Thankful for Fingerprints

This Thanksgiving...

• I’m thankful for the tiny fingerprints covering every surface in my house because it means I’ve got little hands to hold.

• I’m thankful for dirty crib sheets because it means I have little heads to kiss goodnight.

• I’m thankful for a dishwasher full of plastic plates and cups because it means I’ve had plenty to feed little bellies.

• I’m thankful for a bathtub littered with duckies because it means I have clean water to scrub little bodies.

• I’m thankful for the crayon scribbles decorating my house because it means I’m harboring blossoming minds.

• I’m thankful for the rug littered with toys because it means I’ve been blessed to spend the day with small children.

Before I know it, my house is going to be a lot cleaner...and emptier.  So I will be thankful for this brief moment that I get to be “Mommy.”

Visit us online at www.mommyforamoment.com

Tricks for Savoring Halloween Treats

Even those of us that were ho-hum about Halloween before we had kids admit to getting sucked into all the excitement of this holiday once we've got little bodies to dress up in adorable costumes.

Raiding those trick-or-treat buckets is also an added bonus, of course.

Sure, we spend most of the other 364 days in the year trying to prevent our kids from consuming large quantities of sugar.  But there's no reason we can't convert that boatload of sweets into a valuable tool for practicing early learning skills.

Trick-or-treating buckets are just begging to be sorted out.  Why not get out baggies, bowls, and plastic cups and go to town helping your little one do something constructive with all that sugar?

You can try sorting out candy according to:

• Wrapper colors 
• Beginning letters 
• Type (chocolates, lollipops, gummies, etc.)
• Size

And then you can do the most important sorting task of all:

1. Decide which items may be consumed today.
2. Give Mom and Dad their cut of the loot.
3. Put the rest away for later.

Before you know it, your little goblins will be going around the neighborhood solo, so be sure to enjoy your  true Halloween treats while they still want you there by their sides.

For other fun activities to do with your kids, visit us online: www.mommyforamoment.com.

Savoring Storytime

Storytime is one of the definite perks of being a mommy.

You get to curl up with your little ones and revisit favorite childhood characters (like Corduroy, Peter Rabbit, and Madeline) and explore new classics (like Olivia, Fancy Nancy, and the Pigeon books).

When your kids are snuggled against you, and their imaginations are engaged by beautiful art and compelling storytelling, it's pretty hard to deny those requests for "one more book."

Or to refuse to read them the same story for the 26th night in a row.

Or to veto the beloved story with a kajillion pages and huge paragraphs of text (especially when you can easily supply your own abbreviated tale to your wee illiterates).

There's no harm in indulging kids with a giant stack of books.  However, you should probably call it quits for a while if your find yourself unable to stop speaking in rhyme.

Someday soon, your evening reading will no longer feature illustrations and talking animals.  Until then, let's savor every tale, every picture, every rhyme, and every cuddle.

Visit us online: www.mommyforamoment.com

Photos from a Theme Park

As summer winds down to a close, it's fun to look back over the highlights.

Perhaps one of your highlights included a trip to a theme park--that traditional family destination where parents get to act like kids themselves again.

Once we see our kids' faces on their first merry-go-round ride, or after their first taste of cotton candy, we know that the price of admission was well worth it.

We try to document all those special park moments, but there are some our cameras simply can't capture:

• The pressure of the little hand that squeezes yours in nervous excitement on a particularly thrilling ride.

• The sweet smell of the little face that was indulged with a sugary treat.

• The weight of the little body that allows itself to be carried to the parking lot after a long, fun day.

When we're at a theme park, we witness parents with older children planning rendezvous points for later meetings before they split up to go their separate ways.  We see teenagers enjoying their freedom from their parents' watchful eyes.  And we know that our future visits to theme parks are going to be vastly different once we retire that stroller.

Enjoy these days when you must accompany your shorties on amusement park rides.  They'll be flying solo before you know it.

Visit us online at www.mommyforamoment.com.

The 1st First Day of School

There's just something about the first day of school.

As much as students--and teachers!--dread the end of summer vacation, all parties have to admit that nothing quite matches the excitement of that first day back.

The crisp new school clothes and bright-white sneakers.  Backpacks still light from the lack of books.  Freshly sharpened pencils.  Reunions with old classmates and colleagues.  Recaps of summer vacation.  New schedules that have yet to lapse into the monotony of daily routine.

No matter how many of these "first days of school" you've experienced, nothing prepares you for the 1st First Day of school--that one where your little one leaves you for the first time to begin their own academic path.

They've been your constant companion for YEARS, and suddenly, it's time for them to go off on their own!  Even if it's for a couple of hours of preschool a few days of week, the shift in your mommy routine and relationship is dramatic.

There undoubtedly will be tears; let's hope more on your side than on theirs.  (Either way, you probably need to add "Kleenex" to your school supply list).

And then there will be the "not knowing:"  You will be dying to know:

• What are they doing right now?
• Is the teacher noticing how amazing they are?
• Are they making friends?
• Do they miss me?

Of course, you will have no way of knowing.  And your kids will not be able to provide you the answers crave, no matter how much you interrogate them.

It's officially the end of the "baby" era.  Celebrate it by savoring all the new special moments you get to have with your "preschooler."

Visit us online: www.mommyforamoment.com

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

Ah, Bathtime--that nightly occurrence that ensures Mommy gets as wet as the wee ones as she simultaneously scrubs body parts, prevents drowning, and reprimands about drinking water out of the tub.

Wait! Did I say "nightly?" Any Mommy with a bit of experience under her belt will realize that this ordeal need not occur on a daily basis, but should only be reserved for those days when significant time has been spent outside, or significant mess has occurred, such that baby wipes will not suffice in cleaning it up.

But the next time you do undertake the whole bathtime ritual, take a second to realize how little we actually will be involved in the hands-on cleaning of our kids in the course of their lives. Even a quick look at those little bodies in the tub will reveal how fast they are already growing up:

Baby bellies that are suddenly looking less round.

Hand dimples that have given way to knuckles.

Legs that sport mere dents where creases used to be.

Before we know it, these little bodies will be headed to the showers, and our evenings will be rubber ducky-less.  Let's wash them with extra-special care today, being sure to take mental snapshots of those precious baby parts before they disappear entirely.

Visit us online: www.mommyforamoment.com

Sleep, the Final Frontier

Sleep, the Final Frontier.

These are the voyages of the Starship Mommy--her ongoing mission to spend the entire night in her own bed;  to seek out new ways to prevent 3am wake-up calls; to get kids to nap like they've never napped before.

The nightly battle-of-the-bed is kind of like a Star Trek episode (if you'll bear with an analogy concocted by a sleep-deprived brain):

• It's action-packed, with kicks and punches to various parts of the body duped into sleeping beside a small child.
• You find yourself transported to strange places, like curled up in a toddler bed, or sprawled in a heap of blankets on a nursery floor.
• There are aliens!  Oh, wait...that's just you in the mirror, bearing the dark-circled evidence of a string of rough nights.

And like the Star Trek franchise, your nights continue to throw new scenarios and plot twists your way.  The original series that soothed colic gives way to The Next Generation that features teething pains; and then to the Deep Space Nine that presents the midnight potty parade; finally ushering in a Voyager fight against Night Terrors.

You reassure yourself by promising, "Someday, I'm going to sleep through the night again!"

You will, indeed.  Before you know it, it'll be time to retire your swaddling skills and your method of killing monsters in the closet.  Your bedtime kisses and cuddles will be boxed up with the board books, and you'll start taking 8 hours of continuous sleep for granted, just like you did before you had kids.

So let's savor our sleepy-time moments with our little ones today.  Read that extra story.  Sneak in an extra smooch. Tuck in those little bodies while they still welcome it.  Just think: you're storing up happy dreams for that day when you will sleep on your own terms again. 

And in the meantime, take a nap by whatever means possible!

Visit us online: www.mommyforamoment.com