Dino quest

We had a groupon to dinoquest at the river wall mall. It was waaaaayyyyy overpriced. Even with the groupon, I still think it was a tiny bit overpriced. But, watching providence and Atticus made it worth it. Those two were in heaven. Atticus walked around with arms in the air acting like a dinosaur and roaring. It was cute.

Guilt Free Wednesday: ownership and why I don't believe in sharing

(pretty sure this was our first "fight" over a toy)

It's Friday, but I was lacking in inspiration. This sharing nonsense drives me nuts. I would say that my thoughts on ownership and sharing have developed and changed as I have added children. I am pretty sure I told Jackson to share, then I realized how crazy that is. It is crazy to feel guilty about your child's inability to "share."

When I just had Jackson and Providence, I didn't think twice about who owned what toy. They are a year apart and their toys were all the same. Then, they got bigger. Their toys got tinier. They now have two younger brothers that want exactly what they have.

So, we started establishing ownership. Here are my rules of ownership:

1. It's yours if it was given to you.
2. It's yours if you bought it.
3. You do not have to let others play with what is yours.
4. It would be really nice and grown up of you if, on occasion, you did. In fact, if I catch you doing it, there will be praise and possibly a reward involved.
5. If you are irresponsible with your toy and a younger brother gets a hold of it, it's not my problem. I think it is probably the best way to learn to put your things away.
6. I will step in if you are playing with it and your younger brother tries to get it. (Funny thing- my 3 children are well versed in the art of redirection. It cracks me up when Fynn adeptly redirects Atticus to another task)
7. I will do my best to keep your younger brothers from your toys, if you put them away.


That's how it rolls in our house. "Owning" a toy occurs other places, too. When other kids come over or we are out in public, the same rules generally apply. If we are having people over, I will tell the kids to put away anything they don't want other people touching.

When we are at the playground or at a place with toys (museum or something), I try to apply them as best as I can. If my children had it, they can play with it for a reasonable amount of time. If your children have it, my children are not allowed to take it. If another child tries to take my child's toy, I try to let it play out on its own. I will help if I need to, but it is important that they learn how to handle situations like this appropriately. I will step in quickly if another child is trying to take something for Fynn (or Fynn wants something that he can't have). I don't make Fynn hand over the toy, but I will redirect the other child. Fynn escalates too quickly.

Lets look at sharing from an adult perspective. Let's say some stranger at the playground asks you for the keys to your car. Are you going to share them? Of course not. That just sounds absurd, right? How do you know if you will get it back? How do you know they won't destroy it? That's how little kids feel when someone threatens to take their toy. It just isn't going to happen.

This doesn't mean that I let my kids run all over other children. The flip side is: if it's in their hand, you can't have it. My kids are not allowed to take things from others (it still happens, but I guide them through what's expected of our family). They don't get unrestricted time on the swing, if there is a line. I want them to learn to be respectful, but I don't expect them to just hand over what they are playing with. I don't want children who get walked all over when they grow up.

I teach my children to ask for a turn. I teach my children that whomever they are asking might say no. Some of them get upset when the answer is no, but that's part of life. My children know that they can say no when someone asks. My children know that offering a trade can help sometimes. I think they are learning about the fine art of compromise and negotiation. It all starts on the playground, right?

A note on communal toys: There are places where toys are communal, even in our house. I am perfectly fine with being the timer. Taking a turn with a set time provides younger children with the structure they need to "share" successfully. When I just say "Share" how does anyone know if they will ever get a turn? Or get it back? When I say "you can have a turn in 5 minutes, I am setting my timer right now," I am providing them with a much better chance at being successful. It is so important to understand where they are developmentally. It helps shape realistic expectations for your children.

This and That

Jeremy took Providence out for her Valentine's date. She got all dressed up and changer her hair accessory three times.

This old looking kid and I went out the next day. He didn't want to use his money to pay because he is saving it up.



Meanwhile, back at the ranch, these 3 kept me entertained.


Providence got all dressed up again for her Daisy tea party.


With her buddy.

I said: Show me that face you give your mom when you really want her to buy you something. And I got this:

yes, you can have it. :)

Two Weddings!

Both of Jeremy's brothers are getting married this year. Josh and Bianca came up to visit us this weekend and we had so much fun. Bianca, Providence and I went to look at dresses. Providence had a blast, but she was a little concerned about getting married in a white dress. She didn't see why Bianca wanted white when there were so many other colorful dresses.

We played around a little with a save the date option.

Look at that bling!


And here is a sneak peak of what one little girl in our house will look like. We found a very pretty (and deeply discounted) flower girl dress for Miss P! We didn't get the headpiece, much to her disappointment. Unfortunately, it cost as much as the dress.

Guilt Free Wednesday (on Thursday)- Not Cool Enough for the Room Mom Group

There is some secret group in Jackson's class that brings food to parties. It's completely planned and coordinating, and I guess I missed the memo.

The first incident occurred at the Christmas party. I asked Jackson repeatedly if he needed to bring something, and he kept saying no. I just assumed they weren't having food at their party or his teacher was providing one treat. It made sense to me, why hype a bunch of 6 year olds up at 10am? When I showed up at the party, it was full of food and parent provided crafts. I felt a little guilty (okay, maybe a lot) about coming and not bringing anything. I would have been happy to bring something.

Valentine's day rolls around and I again start asking. Jackson keeps telling me he has no idea, but no one has said anything to him. I decided to send something, anyway. Jackson and I made yummy cake batter chocolate bark. It was quite tasty. He ended up giving it to his teacher, because there was already a completely coordinated spread of food and crafts. Again. I felt guilty, again, about not sending anything to help out.

I am going to pretend that his teacher thought my cake batter chocolate bark was so tasty, she didn't want to share. I am also to absolve myself of the guilt I am feeling for not bringing anything. Really, it makes my life much easier. He only has a few more months of public school, anyway. I really shouldn't worry about it at all.

Feeding the Ducks

We went to feed the ducks today. The ducks were not very active, but throwing rocks is usually more fun anyway.

From 2012-02-13

This almost the cutest kids ever (after my 4).

From 2012-02-13

From 2012-02-13

The sun on the water. I love my 70 degree winters.

From 2012-02-13

Providence did some exploring.

From 2012-02-13

From 2012-02-13

Fynn found the only crack that he could fit through on the bridge. Of course.

From 2012-02-13

He also scaled the chain link fence. Obviously, it is not a barrier to keep people out. Maybe he just really wanted to go up to the library that is supposed to open now, but things in K-town are slloooooowwwwwww. We have another 45 days until it's ready.

From 2012-02-13

We even got in a little letter practice.

From 2012-02-13

From 2012-02-13

Happy Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day! In our house that means a fun day to eat candy and go on dates with daddy and mommy.

Cute baby with an oh, so cute belly hanging out. He is gnoshing on his sucker. He wanted to make sure that there was not candy on both ends. I have a feeling he thinks a stick with two suckers attached would be even better.

Okay, moms, you know want this boy taking your daughter to the Valentine's Dance. Look at that face.

I think he is one handsome (and way too old looking) kid.

And here is daddy's Valentine. Look at that smile!

Sweet girl

And my little Valentine Warrior


This picture is worth a thousand words. This is Fynn: full of life, going for the goal.

Happy Valentine's Day from the goofy Taylor bunch!

From 2012-02-13

From 2012-02-13

It's tackle football time

If you don't believe my motto that my 3 year old can take down your 6 year old, here is proof.







It always makes me happy when my kids play well together! It's sometimes hard to find a middle ground with the spread of ages and personalities, but they always find a way!

Cookie booth sales

We are up to our ears with cookies (literally, I had a stack of boxes as tall as I was). We survived our first booth sale this weekend. I was very proud of Providence. She did a great job asking people of they wanted cookies. This is a big deal, because talking I grown ups is a very scary thing for her. When you have come to the conclusion that no one understands you, it can be quite a feat to say anything to anyone at all. She did, though!

And some notes:
1. It's perfectly okay to tell us no. It's rather irritating when you pretend not to hear or tell us you bought a 100 cookies already.
2. It's fairly obvious that I have a group of young girls. Most of them are just learning addition and subtraction. I have them count, but please be realistic in expecting them to make change with decimals.
3. If you bombard 3 nervous 5 and 6 year old girls with questions, they just might freeze up and stop talking to you. We are still learning and practicing, please be understanding. (providence may or may not have referred to one lady as "freaky." thankfully she was very quiet)

Little Helpers

It's Nolan's birthday, so we thought we would make him a cake. Of course, I had little helpers in the kitchen with me.

The poured and dumped.

And counted and measured.

And looked plain cute, covered in applesauce.