OT - my life just to let you all know (LONG)

Augh! One of the reasons I didn't have kids was because I would've been
arrested for locking them in a closet til they were 18 (because I would WORRY
SO MUCH).
~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html

Happy Birthday, Helen!
~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html

but a word of warning to all. in almost every state, hanging
something from your rear view mirror is illegal. most of the time,
that is ignored. BUT if law enforcement WANTS to stop you, they can
use that as an excuse.

Yes. And if you have one of those lead crystal prisms hanging from your rear
view mirror, REMOVE IT NOW. Not only can they blind you (dangerous when
driving) with a shaft of pure refracted light, they can put a nice webwork of
shatter in your windshield if you stop suddenly. Put the pretty prism
SOMEWHERE ELSE.
~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html

i tried.
i think Jamie was born knowing how to pick locks - and she taught
Johnny.

you don't want to KNOW how much trouble those two got into!

Thank GAWD for leashes on dogs!!!
~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html

Danka Sooz!

Later,

Helen C

"Dr. Sooz" wrote in message
...
Happy Birthday, Helen!
~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry."
John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html

I hear you. But, dressing out of the drier is an efficient way to
live.

Deirdre

On Fri, 05 Sep 2003 21:04:39 GMT, "Helen C"
wrote:

Never get it completely put away, but
hey, it's clean!

Thanks Kathy. Trying the dough now. Wish me luck. So far, they want to go
into the living room and the youngest boy wants to eat his!

Later,

Helen C

"Kathy N-V" wrote in message
.com...
On Fri, 5 Sep 2003 14:24:24 -0400, Valerie wrote
(in message ):

Any suggestions for at home (very) low cost
things to do with him would be greatly appreciated!

Polyclay? It's very inexpensive and Sculpey works almost like playdough.
You
can go even cheaper and make your own playdough. Or messy paper
mache(sp?)?
It
might be messy, but it would occupy him for a long time.


When DD was small, we made something called "clean mud," and she got many,
many hours of enjoyment out of it.

Here's a recipe:

http://www.milwaukeemoms.com/recipes...ecipe.cfm?ID=9

We added 1/3 cup laundry borax to the mix as a preservative. One time we
unrolled an entire 24 pack of T.P. into a 5 gallon bucket and made it into
clean mud, and I'd dump it into a kiddie pool when she wanted to use it.
(And hose her off when she was done)

Other times, I'd let her "fingerpaint" with shaving cream, which had the
added bonus of getting my kitchen table sparkling clean. It made the
subsequent bathtime very easy as well. Since she has sensitive skin, I
used
the unscented Barbasol shaving cream for sensitive skin. It costs well
under
a dollar and one can lasts a long time (if you dole it out and don't let
the
kid do the squirting).

DD just reminded me of a time that I used to save all the packing peanuts
in
two bags: the dissolvable kind and the plastic kind. The dissolvable
kind
melt when put in a bit of water or if you touch the ends to a wet sponge,
you
can squish them together as a strange (and free) building material.
Before
we got dining room furniture, I dumped the plastic packing peanuts on the
bare floor and let her "swim" in them. Just swept them back into the bag
when she was done.

I always made my own Play-doh kind of modeling clay, and would add
sparkles
and dried, unsugared Kool-aid to the flour, so it would smell nice, and
feel
even nicer than the store bought stuff. (BTW, the preservative in
Play-doh
is kerosine, which is what gives it such a distinctive smell)

I got a satin pillowcase somewhere, and filled it with large scraps of
lace,
velvet, satin and other nice-to-feel fabrics. (I asked friends that sew
for
leftovers, and they all came through for me) I don't sew much, but making
a
tutu was easy with netting and 1" wide elastic. She loved that. I made a
couple of capes from towels and ribbon which were really popular as well.

DD was (and is) a very tactile kid, and I used to do all sorts of stuff
like
this when she small. We were fairly broke, and all of these ideas cost me
little or no money.

One thing we didn't do, but a friend of mine whose kids liked to build in
a
big way saved 1/2 gallon juice cartons. She washed them out well (milk
holds
a smell, so juice is a better idea), and taped down the pointy part to
make a
good sized block. She had hundreds of them in her basement play room, and
the kids made all kinds of structures. Also, if your kids beat one
another
with the blocks, they're light enough that no one will get seriously hurt.

Kathy N-V

We had that happen once. A bucket, sponge and parental edict to "scrub
that
damn stuff off the wall" made marking the walls a lot less attractive.
(No,
she didn't get off; but that wasn't the point)

Sure. I don't think I have enough sanity. And they'd end up throwing water
everywhere and making even more of a mess. But, it wouldn't hurt to try. I
just hate standing over them like that. Makes me feel like a warden or
something.

Wrecking things gets way less attractive when you have to repair them.
When
DD had to clean up broken or spilled things, or pulled her shade down onto
the floor or shoved a mouse pad into the VCR, she got to "fix it." Her
disapproving mother would stand over her as she tried to figure out how to
fix things and attempt to do them. My mom did the same thing when my
siblings and I were small (there were three of us with less than two years
between us).

That might work. I usually just end up taking things away. Like I've said
before, it's amazing what you can live without.

Putting the youngsters to work tires them out and gives you marginally
less
housework. I used to set DD to work with the carpet sweeper when she was
three or four, and if she actually got any dust off the carpet, it was a
bonus. (Those swiffer cloths are good for making them dust, too) It was
about that time when I taught her to fold washcloths and towels and put
them
in the linen cabinet. She could also put away the silverware, put dirty
clothes in front of the washer and help set the table. At about five, she
graduated to making sure that there was always toilet paper on the
spindle,
consolidating all the little trash cans into one large bag for taking to
the
curb and putting the recyclables into the blue bin.

They'll do these things for dad or the babysitter (whoever it may be) but
they COMPLETELY ignore me. And then wonder why I get frustrated. I ask
nicely, I suggest, I yell (alot) and then I give up and ignore them (not
completely, just they won't do anything for me, I won't do anything for
them)

Is there a play group in the area where they can run around with other
kids
and tire themselves out?

There's a playground a couple blocks down, but if it's just me (and it
usually is) it involves getting them all dressed (and keeping them that
way), hauling out the double stroller, grabbing something to drink, getting
them down there, convincing them it's time to play, not just sit there and
drink and as soon as any one of the has to go potty, it's right back home
for everyone. Or, I could just let them play out in the street like all the
rest of the neighbors (well, not all, it just seems like it)

Any parenting tips would be appreciated. I know I'm just missing SOMETHING
here. (Why did my mom have to have me so late and surround me with older
people without kids?) Survival skills, yes! Parenting skills, no.

Later,

Helen C

trust me - when they were under 5, J&J both had leashes!

And those things are wonderful (used correctly). I wish more parents would use
them. People who think they're barbaric are thinking too much. (Or not
enough)
~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html

Dr. Sooz wrote:
trust me - when they were under 5, J&J both had leashes!

And those things are wonderful (used correctly). I wish more parents would use
them. People who think they're barbaric are thinking too much. (Or not
enough)

My parents used one on me because once I started to walk I wouldn't stop!
Mum would stoop to look at something, while shopping in particular, and I'd
just keep on walking until I got to the end of the leash.

--
Melinda
http://cust.idl.com.au/athol