Easy Lunch Bag Notes: Mommy I Love my Lunch Note

When my older son started full day kindergarten in 2010 I wanted to expand "being with him" through little love notes. Little did I know how fashionable (and important) of a tradition this is. He'd come home and often say "mommy I love that my lunch note was... funny, made me feel happy, I liked seeing it." Seeing his joy after getting a little love note often brightened my day too.

Kids like (and need) the reassurance of their parents even when we are not around. When my older  son started preschool, his teacher read "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn on their first day with the moms and dads in class. I cried as the mama raccoon kissed baby raccoon's hand and "Locked it up." And so started our tradition. Everyday at drop off I'd kiss the palm of his hand and "we'd lock up the kiss" incase he needed it later. "If you miss mama, you can always put the kiss on your cheek and it'll be like I'm right there with you."

This book reinforces the fact that our children need us, or the thought of us even when we are not with them in person. Recently I'd seen on Pinterest some website advertising a for premade lunch notes. Go for it! Some mamas just can't fathom where to start right?

We often have projects and kitchen table conversations at our home and these feed my little notes habit. Below I'm including some of the "notes series" (little did I know they became a themed series until I started taking pictures) - I keep these in a bowl, handy to grab and throw in with the days grub.

Our Lunch Notes Bowl - quick access to notes from one top of the microwave areyousureaboutthatblog

My sons pointed out thru this year his favorite notes. And sometimes I think it's not my best work, and he'll say it's his favorite yet!? Kids love the notes not because of what they have written or drawn on them, they love um cause there from mom!

You can see what we love at home is echoed in these easy peesy notes:

Some are simple post it's written the morning of the lunch packing, others were sketched and cut out while we watched movies. Then just glued onto construction paper and cut out so they have a little trim.

Most recently we added PSY who sings Gangnym Style

Psy Gangnym Style Lunch Note Sketch - areyousureaboutthatblog

Music / Song themed
We appreciate music in our home. We are always dancing and singing in the kitchen. My son LOVES the Black Eyed Peas - he thinks in Black Eyed Peas Pump It their saying "Monkey Power" (please dont ask because I have no idea?) but there saying "Louder," Theres Survivors "The Eye of the Tiger" (just because they say the word Tiger) "Who let the dogs out," by Baha Men "Shimmy Shimmy Coco Bop," by Little Anthony and "We are the ones under your bed...lyric" "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Actually my kids hadn't seen the movie, they only heard the halloween song from one of their playlists I made.

Music Lunch Notes from areyousureaboutthatblog

Favorite Cartoon and Characters
"Mom my friends say your a good drawer" motivated me to make a few new drawings for his bag.

Mom Sketches become Lunch Notes that we treasure - areyousureaboutthatblog

Just things we love including Karate, Pirates, Avatar Nations - these are doodles inspired by images from the web.

Travel
"One day til our hotel getaway" "Grandmas House for the Weekend"

About A Boy
Everyone needs motivation, so ours include: Good luck on your test today, I really like that your trying hard to help out, Take Your Time (because he always rushes thru his work which ends up sloppy), You are my Super Star (created after a particularly hard day), and my favorite "Work Hard, Leave Tracks" (on a drawing of a car I doodled all thru high school.

Little Motivational Lunch Notes - areyousureaboutthatblog

Of Course I love You Notes - areyousureaboutthatblog

Silly Jokes and Sayings

It seems almost everyday my sons comes home with a new joke. So I looked up a few of my own and quickly jot them on a post it. "What do you call a pig who knows Karate? A Pork Chop" and Motivational support "I love you" and "Have a great day - from Dad"

These notes are used in rotation and in no particular order. Which one gets picked all depends on what's going on in our lives. An even though there reusable my son looks forward to his lunch notes.

Lunch Notes Safe and Dry

As for the lunch bag I made a note slot by hot glueing (with caution) a piece of thick clear plastic to the inside of the lunch bags. This way the note stays reusable, dry, and easy to read without being handled by lunch eating hands.

Simple not sexy, A little hot glue and a homemade Lunch Note Slot - areyousureaboutthatblog

So, eventhough in December of his Kindergarten year my son said one morning as I went to kiss his hand, "mama I don't need a kiss anymore." Crush went my heart - I cried in the car. But my notes are still dearly enjoyed, for now.

It's made a wonderful difference in our house an I hope you try some of your own lunch notes too.

The days are long, but hte years are short. - Enjoy childhood with them as best you can...

My Son Lost his Toy and I AM NOT Buying Him a New One

Since my eldest was a toddler I taught NOT to take toys in when we went shopping, to a museum, library or any activity. Because the instant kids go into their destination they drop their toy "like its hot" and head to the first thing that catches their eye. Buh-bye toy.

It's not my job to pick up and carry that thing around. I've gotta diaper bag and two other kids I'm schlepping around and that's plenty enough for me.

So, for the most part we rarely, ever, loose a toy. My son nor I can remember it happening, until a recent visit to the library. We went to dinner after school and he took in his new red apple shaped plush "fruit ninja." He cashed in his big 1,000 ticket jackpot win at a birthday party gamę Palace for the Priceless "In the moment pop culture" plush. Generally I don't allow plush toys out of the house because they easily pick up germs. But I made an exception on this special "no occasion" day.

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.

He remembers bringing his toy back to the car, as do I. Then we went to the library. I didn't remember him brining it in, per our "toy rules." He went in, took off his coat, and ran to find his book "diary of a wimpy kid." But that night after we returned home he remembered his fruit ninja. We figured it was in the car and we'd get it in the morning. Well when we went to the car it wasn't there. "Did you check behind behind your chair ?" Yes! "Under your feet?" Two affirmatives but no toy.

I called the library. I told him not to be hopeful, I didn't think it was there. Nope, it wasn't there. And my son cried, hard, like I've never seen him cry (not counting being hurt). "I know your disappointed" I said. "It was MY FAVORITE!" (Of course I'd never heard another toy described that way - ha!.) I didn't try to minimize his feelings tho.

This was a great tragedy, like Romeo and Juliet, like The Trojan War - well in a kids perspective anyway.

And my next instinct was, "Honey you have some birthday money left to buy a new one," and then I in my head I heard the sound of screeching breaks, wait a minute. I stopped myself. This was a great mommy moment. Is that the right message? There will be many disappointments in life, and sometimes things are not replaceable (even tho the fruit ninja is). So (gulp) I let him cry. I was driving the car and I while I was slightly amused at the intensity of his feelings over this Thing, I still melt because my baby was hurting inside. So I just said "I wish I could give you a big hug right now." He said "I wish you could too."

I didn't blame him for the loss of his toy either. His feelings of sadness were lesson enough of loosing track of his toy. I didn't say, like I instinctively felt to say "see what happens when you take your toys out of the house." But for us luckily that doesn't happen, this was a first in 7 years.

My older sons occasional hiding fort, when he needs alone time.

The crying stopped. I also did my mom job, I called the restaurant and the library. Nothing. And so we drove in silence, ... But then I remembered (this is my son were talking about here). During clean up time he steps right over a toy and says he's done! Blind as a man!! Hey "did you check under your feet?" "Yes, I did" as he's looking, again... And up comes the ninja. He didn't cheer, or get excited. He hugged his ninja. And it was over.

He knew he lost track of it. He felt the consequential loss. That was lesson enough, as brief as that 15 minutes we were in the car.


Make mistakes, breathe, reflect and Laugh.Out.Loud.

Alone Time: My Momism. When my kids need a break from eachother

There are days when maybe the weathers changing from sunny I rainy, or it's been a long day at school, or maybe one order of the kids is just in a cranky mood. Ill hear "mom I want alone time."

My oldest actually invented this strategy when our second son was about 2 years old. We wen from "mom he's bothering me," to "mom make him leave I want to be alone!!"

Sometimes Mom wants Alone Time Too...

I respected his wishes and the youngest would have to leave. Not always, but if a storm was brewing I would allow "alone time." And if the little one would scream I'd explain that his older brother wants his special "alone time" and YOU get alone time too. I'd try to have my happy voice and also say its his mommy time. So this plan worked well.

It's three years later and we've evolved to "alone time." Often after school the oldest will ask for it. And on the weekends, ironically it's the younger son who wants it. He aches for his brother all week, and then it's an overdose on the weekend.

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.

Yes, even mom asks for her alone time, in the bathroom, when I'm reading and when I think the kids need to be separated!!

It's a strategy that brought peace to our home.

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

Sensory Bins and Bags: I Spy, Ocean Blue and an African Habitat

I discovered the world of Sensory Bins! Not only amazing for the kids but pretty wonderful to put together for them and watch them play, and play, and play.

Sensory Bins and Bags: I Spy, Ocean Blue and an African Habitat

First we made a sensory bin. Thank you Pinterest for this blog list of some great sensory bins. Since my son was 3 years old he loves playing with small toys (you know the ones with warning labels not for under 3 years old). Ya those! Well he is very into fine motor skills play and is well aware of not putting things into his mouth. So I grabbed my newly empty bin (from my Lenten Giving Up on Giving Up Clean Up) and added some bulk bought rice that is ages old. Even now at age 4 he loves those small figurines, so I grabbed a few miniature animals and trees.

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.

But then - I also added some pouring and measuring spoons so he can dabble in a little math while he plays. The first time out, I played with him for about 10 minutes to also

Introduce the sensory bin:

- talk about each animal that went inside, their habitat (for example hippos love the water and giraffes eat the leaves off of trees

- and safety rules (of Course) don't let the baby near it

- call mom for help

- don't put anything in your mouth

- keep the rice inside the bin

- and you can only pour the rice and animals inside the bin

- when you take an animal or spoons out make sure to wipe off any rice.

- Close the lid to the bin when your finished and come get mom.

Even tho he's playing about 6 feet away from me I still encourage them to come and get me whenever they want to show me something they made/created.

African Habitat Sensory Bin Areyousureaboutthatblog

Of course then I had to make something for 12 month old Baby Girl. I have been giving my kids this since the first one was a year old. A few stacking bowls, a large spoon and a large spatula. She can unstack the bowls, knock them around and upside down, throw them and hit them with the spoon. I have learned that the babies don't throw the bowls to be naughty, instead they do it to hear the variety of sounds that are made.

Baby Girl Sensory Center, bowls and a spoon and spatula, for making music: Areyousureaboutthatblog

Our 1st sensory bags. OKay so I went crazy, over 3 days we had to try everything to see what we liked best....and we love it all. My inspiration for these bags came from Growing a Jeweled Rose here and Mama OT who has a list of over 40 sensory bag ideas here. 

The red I spy bag has some knick knacks from around the play room and through our clean up process mentioned here. Its 1 cup water, 3 drops red food coloring, 1/4 cup baby oil and lotsa fun items. Confetti in a winter theme with sequins snowflakes, a bat, and rabbit. There's a green lobster and a blue alligator eraser. A red disk from some broken plastic gun, lotsa glitter and sequins.

Don't over fill the bag, it should still lay flat and thin. Seal the bag and then apply clear tape. Fold over and tape again. Ours unfortunately leaked from very heavy use and was transferred to a bottle. Very cool results! The die from the blue alligator (I think) came off a bit and made the baby oil in the  bottle blue, the water stayed red....great for my 4 year olds color mixology obsession right now.

The blue bag is 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup baby oil with 2-3 drops blue food coloring (which gave it that amazing blue beautiful texture. Glitter, and some SOFT fish toys with their corals form the bath tub play set. Baby girl loved this. I had to monitor her NOT to put it in her mouth. BUt the little baby oil that spilled on the bag helpedeep her at bay too.  Seal the bag and then apply clear tape. Fold over and tape again.

Our 1st sensory bags - Red I-Spy complete with poem and the Blue Baby Oil Ocean Areyousureaboutthatblog

Lastly is a GREAT sensory toy from walmart of all places (I do like them :-) for $5. The plastic sticks shape molding. You know you can push your face in to see your image. We keep this in the kitchen table and everyone loves to try it and use it. Even mom and Dad!

Baby girl loves this plastic sticks shape molding frame, areyousureaboutthatblog

Keep playing those games and having fun with your kids.

Update: September 18, 2013

************************************************

We've made more Sensory Bags here, learning about the different properties of oil, water, gel (dissolves) and paint (changes waters color). See more here. We love sensory bags and bins, there a frequent "go to" activity. 

While there are crazy amounts of Pinterest crafts and books to buy with science, arts and craft ideas, you can find ONE great idea and make it over and over again. Each time to craft will vary a little, and kids are building on there experiences from the previous time. Don't feel the Pinterest Pressure to do it all, pick one and do it over and over again works too.

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

************************************************

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

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

Originally published in Febuary 2013