Once Upon a Time a Butterfly came to visit... landed on my purse

My grandmother lives just a hop away from my place. And in the summer when we have lotsa time, we walk over and see her pretty regularly. En route to the park, back form the park, or just to go by her place. The new spring like weather has inspired this post. I was reviewing my flickr photo hosting page, for this blog, and realized I hadn't included these photos from a few years back.

Now we all love grandma, but she can be a bit overwhelming. You think I talk a lot? HA! And we have these great little moments, when I want quiet, to observe the kids, or answer their questions - and here comes Babcia yelling from the other room the start of her story and she will continue and finish as she approaches wherever you are. 

One afternoon in late summer - baby girl was about one years old, younger son was four - we returned from the park and visited Babcia. And as we walked up the back stairs a Butterfly landed on my purse. Baby girl noticed first. We were in awe. 

We stood there observing the little creature, catching some sun, and not afraid at all. So we sat on the deck, quietly, and we didn't tell grandma we were there yet. I love grandma but she would come out all full of life and commotion and our new found friend would fly away. 

Baby girl first noticed this swallowtail butterfly that landed on my purse.

So we sat, and observed him. He opened and closed his wings just a few times, and then kept them open. Catching the warm sun rays. This was really an amazing moment. We were outside for about 10 mintutes - which when watching a butterfly are L-O-N-G minutes....but everyone was enjoying this. 

He sat thru many photos. 

And then it happened. Babcia came out on the desk. What are you doing here? Why didn't you come in? (Iam meanwhile putting my finger to my lips, ssshhhhhhhhhhh... yeah - right - liek that will work!) "Babcia Sshhhh" the kids say.  Finally she quiets down. and we point to the butterfly. She just can't understand why we are sitting and watching it. I love her but this was a quiet time.

Easy Kids Activity: Tell Me a Story with Magnets

While online gift shopping I came across this nice idea for a storytelling game. "Story cubes" are dice with pictures on them, roll the dice and kids have to make up a story based on the images they rolled. Well of course why buy when you can make your own story telling game. This type of activity is easy and it helps kids build creativity skills, pre-reading skills, and a great way to keep them busy so you can get things done. Like my dinner...



Making dinner can be a challenging time. The Kids like to stay with me in the kitchen so I include them in the cooking whenever I can. But then terse times I need to occupy them. My younger son was playing with his Refrigerator magnets making the pieces "talk" to each other. When I asked a few questions about his story, eureka! A new Kids activity struck me.
We have many, many, many magnets that we have collected through the years. Alphabet letters, Melissa and Doug animals and dinosaur magnets, vacation souvenirs, a farm book with farm animals, and responsibility / rewards chart magnets. I keep things in a storage "just in case bin" or circulate some of these through so we don't get bored with them. This is a sample of the magnets from the fridge. 

Easy Kids Activity: Tell Me a Story Magnets, a photo by areyousureaboutthatblog on Flickr.

Our Tell Me a Story Game:

1. I grab 3 - 4 magnets from the storage bag and put them in a row on the fridge.

2. We talk about the picture on each magnet.

3. Then the kids "take a minute to think about a story using these 3 magnets." (At first, I had to make up the stories so the kids would get the idea of the game. Since about a dozen times playing, the kids now get more detailed, and very elaborate in their stories. Which may require more "thinking time.")

4. When my younger son is ready, he starts telling me his story.

5. PARENTS NEED TO LISTEN. Even though I am cooking (usually), I always stop to fully listen to the story. Its often short and I can spare the 1-2 minutes it takes him to tell me.

6. Then its moms turn to make up a story. I go last because I have found over time that my son simply imitates my story on his turn and just changes a few things around.

7. Pick new magnets and keep "story telling."




Variations:

-- Sometimes the kids pick their own magnets to use.

-- Or they pick some out for mom to make up a story.

-- Baby girl likes to take the magnets and "act out" her stories. Or she repeats segments of the story like "Roars" when my son said the Lion Roared at the Farmer. She is learning the game early on and will be vary familiar as her vocabulary grows.

-- We often put criteria on the story depending on what new things are happening in our lives. For example we have required many stories to "take place in Japan," when my husband and I were traveling there. Or my son makes the characters repeat an activity he learned in school that day.

The options are endless. We have also made up stories using the action figures we take to the car, and we have even started making up our own endings to the books we read at home. That's been really fun.

I hope we have introduced an easy, low-cost, game that's fun for kids.

Make Mistakes. Breath, Reflect. and Laugh.Out.Loud

Traveling with Kids, Beyond Packing Backpacks. Getting Kids mentally ready for long trips is just as important. "How to Talk to Kids" About your Upcoming Vacation.

In preparing for our family vacation to attend a dear friends wedding in Jamaica, I wanted to prep our kids for what to expect.  Pinterest has oodles of pins on what to pack in your kids carry-on. But what about the emotional and mental preparation?  As an avid traveler for my WHOLE LIFE, both by road and airplane, I knew there was as much mental preparation as physical packing that's required. I wanted some discussion ideas for setting our kids travel expectations. I wanted some games and activities to help our kids prepare for the Long Distance travel. This was a new experience for my kids, and we know that talking about it helps tremendously set their expectations and too keep my sanity.

I couldn't find many resources, so here's our Beyond Backpacks, packing our emotional toolbox for vacation.

2 Adults 3 Kids = 1 checked medium luggage, 1 checked carry on luggage, 3 backpacks, 1 roller carry on, 1 purse

I was reviewing Pinterest for some quick links to mom bloggers and magazine articles on what to prepare  when traveling with kids. Our actual luggage and carry on items lists are below, eventhough this isn't what I was looking for.

We are taking our three kids with us on a fabulous Caribbean island getaway for a lifelong friends wedding. We have taken the kids dozens of times to nearby states, within a 3-4 hour drive to Wisconsin and Indiana. And once I traveled alone with my best friend on a 12-hour train ride to Minnesota with our then four kids: 4 year and 18 month old boys and girls!! However, we had yet to take them anywhere by airplane. I'm a traveler since childhood with extensive experience and stories. I've been to 45 of the 50 United States and 8 countries. My husband and I visited 4 countries and 8 states prior to having kids -- (for prosperity ...details). 

I know how to live out of a carry-on for 15 days as we did in Japan. And countless weekend getaways taught me less is much much more. Packing our clothes was not my concern (however I do include our Island Caribbean packing list below).   I was more interested in the anticipation and "mental" preparation for the kids. Of course I did come across the fab tips and tricks savvy Mom's had that I loved:

- pack gum for the flight for popping ears

- pack an entire bag of lollipops - for there and back trips for toddlers popping ears (and when you just need silence, like the wedding ceremony!)

However I didn't find anything beyond packing the kids backpack carry-on. So here's my version of preparing kids for long travel.

Traveling with Kids, Beyond Packing Backpacks. Getting Kids "mentally" ready for long trips is just as important. "How to Talk to kids" about your upcoming vacation., a photo by areyousureaboutthatblog on Flickr.

I still packed too much!!


Traveling with Kids, Beyond Packing Backpacks. Getting Kids "mentally" ready for long trips is just as important. "How to Talk to kids" about your upcoming vacation., a photo by areyousureaboutthatblog on Flickr.

Upon entering the airplane, my two year old baby girl was invited into the cockpit. She did NOT have to be encouraged. To my amazement she went straight to the steering wheel and wanted to push All Of The Buttons. Then the captain came and we had to scoot. And smile at the long line waiting for us to get into the cabin (oops).


Traveling with Kids, Beyond Packing Backpacks. Getting Kids "mentally" ready for long trips is just as important. "How to Talk to kids" about your upcoming vacation., a photo by areyousureaboutthatblog on Flickr.

Timing:

By Christmas the kids knew our trip to Jamaica was in January. Yes, we told them a whole 2 months early! We ended up "reviewed the timeline" very often. Remember we are building our kids emotional tool box, setting expectations, so don't be annoyed when your kids ask ten times about an upcoming event. Put a framework around their questions to help keep their excitement calm and your parenting sanity.

My youngest would ask "Mom when is my birthday?" And I'd reply (with large concepts he could understand) "first is our Winter break starts, then Christmas, then New Years, and then  we go back to school for 14 days. After that we are in Jamaica where we will celebrate your birthday." He'd say: "Yes!!"  I know it's a lengthy reply, but it was an extensive amount of time to let pass. He would get antcy if we didn't put a framework around his expectations. By New Years Eve he was checking off the list for me, "Mommy, New Years is over, next is School and then we will go to Jamaica for my birthday celebration!" Isn't that better then a kid crying about when is he having his birthday?

Next - Dealing with the Intangible: Time

1. A Countdown paper chain. Similarly to when we traveled to Japan, upon returning to school we made an easy - and not fancy - countdown chain or Jamaica. As the time draws near kids need help managing there anticipation.  Counting days, everyday helps a lot.

2. Tell Me Why / When?  Just like kids love hearing their favorite story over and over, or their favorite song EVERYTIME your in the car, they also want to hear about the trip your taking. It will be the same questions like: where are we going? When are we going? Why is it hot there? After you answer the questions enough times you can flip the script on them. When the kids ask you a question you can simply ask the question back and say "Tell me why?" Or "Tell me when we are leaving?" Once you have answered the question, you helping kids apply what they heard you say, helping memory skills, and eventually layering ideas which helps with complex thoughts and future problem solving skills. 

3. Preparing Kids & Anticipating the Trip - as the vacation became weeks away we would start to ask the kids questions:

- what will Jamaica look like?

- what will we do there?

- what will we eat?

- do you think the people are nice? What do they look like? 

- what will our room look like (sleeping arrangements: my older son doesn't like bunking with his brother, so we had to break the news that they were sharif a sleeper. As an aside, to help with this bunking together, we recently agreed to let older son have his own room, so if younger son is regularly sleeping in a room with his sister - bunking on trips will be less of an issue.)

Obviously our few questions lead to more questions from the kids, and great family discussions. An obviously that's the point, conversation. It's healthy to discuss what's coming up next: (and not just for those future problem solving skills) children's coping skills for all the big changes, kids can anticipate patience, and being bored on a 3-hour flight. 

These conversations were great times to talk about: appropriate behaviors, and when not to talk, like through customs. Kids don't yet grasp finite details like the difference between foods you need to declare and say gum, or hard candy. I didn't want my son correcting me when I say no food (I could already see him politely chiming in - because normally I allow it - "don't forget the candy and bread mom." I'd reply, "no honey we already are it on the plane," and said customs official directs us to the table for a search.... More time wasted). So to completely avoid this we told our older and younger sons "there will be times that only mom or dad talks to the adults at the airport!!" This simplifies matters quickly.

5. Packing Matters

Some surprises are nice too - so don't tell them everything you are packing. Or maybe pack an extra new toy (ours was a Lego chima pack for $4).

-- The kids each had a snack bag, but didn't know about other snacks I packed.

-- Some things we left out. Like talking about a possible in flight movie (in case it was something the kids wouldn't like). 

-- I did pack a surprise small Lego chima pack to assemble for the flight cause when they got super bored I had a surprise planned.

This PACKING LISTS fits IN:

- 2 medium size luggage (I actually took one medium and one carry on checked, however it's good to leave "room to grow" so your not carrying souvenirs in a plastic bag that you have to carry).

Total carry-ons 4: Dad, Mom & Baby shared, Older son and Younger son.

Plus moms purse.

Our kids carry on packing list:

I've always packed my luggage as if "I'll never see it again or it'll be delayed getting to me." So we always pack a bathing suit and a change of clothes in our carry-on. In this case my husband took he kids changes of clothes because he personally had NO carry on needs.

Each kid picks their carry on back pack. I overrode younger son and AFTER his back pack was packed, and heavy, I insisted he take the roller pack (backpack on wheels). I had my own stuff to schlep and I wasn't gonna take his cause mom it's too heavy. When younger so protested I made him wear it around the house all morning... At the end of the first hour he agreed - "it's too heavy mom!!"

6. Each child was asked to pack one (their choice):

- snack bag (we picked up non-sticky food packs at target. Yes, I bought mini snack-size packs instead of making my own... Sanity!)

- small soft stuffed animal / toy

- small pillow (they can lean on this in the plane / back support / snuggles, etc.

- small favorite book

- a small journal (we encouraged drawings pictures or writing about the trip everyday. Especially when the kids were antsy waiting for lunch on "island time" we'd take a toy Or journal with us for stuff to do)

- small (not tiny, always leave room for more stuff or consolidating later) sandwich zip lock baggie for crayons, a pencil, and sharpener if needed

- gallon Baggie 1/4 full if small hard toys (my Lil' ones like playing with army guys, animal figurines and matchbox cars)

Then child specific:

- younger son get a sandwich bag 1/4 full of his beloved Legos. Which HE picked the pieces.

- younger son favorite dot to dot coloring book

- younger son Pokemon cards

- brain quest age: 4-5 

- older son took a second book (Diary of a Whimpy Kid for him to re-read, again)

- older son dinner game questions and his animal cards - we play "bigger stronger" all the time since age 3, and evolved to better predator by age 5

- baby girl gets those over 600 sticker books. We put a sticker on her hand and she sticks it - mostly crooked - to the page... Hours of fun! Her and Younger son

- change if clothes

- diaper needs in baggies - so I don't carry things loosely in my hand on the plane - I'll need to grab her or a seat in turbulence and I don't want my diaper, wipes, and butt paste to I flying

- extra lollipops

- scooby doo memory game, we just look trough the cards in the bag and match them

I also took for me a book, my jewelry, make up bag and my one outfit and bathing suit. I also fit a change of sandals. My carry on is slightly larger then a backpack so I took 3 more pieces of my nice clothes. 

7. For 3 Kids: our Island Caribbean luggage packing list:

Kids helped pick their outfits- try need to learn how to mix and match clothes and patterns. These packing times are ideal to learn these valuable skills!!

We planned to live on the beach. And we decided to get "dressed fancy" for dinner each day (the kids LOVED this idea). We packed accordingly.

- 3 bathing suits each (1-packed in carry on)

- we lived in our bathing suits so only 4 pair if underwear. We can always wash them in the sink if needed.

- 3 pairs if shorts (nice, no holes or rips) (1-packed in carry on)

- 3 best tshirts + 2 extra (we use them as pj's, beach cover ups I'm strong sun, and a quick change before lunch from one Tshirt to the next). (1-packed in carry on and one used for layering on our airplane outfits).

- 1 pair of crocs (worn to airport with socks)

- beach non slip shoes (we are a barefoot no socks family in the heat!)

- Accessories - 1 belt each and suspenders (boys can share for variety)

- 1 "fancy" wedding shirt (we choose a linen button down for younger son and a yellow collared polo for older son. 

Baby girl had 1 pair of shorts and 2 dresses replace the other 2 pairs instead. 

For kids I also packed liquid Motrin and pepto Bismal for a just in case emergency (I don't like relying / waiting on hotels and others when I neeWe had a d stuff / first aid for my kids - so I did over prepare here). We also had a few band aids, my personal tweezers, a small neosporin tube for cuts, small hydrocortisone tube for itches or big bites and An ear thermometer.

Each child wore long pants for departure, then layered in a Tshirt, lightweight long sleeve (great for possible sunburn cover up too) and a polo shirt for boys on the very top. Baby girl had a floral shirt instead of a polo. Then each child had a hoodie sweatshirt. Before landing I changed each child into shorts and simply removed there layers (during flight for comfort) and ultimately down to their tshirts for landing. There was room in each of their carry-ons for their clothes or in dad's carry-on.

I am blogging this for many reasons. I of course will return to this post for my electronic checklist. WE HAD A SUCCESSFUL TRIP... so I am going to use this advice for myself again.

Make Mistakes. Breathe, Reflect. And don't forget to Laugh.Out.Loud.

Homemade White Clay: Why we need to Fail with our kids

Homemade White Clay: Why we need to Fail with our kids, a photo by areyousureaboutthatblog on Flickr.

Don't you love finding those great homemade crafts on Pinterest. My Pinspiration "White Clay" activity caught my eye because of the gorgeous bright white color of the dough. And the cute cookie cutter ornaments made with the dough, and the ability to paint the baked ornaments.... Yada Yada Yada!!! All looks nice on the PIN.

Venting time: can't do any if this fun "white clay ornaments" and painting them afterwards if the dough flakes and when you finally do get an ornament made it disintegrates coming out of the oven. Vent complete.

We totally enjoyed the mixing, measuring, stirring and talking about our science, err um, I mean fun craft. I squeeze I learning everywhere we can!!! We ate lunch as the dough cooled for about 10 minutes or so.

Project Fail, White Clay Dough
Recipie we followed:

Bright White Clay Dough

Ingredients:
2 cups of baking soda
1 cup of cornstarch
1 cup of water

Directions:
1. Combine baking soda, cornstarch and water in a medium pot and stir over medium heat until all ingredients are dissolved.
2. Continue to stir over medium low heat until mixture thickens.
3. Once thick, immediately remove from heat and transfer mixture into a mixing bowl. Be careful, mixture will be hot!
4. Cover with a cold damp dish cloth until cool enough to knead.
5. Knead dough until soft and smooth. If mixture is too dry, add a few drops of water at a time and knead until a softer, workable consistency is reached.
6. Roll out dough to 1/4" and cut into shapes as desired.
7. Bake finished creations on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet in a warm oven (I do mine at 175 degrees F for about two hours, flipping them over about half way through baking.) Allow to cool completely in the oven.
8. Once completely dry, finished creations can be painted with acrylic craft paints and sealed with a craft sealant.
9. Wrap unused dough in plastic wrap to keep it fresh.

We did make the dough by heating ingredients in the pot. My first tip that is failed was the smooth texture of our version. It should have been "stickies" and looked more lumpy. And just as every good scientist knows, you will learn during the process, and learn from your failures.

Here's younger son enjoying the warm dough.

Here my younger son is enjoying how warm it is to his hands. He's been under the weather so mommy's homemade chicken soups in the pic too.

My next indicator of failure was the lack if bonding in the clay / sticking to the table and not as pliable as it should be.

Younger son loved playing with his "mountain." He wasn't into ornaments and cookie cutter shapes. He instead had the "cat" eat the "fish" but applying one cutter image over the other. And I can't say enough about the gross and fine motor skills needed to push, press, pinch, and shape the dough.

He was not frustrated - as was the adult in the room (me) - with the dough flakes, pieces and chunks that were falling off said mountain.

Baby girl enjoyed watching us, and touching the warm dough. Otherwise he was more into the cookie cutter shapes, and less into playing with the dough.

I rolled out the dough, into thicker and thicker segments. The cookie cutter shapes would break apart. Then the dough would stick to the table. Just frustrating. Add the flaking dough and it was not fun (for mom).

However baby girl loved flaking pieces all over the floor. And throwing cookie cutters on top.

Afterwards I took my dozen ornaments in animal shapes into the oven for 60 minutes at 175.

Here's our table after the experiment. Younger son is putting flakey dough remnants into a Baggie (so older son can enjoy after school).

And like our favorite clean up time song says: "you can clean where it's small and I can clean where it's tall." For the first time my 4 year old used the vacuum cleaner and picked up the flakey pieces. Baby girl and I wiped up the table each with our own sponges.

Cleaning may have taken longer then the entire project - cooking and molding together.

As for the baking, everything went smoothly. Then I removed the ornaments, and as the tray cooled I nudged one, and the leg came off. I nudged the duck beak and it flaked apart. All the pieces disintegrated. All of them. And the little rolled "balls" of dough we thought we'd make marbles from, they cracked, and dented. So interesting flops all the was around.

But even with the failures, we had fun. And we lived a real experiment. We need to fail with our kids too. Talking about our projects. What we were making. How it felt. It was "fun mommy." And then as you know real life doesn't work 100% of the time. So my kids also need to experience failures so they know how to handle disappointment. And they can learn to persevere, and try again, and again until we reach success. And you can't beat that.

The flop
We think we didn't add enough baking soda. My younger son remembers adding 1 cup of everything instead of a single 2-cup ingredient.

We will revisit this project. And try a smaller batch recipie. It's a low cost flop, but a high impact failure experiment... Again positive for my kids experiences.

Make Mistakes (like I did). Breathe. Reflect. And Laugh.Out.Loud. It helps with coping skills and failures.

Young Son Wrote the Word "MOM"

Young Son Wrote the Word "MOM", a photo by areyousureaboutthatblog on Flickr.

I am so completely crying right now. As we eat our lunch my young son wanted to color in between bites.

After I prepped our lunch and took a few bites, I look back at his sheet and he wrote "MOM." That's his first written word, besides his name.

"Where did you learn that word?" He replied "it's in your necklace.

Paper Chain Links Project to Help "Count Down" our Return

My husband and I are going on a Once on a Lifetime trip Overseas. I am having major anxiety at the idea of being away from my kids for two weeks. Especially considering I haven't been away from them longer then 1 to 2 nights!! So to help them cope with missing us we are making a "Count the Days" paper link chain. I don't know yet what will help me cope with missing them?

We kept this project super simple, so we don't drag out the longing and missing that will be going on. We kept it positive and used the crafting time to talk about our feelings and the fun things they will be doing at grandmas house.

What you need:

-scrap paper, we used colorful construction paper
-kids scissors, one per child
-markers and crayons
-a ruler
-a pencil
- a glue stick

Mom used the ruler to draw out straight lines on the long side of the paper - roughly 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch wide pieces. Each child would get a piece and start cutting along the line. My 7 year old son showed me his "creative wave cuts" he learned in art class. The 4 year old cut the same wave lines, however unintentional.

areyousureaboutthatblog.blogspot.com cutting our paper strips

areyousureaboutthatblog.blogspot.com cutting our paper strips

Then my oldest and I wrote "messages" to each other and the things as dictated by my younger son. They each colored "art" onto 1-2 strips as well.

areyousureaboutthatblog.blogspot.com writing our messages

Last we glued the paper strips into loops with the words facing out. Then I explained to the boys that Each day we are away from them they will rip off one loop and read the message.
 
*Little MATH BONUS *:
- We needed to count on the calendar how many links, or many days, mom and dad will be away.
- Then we started cutting the strips, and half way thru cutting, we "guesstimated how many more we would need."
- I explained that after they rip off one link, they can "count how many days are left until mom and dad return from their trip."
- Another math bonus is the kids started measuring the length of the chain compared to their height.

Areyousureaboutthatblog.blogspot.com starting to measure our Paper Chain

- Then we estimated how many links it would take to get to their respective heights. It was a wonderful sidebar of learning.

What my kids don't know is I included a fun activity message in two of the strips to encourage they (and grandma) have some extra fun. One strip has a "nature scavenger hunt" (inspired from Pinterest) activity paper clipped in and the other tells them to use there glow sticks that night.

Some of our messages/reminders to each other and include:

"I wonder if mom bought my Japanese Fan and Sumo Wrestler toy yet?"
"Baby girl, don't pull your brothers hair!"
"Mom, we love you!"
"Go on a Nature Scavenger Hunt! Mom included your checklist."
"We probably miss our Babcia and Ciocia at home, let's call them and see how they are doing."
"Mom and Dad Love you and Miss You Bunches! We can't wait to see you soon!"
"Go to the beach today. And if you did already/did that yesterday, then go eat ice cream instead."

Areyousureaboutthatblog.blogspot.com Surprisingly a wonderful coincidence,
the Paper Chain is as tall as my young son.

I am certain we will all enjoy our time away from each other. And I will certainly enjoy returning home to my darling kids. In the meantime, I think this Paper Chain will keep them remembering a fun project with mom!

 

"The Days are Long, the Years are Short."

Downton Abby: 100 years later, are we an upstairs or downstairs society?

As I watched the last episode of Season 3 Downton Abby last night I started to think, after all these years what's become of our status in society? Who would I have been in the Downton Abbey era? As its incinuated in the show that The Era of the Abbeys won't last much longer. Technology and "modern ways" were taking over, and generations of aristocratic rule were falling by the wayside. So what becomes of the people in the "new times?" Are we living as the upstairs family would have or continuing in life as the service staff would?

Downton Abbey, the Family leads and Service follows

So I started to reflect on my own life. Interestingly enough I'm a daughter of real European aristocrat,  my father and my mom who is from a small village. Granted my parents met here in the United States, and most likely would not have met in their native homeland of Poland. As I was growing up my mother always made it a point that I knew my manners, as did my father. It seemed though that my father pushed away from the family rituals and behavior, and he was not close with his family. But my mother embraced all of the etiquette, formality and properness of it all. Even tho she grew up in a village, her Grandmother was a seamstress, and we think that her Grandmother passed down the importance of dressing well and "for the occasion." Education was important in the home as was "doing well" and "being successful" in whatever you do. She was a woman who understood the quality of fine materials. So ingrained in my mom was dressing well, appropriate for the occasion, and so on,...so she wasnt presented as a "peasent" when she met my dad - and here in the U.S. they were no longer "worlds apart."

Downton Abbey, the Upstairs Family leisurely enjoying news by the fire. 

As you can tell from reading this blog, I feel that manners and etiquette are very important. I'm constantly calling for my boys as "gentlemen, come here," but sometimes I do call for them in Polish slang term for "boys" similarly to the village people. So I guess I show I am a blend of both worlds.

Downton Abbey - downstairs, servant dinner time

Watching Downton Abby has given me so much insight into my father's world. What his parents had to lose after World War II, and what he had to relearn how to live in simplicity when he came to this country. (Instead of following his degree as a physicist, he chose to repair cameras his whole life making less than $25,000 a year. Clearly not the lifestyle he grew up with.) But one thing my father definitely maintained, was the joy and fun in his humor and wit. I would say he's an extremely witty man never answering the question directly, similarly as the Lady Dowager does, always side barring and having just the right answer, just the right way of handling things, when he wasn't being mean to someone of course.

Downton Abbey - Lady Dowager "Vulgarity is no substitute for Wit!"

So now that I have a better understanding of where aristocratic father came from, what does that tell about me? Which side did I end up on? As a mom I'm certainly doing the work of the service people. Laundry, dishes, cooking all our meals, dirty diapers, being a "wet mother" since we're still nursing baby girl, ha ha. And I spend more than one hour every day with my children, unlike the Dowager. This would definitely be the life of service. Thank God for technology, at least I have a dishwasher to be my first assistant / Daisy in the kitchen.

On the other hand my Husband and I have a higher education through to university, we've really taken a lot of love to have a beautiful home, with a wonderful landscape. We take daily walks, love books in our library at home, and have elegant fancy dinners with our family and friends often.

So am I a woman of the upper-class, who has learned how to do menial tasks, and take care of young children? Or am I a woman of service was increased her status to own a home, yet still do menial tasks and take care of children?

I guess it's easier to leave this question unanswered? It can sound extremely arrogant to say because I have an education it gives me an upper hand on those that don't? I don't think I fall in the middle either? If there is a middle? Does an education still raise us up in class? Improve handling life's issues?

But that's not to say that the head housemaid Mrs. Hughes or the head Butler Carson would not handled things wonderfully and they were in service and didn't have a higher education.

The only other thing that I have that is clearly reminiscent of the aristocratic society, is my wit. I often don't answer questions directly and instead will have some very cunning and smart remark that will neither offensed the person but it will sort of "put them in their place."

Where does this leave us? I have to say I really don't know. I didn't dabble in the finances aspect because obviously I don't want to talk about my financial situation on the Internet. But that definitely is a factor to consider if you live "check to check" or if you have something to "fall back on," that'll tell you a little bit about where we've gotten to land socially.

It's two days after writing this post: I'm in the kitchen grabbing our snacks for our outing - my eldest comes in, he's thirsty. The four year old needs me to wipe his booty, and baby girl just picked up yet another Lego for her snack / teething aid!! Can't we just leave? No, the chauffer (that's me too) needs to fetch her keys.

My conclusion: while at heart I am definitely an aristocrat and a well rounded, educated, and well dressed social lady, I'm definitely a downstairs maid / nanny who's been promoted to homeowner and mom. Thus I call myself the "Family Manager." A little education, a little free time, and lots and lots of chores!!


Make Mistakes. Breath, Reflect. and Laugh.Out.Loud

Salt Glue and Paint Toddler Project

Yet another Pinterest inspiration. The original idea came from here at Hands On As We Grow. Love her icy paint idea. So we had to try our own version.

Materials you will need:

-- Tray (to catch the salt and possible paint spills)
-- Glue
-- Construction paper or sturdy paper - any color
-- Paints, we used professional grade water colors and drenched in water. I would recommend craft acrylics watered down for an even deeper color.
-- Salt, we used koscher salt for a more gritty feel, but regular table salt will do
-- Paint brush or eye/ water dropper

If you are reading this post, please post a comment below on what you liked - or didn't  - about this read. Does the topic interest you and you want to know more? Submit a question and I am happy to tackle it.

1. Glue away on your sheet. Any design or pattern will do. Let you child experiment - during this step they might make thin lines or large globs. Once you get thru to step 4 they can see the various effects of salt absorbtion and color mixing, etc.

areyousureaboutthatblog

2. Cover you glue with salt. Be generous. We let our salt sit for at least 15 minutes to absorb into the glue. So we went and played freeze dance while the excrutiating time passed.

covering the glue in lots and lots of salt, areyousureaboutthatblog

3. Pour off the excess salt (we saved it into another container for a sure to be future project). We used water colors an eye dropper to pick up the water and drop it on the salt. A paintbrush will work just as well. We drenched the salt in the paint. This picture doesn't do justice to the cool way the color spread thru the salt and the depth of color.

start applying drops of color to the glued on salt, areyousureaboutthatblog

4. We let our masterpiece dry for 3 days on the tray. Most of the salt stayed glued on to the paper even tho we used alot of color dropped on. I think the color would have been much richer if we used my acrylic craft paints.



the happy artist with his new color salt work of art! areyousureaboutthatblog



Enjoy kids activities and playtime as much as you can. We certainly do.

The days are long, but the years are short - Chinese Proverb

NEW UPDATE :: YOUTUBE CHANNEL INFO ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT BLOG

Our family has had many adventures through the years. Mom, the @Minstr0Interior had an a-ha moment . . .  Suddenly I See what we will have filled our life with, ADVENTURES! We travel, craft, sing, dance, collect insects and spend loads of time together. Sometimes too much time together. Our kids have recently begun to document their own adventures, and so this channel was born. Enjoy our adventures. Or not. WANT MORE? If there is a blog post accompanying this video we will share it here. Sometimes we will include the ingredients list of the craft or recipe, or the itinerary of our trip. In the meantime click play. 

From our family: 👍 + 🙃 + ❤️ ( Thumbs up, emoji face, hearts! )

See It Live >>> 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2mGpujQIVgxdfTImFnQuLA

Make mistakes, breathe and laugh. out. loud! 

Originally published on February 28, 2013