Last Minute Holiday Decorating Ideas

Okay, so your family will be at your house in 24 hours.  You have a tree and a wreath, but that's all.  You don't have the time or energy to go shopping for more decorations but you still wish the house looked more festive.  Here are 5 simple ideas to make the house look more festive with items you already have!

1.  Hang ornaments from your dining room chandelier or light fixture.


2.  Wrap garlands around your curtain rods.


3.  Place ornaments on candle holders or candle sticks.



4.  Fill jars, vases, or anything clear glass with peppermints.



5.  Fill vases with ornaments



Voila!  You could probably do all of these in less than an hour.  Happy decorating!

Letting Your Kids Be Who They Are

As a parent, I have found myself genuinely surprised how much harder it is to just let your kids be themselves...especially children who are the same gender as you.  As the child, it seems so obvious.  Why can't your parents just encourage and support you the way you are?  Why are they so selfish?

Suddenly you become a parent and you find your fears and concerns about your child's future getting in the way of just letting them be them.  You're afraid they won't be successful with a certain characteristic or they will struggle more with a certain interest.  But this week, I found myself doing something I never thought I would do - controlling a birthday party.

Obviously, in my line of work, I am an expert in parties.  But I found myself imposing my expectations on my daughter.  I had a vision of what I wanted her to have - what I thought would be cute and adorable and quite frankly, what I thought my friends would think is cute and adorable.  My daughter wanted a bounce house party - all I could think was "Really?  Another bounce house party?"  I told my husband about my dilemma and he really gave me food for thought.  He said, "What's wrong with that?  She went to a bounce house with all of her friends from school and had a ball.  A bounce house is totally her.  She loves it."

And suddenly, I realized he was right.  She might enjoy the party I wanted her to have, but who cares?  She wants a party at a bounce house and it's her birthday.  So I'm not sure which birthday option she will choose but I realized that as long as it's within our budget, it should be her choice.  And she should love it.

Surviving the 2nd child - it's possible!

Our second child turned two!!!!  Hallelujah!  The second birthday for the first child was pretty uneventful but for the second child, the 2nd birthday was bigger than the first.  It was a huge milestone for mom and dad.  Life at home doesn't completely suck any more!

For those of you with multiple children, you understand.  But if you aren't there yet, let me explain myself.  The second child as an individual is definitely easier to care for than the first child as an individual.  You know what you're doing.  You know how to use the gear.  You know how to deal with crying babies and temper tantrums.

BUT you are now caring for two kids and all of the issues that occur between them because there are two.  Jealousy, sharing (or lack thereof), being gentle and not killing the little one, etc.  And caring for two means you don't have the ability to focus on one, which for most adults is very stressful.  It takes time to learn to cope when both children have needs at the same time that you can't meet.

For us, we had sleep deprivation until our son (2nd child) was 7 months.  Then, he started crawling at 8 months and boy, did he move.  Our efforts to keep him from killing himself required 80% of our time, which consequently, heightened our older daughter's jealousy and anxiety.  So then, we found ourselves spending every moment keeping the baby alive or trying to appease our older stressed and jealous daughter.  Not going to lie.  It was rough - had I really known how hard it was going to be, I might have chickened out.

BUT I'm here to tell anyone who is in this boat or will be soon - it does get better!  Our son now has near death experiences far less often.  We can keep doors open in our house.  We can mostly unload the dishwasher in his presence.  He is more independent.  He can talk and understand us.  He can even share.   All of these things help calm our older child as well.  Yesterday, both of our children played by themselves with our son's new train table in his room while I folded laundry and my husband cooked dinner upstairs.  It felt amazing!!!!!  We have envisioned this moment for almost 5 years and now it's here.

Having two is great in the long run.  So if you are in a rough spot, hang in there and know it gets easier!  And that vision of the happy family can come together.

Christmas Can Be Fun For Your Husband, Too!

Do you like Christmas?  Does your husband like Christmas?  At my house, the first answer is a resounding YES and the second answer is "Do I have to?"

I was thinking the other day about everything I had to do -  at least 10 things on the list - then, it dawned on me that a gift for my husband wasn't even on the list, much less spending time with him.  I know he doesn't care about Christmas as much as I do, but maybe if I put him somewhere in the top 5 of my list, he might like Christmas a little more.  So I decided to think about some simple things we could do together that don't involve the kids - and hopefully, will make my husband enjoy Christmas a little more!

1.  Cider Sippin' and Shoppin' -  Make shopping for your mother-in-law and the kids a little more fun.  Leave the kids with the sitter, go have a drink (or two) and then, shop.  I guarantee it will be more fun!  You can top off the shopping trip with dinner or dessert.

2.  Christmas movie night - Make this a tradition.  After the kids go to bed, watch your favorite Christmas movie together.  Personally, I might go for something like Love Actually, but to make my husband happy, Christmas Vacation might be a better compromise.

3.  Give the gift of together - I love this one! So instead of giving each other things for Christmas, give each other date nights.  Each person can plan 6 date nights for the following year and that's what you give each other for Christmas.   You could create a cute little book that has pictures of what you'll do on each date.   And if you are watching your dollars, you don't have to buy everything at Christmas.  Spread this one out over the next year.

Here's to a wonderful holiday season and hopefully, a joyful husband, too!