The Rose

Recipes

Spring Macaroni Salad

For the life of me, I can’t remember where I found this recipe, but I know it was called spring macaroni salad. I know the original had a few extra ingredients, some of which I didn’t like so I adapted it. Rosebud loves this salad and the whole bowl goes quickly when I take it to family gatherings.

Ingredients:

1 32oz box of macaroni,

1 pepper (red, yellow or green)

Knor soup mix (Classic vegetable recipe)

Mayonnaise have your choice.

Cook the macaroni.

Cut peppers into small pieces. Since Rosebud was eating it, I chopped them up into tiny cubes. I used 1/2 red pepper and 1/2 green pepper, but you can use one whole pepper if you wish.

Once macaroni is cooked, drain water and add peppers and vegetable soup mix.

Then add mayo. I used five table spoons, but you might want more or less.

After everything is mixed together. I put it in the fridge for an hour or more before serving.

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Activities, Art, Parenting

Rubber Ducky Painting

Here is another simple art activity. Lately, we've been using rubber duckies for a lot of our activities. It's a way of transitioning out of Easter themed activities into spring. I keep hoping that if I act like spring is here, then it will show up. My plan hasn't worked yet, but there must be warmer weather in our future.

This was simple to set up. I chose one color at a time. I put a little of paint into a bowl and then showed Rosebud how to stamp using the rubber duckies.

We had two sizes of duckies so we could make different designs. Rosebud enjoyed this activity and did some paintings.

What you will need:

Finger paints,

Rubber duckies,

Paper.

Then let your child explore and make designs. You could set out multiple colors to see how they mix, but I'm not brave enough to give Rosebud anymore than one or two paints at a time.



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Activities, Parenting, Preschool, Sensory Play, Toddlers

Peeps and Pompoms Sensory Tub

Peeps and Pompoms Sensory Tub pinI know Easter has passed, but why not keep playing with eggs and peeps? Rosebud loves all the textures in this sensory tub.

What’s in the tub?

Plush peeps,

Plastic Easter eggs,

Regular and sparkly pompoms,

Small cups,

Mini shovel and spoons.

Peeps and Pompoms pinRosebud made up her own activity. She found a basket and loves to transfer the pompoms from the tub to the basket. She does this over and over again. It’s good fine motor practice. It’s a really simple activity, but she loves it.

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Parenting

When Plans Get in the Way

I think of myself as organized and like to think things through. I prefer to stick to my routines until I get bored out of my mind and then I’ll finally switch it up. I usually prefer familiarity over adventure. Although I’m not opposed to trying new things, it sometimes takes some convincing. I like to think of myself as a planner with flexibility. Meaning I like to make plans, but they aren’t set in stone. I’m okay with a last minute change or two, but generally I like to keep moving in the direction I was headed. That whole version of myself flew out the window when I became a parent. Everything I had imagined and planned out in my head was turned completely up-side-down.

I had always planned on having children, but it was a question of when. I imagined I’d be married, working in a good job and living in a house with a yard. You know… The perfect picture of the perfect family. When I found out I was pregnant, I had none of those things so I often wondered what my child’s life would be like. Would I be able to give her everything I wanted to? I had been creating this picture in my head for years. I was inspired by the stay at home moms who blogged about their homemade baby foods, the cool activities they did with their kids, the cute little lunches they prepared, the play dates, the classes, the freedom and ability to stay home with their children. Somehow, I imagined that’s where I’d be. At home with my baby. I’d prepare homemade baby foods. I’d do all these cool activities with my kids because I have an early childhood education background. Then I’d have something interesting to blog about.

Well, that’s not how things turned out. I’m a working mom who is often too tired when she gets home to prepare and actually do activities. Most nights, we settle for coloring with crayons and a blank notebook. We might snuggle in the chair reading a book or singing songs because that doesn’t require any extra preparation. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by working with children all day and want to zone out, but I know I can’t. My daughter is depending on me to talk to her and play with her.
I never planned on co-sleeping because they say it’s not safe. Plus how can you get a good nights sleep with a baby in your bed? My need for sleep quickly became much more important than any of the crazy ideas I had before I became a parent. Rosebud slept with me for the first fifteen months of her life and contrary to my previous beliefs, I got more rest with her right next to me. I know because occasionally I’d try putting her in her own bed and the separation was harder on me.

I was never going to be a mom who breast-fed. I thought it’d be gross. No one in my family had breast-fed so I knew little about it. I had made up my mind on that years ago, but while I was pregnant, there was so much pressure from society and the research pointing out all the benefits eventually sold me on the idea. Not to mention the convenience of not having to get up and make bottles in the middle of the night. I had no idea how hard it would be and the guilt I would feel when it wasn’t working. I struggled and struggled, but Rosebud and I eventually figured it out together. I never planned on feeling so strongly or being so persistent. She was breast-fed, bottle fed and had to have formula supplementation for a while, but she was and is healthy.
I was going to make her baby food, but then life got in the way. I was tired. I didn’t want to spend so much time in the kitchen so the convenience of store bought food won out. I’ve come to realize it’s not the end of the world. I’m not a bad parent because I didn’t purée her food. So what if it was already prepared. So what if I can’t always buy organic or buy the best brand on the shelf. Isn’t it more important that she is fed and healthy?

In the end, these are short seasons. In parenting there will always be something we are questioning. We will make mistakes. Things will not go as planned. That is the nature of children. They usually march to the beat of their own drum. I think these plans we make or expectations we have end up hurting us and getting the way. They can make us feel ashamed, guilty or not good enough. When in reality, it’s not working because we’ve set the bar extremely high. I think compassion is the key here. I have found strength in letting some of my plans go and focusing on what really matters. The good stuff like health, laughter, time spent together and showing Rosebud that she is loved.

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Memories, Motherhood, Parenting, Pets

An Unexpected Field Trip

The other day, I had to stop at the pet store to buy litter and cat food. Originally I was heading to one of the pet stores in the next town because they have a different selection of food. When we told Rosebud about the pet store, she started talking about all the animals she’d see. There was one problem. The store we were going to didn’t have any animals. I don’t think they even have fish anymore. So, there was a change in plans. We would stop at the pet store closer to home.


An Unexpected Field Trip Pin

As soon as we walked in, Rosebud knew right where to go to see the animals. First, she stopped by the fish and kept commenting on how there were a lot of them. Next, she ran to where the critters are kept. We saw five guinea pigs. She had never seen guinea pigs before, so she didn’t know what they were. I was hoping they’d make their funny noises. If you’ve ever spent a good amount of time around guinea pigs, you know that they make a variety of sounds to liven up the place. That’s one of the joys of guinea pigs. The amount of clean up is not such a joy, but I won’t go there. Anyway, Rosebud enjoyed watching them play together and she found it interesting when they’d stop to grab a bite of hay. She also noticed a ladder in their tank which allowed them to go to the next level.

Normally, the hamsters are hiding, but on this particular day, they were active. One stopped to drink from the water bottle so we talked about how they have to get their water from bottles. One got hungry and decided to sit in the middle of his water bowl to eat. Rosebud thought this was silly. She was fascinated by the wheels in the cages. I explained that the hamsters run on them, but they didn’t want to right now. I wished they had because she would’ve liked to watch them run. She noticed the hamster balls on the shelf so we talked about how they role around in them.

Hamster sitting in food bowl

Next, we looked for the turtle we usually see, but saw snakes instead. We also stopped at the birds pointing out the colors of the different birds. We didn’t stay long though as most of the birds are up too high for her to get a good look. She noticed that there was a ball in their cage so we talked about how birds can play with balls too.

She already has a love for animals and is very interested in learning about them. She constantly looks at books showing animals especially the picture books that have more realistic illustrations.

I’m glad because I love animals as well and caring for and protecting animals is something that is important to me.

If we hadn’t taken our unexpected field trip, I wouldn’t have seen the joy on her face as she watched the guinea pigs play. I wouldn’t have heard the laugh when the hamster climbed into his food bowl. We wouldn’t have talked about the different colored birds. Some of those opportunities for teaching and learning would’ve been missed, but mostly we would’ve missed the joy. The simple joy that can be found in something as mundane as shopping for cat food. You can turn almost anything into a teachable moment and you can make a memory out of the simplest thing. After all, it’s more about who you are with than what you are doing.

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Recipes, Uncategorized

Sweet Treats: Blueberry Cake

I started writing this post yesterday, but I have been having some technical issues with my website. I’ve been working on things for the past week. I think the technical troubles are fixed for now thanks to my hosting provider. There are still a few things I want to change and hopefully it won’t get messed up. I’m not sure if I messed something up or if there was something wrong with a specific file. It could have been anything. The options are endless. In this case, my persistence in dealing with this issue paid off.

After the long week I’ve had, some baked goods were definetly in order. Luckily, I have a four day weekend so yesterday was my Friday. Last year I found this blueberry cake recipe. You can find it here. I don’t know who Alice is, but her blueberry cake is wonderful.

Rosebud says this is delicious. She even started to help me make it, but she got bored and decided looking out the front window is much more interesting. Since spring is finally showing up, we were able to be outside today without any winter gear and enjoying the warm sun. It was a nice ending to a long week. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that make all the difference.

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Personal Development, Uncategorized

Adding a Little Luxury to Your Life

This episode of the Style Your Mind podcast called, Little Luxuries got me thinking about ways I pamper myself. Some people think luxuries have to be super expensive, but there are some things you can do to pamper yourself that cost very little. For some people, luxuries may be days at the spa, vacations or buying top of the line items. Those things may be great, but not everyone can do that all the time. To me, luxuries are those things you do for yourself that make you feel your best. They are the things that lift you up. These things or rituals don’t even have to take up a lot of time.

Get Outside

One thing that makes me feel my best is spending time out in nature. When I start to feel down or if I start to get antsy, I find that taking a walk helps. I put Rosebud in the stroller and we go. usually we just walk around the neighborhood, but there are always new things for Rosebud to see and it gives me time to clear my head. I can look at the sky and notice the clouds. I see the trees, a beautiful sunset or hear the different birds. Just being around the sights and sounds of nature is relaxing. During the spring and summer months, I’ll often go sit out in the back yard while Rosebud naps because it is so peaceful.

I always enjoy being at the beach as well. It is my happy place even if I’m just sitting on the beach listening to the sound of the waves, looking at the sky and the ocean and feeling the sand under my feet. It’s amazing how it all comes together to make such a beautiful place.

A Little Luxury candle pin

Enhancing Your Space

A little luxury could be something you use to enhance your space. I love anything that smells good and lately I’ve been melting wax instead of lighting candles. I’ve found some amazing scents and the shapes they come in are so cute and decorative that you don’t want to melt them.

This strawberry scented cupcake looks good enough to eat, but I assure you, it’s wax. I will tell you all about this wax from Blended With Love in this review. It’s important that the space around me smells good so why not make it a little more luxurious than lighting a basic candle. Not that there’s anything wrong with candles. I have plenty of those too.

If you want to give yourself the gift of fresh flowers, I’ve found this fresh flower subscription.

Indulge

Buy or make yourself a sweet treat. Most people I know are doing their best to eat healthy, myself included, but sometimes it’s okay to indulge. Why not stop at a local bakery and get a small treat? Why not try that recipe you’ve always wanted to try? Maybe you really enjoy a special blend of coffee. Maybe a salty snack is more your thing. Whatever it is, it’s okay to enjoy it guilt freefrom time to time. A couple weeks ago, I tried a chocolate covered macaron from a local bakery. It was delicious! Was it good for me? Of course not, but do I regret it? No. I was having a rough day and needed a treat. I love to bake and try new recipes. I often share what I make with friends and family and it makes me feel great when I’ve found a new recipe that’s a keeper. I’m also happy when I’ve tried a new healthy option or recipe. When you know healthy food is giving you energy, that feels great as well.

Pampering Myself

After a long week if I really want to pamper myself, I take an epsom salt bath. I found this epsom salt on Amazon and it smells great.

I used to have some special lotion that I’d save for pampering myself, but I’ve started using them more often. I found this shea body butter from Victoria’s Secret a couple of years ago.

I’ve decided I don’t need to wait for special occasions to use the better lotion. Why not use it whenever I feel like it?

Pearl necklace

One more thing that I considder a little luxury is putting on jewelry. Before I had Rosebud, I almost always put on jewelry, but after I became a mom, I felt tired, overwhelmed and would forget to put it on or run out of time in the mornings. I’d think of it as I was out the door and then decide I wouldn’t want to take the extra minute to find the jewelry I wanted to wear. I mention this because putting on a bracelet or a pair of earings makes me feel more put together. There is something about it that starts my day off better. If I’ve had the time to put on jewelry, it means I wasn’t rushing around so much. When I’m not rushed, I’m much calmer and happier.

A Little Luxury Pinthese are just a few things that make me feel my best and recharge me. The things that make you feel your best and recharge you might be totally different. What do you do for yourself that you considder a luxury?

11 Comments
Personal Development

A Place for Me

I read the book Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown. I could relate to her stories about not belonging in your family of origin. Honestly, when I really think about it, I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere. Let me tell you about my first day in high school. It was pretty uneventful until lunch time. I went to get my food or maybe it was just a soda and a cookie. Anyway, I made my way through the lines and back out in the cafeteria to deal with the fun part of finding a place to sit. There were so many people. I spent a few minutes looking for some people I knew and eventually I find my childhood best friend. By that point, we were barely friends. Not necessarily because we didn’t like each other, but because over the past couple of years, we had grown apart. She was way into the partying scene and I had nothing going on socially. Anyway, she said I could sit with her and her friends. I sat there quietly minding my own business. I was just thankful that I had found a place to sit and could now get through lunch.

A few minutes later, this girl shows up at the table. It was someone I didn’t know, but all the girls at the table were friends with her. The only seat available was the one next to mine. She kept looking at the seat, at me and around the table. It was plainly obvious she didn’t want to sit next to me. One of the other girls says, “I’ll move so you can sit here. I’ll sit next to her so you don’t have to.” I don’t know if the girl thought I was going to rub off on her or something, but she got her wish. She didn’t have to sit next to me. All I remember is how awful I felt and how I kept insulting that girl in my head. this was a person who everyone thought was so cool and amazing. The only thing that came to my mind was what a bitch she was.

I waited for a few minutes, but couldn’t take it anymore so I got up and left the cafeteria. I didn’t know it at the time, but the cafeteria was this huge circle so I ended up going out the wrong door and getting lost in the hallway. Somehow, I either found my way to where I was supposed to go next or someone found me. There was a teacher there who I had known since childhood. I remember sitting in her office with my head down in tears. After my lunch disaster and getting lost, I already felt defeated and knew this wasn’t going to be a fun place. It wasn’t going to be any different than before.

Fast forward to a few years later when I started my current job. I had been working there for several months and we had to do an inservice training. We had to meet at a different place and it involved all our programs so there were a lot of people. Once again, I found myself looking for a place to sit with people I knew, but this time no one even offered. This had happened so many times by this point, but it still really bothered me. I was stuck sitting with people who I didn’t know and most of these people are cliquish until you get to know them. I remember feeling the same way as I did on that first day of high school. I felt alone, left out and embarrassed. The people who I was working with every day didn’t even consider saving a place for me.

Whenever this pops up, I think about how it shouldn’t bother me, but we are social creatures. At some point, every one of us have wanted to feel that we are apart of something. There are still situations where this happens to me, but now it’s so much easier to hide behind your phone. You can be productive or pretend to be busy and be less focused on your surroundings. Normally, focusing on your phone instead of interacting with people is not a good thing, but it helps me in situations like these. Also, finding yourself with people you don’t know is not necessarily a bad thing. Now days when we do inservice trainings, I might mention to a coworker that I want to sit with them and on occasion, one of them will go out of their way to save a seat for me. It may sound trivial, but knowing that someone has saved a place for me means that somehow I belong. I am included. It means that they’ve stopped and considered me and it shows they want me around. That’s what I want for Rosebud. I want her to feel a true sense of belonging in her schools, in her social circles and in her community, but if she ever doesn’t, she will always belong here with me in our home. She is loved for the person she is and her imperfections make her unique and are apart of who she is. Just like all of our imperfections make us who we are. In many ways Rosebud’s journey will be different from mine, but one of the things i wish for her is that she is able to love and accept herself. I don’t want her to have to struggle with that like I have. She is happy, healthy and perfect in my eyes.

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Activities, Parenting

Ball Painting

Ball painting is a simple activity with minimal clean up. When I’ve done this project at work, I’ve always used a golf ball, but the golf ball that was floating around the house has disappeared. I found a different ball to use. It’s a little bigger and a lot lighter than a golf ball and I wonder if it made a difference in how the paintings came out.

What you’ll need:

Paint,

Paper,

Ball,

Container

What you do:

Place the paper on the bottom of the container.

Add some drops of paint in whatever colors you wish. As you can see, I put way too much paint in the first one.

Then have your little one shake the container back and forth and or from side to side.

The movement of the ball will create the painting.

Open the container to see the surprise creation!

Rosebud enjoyed shaking the container. She wanted to make a second painting so we did. For the second painting we kept it simple and stuck with yellow. That seems to be her favorite color lately. We’ll be trying this again with other balls of different sizes and weights to see what gets the best results.

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Uncategorized

When You’re Questioning Everything

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about my purpose. What are the things that I am really passionate about? One of the things that prompted this is the dissatisfaction I have in my work life. I work in a busy early childhood program. I work with children from ages six weeks to five-years-old, but spend the majority of my time in the one-year-old and preschool classrooms. Due to the hours I am working, most of my work day consists of changing diapers, cleaning and putting children to sleep at nap time. Not to mention putting winter gear on 14 children before they go outside is pure torture. Most of the time, I can’t do the things I love most about teaching. I used to enjoy planning creative activities, playing with children and seeing the moments of enlightenment.

I’ll admit something changed after Rosebud was born. All I wanted to do is be home with my daughter. I didn’t want to be with someone else’s children when I couldn’t be with my own. That feeling never goes away. At least not for me. That is what I’m most passionate about. Being a mom and watching my child grow and learn. I am thankful that I got to see her first steps and hear her first words. I’ve been able to change my schedule so I can spend more time with her than I did in her first year. Working in the one-year-old classroom has made me realize something. A group of ten one-year-olds were never meant to be thrown together in a classroom. They were meant to be at home with their families. I know for many families that’s not an option. I’m all too aware of the struggles of working parents and making ends meet. This is a societal problem. Although there are quality programs out there, the majority of children aren’t getting the attention they need or deserve to flourish.

Since I can’t be home with my daughter, I have come to the realization that the classroom is not a good fit for me. I’ve gained a lot of experience and knowledge over the past decade that I would like to use to help others. Some of my interests are in the areas of research, curriculum design or being an instructor for adults taking early childhood education courses. that way I could use my knowledge and experiences to improve the lives of children without working directly in the classroom. I feel that that is more aligned with the person I am becoming.

One very important lesson I’ve learned is that it’s okay to change your mind. You can take a different road even if you’ve traveled the same road for miles. I’ve often regretted my decision to work in early childhood. I often wish I’d have picked something else. Something higher paying, less stressful, less demanding, but then I wouldn’t have gained the experiences that have been so valuable in caring for Rosebud. I wouldn’t have had the confidence in my ability to parent. I wouldn’t have met some of the wonderful children who have crossed my path. I wouldn’t have played my part in making my classrooms a safe place where children are happy. These days, I don’t feel I provide that warmth and brightness as I once did so now I begin a new journey.

It’s going to be a climb because I feel overwhelmed. I’m overwhelmed with all the steps I need to take to start over and planning my transition into something new. There will be networking, second thoughts, focusing on my writing, maybe there will be more education or training and did I mention second thoughts? The only way to make this happen is if I push myself. Break it down into small achievable goals and go! Always remember, you can start over and reinvent at any point. You have not failed. You have learned and grown. You have said, this is no longer serving me and when you are ready for change, it starts with one small step.

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