Stuff I’m Lovin’ – Kid Version, Part I

By Megan

I don’t normally get around to doing “Things I Like” lists, even though like most people, I do tend to like stuff. Sometimes a rilly, rilly lot. I guess the problem is, I tend to like stuff for a short while and then move on to liking something else. But there are things I think I can say with certainty I’m gonna like for a long, long time, and maybe that’s why I feel good about committing a few of them to … er … screen.

This list of stuff I like all falls under the “Kids” heading, so I figured HEY! why not share it here, where other parents of “Kids” tend to hang out?

Yes. Why not indeed? Here are 5 of the ten new things I love. I’ll tell you about the next 5 next week. Deal?

1. Homemade Granola. My kids have been CHOWING on Boomama’s Granola Recipe. Well, not the recipe, so much as the actual granola I baked up using the recipe. I added some raisins in with all the other dry ingredients, too, but other than that I made this crunchy, delicious snack exactly by Boomama’s recipe and it’s been a huge hit with Bean (5) and Peabody (20 months. I know! TWENTY MONTHS!? Wha?). Bean likes it as cold cereal with milk, berries and a little honey, and Peabody just eats it dry by the handful. I like that I can identify and pronounce everything that goes into it and that, providentially, I happen to keep all of those ingredients on hand as staples anyway. And it’s so easy! It takes about 30 minutes, start to finish, and about 29 of those minutes it’s just sittin’ in the oven, baking away peacefully. I’ll be making a fresh double batch of it this morning in fact. YUMMY!

2. Pandora.com Maybe I’m a little late to the party on this one but I LOVE Pandora.com’s kids’ stations for my kids. I usually do a Sesame Street mix for them (Al just types in “ELMO”) and we get a blend that’ll include everything the Muppets to Sponge Bob to Bob Marley (no kiddin’!) and have them dancing and hokey-pokeyin’ for quite a while, which gives me some blissful free time to blog or cook or clean or eat bon-bons and give myself a pedicure in peace. (That last part was completely tongue-in-cheek. You’ll just have to trust me because if I showed you my feet right now it might kill you. Seriously.) AND IT’S FREE. And there’s so much variety I will probably never hear the same song twice unless I just WANT to. Where else can you get THAT in kids’ music?

3. Early bedtimes for the kids RULE. They get better-quality sleep, wake up well-rested and ready to take on another day of learning, growing and relating, and Al and I get some time to ourselves. While I’m still awake. Many children’s sleep experts back up my theory that kids NEED early bedtimes to get the best, most restorative sleep their bodies can muster. And having time to ourselves makes Al and me better spouses to one another and better parents for our kids. Early bedtimes are one of parenting’s biggest WINS in my opinion. Our kids virtually never stay up past 8 PM and their normal bedtime right now is 7:30 PM.

4. Car naps. Alack and alas, as great as our night-sleeping schedule is, we still have the little issue of Peabody’s naps. Now Bean was and still is an EXCELLENT napper. She loves her naps, always has, asks for them, and will sometimes sleep as long as 2 HOURS for a nap to this day. But Peabody just is not a napper. In terms of sleep, I did everything for Peabody that I did for Bean; I wanted another awesome napper so I followed in my own footsteps. But they pretty much led nowhere good for Peabody. So I’ve tried oh, EVERY SINGLE OTHER THING I could think of to get him to nap consistently, on his own, in his crib, and he just flatly refuses. And he does FINE without a nap (I just put him down a little earlier for bedtime those days. But sometimes he NEEDS a nap, you know? He’s obviously tired and cranky and I just want to get him some rest without a huge battle. This is where car naps work well. Four years ago if you’d said, “car naps” to me, I’d have rolled my eyes at you and looked down my nose and thought, “OH BROTHER. CAR NAPS! HOW RIDICULOUS. PUT THE KID IN THE BED AND MAKE HIM NAP THERE.” But then along came Peabody to show me that pride doth indeed goeth before a dreadful fall. And so now, when I know my boy needs a nap, I arrange to run an errand or two after lunch and within 10 minutes he’s out like a light. Then Bean and I sneakily drive back home, roll the car windows down a bit, park the car in the garage and play out on the driveway while Peabody snoozes away in the comfort of his car seat. Presto, stress-free rest for the weary and in an hour or so he’s up and rarin’ to go again.

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5. Tonka Wheel Pals. Here’s an unpaid product review! I love these little Tonka Wheel Pals cars and trucks by Playskool. Oh, do I ever. It’s not enough that they’re just CUTE, with their round, soft bodies, goofy little smiles and their bright, happy colors, but they’re also virtually indestructible, safe as all get-out, and, perhaps best of all for this Mama of a son who must have a car in each hand every waking minute of the day, they can go from sandpit to bathtub to crib every day and not rust, leak water or stop rolling. I have to tell you, we have about 10 of them and they’re always EVERYWHERE in our house, which would normally drive me crazy, but these little guys just can’t seem to get on my bad side. Last night I climbed into bed and found a little yellow taxi hiding down under the covers. And when I pulled him out and turned him over in my hands, he grinned at me and I set him on my bed side table facing my bed and I just lay there for a minute and laughed with him. I have a boy, I mused to him. A boy who loves cars and trucks. A boy who will walk up to me as I lie on the floor resting in the afternoon sun and drive a jovial dump truck along my arm, down into the curve of my waist, back up and over my hip and thigh and leg until it runs out of road at my foot, all the while making rrrrrrrrrrrrrrooom noises and displaying happy little dimples of his own. And I swear that baby yellow taxi winked a cute cartoon eye at me before we both fell asleep. LOVE ‘EM.

So that’s the first half of my current list of loves for kids. What have you discovered lately that you and your kids are lovin’?

5 Responses to Stuff I’m Lovin’ – Kid Version, Part I
  1. Stephanie
    April 12, 2010 | 8:47 am

    I might be making that granola today and also- CAR NAPS. Love them. Some days they are my lifeline.

    Steph

  2. Hannah
    April 12, 2010 | 10:42 pm

    My husband is the granola maker around this house, and we couldn’t do without it. So much cheaper homemade, plus doesn’t it make the house smell yum-o-rific?

  3. Sara
    April 23, 2010 | 10:33 am

    I love those tonka wheel pals too. We have the fire station for them too! Adorable!!

  4. Para Ma
    April 14, 2012 | 11:56 pm

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