My Clingy Child

Posted in development, family - Written by nickandkimber on July 11, 2011 - 0 Comments

My 3 year old little girl loves to be around me. While it is wonderful to be loved so much, sometimes it can be a challenge when there are things that I need to accomplish by myself. If we are going anywhere, mom has to be the one who puts her in the car seat. Mom is the one who walks her down the stairs. If I go to get the mail, or take the garbage out, she wants to go with me. If I have to leave at night, I try to wait until after she is in bed. My husband says that once she realizes I am gone, she cries and cries.

The only exception to this attachment is if she is playing with her friend. She has a friend who she often plays with, and could care less if I was around. It was perplexing to us that she would cry and throw a fit when I would leave her with my husband.

In looking for solutions, we were given some advice which has greatly helped. If you are in a similar situation, hopefully it will help you as well!

Special activities for Dad and Child around the house: We started small by him taking her outside to ride her bicycle in our driveway. In the beginning, I would look out from the window so she knew I was nearby.

Activities within short distances to home: After she became more comfortable with the bicycle riding, he took her for a walk around our block. He pointed out the different flowers and plants, which she loved.

Trips to places the child enjoys: After about a month of doing the previous 2 activities, they took a trip to McDonald’s to get a happy meal. The trip lasted about 30 minutes, and she didn’t cry for me once.

Start taking quick trips, leaving the child at home: I then started running 10-15 minute errands by myself. While I was gone they would read stories or he’d give her piggy-back rides.

All these little thing are building a stronger relationship between my daughter and husband. I am happy to say that it is getting easier to be separated from her. My husband enjoys the special times he has with her, she is getting closer to her dad and I am enjoying a little more freedom. I have a girl’s night out coming up, and I am hopeful I will be able to leave before bedtime!

A 4th of July Thank you

Posted in Uncategorized - Written by nickandkimber on July 4, 2011 - 0 Comments

Throughout the United States today there will be parades, bbqs, camping, parties, and fireworks celebrating 235 year of independence. The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays– and not just because I absolutely love all types of summer activities. I love celebrating our country’s freedom. I appreciate the holiday to reflect on the sacrifices of so many. My deepest gratitude goes out to the men and women of the military. You, who leave your families; your parents, your friends, your babies. You, who leave the comforts of home to selflessly serve and put yourselves in harm’s way. To the moms and dads who send their children away, constantly praying for their safety. Awe and Adoration for the wives and husbands who stay home and survive single parenthood. To the little boys and girls who say goodbye to mommy and daddy for months at a time, I admire you. Thank you for your sacrifice.

So today while I am enjoying corn on the cob, watermelon and bbq chicken, I will take a few minutes and talk to my little girls about why we are able to have a big party with fireworks in the middle of the summer.

*photo taken by Emily Aldrich, http://relivingthemoments.blogspot.com/

A place to call home.

Posted in family - Written by nickandkimber on June 6, 2011 - 8 Comments

When Nick and I decided to get married, we each wrote a list of places we would consider living. There were no matches between our lists. Since we’ve been married, through jobs and road trips, we’ve lived and visited many, many areas in the States. After seven years, we still hadn’t found the perfect place. Our home.

Now that we have two children and a thriving business, it’s important for us to put down roots. After yet another “community shopping” road trip (this time around the Midwest), we decided to do a home search in the Twin Cities area. We found a beautiful home in Menomonie, WI and were so close to sealing the deal. When it fell through, we scheduled another trip to MN/WI and soon decided to drive straight over to eastern Wisconsin.

As we drove our rental car into Sheboygan, we felt like we were home. For the first time. A wonderful feeling we’ve waited so long to find.

Sheboygan is beautiful and friendly with great restaurants and travel time to nearby cities. Our house shopping trip quickly turned into meetings with the bank, chamber of commerce, city planning, lawyer, post office, other local business owners and quick new friends. Next week we will move our family to beautiful Sheboygan and become a part of this amazing city.

8th Street business district

Bus station/depot

Community pride

8th Street business district

Parks, trails and sandy beaches along Lake Michigan.


Fog rolling into town from Lake Michigan.

The downtown building we are considering purchasing and renovating.

Work.

Posted in Uncategorized - Written by nickandkimber on May 2, 2011 - 1 Comment

I hated having to do chores as a child. I remember thinking that my mom had it so good- she never had to clean. How naive and blind I was! 1) I never saw the work she did after we were in bed. My dad says she used to stay up past midnight finishing laundry, or cleaning up random things around the house. 2) Mom also spent a lot of time reminding us to complete our chores. I bet 9 times out of 10 she could have completed the chore so much faster and easier if she did it herself. I would guess that there were many times she wanted to load the dishwasher for us because it would have been so much easier on her. But she didn’t. Not because she was out to get us and wanted to use us as her personal little maids. It was because she was raising children. She was trying to teach us the value of work.

Now that I have a little girl who needs to learn the value of work, I am ever more grateful for my mom. When my daughter makes a mess with her toys, I have two options. I can pick up her toys for her in about 5 minutes or I can work with her and help her stay on task to pick them up herself- which can take between 15 and 30 minutes. While the latter is inconvenient and potentially stressful for myself, it is the better choice to make for my daughter.

It is important to start at an early age teaching our children how to work. Some type of chore or responsibility is vital to their development and accountability. It is also important to pick a chore that is age appropriate. And don’t forget the praise. Praising our children for a job well done will build confidence and respect.

A very wise man by the name of Neal A Maxwell said, “Be careful. . . when you inordinately desire things to be better for your children than they were for you. Do not, however unintentionally, make things worse by removing the requirement for reasonable work as part of their experience, thereby insulating your children from the very things that helped make you what you are!”

7800 Hours

Posted in Uncategorized - Written by nickandkimber on April 25, 2011 - 0 Comments

Did you know that a child spends about 900 hours a year in school, and 7,800 hours outside of school? Who do you think has a greater influence on that child? The teacher in the class room or the “teacher” they see every day and with whom they spend a majority of that 7,800 hours?

The most influential education a child receives is in their home, from their caregivers. And that education is rarely taught in a formal sit down situation. It is soaked up in every-day experiences.

Makes you stop to think about what lessons your child is learning every day. Are they learning respect and kindness because of the way we treat and talk to them and others? Are they learning manners because we say “Please and Thank you” to strangers and most importantly to them? Are they learning the value of books because we read to them, or take them to the library? Are they learning the importance of health and fitness because we eat healthy foods and participate in physical activities? What about forgiveness, tolerance, optimism, hard work, responsibility?

While parenting a child is one of the most difficult things a person will do, it is also one of the most rewarding and important things they will ever do. And evaluating ourselves and the lessons we teach will greatly benefit our children.

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My Clingy Child

A 4th of July Thank you

A place to call home.

Work.

7800 Hours