Category Archives: kids

A Father’s Guide to Getting a Room Ready for Baby

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Ladies, this is not for you. This is just between us dads. This is not a post with affordable tips on baby-proofing a room. Nor is it a guide to color schemes and themes. This is a post of practical wisdom for fathers who are about to undertake what can be a fairly laborious process: getting a room ready for that first baby.

What qualifies me to give advice on this topic? Well I’ve done this four times and just finished my last baby room in my home. Over the last eight years I’ve gone from rooms with themes to hanging borders to assembling cribs to stenciling stripes to wrestling with wainscoting…twice.

I don’t want expectant fathers to be caught unawares with what’s to come. A dangerous road lies ahead unless it’s navigated properly. Here’s how to keep your home a happy one while preparing a room for baby.

Get locked in on a theme or color scheme early

This is critical to the weekends of your future. As soon as you find out what the gender of the baby is try to nail down a theme or color scheme for the new baby’s room as early as possible. Don’t bother arguing with the lady about how Winnie the Pooh is too girly for a boy’s room. If she’s picked a theme or knows what color she wants, you’re in good shape. What you’ll now want to do is buy as much stuff centered around that color or theme as early as possible. You see once you’ve invested money, it will be hard for mommy to change her mind. If you only buy one can of paint or a single mobile for the crib, you run the risk of her changing her mind…several times.

Lock a concept in and then go buy paint, a bed spread, curtains and whatever else is desired for the baby’s room as quickly as you can. You will earn brownie points for your initiative, but you’ll also save yourself from future angst as mom-to-be will probably be less inclined to change her mind. (Note: Expectant mothers changing their minds is completely unpredictable and this is in no way a guarantee that you will not be threatened with bodily harm to buy new stuff anyway.)

Prepare Your Calendar

Yes, you have 9 months until a baby is born, but the nesting urge can occur at any given moment. It’s important for you as a man to prepare yourself for the fact that you may get ambushed with a baby room project at any given moment. Map out your calendar so you know which weekends you want to absolutely avoid having to make 18 trips to Home Depot. For example, I knew March Madness began this weekend so if I wanted to free myself from any baby room duties, I had to have that room done (we’re talking completely finished) at least 2 full weeks before March Madness began. Why 2 weeks? Because just when YOU think you’re done, another small, but likely painful, addition to the baby room design plans will be added. It’s a classic mommy maneuver that’s hard to plan for.

Know which weekends have things which you cannot miss (golf outing with college friends, NFL Playoffs, weekend opening of that movie you want to see, etc.) and make sure you get the baby room chores ahead of that occasion so you are free to enjoy it without rebuke.

Spend the Money to Have Stuff Put Together

Prepping a baby room can be ridiculously expensive, but one cost that is worth its weight in gold is having someone put together stuff for you. Unless your name is Ty Pennington, assembling baby furniture can be ridiculously frustrating. It’s stuff for a child that weighs less than 10 pounds. Why on earth should it be so complicated? But it is. You’ll buy that rocking chair at Babies R Us, bring it home and find that there are 346 pieces and the only tool that can put it together is an Allen Wrench. Yes, an Allen Wrench.

To minimize the adult temper tantrums that takes place in your home and to ensure that your child will be sleeping in a crib that stays put together, go ahead and pay the extra money to have someone else put it together. Plus, you’ll have someone else to blame for years to come if for some reason something breaks. Always a bonus.

Don’t Argue with the Pregnant Lady

Our instincts will tell us that putting 4 coats of paint on a wall is just illogical. Or that you just installed hardwood floors so why would you want to put carpet in the room? But I’m telling you, for the sake of the peace in your home and your own survival, don’t argue with the pregnant lady. She wants purple curtains, you go get purple curtains. She wants you to rearrange the furniture for the 34th time, go ahead and do it. Arguing will get you nothing but trouble, and you’ll wind up having to do what she wants anyway. Trust me. I know.

I wish you luck my fellow fathers as you wrestle with this new challenge of being a parent and home owner. You may think you know what you’re getting into, but really you have no idea.

For those that have, and survived, you know what I’m talking about and I welcome you to share your advise and wisdom in the comments.

 

Back to School: Tips for Creating a Morning Routine

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“School Year’s Eve” can be a tough night for families. It is a rude awakening that another summer has passed and the countdown until summer vacation has been reset. Our best advice for a smooth transition…be a fan of the plan. Remove the chaos from getting ready for school each morning by creating a routine and staying organized.

routine 209x300 Back to School: Tips for Creating a Morning Routine

Create your own routine for the morning.

Have a Morning Routine

I may not be a mom yet but as the oldest of 12 cousins I have been around enough children to know kids need a schedule and often look forward to it. By creating a morning routine you help yourself and your children to get out of the house in a happy and timely manner. From keeping a consistent wake up time to developing a morning ritual of tasks you will have a better chance of getting out of the door without morning tears or feeling like you got up from the wrong side of the bed. The example on the right provides a look into how Jen from iheartorganizing.blogspot.com established a consistent morning routine in her home.

We love the idea of including lunch/school work/backpack as reminders for the important things to remember in the morning. The only change we would make is swapping brush teeth with eating; 1) Your kids will have cleaner teeth for the day and 2) Spills happen! Let them eat in their pjs and THEN get dressed for school!

What do you include in your routine?

 

lunch Back to School: Tips for Creating a Morning Routine

Give your child lunch options and let them plan their menu.

Create a Lunch Menu

As expected Martha Stewart is the go to woman for easy DIY ideas for home and this one is great for back to school. According to Martha “A kid may be more likely to enjoy their lunch if they help choose the menu. When they use this magnetic chart to map out their meals for the week, it saves time and helps make grocery shopping easier. ”

We think this a great idea for so many reasons! First and foremost it is fun for your children but educational at the same time. This chart allows them to create a nutritionally balanced meal and teaches them a lunch must include a sandwich or something similar, fruit/vegetable and snack. By providing options there is a greater chance that their lunchbox isn’t coming back full with food they didn’t like.

Make their lunch extra special by including a note or small gift. My husband still talks about how his mom left him baseball cards in his lunchbox and I still have notes saved from my mom. A simple “Hope you are having a great day” means the world to a child and is your way of letting them you know are thinking about them mid-day.

 

Picture1 Back to School: Tips for Creating a Morning Routine

Plan outfits ahead of time

Create an Outfit Organizer

Lucky for my mom I went to private school from preschool to eighth grade so there was no room for discussion about what to wear each morning. We did get a small taste of what it was like to plan outfits on “dress down days” and I completely understand why it could be a nightmare for parents in the morning.

A former coworker used to entertain me with stories of her 8 year old daughter trying to dress herself in the morning and by the look of her face by 9 AM, I learned there’s nothing like a morning argument over what to wear. It just ruins the day. Bottom line…a tutu over leggings is NOT an acceptable outfit for school!

Having outfits ready to go will keep the morning running smoothly and help you to get out the door on time without your child looking like they are off to a Halloween costume contest, rather than school. We love this example from Tonia from thegunnysack.com. Click on the photo for her step by step on how to make this simple Closet Organizer.

By the way if you are thinking to yourself “Wow self…I could really use this to help me get organized for the week” I am right there with you, so don’t feel alone! :)

 

 

We hope these tips help make your back to school mornings easier and less chaotic!

 

Images via iheartorganizing.blogspot.com, marthastewart.com, and thegunnysack.com.

 

Family Fun Month: Olympics at Your Home

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kidolympics Family Fun Month: Olympics at Your Home

(via kidspot.com)

Since July 27 the world has been buzzing with conversations about the Olympics. Despite already knowing the outcome of the events prior to actually watching them (thank you very much social media), my husband and I have been glued to our TV at night watching each event on the edge of our seats.  From the US women’s gymnastics team winning the gold to Michael Phelps accomplishing his dream of being the most decorated athlete in history watching each special moment has been exciting and truly inspirational.

In part two of our five part family fun month blog post series we offer tips on how to create your own Olympic games right at home!

Create Teams & Uniforms

Choose your participants! Will this be a family only event or do you want to invite neighbors, friends from school and extended family to join? Once you have your teams picked then it’s on to choosing which countries to represent. This could serve as a great opportunity to teach younger members of your family about your heritage.

Feeling crafty? Head to the store and pick up T-shirts and puffy paint for DIY uniforms. Not enough time or not worth the mess? Solid tees will work just fine! Looking for an extra fun touch? Check out this blog post from Sheri Osborn on easy to make Olympic pins

To make your uniforms official create participant tags. Cut a piece of printer paper in half and draw on the participants’ last name and have them choose their favorite number.

Opening Ceremony

After the teams have been decided and the uniforms are complete it’s time for the opening ceremony parade! Turn on some marching music, announce each team, and get the camera ready!

Light the “Torch”

The Olympic games can’t start without a torch lighting! Depending on the age of the participants you can light a special candle or create a fake torch out of a paper towel roll and colored tissue paper.

Let the Games Begin!

The best part of hosting the Olympics at your home is that you can make up your own games and rules! Here are a just few suggestions for games:

  • Foul Shooting
  • Water Balloon Toss
  • Egg and Spoon Relay Race
  • Soccer Shoot Out
  • Relay Race (complete with baton hand off)
    • Three legged and sack races are always crowd favorites!
  • Discus using frisbees or paper plates
  • Shot-Put with aluminum foil balls
  • Table Tennis
  • Long Jump
  • Tug-O-War
  • Wii Games (if the weather is bad)
  • You can even include brainteasers!
medals 300x276 Family Fun Month: Olympics at Your Home

Click the photo for DIY medal

Hand Out Olympic Medals and Hold the Closing Ceremony

Again, keep age range in mind when determining the amount of medals to hand out. Family Crafts provides instructions on how to make fun Olympic medals from cardboard and paint.  You can also pick up medals from your local party store.

During the closing ceremony you can have each champion stand on an empty milk crate while you play the national anthem of the country they represented.

Last but not least it’s time to feed your little athletes! Here are just a few adorable Olympic themed treats & recipes:

We hope you enjoy hosting the games at your home and create memories with your friends and family that you will always treasure!

 


Family Fun Month: How To Host a Backyard Carnival

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According to Holiday Insights, August is “Family Fun Month”! To celebrate this obscure but totally awesome holiday there will be a family fun inspired post each Friday of this month. To kick off this series we scoured the web for the best tips on creating the ultimate party theme…the backyard carnival. Hosting a backyard carnival is much easier than it seems and nearly all of the elements are affordable DIY ideas.

ticket booth 300x300 Family Fun Month: How To Host a Backyard Carnival

Stick to bright colors including red, white, blue and yellow.
(via backyard1.com)

Ticket Booth & Party Decor

Stick to bright colors (like red and white with touches of yellow and blue) and coordinate your décor to match: streamers, tablecloths, napkins, plates, utensils, cups, game signs, etc.

Ask adults running the game booths, concession stands, and ticket booth to dress in costume: clown noses, mustaches, hair pieces, clothing, and make-up.

To create your own ticket booth, use a large refrigerator box. Cut the bottom of the box so that it can easily fit over the ticket master. Then cut out a window so that he/she can pass out tickets. Cover the box with wrapping paper, and hold it into place with double-sided tape. Next, write the words, “TICKET BOOTH” above the window.

Create a sign that tells guest what the activities are, and how many tickets are needed per activity. Next, place the sign near the ticket booth, which should be located by the front entrance. Finally, as guests enter the carnival, play carnival (or circus) music. (via dabblingmum)

ducks 300x199 Family Fun Month: How To Host a Backyard Carnival

From lucky ducks to creating your own wacky golf course grandparents.com has fun and affordable DIY ideas.

Carnival Games, Activities & “Attractions”

Lisa Freedman from Grandparents.com has the scoop on transforming your backyard into an amusement park with items you already have.

  • Lucky duck: Fill a large bucket with water and floating rubber duckies. Beforehand, paint the bottom of one duck red. Players can take turns trying to find the winning duck. Then mix them up and play again.
  • Beanbag toss: Paint a clown face onto a large cardboard box and cut out the mouth. Use a few bricks to prop up the end with the clown’s head and mark a throw line about five feet from the box. Give everyone three beanbags to toss into the clown’s mouth.
  • Bowling: Fill six two-liter soda bottles with a few inches of water, replace the cap, and arrange them in a bowling-like triangle. Mark a line ten feet from the first pin and take turns throwing tennis balls at the pins. The object is to knock all the bottles over.
  • Feeling really creative? Check out her instruction on how to create a homemade wacky golf course

Other stands could include: fortune teller, bounce house, sand art station, face painting/temporary tattoos, and a photo booth. For more great ideas check out creativeplayplus.com.

food 300x276 Family Fun Month: How To Host a Backyard Carnival

Don’t forget the popcorn!
(image via dabblingmum)

 

Create Concession Stands

Mapping out your carnival themed menu is simple! Items on your menu can include:

  • Hot Dogs
  • Pop Corn
  • Funnel Cake
  • Caramel Apples
  • Cotton Candy
  • Snow Cones
  • Soda & Lemonade

 

prizes 269x300 Family Fun Month: How To Host a Backyard Carnival

You can get affordable prizes from oriental trading or your local dollar store.
(image via http://ingoodcompany.com)

Give Out Prizes

Prizes are the best part of any carnival! Give your guests the chance to turn in their hard earned tickets for something fun. Prizes can include:

  • Candy (movie size boxes would be a huge hit!)
  • Temporary Tattoos
  • Stuffed animals
  • Mini basketballs
  • Water guns
  • Key chains
  • Costume Jewelry
  • Playing cards

Check out orientaltrading.com or your local dollar store for more affordable ideas

 

invite Family Fun Month: How To Host a Backyard Carnival

We love these handmade invitations from parents.com

Invitations

Last step! Get your guests in the mood to “step right up” to your backyard carnival bash with fun invitations. You can make the invitations yourself with construction paper, crayons and tickets like the one to the left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you hosted a backyard carnival? Tell us about it!

Here’s to Kids

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Matthew & Michael enjoying home

“Here’s to kids…and all the things that makes a house a home.”

Through Tom Selleck’s voice on the new Coldwell Banker commercials, we are reminded just how important our children are in defining our homes.  We share their joys, their disappointments and yes, let’s face it, age a little more each day when their playful moments together erupt into their inevitable fights.  Family game nights, movie nights, homework at the kitchen table, bedtime rituals… it all happens in our home.

There is no denying we live for our kids and our homes are THEIR castle.

In my case, our castle got a bit bigger last year.  After years of saving and getting the courage to do it, we did a renovation.  Our house is a 1950 construction that simply didn’t have a lot of space.  My wife and I, along with our two boys (10 & 7) previously spent most of our time in a 8 x 12 rectangular room that housed the couch – which was really a loveseat -  and TV.  Usually it was two on the couch and two on the floor.  As the boys grew, we realized we needed more room.

Some asked us why we wouldn’t move to a larger house.  That was an easy one to answer.  We are “roots people” and we love our neighborhood and love our house.  So that left the daunting task of an addition.

And we had to move out for five months.

This began my own personal rent vs. buy journey.  To me, there is no comparison.  Homeownership wins.   But because of the recession, we are reading a lot about the rent vs. buy decision.  There are even terms being thrown about like “rentennials,” a supposed generation that will refrain from homeownership because they believe it doesn’t make economic sense.

But if you only look at homeownership through the eyes of appreciation vs. stock market returns, I believe you are missing the key point of homeownership – the emotional side and the ability to make your house a home.

The apartment we rented was nice.  It was a one-bedroom across town from our house (actually the rent was more than our mortgage).  It had a sizeable loft where the boys slept.  The landlord was a good guy.  Yet it wasn’t ours.  It wasn’t home.  The heat was overpowering and the windows leaked cold air.  The stairs creaked.  The walls were so thin we watched TV on mute after the boys went to sleep.  There was nothing I could do about it, and it’s a good thing we didn’t have our dog, Allie, yet cause most apartments, including this one, wouldn’t allow pets.

And the boys, we spent five-months trying to keep them on “mute,” constantly reminding them to be quiet so we didn’t bother the man living below us.

I couldn’t wait to go home.  And it’s not because I just hated paying rent…the thousands of dollars I’ll never get back.

And because we owned our home, we were able to make it better.  We knocked down walls to open it up.  Our kitchen now looks into the new family room and we have a new master bedroom and bathroom.  The colors we chose on the walls are great.  And our new big-screen TV on the wall just sparkles.  The pride – and that clearly is a personal emotion – that I have in our home is off-the-charts.

And let me tell you, our boys are now back to being loud…just like they should be!

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Here’s to Kids

Posted on by

Matthew & Michael enjoying home

“Here’s to kids…and all the things that makes a house a home.”

Through Tom Selleck’s voice on the new Coldwell Banker commercials, we are reminded just how important our children are in defining our homes.  We share their joys, their disappointments and yes, let’s face it, age a little more each day when their playful moments together erupt into their inevitable fights.  Family game nights, movie nights, homework at the kitchen table, bedtime rituals… it all happens in our home.

There is no denying we live for our kids and our homes are THEIR castle.

In my case, our castle got a bit bigger last year.  After years of saving and getting the courage to do it, we did a renovation.  Our house is a 1950 construction that simply didn’t have a lot of space.  My wife and I, along with our two boys (10 & 7) previously spent most of our time in a 8 x 12 rectangular room that housed the couch – which was really a loveseat -  and TV.  Usually it was two on the couch and two on the floor.  As the boys grew, we realized we needed more room.

Some asked us why we wouldn’t move to a larger house.  That was an easy one to answer.  We are “roots people” and we love our neighborhood and love our house.  So that left the daunting task of an addition.

And we had to move out for five months.

This began my own personal rent vs. buy journey.  To me, there is no comparison.  Homeownership wins.   But because of the recession, we are reading a lot about the rent vs. buy decision.  There are even terms being thrown about like “rentennials,” a supposed generation that will refrain from homeownership because they believe it doesn’t make economic sense.

But if you only look at homeownership through the eyes of appreciation vs. stock market returns, I believe you are missing the key point of homeownership – the emotional side and the ability to make your house a home.

The apartment we rented was nice.  It was a one-bedroom across town from our house (actually the rent was more than our mortgage).  It had a sizeable loft where the boys slept.  The landlord was a good guy.  Yet it wasn’t ours.  It wasn’t home.  The heat was overpowering and the windows leaked cold air.  The stairs creaked.  The walls were so thin we watched TV on mute after the boys went to sleep.  There was nothing I could do about it, and it’s a good thing we didn’t have our dog, Allie, yet cause most apartments, including this one, wouldn’t allow pets.

And the boys, we spent five-months trying to keep them on “mute,” constantly reminding them to be quiet so we didn’t bother the man living below us.

I couldn’t wait to go home.  And it’s not because I just hated paying rent…the thousands of dollars I’ll never get back.

And because we owned our home, we were able to make it better.  We knocked down walls to open it up.  Our kitchen now looks into the new family room and we have a new master bedroom and bathroom.  The colors we chose on the walls are great.  And our new big-screen TV on the wall just sparkles.  The pride – and that clearly is a personal emotion – that I have in our home is off-the-charts.

And let me tell you, our boys are now back to being loud…just like they should be!

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Kids Give Their Take on Real Estate

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The old idiom goes, “Out of the mouths of babes oft times comes gems.” And Coldwell Banker Real Estate had that in mind when decided to ask some everyday kids how to define “real estate.”

The video below is a priceless compilation of their response to that question as well as a few others that involve the perfect home, “Dora Pink” and a collection of truly adorable responses.

Take a look at the video below.

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