Week ONE of Summer Fun!

Week One of Summer FUN!!!!

I spent some time organizing the junk drawer this week and in the process found some old eye droppers.  Evin REALLY wanted to use them so I poured some baking soda on an old cookie sheet and filled a mini muffin tin with food coloring and vinegar water and let him go to town!  

On a side note, baking soda and vinegar is supposed to be a good pan cleaning combo.....apparently this pan was too far gone, I scrubbed afterwards and nothing....

We went on our first long bike ride of the summer a little over 1 mile and lots of fun park play once we got there!

We still love the dogs....even if they don't always love us.  

Auntie and Evin made some really fun baked cotton balls.  

Mix flour, water, and food coloring

Dip your cotton balls in it

Bake for 45min on low in the oven

Let cool

Bash with a HAMMER!

Family Game Night was a hit!

Auntie Nicole had a created a pretty fun drinking game when she went camping recently.....we modified a bit (took out the drinking and moved it inside) and had a great time!  

Here's a look at the Calendar.  

Each post it has the activities for that day, a picture if needed, and also anything else that might be happening that day!  

This month I added some adult activities!

Here they are: 

1) No yelling at him; be persistent, be consistent, use calm voices.  Try to set yourself up for success and not a battle of the wills.  

This came out of a REALLY rough dinner time last week.  Evin was running around like a hooligan throwing things, spilling stuff, sometimes being tired equals a surge of crazy energy.  We call it the witching hour.  I made the mistake of saying, "You will sit here until you finish your food." Long story short, there were threats, spankings, yelling, etc.  I realized after the fact I was yelling, threatening, and spanking because I was frustrated and mad, not because I thought those things would work.  I felt terrible.  I couldn't give up though.....then he would win and learn he could behave like that and still get what he wanted.  

He started to fall asleep with his head on the table and eyes full of tears and I gave in.  I said, "Okay, you can get up, but when you're hungry later this is the food you're going it get." He woke right up, we had a good rest of the evening and eventually when he asked for food he finished all his dinner.  WHY oh WHY didn't I just go that route first!?!  Next time I will.  

2) Ignore the whining!  When he uses a normal voice respond immediately. 

3) 10-15 minutes of phone free attention! Fill his "attention basket" with positive experiences so he doesn't whine, pout, or fit throw to get our attention.

I have a habit of paying attention and playing games with him, but my phone is always right there and I won't hesitate to check Facebook, pinterest, email, instagram, texts, the weather, etc if the game or activity gets a little boring to me.  That's when he starts to act out.  The Happy Family Movement is creating a REALLY cool visual reminder, check out their ideas and their new kickstarter campaign!

4) A Bedtime ROUTINE 

8:15 in PJ's and brushing teeth

8:25 read him a book

8:30 lights off

Only take apps to bed for days of good behavior or no potty accidents

This is already helping with tooth brushing consistency along with the magic timer app and I would imagine soon he'll see the connection with potty success.  It's also helping Karl and I get to bed at a time that makes it easier to wake up at 4:50AM!

5) Do not buy him something while running errands.  Focus on PRESENCE not PRESENTS.  

6) The Cotton Ball Jar

Catch him doing something good!  Say thank you and put a cotton ball in his jar. 

When it's filled to the top, he gets to do something fun, anything of his choice!  This came from a great post but also has deep roots in my job since animal trainers tend to use positive reinforcement too.