You can't parent my kids from your couch

   This isn't how parenting works. You don't tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing just because it's what your grandmother did. No disrespect to your grandma,  I'm sure she's a lovely woman, as is mine, but all kids are different.

  Sure inherently we are all the same. We need love, food, attention, positive reinforcement, to be taught right from wrong and some basic manners don't hurt. But really, the journey to how you instill all of those things into YOUR child, is to each his own.

  What works for me, a rigid routine of meals, homework, clean up and  bed time, may not work for you. Or the fact that I let my children have 3 hours after school each day to do whatever they please before this rigid routine goes into play, is absolutely abhorrent to most parents I encounter. But like I said it works for our household.

  We also aren't firm believers in the word chores. Scoff if you will, but we don't use that word in our house and everything still gets done when asked. How, you might ask and the answer is simple. We ask. With a please, and a thank you after task is complete. Now I'm not saying our kids don't grumble and groan like the rest of them. We don't have robot children, but we do have kids that know they have to play a part in the household up keep or else it all goes to shambles.

  I'm not trying to say that my method is the way to go, but I'm also saying, maybe yours isn't for me. And that's alright. If your household runs at a functional level of happiness and order,  then you're doing something right. And by right,  I mean whatever works for you.

  I believe that most people mean well when they're doling out parental advice. What's worked for them if they are parents. What all those be successful parenting books have told them if they're becoming parents. Or even the ever well loved childless friends that seem to always know what's up. But at the end of the day, no one really knows jack shit until they're  knee high in puked on baby clothing with a toddler that won't sleep anywhere but on them or in a swing that has to run all night or you never get any sleep.

  The struggle and balance of parenting is a tricky one folks. There are no magical answers,  and some how everything you thought you knew goes out the window once you're there. Sure there's always sound advice on safe toys, the best swing, easiest pak n play to use (those things are trickier than they look), which car seat is the safest, and you should always take that advice into consideration when buying something new.

  But whether or not you let your kid have a pacifier back that recently fell on the floor. Or letting your kids wear pajamas all weekend if you're staying in. What time to feed your children. What time to put your kids to bed. WHERE to put your kids to bed (maybe you're a co-sleeper).  What you're feeding your ever picky 9 year old that only likes white foods. All these things, they're up to you. No one can tell you what's going to work best for you. No one can step in and say you're doing it wrong. Because guess what? 

  If you're child is happy, healthy and thriving, then you're doing it right. And that is something to be proud of. Hang those sloppy but cute finger paintings. Relish the moments your child hugs and kisses you when they're small. Embrace the endless questions of why, because one day, they will cease and your child will know everything.

  Remember to always take what other people have to say about your parenting skills with a grain of salt. They're not there 24/7 raising your child. And no one knows better than you. Even when you feel like you're doing it all wrong, know that the rest of us are too.

Monster Mash

I've started to think our family is more of a cold season group.  Not to say we ski or anything of the sort, but we seem to enjoy the process of coming together and creating things as the air gets cooler.  We are a family of baking and extravagant art projects that we accomplish together.  Everything does seem more fun when you have a partner in crime!

The cooler breezes are sweeping through the city and all the little monsters are getting ready for that one glorious night, Halloween.  The excitement of choosing a new costume, collecting candy around the neighborhood, and, in our house at least, a cookie decorating party is on the horizon.  Decorating the home seems to be a family event that is taken a little serious in our house.  One year our daughter even asked for a Halloween themed birthday party, at the end of September, just because we love decorating so much.  These past few years we have been a little slack on the decorating though because a lot of our possessions reside 2600 miles away from us.  And as most of you home decorating enthusiasts know, going big, isn't always cheap.  We have been slowly building up our decorations again.

This year, as many of you have, I searched Pinterest to find exciting and good ideas for cheap ways to liven up our home this October season.  I found an seriously cheap, we are talking less than a dollar, idea for the front door.  Granted, I had all the supplies laying around my house in random spots, but this door idea was simple.  I was super excited to get the kids involved as well.  As it turned out only the youngest monster was truly excited to help get this project done.  And in his own way, Boots, made this door project his own.

Over at Honey & Fitz there is a super easy tutorial for creating a Mummy Door.  It's cute, cheap, easy, and all the things this mom loves!  When Boots decided to help me we went on a hunt for white streamers.  Unfortunately we did not have any in our house and he refused to make a trip to the store with me.  So in the wake of feeling like my cheap decorating idea was being blown out of the water, he suggests we use black streamers.  Of course to this I said "But Mummies aren't black" and his simple response was "But Monsters are".  The 9 year old wins.  He is true and correct in the sentiment that some monsters are black and in this statement he also saved the day.

We gathered our double sided sticky tape, lined the door, and then began stretching the steamers back and forth.  Boots was rather bothered that he couldn't reach the top, and thus instructed that it was my area to complete.  I would have liked having more streamers, we only had 2 rolls, I would suggest picking up maybe 4 for this project if you don't already have some.  But then I do tend to attempt at overachieving at the most random of things.  Boots believes that once we added the eyeballs, that he made from paper plates, and the mouth, that we cut and colored on a large poster board, it would all come together.  Man he was Right!  I think that our Monster front door is the perfect addition to our other random decorations.  But you can be the judge of that.