Preparing Your Home for a Party (Super Bowl or Otherwise)

Are you having people over for the Super Bowl this weekend? Personally, I only very briefly considered it before I decided that on a Sunday night, I would rather be at home in my pajamas with just my family. But if you are having people over, you may be thinking about getting your house ready (always a challenge with kids around). Check out some tips below to help you prepare!

10 Tips to Prepare Your House for a Party

1. Make a list of everything you want to accomplish before the party.

2. Some things to consider:

• What rooms will guests be in? Plan to pick up these rooms so they are not cluttered and people can easily gather.

• Does anything need to be removed from those rooms? De-clutter and remove anything that you wouldn't want accidentally broken.

• Where will guests put coats?

• Where do you want guests to put their shoes (or is it okay for them to be wearing them)?

3. Prioritize cleaning your bathroom and kitchen- these are areas that gross people out if not cleaned.

4. Don't worry about rooms guests will not go in. For instance, we always close off our bedroom because I never seem to have enough time to clean it up before a party and guests don't need to go in there.

5. Get your kids and significant other (if applicable) to help! Even little ones can help. My son (1.5) loves to help (usually) - so we get him to pick up his playroom, throw trash away, bring laundry to his room, etc. to help us when we are picking up. Assign your significant other tasks to accomplish.

6. Set up a food table. I personally prefer disposable items for easy cleanup. So I will set up a table with a plastic tablecloth, paper plates, plastic utensils, and paper napkins. I have a table set up for people to get food. I have a folding table for this, so people can still use the dining room table. But for certain events, I would expect people to sit on couches and around the TV. Then I can have two tables set up (a separate table for desserts and/or drinks for instance). I recommend having everything set up, so everyone will be able to easily help themselves. (That way you can better enjoy the party!)

7. If you are serving alcohol, set up a bar area away from other drinks kids can have. I would recommend this area to be somewhere easily accessed by adults (with enough room for people to mingle around it), but not in the way of where people will be watching the game and gathering. I would also make sure kids cannot get to it easily or knock down glasses/barware.

You can have the alcohol, mixers, glasses, ice bucket, and bar tools all set up and ready to go. That way guests can easily help themselves. Maybe add a decorative touch to this area to elevate it a bit.

8. Have stain removers and related tools ready to go. If you are having people over, something is probably going to be spilled. You can even have a small container with any cleaning supplies you may need during the party ready to go in a designated area.

9. Have a space ready for kids. What are kids going to be doing during the game? It is unlikely it will hold their attention the entire game, so have an area with toys and activities ready to go. If some of your guests have kids who will need to go to bed, consider where a pack-and-play or travel crib can go where it will be quiet and dark for them to sleep.

10. Decorate! Grab some fun football decorations or if your team is playing decorate your house in your team's colors. There are tons of cute decoration ideas out there. This will immediately make your house feel festive and fun!

Bonus! Prepare some games to play (games are for adults too). Personally, I love some light sports gambling at these types of events because even if I don't care about the team it gives me a reason to take an interest. But if you are not into gambling and/or want some other ideas, you could play:

• Football trivia

• Super Bowl Commercial Bingo

• Football Charades

For some more ideas, check out this article from Good Housekeeping!

Remember Mama, you are doing a great job! You got this!

Kids' Valentine's Day Craft & Gift Idea

Valentine's Day is just a few days away, are you looking for a fun Valentine's Day activity for your kids? Maybe one that could double as a gift? Check out the craft idea below, it can work for all ages!

I have my child's classroom exchange gifts ready to go, but I still needed to figure out what to give his teachers/staff at the daycare he attends. (Are you still looking for classroom exchange cards? Check out my post with four card freebie options!) So I decided we would do a fun Valentine's Day craft that doubles as a gift we can give out at daycare.

If your child doesn't go to daycare (or you/the daycare don't do gifting), this would also make a fun craft to do for friends, family, and neighbors as a way to brighten up their Valentine's Day.

I bought enough of everything to make 12 little crafts/gifts, the total cost came out to less than $5 each. I bought a 12-pack of Mason jars at Target. I got the ones with smooth sides to make them easier to paint. The whole pack only costs $12. We already had the paint at home. We used acrylic paint, which works on glass (though I wouldn't wash the glass too much). I then bought the different ingredients to make a sweet Valentine's Day trail mix. Parker helped me with mixing the trail mix. Then we painted the 12 jars together. Each teacher/staff member gets a painted jar full of trail mix with a little tag. I am very happy with this project because it was fun to make and a thoughtful gift!

You Need:

The jars:

• Mason Jars

• Acrylic paint

• q-tips

• paintbrush (optional)

• Heart stencil (I made mine from cardstock)

• Ribbon for tags

• Paper and hole punch for tags

The trail mix:

Feel free to be creative and include whatever ingredients you think will work well!

• M&Ms (I chose regular M&Ms because the daycare my son attends is peanut free)

• Mini pretzels

• Frosted cookies

• Yogurt covered raisins

• Cherry Hearts

• Cheerios (Some of the boxes even have heart-shaped cheerios!)

Set-Up:

Trail mix:

Because I was making 12 jars, I had a lot of trail mix supplies. So I had a couple of big bowls ready to go. Then I opened the packages and helped my little one pour the ingredients into the bowl. I then gave him a spoon to help me stir the ingredients together. I used a measuring cup to fill the jars (I did this after he went to bed).

If you have large bags (I have 2.5-gallon bags left over from Thanksgiving), you could dump all the ingredients in the bag and mix them together in the bag. I would probably do this next time to evenly distribute ingredients instead of separating them across multiple bowls.

Art project:

You will probably want to cover your table or workspace so the paint does not get everywhere. I have a tablecloth we use for painting. I also put trash bags over my son's chair, so he doesn't get paint everywhere. I have found that it wipes up pretty easily if cleaned up right after we are done with the craft.

I prefer to have the paint and q-tips out on a paper plate ready to go so we can immediately get started because my little one is not the most patient, especially when he is excited.

I prepped the mason jars before we sat down as well. I had them out (all packaging removed) and taped them with the heart stencils I made before I sat Parker down to get started. You can certainly use one stencil for each jar, but I found it easiest to have them ready to go.

Do this first: Making the Trail Mix

I recommend doing this step first before the paint comes out and everyone gets messy. This is super simple. You really just combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir. My son loved to help with this. We have a helper stool in our kitchen for him and he loves to stir and dump things out, so this combined his favorite kitchen things.

Note: You want to either go ahead and fill the mason jars or have a container to store the trail mix in. If you want to get everything done at once, I recommend filling the jars first because then you don't have to wait for the paint to dry.

Art Project Time:

My son and I had so much fun making these. The key for me is patience and not expecting an adult-level art project. By letting him have fun, I have more fun. So while it can be difficult to not provide a significant amount of guidance and to not worry about a mess, we both have more fun when I let go and just let him enjoy.

I put some music on and I worked on painting while he was painting so I could let him be creative without trying to guide him too much. It was also a good opportunity to start teaching him that we only paint on our own art projects, and we do not try to start painting on our neighbors.

I had the paint and q-tips ready to go. All of the jars we were painting had a stencil already taped on.

The idea is to use the q-tips to make polka-dots around the heart stencil, then when you take off the stencil there will be a heart-shaped window into the jar. If you are doing this with little littles, don't expect them to actually make dots. They will probably just get paint all over (that is what Parker did), but it still looks cool when you take off the stencil. Older kids can use the q-tips to make polka dots.

I started by making Parker's handprint on each of the jars. I told him that we were giving each jar a "high-five." Since he understood this, he did a great job with the handprints and thought it was funny to give a jar a high five. Once the hand-print is done, you may want to wait a few minutes to give the paint a bit to dry.

Then let your kids just have fun with the supplies you put out. I really enjoyed painting the jars too!

Note: If you are painting a number of jars, you may want to do this over a period of days. Parker painted about three before he was over it. I painted the rest because I was trying to complete this project in one sitting. So in the pictures, you may notice some jars that I painted with a paintbrush over the stencil - this looked cool too. Let your kids be as creative as they want and use a variety of materials!

I had originally planned on Parker painting a piece of cardstock and once the paint dried cutting out little cards and writing a message on them. That didn't work out this time, so I printed some out on cardstock instead and used ribbon to attach to the jars.

The Final Product

We have 12 jars ready to go to daycare for our administrators and staff and it was a fun craft to do!

Remember Mama, you are doing a great job! You got this!

Twenty-Five Tips for Reading to a Toddler

Toddlers generally have a short attention span and it can be hard to get them to keep still, so how do you do storytime?

It can be frustrating trying to read with a little one turning pages before you have read it, skipping pages, and closing the book after you have only read a page or two. But it turns out, this is all normal and completely okay for developing literacy skills. Check out the tips below to make storytime for you and your little one!

Tips

According to the National Education Association, Kids Health, and zerotothree.org the following tips can help make storytime with your toddler fun and educational:

1. Use the time to snuggle and bond with your child, you can include their favorite toy/blanket

2. Read with expression

3. Read slowly so your toddler can understand the story

4. Emphasize rhymes and give your toddler a chance to repeat rhyming phrases

5. Encourage your child to clap or sing when you read rhythmic books

6. Use the book's pictures to discuss colors and objects and discuss what is happening in the photo

7. Pick books on topics they are interested in

8. Let your child choose which book to read

9. Use board or cloth books so they can engage with the book without having to worry about tearing pages

10. Encourage your toddler to repeat your words or comment on the book and pictures

11. Make reading a habit and part of your daily routine

12. Don't feel like you have to read all of every page, you can skip around and repeat based on what pages they turn to

13. Let your toddler turn the pages

14. It's okay if it is just a couple of minutes at a time - you do not have to finish the book

15. Read stories on repeat - toddlers enjoy repetition and it gives them a chance to understand the organization of the story

16. Show children the words - run your finger under the words as you are reading them

17. Connect the story to your child, family, community, etc.

18. Ask questions about the story and let your child ask questions

19. Let your child tell you the story - especially if you have an older toddler, they may have memorized the book and it allows them to be creative through storytelling

20. Use puppets or props while you read

21. It is okay if they do not sit still - you can read while your child moves around or plays with quiet toys or colors

22. It is okay if your child doesn't look at you or the book, this does not mean they are not listening

23. Use your child's name as the name of the character in the book

24. Mostly have fun!! Your child will likely have fun if you are and this is a great way to encourage a love of reading. You want your child to have positive associations with reading

25. Other ways to build early literacy skills beyond reading:

    • Talking to your child

    • Sing songs

    • Play rhyming games

    • Make up your own stories together

    • Provide paper and crayons to allow your child to practice writing

I love to read and I hope my son will love to read too. I find that reading before bed works great for us because he is usually tired and more likely to listen to the story and cuddle with me. I keep books within easy reach for him too, and he will bring me books to read at other times. These times we may only read a page or two before he moves on to other things, but I absolutely love that he is showing interest in books on his own.

For me, I think the biggest thing is interesting him in reading and making it fun, so it is something he wants to do.

Remember Mama, you are doing a great job! You got this!