SANITY SAVER Q & A

From Melissa - "Any ideas for lunch other than the usual chicken nuggets, sandwich, etc.?"

Thank you so much KayLynn for your response. I will be using these ideas for myself!
Here's what she had to say:

"-A daycare I used to work at would make this for the kids for lunch from time to time. Crackers, cheese, and meat. What I do is I put several different types of crackers on Brenna's plate. I dice up cubes of cheese or cut small slices of cheese into little squares. I do the same with the meat. Sometimes I just cut up lunch meat in little squares and sometimes I dice up cooked chicken or ham. She makes little cracker sandwiches or eats it like finger food and loves it and it's on the healthy side!
-Another good trick this daycare did was give small, we're talking small, portions of food on each kids plate so they don't get overwhelmed with so much. Then the kids would ask for seconds, thirds, and fourths because they would eat it all up fast.
-This tip I got from Kristen Cheney . . . Use a cupcake/muffin pan with six cups as a plate. Kids think that it is fun to have small little portions of six different things. Then again you aren't serving large amounts, which might just get them to eat more.
-Another favorite of mine (we sometimes use this for dinner too) is to make Italian Grilled cheese sandwiches. You butter (I like to use garlic butter) the bread like you are making a grilled cheese and once it is buttered you sprinkle Parmesan cheese on the butter before putting it in the pan to cook. Then you use mozzarella cheese instead of american or cheddar. Cook like a grilled cheese sandwich. Then I cut the sandwich into small strips and offer pizza sauce for Brenna to dip her sandwich in. Super yummy!
-These are random foods I add to Brenna's plate at lunch as a side instead of chips or tater tots. Pretzels, sunflower seeds, craisins, mini marshmallows, and mini rice cakes. Brenna really likes it when I mix things up and add something different to her plate.
-And my last one: when Brenna wants this for a snack or as part of her lunch she asks to go fishing. I buy stick pretzels and the baby goldfish crackers (these are even a little smaller than the regular ones). I put a spoon full of peanut butter on her plate and she dips her pretzel into the peanut butter and then tries to pick up a fish with it like she is catching fish. Not a bad little snack and she thinks it is fun!"

SANITY SAVER QUESTION

Hi Ladies! We have a sanity saver question from Krissy Noteboom:

"In the last couple of days Jenna has started in with saying, "Mine!" whenever somebody touches something of hers (or something she perceives to be hers). It is really bad in the nursery, but she does it at home too. She has also started getting really jealous of the kids in the nursery when I'm working there, but she doesn't ever seem jealous of Cole at home. Her new little attitude is really starting to get to me, but I'm really not sure how to deal with it."

Just a reminder - you can leave your advice in the comments section or e-mail Lisa at nllb2004@juno.com

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Sanity Saver and an update on Mauryn

Hello again ladies. I received an e-mail from Kristen with an update that Mauryn did get tubes in her ears last Friday and is doing well. The doctor said there was a lot of fluid and puss in there so Mauryn was experiencing a lot of pressure in her ears. She was back to her old self that evening and playing. We will continue to pray that Mauryn puts weight on and look forward to more updates.

And now for a Sanity Saver from Kristen. She put it like this:

My son Landon (age 4 1/2) drags his feet when we need to get out of the house - for any reason even something he is looking forward to. I have tried a timer and it just doesn't seem to help. I have taken him in his pj's if he isn't ready, without shoes on, etc... It just doesn't seem to bother him. I think I give him plenty of time to get ready and out the door. Any suggestions on how to spur him along??

SANITY SAVER QUESTION

Asked by Lisa:

"Lately my four year old daughter has been wanting to spend every minute with me it seems like! She wants me to do this & then that. I want to play with her but I feel like if I were to do that I would get nothing else done! Once I do an activity with her, she is in my face (literally) 5 minutes later to do something else.
Any advice?"

Responses can be left in the comments sections or you can e-mail them to Lisa @ nllb2004@juno.com & she will post them. Thanks!