Dont forget that this week we are not meeting at Bethany Church Gym.  We will be meeting at Pa’s Pumpkin Patch.   You may still come and join us. The group rates were pre-paid but there are tickets available for an additional price.  Hope to see you there.

THOSE OF YOU WHO HAD GREAT MOMS…

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO PLAN TO BE GREAT MOMS,

THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE GREAT MOMS,

THOSE WHO HAVE GREAT MOMS,

Real Mothers don’t eat quiche; they don’t have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn’t come out of shag carpets.
Real Mothers don’t want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask ‘Why me?’ and get their answer when a little
voice says, ‘Because I love you best.’

Real Mothers know that a child’s growth is not measured by height or
years or grade… It is marked by the progression of Mama to Mom to
Mother…

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn’t really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn’t know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She’s hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She’s way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it.

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let’s get Mom ‘ s opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she
carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen
from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where
love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true
beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she
lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with
passing years only grows!

Don’t forget you need to purchase your Pa’s Pumpkin Patch group discounts this Thursday, October 16.  $10 for 9 tickets and a small pumpkin. See prior posts for more information.

MOMS is going to Pa’s Pumpkin Patch on Thursday, October 23 from 10-11:30 am

We are offering Pre-paid Group Discount Tickets. They are $10 for 9 tickets and a small pumpkin. Extra tickets will be available for $1 each, in groups of 10.  All monies will be collected prior to the event.  You may purchase your tickets at the MOMS registration table on Thursday, October 16 before and after the MOMS session. Cash and checks accepted. Please make checks out to Bethany Church  put MOMS Pa’s in the memo.

You do not need to purchase tickets to enter Pa’s Pumpkin Patch but you do need tickets to ride the rides.  There are tickets available at Pa’s but not at the Group Discount Rate.  Look for Kristen or other MOMS leaders if you have questions.  It is a good sized family owned pumpkin patch with kiddie rides and petting zoo, so you will be able to find others you will know very easily.

Reminder…MOMS will not be meeting at Bethany Church on Thursday, October 23. We will all be at Pa’s Pumkin Patch and will resume meeting at Bethany Church Gym on Thursday, October 30. Looking forward to seeing you there!

How to Organize Your Kids Toys and Room

1. Take a child’s view   Look at your child’s space, storage, furniture and possessions from his or her vantage point. The view may surprise you!

Sticky dresser drawers are hard for small hands to manage. Folding closet doors pinch fingers and jump their rails when pushed from the bottom. Closet hanging rods are out of reach, while adult hangers don’t fit smaller clothing. Traditional toy boxes house a tangled jumble of mixed and scattered toy parts.

To organize a child’s room, solutions must fit the child.  For younger children, remove closet doors entirely. Lower clothing rods and invest in child-sized hangers. Use floor-level open containers to hold toys, open plastic baskets to store socks and underwear. Devise a simple daily checklist for maintenance (make bed & pickup toys). To organize a child’s room, tailor the effort to the child.

2. Bring the child into the process and Observe the child. For younger children – Observe them in play (Ask yourself are there any problems, frustrations, what are they actively playing with, are they able to reach it, do you want that toy in their reach or out of their reach)

Show them how to put the toys away, where they go, show them labels, TEACH THEM!

3. Sort, Store and Simplify  Sort it out – what do you have, put it in ZONES (games, crafts, trains, cars, dolls, blocks, kitchen, etc.)

Store – Where to store it? Location?

-Toy Zone or No Toy Zone – Kids Bedroom, Playroom, Living Room, Parent’s Bedroom, Kitchen  

-Shelves (bigger items – example), Closets (toy library), Bins (smaller items), Containers (out of reach, small pieces, etc), Underbed Storage, “Toy Library” – to rotate toys or get out when they’re bigger (only if you will really use the toys)

Older kids can utilize higher closet shelves to “store” some of their belongings. Clear plastic shoebox storage containers hold little pieces and identify the contents easily.

**Avoid toy boxes or huge bins where little pieces get lost and children can become trapped or get pinched fingers**

I only use a woven, open basket for large baby/toddler toys in my living room for my toddler or guests.

Simplify – Get Rid of Toys                                                                                                                  

a.Only Keep Toys that your child is actively playing with in this current life

b.Do not keep toys just because they were a gift.

c.Do not put toys in storage. Okay for library storage in room.

d. Keeping toys for memory purpose. Have a memory box, once it’s full, that’s it. Be Selective. Can take picture of child w/ toy and write memories about it.

e. Give to goodwill- for other kids to use who may not have the money

4. Contain, Corral and Control  Contain toys and other belongings before you store. Use plastic shoebox containers for smaller toys (Barbie clothes, Happy Meal give-aways), larger lidded bins for blocks, trucks and cars, light-weight boxes for stuffed animals.

Use specialty organizers to corral activity books, coloring books, magazines, comic books, video games, or CDs and cassette tapes.

Control the number of toys out at any one time. Containers help to do that. Ex: “Sure you can play with the farm set, just as soon as the Matchbox cars go back into their home”

5. Make it easier to put away, harder to get out. The premier rule for efficient children’s storage: Make it easier to put something away than it is to get it out. For example, store picture booksas a flip-file, standing upright in a plastic dishpan/sturdy container. The child flips through the books, makes his selection, and tosses the book in the front of the dishpan when he’s done. Compare a traditional bookcase, where little fingers can pull down a whole shelf faster than they can replace one book. Build the effort into the getting out, not the putting away.

Ex: Clear Container w/ lid that clicks- harder for younger ones to open-needs parent’s help, easy to put away.

6. Organize bottom to top.  Befitting a child’s shorter stature, start organizing from the bottom of the room, and work to the top. Most used toys and belongings should live on lower shelves, in lower drawers, or on the floor. Higher levels are designated for less-frequently-used possessions.

Working bottom to top, the best-loved teddy bear sits in a small rocker on the floor, while the extensive Grandma-driven bear collection is displayed on a shelf built 6 feet up the wall.

Also, if you have a child who is one and another who is six, you want the one year old toys on lower shelves/floors/bookcases and the older child’s toys on higher shelves. This would be for safety reasons and for what each child is able to reach on their own.

7. Label, Label, Label When it comes to keeping kids’ rooms organized for the long haul, labels save the day & communicate where the item goes!

(Ex: Index card, cardstock, draw picture, cut-out picture, take picture, etc)Use a computer printer to make simple graphic labels for young children. Pictures of socks, shirts, dolls or blocks help remind the child where these items belong. Enhance reading skills for older children by using large-type word labels.

Slap labels everywhere: inside and outside of drawers, on shelf edges and on the plastic shoebox storage containers that belong there, on boxes and bookcases and filing cubes. Playing “match the label” can be fun–and turns toy pickup into a game.

8.  Build a maintenance routine Their room is clean, they play, and suddenly, their room is back to messy again. Help children stop the cycle by building maintenance routine in the family’s day. “Morning Pickup” straighten the comforters, return pillows to bed, and clothing in hamper. “Evening Pickup” dressing for bed and putting the toys away. “Midday Pickup” help kids to pick up after their done playing with a toy and before getting out and before getting out a new toy.

The usual peaks and valleys approach to room cleaning can vex and frustrate children. Their room is clean, they play, and suddenly, their room is back to messy normal.The usual peaks and valleys approach to room cleaning can vex and frustrate children. Their room is clean, they play, and suddenly, their room is back to messy normal.

Help children stop the cycle by building maintenance routines into the family’s day. “Morning Pickup” straightens the comforter, returns the pillow to the bed, and gets yesterday’s clothing to the laundry hamper.

“Evening Pickup” precedes dressing for bed, and involves putting away the day’s toys.

Ready or not, autumn is coming. Pitch in now to get those rooms in shape for the new school year, and send ‘em back to school from an organized home!

Creative Ways to Get Your Children to Clean-up Their Toys

1. Make it fun – pick certain colors/type of toy
2. Reward for best record – pick out dessert or bedtime book of choice
3. Medal system – earned enough stickers/medals get to choose an outing, movie, etc
4. 30 second pickup count foward and backwards – if done – get reward like popcorn  or race trying to beat the timer
5. Play music, sing songs
6. Use creative words – want to be a pickup truck and pick up all the toys or clean freeze
7. going to vaccum-if toys aren’t cleaned up they’ll get vaccumed up or put in a garbage bag (for older kids)
8. Dress-up – wear aprons, hats, etc ; Play the part – delivery person
9. Hide a quarter, person who finds it gets to keep it
10. Matching game – match toy to label

 **Reward with a kiss, hug, praise, high five, knuckles, stickers, etc.

 Other Tips -

1. Start Young – Help them first and show them how. Fetch and Tote things – Ex: Put this in the trash, Get me my shoes, etc
2. Don’t worry about kids complaining about cleaning up – it is normal for all families. Don’t you sometimes look at what you have to clean-up (dishes, trash, bills, etc) and say Ahhhhh! Pretend you’re a trash truck or play music (Let your kids see how you can make cleaning enjoyable.)
3. Container/Basket to put missed toys away in while kids are sleeping – then put  away in the morning
4. Organizing is a process – it takes time – start with one cabinet or one closet
5. You don’t have to spend lots of money – use what you have – shoeboxes, empty & clean out food cotainers (tall pretzel cylinder) index cards, any kind of scrap papers, stickers, or ribbon

Lessons Learned -

1. Teaching Kids How to Set Boundaries – how much to get out at one time, how long to pickup
2. Responsibility – taking care of their toys, learning how to put away and organize their things

Ideas received from: friends, family, & personal experiences

websites used: organizedhome.com, suite101.com, ehow.com, monkeysee.com

Good websites about toys

www.consumerreports.com (buying advice, safety tips)

www.cpsc.gov (consumer product safety commission – recalls of toys)

www.toysrus.com ,www.target.com, www.amazon.com, www.kbtoys.com walmart.com, etoys.com(customers rate toys)

www.mysimon.com (can compare prices of item at different websites)

Keep your eyes open for Pa’s Pumpkin Patch information.