Children Learn what they Live!

I love this poem!  I always thought it gave the truth to raising children in our world today, but now that I have my own children, I really see the true meaning in action.  I watch my children and how they imitate what we do and listen so intently to what we say and I see this poem come to life in front of my own eyes!

 

 

 

Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.

If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.

If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.

If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.

If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.

If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.

If children live with fairness, they learn justice.

If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.

If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.

If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Copyright © 1972 by Dorothy Law Nolte

Keep Calm and Go to Target!

It never fails, you cannot walk into Target and not buy SOMETHING!!!  I love that store!  The new dollar section they created is wonderful!  Today they already had out the cutest Valentine's Day stuff like small gift baskets, and fun decorations.  They even had St. Patrick's Day decor too!  If you plan on going to any kind of St. Patty's Day events this stuff was perfect!  I hit the Christmas clearance section and found some great deals for next year!  Everything was 70% off!  Ornaments for 60 cents and gift bags for 70 cents!  Definitely worth the trip if you want cute things for next year!  The only problem is remembering where you put them next Christmas when you need them! LOL!  So just remember Keep Calm and go to Target!  Once your there...Go Crazy!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  Today I decided I was going to start blogging about fun, interesting, helpful things for Mom's on the go...which means all of us!  I have a background in mental health, but love to cook, read, and have fun!  Please check back often for blogs, and don't hesitate to post or ask questions! 2013....Let's do this!

Easy quick decorations!

Another easy to do, but looks like you bought it out of Pottery Barn is to buy some cheaper outdoor trees, or indoor trees pre-lit and add ornaments of choice to match your house decor and then a huge pre-made or handmade bow to the top!  The ones in my kitchen had pre-made bows from a local store, while the outside ones had star toppers on them!

Fun, Quick, Do it yourself Christmas Decorations!

 

A quick, cute, fun idea for a Christmas decoration for the on the go mommy!
Cupcake Holder, Ornaments color of choice, and a big bow to top it off!  :)

Elf on the Shelf Ideas!

What did we ever do before Elf on the Shelf!? Christmas time was a bit boring, other than our Advent Calendars!  This is just a fun time for everyone, but we don't always have a ton of time to put into it!
My son is 2 1/2 this year and I thought it would be fun to do the Elf on the Shelf.  We brought it out the day after Thanksgiving (before we went Black Friday Shopping! ;) and introduced him for the first time.  We read the story and named him Elfy.  At first he appeared every other day to get him used to the concept and within a week he was all about it!  By Christmas he totally grasped the concept of what the Elf was all about and wanted to make sure he knew everything he was doing. I even caught him holding the Toys R Us ad he had cut out and telling Elfy what he wanted from Santa!  Here are some of the fun things we did this year, nothing taking more than 5 minutes to do!  Thanks to  Personal Ideas, and some very crafty friends we had a great time!



Elfy brought cupcakes!
 (Bought pre-made mini's to save time! Love the bite size cupcakes to make it easy for little hands to eat!)

This next one was my favorite of all!  I bought tic tacs and called them magic seeds, then bought small Christmas bread pans and filled them with sugar.  The letter gave the directions to plant the magic seed and see what you find the next morning!  That night I baked the Pillsbury pre-cut Christmas tree cookies and stuck cake pop sticks in them to grow out of the sugar! (I added Elfy in the marshmallow bath just for fun and a mess! :))

  Planting our magic seeds!

 

Bam!  Magic Cookies appear the next morning!

 

 Elfy brought the classic Elf DVD! Hallmark has them

 

  Elfy brought the Elf on the Shelf Coloring Book! Hallmark!

 

 

 

Elfy left a Hershey's kiss trail from the bedroom door around the corner to his tree! Mommy had bought a bag of kisses the day before at the store and Elfy found them and made a mess!

 

 

Found a sleigh at Michael's for $5 and hung Elfy from the dining room light!  After we got him down we put the sleigh next to the TV and put our Christmas cards in it!  And each day when Elfy came to visit we would place him there after we found him so he could watch over the whole house the rest of the day!  (Mommy would move him, no one else!)

 

This was a tired Mommy morning! LOL! Used his IKEA chair to leave Elfy with a yummy treat and a hot wheels car!

 

 Elfy hopped onto our train under the tree for a ride

We were lucky enough to get a train for around our tree for $29.99 on Black Friday! It was a huge hit!  The cool Elf on the Shelf cookies came from Barnes and Noble who carries tons of cool stuff at pretty reasonable prices, along with Hallmark!

 

 

Yep!  We got TP'd, and it only took about 5 minutes to do this!  This was hilarious, once he woke up he said Elfy made a mess!  Clean it up mom!  LOL!  Elfy also left him a cool scratch and sniff Christmas book which he loved!  Only $5 at Barnes and Noble! "The Smells of Christmas"

 

Another one of my favorites was taking his toys and creating story time!  His special little gift was the Pez dispensers!  Pez where a huge hit!

 

 

 

A Skittles message of Love spelled out on the kitchen table!!

 

Elfy was in the Pantry with a Ninja Turtle Flashlight!

 

Elfy was at the foot of the bed with the Elf Story book!  This creeped him out a bit, but he loved the book! LOL!

 

 

Another Lazy Mommy morning...but those 4.99 baskets at Best Buy and Toys r Us come in handy!

 

 

This was a huge surprised that kept him talking for days!  He is very into TMNT right now and he could not believe his eyes when he woke up and Elfy had stolen his TMNT bus and the Ninjas were chasing him through the house along with a gang of Christmas decorations!  Anyone who asked him what Elfy did got the response..."He STOLEEEEE MY BUS!!!!" LOL!

 

 

 

Found this gem at Barnes and Noble!  Such a cute little water globe, and lights up!

 

 

Christmas Eve Elfy left Christmas PJ's and a cup and plate to put Santa's cookies and milk in for that night!  Every year I will put out a new pair of Pj's and the same cup and plate for Santa!  I love this as the finishing touch!