When June hits and the school year comes to an end, panic rises as we realize teacher gifts are just around the corner...
Whether your child is in preschool, daycare, kindergarten or elementary school, it's definitely time to show the teachers some love and appreciation for dealing with our little angels (ahem!) all year long.
Rather than going to the store to try to find something unique (and that won't end up in the land of unwanted teacher gifts) why not visit your craft cupboard instead, and have your child make something themselves. It will definitely be unique, and most teachers tell us that they love receiving homemade gifts from their students.
Here are three homemade gift ideas that don't take a lot of time, but have a lot of love poured into them!
My teacher "rocks" collage
We recycled a rotisserie chicken dish to make this creation—perfect from a child who carries rocks in his pocket all year long! Put them to use by gluing them into the word "ROCKS"—your child will be practicing letter formation at the same time—now that's a teacher-pleaser!
Handprint heart tree
Show lots of love with a tree made from a child's handprint and hearts! Trace your child's arm and hand, and then cut out and glue onto construction paper. Help them cut out small hearts to make the 'leaves', and glue onto the top of the tree.
You could go one step further with older kids and have them write their favourite things about their teacher on each of the hearts—to personalize it even more!
Homemade flower bouquet
I'm not sure you can get much sweeter than a homemade flower bouquet. There are lots of options and ways to make them—we used egg carton cups painted, inserted into pipe cleaner stems, and then secured with play dough inside a baby food jar. Best of all, you probably have all of these supplies at home!
Have fun being creative with your child to thank your teacher this year!
So we have a law that states we can't be distracted while driving. This includes but is not limited to—texting, talking on the phone, and personal grooming. I try my best to avoid all of the above and use Boobtooth (see above) when I have to talk on the phone.
While I understand the idea behind the law I've got news for the government—the most distracting thing in my vehicle are my children. I learned early on as a parent that my best multitasking happens in a moving vehicle. I know it's not the safest place to complete more than one task, but like any mom knows it's completely unavoidable.
10 things more distracting than talking on a phone:
Fishing around the floor of the backseat to find the toy that has been dropped and is causing a major meltdown.
Trying to answer a 4-year-old's 3000 questions:
Trying to blindly insert a bottle or pacifier into the correct orifice of a screaming baby. Then dropping the bottle into an impossible to reach spot.
Attempting to rock a screaming, hungry baby with one arm stretched beyond human limits.
Trying to divert rolling objects from landing under the gas pedal.
Getting hit in the head repeatedly with an escaped balloon.
Trying to see the traffic in rear view mirror through said balloon (and managing to not go off the road when the balloon pops in my ear).
Divvying up on the go meals—including opening drinks, toys, and ketchup packets.
Driving on less than 3 hours sleep plus listening to a combo remix of Wheels on the Bus and a screaming baby.
Breastfeeding an infant while on a road trip by hovering over the car seat to avoid a 6th stop in one hour (I know this one is bad, but totally necessary in this case. I wasn't actually driving at the time!)
So, Officer, next time you see me swerving all over the road and assume I'm texting, please feel free to pull me over.
But be sure to take the real culprits for the afternoon, then maybe I'll get to drink my coffee and talk on the phone in peace.
This true confession, complete with patented Boobtooth technology, comes to you from momstown Edmonton-South.
As the long weekend approaches, many of us ‘of a certain age’ might reminisce about former jaunts to campgrounds or cottages pre-kids — where no one got much sleep, but everyone had a great time. The appeal of freedom for a weekend was enough to haul our city slicker selves into a tent for a night or two.
Flash forward a decade (plus) later, and though we’re still not getting much sleep, we’ve realized that the cottage weekend has certainly evolved.
1. Cocktail hour is now the hour after kiddo bedtime, instead of the hour(s) leisurely preparing appetizers and a full-course dinner.
2. Girls’ weekends have been replaced by family weekends—instead of staying up late and sleeping in, we’re tucking in early and up with the sun!
3. Satellite TV watching has changed from Dallas, Who’s the Boss, or Full House reruns, to whatever kids cartoon we can find, if we’re stuck inside on a rainy day.
4. Scouting cute guys on the dock has turned to scouting for good sticks to collect and rocks to throw in the lake (or turn into pets).
5. When we need a change of scenery, we head to the local zoo, instead of the local golf course.
6. A night on the town is the local ice cream parlour—before eight o’clock!
7. Lounging on the deck . . . well, let’s just say lounging is pretty much out, unless our kids decide to time their naps with ours!
8. Quiet dips in the lake have morphed to full-on frolicking adventures, complete with cannonballs, screams, and shouts of joy from little lungs.
9. A leisurely read in the hammock? Probably not. The hammock is now a theme park adventure ride for toddlers!
10. Snacks? Oh, some things never change. Cottages and campgrounds call for cheesies, popcorn, and nacho chips!
I laugh out loud when I think of the pre-kids weekends at the cottage and feeling like I almost had too much time on my hands or feeling bored! Now, the more relaxed pace is so welcome and I look forward to many more times spent there.
This post was written by momstown Oakville's Kelly, who loves going to the cottage with her two kids!
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