Discipling your kids when they are tired

I need a little help here. There are times when I just drop the discipline all together and focus on getting my kids to bed, and then there are times, like tonight when I just cannot give in. I had to work from 2pm-7pm so we had our babysitter watching the kids. She is very good. She takes them out and plays with them. They seemed so very happy. I walked in and they continued to be happy until about 10 minutes after our babysitter left. I know they do this because it is ME. I get that. They like to do this to mom. But, I also knew that my daughter was very tired. And, understandably so. We have been on the road now since Feb 7th. We have been living in a small one bedroom hotel suite. All four of us in one room. Taking that into consideration, I knew I needed to get the kids into bed early. So I focused on getting there PJ's on. That actually went very smoothly. It seemed to go downhill when they asked me for a treat and I pulled out my jellybeans. I gave them each 3 and my daughter lost it. She wasn't happy with jellybeans as her treat and nothing seemed to please her. She was inconsolable and, you know what, I was not happy with her. Instead of sending her straight to bed, I used a very relaxed tone and gave her 2 more chances to take her jellybeans before taking them away. We then went in and tried to brush teeth and she wouldn't do it. I calmly gave her 3 chances to brush her teeth or she was going to lose sweets for all of the following day. She opted not to brush her teeth and so we went in to the bedroom. All the while, she was crying hysterically. After attempting to read to my son, who was being so very good, I gave in and listened to her request. She had been begging to brush her teeth. I didn't want to do it because I felt like she needed to understand the consequences of her actions and decisions but then I thought of how tired she was and changed my mind. We brushed teeth and then she asked for her jellybeans. I said no way and she continued to cry. She is now sleeping and I am okay with giving her another chance but welcome anyone's thoughts on this subject. Do you think an overtired kid can really make a good decision? I bet your answer is going to be yes...but would you have done the same thing as me? How about the fact that all of this was because of some damn jellybeans!!!

My kids and Mascots

At the 2010 Olympic Games, there are 4 mascots. They are Quatchi, Sumi, Miga and MukMuk. It was almost immediate. My daughter took one look at Miga and fell in love. She new that Miga was her girl. And just the same, my son fell for Quatchi as if they had known each other for years. And, from what I have seen, they are not alone. I find that very interesting. Because, after talking to several kids this morning as I was hanging with the REAL Miga and Quatchi, I found that kids of all ages were quite taken by the mascots. It was actually very cute--the whole idea of a dressed up person in a mascot uniform. They are not allowed to talk and they are not allowed to show their real faces. But when they walk out as their characters, I immediately smile. And, kids in a mile radius seem to come running.

My kids are split on the whole mascot thing. My daughter is very shy and although every ounce of her being wanted to run up to Miga and give her a huge squeeze, she just couldn't do it. She was too shy and Miga was just a little to real. My son, on the other hand, couldn't be stopped. One look at Quatchi and he was out of his stroller and right by the furry dude's side. He knows their names and couldn't stop repeating them while smiling as wide as possible. I find it facsinating that not only a little kid finds joy in meeting a mascot but adults do as well. Maybe it is their cute little dances or their interesting ways of using gestures instead of words. Either way, according to my kiddos, they just might be more popular than Lindsey Vonn at these Olympic Games.

Keeping up with the Olympic crowd

Every Olympics that I have attended seems to have one or two items that are “the thing” to get. Here in Vancouver, it seems to be the Lucky Looney—which is a coin for those who don’t know and the “red mittens”. Finally, I scored the red mittens today. The funny thing is that I saw an entire wall full of them in the Official Olympic Store when I first arrived in Whistler. I remember thinking..."Hmm, these are cute. And, they are super reasonable...only $10." Boy, is hind-sight 20/20 or what. I could have bought up about 20 pairs if I wanted. But when the games began and they became all the rage, they were quickly gone and I had no clue if anymore would be coming in. I actually did a little feature on the "hot" souvenirs and they were the top items. I thought I might have an in as to if and when more red mittens might hit the stores. I went in and asked the sales clerk what she could tell me about another shipment. She smiled and said they would probably be in in a few days. Somehow, I remembered to stop in on Thursday and then again today. Today was just a coincidence. I had about an hour off and was walking to meet up with my hubby and kids when I saw a bunch of people holding red mittens. This was the first time I had been in with the masses when it came to a frenzy. Women were literally pushing and shoving to get to the mittens. REALLY!!??!! I stepped back for a second and began to think...am I really this person? The one who has to have the IT item? And then I dug in and grabbed out 4 pairs gently. In all, I have 4 adult pairs and 2 kiddo pairs. I am just trying to keep up with the masses and bring home the cool items. Right now, I have some pretty sweet pins, a few mascot key chains and several red mittens. Life is good and my hands are cozy!

Oh, yeah, and if you are reading this on Monday morning, Feb. 22, tune into Rachael Ray today to catch my feature.

Separating your space when you are in REALLY small quarters.

I am not complaining at all, but we are staying in a one bedroom hotel room suite that is about 600 square feet. There are four of us living in this wonderful pad…my daughter, my son and my hubby. We are here for most of the month of Febuary. This is not our first experience with living in tight quarters and we learned a lot from the first time. Here are some tips if this ever happens to you.

Everyone must eat their meals at the table. No getting up and down and running around with gooey, sticky hands. When you are finished you get down. If you get down before you are finished you get one chance to get back up and eat, otherwise you are finished. Everyone’s hands and face must be cleaned before getting down and running around. We are, after all, in a hotel room which I would not want to completely demolish.

Being organized saves a lot of lost items and time looking for them. Try and put all the dirty clothes in one place and put the clean clothes away. This also saves some time and keeps you from washing the same things that you just washed the last time.

Giving each child their own private spot to keep their toys helps make life easier for you and for them. Its amazing how they will go to their own spots and entertain themselves for quite some time. It also helps keep things organized as they know where to put their things away.

Getting them outside to burn off that childhood energy when you can is one of the most beneficial things of all. Having access to a park or a pool where they can get out and move around—essentially wear themselves out is oh, so important.

I would also like to say that things are just going to be somewhat messy and that is just the way it is. So, don't get too stressed out about that.

We are managing in our 600 square feet, but I must say that I feel very fortunate to not have to be this confined all the time.