Mondays! Are They Beginnings or Endings?

September always feels like the beginning of the new year to me (I guess it relates to the start of many new school years). It is the time when I want to get organized and regain structure and routine to overcome the chaos and messiness that somehow crept into life during the lazy days of summer. I feel the same way about Mondays. I never think that Sunday is the first day of the week, but rather Monday. Mondays are when life gets back to normal, schedules exist, schools are in session, appointments are made and kept, and routine household chores are repeated. There are feelings of stability and security that can accompany structure and routine when so many facets of the world in which we live seem to be spinning out of control. Fresh, blank calendar pages quickly become filled with both the mundane and exciting events of our lives. Work weeks generally begin on Mondays, and most of us look forward to Friday nights to start two-day weekends. If I think of Sundays as the beginnings of each new week, then somehow I feel deprived of weekend time. I also like to have Sunday as the end of my week so I can attend church and make my apologies and attempt to wipe the slate clean of that week's mistakes and misdeeds. Then on Mondays I feel as if I have a new opportunity to try to be a better person, to be more organized, to accomplish more, and then to the reward of another glorious two-day weekend. Am I fooling myself? Perhaps. Does it work? You bet it does!

What's For Dinner? Shrimp & Spinach Casserole, Of Course!

When you have had a busy day, a fussy baby, or a cranky toddler the thought of having to cook dinner can be overwhelming. To ease that pain I am going to share with you a very simple but delicious recipe made with ingredients that you can keep on hand in your refrigerator and freezer. I first enjoyed this Shrimp & Spinach Casserole in l989 at a beach-front home in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. I asked the hostess for her recipe which she generously shared, but I have no idea where it originated. Shrimp & Spinach Casserole:Serves 4 - 6.Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 1/2 pound shrimp, cleaned, deveined and cut into pieces. 1 package frozen, chopped spinach, thawed. 1 cup sharp American Cheese, shredded. 1/2 cup finely cut green onions including green tops. 2 cups milk. 2 eggs slightly beaten. 1/2 teaspoon Thyme. Clean and cut shrimp into bite-size pieces. Combine eggs and milk. Press all the water out of the spinach. Combine spinach with the remaining ingredients. Pour into a shallow baking dish which has been lightly sprayed with PAM and bake 45 minutes or until firm. With some crusty bread and a salad you will serve a great meal. Enjoy!

Other Books Your Children Will Love If You Read To Them

A postscript to yesterday's blog post: I meant to mention that I also read to my children two books by Roald Dahl. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and James and The Giant Peach became two of their favorites. I was surprised at the lengths of their attention spans since the children were 2, 4 and 6 years old. They each had their favorite parts and characters in the books, but they all loved the stories and the time we spent together reading them. (My apologies for all the italics, but for some reason I am unable to change them).

When To Read Books Rather Than Stories To Your Children

Initially, start out reading a short story or just telling a familiar story (like The Three Bears ) to your babies and toddlers. They have short attention spans but will respond to the pictures, the inflections in your voice, and certain words as they ask you to read or tell again and again the same story. Toddlers are very smart so if you try to skip a page or change words in the interest of time (getting them to sleep faster, for example), they will call you on it after they are familiar with the story. They will also know when you have read the words that mean it is time to turn the page. Children are just short people and much smarter than adults sometimes expect them to be at such early ages. When you tire of reading the Little Golden Book variety of stories, then read a book consisting of a number of chapters. When I had 2, 4, and 6 year-old children it was not always easy to find a short story that appealed to all of them. I decided to read Dr. Doolittle to them, and we did it night after night, chapter by chapter. The book is much, much better than any film version They remembered where each chapter stopped, and they would beg for another chapter when the one for the evening had been read. Even the two-year old would sit and listen as raptly as the older children did. When we had completed Dr. Doolittle we went on to The Bobbsey Twins which was a good choice because the key characters are both boys and girls and two different age groups. The author made the stories appealing to little ones as well as children already in elementary school. There is an entire series of Bobbsey Twin books, and we read through all of them. Not only did these reading sessions foster a love of books in my children, but also gave them a nightly ritual which made bedtime pleasant. Require baths taken, teeth brushed, and pajamas on before reading to them. Asking for promises to go right to sleep after the chapter for the night is read makes for peaceful evenings, regular bedtimes, and first understandings of what a promise is. If you start out reading or saying nursery rhymes to a baby (even as young as 4 or 5 months old) he or she will be soothed by the cadence of your voice. If you are reading from a book a baby will actually be attracted by the colors of the pictures. Being read to from early on can help a child learn to talk and sometimes when you least expect it. You may reach a certain page of a familiar story, and a little child will suddenly repeat a word after you which makes for a very special and memorable moment. As children grow up they will remember the books you read together, and if reading is something they enjoy they will be more successful in school since reading is the basis for every subject they will be taught. Time flies and before you know it children are in school, and you will have wonderful memories to last a lifetime if you regularly read to them.

Does Time Get Away From You?

As the weeks fly by I ask myself where the time went and what did I accomplish. I recently listened to a series of webinars which provided me with some great ideas. Jack Canfield (well-known author, motivational speaker, and business coach) talked about how significant "the power of five" can be. He said that on our to-do lists we should list five things that move us toward our goals, and we should start each day working on those five things until they are completed. Then if time remains we can work on other tasks. While he was speaking about business goals I know that his advice also applies to taking care of children, running a household, and juggling work and family life. Most of us put too many things on our to-do lists with no real grasp of how long it would actually take us to complete the entire list. If we focus on what is most important to be completed and form our to-do lists with five tasks leading to the accomplishment of those things, we will get them done! If I am not pro-active I can easily get caught up in minutia, and probably a little of my own OCD also slips in there. I have been trying to follow "the power of five" advice daily, and I am amazed at how much more I am accomplishing. Whether I am concentrating on my business, household tasks and projects, or volunteer work I really am able to get the most important things done first. Try it. I'm sure you will be pleased with the results. I know that children can at times prevent adherence to schedules and plans, but more often than not I am confident you will get all or most of your five things done on a daily basis and still have time left to do other things. I am also thinking that as children enter school and take on responsibilities this might be a good practice to share with them. Let me know what you think. I hope you will sign up to follow my blog and give me your feedback on anything I write. Thanks in advance for helping me!

Is Your Baby Hungry?

Whether breastfeeding or bottle feeding, typically a baby eats about every four hours. Those four hours in between feedings can be blissful if you are sleep deprived and feel as if you could sleep for a week. I recall that having a new baby was a combination of the most exciting, happy time and the most exhausting time because of the feedings in the wee small hours. Based on babys' birth weights as well as weight they gain in their first weeks and months, you may find your baby awakening more frequently and demanding to be fed. Different doctors have different opinions and advice about when to start adding a little rice cereal to baby's formula. Sometimes breast milk and/or formula are just not sufficient to satisfy a baby's hunger for four hours. Talk to your pediatrician about adding a bit of rice cereal to baby's diet or whatever type of baby cereal he recommends. I have a friend who has just experienced this with a five-week old baby boy who had a hefty birth weight and just was hungry all the time. Formula replaced the breast milk, but he was still exercising his little lungs every two hours instead of the previous four. A little addition of rice cereal (his grandmother is an R.N.) to his formula, and he is sleeping 4 to 6 hours at a time and allowing his mom and dad to get some much needed sleep. Babies are wonderful blessings, and sleep is a wonderful blessing too so talk to your health care professional to be sure your baby's hunger is being satisfied.

Don't Let Your Baby Drown

Recently in the news have been stories about little ones drowning or nearly drowning which, of course, would be one of any parents' worst nightmares since drowning is preventable. While most such incidents involve swimming pools, today I want to caution you about keeping babies and toddlers safe in bathtubs, sinks, bathinettes, or wading pools. Do not, and I repeat do not, leave any infant or toddler unattended in any container of water even if the water is only one inch deep. Babies can turn themselves over accidentally and be left face down in the water and drown. Toddlers can slip and go face down, or they might try to stand up causing them to slip face down into the water. Do not leave a toddler with an infant alone in water. Accidents can happen so quickly. Nothing you have to do in another room or part of your home is important enough to disregard this elementary safety rule. It takes only a moment for a tragedy to happen and a lifetime to regret it.