A Busy Toddler

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I just recently finished my local mothers-of-multiples club's consignment sale, and thought I would jot down some things before I forgot!  (Most clubs have semi-annual sales, one in the spring and one in the fall.)

Here's my table!  As you can see, I didn't have that many clothes to sell this time, so I could get away with hanging them off the edge of a basket, instead of doing the clothing rack route, which I address below.

If you're selling:

• Keep seasons in mind.  If you're selling in the fall, it's true that you're probably trying to get rid of summer things, but most people will be shopping for winter gear.  
• $100 in change is more than enough.  You'll need a couple twenties, some tens and fives, and $20 or more in ones.  The ones and fives are what you'll probably need most.  You may not even need this much change, but better than running out!  Bring a roll of quarters if you're selling things for less than a dollar.
• Watch your items!  It saddens me to report that at this most recent sale, one mother had a very high-quality coat stolen from her rack.  It's easy to get into conversation with those around us, but be sure to keep one eye on your items.  If you leave your table/area to shop or go to the bathroom, take your money with you and be sure to have the person next to you help keep watch while you're gone.  
• Racks and hangers.  If you have a lot of clothing to sell, they go faster when hung up, and this is easiest to do with a clothing rack.  Ikea has them for $13 ($10 for a rack without wheels).  At first I thought this would be a frivolous purchase, but the racks really do attract more customers.  Also, a friend of mine uses her rack for guest's clothing at her home, year-round, so if you have no actual guest-room closet, this is a good solution.

  

  Image from Ikea.com

   As for hangers, not all stores allow you to take the hangers with you when you buy clothes, so it's easy enough to get a pack, such as these from Amazon (Just don't be like me and forget to take the hangers back when selling the clothing!)                                                                                                                                                                 
  
  
• Keep prices fair. When setting up the night before I took a lap around the room to get an idea of how other people price.  Then I had to adjust some of my things accordingly.  If you really want to just get rid of items, price them fairly.  If you need to make more money on things, go ahead and price it high and see what kind of offers you get.  Have a number in your head and stay firm.  (Perhaps something was more expensive, you bought it new yourself, or you never even had a chance to use something.)
• Be realistic.  You won't sell everything.  You'll sell some things.
  
  

  

  Image from memestache.com

  
  No, you won't make millions!  In my first sale I made $180, this time I made $160.  You could make more, you could make less, depending on what you're selling and how much traffic can be generated for the sale event.  
• Remember you can sell elsewhere, too.  If you haven't tried it yet, consider joining Facebook pages for local sales, or perhaps your local multiples club has a classifieds page for members.  Also, a friend told me you can often sell larger things well on Ebay.  If you offer free shipping, then factor that in when setting a price.  Take as many pictures as possible, and note any and all flaws!  If you are overly critical of the product, then you can avoid the scenario of a customer complaining that it didn't meet expectations.  
• Bags.  Bring plastic shopping bags for customers to carry around their purchases.  Most people won't remember to bring their own, and this will be an added, appreciated gesture.  

If you're shopping:

• Bring cash!
• Make a list.  Write down beforehand what you need, and then what you want.  If you're looking for big-ticket items, you may even want to look online to see retail value, so that you'll know what kind of deals you're getting.  Also, with a list, you're less likely to feel overwhelmed walking into a big venue, and more likely to stay focused and self-disciplined when it comes to spending!
• You can negotiate.
• Look first, buy second.  Circle the whole venue first, that way you can compare similar or even identical items.  

In case you missed it, I have another post on this subject here:  Preparing for a Consignment Sale.

Happy selling and happy shopping!such as these from Amazon.

3 Hours Outside?

Welcome to my second "Old-Fashioned Friday!"  (Click here for my first Old-Fashioned Friday post.)  My dad might cringe when he reads that today's tidbit came from a book he read in his childhood:  "The Junior Instructor."  I occasionally like looking through antique shops for interesting old books, and bought Book 1 and 2.  When I showed it to my dad, he said he recalled reading these at school.

Cover of The Junior Instructor Book 2

These books began in 1916, but my volumes were published in 1959.  It's like an encyclopedia, or general reference book, for children, with lots of pictures, rhymes, and small paragraphs on anything from birds to the circus.

One of the sections, titled "Healthy Children," includes a "letter," written as though from a child to the mother.  Read it and see if what caught my attention the most, sticks out to you as well:

"Dear Mother,

 I need outdoor exercise to stay healthy.  All small children should play outdoors at least three hours every day, in good weather.  I need the right equipment to help me exercise my large muscles.  The small muscles of my hands and fingers are not yet well developed.  I need a fence or a jungle gym to climb on, and bars to hang on  I like to run and skip and dance.  I need to slide on a slide and swing on a swing and ride a tricycle.  After I am five years old, I will need roller skates and a jump rope."  

Page with Letter to Mother

So, what stood out to you?  For me it was the 3 hours outside every day!  Now that I think about it, that sounds ideal for my active little guys.  Decades ago, children did spend more time outside, and it probably did them good.  But we're lucky if we manage just 1 hour a day.  I let household chores, errands, laziness, and other things get the better of me, rather than making sure we're in the yard or going to a park as often as possible.  And as I wrote in my post on how much time should children spend outside, modern specialists only suggest a little over an hour for kids of about 2 years old.  But, inspired by this little "Letter to Mother" that I found, we've been making more of an effort to get outside.  The other day it was just 30 degrees outside (Fahrenheit), but we bundled up and spent an hour at the park.  It sure paid off at nap time!  

On a warmer day:  Chalk, cardboard boxes, and toy cars... all enjoyable outside, too! 

Time outside does wonders for kids' gross and fine motor skills, as that letter touched upon.  Get outside, if possible, and... 

Happy Friday!

Play In a Small Home: The Playpen

Sometimes in an apartment or small home with multiples, the walls seem to be caving in on you!  I tried to get out at least once a day with my twins.  Even a stroller walk in the neighborhood or a Target run counted.  As they get older, it's also good to get them out often to experience new things, get some exercise and fresh air, and provide a break in the form of a change of scenery for you.  But sometimes you just can't get out, for whatever reason, and/or there are still many more hours of the day to fill...so, get creative and use your space to your advantage!  (See my posts on using your windows and patio or balcony (if you have them) as play areas.)

Have you used a playpen to create a new play area?

A pack 'n' play, a box, a tub, a playpen, or a gated area all fit the bill, in my mind.  Keep in mind, these usually only work for babies and very young toddlers.  As your kids grow older they'll either be able to get out anyway, or need to start walking more and exercising those legs, and also exercising their new-found independence.  But, there can be some advantages to using a playpen when they're younger:  

• It keeps them safe and contained if you need to step out of the room for some reason.
• Being in a contained area with fewer choices can help them to focus on a toy or activity for longer than if there were more options, hopefully building up their attention spans. 
• A room can be broken up into different areas with playpens and gates, making it more interesting when going from one area to the next.  

When the boys were still learning to sit up on their own, I propped them up with boppy pillows inside of a pack 'n' play and gave them some books and toys.  

Another idea is to create little ball pits!  Thanks to grandma for the idea! See picture and video below:

J in his bathtub ball pit at grandma and grandpa's house.

While living in a townhouse, I sectioned off part of the downstairs (which was just one room and a small kitchen) with Playzone gates, a great gift from family!  They have adjustable panels, toys and music buttons built into some of the panels, and a swinging gate door that can be latched.  I put in a few pillows, an activity table, and a tub of toys that were regularly rotated.

Gates we used to create a separate play area in our dining/living room.,

We used two sets of Playzone gates to create a space big enough for 5 kids to enjoy!  

If you don't have enough room for our kind of set-up, the adjustable panels make it easy to create any size space you want.  Below is a picture of a smaller area I made as a reading nook.  Sometimes I would lock the gate and only let them in as a "special treat" (to make it more inviting), but when I had it set up with books I always left the gate open so they could go in as much as they wanted.  You might also be able to see how we used Velcro to lash the Playzone to more baby gates that we had set up around the TV.  (A baby-proofing post is in the works!)

Along with creating different play areas in the home, I also try to break up how much time is spent in each area.  Unless the boys are having a great time, my rule of thumb is no longer than an hour in any one area of the house, usually more like half an hour.  An hour of getting ready, drinking milk, and playing in the bedroom in the morning (maybe more "bedroom playtime" later in the day), then breakfast, then half an hour of playing in the living room, then maybe an activity like play-dough on the kitchen floor, then some time outside, then time upstairs, then back downstairs, and so on.  This suits the short attention spans of babies and toddlers.  And I find if we try to stay in one room or area for too long, everyone gets antsy and fussy.  Which means it's on to the next thing!  

For more ideas, here's my Pinterest board "Playpen Time."

Photo Books for Babies and Toddlers

Our children were born in California, and we moved (back) to Texas when they were 6 months old.  We have family in both states, and as a parting present, my sister-in-law in California made an ingenious gift.  She bought one of those plastic baby books that have an opening on each page for inserting photos, and made a scrapbook/photo album for the boys.  Each page had a picture of one of their 3 cousins, their aunt and their uncle.  Next to the picture was a little typed description of the person and their memories with the babies.

Enjoying their photo books a year after receiving them!

We would regularly flip through the book, and I would name the family members and read the descriptions to the boys.  I thought it was such a good idea, I used a similar book we had to insert other family photos.  Too lazy to actually develop pictures, I would just print some off on computer paper and cut them to size.

I think both albums were Sassy brand from Target, but I can no longer find them both online there.  The book I used can be found in a set of 4 baby books at Target here (the "Love Bug Photo Album), and the one my sister-in-law used, or at least a similar product, can be found at Toys R Us here.  (However, you wouldn't necessarily have to purchase these kinds of things, you could just get an inexpensive, yet sturdy pocket photo album meant for regular use and have the same end result.  We just happened to have these books as gifts anyway.)

Photo albums can be a great way to help your child remember people who are important in their lives but who they may not see on a regular basis.  I also added name labels to some of the pictures so that as they get older, they could even use them to start reading/spelling/writing family member's names.  It's also fun for them to see pictures of mommy, daddy, and themselves. :)

Now the twins are almost two years old and the photo albums are still among their favorite books to look through!  I need to make some more...

Parenting Book List

I'm a big reader.  Or at least, I was before I had twins!  But I still enjoyed reading up on things during the pregnancy, and catching a paragraph here and there when the babies arrived.  Once they started sleeping more, then I was able to indulge more often.  Here are the books I've read so far, and why I liked them.  Each title should link to Amazon if you care to read more reviews or info about any particular book.

Parents of Twins/Multiples:

Mothering Multiples: Breastfeeding and Caring for Twins or More!  by Karen Kerkhoff Gromada.  We had a lot of issues when it came to nursing, sadly.  But this book could be a great resource!

Ready or Not...Here We Come! by Elizabeth Lyons.  Another mother of twins gave me this book when I was pregnant, and you can expect many laughs AND great insight.

Twinspiration by Cheryl Lage.  Amazingly practical and funny advice for a twin pregnancy and logistics during the first year of life.

When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads by Dr. Barbara Luke and Tamara Ebelein.  This helped me figure out my nutritional needs as a mother carrying multiples, as well as going in depth to many medical issues that can arise and how to stay healthy!

Pregnancy:

What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel.  You know, the ubiquitous pregnancy book.  Great for just reading in sections by month.

What to Expect: Eating Well When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel.  This book really helped me designate how much of everything I should eat each day (protein, magnesium, iron, calcium, what?!) and how to balance and plan my meals.  I wasn't eating that healthfully before I was pregnant, so I wanted to be extra careful once I was.  Over half the book is recipes, and the Chicken Enchiladas were a favorite!  But I do have to say that when it came to being pregnant with twins, following the advice in Dr. Luke's book (see above) would be even more helpful and specific.

Sleep:

The Baby Sleep Solution by Suzy Giordano.  A close friend loaned me this book, and it helped me shape my daytime AND nighttime routines to nudge the babies towards sleeping through the night.  It made very high claims, which weren't realistic for us, but it helped me shape the goals we eventually worked towards.  To follow the author's guidelines while nursing exclusively might not work too well for everyone, but like I said, her advice on routines was helpful.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, M.D.  I tried reading this book while sleep deprived on the Kindle version, and became thoroughly confused.  But once I realized I could just jump to the sections that pertained to me, I felt it had some sane advice.

Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber, M.D.  This book helped us help our twins sleep through the night at 6 months.  I realize the author's last name my cause knee-jerk reactions for some, but for our family it's been a good reference.  It is not about "leave the baby to cry forever," quite the opposite.  He gives several different tools based on what your specific family situation and preference may be.

Baby/Toddler Care and Health:

Complete Book of Baby and Child Care by Paul Reisser.  This is a publication of Focus on the Family, a Christian organization.  So the parenting advice it gives is faith-based, but it also has large sections on straight-forward care-taking and medical information for newborns to teenagers.  

Jo Frost's Confident Toddler Care.  I'm a big fan of Jo Frost, otherwise known as "Supernanny," on TV, so I couldn't help myself and bought her book.  It really could fall under every category in this list, because she gives no-nonsense/common sense advice on everything from napping and playing to potty training and eating.

My Child Is Sick! by Barton D. Schmitt, M.D.  My mom gave me this book and it's been a great book to just quickly look up a symptom and find out what it might be and what to do.

Keeping Your Child Engaged:

Things To Do with Toddlers and Twos by Karen Miller.  I think this was written as a resource for daycare facilitators.  However, it has a lot of ideas for activities to do with more than one child, and advice on structuring routines, establishing behavior expectations, etc.

The Toddler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner.  This is basically a book chock full of activities to do at home with your 18 month to 3-year-olds.

Discipline and Parenting Styles:

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua.  I'm married to a Chinese-American guy, so I felt I really should read this, and I was equal parts looking for honest advice and morbidly curious.  I gasped and cringed with the best of them while reading, but I have to say that it was entertaining and educational at the same time.  My conclusion is that, while I do want my children to understand hard work and and self-discipline, and the success that can come from those virtues, I'd like to try and achieve it with a more moderate approach.

Bringing Up Bebe, by Pamela Druckerman.  This book was written by an American who gave birth and raised one singleton and one set of twins in Paris.  I adored it!  But then, I'm a francophile (and an anglophile, while we're at it).  It was fascinating to read about the French approach to various parenting aspects that we Americans obsess over.  The author (and Le Billon, author of a book you'll see below) seems to imply that a lot of things our parents would have done with us, or our grandparents, that at one time were common sense, have been flipped around and now many parents feel lost and don't know what to do.  Some French ways aren't superior (nursing is obviously a health benefit when possible, but not emphasized in France for some reason) but many of their tactics are just logical.

Bringing Up Boys, by Dr. James Dobson.  This is a Christian book on parenting, and the author is fond of lots of statistics and anecdotes.  It helped me gain some perspective (as a female who grew up an only child with no brothers) on what little boys might need.

The Duggars: 20 and Counting! by Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar.  Yes, I watch the show.  Say what you will about the Duggars, but I felt they did have good advice on raising children who are polite and kind, as well as advice on logistics for managing multiple children.

How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm by Mei-Ling Hopgood.  I'm still reading this, and while the cultural tidbits from around the world are interesting, the author's own personal thoughts don't seem to be quite as engaging as I'd hoped.

The James Dobson Parenting Collection.  I bought this particular volume because it held 3 different books in one handy place:  The New Dare to Discipline, The New Strong-Willed Child, and Parenting isn't for Cowards.  I'm only half-way through, but it's helped my husband and I to make some choices when it came to discipline, and it also was encouraging to me.  In The New Dare to Discipline, the most encouraging chapter was "A Moment for Mom."  It was a reminder that I need regular time to myself and that creating those times shouldn't be guilt-inducing.  When mom is healthy and whole, the whole family benefits.

A Love That Multiples by Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar.  This is really just an extension of the kind of things they wrote about in the book I read before, see above.

Food:

French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon.  I'm currently reading this book, about a Canadian mother's experience in France.  It's a fun read, and eye-opening.  I've used tips from this and from the book by Druckerman (see above) to make sure my sons like and eat veggies, are willing to try new things, and have a varied menu (when possible).

Cooking With Kids by Linda Collister.  This is a cookbook with recipes that can be made with and for children.  My mom gave it to me before I even became a mother (hmmm, was she hinting?) and I made some of the recipes for my husband and I.  The roasted Italian chicken is a favorite.  I look forward to using this book even more when the boys are older!

Please share your favorites with me in the comments below!  I'm always on the look out for a good book.

Fostering a Love of Reading

As a former kindergarten teacher, I know all about the importance of literacy!  And as a book lover myself, reading is something I want my twins to love too.  It's a lovely image, that of a parent cuddling a child and reading a book together.  But realistically, as a mother of wiggly twins, that scenario hardly ever happens for me.  Before the boys could roll over, I would lay them both on the bed or floor on their backs, and lay next to them, holding the book over their heads for them to see.  I would do this after every daytime feeding.  Once they could sit up (or once they kept rolling over and crawling away during stories), I switched to reading to them while in their high chairs, making it part of meal time.  Here's the basket of books I keep by the table, along with another basket of remote controls and other baby contraband!

Now they're 15 months old, and I still read to them mainly while they're in their high chairs.  Making reading part of the routine makes sure that it happens.  My goal is to read them one picture book every time they eat a meal or snack, and at bedtime my husband helps to hold them for the bedtime story.  This means they're read at least 6 books a day!  Sometimes more, if during playtime one of them brings me a book on their own.    Incorporating books so often throughout the day helps even babies and young toddlers learn the basics of how to soak in the illustrations, turn pages, and how to look at a book right-side up... though not always...

As you can see, we've got a little shelf with board books on it in the twins' bedroom, which they can look at any time we're up there.  Below is the basket I keep on the living room floor, which is also accessible at any time.  Any book that has paper pages that I don't want torn, I keep out of reach.  I try to rotate all the books around from time to time.  

Obviously, early exposure to "how books work" is great for a child's educational success, but it's also become a form of entertainment in our house!  The picture below was not posed!  By seeing parents handle books so often, and by putting books all around the house, it show their importance and value to the child, and they develop their own independent interest in them.  And mommy gets a two minute break....oh, I mean, and mommy has fostered a love of reading in her children ;)