I am teaming up this week with Naptime Review and Two in Diapers for this exciting NEW series about motherhood.

We are always wondering how other moms handle certain issues or dilemmas,

so each week we are going to tackle the questions of motherhood.

Next week we will discuss:
How do you teach your children to be thankful?

If you have some thoughts or advice on next week's topic please email

Cassie at twoindiapers@gmail.com

We would love for you to be part of The Mom Connection!

 Now on to this week's topic!

Siblings and sharing: Where do you draw the line between requiring sharing and allowing for personal space with certain toys?

Here is what a few of us had to say:

Welcome! I'm Julie over at NaptimeReview. I am a mom of 2 wild, crazy and beautiful girls. My oldest is almost 4 and my baby just turned 1. This is how I handle siblings and sharing: 

I really struggle with how to handle this issue around our house. When my youngest turned 1 a few months ago, I really struggled with how I was going to handle sharing. My 3 year old basically hijacked all her toys and wouldn't let her play with ANYTHING! At first, I continually took them away from the oldest then I thought, "This is crazy! The baby doesn't care. She is happy playing with the packaging the toy came in." However, I know as the baby gets older this issue will get worse so here is my plan of attack for future sharing dilemma.

1.Timed Sharing: Set a timer. When the timer goes off the child has to give back the desired object.

2.One Special Toy Off Limits: I would let the child pick 1 toy that is off limits--no sharing required. I think it is important for children to have their own space and not to worry about the other sibling taking over the toy. You could also mark "special" toys with stickers so everyone knows they are off limits.

3.Sharing jar: Every time the siblings share something without a fight or hassle, put a quarter or something in the jar.When it fills up both children can go to the store and pick a community toy for the house. Great way to encourage team work and having fun together!

4. Recognize and model sharing: Continually model aloud sharing such as sharing a piece of fruit or taking turns when playing board games. Also try to catch your children in the act of sharing and make sure to praise him or her.

I know the issue of sharing will always be a topic in our household. Especially, with 2 girls so close in age. I can hear it now, "Mom, It's my turn to sit in the front seat." "Mom, Alice took my new sweater!" "Mom, Averie took my boyfriend." Oh boy! I am in trouble!

Hi! I'm Cassie from Two In Diapers, and I'm a mommy to three sweet babies, ages 4, 3, and 18 months. This is how I handle sharing between siblings:

Honestly? Not very consistently.

I'm SO looking forward to hearing what others have to say on this topic, because this is an issue that we struggle with around here! With three children that are just over three years apart in age range, it's very difficult to define which toys are "special" and which toys need to be shared. 

My three-year-old son Bentley is madly obsessed with cars... both the Disney Cars characters and just plain cars. Of course his little brother Grayson, 17 months, is now obsessed as well. Where do I draw the line when trying to decide whether to make Bentley share his cars and letting him keep his very favorite ones {the ones that never leave his hand - even during nap time} to himself? If I let the kids keep "their" toys to themselves, then poor little Grayson would have nothing to play with.

After struggling with this issue regularly and feeling very inconsistent with the way that I deal with sharing, we've mostly resorted to just making them share. But since I really fear that this will give them space issues with their things, we are now trying to switch over to the timer method. Five minutes and then you pass it to your brother/sister. I'm not sure if this is the best way to handle it, but they usually get bored of the time after a couple rounds each, which lets us move on from the situation.

{I should make a note that the extra special items - Bentley's stuffed dog, Grayson's monkey, etc. - are not shared}

So I suppose my answer is - get a timer and please give ME some advice! 

My name is Julie Smith and I blog over at From Awkward To Art. I am a mom of three kids. My son, Wesley will be 9 in a month. My daughter, Jada will be 7 in two weeks and my other daughter, Leila will be 4 in two months. Here's how I handle siblings and sharing: Each kid is so completely different from the next, that's for sure. How we handle each kid actually differs and varies. Really, sometimes I don't know if I am the right person to go to for MOM advice, because even though we do have specific rules in our house, and it's not a complete free for all, each situation and child vary so much. So sometimes our ways of handling each may vary too. Depending on if Jada is teasing Wesley, she tells on him for not sharing. But we know her well enough to know that she really doesn't even want the toy, she really just wants to annoy him or get him in trouble and then laugh at him when he starts crying. Or if it pertains to the two girls, their toys are almost always shared. It just comes naturally because they play with the same toys, even if one toy belongs to one girl because it was a gift of some sort, it usually becomes a toy they both play with. When it comes to Wesley sharing, we let him keep most of his stuff to himself, or we tell him to hide it even. Because thing things he likes are expensive. Video games and controllers and such and the girls want to use them for pretend rocks to walk on as they make their way across a lake while they are pretend camping. They mess everything up, so we are understanding of Wesley not sharing particular things that belong to him. And with Leila, she is still at the "It's mine" stage at times. Not all the time, but she will have her moments where no one can touch her doll because it's mine, so I will intervene and it's simple, none the "regular toys" in the house were purchased by them, so they are required to share...again IF the toy is actually something they want to play with, not just to demand that they get their way! It's actually really exhausting. Haha.

My name is Kristen from The Mrs. & The Momma.  I am a mom of four kids, ages 7 and under...three girls and a baby boy.  This is how I handle siblings and sharing:

With our four kids close in age, sharing is a HUGE part of family life.  Clothes, food, toys, mommy-time, you name it.    When there are arguments about a toy, I enforce the "who had it first" rule.  That person gets it (since they had it first), but then the "challenger" gets it after a specific time period.  It goes something like this, "Okay, you get it since you had it first, but your sister gets a turn in 10 minutes when the timer goes off."  If it is something where more than one can play, we encourage our children to work/play together and actually share.  This method works fairly well with toys that are "community property."

As for personal belongings in our household, if the child received it as a gift, it doesn't matter who had it first.  The "owner" can decide to either put it up for the time being, play with one of the other sibling's toys (like a swap), or no one plays with it at all since there was arguing (Momma takes it).  This teaches them to carefully consider which toys of their own they really care about....and the ones they REALLY care about are usually kept in a smart place.  And if a kid is playing with their own toy, there is no challenger (see above).

We try our best to teach respect, therefore, sharing is expected to go hand in hand with that.  Sharing is tough with kids, especially with littles who think everything is "MINE"...but loving consistency is key.

Hi, I'm Debs from Learn with Play at home and I'm the mother of an almost 4 y/o and a 1 y/o. 
This is how I handle siblings and sharing:

Currently with one of our children unable to understand the concepts of sharing, fights over toys etc are something that we are yet to encounter. We did recently have our son's first birthday though so it was an interesting time to see how our almost 4 y/o daughter would react over all her brother's new toys!

I believe that there will always be (and should be) some special things/toys etc that each of my children will have that will be special and important to them. They each have a small toy chest at the bottom of their wardrobes where they can keep "their" special things that are just theirs to play with and decide whether they will share or not. I think having some ownership and sole responsibility over certain things is important for them, as is understanding that they must treat other's belongings with the same consideration and respect that they would want for their belongings.

The majority of our toys are considered fair game and are "family" toys. I'm not sure exactly how things will go in the future with sharing but I intend to encourage them to share as much as possible. As far as I'm concerned, if they want to be able to use their siblings special toys then they need to be able to share their special toys too.

I look forward to hearing advice from other mum's who've already had to be tackling these issues :)

Your Turn:

 How do YOU handle siblings and sharing?

Do you have any tips or advice?

Leave us a comment.

Love to hear from you!

Continue reading...

Once again, my friend Julie over at The Naptime Review and I have teamed up to bring you...

The Mom Connection
 
Join us every Saturday for this NEW series!

We're always wondering how other moms handle certain issues or dilemmas,
so each week we are going to tackle the questions of motherhood.

Next week we will discuss
How do you get your kids to clean up and pick up their toys?

If you have some thoughts or advice on next week's topic please email
Cassie at twoindiapers@gmail.com

We would love for you to be part of The Mom Connection!

Now on to this week's topic!

Do you ration your kids' Halloween/holiday candy?
If so, how?

Here is what a few of us had to say:

Welcome! I'm Julie over at Naptime Review. I am a mom of 2 wild, crazy and beautiful girls. My oldest is almost 4 and my baby just turned 1. This is how I handle Halloween candy:

So far, I have been lucky when it comes to sugar overload around Halloween. The baby doesn't know better and the 3 year old is more of a "collector" than an eater. I think she still has some Easter candy in a purse somewhere. I definitely believe in rationing the amount of candy a young child should have. I can see my daughter go from normal to crazy in seconds when we are out to a restaurant and she orders chocolate milk made with chocolate syrup. I can see major meltdowns after spending the weekend with Grandma where she was spoiled with chocolate and S'mores all night long. 

This year, I will put some regulations on the amount of sugar consumed. I believe in fun but with moderation. My friend gave me this awesome idea years ago. I think I might use it one day. It's called the "Switch Witch". She comes around on Halloween. After the children are done trick-o-treating they put their collection by their bedroom door before they go to bed. While they are sleeping the "Switch Witch" comes and exchanges ALL that candy and sugar for a desired toy. Then Daddy and the "Switch Witch" sit on the couch and indulge in Reece Pieces and Snicker bars all night long. Ha!

 So, I am going to try to monitor the amount of junk that goes into my children's mouths this holiday. I want my children to have fun but also learn choices that will benefit them in the future. I have just started to pay more attention to labels and I think it is only right to be cautious this Halloween as well. I am also purchasing healthier choices for our neighborhood guests to enjoy. I just got some Utz cheeseballs and Pretzels and Annie's Homegrown Hallowen Snacks at Target. My husband asked if we were getting a "Tofu Turkey" for Thanksgiving. He is so funny!

Hi! I'm Cassie from Two In Diapers, and I'm a mommy to three sweet babies, ages 4, 3, and 18 months.

 Hooooboy... Halloween candy. Everyone knows that it's really for the moms, right?? ;)

 Well, I was hoping not to have to be the only one to admit that I don't ration Halloween/holiday candy as much as I should, but here's the thing.

 We really don't usually keep sweets at our house, period. Besides the fact that I don't want my kids eating junk all the time, I have the worst sweet tooth in the whole world, and my husband doesn't eat any sweets whatsoever. This means that any sweets in our house usually end up being eaten by moi. So, while I have complete control over the situation, I just don't buy dessert or candy.

 As a result, when holiday candy makes its way into our home, it's a big exciting ordeal! I do keep it up on top of the fridge and out of reach, but I will admit to handing it out a piece at a time randomly throughout the day. Luckily for me, my littles usually forget that it exists within a couple of days, which gives me the chance to... um... throw it away. Yeah... that's what I do. ;)

Hey Y’all! My name is Roni from The Home Payge.  I am a Mommy of two kiddos. Teagan (my girl) is 5 years old, and my baby Parker is going on 3! They both drive me absolutely crazy and I love every minute of it, even if I’m hiding in the closet with a glass of wine!

Halloween brings a whole other level of crazy in our home. Not just Halloween, but all major Holidays in general. It’s as if the kids KNOW that something special and fun is about to happen and they literally turn into Thing 1 and Thing 2 and bounce off the walls like little Dr. Seuss characters.

During Halloween, I try to minimize the “bouncing” as much as possible. I do not really “ration” candy, but I do pick through it and give them what I choose for them to have. I keep them away from the tacky, gummy, sticky stuff. It’s just NOT good for their teeth and no matter how much you brush, it never comes off entirely. So anything that isn't tacky and sticky, they can enjoy! And Mommy and Daddy get the rest! I KNOW I am not the ONLY one that invades the kids candy, right?

Hi! My name is Debs from Learn with Play at home. I am a mum of 2 kids aged 12 months and almost 4 years. I don't actually have any Halloween celebrations where I live in Australia, but if we did, I would definitely ration my kids' Halloween and this is why. 

I am a firm believer in everything in moderation and that includes celebrations and at holiday time. With my 3 year old we have always talked about foods as either an "Anytime food" (most vegetables), "Everyday foods" (like bread, fruit etc) and "Sometimes food" (cookies, cakes, candy etc).

She is very understanding and responsive to this. Like most kids, she loves "treats" and sweet foods but she also loves and is more than happy to snack on cucumber, lettuce leaves and frozen peas. Whenever we get a "treat bag" to take home from a party, I'm happy for her to choose one of the treats to eat now (they've usually eaten tons at parties and celebrations anyway) and then we put the bag away. If she remembers about the candy in the bag the next day, she usually asks for one and so long as she's been well behaved and it's a reasonable time of the day, it's generally fine if she has it. Often, she forgets about it. Out of sight, out of mind and I feel no concern, as her parent, in not reminding her.

I believe that as a parent of young children that it's my responsibility to teach my children a healthy and balanced attitude towards food, eating and their bodies.

We also talk a lot about "energy in and energy out." All foods contain energy. Some more than others. Our bodies require a certain amount of energy depending on our age, weight and energy levels. My daughter knows that on days she is going to/has burnt a lot more energy, I am happier about her eating some higher energy foods. Hopefully, if we continue with this approach as a whole family then both my children will grow up with, (at the very least) a good understanding on how food and our bodies are related and hopefully a healthy attitude to carry on with in the years where I'm not in control of what goes into their bodies.

(You can see some of the ways that I make healthy food a bit more fun for my kids here)

My name is Lena from Lena B, Actually {formerly Mom2MemphisAndRuby}. I am a mom of 2 awesome kids, Memphis & Ruby!

 I do ration my kids' Halloween, and this is how/why: Okay, so Halloween only comes once a year and it's a FUN holiday... luckily, Memphis isn't much of a junk food lover and isn't overly anxious to get through his haul once a night of trick or treating is over. Ruby, however, has a HUGE sweet tooth and would probably make herself sick if we didn't ration her Halloween candy! Basically, my kids are still young and we only go around 1 block... so it's not like they have 5 bags of candy to go through... phew! We come home, take off our costumes and sit through to sort & inspect their goodies. There is some trading involved, of course... and usually it is sorted by chocolate, hard candy, chips, etc. They are allowed a few pieces a night until all the candy is gone... (no hard candy for either! I'm super paranoid about someone choking!!) I've noticed after the first 2 nights, there aren't as many requests for sweets... I think they get over the hype of it pretty quickly!

Your Turn:

 Do YOU ration your children's Halloween candy

or let them have more freedom?

Do you have any tips or advice?

 Love to hear from you!

Continue reading...

 My friend Cassie over at Two in Diapers and myself have teamed up to bring you...

 The Mom Connection
Join us every Saturday for this NEW series!

 I am always wondering how other moms handle certain issues or dilemmas,
so each week we are going to tackle the questions of motherhood.

Next week we will discuss kids and Halloween candy.  
Do you ration how much candy your kids eat
 or do you give them more freedom around the holidays? 


If you have some thoughts or advice on next week's topic please email
Cassie at twoindiapers@gmail.com

 We would love for you to be part of The Mom Connection!

Now on to this week's topic! 

We took a poll on Facebook, and readers wanted to know more about balancing blogging and motherhood.

Here is what a few of us had to say:

 

 

Welcome! I'm Julie over at Naptime Review. I am a mom of  2 wild, crazy and beautiful girls. My oldest is almost 4 and my baby just turned 1.  This is how I balance blogging and motherhood:

Awhile back, I posted some tips on how to get 1,000 followers in 4 months.  In my post, I mentioned that I spend 2-5 hours a day on my blog.  I received an anonymous comment suggesting that I neglect my children and blogging isn't worth the sacrifice.  

Too bad that I couldn't respond kindly to this reader because I would tell her the title of my blog is called Naptime Review. If they don't sleep, I don't blog!  So I work sporadically throughout the day. I usually wake up early before my children rise and that's when I set up for the day. I return emails, link up to parties, make a to-do list, etc.  I then go on with my normal motherhood duties such as being a peacemaker, nurse, short order cook, changing poopy diapers, and trying to spend some quality time with my girls before nap time!  Nap time is when I get to take a deep breath and focus on myself for a moment.  Once the first child wakes, I am done working for a bit.  I later resume after nightly bathes, and then after everyone is tucked into bed for the night.

So they key to blogging and motherhood for me is organization and also having a supportive husband.  It is nice on the weekends, when I can lock myself into the office and get my weekly hops up or have him proofread a post. If you love doing something there is always a way to make it happen!

 

 

 Hi! I'm Cassie from Two In Diapers, and I'm a mommy to three sweet babies, ages 4, 3, and 18 months.

How do I balance blogging and motherhood? Hold on while I plant my littles in front of the television with some Cheetos, and I'll tell you. Nah, just kidding.

This topic definitely hits home for me, since my blog life went from writing a story about kids every couple of days to out-of-control busy, co-hosting, guest-posting, giving away, photo taking, reviewing, and writing about my kids, all over a time period of what felt like overnight. I actually told my husband one night, while frantically typing away and trying desperately to keep up, that I had gotten sucked in and couldn't stop.

One night, my husband came downstairs without a word and started a load of his own laundry. And I'm only slightly joking when I tell you that this was when I knew just how badly I'd been slacking. The next day, I sat down with a calendar in front of me and literally picked apart each hour of my day. I divided my day up between morning, evening, naptime, late afternoon, and evening. I wrote in even the silliest things, such as "cook dinner" and "pay bills". I also blocked off sections of time for my hair clients and fun outings with the kids. I sectioned off each hour of each day until I had a section of time for everything.

This may sound a bit over-the-top, but let me tell you - although it's become habit enough that I don't have to look at my calendar to see what I'm supposed to be doing each hour anymore, I'm SO much more focused at the playground with my kids or working on my four-year-old's preschool book with her when I know that all the things I need to do have another time slot in my day. It's still a work in progress, but I definitely feel more like the mommy I need to be... and that is most important.

 
 

 

My Name is Janine from True Aim Education. I am a Mom of 3 Kids all under the age of 5. I also have a Home Preschool and teach 3 other children. This is how I balance blogging and motherhood: I Don't! I am not very good at it. I blog all about educating children. That is what I do most of the day. So for me, the blog is just a spare-time thing. However, the temptation to stay up all night blogging instead of doing the laundry is one that I have succumb to. I had to implement some things to help manage my time so that my house didn't get out of control:

1. Laid Down the Law: I committed to doing 1 post a week plus Mom's Library Link-Up. I will break my rule and do an extra post only for an important news story or I won't do a post at all if one of us is sick. I also get on twitter, facebook, and pinterest for only 1hr on the days I am not working on a post. I even set a timer. That is a Hard rule to keep, but it really helps!

2. Got a Planner: I got a monthly planner and wrote out what posts I wanted to do each week and also what tasks I needed to do to finish them.

3. Cut Myself Some Slack: Although I am doing my blog in my spare-time, I want my blog to be totally awesome and make a little extra income from it. So I put a lot of pressure on myself in the beginning. I was trying to do every link-up and get on every social site imaginable, everyday. I have learned the hard way that I can't do it all and so I am not going to blow up and make money right away. Content, community, and consistency is key. If I keep on doing those things well, with the time I have, success will eventually come. It just might take a little longer than I want it to :) I have learned that I need to chill out, pat myself on the back for doing what I can, and remember that there will always be dirty laundry to do.

My name is Debs from Learn with Play at home  and I'm the mother of 2 gorgeous kids. Our daughter is almost 4 years old and our baby boy just recently turned 1 year old. I balance blogging and motherhood by continuing to keep my children as my number 1 focus and the blog as something I do if I can fit it in. Generally, this just means that once the kids are in bed, it's writing time for Mummy! I also try to set aside a couple of hours on the weekend dedicated specifically to blogging and my husband uses that time to have special one on one time with the kids and to let me have a bit of uninterrupted writing time.

 

My name is Trisha from 3 Four and Under. I am a mom of 3 kids. I have a daughter who is now in first grade, and my twin boys are 3 ½.  

This is how I balance blogging and motherhood: I don’t know if I’ve ever totally balanced blogging and motherhood. But, what I do is spend as much time and attention with my children during the day. And then after the kids go to bed is my time to blog, catch up on emails, clean up the house and do anything else that is on my to do list. And if my day is too busy one day, then I skip blogging that day and write a post the next day. 


 
Now, how do YOU balance blogging and motherhood?
Do you have any tips or advice  for us "Bloms" out there?
Love to hear it!
   

Continue reading...