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What Should a 4 Year Old Know?

Feb21

A very refreshing view about what is truly important for children to learn. I whole heartedly agree with everything in this post :-) I was so worried about Seppe but that is because I was comparing him to his brother. I have to accept that Seppe will learn what he needs to at his own pace and that doesn’t make him less talented than his brother. Sometimes we just need to step back, take a deep breath, and enjoy our children. They already grow up way too fast, there is no need to rush them.

Alicia's avatarA Magical Childhood

What should a 4 year old know?

It’s back to school time and children all over are starting preschool.  Many parents are frantically searching the internet to find out if their little ones are “on track” and know everything they should.

I wrote this article about what a four-year-old should know many years ago but it continues to be the most popular page on the Magical Childhood site.  I don’t think a week has passed in the past eight or so years when I have not received a letter from a parent, grandparent or teacher about it.  Parents and principals especially have said they wish more parents realized these things.

So in honor of the new school year, I’m posting it here…

What should a 4 year old know?

I was on a parenting bulletin board recently and read a post by a mother who was worried that her 4 1/2 year old did not know enough…

View original post 1,194 more words

Grace

Feb7

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If you know me, you know that I am NOT a religious person. I am a firm believer that Spirituality is an Individual choice and journey. I feel religion tends to control more than guide these days. So why would some “non-believer” like me have my kids saying Grace at dinner?

Well, despite my dislike of the religious aspect of it, I believe that saying Grace teaches my boys something important: Gratitude.

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To me it’s not just a Prayer. I want them to take a few moments to think about All that they Have in their Life. A few moments where they aren’t concerned about Not having some stupid toy or Not getting something they want. I want them to be Grateful for what they Have and hopefully help them realize not to take it all for granted.

It’s so easy to do. We all forget how precious and short our time really is. We are all so worried about getting the things we Don’t have we forget to appreciate what we do have…. Until its gone. For kids it’s even harder to realize because to them everything is forever :-)

I figure that by saying Grace at dinner, they can start to see that as long as we have each other, a roof over heads, food on our plates, and clothes on our backs that we have all we Need.  Even though we Dont have all that we Want, we have so much to be grateful for.

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Trying Tempeh Bacon

Dec5

I’m always looking for healthy alternatives to foods that I love that are not the healthiest – like bacon.  One of my fellow Tone It Up sisters on twitter (@FrancesGetsFit) posted a pic of a BLT using tempeh bacon.  I decided to look for it the next time I was in Whole Foods.  I didn’t see the brand she used (Fakin Bacon .. I think). But I did find some tempeh bacon.

Tempeh Bacon

It took me a week to get around to trying it.  Not because I didn’t want to. I don’t cook bacon that often to begin with so I had to think about using it.

When I opened the box and took out the package, it looked like thinly sliced tempeh so I was really curious to see what they tasted like.  I just used olive oil cooking spray and placed the pieces on there.  Cooked it a couple minutes on each side.  It was really very easy to prepare and it smelled just like bacon.

Cooking the Tempeh Baking

I served it with 2 egg whites on top of spinach.

Served with 2 Egg whites and Spinach

So now for the taste….. It had a really great flavor – definitely tasted like bacon. The thing is, the texture.  It wasn’t firm like bacon and it still felt like tempeh. It was a weird combo in my mouth.  It went well with the egg whites and spinach though.  I think that it would be great to crumble up and toss in a salad :-)

What I really liked was how healthy it was. 7 pieces of 1 serving!! I only had 4 and that was plenty. Only 1g of fat, 130 Calories, 3g of Sugar, and 5g of fiber!

Nutrition Facts

Tempeh isn’t my favorite but it is great for a change. I’ve really opened up my mind to trying out new foods. It never hurts to try something out and I have been very pleasantly surprised with a lot of my new discoveries. So don’t be afraid to try out new foods and recipes :-)

Red Sauce

Nov30

So I’ve decided to start posting some of my recipes. Some of them are new ones that I’ve recently found, and some are old goodies. I’m really into natural healthy foods lately so I’ve been looking for ways to make some of my old recipes healthier. Cooking is therapeutic for me. It allows me to be creative and there is so much to learn. When I’m trying a new recipe, I will follow the measurements to the tee, but once I’ve figured it out, I will tweak it to what I like. Eventually, I won’t use measuring spoons and just wing it. I am a firm believer that every one (men and women) should learn to cook at least one dish – preferably your significant other’s favorite. It’s always nice to know that some one took the time to make something you love. Cooking is fun so don’t be afraid to give it a try :-)

Here is my Red Sauce recipe. I use it for spaghetti, rigatoni, lasagna, and pretty much any red sauce pasta dishes.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

Ground Turkey

1 – 2 c. Spinach (frozen or chopped)

1/2 onion – chopped

5 – 8 mushrooms (use as much as you like) – chopped

1 clove of garlic – minced

Italian Seasoning

Sea Salt

Garlic Powder

Red Wine

1 Jar Red Pasta Sauce

Warm Large cooking pan with olive oil. Brown ground turkey and salt and garlic about 1/2 tsp each)

Brown Ground Turkey and add Seasoning

Add Mushrooms and Onions – cook until softened.

Mushrooms and Onions added

Add Spinach- I like to use frozen spinach but fresh spinach works just as well :-)Season some more with Garlic and Italian Seasoning.

Add Spinach

Once spinach is soft, add 1/4 c of Red Cooking Wine, some more garlic and italian seasoning. Lower heat and allow to simmer for 10 -15 min.

Add Red Wine

Mix well and let simmer for about 10-15 min

Add Red pasta sauce. I add water to the jar to make sure I get all the sauce out.

Add Red sauce and water

Add 1/2 c. of Red Cooking Wine.

Add wine, season one last time, and mix well

Cover and simmer.

Season with Garlic and Italian Seasoning one last time. Make sure all ingredients are mixed well then cover and let simmer on low for at least 30 min. Stir occasionally. The longer you let it simmer, the better it tastes :-)

I love to pour it on top of quinoa :-) You can easily make this vegetarian by replacing the meat with your favorite veggies. The more you use the better!

Or mix with your favorite whole wheat pasta.

On top of Quinoa - My Favorite!

What A Parent Never Wants To Do

Oct22

There are something’s that I come across while I’m online that just inspire me to write. It might because it touched me deeply, sparked an idea or really made me think about Life. And this story is one of them:

http://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/127474/tay_sachs_turns_mom_into

As different as we all are in parenting, the One thing we all can agree is that We Never Want to bury our children. They bury Us – that’s How it’s Suppose to Be.

But what if the unthinkable happens? I Hate to think about it because it brings me to tears. Losing my boys is my biggest fear. I couldn’t imagine what Emily is going through. Knowing that there is nothing you can do but enjoy the time you have. It’s heartbreaking. If it’s not getting terrible news about a terminal illness, it could be some horrible accident. There are just no guarantees.

And that’s why I worry so much. Why every cough, sneeze, cold, flu, scratch, bump on the head, and mood changes can be nerve wrecking.

I try not to over react and I do a pretty good job of containing my paranoia. But I always worry that it could be something serious. I have no clue how I would handle finding out that one of my boys was terminally ill.

This article really made me realize how easily we take our kids for granted. We are so focused on turning them into “proper” adults and preparing them for the future. How often do we just enjoy them being a kid… our kid(s)?

My boys are with their Grandpa for the weekend but I wish they were home so I could just hold them. Hug them. And tell them that I Love Them with All My Heart and Soul.

I love how she ends her story: “Parenting, I’ve come to understand, is about loving my child today. Now. In fact, for any parent, anywhere, that’s all there is.”

I Love My Boys!

Me, Me, Me!

Sep13

Today is the First day that I have Both of my boys at school And Ben at work at the same time :-) I have the whole place to myself. And Yes!!! I am really happy about it.  Is that wrong? lol.

I love my boys, and Ben. And although I do enjoy time with just Ben, it is sooooo very nice to not have to think about anyone else but Me  – for once.  It’s so relaxing not having 3 people constantly asking you for something or to do something. “Can I have this?” “Can I do that?” “Would you do this for me?” all day long.

But not right now…. and not for another 3 hours :-) I have peace and quiet to do what I want to do. I think that’s why even if I’m really tired, I will get up early just to have 30 minutes of quiet to myself – before the chaos of my day begins.

So what am I doing to do for the next 3 hours?? One, I’m going to catch up on my blog. I really love to write. It helps me unwind and think.  I’d really like to get back to blogging more regularly. The other thing I’ll try to do is update pics. I have yet to upload pics from last month. I’ve fallen behind and I need to catch up! You’d think that I’d be able to do this even with the boys around, but NO I can’t. It’s so hard to concentrate when there is just constant noise everywhere. These peaceful hours are going to help relax me. I could definitely get use to this :-)

Your Baby Can Read – Week 1

Apr7

We’ve all seen the commercials with the babies reading before they can even talk and kids reading as young as 2. Yes, I was skeptical but impressed at the same time. So why did I jump on the Your Baby Can Read band wagon? Well, it’s mostly because of Gio.

His lack of preschool experience did put him a little behind his class when he started but Gio is a quick learner. With a little help from Mom at home, he was caught up in no time and he continued to improve greatly in all subjects…. except for one: Reading. I really didn’t know what they expected from him and what more I could do.  I read to him every night and he was starting to read small books to me.  I thought he was doing well.  Granted, his school has really high standards and his class has a lot of super smart kids.

So what do I do? Pile on more books for him to read? He just kept getting tired and frustrated. Plus I am not the best teacher for Gio. We have different ways of learning and it’s a struggle to get homework done with him.

Now there’s also Seppe… he’s so much further behind than most kids his age. We know that he will need all the extra help he can get. One day, I saw that commercial and decided – why not? It’s $14.99 for 30 days and we can give it all back if we don’t like it and get our money back. We figured it wouldn’t hurt to try it out.

We’ve been doing it for a week now. Gio is on the Your Child Can Read series and Seppe is on the Your Baby Can Read series. I had them both on the baby one at first, but it was obvious that Gio was past that. Plus he wasn’t helping by answering all the questions without giving Seppe a chance. The older series definitely suits Gio best. It’s longer and has more words for him to learn, plus it teaches phonics. I honestly believe that it has helped him a lot. He has gotten better at reading words and at writing sentences. He is at the very end of the age group of when this program will work best, but like I said before, Gio is a fast learner.  I will be moving him on to the second part faster than scheduled.

Seppe… well let’s just say it’s as if he’s a baby.  He takes a lot more work. I have to sit with him every time he watches his dvd. Partly to make sure he watches it, and partly because he needs that extra support. It’s not that he doesn’t like it. He just can’t sit still and focus. He is getting there though, very slowly. He can recognize a couple of words. It has helped him learn his colors though. He no longer calls black  and brown “dark.” It is definitely adding to his vocabulary and also helping with his talking. He is also more curious about any words he sees and constantly asks me to read to him.

Obviously, Seppe will not be reading in a months time, but I am hoping that there is some improvement. So far, I am happy with it. For me, it’s challenging because I have two kids at different levels that I have balance my time with. Reading is very important to me so I am not just putting the dvd on and walking away. I am very involved with this program. Besides the dvd, there are books and flash cards. We spend a lot of our day doing reading games. It’s hard work but my boys are worth it. I’ll have another update after week 2.

My Job

Mar20

Being a Stay At Home Mom IS a job. A very hard one . And I Dare anyone to say different. I think a lot of people take it for granted. When someone asks me “What do you do?” or “What is your job?” I proudly say “I’m a Mom.” Being a Mom Is a full time job, even if you have what I refer to as a “second job.” You never stop being a Mom.

Not everyone can be a Stay at Home Mom. Some of us have to be both Mom and Dad to our kids. And some of us are just not meant to be Stay at Home Moms. It takes a certain mentality to handle being at home with kids by yourself all day long.

Back when women were expected to stay at home, I can see why many felt trapped and wanted out.  No one likes being told they have to do something or be someone. Plus when you’re told that you can’t do anything else, it’s no wonder staying at home seemed like a prison. I’m sure so many women were depressed back then. But that is no longer the case. Women, have broken free from the kitchen and are now free to pursue their dreams, interests, and their heart’s desires. We no longer have to stay at home. We can be  superwoman with a career and be Moms at the same time.

That doesn’t mean that being a Stay at Home Mom isn’t a Job that you can be proud of and dedicate your life to. I think that in acquiring freedom from the house, some have gotten the wrong idea about being a Stay at Home Mom. I don’t have tons of “free” time. I’m not a lazy bum with no goals or motivation. I choose to be a Stay at Home Mom.

My days start early – even the weekends. I get myself and two boys dressed and ready, make breakfast, drop Gio off at school, entertain Seppe while I try to clean and organize the house, pick Gio up, make lunch, do homework, entertain both boys, make dinner, give baths, ready stories, and hopefully get them in bed by 8p. I manage to get in a workout during the times Ben is home. You might as well count Ben as a kid too. I may or may not have some peace and quiet after the boys go to sleep. Still have to put leftovers away, dishes, and pick up the toys the boys left out. If I’m lucky I’ll be in bed before midnight and the boys will sleep through the night (which rarely happens – one of them always wakes me up for something). Then I get to wake up and do it all again… Add in grocery shopping, practices, games, play dates, and birthday parties. I am always planning for something. I am always doing something.

It does take a toll on me. I am always tired. My only adult conversations are with Ben or short talks with parents from Gio’s class. The boys test me every day. I worry about them. I want the best for them and I’m not always sure that I am doing what’s right. I make mistakes and I lose my cool and of course feel guilty for it. But despite these challenges, I still Love my Job.

I have been there for every moment. Their first smiles, first word, first laugh, when the crawled, walked, and ran. I’ve watched them learn and grow. They’ve made me laugh and cry. They’ve amazed me. They keep me young. They remind me every day just how precious Life is. And there are going to be even more wonderful moments. Even though I do think of getting a “second job” – mostly to help with finances – there is no job out there that I would trade any of these moments for. I will be there for all of them.

I am truly grateful for Ben who works hard at his job so I can do mine. It is the Best Job in the world.