We, as parents, are so busy keeping our kids busy that we may not really know our children. We talk about our day in passing from one activity to the next but often do not take the time to discuss our children’s lives. Some kids are great at hiding emotions, grades, or problems. So, let’s slow down, spend quality time together, and get to know our kids!

I am as guilty as the next when it comes to being an on-the-go mom. I feel like keeping my kids involved in activities will help them understand the importance of team work, giving 110 percent, and responsibility.

I have come to realize that making time for the family is important. The kids are involved in one activity each, which still keeps us very busy. We find ways to spend quality time together that interest everyone. We watch football and baseball, play volleyball in the front yard, play card games or dominoes, go bowling, or just sit around a bond fire together and talk. I love to take the kids to school every morning — it is our special time to talk. It is amazing what you can learn about your child on the way to school!

Spending family time together is very important for your children. While the extra sports and activities are great for the kids, they need to have a relationship with mom and dad. It is important for parents to know their kids — know them well enough to see when they are happy and even when they are sad or have a problem. Take advantage of free time with your kids and get them talking!

How do you keep your family? What is your favorite part of the day with your kids?

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Robin Greene is a mother of two teenagers, a wife and a Kindergarten teacher. Robin enjoys spending as much time with her family as possible. She also enjoys teaching, participating in church activities and freelance writing for mybabyclothes.com.  Your little one will be the talk of the town in their unique baby clothes, cute baby hat or beautiful tutu.

There are always two very important parts of the family. Dad being the head of the home does not make him more important, he just has a different job; however, Mom’s job is the most important for she is the glue that keeps everyone coming back home. No matter where life takes the kids and the Grandkids, if Mom has done her job well, they all come back home.

With so many memories so dear to me around her kitchen or dining room table, it is hard to imagine, but in that same room, we said our last good-byes to her as she was carried away just before the holiday season. Unfortunately, the spindle and glue were gone and we all kind of went our own way. We still see each other, but really only once a year and even then, things are not the same. Everyone has their own way of coping and finds new relationships to fill their days.

A familiar song to me about Grandma says, “Now that Grandma’s gone, we all spend our Christmases at home. All the Aunts and Uncles have Grandkids of their own. Lord let our homes be filled with love and joy like Grandma knew and may she have a Merry Christmas celebrating there with You.”

Now we’re the Moms. We’re the center and the glue of our home. Hold the torch high, fill the home with lots of love, so when the kids go off into the world, even if they roam far, they’ll always come back home.

Alicia Ivey wants to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and hopes that everyone gets to spend time with family and friends.  Alicia is a wonderful wife and mother.  She enjoys traveling, singing and freelance writing for mybabyclothes.com.  No matter what the occasion this holiday season make sure your little one looks their very best in the most fashionable baby clothes or the perfect tutu with a matching baby headband.

Gardner Historic Village is an old mill converted into eclectic shops and antique stores with grassy areas and streams throughout. It may not be Salem, Massachusetts, but it is the perfect place for an awesome month-long Halloween celebration fit for the entire family.

I didn’t wait for October to arrive this year before heading over for the festivities. I met my mom, sister, and cousin there the other day for lunch. OK! I won’t lie. I was really after the pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies from the Naborhood Bakery (I bought eight!). Don’t worry! I shared.

Now, I need to plan a time to go back with my kids to take advantage of one of these Witchfest activities:

• Breakfast With a Witch—Take your kiddos to a magical breakfast with witches and warlords. (Check here for available tickets.)
• Ride to a Witch—Behind the village, you can take your kids on a hay ride, a pony ride, and buy a pumpkin. (Check out the dates/times before you go!)
• Witchapalooza—Enjoy a fun dinner theater with witches dancing and singing as your entertainment. (Tickets are on sale for shows Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays all month long.)
• Bewitching Scavenger Hunt—Take your kids around the grounds and identify all the locations of the witches on display. You can print the scavenger hunt before going!
• Witch’s Night Out—All you girls and women can dress up as witches and gather for fun (October 14 and 15, 2011).
• Whimsical Witch Displays—Check out the handmade witches on display like “Witchey Poo” here below!

Whether it’s ghosting someone, trunk or treating, creating a magic garden, or a local celebration with witches like this one at Gardner Historic Village, family traditions make holidays more fun.

What local, fun activities and events do you have planned for the Halloween season this year? What is your favorite part about the Halloween season?

I recently reviewed a new book called OMG Pancakes. The book was written by Jim Belosic and is filled with fun and creative ways to make pancakes. I was immediately drawn to the giraffe on the front of the book and thought, “There is no way that is a pancake.”

The characters that Jim creates with his pancakes are unbelieveable and will forever etch in your mind that breakfast can be fun and exciting. Sheep, spiderwebs, flamingos, dinosaurs, bluebirds, and monkeys are just a few of the 70 different creations you can make. OMG Pancakes is a page turner and you will marvel at the things you can make with pancake batter.

Jim shares how making pancakes with his daughter is a way they can spend time together. He gives his recipes, tricks, and tools of the trade to make breakfast more creative. I followed his easy instructions on to how to create pancakes with different colors, shapes, and designs. Our family tried a few of the recipes and found that it sparked a few new ideas of our own. Who knew that making breakfast together could be so much fun?

OMG pancakes is filled with new and exciting ways to make pancakes. It has me rethinking breakfast, and for my kids it has them wanting to spend time together making crazy looking pancakes. Take time to think about the traditions that are important to you and start to create them today.

What is your favorite family tradition? What are you doing to create memories with your kids?

“I will never say that to my kid.”

“I will never do THAT as a mom.”

And my favorite judgment-filled declaration, “I will never do what THAT PARENT did!”

After being the mom of three boys for a few years, my Department of Sweeping Statements has not only permanently CLOSED, but issued formal apologies for all previous actions.

Fig. A:

When I was pregnant with my first baby 10 years ago, I read every parenting book ever written.  I am very thorough.  I don’t remember exactly which one it was, but I think it was in the “Baby Whisperer.” The quote is lost on me, but it said something to the point that you need to START as you plan to PROCEED.

The technique was really successful. I used this technique for everything:  naps, bedtime, sitting at mealtime, snacks only in the kitchen, etc. I found when I started something the way I wanted it to go, the kids were too young in the beginning to argue and then I theorized that when they reach debating age, it has always been done that way so it doesn’t occur to them it could be another way.

I was a very smart parent.

Things were going really well.

I should write a parenting book.

And then my kids got older.

As the kids got older, they got smarter.

Then I noticed they were using their newly acquired intelligence AGAINST me.

This masterful manipulation surfaced first at breakfast.

Breakfast.

It started out innocent enough. Breakfast seemed to be the time that I had the most time. Breakfast seemed to be the time I could break a few rules. Breakfast became the time the kids could choose what they wanted to eat.

Breakfast started spiraling out of control.

Breakfast is now a crazy train and I want off.

Let’s examine closely Fig. A:
Our subject is a 2 y/o who woke mommy up at 6 am. saying, “EAT!”. His patient mother held off that demand for 30 minutes because it is SATURDAY. At 6:31 am the subject ate 1 1/2 bowls of instant oatmeal and 1/2 cup of soymilk. He then yelled, “DONE!”

Approximately 23 minutes later he returns to the kitchen, pulls the Quaker oat box out of the pantry and demands “OATMEAL”. His patient and attractive mother quietly explains how he already had oatmeal. “THIS OATMEAL!” he screams. His patient, attractive and loving mother thinks to herself, “well at least he is screaming for something healthy…I guess I can’t turn that down”.

7 minutes later the oatmeal is made. The oatmeal is portioned and set in front of subject. Subject screams, “FRIDGE! HOT!” His patient, attractive, loving and helpful mother delivers the child size oatmeal portion to the freezer to cool down.

Subject continues to be a royal pain in the butt while the oatmeal is in the fridge. His patient, attractive, loving, helpful and opportunistic mother then grabs the camera to take the picture of this tyranny.

His patient, attractive, loving, helpful, opportunistic and harried mother takes the child size oatmeal portion out of the freezer and gives it back to the subject. The subject takes 5 bites and yells, “TOAST!”

Ya, the freaking crazy mother made the toast.

Fig. A is only the beginning.  There is more…much, much, much more. I have clearly demonstrated that any parenting book I might author would be entitled:

Do as I Say, Not as I Do.

Holly is very careful not to dole out parenting advice as a mommy blogger who writes June Cleaver Nirvana.  She does continue to give constant advice to her three boys who seem to have severe issues of personal space.

The first thing you need to decide is where you are going. Because your kids are not the ONLY kids out of school, you might want to avoid the major kid hot spots in town—the zoo, the children’s museum, and any indoor play grounds.

You have to be smarter than the other kids’ parents.

4 Ways to Outsmart Fellow Parents When Planning a Holiday Family Outing in Your Town

1. Go to the local Art Museum. I promise you they have things for kids, but the OTHER parents don’t know that.  In my town, the Dallas Museum of Art has audio tours specifically for children and a full schedule of family activities.  If you are not into art, check into the smaller, quirky museums that you town might offer.  You might not spend the entire day, but an hour or two of adventure may just be what your family needs right now.
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2. Drive a little further from town. Instead of going to the large and well-known Dallas and Fort Worth Zoos, we like to head North toward Oklahoma to a little town called Gainesville which has a delightful zoo.  I have never seen it crowded and because of its layout, the kids can run wild around the 1 mile trail.  The bonus of the Gainesville zoo is that there is a miniature rail road out front that can be ridden for a dollar.
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3. Go outside. Dress the family for the weather and plan an outdoor outing.  The Dallas Arboretum and the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens are popular places to visit with kids, but if the temperature drops below 60 degrees, my fellow Texans will leave them deserted.  They would be perfect locations for a winter picnic and play.
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4. Search out the unusual. We have a book that I love called Weird Texas.  It has all sorts of quirky activities and the stories behind them.  Check out the website for Weird US to see the weird in your town.  Because of Weird Texas, we have found a haunted bridge just a few miles from our house that has a bunch of hiking trails around it.

Regardless of what you decide to do, remember these things: Pick a place, take your camera, and enjoy your kids.

What is your idea of the perfect family day trip?

Not the light and painted kind, but the heavy-store-bought-is-for-sissies kind of blocks.

Family legend goes that I was given these for my first birthday.  My dad made them and put them in a wooden wagon that he also made.  Each block can be carefully fitted into the wagon.  The secret to this clean-up puzzle could be unlocked once you had put away the blocks a thousand times.

Or that is how it seemed.

There is NO excuse for the way the blocks look in the picture above because I promise I hit that goal before I entered Kindergarten.

Block building was a regular event in our house.  It occurred post-church-lunch-nap.

Block building was NOT for kids.

It was a serious building enterprise whose mission was to use every block in a creative and strategic way that allowed the last block placed to touch the ceiling.

If the wooden block architect was successful, he was able to celebrate by slipping a pivotal piece out of his creation which caused the entire structure to tumble to the floor in one long crash.

The original Jenga.

Super-sized.

I remember the terror of the falling building.  Blocks rapidly dropped from the sky accompanied by wooden thunder.  As the block tower neared completion each week, the kids would run from the room in expectation of the impending destruction.  We would huddle together just around the corner using the wall as a block bomb shield.

It was magnificent.

My dad made a set of wooden blocks for my boys and then another set for my brother’s kids.  The kids were thrilled, but the adults were even more excited because they know that building blocks is not child’s play…

Holly Homer is a mommy blogger.  She writes June Cleaver Nirvana.

She is a stay-at-home mom of three block-buildin‘ boys.  In her spare time *cough*, she watches a little TV and ends up making late night purchases like WOW Containers, Pajama Jeans, and even the Booty Pop!

• What: Girl’s Night Out (What’s GNO? Click here to find out!)
• When: Tuesday, July 14, 9-11 p.m. EDT
• Where: Party with us on our very own Custom Tweetgrid! (Use hashtag #gno.)
  
• Topic: Simple Summer Meals
  
• Who: @bowlher @citymama @mombloggersclub @erikalehmann @plussizemommy @rachelferrucci @scrappinmichele @thinkmaya
• Party Favors: Remember to check out this week’s giveaway sponsored by Campbell’s.
• RSVP: Enter your twitter URL/ID in the list below (e.g., http://twitter.com/jylmomIF).

Giveaway Prizes

Orville Redenbacher’s generously offered winners a popcorn gift package, including:

• A popcorn bowl
• Three boxes of Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn
• Kathy Peel’s most recent book, The Busy Mom’s Guide to a Happy, Organized Home

Winners

These lucky winners were randomly selected and won a gift package, including:

Angela—@pricousins
Camille—@makeitworkmom
Hollie—@commoncentsmom
Kasandria—@waystosave

Check out these blogs to discover our other winners: Make and Takes and I Never Grew Up.

• Commit to do one act of kindness each week based on the week’s challenge.
• Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
• Grab the SOS button at the bottom of this post and put it on your blog or social networking site.
• Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Check out this week’s family focused giveaway by clicking here.
• Join #gno to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge. (Note: 10 lucky winners will receive popcorn gift packs during #gno!)

10 Ways to Make a Difference This Week

Here are 10 ideas to help you Focus on Family that will make a meaningful difference this week!

1. Choose your favorite games and set aside an hour to play them together as a family.
2. Enjoy mealtime together, having each person take a turn sharing about his or her favorite part of the day.
3. Have a talent show where each person in the family is encouraged to participate. Talents can include simple things like doing a karate kick, juggling, or telling a story to more complex things like playing a musical instrument, reciting a poem, or performing a dance number.
4. As a family, write a letter or send a package to a family member that lives far away, expressing your love and gratitude for that person.
5. Decide on your favorite at-home family activity and plan some time this week to do it. For one extra step, assign each family member a day of the week and allow him or her to choose which family activity to do. Set aside an hour to Focus on Family each day this week.
6. Make a treat together as a family and share it with a neighbor or other relative.
7. Create a CD with all your favorite family songs. Listen, sing, and dance to them together.
8. Choose a favorite family movie and set a time this week to have a family movie night. Don’t forget your Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn! Mmmmm!
9. Come up with a family mission statement. Identify your family goals and short- and long-term goals. Remember to include fun stuff in your plans like vacations, at-home family activities, etc.
10. Make time every day this week to spend one-on-one time with each of your children, telling them how much you love them. Do the same with your spouse!

This week’s SOS Challenge is sponsored by Orville Redenbacher’s. What other ideas do you have for Focusing on Family? Please share a comment here, letting us know how Focusing on Family has made a meaningful difference for you and your family this week.

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Photo used with permission from Flickr.