Trick for Treats

One of the Moms at the bus stop today was complaining about all the leftover candy they still have from Halloween 2 weeks ago, and how all her favorites were gone, but she only lets her kids have one a day so it will be September of 2011 before this batch is finished.

YIKES!

So I shared with her our little Halloween trick that we do every year and she raved over the idea, so I thought I'd share it with the masses.

After our children are all done trick-or-treating and it's time to call it night, hit a quick bath, spend some quality time with a toothbrush and floss and lay their sweet little matted heads into bed, we dump out all of their candy. We then go through it and put everything we don't like, have too much of, or plainly will never eat and put it back in our "trick-or-treaters bowl". We then put it outside on a chair in front of our front door, thus blocking it from little knockers and doorbell ringers, with a sign that says "Help Yourself". Inevitably by the time the hubby and I are ready to trot off to bed, the candy is gone and we have spent the rest of our Halloween night peaceably without any knocking or doorbell ringing to make our little ones think they may be missing something down below.

Happy sugar highs to all!

~Cara

Sleep Sense

Hiya Parents, I asked my neighbor to write this up for The Mother Load. I saw how desperate she was and how this sleep website drastically helped her and her baby and wanted to make sure that we got it here for all to read and share. Thanks ~Cara

We have had problem after problem with sleep issues. My son is now 6 1/2 months and from the minute we brought him home from the hospital we've had trouble with him sleeping. He wouldn't sleep unless you held him, he wouldn't sleep more than an hour and a half at night, then wouldn't nap more than 20 minutes at a time EVER.... the list goes on and on. We figured by three months (my Dr. said 3 months is the magic number... ha!) we would be a little more under control. Nope. Then we hit four months.... five month... six months... It all seemed to get worse and worse. I was a complete mess - total exhaustion from being up 6 or 7 times a night. A friend recommended a website for me to check out: http://www.sleepsense.net I was told there was a lot of free information on there and even a free sleep survey. I read all about her and how she has "given" sleep back to exhausted parents with children of all ages. Apparently she is a sleep specialist and charges people $350 an hour for consults. I kept reading down the page about what was involved in her program: a book, a sleep tracker, a workbook, online videos, a monthly phone call to her. I just knew this was going to cost hundreds of dollars. When I got to the bottom of the page and saw it was $47 for her program and was money back guaranteed, I clicked "buy" without hesitation.
I'd like to say we are now sleeping almost through the night, he is putting himself to sleep, eating better, happier... and so am I. It's been two weeks and (almost) painlessly we have gotten our little non-sleeper to sleep!
I know this site is about parents supporting each other and offering advice... well I would like to say I've read several books and talked to TONS of parents about what to do to get my son to sleep better.... and Dana solved my problems with one 198 page book. I probably sound like an advertisement, but if you've had a baby (or toddler) who doesn't sleep, you know how desperate you can get. I hope this information helps someone else out there like it helped us. I am a different mommy than I was two weeks ago! :)

Melissa P. Wesley Chapel, NC

Night Up

We have 6 children fairly close in age. They are all married now, some with children of their own. When they were younger and especially thru the teen years it was always a challenge to find one-on-one time. So we started nights up. Each child got an extra hour after the rest went to bed. We spent this time playing games, talking, working on projects, or just watching a favorite show on TV. We would have a special treat . It was all their choice. It gave us talking time. I think gave them a sense of being special. This is key in big families. The kids knew it was a privilage not a right. They each looked forward to their night.

-David A. RTP, NC