Parenting Tuesday: Free Range Parenting

🤷🏼‍♀️ FREE-RANGE PARENTING 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’ve seen a lot on social media lately about free-range parenting vs helicopter parenting and what it’s doing to our kids. I’ve been thinking about it A LOT with summer here and my kids literally wanting to roam the neighborhood on their own all day. Here’s the definition of free-range parenting: “raising children in the spirit of encouraging them to function independently and with limited parental supervision, in accordance of their age of development and with a reasonable acceptance of realistic personal risks.” Granted, my kids are still young and I believe most people would agree they need more supervision, but knowing several close loved ones who have been molested or hurt due to lack of supervision, I am hyper sensitive to what my kids are doing at all times. I think it is SO important for kids to learn independence. Of course!! But how do you allow them to do that in a world of seemingly increasing negative influences. I want to discuss this! What is your take on all this? What do you do??

Parenting Tuesday: Mom Boss

JOYOUS JUNE GIVEAWAY #3! 

Mommin’ ain’t easy, and it takes a BOSS to do what moms do! For this giveaway, comment something a mom does and add “like a mom boss” at the end. For example “Wiped my kid’s bum like a mom boss!” And TAG A MOM BOSS in your life! The funnier, or more ridiculous the better! 
WHAT YOU GET: A “Mom Boss” t shirt and a silicone muffin tray for kid lunches, snack trays, or baking BOSS muffins. 😂😊 *IF YOURE NOT A MOM, YOU CAN STILL WIN! We will gift the t shirt to the Mom boss you tag, and you can have the muffin tray! ❤️ Ready, GO!!!! 

Parenting Tuesday: Pregnancy Fitness

Happy Tuesday!! I officially have less than 3 months until this baby joins us. Feels so close yet so, very, far. 🙈😂 This pregnancy has been very different in a lot of ways, but the two I want to talk about are fitness and eating. This time around, since after the first trimester, I’ve been counting macros and eating really clean. I’ve been eating a protein-heavy diet and working hard to incorporate tons of veggies. I have been so proud of myself for the many unhealthy cravings I have said no to and for the self control I’ve been able to have. It is SO hard when you’re pregnant! All I want are donuts, cookies, cereal and bread. And we all know none of those hold much nutritional value. I have also added in a regular weight lifting routine on top of my cardio. I feel stronger and can’t believe what my body can still do. I was marveling at how things have changed even since 6 years ago when pregnant with my first. I was told if you hadn’t been exercising, it was dangerous to start in pregnancy, and that lifting heavy weights can be dangerous. Oh how different that is now! One of the main ways I have stayed on track is accountability. I have been working with @shapebynat, she gave me workouts, recipe ideas, and a personalized macro count. Every time I want to give up, I remember that I have her in my corner and I remember why I bought her program in the first place! I highly recommend working with a coach, especially in pregnancy when it can be so easy to give up! 

Parenting Tuesday: Muffin Tray Lunch

We are back from vacation, which means no more funnel cake for breakfast 😭😂🙈. I am back to trying to give my boys a healthy, balanced lunch that will be fun for them to eat. I got this snack tray idea a while back from @merricksart but I turned mine into a lunch tray! I tray to add a main food item/protein, some dairy, fruit, veggies, grain and a little treat. The boys loooove eating lunch with a toothpick and they love the variety of foods. Swipe to see some different trays I’ve made in the past.

Parenting Tuesday: Search for Flowers

Don’t let these faces fool you. These two give me a run for my money on 👏🏼 the 👏🏼 daily 👏🏼. I literally say to my husband, “they are lucky they’re cute...” at least once a day. Calvin is in a hitting stage and I have to watch him like a hawk. He also gets into EVERYTHING, like I have to lock my fridge and alllll the cupboards and doors. It’s getting crazy. Scotty has an attitude (read: spoiled) and likes to pick on his brother, and doesn’t like to do things that require any work whatsoever. Mom life is hard, and parenting kids to be good, kind humans is hard work! I’ve been following @simplyonpurpose for a while now, and one of my favorite things she says is, “don’t water the weeds.” Essentially, search through alllll that “bad” behavior and look for the rare, beautiful flowers, or the good things they are doing. It’s true that kids tend to reflect and model what they are told about themselves. This consistency is hard, but I’ve seen it work, I just have to re start over and over. So while I always want to be real with you, I’m going to try harder to find the flowers in the everyday of motherhood.

                                                                        

Parenting Tuesday: Emotional Regulation

SURPRISE! It’s Anna this Tuesday :) I had a request to talk about strategies to promote healthy EMOTIONAL REGULATION in kiddos with BIG emotions 😉 In reality, all kids throw tantrums, but some throw them more than others and for what seems like no reason. ⠀
The goal of emotional regulation techniques is to help kids learn to “tolerate distress and learn healthy ways to respond to unpleasant feelings/emotions.” ⠀
Here are some ideas I’ve gathered from other OT’s to help teach kids emotional regulation techniques: ⠀
-teaching deep breathing techniques to calm their bodies down. Make it into a game by placing a stuffed animal on their tummy, and have them breathe in and out and try to see how high they can make their little friend go “up the elevator.” ⠀
-use weighted blankets for extra sensory input. ⠀
-have a “chill out” or “calm” corner with soft blankets and things of different textures for them to go when they need to get back In control of theIr bodIes/emotIons. ⠀
-have them squeeze play dough, crumple paper, or pop/stomp on bubble wrap when they are feeling aggressive or angry as a way to relieve tension in a healthy way. ⠀
-read the books “When I Feel...” by Cornelia Maude Spelman (who is a child therapist) to help your child learn words for their emotions. ⠀
-validate your child’s feelings, help them to know that feeling angry, sad, or stressed sometimes is okay and normal, but there are healthy and safe ways to express those feelings. ⠀

Parenting Tuesday: Boy Mom

“But how do you REALLY feel about having 3 boys?!”

People that know me, know I was always the girliest girl growing up. My favorite color was pink, i was a ballet dancer, I loooved sparkles and glitter, I even refused to wear pants because I would only wear dresses or skirts. I grew up with an older brother and two sisters. I had my girl baby name picked out before I was even married and just assumed I would have girls.

Fast forward to when I found out Calvin was a boy. Long story short, we were CERTAIN he was a girl, we had even purchased some girl items. When I saw that little boy part on the ultrasound, I was completely shocked. Tears streamed down my face. The US tech said, “if I could change them I’d make a lot of money.” It took me a long time to come to terms with the idea of having two boys and that I wasn’t getting my princess. I’m so embarrassed to admit this because our little Calvin is PERFECT for our family. It is exactly as it should be.

This whole pregnancy I had a strong feeling it was a boy. But from the outcome last time, I didn’t 100% trust my gut. I would try to imagine this little one as a girl and I just couldn’t. I prayed a lot to feel peace no matter if this baby was a boy or girl. Let’s just say I was well prepared to see those boy parts on ultrasound day.

My boys are rough. They wrestle and fight all day. They are dirty, and messy, they love dinosaurs and sports. My house is covered in legos and books about sharks. But I honestly can’t imagine my life any other way. My boys would rather die than learn to dance, and I’m (mostly) ok with that. 😂 I am actually a pretty intense soccer mom when it comes to Scotty’s games, and I’m learning a lot about being patient and letting my boys rough house and jump on the couch.

From time to time since It was confirmed that baby 3 is a boy, I will have a pang of sadness that I may never get my little princess. But I’m comforted by the fact that my boys will always have each other, just like my sisters and I do, and that the Big Guy Upstairs totally knows what he’s doing. 💙💙💙

Spiritual Sunday: Imitation

Heyyo, it’s Anna. Happy #spiritualsunday! I’ve been thinking lately about how children are profound and wise beyond their years at times, yet they are so impressionable by the things we do and say. I read a quote today that I love by Joy D. Jones: "Children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate."

Over the years, I’ve learned that kids not only imitate what you do and say, but the way you treat others, the way you deal with hard circumstances, the way you learn...while that may feel like a lot of pressure, as long as we are living our lives with love and always striving to be better than we were the next day, we can be something great for the kiddos around us to imitate 🥰

Parenting Tuesday: 15 Weeks

BUMPDATE alert! I am 15 weeks and the baby is the size of a pear. I wanted to share a little bit about what I’ve been doing to try and stay active. 

During the first trimester, I wasn’t feeling the best and had really low energy. My typical workout was walking at a 15% incline on the treadmill for 30 min at a 3 mph pace. Sometimes I would add in some squats and weighted arm exercises. I would also take a high fitness class here and there when I could. Now that I’m feeling a little better, I’ve been trying to get to high 2-3x a week and doing @kristinandrus workouts the other days. I find that doing some type of exercise every day is really important for my sleep and how I feel throughout the day. 

SIDE NOTE: Did anyone else HATE the taste of water in their pregnancies? I can tolerate it a little better now, but it was so hard to stay hydrated for a while there. Using crystal light in my water has helped a lot. 

Parenting Tuesday: Picky Kids

 

Raise your hand if you have picky kids!! 🙋🏼‍♀️ My oldest is sooooo picky. If I would let him eat chips and candy all day, he would. Whenever it is meal time he has absolutely zero interest in eating and I end up wasting tons of food and time. It’s so frustrating! I’ve gone back and forth because i want him to have a good relationship with food. I have tried just letting him have a few bites, bribing, saving leftovers and making him eat them later, the list goes on. But once I got this awesome game board tray, the game was changed. Scotty loves surprises and he loves games and rewards. So it was perfect! I always put the main course in the first two spaces, he has to eat the spaces in order to get to the next one and finally to the FINISH which is a treat! He likes me to surprise him with what I give him to eat, and if there is too much of something he just tells me and I let him move on if it’s reasonable. Works like a charm you guys!! I will put the link to the tray in our profile! Here are some things I put in his tray:

🍌 lunch meat, sandwich, quesadilla, chicken Dinos
🍌 cheese, berries, cuties, apples, grapes
🍌 carrots, cucumbers 🥒
🍌 crackers, veggie straws, chips
🍭 And always a treat at the end!

#boymom #momlife #pickyeaters #kids #feedingkids #kidfood#gameboard #gametray #health #healthy #fit #fitness #family

Fitness Friday: Mom Workouts

Let’s be honest. Life as a mom can be crazy with a capital C. Prioritizing fitness is something that has been a challenge for me and has changed over the years for me as I’ve had more kids and circumstances have changed. Let’s also be honest that we can’t always get to the gym to take a class. I have found some amazing workouts for free or pretty cheap that I have loved and can do in my own home. I even did these when we lived in a teeny tiny little house with no more than a 5x5 foot space to work with. It made so there were no more excuses for me! So without further ado, here are my favorite/most recommended at home workouts for you busy ladies: 

🏋️‍♀️ @kristinandrus
🏋️‍♀️ @goodfortheswole
🏋️‍♀️ @kayla_itsines and @sweat
🏋️‍♀️ @beachbody

Some of these are completely free! And others do cost some, but are totally worth it in my opinion. 

Mom Health Tuesday: Morning Sickness

One thing that I REALLY struggle with when following pregnancy fitness accounts is how vague/disingenuous most people are about morning sickness. You guys, I know 30% of women don’t have it, but believe me, it SUCKS. And it is sooooooo hard to eat right or exercise during that time, let alone get off the couch!! Can you feel me?! Like I felt like there was something wrong with me because the pregnant fitness people I followed NEVER mentioned morning sickness or fatigue???? 

Here’s the truth:

🤮 Did I count macros during the first tri? NO!!!
🤮 Did I workout every day? NO!!!!! 

🤮 Did I eat WHATEVER sounded good? Even if that meant pizza lunchables or Taco Bell?! YES!!!! 

🤮Did I gain 10 lbs in the first tri? HECK yes. 😭

The struggle 👏🏼 is 👏🏼 real 👏🏼.

But I also wanted to tell you about this amazing company I found that made it so I could function while my husband was in China during weeks 7-9, and all through my first tri. @pinkstork is amazing. It focuses on gut health and getting to the root of the morning sickness problem. I am NOT sponsored by them, but I LOVE them and I think all pregnant women need to know about them. So there you go. I love you all from the bottom of my nauseous guts.

Thankful Thursday: Announcement!

 Happy Valentine’s day! Here’s a little poem for you, courtesy of Christina’s boys, so much to be thankful for this Thursday.