Friday, March 11, 2011

Just trying to keep everyone happy...

I'm not gonna lie, I can't wait for the weekend to start.  Today my patience has been tested from the moment I woke up-- probably because Caleb decided to start the day an hour earlier than usual.  And then he woke his sister up.  This led to a fun filled morning with two cranky kids, as you can imagine.  At one point today I felt like I was going to lose my cool-- so I announced that I was giving myself a time out.  Caleb looked at me strangely and said "You can't do that!"  But I did.  I went and sat in his room for a few minutes, regained my composure, put a big smile on my face and made him the best lunch ever.

So, lately I've been doing my best to keep the kids happy... so that I'm happy.  It all started yesterday.  I had to make a trip to Superstore to pick up a few groceries.  Caleb usually groans when I tell him we're going to Superstore-- I really don't blame him-- that place makes me feel grouchy too.  This time I decided to try and make it fun-- I told Caleb that we were going to have a treasure hunt in Superstore!  Over the past few weeks I've been cutting out pictures of grocery items that we often pick up at the store.  I pulled out the pictures of a few items we needed and told Caleb that he had to make a list of the things we had to hunt for at Superstore.  He glued them to a piece of paper and off we went.  On the drive over to the store he kept shouting from the backseat, "I'M SO EXCITED!!"  The moment we walked through the door he was looking left, right, up, down trying to find the things on his list... when an item was discovered, he was able to use his marker-- I tried to get him to draw and "X" over the item... he insisted on drawing a circle around the picture.  You win Caleb.



Finding diapers.  How exciting.  Emerson watched from the sidelines and even managed the swipe the list from Caleb a few times.  The treasure hunt was a big success... Caleb's begging to do it again.  I think I'm going to pick up an official looking little clipboard for him so that he can monitor his list in style.


So that was yesterday!  This morning we didn't end up leaving the house.  That would have been a disaster waiting to happen with grouchy kids.  Instead we did some activities at home-- the activities started early.  By 7:30 am we were already coloring... believe it or not.


Then I decided that we were going to do some baking.  After looking through my recipes I decided that we were going to bake gingersnaps again-- since they required the least amount of eggs ( guess I should have put that on the list yesterday :)  And really, what else am I going to eat for breakfast on a day like today?  Ginersnaps it is.  Caleb was most helpful.  He decided that he really wanted to wash the dishes.  His technique was quite unusual...  instead of scrubbing the dirty dishes with a cloth, he insisted on pouring water on them.


As you can imagine, this did not end well.

So towels on the floor it is.  Dishwashing ended when I started a bubble fight with the suds.  Once cookie baking was finished we were all a little happier, maybe a bit cleaner due to the suds, and my floor had been unintentionally washed by Caleb.


This little missy sat on the sidelines and watched-- sometimes quiet, sometimes crying.

And now they're sleeping... finally.

18 comments:

kelly ens said...

now THAT is a genius way to take a kid shopping!!! :) well done.
You may likely know about this (and choose not to 'indulge'), but Superstore has a Cookie Club where you take your kid to the bakery entrance and they'll give your kid a chocolate chip cookie (free rocks, right?). i find it to be a fabulous distraction to the boredom factor for the kids :)

Elissa said...

Oh we indulge :) We love the cookie club...

KDees said...

Oh Elissa - we should live closer to one another and start hanging out. I would have come over and we could have commiserated together (yesterday was my bad, grouchy day!) Enjoy your quiet afternoon (hopefully!)

Anonymous said...

Great Superstore idea! When Owen was Caleb's age, I would give him the cookie and also pick out a kid's book that he would look at just while in the store. He knew we would never buy it but it kept him occupied.

Carol said...

A clip board was one of my better ideas for my kids. They got well used in church, and in the car. They wrote lists of the kinds of trucks they saw, license plates from other provinces & states, towns and cities we passed through on trips etc.

Jamie Cooke said...

I love that pic of Caleb at the sink! So cute! You inspire me to do a lot of cool things with my kids!:)

Sabrina said...

Your breakfasts sound a lot like mine. I am excited how the batch of cupcakes from today are going to make a perfect pair with my morning coffee.

Kelsie-Lynn said...

Your superstore idea is genius! I can't wait to try it with Alexis!!

Janice said...

You are like the best. Mom. Ever. I wish you were MY mom. Seriously, you never cease to amaze me :)

Dan and Lynn said...

I love the treasure hunt idea! So cute that Caleb went from dreading Superstore to being excited:). And as for gingersnaps for breakfast, I'm trying to figure out if I have enough energy to make some for tomorrow! Gingersnaps would be so good...

Bonnie said...

Its official. You actually, TRULY are a GENIUS!!!!!!
Shopping list treasure hunt. I'm totally sticking that in my back pocket for when Callie's old enough to draw circles & X's :) Brilliant!

Denita Dyck said...

You're awesome Elissa- such great ideas! I actually just forwarded your blog onto my cousin who has similar interests (renovating, creative parenting, living cheaply)...

Janelle said...

oh good gracious. that is an amazzzzing idea! Kammer would LOVE LOVE LOVE it! gonna steal!! :)

Janelle said...

oh good gracious. that is an amazzzzing idea! Kammer would LOVE LOVE LOVE it! gonna steal!! :)

Anonymous said...

I love your blog! I am going to start trying the treasure hunt idea!

Anonymous said...

I make a list for my boy except I draw the pictures...which don't always turn out great so I may have to tweak my idea and cut and paste like you!

Danae said...

ooo, I love the grocery treasure hunt idea, you are so creative! Might just have to try that one out on my boy :)

Info site for San Antonio Moving Company said...

I can see that the kids enjoyed the activity.

Happy to see their smiles. :)