Blanket Training

The basic idea of blanket training is to train your baby to sit quietly in a small space with a few toys.  This keeps him out of trouble and happier when mom is busy, both at home and out and about.  You can get a task done or enjoy a quick visit, and baby can play instead of cry and whine and act out!


The training turned out to be even easier than I thought it would be!  It has transformed our morning Bible time, and has also been great at church and other places.  (I started when Tyler was around 13-14 months old, but you could definitely start earlier.)

Here are my tips:


- Have a positive attitude.  You aren't sitting baby down here as a punishment or a time out.  It is a fun thing to look forward to.  Use a cheerful voice and a familiar phrase.  "Yay! It's Blanket Time!"


- Obedience is a must. Give simple instructions and insist on strict obedience, especially at first. For example, "Sit down." Do not allow baby to stand on the blanket. He must sit.  If he tries to stand, use whatever form of discipline you use at other times to convince him he wants to stay seated.  We use a swat on the bottom. (All you non-spankers are cringing, aren't you?)


- Reserve a special set of toys.  We have a shoebox full of colorful blocks that only come out for Blanket Time.  And really, they only come out for Blanket Time in the mornings when we are having Bible.  If Tyler is awake for our read-aloud in the afternoon, I pull out a set of puzzles for the variety.  For a work-day at church recently I brought our blanket and the Blanket Time blocks.


- Be patient.  I first began blanket training for us to be able to have our morning Bible time without me constantly interrupting myself correcting Tyler.  However, I had to allow time at first for even more interruptions for correcting and training.  For the first week or two, I moved from my place in my rocking chair to sitting in the floor next to Tyler's blanket.  In the end, the extra interruptions paid off, and now I only have to offer a word here and there for him to sit back down.  Also, don't start out expecting your baby to sit contentedly for an hour at a time.  We started with 10-15 minutes.  Tyler can now do up to 20-30 very well.  I expect as he gets older that time will increase.


- Enforce.  Now that we have "made it" and Tyler does well on a blanket, I don't want to relax and lose what we have gained.  So although I can often correct him with just a word and not a bottom-swat, I am still careful to make sure he is staying in-bounds.  Literally.  I do allow him to roll and waller, but not with the better portion of his body hanging off the blanket.  Over half his body must be on the blanket.  No, I haven't explained or even stated that rule to him, but believe me, he knows when he is pushing his limits.  We also do not allow the throwing of toys.


- Celebrate.  When we are done with whatever activity called for Tyler's blanket time, I turn my full attention to him and proclaim, "All done!"  I love on him and praise him for a job well-done.  Then he helps me put away his blocks and I send him on his merry way while I put up the blanket and toys.


- Be creative.  There are plenty of opportunities to grab a blanket, a bath towel, a folded sheet, small rug, or any other definite floor space and plop down a baby, toddler, or preschooler.  In a pinch, anything safe can be a good diversion: measuring cups & spoons, board books, paper and crayons (as long as your kid won't eat them, like mine does)... the sky is the limit.  Well, that and whatever you have available.  Blanket time is helpful at church, home, or anytime you find yourself in a not-so-child-friendly or child-proofed place.

I am fairly certain almost every one of these ideas came from the Duggar's book, The Duggars: 20 and Counting! (Amazon Associate link), but I have seen blanket training on quite a few blogs, too.  Since it has been so great for us, it is now on this blog as well. ;)  (If I am wrong about the Duggar thing, would someone please remind me where all this came from?)

Have you tried blanket training?  What helpful hints do you have?

This post is linking up to Works-for-me_Wednesday @ We Are That Family.

When having nothing means everything

As my Grandmother is in her last days and hours, someone from our family has been with her around the clock.  Throughout the day Sunday and into the evening, things were looking pretty serious.  Quite a few of us stayed together with her until 2am Monday morning.  I fell into bed at 2:30, knowing I would have boys awake and hungry in about 4 1/2 hours.

I have been very aware in recent weeks of the words and tone I use when speaking to my boys.  I have been working to replace nagging and snapping with kinder, gentler words.  Or simply holding my tongue, if need be.  Most days I have set aside a few minutes every morning asking God for his help in that, and simply his guidance in our day.

On Monday morning, somewhere between waking up at 6:30 and getting out of bed at 7:00 I realized what a challenge being patient and gentle would be on this day.  And without a Bible reading, without a formally addressed prayer, without getting up out of bed or getting down on my knees, I simply offered a deeply sincere plea for help.  I did not regret my late night, but I certainly didn't want to take it out on my boys.  And I knew that with the lack of sleep I was working with, the task seemed nearly impossible.

After my short, simple, yet extremely sincere prayer, I got up and began my day as usual.  Our breakfast, school, and even morning house-keeping time (the biggest 'be nice' challenge) were great.  I was very aware of what a normal day it was.  They weren't little angels.  There were problems.  But I was able to handle it just like I had gotten 9 hours of sleep instead of 4.  In fact, I'm ashamed to admit I've done worse on 9, some days.

Last night I was thinking over how the day had gone, thankful for not being a grouchy bear that morning.  Although I had definitely given God the credit, I hadn't realized what made it different.  In one way I had started the day just like many others, with prayer for His help.  But my attitude Monday was different, in that I knew I had nothing to offer.  I had no resources to bring to the table, no faith in myself to do what was right.  I was completely dependent on the Holy Spirit to produce his fruits in me.

The lesson learned is that is the way it should always be.

Jesus said in John 15:15, "without me ye can do nothing."  Nothing.  Not "a little bit".  Not "a few things". Nothing.  Which means, I come into every day as empty-handed as I did yesterday.  But I stay so busy trying to do my part that I am not completely dependent on him.

Now the challenge is to remember that complete dependence and put it into practice, no matter how confident I am in the abilities I think I have.  Or how much sleep I got the night before.

What a handy lesson to learn with weeks of interrupted sleep in our near future.  What a blessing to have more opportunities to remember what little I have to offer, and the perfect source of strength I have available!

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Our Family's Current Favorite Breakfast

We love these.  We eat 'em up.  They aren't the healthiest things, but then again they've got to beat a bowl of sugary cereal, right?  And besides... they are a treat, so it's all good.


Remember Hardee's?  These make me think of that place.  These and really good biscuits and gravy.  I used to love the Sunday mornings my daddy would bring in Hardee's biscuits and gravy for breakfast!  But this post is not about biscuits and gravy, is it?


It's about these:

Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits 

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup white flour

5 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4-1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup raisins

1 cup milk

1/2 cup salad oil

Preheat oven to 450.  Mix flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Add in raisins and mix well to coat.  Pour milk into liquid measuring cup.  Add oil on top of milk; do not stir.  Pour both liquids into dry ingredients.  Stir until dough forms into (mostly) a ball.  Dump onto floured cabinet and knead 5-6 times until smooth.  Pat out approximately 1/2 inch thick and cut into biscuits.  Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes.

When the biscuits come out of the oven, mix together:

2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons milk (approximately)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the milk in a little bit at a time.  The icing should be fairly thick and fall very slowly (not drizzle) from a spoon.  Drop the icing onto the biscuits while still warm.  The icing will spread on it's own.

Your family may like more or less icing to taste.  My guys like a lot.  And I'm a pushover.  Or maybe I like a lot, too. But don't tell them, 'kay?


Do you have a favorite breakfast treat?

Alan-isms

#1 - Daddy, Dale and I are all big into Sudoku puzzles these days.  One of us has always got the book opened up to one working on it.  Today Alan grabbed it and turned to a blank puzzle and started his own.  The best part?  Hearing him talk about his "sudy-koo".  


#2 - On a related note, we have a Corduroy book that surfaces every now and then.  Today Alan checked out one identical to ours from the library.  I didn't mind though, because that means I get to hear him ask me to read "Cordy-rordy" to him. :)


#3 - We have a box of wal-mart brand 'crisp rice' cereal in the cabinet.  I keep it mostly for making the marshmallow treats (about twice a year, lol).  But Alan has decided he likes to just eat it.  Fine with me.   And since the 'suggested serving' on the box has sliced bananas in the bowl, Alan has dubbed it his very own "Banana Crunch" cereal.  (So if Alan comes to your house and asks for "Banana Crunch", now you know what he wants.) :)


#4 - One of my all time favorites is hearing Alan talk to or about our pastor.  We all call him "Brother Bobby".  Alan?  To him he's "Brubber Bobby".  Makes me smile every. time.

Our Big News - Some Additional Details

Thanks so much for all of your congratulations!  
Yes, I am feeling well, 
no I am not showing (much) yet, 
yes, the boys know, 
and yes! they are excited!


And a few other observations over the last couple of months:


The #1 help for 'morning' sickness: Ginger root capsules.  Wow! Greg surprised me with them one day and they are amazing.  I have never had bad morning sickness, just occasional to frequent bouts of feeling nauseous.  This was my first time to try the ginger root, and just one capsule once or twice a day if I needed it would usually knock it right out.  And - bonus! - they can be used for motion sickness too, so even though the nausea stage has passed there is a good chance we'll be getting more use out of those handy capsules. :)


The #1 question we have heard and expect to hear over the coming weeks: "Are you trying for that girl?"  While yes, we would love to have a little pink and lace in our lives, we aren't holding our breath.  Out of 10 babies born in the last 80 years on Greg's side of the family, 9 have been boys.  Nine.  


We agreed before this baby was ever conceived that we would have another even we knew 100% it would be a boy.  And it's a good thing, because that's just nearly the odds history has given us.  That said, God determined long ago what this child would be and we are already thankful for his decision.  And already getting eager to find out in a month or two. ;) 


The #1 most fun people to tell the big news: Dale and Alan!  (I told Tyler several weeks ago... he's a good secret keeper.;)  )  Seeing as how we all still see Tyler as a baby, and seeing as how the big boys don't see his status changing any time soon, the first thing they said was, "We're going to have two babies!"  Since then Dale has been busy calculating all the age differences and how-old-who-will-be-when ("When I'm 16 this new baby will be 8 years old!").  Alan almost immediately claimed the new baby for his own.  I guess it's one per customer, and since Tyler is already clearly 'mine' he figures the next one is up for grabs.  He's called dibs.  ("You can change Tyler's diaper, and I will change my baby's diaper.")  He and Dale both are busy coming up with potential (boy) names.  Some are silly, some are actually pretty good suggestions.  Let's just hope we get this one named a little quicker than Tyler. I think he was named less than a week before he was born!

Guess What?

At the end of September...

...this little stinker...

...is going to be...

... a big brother!

Adventure Day

I am a planner.  I like research and schedules and... well... plans.

Today, however was a departure from my way.  Today was all about Greg's plans.  

Which didn't involve much beyond our destination.  We went on a reconnaissance mission to a nearby state park.  Scoping it out for potential camping someday.  Exploring all the park has to offer.

We left with a printed map and an ice chest full of lunch.

First order of business, playground #1:

Immediately followed by a picnic lunch.

And a little more playgrounding.

Then off to a museum and gift shop on the grounds.

Dino diorama anyone?

Next stop: train ride!

Almost time to go home, but we definitely have time for one more playground:

I have to say, it was nice to just sit and ride and not worry about plans and agendas.  We all got fed, and we all had fun.  A great way to end the last weekday of spring break, and with a promise of more fun days ahead!