Mommy Mondays: Getting Crafty

EI Editor Posted On Dec 3, 2012

Hooray for Pinterest! Even though I think I use it wrong (as in I don’t follow anyone and have exactly 2 boards: arts & crafts ideas and pictures of bed frames I found online while shopping earlier this year and I’m always surprised when I get an email notice that one of these has been repinned…), I have found so many great craft ideas there!Check out the fingerprint and hand print turkeys Emma and I made as Thanksgiving cards for the grandparents – so cute!

Our next project – and I might even go the extra mile and make it a Christmas arts & crafts play date for a few friends! – is painting these awesome Santa rocks…

Have you done any awesome arts & crafts this year? Lemme’ see!

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EI Editor | Posted on Dec 17, 2012

Mommy Mondays: Gift-Giving

I just read an article about being a great gift-giver. Basically, it said to give what the person really wanted, or had even asked for, instead of what you THINK they’d like.As a parent this is always a challenge for me. I think Emma should love Lalaloopsy Dolls – I mean seriously, those outfits! And the swingy little legs! And you can set up all their little packages and make a little village! And she likes them, a little.What she loves is Lego Friends. We’ve got a few sets. Christmas would be the perfect time to give her the super expensive, gigantic Lego Friends house, right? But which Lego set is on her list? The Monster house! I guess I collect deep and she collects wide?And the top of her list… an American Doll. Now, she has baby dolls (four to be exact) but they don’t get played with too often. And she has Barbie dolls, but they don’t get much play either. So why would I buy her an (expensive!) American Doll? Except that it’s what she asked for. Twice. I had her write two lists to Santa, just to be sure, and I’m glad I did because at the end of the second list, she added a “neklis” for me and a “gitar pedl” for my husband. And, as a friend pointed out, she isn’t a baby or a Barbie, but she is a little girl, just like an American Girl.Now if only I hadn’t waited so long for her to change her mind… guess it’s a trip to the American Doll store for me, since it’s too late to order online.Next year I’ll know, and start at the top of her list. Happy Shopping and Happy Holidays to you all!
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EI Editor | Posted on Oct 1, 2012

Mommy Mondays: Benefit of the Doubt I recently read a poll in a parenting magazine asking if parents pay attention to other parents’ “reviews” of teachers. It asked if parents would go so far as to try to have their children moved to other classes if they had heard negative things about the teachers their kids were assigned.The readers’ responses varied. Some thought it negligent to ignore the negative feedback—why put their kids through a potentially bad experience if they could help it? Others gave the teacher the benefit of the doubt—some teaching styles work better for some kids, so why not give it a try first? If you’d asked me this question last year, when my daughter was heading into kindergarten, there’s no question what I would have said.

[My daughter, Emma. Her daddy is 6’3, with 6’ sisters and a 6’7 brother!]Flash back…there we were…waiting to see the class list and meet Emma’s teacher. We’d heard such great things about both kindergarten teachers. We’d played for years on the kindergarten playground and peeked through the kindergarten windows at the adorable little chairs and tables. Even the in-class bathroom door was tiny!What a surprise to learn that one of those two teachers had taken on the school’s new preppy-K class and my daughter was assigned to a new team-teaching pair. At first we were thrilled—two teachers in the classroom! Too good to be true! And it was. What it really meant was that two teachers would split the week. Really? Neither one could commit to a 22-hour work week? Then the other shoe dropped— neither teacher had ever taught kindergarten before. Oh, and that cute little classroom on the cute little playground? Nah, we were down the hall with the big kids. And the tiny bathroom door was replaced with the big girl’s bathroom—across a corridor open to the street.I did what any good parent would do—I panicked. I tried the principal, to no avail. There would be no relocations; the classes were full. I wasn’t alone: we were all worried—two teachers, two sets of rules, two styles— and in this crucial year, no less! After a few sleepless nights and more conversations than my friends care to remember (oh, and a deposit at the private school down the road, which we really couldn’t afford and whose religious tenets we do not believe), I caved. I mean, what choice did I have?Well, a year later, I am both thrilled and embarrassed to report that the year could not have gone any better. One teacher was nurturing and sweet. The other was stern, but conducted kitchen science lessons every Friday with edible treat results. I never heard any student or parent complain of trouble adjusting to different styles or routines. In fact, they may have come out more flexible for it. The highlight of my daughter’s year was winning the silent auction at the spring carnival. The prize? Lunch. At Burger King. With her teacher. The stern one.I am not a go-with-the-flow person, but man, lesson learned. So when the flurry of phone calls, texts, and emails started rolling in when this year’s class assignments were mailed, I’m happy to report that I closed my ears and went with the flow.And I’m glad I did. Emma’s new teacher opened this year’s Open House by telling the parents how grateful she was to have a job that she loves so much. Teaching is probably the hardest job in the world (okay, tied with being a mom). Teachers wouldn’t do it if they didn’t love it. So let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. I know I will!
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EI Editor | Posted on Sep 28, 2012

Introducing our newest blog series: Mommy Mondays

Amy is the director of marketing at Educational Insights and is the mom of 5.98-year-old Emma, an enthusiastic first grader, dare-devil bike rider (no training wheels here!), expert colorer, and Lego lover. Amy will be penning our newest blog series called Mommy Mondays where you'll get to hear her take on the likes and gripes of motherhood.Here's a word from Amy herself:"Are you scrambling to keep up? Do you feel like life is a big juggling act and… um… you once knew how to juggle and in fact might have some notes on juggling in your purse, stuck to a red fruit gummy, but, wait… What was I looking for? Join me on Mondays and you won’t feel so alone…"
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