My experience with three year olds is quite extensive. I have been through this age four times as a mom. I have taught Sunday school and had home daycare. In my opinion, the age of three is far worse than the age of two. I think terrible twos is a term that should be changed to terrible threes. When a child reaches the age of three, she is better able to communicate her wants and needs. She may not be better able to distinguish the two but she can now tell you about it. She has formed expectations and reached … Continue reading →

Developing proper dental habits is important to teach at a young age. The sooner you begin the more habitual the routine will become. A child who is used to tooth brushing will be less resistant to parental help. After all, who wants someone brushing their teeth for them? Proper dental care comes by way of habit training. Spiffies can help develop that habit for your children. Spiffies can pave the way to proper dental care from the infant stage with their Spiffies Tooth Wipes. A product I wish I had when my little ones were still infants. Can you imagine … Continue reading →

Potty training is a developmental task. As parents we often take it so personally and rejoice or get upset with the potty process. We are so involved with it that during potty training is consumes us. You can tell the beginning potty training parents at the store. She is the one with a huge box of pull-ups, a package of underwear, a potty chair and an array of candy and stickers. It is a big time in the life of a child and for the parent as well. We get so excited when the child finally goes potty we Facebook … Continue reading →

In my house, we don’t do “Santa.” No, I don’t find it immoral. No, I don’t think you will be dragged on some cheesy talk show by your disgruntled child for “lying” to him about the existence of Santa Claus. My husband is a fuddy duddy who thinks the whole Santa thing was silly. He is far too logical for this type of fantasy play. I can’t keep up on chore charts much less a Santa charade. I also wanted to focus the season on our Christian beliefs. We watch the Santa shows and all that fun stuff we just … Continue reading →

I always find it interesting to see what children want for Christmas. It says so much about their personality. I also have a tendency to love whatever my children love or at least grow a fondness. I am not particularly in love with football cards but since my son loves them so much I have grown a bit of a fondness for them each time I see some in the store. Hot Wheels were another item I learned to love since all my kids loved Hot Wheels. I used Hot Wheels as stocking stuffers for all my kids at one … Continue reading →

When my son was five years old we signed him up for soccer. The intention was not because we thought we were grooming the next soccer star. We thought it would be a fun activity for our active child. At three he could already ride a bike without training wheels and at five he could dribble and make a basket at a rim set for a child’s height. He seemed to have a natural ability for sports. Since he kicked a ball pretty good we thought soccer would be a nice sport to start with at a young age. So … Continue reading →

When my daughter was six months old she decided she liked this stuffed puppy at the store. I was so excited that she found a toy to pique her interest I purchased it. We named it appropriately, Puppy. Puppy became a constant companion. She slept with it from the time she was a baby to about three years old. Over those few years Puppy became tattered, worn and exhausted with all the love given to him. Puppy was an essential part of the bedtime routine as he always had to sleep right there with her. Knowing this was a step … Continue reading →

We often hear the term “terrible twos”. I am here to say that if the two’s are terrible then the three’s are horrendous. I have had four children and while none were perfect two year olds, none were terrible. As soon as I would breathe a sigh of relief thinking the “terrible” phase had passed a new monster would rear its head; the three year old. Three year olds are alike like teenagers. Trust me, I know. I have a 13 year old and a child turning three. Both want desperately to be independent while still struggling with dependence beyond … Continue reading →

Every day I hear the same two words emit from my little one’s mouth as she begins a sentence. In fact, I hear this several times a day. It seems she would not know what to say if she did not begin a sentence with “I want…” For the most part this is not a terrible thing. Mothers spend a great amount of time guessing the wants of their children before they are too young to speak. Mothers wish for the day the child can simply communicate her wants. Mothers spend a great amount of time securing the wants and … Continue reading →

My preschooler is not a big fan of fish. She tolerates fish sticks, though I’m not exactly sure the frozen entrees qualify as actual fish. My daughter’s disinterest in seafood is one of the reasons I have yet to take her to a fish fry… but that may be a good thing. According to health experts, the average serving at a fish fry contains 1,100 calories. However, most, if not all fish fries are all-you-can-eat, so the majority of diners don’t leave without consuming at least 2,000 calories. And don’t think that you are doing yourself a favor by ordering … Continue reading →