break the candle habit and I’m so grateful we did. Huge difference! ⠀⠀
🤩 *plus* one lucky person will win this super cute oil shelf just for sharing the invite with a friend + interacting with the posts. EASY!
⠀⠀
🍎 here’s a sneak at one of the diffuser blends / recipes we’re sharing. .
.
.
#PSLminusthetoxins #pumpkinspice #applepie #fallintooils #diffusercombos #winterwellness #falldiffuserblends
Instagram post 2112527759708737321_9478705541 We are getting out of our comfort zones! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
💫 We made it to the starting line of The Denver Color Run!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Wish us luck and pray we make it to the finish line!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🏃🏻🏃🏻‍♀️ 💜❤️🧡💛💚💙 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Pre-run warm up with all the Valor, all the Ningxia, all the Super B and all the mineral sunscreen. How do you pre-run prep??
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#thecolorrun #thecolorrunlovetour #wildchild #babytiger #mykidrunsfasterthanme
Instagram post 2060224138392770421_9478705541 Real girls wear sweats, Valor and Tranquil on windy sailboats across the Aegean Sea. 💜
.
.

@nike @express @youngliving @yocolorado .
.

#valormademedoit #onceinalifetime #vacation #realgirls #nike #express #youngliving #santorinigreece #vacationstyle #aegeansea #mybigfatgreekvacation
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