Say NO to sweets!

Do you want to enjoy a happy, healthy Christmas Season? Limit your sweets and increase your veggies. Spinach dips and artichoke dips can be made with low fat ingredients. There are many wonderful dips to serve with veggie and fruit platters.
If you receive too many gifts of candy and chocolates...re-gift them or donate them. Keep them away from the kids.
Serve a great desert wine with fruit and a variety of cheeses for that after the main course treat.
Most of us love nuts, but with all the peanut and food allergies out there it may be best to keep your house nut-free over the holidays.
Don't forget your pets! Many seasonal plants and chocolate in particular is harmful to dogs and cats.
Keeping the kids on schedule and making sure they get enough rest is important too over the holidays.

Brrrrrr!

Brrr! It's cold today...a high of zero.
We had a successful toddler Halloween party with lots of icing and crumbs.
Now that the cold weather has hit we should think about stocking up on cough meds and Tylenol and especially vitamins and vitamin D drops are also recommended. With the shorter days and barely any sun most people who live in northern climates suffer from a vitamin D
deficiency. Think about increasing the amount of citrus fruits the children eat and oranges are in season now and very firm and juicy.
We will be doing more indoor crafts now. We have dinosaur cookie cutters to make some wonderful cookies and we will be attempting some painting. With the approach of Christmas we will be doing some Christmas crafts and making gingerbread houses.
Dress warm and don't forget your mittens!

Too Much Poop!

We had a new little boy join our day home today. So far, one has peed her entire clothing ensemble, one pooped (diarrhea) his whole outfit, my rug, and a quilt. He ate his lunch very well and went down for a sleep with a minimum of fuss. We got through the morning with only one hitting issue and caught one pinching.
I feel a little sorry for these poor little people wrenched out a warm bed in the dark and taken to a stranger's home where they spend up to 10.5 hours a day. They are not able to articulate their fears and their concerns and so often their only recourse is to scream and kick and fight. I don't doubt for a moment that they fear other children who bully them and us care givers who don't understand them like Mom. They probably have nightmares as well. Our rules don't make sense to them and do they really understand what we are giving them a time out for???
I sincerely hope that my dayhome is a positive experience for these children and that I can make it a place they love to come and not fear.

Moving on....

Fall is here and we had a great summer inspite of the mosquitos. We went to a water park,
farmer's markets, and some playdates and shopping in the city.
I have absoulutely the best day home kids ever from great homes with awesome parents.
One little girl left our day home and the kids were quite sad over it, but her Mom decided to quit work and stay home with her. What could be better than that!
We are learning about dinousaurs and try to visit the library once a week. On one visit we were treated to our own storytime. We are planning a Halloween party and have invited some other children to join us.
Even with the approach of cooler weather I hope that we can still spend some time outdoors.

A good morning even if it is raining (sort of)

Yucky, rainy, bug infested Friday! It has been a good morning....we have read a story, watched a show about caterpillars and butterflies, played with hot wheels and trains, CD's out the shelf that we weren't supposed to, and a cool fire truck.
Lunch today is grilled cheese and the 'little' one is even eating, raw veggies; carrots and tomatoes and if everyone devours that....on to yogurt and fruit and NAPS! Yeah! for naps....makes for a happier child care giver and kids.
Hoping the sun comes out this afternoon so we can all go out and play!

Mac 'n Cheese

Why, given a choice do most kids want mac 'n cheese? I never liked it personally and vowed my own children would never have to eat it, but of course they went to Grandma's and she let them have it.
One day a week I let the day home children choose between two food items for lunch and invariably they choose mac 'n cheese and they loveit and eat tons of it.
The mosquito's are voracious and we haven't spent as much time outdoors this week as I would have liked to as the weather was beautiful and it will probably be winter much sooner than we would like to think. Yesterday, one child slept a lot; either due to just being tired or she isn't feeling well and the heat seems to bother her, or she just isn't feeling well and when we did go out, even though we used repellent, the mosquito's got into diapers and hair and each time the children got out of the paddling pool we had to re-spray!
I did purchase a 'bug zapper', which is charging and we will see if this makes any ifference.

Red Food Coloring

Next time you go to eat something red or pink....milkshake, jello, yogurt, juice, or jam take a good look at what is in it.
Red dyes come from the ground Cochineal or Carmine beetle native to South and Central America. This beetle commonly lives in the Opunita cactus and was widely used by the Aztecs.
FD & C red dye or Red #40 is made from petroleum or coal tar, not insects, which doesn't sound much better.
An allergy to this beetle is the reason for so many reactions to red dyes.
Read your labels before buying or giving your children RED!
Remember the movie "Striptease"? The main character tried to sue a yogurt company for a bug in her yogurt... maybe it was the whole beetle and not just a ground up one! Lol!

Rashes, Eczema

Do your children have rashes, and eczema??? How much milk do they drink?
Do you use fabric softener? What type of detergent do you use? Do you use bubble bath? What kind of soap do you use to wash your child?
Try soy milk for awhile, Aveeno bath products and no bubble bath, perfume and dye free detergent, no fabric softener (it isn't needed on cotton fabrics...only polyesters and nylons that 'cling'), no red food coloring.
See if this makes any difference. If it does, your child probably has allergies and you should see you Dr. or Pediatrician to discuss allergy testing.
Try Gardener's Dream Cream, which is a natural product produced on Salt Spring Island, B.C. It can help or elimate the use of steroids on your child's skin and relieves itching from almost any 'itch'. It can be purchased at most health food stores and if you check out their website you can see where it is available in your area. At first glance, it looks expensive, but lasts a long time and goes a long way. (About $40.00 for the large jar and $22.00 for a tube) It helps those nasty mosquito bites as well and also great for aches and growing pains.

Vampires!

Blood thirsty vampires out there! The mosquito infestation seems to just be getting worse if that is possible! We cannot go out in the mornings until the sun hits the backyard and patio and even tho' I spray the kids constantly they seem to get bites. It is hot so they want to play in the water and then we spray some more. One child has a rash behind their knees and the spray stings so in the water with pants on! One had a bite inside her diaper....
Last night's new said the mosquito's are getting worse and the problems isn't going away any time soon.
Any ideas??? Summer is way too short as it is and the kids need to get outside, but this is just brutal.
Huge bowls of strawberries for breakfast this morning and my littlest actually ate some for the first time. Snack was milk and a graola bar. The children are all whiny today so an early nap for one and the other two loved their pasta/veggies Alfredo for lunch .... seems to be a favorite....and now a few minutes of peace and quiet... to catch my breath as it has been a very busy and active morning.
We aquired two tambourines for music so that should be fun this afternoon.

"Germs"

We are trying very hard to cut down on the spread of germs. The children each have their own sippy cup and each have a separate face cloth...I do not use the same one for them all! Little hands are washed frequently and today especially with the runny little noses being wiped with the back of a hand! The wipe box is being kept pretty close by as well. Chairs and tables are wiped down with disinfectant after each 'sitting', whether it be play, meal, or snack time.
Do you give your child any vitamins or vitamin D drops? It is being recommended by pediatricians and helps your child's immune system. We do not get a lot of sunlight and with the amount of sunblock we do use, most of us are lacking at least vitamin D. My husband and I have found a greater resistance to colds and flu by taking multi-vitamins, vitamin D, and B 12's.
A lot of children do not eat well or are picky eaters so this might be a way to supplement the things they are not getting especially when they go off formula.
Check it out on line and with your Dr.
We do not have sweets and snack is not a 'freezee'. If the weather ever gets hot enough we might conider some real fruit popsicles or frozen raspberries or grapes, which are great alternative. I also keep the children well hydrated with water when they are playing outside on the warmer days. However, our snacks are usually fresh fruit, smoothies, or healthy granola bars with no added colour or chocolate, and as little glucose as possible and sometimes some cheese as well.
During the summer months if/when it is hot we do need a certain amount of salt in our diet, but most of this is achieved from our normal meals. We drink lots of milk and if your child is lactose intolerant we can very easily switch to soy.

Can't believe it already July and we have had virtually no summer yet to speak of and the mosquito's are quite vicious and plentiful this morning.
All of the kids seem tired this morning .... after a long weekend of travel and camping.
We are getting a slow start! As soon as the sun hits the patio we are going out to enjoy the day.
We have some new toys; three small riding toys, some sandbox toys and a toddler basket ball hoop! We have more than one ball so hopefully sharing won't be an issue.
To date, I have not had to use and disciplinary measures other than taking a child aside for a moment to explain that a certain behavior is not appropriate... and very few tears!
We are planning to finish our booklets on "B" and butterflies this week and we will be getting on with the letter "C" and I think we will go with caterpillars as they are still interested in the four stages of the butterfly and obsessed with "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".
We have added some musical instruments to try to establish some rhythm with our singing...this is obviously going to take some practice and we may have to put the drum aside for the time being as it seems to be the object that interests everyone or acquire a few more!
Enjoy the sun!
Very tired, sleepy kids today, but the youngest one ate today!!! Yeah! One went pee on the potty! They all seem to have runny noses today so lots of hand sanitizer for me and the house is getting wiped down with Chlorox wipes! One missed lunch today because she fell asleep at the table while I was dishing lunch up. Poor baby!
The new outdoor toys are a big hit, even if one has taken all the stickers off of everything.
Once the sun hit the patio the mosquito's seemed to disappear and we all got a good spray with Off before venturing out.
It was a pretty good morning...no fights...one little scraped knee and lots of smiles! :)

A free unstructured day :)

We had an awesome day today! Free and unstructured. We were missing one child today :(
(missed him) so braved it and took the other two shopping at Walmart. It was a great success! We bought groceries, looked at toys.....no crying, whining or tears!
My grandchild, Chloe came after lunch and the other two went down for much needed naps.
Chloe mauled me and made me watch Callihoo .... not like I haven't seen/heard these episodes previously.....like many, many, many times! Lol!
The youngest child was picked up early and my other awesome little girls is playing beautifully with Chloe!
We had leftovers for lunch and my youngest hardest to feed ate very well today! Bravo! Baby!

Wow! A beautiful day in the sun

We began our day with an episode of Dora. The day home children were slow waking up this morning. The youngest one went right to sleep and slept about and hour. The other two continued with our "B" is for Butterfly and the four stages of the life of the butterfly with play dough. I am not sure how much they have played with play dough and it took a little work and or course mixing up of the colours to get enthused. We made the egg, a capterpillar munching a leaf, a cocoon, and a butterfly. It is amazing what good little memories they have when they are two and a half!
We had cheerios for breakfast with banana, banana bread for morning snack.
Paul and Chloe arrived mid morning to play and really got the kids going and playing in the water outside. The youngest one is fearless and thinks it is great fun to have the hose turned on her and sits in very cold water, dumping it on her head. They had a great time.
Some very tired kids ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and went down for naps.
For some reason, no one had a very long sleep today.
After naps it was snacks of fruit and granola bars. They all drank a lot of water today, we had a lot of very water logged diapers from sitting in the paddling pool, and we used a lot of sunscreen.
We played outside until almost 5 pm and then it was time to pick up the toys and head in to finish our butterfly craft. We used little bug catchers from the dollar store, fake plastic grass with flowers, and really cool silk ? butterflies. The kids thought they were pretty cool.
It was a great day with lots of outdoor fun!

New Toys

Next week we hope to have some additions to our backyard toys; one to ride on, pull, and a little basket ball hoop. In the weeks to come I am hoping to ad a small trampoline, similar to the ones sold at Toys 'r us.

This week's activities

This week we are studying the four stages of the butterfly. We are working on a booklet, a craft, singing songs and stories about butterflies and caterpillars. A favorite book is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. This book can be found on U-tube if you wish to view it or the Public Library has it.

We are acquiring some little musical instruments for next week so that we can enhance our music time (hope the neighbors are deaf).

We went for a walk this week and it was a great success!

Next week there will be more outdoor toys added.

Keep scrolling down to see Menu's.

My Day Home Philosophy

It is my belief that children learn through play, being talked to, read to, and a regular routine.

Children are a gift from God and need to be loved, cherished and taught. Proper nutrition has a huge impact on behavior and sleep. I provide crafts that teach and promote learning. We do not watch TV, but the children are allowed age appropriate programs first thing in the mornings until all of the children have arrived and are awake enough for breakfast.

I DO NOT give 'time outs' to toddlers! We distract, say no, and sit down and talk about whatever incident may have occurred. It seems to work!

I try to learn as much as I am able to about each child's routine at home and special needs, likes and dislikes so that I am able to provide a happy environment.

We are constantly learning. We color daily, have music and singing time, and are learning the alphabet and work on a craft daily, which is completed to take home at the end of the week.

I do not give sweets, cookies or chocolate, foods containing red dyes (are you aware that most red dyes come from a beetle from South America?) or msg. We eat fruit for snacks, healthy crackers, vegetables and dip, and cheese.

We are acquiring new toys weekly; some for learning and some for free play time. We drink lots of milk, can provide soy milk if desired and water. If you wish your child to have juice please advise or bring your own.

It is your responsibility to provide diapers, wipes, special creams your child requires, bottles, formula,a sippy cup or water bottle, and appropriate attire for the weather as we spend time out door daily. A change of clothing is appreciated as well.

I will never post pictures of your children on any online site or take pictures of your child on a cellphone.