Fidget toy ideas

1st Brother got some tissue lasered off the roof of his mouth and sewn on below his bottom front teeth in mid January. The procedure was recommended after he got hit in the mouth with a pickleball racket in PE in October 2017 and had to get some of the bruised, torn gums clipped away. (It was the worst physical injury any of my kids have had so far. Pretty lucky, I know). Just before his graft, I had the idea to give him a velcro hair roller to put in his pocket to help him deal with nerves. He could squeeze it tightly enough to cause a little good pain. Sounds good, right? He liked it.

In early February I played 9 holes of golf when the temperatures were around 45 and it was raining on and off. I bought a shakeable hand warmer in the pro shop that stayed hot the rest of the day, and it was really nice to have for golf and in general. I went online to buy a big pack for my husband, who was about to take his own VERY cold and rainy golf trip to Bandon Dunes, Oregon, and found there is such a thing as a re-usable hand warmer that you charge with a USB cord and a computer. Doesn't that sound like a comfort? Not only that, you'll be as warm as if your lover was there!

I couldn't resist buying several of The World's Smallest Stretch Armstrong toys around Christmas. One became a stocking stuffer, and I mailed two to high school friends who turned 40 this winter. Another great way to fidget your troubles away.

Post-it parenting hack

I believe it was the excellent 1-2-3 Magic book on parenting that gave me the idea to write notes to my kids about things they need to do instead of telling them over and over. It saves me a lot of frustration, and it's hard for them to misunderstand what's expected. 

These pictures, taken of post-its on the kitchen counter as we were about to leave for a family vacation, show 3 ways I've used notes instead of nagging and repetition to get stuff done: 

My kids are old enough to pack for themselves now. The first note lets them know what to lay out on their beds, I do a quick inspection, then I usually put stuff in the suitcases. (The thought of items being wadded up or distributed willy-nilly in there is still too much for me).

The second note is one you'll see most Saturdays at our house and has to-dos for each kid. They get up and can have a couple hours of screen time, then we shut it down till they're dressed, have completed the things on their list, and have permission to do more, which is usually late afternoon or evening. "Steps" is almost always on our recent post-its, meaning they have to reach a physical activity goal and show us on their fitness tracker watch they've achieved it. It was my husband's idea to get a tracker for everyone, and it's been a good thing.

The third note was out because I didn't want people to default to their usual frozen corn dog or pizza for lunch when we had leftovers in the fridge that would go bad during our trip. I put this kind of note out when we have house guests too so they know their options.

I feel like I've mentioned my other favorite parenting books in another post, but I'll repeat them anyway: