2houses

8 April 201313 May 2019

Easy Craft for Kids – The Rain Stick

What is a Rainstick ?

A rainstick is a long, hollow tube partially filled with small pebbles or beans that has small pins or thorns arranged helically on its inside surface. When the stick is upended, the pebbles fall to the other end of the tube, making a sound reminiscent of rain falling.

The rainstick is believed to have been invented by the Aztecs and was played in the belief it could bring about rainstorms. Rainsticks are usually made from any of several species of cactus. The cacti, which are hollow, are dried in the sun. The spines are removed, then driven into the cactus like nails. Pebbles or other small objects are placed inside the rainstick, and the ends are sealed. A sound like falling water is made when the rainstick has its direction changed to a vertical position.

Materials

– Cardboard tube – Scrapbook paper or wrapping paper. – Sticky tape – Scissors (be careful with kids) – A piece of cardboard – Rice or dried lentils

First Step

Start by cutting two strips of cardboard and two discs of card roughly the same size as the ends of your tube. The strips need to fit inside your cardboard tube, mine are about an inch wide. Concertina the strips of cardboard.

Second Step

Place one card circle over the end of the tube and tape it firmly in place.

Third Step

Turn the tube over and push the two strips of card into the tube and pour in the rice or lentils (the bigger the grains the bigger the “rain”)

Fourth Step

Place the other card circle over the open end and tape in place to close the tube.

4 April 201313 May 2019

Stop buying sports drinks and protein bars – Try handmade instead

In a rather sad and ironic state of affairs, individuals exercising to improve health and fitness often fall into the trap of neon colored sport drinks and sugary protein bars with questionable ingredients – believing these products support ultimate vitality and strength.

Unfortunately, these ‘foods’ compromise true health and also tend to rack up a hefty grocery bill. But making your own at home is far easier than you might imagine and affordable to boot.

Sports drinks

The Chicago Tribune article, “Sports drinks: How to make your own” offers several simple, inexpensive recipes for recovery drinks. According to registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, refueling beverages need three elements: water, electrolytes and carbohydrates. Just make sure to use purified water, organic ingredients and high quality Himalayan or Celtic sea salt for maximum nutritional benefit.

Organic Sports Drink from Kitchen Table Medicine
– Organic fruit juice
– Water or green tea
– Organic sea salt
Fill sports bottle with half juice and half water. Add a pinch of sea salt and shake.

Delicious and nutrient dense energy bars

Now onto the protein bars. Here we can really get creative. Anna Sward of Protein Pow(d)er offers the following recommendations and recipes:

“For each recipe below, bind the powder, flour and other ingredients with milk [coconut, almond or hemp varieties are heathy choices]. You can also use a nut butter. The goal is to have a batter that comes together like a dough which can be easily formed into bars. Next, melt 90-100 percent dark chocolate over low heat — enough to coat the bars, about 40 grams. Once coated, place the bars in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.”

Again, organic ingredients are recommended.

Surprise Almond and Vanilla Protein Bars
– 4 small cooked beets
– 1 cup vanilla protein powder
– 1/2 cup coconut flour
– 1/2 cup cup nondairy milk substitute
– 2 tbsp organic almond butter (peanut, pumpkin or hemp butter works as well)

29 March 201313 May 2019

What is Diversity? Egg activity

With Martin Luther King Jr Day approaching, consider introducing the idea of diversity and cultural differences to your children. It will be easy to start with this really great egg activity. A great visual demonstration is always tops in our book here at Kids Activities Blog.

Supplies:
1 white egg
1 brown egg
plate

What is Diversity

One of the beautiful things about our little ones is that color, cultural differences and even language usually don’t phase them. Notice that I used the word “phase” because kids are very observant so they do notice the differences. Let’s start teaching them when they are young that accepting and celebrating the differences is a way of life. This will not only have a lasting impression on their own life but impact the world as well.

When we first arrived to South America my son didn’t have a grasp of the Spanish language, the children were a bit smaller then his anglo body type (he gets that from his father) and he was a bit lighter than a lot of the kids. His Spanish was basic, he knew a few words here and there like “hola” or “adios” and maybe some numbers but that was it.

When he started preschool I was nervous for him knowing that most of the children didn’t speak English and he didn’t speak Spanish. One day I went out to observe him and guess what. He was happily playing with the other boys and girls. They played in their own language but with each other and it wasn’t a problem. It was a beautiful picture of how we should play as adults.

When our kids begin to start noticing and sharing the differences pay close attention to how they are expressing themselves. Are they using hurtful words? Negatively? In awe? Discuss with them their observations. This would be a good time to share a very practical lesson on diversity.

We are ALL the same on the inside

28 March 201313 May 2019

Stepfamily Success

All stepfamilies come with challenges – the combining of different households and family cultures, the weekend visitations, the dealing with exes, the confusion that the children feel in trying to make sense not only of the divorce, but now this new parent and stepbrothers and sisters that they didn’t ask for. The stress can take its toll. It comes as no surprise, perhaps, that the struggles between stepparents and stepchildren are one of the primary causes of second divorces. The move from divorce to singlehood to stepfamily certainly requires time and patience, but like most life transitions also benefits from some awareness and skill. Here are the most common mistakes you want to avoid:

Disciplining too soon

One of the big, yet easy, mistakes that a lot of new stepparents make is stepping in a disciplinarian too soon. While the intentions may be good, the kids are likely to show resentment, rather than respect – the proverbial “You’re not my father!”

This is particularly true for teens who are likely to see the stepparent as nothing more than another authority telling him what to do. The antidote to a child or teen’s resistance is a supportive relationship. Hold back and develop a connection before taking any disciplinarian role. If your partner needs support, be the sideline coach or sounding board, but let him or her take the lead. Once a strong trusting relationship is established, gradually step up the discipline.

Nurture first, discipline second.

Failing to develop individual relationships.

Each child in a family will have a different response to a stepparent – one child quickly warming up, while another remains aloof. Children who are particularly close to the other natural parent may hold back, believing that they become close to the stepparent they are in some way being disloyal.

The way around this emotional quagmire is remaining patient while at the same time initiating one-on-one activities. Choose places and activities – movies, picking up a pizza, playing cards or legos – that offer comfortable distractions to break any awkwardness, yet allow you to step out of your “parent” role, and give you both an opportunity to engage and enjoy each other’s company. Whenever the child talks, be quiet and listen. If the mood seems right throw out quick, one-liner questions – “It seems like you are not excited about coming here some weekends. How come? Is it hard to move between two houses?” – and see what happens next.

What’s likely to happen next is not much – a “It’s okay” or grunt, though you might be surprised. Whether the child or teen talks about themselves or not is less important than your showing an interest in his world, and by casually bringing up topics letting him know what type of things can be talked about.

Build your stepfamily one relationship at a time.

8 February 201313 May 2019

Christmas Custody Schedules in Divorce

christmas custody schedules for divorced parents - 2houses

How do divorcing parents handle the issue of Christmas and other holiday periods in custody disputes? What kind of schedules do North Carolina Divorce Courts order in Child Custody Cases? In a perfect world, every child would have the benefit of waking up to two loving parents every Christmas morning. The sad reality is that many parents do not stay together and in those cases it is crucial to establish holiday custody schedules that allow the children to experience the joy of the holidays with each parent. As a Raleigh Divorce Lawyerfor over fourteen years, I have seen all kinds of holiday custody schedules and before you decide what kind of schedule works for you, there are several factors you should consider.

Two Ways to View Holidays. For school aged children, there are two ways to view holiday custody schedules. The first is to attempt to divide the actual holiday period or day. For example, Christmas is typically recognized as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and sometimes the day after Christmas. The second way to view holiday schedules is to divide the entire period the children are out of school. Most North Carolina school systems release for Christmas several days before the actual holiday and resume after New Years Day. The same principal is true of Thanksgiving, Easter, and some other holidays. If you address the holiday only, you are dividing only a day or two, while addressing the holiday as a break from school and dividing that time period you will be dividing more time. Either method is acceptable if it works for the children and the parents.

4 January 201313 May 2019

Easy King Cake

Ingrédients for the king cake :

1 (16 oz) can of biscuits (regular, not the layered kind but the regular). We use “Grands”
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
A few spoonfuls of canned cream cheese frosting (optional)
Yellow, Purple, Green Sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with Release foil. You can skip this, but it makes clean up easier. Open the biscuits and lay them flat on the foil. Press them into a large circle (about 12 inches) or giant rectangle.

Paint the dough with butter, then mix sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle evenly over dough.

Lay babies or figurines somewhere on the dough.

Roll the dough up into a cylinder and pinch as tightly as possible to seal. Shape the cylinder into a round.

Bake for 35 minutes. Let cool slightly, then spoon icing over top and let it fall down sides. Sprinkle sugar on top.

Ready to eat! It tastes best shortly after being made, but also tastes good the next day.

18 December 201213 May 2019

How kids really feel about divorce

feeling of the children about a divorce - 2houses

When it comes to divorce, everyone is concerned about the kids. Not that everyone who divorces has kids, but we don’t seem to have as much angst about child-free couples who divorce as we do about those who have kids — especially young kids.

For all our studies about how divorce impacts kids, ranging from the doom and gloom genre to “the kids are all right” variety, we don’t seem to ask the most important people of all what they think — the kids themselves.

Ellen Bruno did.

The longtime San Francisco filmmaker and international relief worker interviewed a handful of children aged 6 to 12 about their feelings about their parents’ divorce for her nearly completed documentary, Split.

How to display a rapport by category or by period of my expenses

rapport by category or by period of my expenses 2houses

Now that the 2houses new version and its amazing new features are out, we will introduce some of the main new ones here to make sure this new version is no longer a secret for you. Today we’re going to introduce one of the features that many of you asked for, the display of report by period or by category!

How to do so ? Just follow the steps:

1) To start, click on “FINANCIAL” in the upper menu, then “Expenses” in the black menu and then on the right side bar, you’ll find two options for your report : a report by category by clicking on “report by category” or report by period by clicking on “report by period”

2) If you chose a report by category, the system will generate a pie-chart report and will display the percentages by category. You’ll be able to filter your expenses by children, parents and by period in the menu at the top of the pie-chart.

Under the pie-chart report, the system also generates a list of your expenses by category. You have the possibility to export your expenses in .pdf format or .csv format by clicking on “Export” at the top of the list, and choose one of these two formats.

3) On the right menu, you have the possibility to display a report by period. To do so, click on “report by period“. The system will generate a bar chart report with your expenses of the year with the amounts link to each category. You can filter them by children, parents and choose to take into consideration expenses not approved and pending or not by ticking or not the box in the filter menu.

4) Under the bar chart report, the system generates a list of your expenses by month. You have the possiblity to export your expenses in .pdf format or .csv format by clicking on “Export” at the top of the list, and choose one of these two formats.

And that’s all! You can now display a report of your expenses and export them! Your financial management is easier than ever!

29 July 201214 May 2019

Is This The Worst Thing You Could Say To A Divorcee?

One of the most common responses that I receive when I tell others that I am divorced is: “Oh, I know how you feel. I just broke up with my boyfriend/girlfriend.”

I know that you’re trying to empathize with me, but I don’t believe that it is possible for you to know how I feel unless you have been divorced yourself. Yes, the end of a long-term relationship is horrible and devastating, but I don’t believe that it compares to the emotional trauma of getting a divorce, no matter how long the couple has been together.

Divorce is a loss unlike anything else that most people will experience in their lifetime. Divorce is hard emotionally, financially and socially; it’s heartbreakingly difficult. Many sources have said that divorce is the second-most traumatic life experience that a person can go through, after the death of a spouse. I fully believe that there is a good reason — actually, many good reasons — that they didn’t include the breaking up of long-term relationships on that list.

While some breakups do involve separating assets and legal paperwork, the majority of breakups of (childless) relationships don’t. All divorces require paperwork — even the ones that end amicably. Divorce brings out the worst in people. Lawyers get involved, fights start and animosity grows. Of course, not every relationship ends badly (for example, my ex and I are still good friends) but in general, having to argue over each book, every dish and every dollar acquired during the marriage is not a fun experience for anyone.

The biggest difference between a divorce and the breakup of a long-term relationship is the emotional and mental toll that it takes. When getting married, a couple stands in front of all of their friends and family — and in many cases, before God — and declares their never-ending love for each other. They promise to spend their lives together “for better or for worse”. After getting married, the two individuals become a family that works together toward common goals, hopes and dreams.

When a marriage ends, the sense of failure that both parties feel is overwhelming. Even if the reason for divorcing is valid, there is still a lingering feeling of having lied to everyone who mattered most. Divorcees often feel like they have let everyone down by not being able to “fix” their marriage.

Along with the incredible sense of failure comes extreme loneliness, because divorce represents the end of “us” and the return to “me, on my own again”. When a long-term relationship ends, there is still a sense of loss but, in most cases, the two individuals were able to keep their sense of self and maintain (somewhat) separate lives during the relationship; returning to their own life after a breakup isn’t as severe a transition.

So if your friend or family member tells you that they are getting a divorce, don’t tell them that you know how they feel, unless you actually do. Tell them that you’re sorry, that you’ll be there to support them, to listen to them, to drink with them, hug them and let them cry on your shoulder. Tell them that it will be tough (because you read it in an insightful Huffington Post article, not because you experienced it personally) but that they will make it through, and in many cases, they will be happier because of it.

Trust me. At the end of the grieving process, they will thank you for it.

by Jennifer Nagy Public Relations & Marketing Professional for Huffingtonpost.com

8 July 201215 May 2019

Why I Finally Stopped Lying To My Teenage Son About Dating

dating after divorce and telling your children - éhouses

I have an only child. He’s smart, funny, and wise beyond his years. I was 25 years old when I gave birth to him. I looked into his eyes as they handed him to me and I knew not only would he forever be my only child, he would also be the most important man in my life forever. That fact has never changed.

As his father’s work took him further away from home, the bond between mother and son grew stronger until my then-husband looked at us during a rare family dinner and said, “You two act as if I don’t even exist. You have your own little world.”

It was true. Not only do my son and I look alike, we have the same personality. Fire and passion run deep in us both. So as the marriage fell apart and my ex saw us even less frequently, our son shifted into what he considered his role of “Man of the House.” And, in one of many mistakes I’ve made in parenting, I let him.

Territorial and jealous, he was now suspicious of any man that gave me an approving glance or flirted with me. “How can that guy look at you like that? You are my mother!” If I had a dollar for every time I heard that angry remark from my son I wouldn’t be a struggling single mother any more.

Rather than confronting the issue, I chose to skirt it. For over two years I didn’t take phone calls when my son was nearby, my smart phone address book is full of bogus names that I used instead of the real names of the men that were interested in me. It became a bit tricky keeping track of “Bill” who was filed under “Barbara” vs the real Bill, my pest control guy. Although the latter did find it amusing when I sent him a text him asking what would happen if I was a bad girl. He replied that his contract only covered mischevious rodents, not their homeowners.
I felt as if I was having an affair that I was keeping from my son. My life was filled with lies of business meetings that were in reality were dates, supposed friends that were actually lovers, and made-up stories of boring nights on the couch alone while he was with his Dad. I remember sitting with the child psychologist as he was trying to explain what our son was going through. One a scale of 1 to 10, his discomfort level of seeing his father with another woman was at a 2, but for me, he chose an 11. Our son could not even discuss the idea of a man dating me without tears erupting. Tears flowed for me as well when I heard this news. As a mother, I knew what I had to do.

I gave up dating and any chance of a normal relationship. It was just too hard. I figured in a few years when he got older and interested in girls himself, I would broach the subject again. That was, until his father stepped in.

My ex-husband and I have what I consider a healthy divorced parenting relationship. We put our son first and have gotten past the hurt and anger that filled the last years of our marriage and first year apart. I also still consider him a confidant. He knows that it’s been difficult and at times lonely for me, which is why he sat me down a few months ago and said, “You need to start dating again, and you need to be upfront with him about it.” I protested that it was impossible. “He won’t be able to handle it,” I assured him. “Then we will tell him together, and I will give my blessing. Angela, you must do this. It’s not healthy for either of you.”

I wish that I could say our son’s reaction was positive. It wasn’t. He didn’t understand why I needed anyone else. Wasn’t I happy with the way our life was? “Yes,” I assured him, “But I need a social life and interaction with other adults. I needed to stare across the table at a beautiful man, one that was not wearing braces.

And so I started, cautiously, being honest regarding my whereabouts. Only a few weeks ago did I admit to having a “date.” My hands were shaking when I did so. He got quiet. “Mom, promise me you won’t… you know. I just worry about someone taking advantage of you.”

I stopped the car. “Sweetheart, I promise, I value being your Mother far too much to ever let anyone harm me. You have nothing to worry about.”

I saw his anxiety soften.

My son has only a few short years left under my care before he goes out to make his own way in the world. And while I know I shouldn’t sacrifice my life during those years, I also know that it is my responsibility to give him peace of mind.

I’m ok with that. He has nothing to worry about.

by Angela Lutin (source: HuffingtonPost.com)

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