Let It Snow!

With all the snow on the ground, sledding is on the top of the list of fun things to do. We know this first hand as we have a huge hill in our backyard perfect for this activity. While I love to see them laughing all the way down, my main concern is “watch out”. I’m always worried about who is bumping into who, if they swerve off course into the bushes or I’m thinking “they’ve been out here for hours, they must be freezing….” Below are some tips on how to keep your little snow bunnies safe:
* Adults should always supervise children while they are sledding.
* Make sure the hill is safe: that means a hill without obstacles in the sledding path, which doesn’t end near a street, parking lot, pond, or other danger.
* Take time to avoid collisions – make sure the path is clear of other sledders
* Children under age 12 should wear a fitted helmet while sledding.
* Never go down a hill headfirst; sit facing forward
* If you want to go sledding in the evening, make sure the area is well lit.
* Wear warm and layered clothing to protect from injuries and the cold.

And there is nothing better then coming inside and warming up with a nice cup of hot cocoa! Have fun and Happy Winter!

The "Snack" Platter

With the Halloween filled with candy and the holidays filled with irresistible sweet treats, to be assured that your kids are getting their fruits and veggies for snack make a the "snack" platter when they get home from school. It’s a huge hit in our house and very simple to prepare.

Carrots or sliced cucumbers with hummus or yogurt ranch dip
Stone wheat crackers and some sliced cheddar cheese
Sliced apples and a mound of raisins

You’re filling a platter with wonderful choices and they think “wow look how much stuff we can eat before dinner”.

Holiday Shopping Time!!!

Time to shop for the holidays
Why not shop for a good cause and make it a Girl’s Night Out too!
Sip, Shop and Share Holiday Boutique
November 18, 7-10pm
November 19, 10-2pm
36 New Canaan Road
Wilton, CT

No admission just a donation of canned food, pantry items, a toy or toiletries to be donated to a local charity

Shop the goodies from many local businesses in the area, gather with some friends and have fun!

Holiday Special

Tis' the season - The Oak Tree Agency has a holiday special! We are currently offering a 15% off any placement fee. Placements must be made before Dec. 31, 2010. For further details, call us at 203.856.6225

Halloween Happenings

October is probably one of the best times of year. It is the prelude to the holiday season or just a time when families begin hibernation for the upcoming cold months. Whatever the time means for you the North East is a great place to be. And there are many activities planned in the area. Stew Leonard’s is great for those activities. A very family friendly store, the entertainment alone would make you need to visit. Their “Halloween Happenings” are totally “spooktacular”! From hayrides to movies it is an absolute must! You can do so much and feel accomplished just the same. Grocery shop, eat an ice cream, visit the farm animals, see a family halloween movie and buy a pumpkin all in one shot, not to mention keeping the kids happy the whole time! It’s a no brainer!
Check out the website for specific location times and other info. www.stewleonards.com

School days.....

While my youngest has one more year of preschool, I’m hearing the tune of first timers heading off to school. Some advice I’ve received in the past to ease the kindergarten jitters has been very helpful and comforting to know that I wasn’t the only one who had a child that was nervous.

I first found it helpful to start settling down into the school bedtime schedule. While we still have some time to go the key is to start as early as possible. Nestle down with your child, relax, start a nightly school routine and start talking about how you’ll get ready that big morning and morning there after. Try and play out the routine too.

Secondly I started to buy books that were geared towards entering kindergarten. Go to the book store together and pick out one or two books and read them together that focus on how overcome being nervous the first day of school. And ones that talk about how exciting it will be to meet lots of new friends!

Lastly it may even be helpful to do a drive by. Walk around the school grounds. Visit inside it you are able and let your child get a little more acquainted with the environment. Most school now a days have a meet and greet to get the children acclimated to their surroundings and for them to be able to recognize a face or two the day school starts.

And start asking around to see if any other kids in the neighborhood will be going to the kindergarten too. It is always easier when we see a familiar face in “unknown” territory especially if you have a bus rider.

The main thing is to listen to your child’s feelings and be positive when addressing his or her fears. The first couple of days are probably more nerve wrenching for the parents then the child. Bring the tissues! They will love it though and before the first week is over, they’ll be pros!

Picking isn't just for apples!

Thought you had to wait until the fall to start picking some delicious fruit. Well good news, one of our favorite places to visit Silverman’s Farm in Easton has the juiciest peaches ready for picking. It’s not only sensible to buy local produce but a great experience for the kids to go and learn all about how things grow. Buy a bag and take a tracker ride to the orchard to start your picking. After you finish gathering your fruit, visit the country store and enjoy the treats from pies to fresh juices. Its easy to make a day of it too, pack a lunch and visit the farm across the street filled with goats, sheep, emus and many more interesting animals. Visit their website for detailed information including picking times.
www.silvermansfarm.com or call 203-261-3306

FREE BOWLING

As summer winds down and you’re trying to find yet another activity to keep the kids happy why not consider bowling! And the best part is that it’s free! How great is that! At many bowling alleys across the country they are offering a fabulous program – kids bowl for free all summer long. So if it’s raining out, kids are tired of the beach or pool or you just want to change it up a bit – head for the lanes! Some locations even offer lunch specials too! Grab some friends or make it a family day and bowl away. Go to www.kidsbowlfree.com for more details.

Happy Bowling!

* Registration is required. Details and locations vary.

Money can grow on Trees!

It’s crazy that my children are beginning to realize just how far the dollar actually goes, so they are always asking for an increase in their allowance. Sounding more like my mother I’m always saying per their request, “money doesn’t grow on trees”. But recently, I gave it some thought and decided to make some money grow on trees, in terms of crafts of course. Instead of finding another chore for them to earn that extra dollar, I thought lets take the bottles we recycle and bring them to the stores for the refund. We’ll get a large jar, tape a cut out of a tree on the bottle, put the dollars in a jar and watch that money tree grow! You’d be surprised at how willing they are to also throw any spare change in the jar to see it progress. And not only are we seeing the rewards by saving our money but we are doing something great for the environment too!

"Nanny and Me" log sheets - How Cute!

Many new moms and seasoned moms alike have asked about ways to know whats going on while they are away from their children all day, so I've decided to repost a great way to keep informed of all the days events...

Going back to work for the first time after you have a baby can be especially difficult. You would love to be home but if that is not an option have your nanny keep track of what goes on during the day so you don’t feel like you’re missing out.
Create a “Nanny and Me” log sheet. Add lines like what your child ate, what activities did they play, special things that happened that day and maybe add favorite books they read or when your child went down for a nap. When you come home from work you’ll be able to read about what filled your child’s day. To make it especially rewarding for you, leave your nanny a charged camera so they can take pictures of the days events! Customize your log sheet, be creative, you can even add it to a scrapbook - Have fun with it!

It's Mini Golf time!

Every summer since I can remember I have traveled. Whether it was going to Florida to visit family or driving up to Maine to spend summers on the lake, we never really spent much time at home. This summer has been quite the opposite. We are filling our days with finding things to do right in our local area. And it is so rich with great activities! The latest is mini golf! Right at our local beach, the fluorescent lights shine down on a nautical themed mini golf course. With beautiful views of Long Island Sound, you can enjoy an evening out with family and friends playing 18 holes at any skill level. It’s fun, affordable and summer just would not be the same without it. Check out www.norwalkcove.com/golf to get more info.

Camp "No Camp"

This summer we decided not to sign the kids up for camp. “Why in the world would I do that?” many had asked. Well, besides the fact that we had to tighten the purse strings, I was also looking forward to a slow summer. Waking up every morning not having stress greet me was extremely appealing. Over the past 10 months, I was feeling burnt out from being the family taxi and my biggest complaint was and still is, that time was just moving way to fast. Having to wake up every morning and rush the kids off to another activity had no place on my slow summer schedule. I had set out to actually go with the flow and not have so many things lined up. And to my surprise it has worked out very well. The kids have had to be creative and find things to do without the supervision of an adult that has it all planned out for them. With that, my husband and I are often the audience members of made up dance routines practiced all day long or the very loyal patrons of the kids “restaurant” in the basement. They love to just be kids running through the sprinkler, selling lemonade, making bird baths and a favorite of mine; catching fire flies. The rewards have been priceless, they have learned to play much more productively with each other, make each other laugh and build good old fashioned memories. To me, I’ve gotten so many laughs watching them that even if it’s made one minute seem endless then no summer camp was well worth it.

Movies under the Stars!

Another reason I love the beach, outdoor movies! If you live on the coast then you are probably fortunate to have a parks and recreation department that utilizes what the coast has to offer. Even though I am a little late in the game in realizing this but Norwalk has a schedule of great kid friendly movies shown on Saturdays at Calf Pasture Beach. I heard they also have a few kids activities lined up beforehand too.
While it’s not your typical drive in, it’s still a movie outdoors under the stars! Head down before dusk to be sure to get a great spot. Bring a blanket, treats and bug spray and be prepared for a fun family night out! Oh and the best part, it’s free!

However, if you don’t have a beach sticker there is a charge to get into the beach. Check out Norwalk’s Park and Recreation summer event schedule for more info.

Finding a Connection

Many times nannies are not only new to your family but new to the area all together. It can be difficult meeting people because their daily work routine may not always be conducive in doing so. Helping your nanny get acclimated to their environment will make for a much smoother transition. Below are a few tips to help encourage your nanny to meet new friends and aid them in finding a connection!

1. If possible sign your nanny up for a class with your child. Often there are other nannies taking children to the class too.
2. If you have neighbors or friends who have nannies, arrange a time for them to come over for a playdate
3. Encourage your nanny to join a class at the gym. It’s a great way to meet people and a healthy activity too.
4. Have your nanny join a book club or form one. Put up a posting at a local coffee shop, a library or bookstore.

Being sensitive to this issue is very important. Be encouraging and positive!

Fun Day Inside

I recently went to my nephew’s birthday party at BounceU. A huge facility filled with bounce slides, bounces houses and climbing apparatus’. This is the perfect place for any day! They have open bounce sessions, it’s enclosed and they have faculty walking around to assist kids in getting in and out of the bouncies! If it’s raining or even if it’s too hot to want to be outside – they are fully air-conditioned! They looked so fun I even got on one myself. Well at first it was to retrieve my 4 year old when he became fearful at being so high up but the only way down was to slide down so I did and then spent the rest of the party thrilled and running around like the rest of them!

Note: you do need to make a reservation, so be sure to call ahead!

Happy Bouncing!

Breaking Away

Most of us now a days spend an enormous amount of time on the computer. Whether its for work or not, to me having the world literally at my finger tips is hard to resist. However, when I repeatedly hear myself saying to the kids “just a minute” or “hold on, let me finish this” when more often than not I’m on facebook or wws “web window shopping”, I realize it's probably not the greatest distraction. Before I know it an hour has passed and time has been wasted doing just a bit of nothing.
While it is very entertaining to read status updates and look thru pictures or add things to my wish list on my favorite store that I know I'll never buy, I know I can be much more productive doing something else off the computer. Mind you some of us do need to spend time on the computer for work purposes but our 15 minute break working from home is now a click to a 15 minute or more time slot browsing albums from summer vacations or reunions.
So I have found a few simple ways to help me “break away” and help curb my so called addiction.

1.Get yourself a timer – Set a small amount of time like 15 minutes for yourself if you really feel the need to go on these sites, when the timer goes off go back work or to whatever it was you were doing.
2. Only allow yourself go on during a certain time of the day – Try to allot some time at the end of the day to go on.
3. Block yourself from those hard to resist sites – There are now programs available to block you from going on during “work” hours.
4. Keep the computer turned off all together if you don’t need it!

Good Luck!

Gone to the beach!

With the summer in full effect along comes periods of unbearable heat. The last thing we want to do is think about spending time cooking. Give yourself a break and take the family out. No, not out to a restaurant, out to the beach! A fun and inexpensive idea that is sure to be a blast. Head down late afternoon when the sun starts to go down so you don’t have to fight the heat but be sure to bring some bug spray!
This was one of my favorite childhood memories. I have since continued the tradition with my family, we pack up a blanket, beach chairs, and dinner from our local market and off we go. Invite a bunch of friends, the kids have the beach as their own playground and it’s a huge hit for everyone!
Make it simple, make it fun, and make it a memory.

Safety First

Whether you're a parent, caregiver, grandparent or occasional babysitter taking a safety class can make the world of difference. We leave our children in the hands of family members, and caregivers all the time and they should know the basic steps to take if an emergency were to occur. And it certainly wouldn't hurt to freshen up on our knowledge as well. Your local Red Cross chapter offers a variety of classes that would cater to anyone that needs to learn CPR and First Aid.
Make it a family affair; invite all the people who may watch your children and you may be able to get a group discount. For more information in mid Fairfield County go to www.ctredcross.org

For everyday summer safety tips the American Academy of Pediatrics has guidelines we can all follow for keeping our kids safe this summer. http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/summertips.cfm

Happy Summer!