Elementary Activities: DIY Recycled Storage Cube

Guest Post by Katie Rowley

Hi! This is Katie. I am pleased to share with you this activity I did. I first got this idea when my dad brought home some dry ice in a styrofoam container. He is a nurse in the operating room.

(Note from Mom: If you don't know a nurse, you might have an old styrofoam cooler hanging out in the garage or you can buy one for about $5-$10 dollars at the store.)

I knew I wanted to make it into a storage cube where I could put all my jewelry but I didn't like the color so I asked my mom if I could paint it.

My bedroom is mostly pink so I chose pink. Just to warn you: Whatever color you choose it turns out much lighter than you think because the styrofoam absorbs all the paint.

Make sure you lay down some newspaper wherever you are painting. It gets a little messy! If you have an old t-shirt, wear that so your nice clothes don't get dirty.

Once you are done painting and the paint has dried, you can look around your house for some ribbon or other things you could use to decorate your cube.

I did bows and ribbons but your cube doesn't have to look exactly like mine. I love the way my cube looks in my room. It is perfect for all my jewelry so my room stays clean. Plus it is a great place to put my alarm clock and more stuff!

I think this storage cube would be perfect to store Polly Pockets or Littlest Pet Shop animals or toy cars or many other things.  I think that it is cool that I thought of this idea all by myself. And it cost zero dollars to make!

I hope you enjoy this project and it is useful to you. Pin It

Parenting Tips: Scaling Back the Holiday Madness

By Deborah Pace Rowley

Even though we have been known to jump on the holiday bandwagon here at Puddle Wonderful Learning, I couldn't help but repost this excellent article by Kristen Howerton at the Huffington Post. I couldn't agree more with what Kristen has to say. It is a great reminder to keep our holiday celebrations simple, cheap, easy and fun for everyone concerned, especially Mom! 

Can We Bring the Holidays Down a Notch? 

By: Kristen Howerton

This past Sunday was St. Patrick's Day, a holiday I had completely forgotten about until my oldest stumbled out of bed and into the living room at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday night while we were watching SNL.  "Can I help you guys hide the gold coins?" he asked. The WHAT?  "The gold coins. I know the leprechauns aren't real. I know it's you, like Santa. So I want to help you. I can make the leprechaun trap, too."

We told him to go to bed and then looked at each other with exasperation. Gold coins? A leprechaun trap? Is he serious?  When I was a kid we celebrated St. Patrick's Day by wearing something green. THE END. I had noticed that over the past few years, our kids were getting some grander ideas from school. But I didn't think that we needed to replicate these experiences at home.

Apparently, the children believed that we did.

All four of them woke up and came into our room like it was Christmas morning.

Did a leprechaun visit?

Can we search for him?

Did he leave a pot of gold?

Let's go find the gold coins!

I bet he left chocolate!

So. Many. Expectations.

All of which were dashed.

I had four seriously disappointed and grumpy kids on my hands. At one point my daughter went into full-blown meltdown mode, kicking random items in her room and yelling about what a LAME HOLIDAY this was.

And in my overly-tired impatient state, I might have yelled back, "YOU'RE RIGHT. This IS a lame holiday. It was never my favorite. All we did was wear green. That's all we're doing today. I'm sorry if you do more at school. That's not what we do here. I don't know where you are hearing this stuff but it's not happening here."

Fellow parents: St. Patrick's Day is supposed to be a "phone-it-in" holiday. Yes, I've turned into a bit of a grinch, but SERIOUSLY WITH THE HOLIDAY OVERKILL. It used to be Christmas was the main event, but now it's as if every holiday must be at a Level 10. And if Christmas wasn't already hard enough as a parent, someone also decided that we have to move an Elf around every day, into creative tableaus? And then someone else decided that the Advent Calendar was A Thing beyond a simple religious observation and now involves some kind of gift each day leading up to Christmas?

And about a month after having survived that whole mess, we've got Valentine's Day, which has became The New Halloween, because God forbid you send a simple store-bought card. You'd better include some candy or your child will be shunned. Shunned! One of my kids came home with not just a candy from each class, but a WHOLE FREAKING GOODIE BAG from each student.

And then, I think I've got a break for a month BUT NO. Surprise! We've got 100 Days of School to celebrate. And by "celebrate" I mean the kids sticking 100 things on a hat. And by "the kids" I mean me.

And suddenly Pi Day is a thing? My children expect to be served pie because someone at school told them so?

And Dr. Seuss's birthday? Sure it's a great event for school, but my kids are now asking what we're doing to celebrate that at home, too.

And do not even get me started on what Easter has become. When I was a kid my mom went to the store and bought us a new dress and a pre-made plastic Easter basket for $8.99.  THE END. There was candy and we loved it. Maybe we would die some eggs from a kit sitting in the check-out lane at Target. They would look like crap.

Now we've got to leave footprints from the Easter Bunny and make artful, Pinterest-worthy eggs with stencils and ikat prints and probably some that are ombre. AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT.

I don't like the feeling of disappointing my kids. But I refuse to give into this holiday overkill. I'm overwhelmed enough as it is. Today I gave all of my kids a bath. We read with each of them for the recommended 20 minutes. We reviewed our math facts. We practiced guitar. We sat together at the table and ate a meal that was NOT procured at a drive-thru.  We played outside. Most days, I'm struggling to achieve all these things. I can't have these haphazard, once-monthly overblown holidays take over my life.  I can go big for Christmas and Easter. That's all I can handle.

But I can't do this alone. Fellow parents... teachers... sunday school workers... I beseech you. BRING IT DOWN A NOTCH.  Ya'll are setting up expectations that I just can't maintain. Wouldn't we all be just a little happier if we returned to the slacker days of store-bought valentines and kit-dyed eggs and JUST WEARING A GREEN SHIRT AND CALLING IT A DAY?

For the sake of overwhelmed parents like me, I beg you. Stop the madness.

Pin It

Parenting Tips: Making Memories {Guest Post}

by Tiffany Rudd & Ashley Sullenger

I recently sat trying to write a Parenting Tip post about enjoying motherhood. Being a mom is not easy. Children come with a lot of hard work, tantrums, sibling fights, constant demands and not always a lot of appreciation. But, I believe one of the most important things we can do as parents is to pause throughout the day and enjoy our children. Every time I stop running long enough to spend time with each of my children or even just really look at them, gratitude for my blessings washes over me. I'm reminded of how lucky I am to be a mom, to be their mom. 

As I sat pondering this tip, the Sullenger family kept coming to mind. I started reading Ashley's blog in 2010 when their beautiful daughter was in an accident. Ashley has been such an example of strength and faith through trial. I am trying to be more like her and I will often read past posts from her blog on those days when I need reminded to enjoy the moments I have with my children. I am so incredibly grateful Ashley was willing to share a guest post with us today. I'm sure you'll learn from her as much as I have. 

_____________________________ 

Memories. We all have them, and are constantly making new ones. We tend to focus on the positive ones, and push the negative ones aside. Whether our memories are good or bad, what if suddenly we weren't able to make new ones? What if all we had left were the memories we once took for granted?

July 2010, Preslee, my 18 month daughter, fell into a canal while my husband and I were on a date. She was air lifted to Primary Children's Medical Center in SLC, UT where she fought for her life. I would have never dreamed the last memory I would have with my child would be holding her in my arms while she took her last breath.

Primary Children's Medical Center July 2010

Suddenly I found myself childless, grasping on to the only thing I had left, which were memories.

Now, 19 months later, many of those memories are beginning to fade.

I am so incredibly grateful for everything I did to document Preslee's life. Last year we were blessed with another child, a little boy, we named Ledger. Even if I never lose my son, I realize there will come a day that I will miss my daily routine of being a mom. I now try to preserve any memory I can with Ledger and my husband. Here are a few things that I've come to understand.

Family pictures with Ledger 2011

Write.

I love writing, I probably write more than the average person, but I now record a lot more. My blog is incredibly important to me and I love that I can look back and read about Preslee's precious life. I also have a private blog, where I record the more personal things dealing with our family and all of Ledger's milestones. (I'm pretty sure not everyone cares about them as much as his proud mama does) I combine both blogs to create a book using Blurb, which I absolutely love.

One thing I've learned is to work on it more than once a year, if not, it can become extremely overwhelming to put together. Whether it's writing on a blog or in a journal, I understand the importance of documenting our experiences.

Photograph. 

I've learned to save all the pictures I take, even the ones that don't seem "blog worthy." My favorite pictures I have of my daughter are the candid ones that depict who she really was. Always save the original, even after you edit it. 

This site gives some great tips on organizing and backing up your photos.

Videotape.

When talking to a friend who lost her husband, she suggested to switch off who stands behind the video camera. She explained the same person usually tends to videotape, so they rarely appear in the videos. When I went back and watched ours, I realized that I'm in very few. I now hand the camera over to my husband more often.

Gratitude.

This may sound strange, but for me, gratitude and memories are strongly tied together. My strongest memories throughout the years, are when I was the most content and happy with where I was in life.

It's easy to constantly focus on the future, especially when raising children. But, after losing Preslee, I've come to understand every single day is a gift, and I have no idea how many days I have left with the people I love. I now focus on the present, hoping to always make the most of it.

February 2010

I now encourage you to do the same. Get out your camera more often, make time to write, and be grateful for what you have been given. Cherish the moments you get to spend with family and friends, and appreciate the experiences you share with them.

Because I now understand, very few things last forever.

Pin It