A Non-Foodie Post of Resources!

Yes. I know. This is a food blog. A blog I had the best intentions for! Yet, life got crazy and I got forgetful. I had (have!) tons of recipes to fill this blog with!

My problem? I kept forgetting to take pictures when I made a recipe. (Though, now that I have a smart phone, I really have no excuse...) But that seems a bit ridiculous looking back since my last post nearly a year ago...

Sometime in the future I might try to redeem my blog, but for now... I'm okay with just going on with my life and coming back to it at the right moment ;)

 So here I am posting some totally-not-food-related resources. Cause guess what? I'm a mom. And this is what I do. If I get enough feedback, I might consider "revising" this blog and making it a resource center for all things child-rearing, parenting, marriage, and plain old survival of the toddler years! (You know, for those days when it is REALLY hard to be a mom! Totally been there... more times than I can count...)

I have created all these resources myself (thank you microsoft word), but I scoured the internet searching for the base ideas. I quickly learned that what I wanted had not yet been done, or I wanted something more specific to our family. So I made up my own stuff! Turns out, I had a blast making my own resources! It didn't take too long (got them done in less than one nap time... yes, as a matter of fact that is a scientific time measurement tool...), maybe 30 minutes at most.

I love to use Pinterest as a tool to better our lives and our home. I pin tons -borderline too many- of ideas and usually use them all to influence my creative side and eventually come up with something unique. I love coming up with my own ideas :) BUT I absolutely need the inspiration of others! And that sums up my love-love relationship with Pinterest.



CHORE CHART: (Morning and Night Routine)

Here is the chore chart I came up with for my 3 year old. I got lots of ideas from all over the internet and then went to work. I came up with as few necessary steps as possible to make it easy on C. He absolutely LOVES it! And the best part is the side effect: he went from being a very needy, always wanting mommy to help kind of boy to truly wanting to do things for himself and feeling important and strong! (I have been telling him for months he was capable of some things but he just didn't believe me... until the chart told him he could accomplish great things!)

*He is a VERY sensitive boy who is extremely cautious and unsure. I am constantly reassuring him of everything, but he is a worrier at heart. I have a hard time relating since I worry about next to nothing... He is so passionate about other people and everything going on around him. He clearly has a hard time balancing it and I obviously have hard time helping him work through it! And any advice would be of great help ;)

We use this routine in addition to other "chores" he helps with around the house. I try to "put him to work" any chance I get to help improve his self-confidence as well as build his knowledge and skill base. I am slowly adding things as he becomes more capable and I try to come up with little ways he can be a big help whenever I am doing something. (*If anyone is interested in a list of toddler chores, I'm sure I can come up with one easily! Just let me know!)



FAMILY RULES:

This is the very simple set of rules we use in our house. I looked through tons ideas and decided to keep it simple and sweet. These exact rules are ones I originally found on this blog. I liked the way she wanted to keep it simple and easy for the littlest of toddlers to follow. These five rules cover just about every possible offense out there, and so far has been working pretty well for us. Right now we have it hanging on the fridge, but I would like to frame it and have it hanging somewhere else...



HOUSEKEEPING SCHEDULE:

I actually got this general schedule from Time-Warp Wife! She has some amazing resources! I really liked her printable, but wanted to make some adjustments for our life and home needs. So I made my own variation. I just printed this on regular white printer paper, but it would also look great on some lightly patterned scrapbook paper or card stock! I have it framed and hung on the wall with my Command Center. 

My CC includes the housekeeping schedule, my weekly schedule board (below), a clock, and marker holder. We are currently away from home right now, but when we get back I would like to add a calendar, simple to-do list, and a couple other things. There are a number of CC ideas on Pinterest if you are interested in creating your own! My phone does have everything I need to stay organized and on top of my life, but after using it for a little while I have decided I prefer the real thing laid out where I can see it! :)

WEEKLY SCHEDULE BOARD:

I know this is not so much a resource but an idea. I have absolutely LOVED this board! It is easy to make and use. The frame is from "a big everything store" (maybe $4; I already had this frame with some pictures I didn't really care for, so this was a great opportunity) and I used some scrapbook paper I already had. I printed the lettering on the paper, but I have seen some people use a cricut. Or you could even use those letter stickers that come in big packs and all different styles and sizes! And you can also do this board vertically if you prefer.

In general, I update it every Sunday with the events and tasks of the week. I tend to erase as I go and even update at the end of each day. I have a collection of small dry erase markers I keep in a scrapbook paper lined toilet paper roll! lol.... It was cheap, I had the materials, it matches the rest of the CC decor, and it looks cute tied with hemp :)



MENU BOARD:

This is the menu board I made. (Not a great quality picture, but you get the idea.) I got a frame from "a big everything store" (or maybe I already had it?? don't remember) for a few bucks and took out the glass. I painted the backing with chalkboard paint (about 2 coats I think) and let it dry completely for a few days. I then used white-out for the lettering! (lol... sounds crazy, but it worked really well!) I used the brush white-out for the MENU and the pen white-out for the days. Using the white-out made it easy to write and get the letters to look good. I didn't have any paint on hand and honestly I don't think I would have done a great job with the lettering if I had used paint!

To clean it, I just dampen a clean cloth and wipe it down gently. No chalk smearing. Cleans it completely.

*It works great for planning out the meals for the week. (I do weekly meal planning in alignment with the weekly sale ads at our grocery store) However, I might do one thing different should I do it again: the backing (cardboard) was reasonable sturdy, but I wish it were a bit more firm. I think I would try painting the glass instead and just doing more coats.


Feel free to use any of my resources (and ideas!) in your own home! And feel free to re-pin on Pinterest :)

Thank you for visiting!

And feel free to try out some of the (very few) recipes I have long ago posted! :)

-Angela

*I have a background in Elementary Education, and many years experience working with kids outside the education field. I am now a stay at home mom (SAHM) of a 3 year old son and 19 month old daughter. Needless to say I love kids ;)  I have compiled numerous resources for my own use and would love (in the future... when life settles down a bit) to write my own curriculum(s) and reading tools, and possibly even books for both children and adults alike. Hope you find all this information helpful! Thank you!

Feel free to follow me on Pinterest as well! Click here!  :)