The Mom Crowd

I can’t believe it’s Halloween.  The older I get, the quicker it comes.  I’m no longer a child in a classroom counting down the long October days to the 31st.  I no longer fret over what would be the best costume.  I don’t worry about how many pieces of candy my mom will allow me to eat each day.  Yes, the tables have turned; now it’s my turn to monitor all of this for my kids.  Since they’re still 2 and 1, though, I don’t have to go through the whole Halloween shebang just yet.  This year, our focus has been on having the most budget-friendly holiday.  If you’re like me, you don’t have much extra cash for store-bought costumes or full-sized candy bars to give away.   

Here are some ideas to keep Halloween easy on the wallet: 

• Make your own costume.  Sometimes, the store-bought ones look so cheesy anyway; using clothes from around the house really adds character and originality to a costume.  I remember once I was a princess, and I borrowed a prom dress and jewelry from one of my mom’s friends.  All I needed was the tiara!  Another time, my mom made me a cheerleading outfit and sewed the year I would graduate high school on the sleeve of my sweater.  (I remember thinking, ‘Wow, 1994 will never come!’)  The best homemade costumes, though, have wit.  One year, I made a “sandwich-board” costume out of posterboard to look like a giant Dawn dishwashing soap bottle.  And in eighth grade, my friend Jaimee and I decided to be a giant yellow happy face.  We pulled it off, too.

• Borrow a hand-me-down costume from a friend.  This year, I was fortunate enough to borrow a lion costume for Eli and a giraffe costume for Lucy.  They will even “match” in all of their jungle-ness!  If you already purchased a costume this year, save it and be on the lookout for someone who can put it to good use next year.
• Wait until the last week of October to buy your pumpkins.  True, the selection might be picked over, but if you’re carving it up anyway, what’s the big deal?  We bought a decent-sized one for $3 this week at Wal-Mart.  Also, plan on reusing your carving kit for next year; that’s another $4 saved.
• Go trick-or-treating with friends in another neighborhood.  I’m not trying to sound cheap here, but since I made plans to take the kids someplace else during the evening hours, I don’t have to worry about buying candy to give away!  (When you’re really on a shoe-string budget, this helps.)
• Add Halloween fun to things you already eat.  Use food coloring in your muffins, buy the black spaghetti noodles for a clever dinner idea, and roast your pumpkin seeds for a healthy, tasty snack.  (There are lots of ways to do it, but this is the simple recipe I used.)  

What are some other ideas you have?  I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!

This summer, my daughter had the opportunity to play with lots of her friends’ toys, but one of her favorites was the water table.  She likes dipping her hands in water and playing with sand.  On this same day, she couldn’t even be pulled away from the table to take pictures with everyone; she stuck by that table with great determination, as seen on her face.

When I asked the other moms in my playgroup if they liked this toy, they said yes, but one mentioned how she didn’t like the sand.  After these pictures were taken, they removed it from the table.  Apparently, it attracted bugs.

I recently noticed a water table offered on my local Freecycle, and I wondered if I should go through the trouble of acquiring it.  How many of you have water/sand tables?  Is it a must-have for your toddler?  What inconveniences have you noticed with keeping one?  What other toys were indispensible for you this summer?

As I get ready for my daughter’s first day back to preschool tomorrow, I’ve been reflecting on our summer. Living in South Texas means we have not spent the entire summer outdoors soaking up the sun. It means we’ve been inside… A LOT! It’s way too hot here to spend much time outdoors.  Neither one of my children are big on sprinklers or the baby pool, so I’ve had to think outside the box a little to fit in their much needed physical activity.

Here’s some ideas for those of you who are looking for indoor alternatives to the backyard jungle gym when it’s too hot, too cold, or too rainy to go outside and play:

Create an indoor obstacle course

• Put masking tape on the floor to create a balance beam, set up cones for your child to kick a ball around, have them circle the table once, and climb through a tunnel. Throw the couch cushions on the floor and tell your child that the floor is a lava pit, so they have to jump from couch cushion to couch cushion to stay out of the hot lava!

Let your child ride their bike inside!

• Well, maybe not your 7 year old’s two wheeler bike, but bring the tricycles, cozy coupes, and other ride on toys (with gentle tires) out. We do not have carpet downstairs and I haven’t seen one scratch on our floors from the ride-on toys.

Indoor Trampoline

• Like this one! We haven’t added this to our family of toys. I lost the “rock, paper, scissors” match with my husband over this. I think my kids would totally love it and it would be awesome for Darah’s gross motor delay. I’m a tad bitter about it and don’t want to talk about it any more. Maybe I can secretly tell Grandma to buy them one for Christmas…

Push Toy Racing

• You know the grocery cart, baby stroller, radio flyer push wagon, and other random push toys you have all around. Create a start and finish line and let the races begin!

Indoor play gym

• Nobody said those backyard play gyms had to go in the backyard. I know plenty of moms who have them inside their playrooms, and they probably get more use out of them than if they were in the backyard!

Little Tikes Slide

• We don’t have enough room for the big playgym, but we do have enough room for a toddler sized slide. My kids LOVE this slide and it stores easily in closets when you want to put it up.

Classic Indoor Games

• You can be conventional in your attempt at facilitating physical activity for your child while staying inside. Games like ring-around-the-rosey, indoor soccer and tag are easy and great exercise for both you and your child! These conventional activities will also be great bonding time for you and your child.

Field Trips to Indoor Play Gyms

• The new thing in our city is indoor play gyms. Right now, they are really hot spots for play dates. Basically, they are giant areas filled with toys, moon bounces, rock walls, etc… for children. I have one near me that is only for children under the age of 5 and the toys are all geared toward smaller children. Check your area for one. They can be pricey, but I have always felt satisfied with my purchase during afternoon nap time. My kids nap extra hard on days we visit these play gyms! Another alternative is heading to your neighborhood Chick-Fil-A!

How have you incorporated physical activity in your child’s day while staying indoors?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been playing the album “No!” by They Might Be Giants during mealtimes.  Most lunches, in particular, I’m home alone with the kids, and musical stimulation is necessary for me to not go crazy with boredom.  (The kids are cute & all, but not exactly great conversationalists.)  I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. 

This album came out in 2002 - well before my kid-making days - which explains why I’m late in discovering it.  But what a fun discovery!  There are 17 tracks, but I’ve chosen a few favorites and why we like them.  Scroll down a little further to hear the songs instantly as you read about them!  They are all very short.

“In the Middle” - A cute little ditty that doubles as a public service announcement to tykes who want to cross the street. 

Don’t cross the street in the middle of the block
Use your eyes to look up
Use your ears to hear
Walk up to the corner when the coast is clear, and wait, and wait
Until you see the light turn green

I find myself doing a choreographed jig to this one when I’m making the grilled cheese.  (Yes, I think I can dance.) 

“I Am Not Your Broom” - The most TMBG-like.  In other words, totally random and silly, and not so musical.  Sure to get everyone’s attention.  Last week, it actually came on while I was sweeping.  Lucy stood there processing it all.  It was so funny.

“Bed, Bed Bed” - Its percussion beat had all three of us pounding on the table and dancing in our chairs.  Pull out the pots & pans and watch the family drumline fall into place!

“John Lee Supertaster” - Starts off with a funny spoken intro, and launches into a cool tune that sounds right out of the Ocean’s 11 soundtrack.  It’s perfect for a puppet act, which I’m trying to get my husband (a puppeteer) to put together.  Motown-style background singers and a superhero for a character?  What’s not to love?

“I Am a Grocery Bag” - Like it’s straight off a Beck album.  Ask the kids to list how many items they can recognize in the song.

In the special “Grooves for Mom” category:

“Sleepwalkers” & “Lazyhead &  Sleepybones”

“Where Do They Make Balloons?” (Eli, my 1-year old, busts a move to this one; evidently he likes the mellow stuff.)

And my personal favorite:

“Clap Your Hands” - it’s SO incredibly funky and fun, I dare you not to dance!!  This one has Lucy begging, “Again??!!” over & over.  I feel like I’m in 1960s motown when I hear it.  Air organ playing!!

Listen for yourself!

SeeqPod - Playable Search

Other albums my kids enjoy:

Lisa Loeb & Elizabeth Mitchell - “Catch the Moon”

Rockabye Baby - “Lullaby Renditions of U2″

Do you have these albums?  What other pop favorites of yours have made kids’ albums worth hearing? 

Music is a big deal at our house. We enjoy dancing together as a family and just letting it loose. At times however, it has been a little tricky to find music that we can all agree on. When my second child, Isaac, was 15 months old, I discovered Johnny Cash and listened to him non-stop for months. It rubbed off on Isaac because by the time he was 17 months old he would ask for “Cash” every time we got in the car. Or “Bob”, for Veggie Tales music. And if you didn’t play either “Bob” or “Cash” he would throw a fit. We probably erred on giving in too many times to his fits–mainly because we thought it was cute that he was so particular about his musical choices. Eventually he opened up to John Mayer, “Jesus” music, and when he was 2 he got on an Elvis kick. He still requests Elvis frequently, but now that he is almost 4 he is much more willing to try new music. Thank goodness! We often joke that he will grow up and be a music critic.

Earlier this summer, I was preparing for some long car trips and since we have made it somewhat of a tradition to listen to some new fun music, we asked friends for some suggestions. We got lots of great ones. My sister-in-law sent us some Sandra Boynton books that have cds to play along with them. Isaac also loves books so getting music that has books to go along with it is right up his alley.

The Sandra Boynton books, Philadelphia Chickens and Dog Train, are a collection of several different genres of music–swing, rock, folk, lullaby, jazz, chorus, country etc. The songs are performed by a slew of celebrities and musicians–Spin Doctors, Kevin Bacon and his brother, Blues Traveler, Meryl Streep, Laura Linney, Kevin Kline, Kate Winslet and so on. Sandra Boynton somehow captures the heart of children as well as their behavior and puts it to music in such a way that kids and adults like it.

My favorite song from Dog Train is Tantrum by the Spin Doctors. The beginning of the song:

No No No, I don’t want to, I don’t want to

No No No I don’t want to, No No (repeat)

Leave me alone, leave me alone

LEAVE ME ALONE (long pause)

Don’t leave me alone, don’t leave me alone, DON’T leave me alone

Anyone who has kids knows this scenario all too well!

The great thing about these books/cds is that the music is good, quality music that is fun to sing along to AND the stories in the songs will make your heart smile. My kids love the song about a guy who has 15 animals all named Bob–except for his turtle named Simon James Alexander Ragsdale III. And they crack up when they listen to (Don’t Give Me That) Broccoli. They think it is funny that whole song is about a kid who doesn’t want to eat his broccoli and then actually tries it at the end of the song and likes it!

There are two other books (Blue Moo and Rhinoceros Tap) that come with cds we haven’t listened to yet, but I bet they are as good as Philadelphia Chickens and Dog Train. If your kids like books, music and funny stories I think they will get a kick out of these creative songs. And you will enjoy them too.