Totally Working for Me ~ Nighttime Fear

When Zachary was just barely three he started having some strange 'dreams' at night that would wake him up screaming. Dreams about bugs, bugs, and more bugs. It eventually made him completely scared to go to bed at night because he was certain that there were bugs out to get him.

I'd like to say that we were always calm and patient with him and helped him through this months-long issue as model parents...but really. Not so much. There were times that I was about at my wits end and struggling for ideas to help him out.

Enter the flyswatter.

Who would have known that a little piece of metal and plastic would do such a world of good? We gave him one to take to bed and he instantly had his defense against the 'bug monsters'.

Somehow, somewhere our kids pick up on monsters {and I'm not kidding you, our oldest just said the word as I typed it - SEE?} and then there are bedtime issues. We do pray with our kids about monsters and pray for peace as they sleep, but here are some creative ideas I've used and seen for helping shoo away those bedtime stinkers {some ideas are from The Wide-Eyed Wonder Years}:

- Spray them away with "monster spray". Fill a spray bottle with water and decorate it for fun. Spritz the room with the spray - just like you would for bugs {Wonder Years}

- Give them a flashlight. There are so many fun kids flashlights but you could even use a smaller one to help shine in the corners of the room - it's a fun little toy!

- Tickle your kids! Play tickle monster with your kids - let him be the ONLY monster you know! {Wonder Years}

- Find a cool night light. We have the standard night lights in our kids rooms, but you can find one shaped like a star or there are many character night lights available. We moved one close to the bed and that helped so much!

This TOTally Working for Me post was written by Jolanthe. You can visit Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations and No Ordinary Moments.

Do you have something that is working for you and your tot? We'd love to hear about it!

TOTally Working for Me ~ Gotta Hold a Hand

When our three oldest were younger, parking lot safety was a big concern. To help the kids remember that they needed to hold a hand we made up a little song to sing while walking. The second verse is completely optional {ahem}, but generally involves lots of giggles and was the kid's favorite!

Gotta Hold a Hand
{sung to the tune of 'Dinah Won't You Blow}

Gotta hold a hand, you gotta hold a hand,

You gotta hold a hand in the parking lot.

{repeat}

You might get squished, you might get squashed,

If you don't hold a hand in the parking lot.

{repeat}

This TOTally Working for Me post was written by Crystal. You can visit Crystal at Five Times the Fun . Thanks Crystal for the great tip!

Do you have something that is working for you and your tot? We'd love to hear about it!

TOTally Working for Me ~ Tot Biking

Over the past seven or so years my husband and I have practically broken our back pushing tricycles around the block while we were waiting for our kids to learn how to pedal. While we know there are tricycles that have wonderful handles, we already had one and couldn't justify the extra money to buy a new one ~ just for the handle.

The question is why it took us so long to figure out how to have a fun bike ride without the backache. Apparently we needed a seven-year-old to help us out with her handy jumprope.

We tied the jumprope around the front of the handle and that way Kaleb can still help with the steering. We're able to pull him along while our other three ride around on their bikes. And Kaleb loves it!

We just wish we would have figured it out years ago.

This TOTally Working for Me post was written by Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations.

Do you have something that is working for you and your tot? We'd love to hear about it!

TOTally Working for Me ~ Keep em' Out!

My 20 month old twin boys have become quite a handful! They seem to get into EVERYTHING! In particular, they always want to take their clothes out of their dresser and throw them all over their room.

I didn't really want to spend money on those little latches that you can attach to the drawers. The next best thing I could come up with was a yardstick. I took a yardstick and I slid it through all the handles of the dresser drawers. Now, they can't get into the dresser and their clothes stay in the drawers!

This TOTally Working for Me post was written by Jennifer. You can visit Jennifer at Mama Jenn . Thanks Jennifer for the great tip!

Do you have something that is working for you and your tot? We'd love to hear about it!

TOTally Working for Me ~ Kissing Shoes

My mom told me about a little girl at her school who has 'kissing shoes'. Her mom put smiley faces on the inside of sole of each shoe. When the two smiley faces "kiss", she knows her shoes are on the right feet.

It has worked great with my Girlygirl. Now I only needed to ask Girlygirl "Can they kiss?" She knows to check her shoes and it works great since she hates to be wrong. My goal is for her to remember to look and make sure they can kiss before putting them on. Girlygirl is learning and most days she gets it now!

This TOTally Working for Me post was written by Mary. You can visit Mary at A Mom Learning More Everyday. Thanks Mary for the great tip!

Do you have something that is working for you and your tot? We'd love to hear about it!

TOTally Working for Me ~ Target

I will preface this post by mentioning that I do not work for Target in any way shape or form. But there are days that I feel like I could live there and be a happy woman, thank.you.very.much. {grins}

When Target first came to our town they had a coupon for a lovely $10 gift certificate if you transferred a prescription and I quickly had a prescription filled there. And ever since, I have been hooked because of two lovely things: color coded medicine bottles (a specific color for each member of the family) and oral syringe dispensers for liquid prescriptions.

We have 6 people in our family (8 if you count the fact that my parents are currently living with us too) so having a set color for medicine bottles, especially when several kids are sick, can be extremely helpful. All the important information is also attached to the bottle using a great little slider card.

Kaleb also has allergies to specific antibiotics and isn't able to get the 'tastier' ones. We tried using a spoon to measure out the meds and that ended up being a HUGE disaster. Enter the oral syringe from Target. It fits into the top of the bottle and it quickly draws the medicine out and measures it easily. When we started using the oral syringe to give Kaleb his medicine it saved so much time and trouble.

I do love the convenience of a drive-through for some prescriptions...and wandering around the clearance aisles at Target for 20 minutes to have a prescription filled can be dangerous to my pocketbook {ahem}, but I am definitely in love with their creative ideas that help make my life a little easier.

And that is TOTally Working for Me!



Do you have something that is working for you and your tot? We'd love to hear about it!

TOTally Working for Me ~ Laundry Helper

Speaking of employing our tots to help out around the house...

On laundry days, Vivienne sorts all of the underwear and socks for me and delivers most of the clothes to their proper drawers. Here's the process of raising a laundress:

~ Infancy: with the baby in a front or back pack, sitting in the middle of the bed, or on the floor, talk about each article of clothing as you fold it. "This is Daddy's big green shirt! This is the way I fold Daddy's big green shirt..."

~ Ages 1 - 2: Pretend that your tot is a squirrel, detective, etc. Send her tunneling through the laundry in search of "a pink shirt" or "Mommy's other yellow sock".

~ Ages 2 - 3: "Hire" your tot how to sort underwear and socks. Make a "Mommy" pile, a "Daddy" pile, and so on. Don't expect him to fold the laundry at this point. Enjoy each step of the process. A 2 - 3 year old may also be able to deliver small piles of clothes to drawers. Vivienne turns into our "Delivery Girl" and puts away most of our laundry (HIP HIP HOORAY!). I taught her to make her delivery and return with, "Is there anything else?"

~ Ages 3 - 4: Your preschooler can now help you sort the dirty laundry! Teach her to make piles for towels, lights, darks, etc. Ask her to keep her eyes open for spots that need to be pre-treated or clothes that need to be mended. By now, "Help with the Laundry" is on Vivienne's chore chart and she earns a nickel every time she helps.

This TOTally Working for Me post was written by Laura. You can visit her at 10 Million Miles. Thanks Laura for sharing this idea!

Do you have something that is working for you and your tot? We'd love to hear about it!

TOTally Working for Me ~ Cleaning Help

The lesson from Get Real With God: The Little Red Hen about allowing your kids to help was a good reminder for me. My son, David, likes to take the broom from me and help me sweep, even if it's in the opposite direction of where I just swept. It has been getting easier for me to just let it go and realize that he thinks he is being helpful and is trying to learn what I am doing by imitating me.

That is after all how toddlers learn, by imitating what we do.

If he starts getting too messy I hand him the Swiffer instead or just switch with him if he still wants the broom. I have been trying to show him how to hold the dust pan for me but he doesn't quite get it yet. When he grabs the Swiffer, I make sure it has a clean cloth on it and then I do actually get a little bit of actual help! To make your Swiffer a little more toddler-friendly and easier for little hands to manage, you can remove one of the screwed-in parts of the handle easily.

Above all I give him encouragement and praise for trying to help instead of acting like he's doing something wrong.

This TOTally Working for Me post was written by Amy, you can visit her at her family weblog here. Thanks Amy for sharing this idea!

Do you have something that is working for you and your tot? We'd love to hear about it!

TOTally Working For Me

Do you have something that is working for you and your tot (at least for the moment)? We'd love to hear about it! We can all learn from each other, that's what this section is for.

To submit a TOTally Working For Me post, please do the following...

1. Email your post to JolantheAtTotallyTots @ gmail.com
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Here is an example of a TOTALLY Working for Me idea...

My tot Krash is annoying (to say the least) at dinner time. Why? Because he won't sit in his booster seat. He has the Cooshee Booster Seat and we love it, BUT it doesn't have a strap. So, we got out a belt and belted him down, now he is no longer annoying!!!! Instead of crawling onto the table, into his brother's plate, and out of his seat, he now sits facing his plate... with no wiggle room! It's TOTally working for us!