Sibling battles in our family

My girls are 20 months apart: Karis is 3 1/2 and Karlie is 20 months. We didn't have any problems until Karlie was about 5 months old and started crawling... right to Karis' toys! At first, Karis was really tickled that Karlie could crawl, but she soon realized that Karlie put all her toys in her mouth and chewed on them! YUCK! It is amazing how quickly a toddler can learn the word "mine!" :) While Karlie was so little and some of Karis' toys could be dangerous for her, we quickly taught Karis which ones she had to share and which ones she had to play with on the table, on the couch, or on her bed where Karlie could not reach her. She also saved several special toys for when Karlie was taking her morning nap. That seemed to make sense to Karis; she loved the idea that some toys were just for her and and this point she was still fascinated by the "baby" and she really enjoyed playing with Karlie with the toys that were safe for her.

So we really didn't have too many problems after that until Karlie was about a year old and started walking and could reach everything. Karlie had no fear and would just tackle Karis (who was twice her size :) and grab whatever was in her hand! At first Karis was amazed and would just stare at her in disbelief, but as it got more common, she started taking matters into her own hands, screaming "no Karlie!" and grabbing the toy back. This is still the major struggle in our house, 8 months later, as Karlie is usually the instigator in most disagreements. She absolutely LOVES to get Karis' attention by taking her toy and running away! But I can encourage you in that we can definitely see progress :)

We have a very similar approach to Leah in that we want to get to the heart of the girls, rather than just demand perfect behavior. At our house a key word is "kind." The girls know what it means and know how to show kindness because we talk about it often. When they have a disagreement, I always ask if they are being kind. I ask Karlie if Karis likes it when she takes the toy. I ask Karis if she thinks it makes Karlie happy when she screams at her. So instead of "who had the toy first?" we bypass that and they immediately know that they are both in the wrong. After addressing their hearts, I do address the behavior. I reprimand Karlie for taking the toy and if it is a repeated offense, I spank her. I also usually give her back the toy to hold and instruct Karis to ask her for it in a loving manner (Karlie, would you please give me back my toy?") Then Karlie has to give Karis the toy. If Karis has assaulted her in any way to get the toy back, then Karis will usually get a spanking as well. And if Karis has been hoarding the toy, we have discussions on sharing.

This scenario has been played out many times in our house with slight variations over the last 8 months, and it does get tiresome to walk them through it, step by step, every time. But I want to encourage you that it is worth it and they are definitely learning! I've been in the kitchen doing dishes and have heard Karis saying, "no Karlie; I had that; please give that back to me!" instead of the normal shrieking and it melts my heart. And often, when Karis isn't giving her attention by getting upset at her, Karlie will actually calmly give it back!

Another issue we have just recently started dealing with is Karis telling her sister when she has something that Karlie cannot have. Karis currently has a big pink sparkly ring that she loves and whenever she finds it to put on, she will go right to Karlie and say, "Karlie, this ring is for me; it is not for you!!" I don't think she is actually trying to be unkind, but she just wants to make sure Karlie leaves her precious ring alone! Of course, as soon as Karlie sees it, she starts fussing to have it! And the same scenario plays out with other favorites: food, clothes, and other things that are indeed Karis'. So we are really working on trying to make her understand that she is not being kind when she says such things to Karlie and I usually make her let Karlie play with it for a while.

So what kind of things do your children struggle together with? I'd love to hear any ideas you have for dealing with any kind of sibling rivalry!

Payneful Sibling Rivalry

Hi everyone. This week we are addressing the issue of Sibling Rivalry. What's that, you ask? You mean your kids don't ever fight? Ha, ha!!

My boys are 19 months apart. I saw sibling rivalry start to set in when Samuel was about 2.5 and Joel was approaching his first birthday. Check out the video below:

Samuel developed a love for knocking over his brother. He did this multiple times a day. He would even come up to me and ask me if he could "knock JoJo". In response, Joel learned how to scream if Samuel even came close to him. And it wasn't a helpless little whimper - it was loud and screechy. I had to really keep an eye on them because I needed to know whether Samuel needed the time out for knocking or whether Joel needed the talkin' to for screaming. Ugh, the joys of parenting, right?

Once Joel was upright and mobile, the next thing we had to deal with was learning how to share toys. This is Samuel at 2.5 pushing little 1yo Joel's arm away while "sharing" a book:

Samuel decided about this time that he didn't want to share anything with Joel. He would even take a toy from Joel and put it on the other side of the room while making a comment like "Jo-Jo can't have it. He's a baby." This was definitely not a fun habit of his to break. Our verse for quite a few weeks was "Be kind to one another. Ephesians 4:32" We said it about a million times a day!

Now, we still deal with the issue of sharing. But it is much more quickly resolved. Whenever the boys would each have a hand on a toy and scream about it, I would restrain myself from asking "who had it first?" I want my boys to learn to put people before things. Fighting over a toy reveals a deeper issue of putting yourself first and feeling justified to have your turn. So I would approach them, take the toy away and ask what was going on. They would both inevitably tell me that it was their turn with the toy but the other one took it. I would tell them that it doesn't matter who had it first, the important thing is to be calm, use your words and work it out. Then I would ask one of them (I switch back and forth between them throughout the day so I'm not always favoring one) if he wanted the toy. The response is of course yes. Then I would ask the other the same and he would reply the same. Then I would hand the toy to one boy and tell the other one to ask nicely, "Joel, may I have a turn with that toy when you are done?" And Joel has to reply, "yes" or "sure". Sometimes Joel will even give the toy to Samuel right away. After that, I tell the one with the toy that he has one minute and then it is time to switch. I am serious that this almost always works - it just takes a lot of consistency on my part and me having to get down at their level with them and not just bark commands from the computer or the kitchen sink (I'm not the only one guilty of that, am I?).

One other issue that we dealt with for a long while was biting. This happened around the time that Samuel was 3 to 3.5 and Joel was 1.5 to 2. Joel was definitely the instigator with this. My boys would get super frustrated with each other and double lock down on each other with their teeth. Samuel actually has a permanent scar on his bicep where Joel took a good chunk out of him. Whenever this happened, I would try to comfort both boys as best I could and then make them say sorry and hug each other. We also used "Be Kind to One Another" here. I would stress to the boys that if they got frustrated they needed to just walk away. This is a hard concept for a little kid! I think I mostly just waited this phase out because now they don't hardly ever bite each other. But it is not a fun phase at the time!

So how about you? What are your sibling rivalries? Do you think boys or girls fight more? Differently? Please share your comments or any questions you have.

Should I be enrolling my kids in classes?

Hi everyone. It's Leah (mom to Sam, age 4, and Joel, age 2) here to share the dilemna on my mind this week. Should I be enrolling my boys in extra-curricular activities?

My boys don't currently attend any special classes. We have had two great experiences with classes in the past, both for Samuel. We did two sessions of a Mommy & Me gymnastics class at a local gymnastics training center and one session of an "On My Own" class through our local park district.

I mulled over the question a few weeks ago as all of the classes around here were starting up. I called the gymnastics center to check on their prices and class availability. I hemmed and hawed and bothered my husband about it. In the end we decided not to enroll them. Here are my main reasons why:

1. The Money. Extra-curricular classes can get expensive. Especially if you have more than one child. For both of my boys to take a session of gymnastics, we were looking at paying over $400 (about $12/hour/child). Ed and I thought that was just too much money. We started asking ourselves what else we could do with that much money.

2. Over-scheduling my kids. There are things we've already decided to commit ourselves to during the week (I'll share about that below) and I didn't feel comfortable adding another thing to the list. My boys only have a few years before they'll be in school M-F, 8-3. I want them to have time to just do what they want, explore, play, be imaginitive.

Now, all that is not to say that we don't have places we're going, things we're doing! Last week started off our new fall schedule. Here's a quick look of what we do that could be considered "extra-curricular":

MOMs Group - two Tuesdays a month we go to a Moms Group at church from 9:30 to 11:30. The boys spend the time in the nursery with all of their closest friends while I spend the two hours in a group with my closest friends.

Explorer's Group - each Wednesday morning (as long as we feel up to it) we meet up with our friends (moms and kids) to go exploring at different outdoor locales. One of the moms homeschools and uses this time for part of their science and so the littler kids usually just copy what they are doing for the day.

AWANA - we go on Wednesday evenings for AWANA. Samuel does Cubbies, Joel does Puggles and I am a Truth & Training leader with 5th grade girls.

Bible Study Fellowship - each Thursday morning we attend BSF from 9 to 11. The boys each have their own class where they learn from the same Bible passage as me, as well as have craft/snack/playtime.

The AWANA club time and the BSF class are opportunities for my boys to be separated from me and to learn how to obey their teacher and follow a routine. All of the activities we do are also attended by at least a few of Sam & Joel's friends.

Ed and I also work out MWF at the local gym and bring the boys along to play in the childcare area while we exercise. The woman who watches them, Maria Luisa, speaks mostly Spanish - can I count this as an extra-curricular? :)

On top of these scheduled activities, we also have membership to two museums and our community pool over the summer.

I go back and forth (even as I type, delete, and retype this post a million times) about the answer to my question. On the one hand, I feel like we are as busy as I want to be right now. On the other hand, I know how much my boys would enjoy things like gymnastics or a music class.

What do you all think? Do you struggle with this question at all? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment to this post.

Extra Curricular Activities for our Kids!

This week's topic is addressing extra curricular activities for our kids. We're going to share what activities our kids participate in and how we try to balance it all! For our pre-school aged children, we'll define "extra-curricular" as out of the home activities, not related to "preschool." (Whether preschool takes place at home or in a school.)

First of all, we did not join any extra-curricular activities that cost money until Will was three. Prior to age three, activities consisted of free story times at the library, playdates, sunday school and trips to local kid friendly spots such as museums, pools, parks, etc.

My reasoning for this was two fold. First, I'm cheap! I was not willing to spend money prior to this age. It just did not seem worth it to me! Second, most activities for the under three crowd require a parent to participate (swim lessons, gymnastics, dance, etc.). Since I had two so close together, this would mean having someone else to watch Adeline. This is not easily arranged, so we opted to wait until they could each participate without a parent! They already interacted me all day, every day! Why would I pay for additional interaction that I could provide for free? :)

Our first extra curricular was swim lessons for Will. He took them the week after he turned three. Aside from Sunday school, this was his first chance to be in a class taught by someone other than myself! (And actually, I was his Sunday School teacher the year before as well!)

We took lessons at a city pool. They lasted for a week. Every day for one week during summer. Will was and is a FISH. Loves the water and was way ahead of the skills taught in this class. However, he struggled a TON with me "leaving" him in a class and having to follow the directions of someone else. He cried (no, screamed) for most class that week. But we stuck it out and with the help of his super patient teacher, he did make progress by the end of the week.

His teacher said that the young 3's typically struggle, especially if it is their first "class" of any kind. We did the next level lessons this summer (as a four year old) and Will did GREAT! He listened, didn't cry and obediently did the skills required. I could still tell he was the youngest in the class - but overall it was a much better experience. I don't regret our first swim lessons at age three at all. I think we would have had a similar experience had gymnastics been our first "class" for Will.

Will's next activity was gymnastics! I had wanted to start him in gymnastics for a long time - if you know Will, you understand why. :) But, at our local gym, he had to be 3.5 before he could take class without me. So we waited and started around January of this year. To say he loves gymnastics would be an understatement! We moved a few weeks before the gymnastics "year" ended, but we continued to drive about 20 minutes back to our old gym.

A few weeks after we moved to our new area, Will spotted a gym that is about 3 minutes from our house. He recognized the gymnasts on their sign and has begged me for more gymnastics! I finally got around to signing him up again just last week. He loved this gym even more! I did too, as their format for class was a full hour and very intense! I loved that his teacher required him to redo skills he rushed through - though she remained very patient as Will rushes through tasks often. :) Will was sweating when he was done! Woohoo!

In addition to the two weeks of swim lessons and gymnastics, Will has participated in AWANA Cubbies. I wrote about this last week, so I won't repeat it.

In our current fall schedule, this really means an hour of gymastics on a weekday morning and an hour and a half of AWANA on a weeknight. I think that is plenty for a four year old - even one who does not attend preschool out of the home. We still have plenty of time to do some homeschooling 4 days per week.

And of course, Adeline is just now 2.5, so we'll wait a little while longer. She will likely also do swim lessons next summer, Cubbies in the fall and possibly dance as well.

Here is a list of what I'm looking for in an extra curricular activity for my kids:

-a chance to practice obeying another adult.

-opportunities to practice appropriate social skills (big for Will who struggles with this!)

-good exercise! (also big for Will who has an abundance of energy)

-biggest bang for my buck!

As far as balancing our time in extra curricular activities - I don't have much advice. Mostly because my kids are still so young. Also, because we are very limited by finances! I am starting to see how much of a struggle it could be to say "no" to all the great opportunities that exist for our kids. At this point, I desire for the majority of our time to be at home.

Does anyone have any great advice for balancing extra curricular activities? Especially if you have school-aged children?

Please also share what activities your preschooler does and what you love about them!

AWANA

Last week, Will started his second year of AWANA Cubbies. Our church hosts the club for 3 year olds to 5th graders. (The AWANA program actually starts at age 2 - Puggles - but our church does not start until 3.) I wanted to highlight AWANA during our week on being intentional with the Bible. AWANA has definitely helped our family do that with Will!

The AWANA club for preschoolers (Cubbies) is built on two premises, according to their website. They are:

-Young children can and should receive spiritual training.
-Home is the primary place for spiritual training.


The curriculum is designed in a way so that the lesson and verse is first introduced by the parents at home. We work with Will each week to memorize his verse and read the lesson related to the verse. When he goes to Cubbies each week, they have large group time - singing songs, games, stories etc. They do a craft or activity related to the verse. They also have time to recite their verse for their leader. Each week they either earn a sticker or a patch for their vest.

One thing that I'd like to add about the verses is that (for Cubbies) they are essentially summarized and shortened versions of the full verse. The idea is that the verse is more age appropriate. For example: John 3:16 is memorized as

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only son..."

While I completely understand the motivation behind this, I'm not sure its 100% necessary. I don't think its wrong - please don't think I'm saying that! I just don't know how necessary it is. At least one time last year as a 3 year old, Will had a hard time learning the Cubbies version of a verse that he'd already learned the full version of at home! Three year olds are fully capable of memorizing the "full version" of many verses.


Also, as 3 year olds they are not "required" to learn the reference, but are as four year olds. The bottom line is that they are still learning to learn scripture (and a lot of it!). I would imagine that the AWANA curriculum builds on this and they do learn the full version in the older grades?


Will has done an awesome job and learned 30 verses for Cubbies! While he can't simply recite them, he does remember them easily once reminded! He loves Cubbies and is blessed with great leaders and some sweet friends.

Will and his great teachers, Chris and Roxie. Yes, he looks like their son in this picture. :)

Resources for Incorporating the Bible into our Daily Lives

As Meagan has shown us in the previous post, there are a variety of ways for you to be intentional in your study of the Bible and biblical truths. As we all know, unless we are deliberate and intentional about studying the Bible and meditating on God's word, our sinful nature will allow it to become an afterthought at best. Below are a few of my favorite resources to help me incorporate the Bible into every facet of my life.

An Approach to the Extended Memorization of Scripture--A shameless 'plug' for my pastor and his amazing Scripture memorization techniques! This booklet is a guide for memorizing long passages of Scripture. Honest confession: I have not used this method myself, but that is simply because of my laziness. Many people have, and find it incredibly helpful. Personally, I am greatly blessed by a pastor who has a large portion of the Bible memorized, and who can apply it easily within a sermon or daily conversation!

Truth and Grace Memory Books--I think I have mentioned these books before in a comments section somewhere, but I wanted to highlight them here. These workbooks give you suggested hymns, scriptures, and catechism questions for each age, starting at age 2/3. The catechism questions are included in the back of the book. Each age 'builds' upon the other, by adding verses to the hymns, or memorizing longer passages of Scripture. *Note: I think it is important for children and adults to memorize both individual verses and entire passages of Scripture. The individual verses help convey truths and lessons ("Children obey your parents"), while longer passages allow you to grasp the big picture of Scripture*

Seeds Family Worship--Several of us POH authors have these CDs and love them. Each album has a 'theme', i.e., the Power of Encouragement, and all of the songs are scripture verses from that theme. As an adult who gets really irritated by kid's music, I actually enjoy Seeds! There is usually a male or female adult 'lead singer' with kids singing along, and the songwriting is of good musical quality (as opposed to sounding like nursery rhymes or something)

Robert Murray M'Cheyne's Bible Reading Plan--If you need a good Bible reading plan, I highly recommend using this one. It has two 'sections', the "Family" and "Secret" readings, so you can read portions of the Bible for your quiet time ("Secret") and your family worship time ("Family"). If you do that, you will read through the OT once and the NT twice in one year. Or you can choose to read just the "Family" or "Secret" readings, and you will read through the OT in two years and the NT in one.

For the Love of God, vol. 1 and For the Love of God, vol.2--These two books by D.A. Carson are meant to go along with the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan above. Each volume has a devotional thought that is gleaned from the daily Bible reading schedule, and will help you go a little deeper in your studies.

My last thought is to encourage you to incorporate a family worship time into your schedule. This does not have to be anything fancy or elaborate, but both you and your children will be greatly blessed by the time spent together as a family reading God's word and praying together. Our family has made a concerted effort to have REGULAR family worship times together in the past several months, and that has been a huge blessing to all of us. Please share with us your thoughts and suggestions for studying God's word and making it a regular part of our lives!

Being Intentional with the Bible (for both myself and my kids!)

This week at POH we are talking about ideas for being intentional with the Bible, both for Moms and for kids. I'm excited about this week because I'm really hoping to learn some great ideas from our readers that I can implement in our home! Please share with us what has worked in your family and what has not. Here are a few things we have done in our family to be intentional with the Bible:

The girls and I have a "Bible Time" every morning on the couch. I had always thought we would do devotions before bed every night, but it always got too late and the girls were tired and fussy and not able to focus. So instead we switched to singing before bed and Bible time in the morning. This has just worked so much better for our family!

At night, we sing a combination of hymns (such great theology in most hymns!) and fun Bible songs. Here is a quick clip of one of our silly songs that teaches her the fruit of the Spirit:


We have our Bible Time before we get started with our chores for the day. We usually go outside to play first thing in the morning (before it gets too hot!) and then come inside grab our water bottles and settle on the couch for our Bible time. The girls have gotten all their wiggles out and can really focus well. Our Bible Time consists of:

1. "Questions" -- I recently got this "Catechism For Young Children" set from Doorposts and we have really enjoyed it! I make a game out of asking Karis questions each morning and she uses a fake microphone to answer. I love the great theological foundation these questions lay for her and you would be amazed at how often she brings them up in random conversation. Here is a short video example of some of the questions:


2. Scripture Memory -- Right now we are going through the verses listed in My 1st Book of Memory Verses. We usually go over 2 verses that we learned previously and then repeat a new verse several times. I usually make the scripture into a song, rhyme, or rap, and often add hand motions to make it more interesting and easy for Karis to remember.

3. Bible Stories -- We have several children's bible story books and I usually just let Karis choose a few to read for the day. My personal favorite for her age is The Big Picture Story Bible, but there are many that she enjoys. Sometimes we read them for a half hour, and other days we only read 1 story. I want her to enjoy the time so right now I base it totally on her interest and how Karlie is doing entertaining herself. (Karlie usually starts off reading with us, but can't sit still as long as Karis and ends up doing puzzles after a little bit.) We just started "loosely" following the Bible reading plan on ABC Jesus Loves Me and I usually also teach them a song or two about whatever story we are focusing on for the week.

For Myself: This week is also about sharing ideas to help Moms be more intentional with the Bible and I have to be completely honest; I struggle in this area. I am much better at being intentional with my kids! I try to have my Bible Time in the morning before the girls get up, but if they randomly get up earlier than usual, my time is cut short. And I have a hard time finding any other time in my day. I am not one who can study at night because I just fall asleep :)

Anyways, I usually just try to read about 4 chapters out of the OT and 2 chapters out of the NT every day, if the girls don't wake up before I finish. I'd love to do a formal Bible study like BSF, but there isn't one near me and I don't want to make another day in my week crazy. So I just try read all the study notes in my Bible and try to pick a verse or two out of my reading to write out and meditate on throughout the day. I am also memorizing the scripture verses along with Karis, but that's about it. I'd LOVE to hear any suggestions you have: any book studies that you have enjoyed or other ideas for being intentional with the Bible!

Care calendar and some recipes

I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely LOVE these online meal organizers! My favorite part about them is the e-mail reminder that they send to the person bringing the meal. My first experience with planning meals was horrible, because I felt badly about calling to remind people. (Like I was insulting their intelligence or something.... I thought that if they signed up for a date, obviously they would take a meal on that day!) Our church usually offers to bring meals M/W/F for a month after a new baby, so by the end of the month, people were forgetting and my poor friend was left scrambling for food at the last moment.

The next time I planned meals for a friend, I used Care Calendar (very similar to the other meal-planning websites mentioned) and it worked beautifully! The calendar was filled up almost by the end of the first week and I could tell that my friend was getting a delicious variety of food. Being able to see what everyone else is bringing is probably my second favorite thing about these online meal organizers :)

Here are some of my favorite recipes for taking to new Moms. I've also included some muffin and breakfast bread recipes because it is always nice to take that along with a dinner so they can have something easy for breakfast! Feel free to leave comments about some of your favorite recipes for taking to friends -- I love to try out new recipes!!!

Freezer friendly options:
Lasagna
Mannicotti
Cheesy Chicken Strips
Chicken Cordon Blue
Harvest Loaf
Zucchini Bread

Other Favorites to share with friends:
Poppyseed Chicken
Potato Soup
Pizza with Home-made crust
Ham Biscuits
Hawaiian Chicken Pile Up
Cranberry Chicken
Chicken Divane
Chicken Parmesan
Baked Ziti
Oatmeal Cranberry Muffins
Healthy Breakfast "cake"
Chocolate Breakfast Cake
Pumpkin Muffins

Three great recipes for families with new babies

Below are links to three of my favorite meals to take to families who need meals (often it is new babies, but sometimes it is surgery/illness/death in the family as well). Each of these can be frozen in advance, which is also a great benefit to both the family preparing (you can double a recipe and freeze half) and the family receiving (they can freeze the meal and save it for later). Please forgive my laziness in not typing out each of these recipes--I thought the links would easier.
Creamy Slow Cooker Chicken *The Finn family just calls this Chicken Yum Yum, and everyone loves it. It is not a one dish meal, but you can prepare the chicken ahead and easily make rice and veggies for a side.
Pronto-Stuffed Shells *This recipe makes two 8x8 pans of stuffed shells, so it is perfect of freezing half for a small family.
Baked Ziti *My baked ziti recipe can feed a large family, or be divided in half for two small families. And like most Italian meals, it tastes even better as leftovers!

What are some of your 'go-to' meals for friends in need? Please share in the comments.

MealBaby and Food Tidings

Both MealBaby and Food Tidings were mentioned in the comments on Christina's post, and I wanted to direct your attention to these wonderful websites that help YOU as you help new moms :-) Both of these are online meal calendars/registries that allow people to view a calendar and sign up to provide a meal for a family in need.

The advantages to using a system like this are many:
*It keeps the calendar streamlined and organized, instead of having to use multiple emails to plan out a meal calendar
*With both MealBaby and Food Tidings, people can put what meals they plan to provide, and that is visible to all. This prevents a family from receiving seven lasagnas in a row! --as an aside, I thought everyone made lasagna for families with new babies until I had my first baby...and I received about seven chicken meals and not a single lasagna! That's when I decided that everyone either doesn't like lasagna, or they assume everyone is making it. Now I often make lasagna as my go-to meal:-)
*Information about the family's food preferences, portions (# of adults, # of kids), and other special instructions are posted with the calendar, as well as contact information and address for the family
*You have to create an account use both systems, but you do not have enter personal information on the meal schedule itself beyond your name and meal provided.
*Both Food Tidings and MealBaby give you a special link to the meal calendar that you can then forward to an email list, share on a church website, or publish in a newsletter.

I have only used Food Tidings once, but since my church uses MealBaby for its members and attendees, I am very familiar with it. If you have used Food Tidings, I would love your thoughts about it in the comments. There are a few special things that I like about MealBaby. First, once a calendar is set up, the lady (usually) who is the recipient can go in and change it. She can add more dates to the calendar, she can write a special message to the people preparing meals, and she can specify exactly what they like to eat. It is nice that the family does not have to go through the coordinator to make any minor changes like that. Second, MealBaby allows you to purchase gift cards to chain restaurants instead of providing a meal. The gift cards are for most major restaurants, and come in standard denominations. They will mail the gift cards directly to the family. This is especially nice for out of town family/friends who want to help, but cannot cook an actual meal. And third, MealBaby allows you to contribute to Food for the Children when you sign up for a meal. It is a wonderful way to help others around the world while you are helping people 'right next door' as well.

Please let us know in the comments if you have used either of these systems, or another one I have not discussed. And keep the meal ideas and suggestions coming as well!

A Meal Idea from Leah P

I thought I would share a meal that I bring when a friend is in need. It's not really a recipe thing. I cook up:

Chicken Breasts (I broil them with a little butter, salt & pepper, and Italian seasoning)
Rice
Broccoli
Fruit
A small plate of dessert

For our family, we really like to have a fruit and vegetable with each meal. And my husband is really not a fan of casseroles. I realize that a lot of times people bring casseroles as a meal to a family because it's easy to make and easy to transport. So I try to bring something a little different to give the family a variety.

I bring the small dessert for the reason my cousin mentioned - so that there's enough for a little treat, but not a plate of temptation sitting around all week!

I also consider whether or not the family has any other children. If so, I try to bring a kid friendly item as well - applesauce, string cheese, granola bar, etc.

A Word from a New Mom

I (Leah P) asked my cousin Kari if she could write a few words about her recent experience with receiving meals after the birth of her (adorable!) new daughter. Here's what she had to share...

Having meals brought to our home after the birth of our daughter was such a blessing. Our church lines up seven meals for families after the birth of a child or major surgery. We were able to choose whether we wanted a meal every day for a week or every other day for two weeks. We went with the every other day plan. I figured we would be able to fill in with leftovers or something quick and easy that my husband could make. I really enjoyed having people stop in and see our baby. However, it was also very taxing at times. Fortunately, most of the time when our meals were delivered, my mom or husband was also home to let the people in, put things away, etc. All of the people who came were quite courteous and would take a quick peek at the baby if she wasn't eating and maybe hold her for just a bit before heading out. I was thankful for this as we had quite a bit of family and close friends stopping in for longer amounts of time. One thing I was able to take away from this experience was that if the new mom is not a relative or close friend, but rather someone from church that I'm not that close with, dropping off a meal and only staying a few minutes is all that is really necessary. The point of taking a meal is to help out the new mom, not give myself an excuse to go hold a newborn for an hour. Chances are that the baby will be sleeping and the mom probably should be too.

Another thing to keep in mind is the amount of food you take. Since this was our first, it was just my husband and I that needed to eat. We received a few meals that would have fed around six people. Don't get me wrong, leftovers are great, but you can only eat something so many times. Plus, there was more food coming two days later. If a recipe makes quite a bit, a good idea might be to make half for the family to eat that night and freeze half for them to get out later. Once the meals stop coming, starting to cook again can be a lot of work. Having something quick and easy to throw in the oven would be a great help.

Everyone who brought us a meal also brought dessert. This was a nice treat since I don't normally make dessert. However, I ate way too many cookies those first few weeks, not because I wanted to, but because they were there (okay, and I really like cookies). It was a lot easier to grab a cookie than to figure out something else to eat as a snack. My lack of will power may have also had something to do with it. Taking a small amount of dessert and then also a bowl of grapes (or some other quick, easy, and healthy snack) might be a good idea.

Something I would have never thought of is to ask the family you are taking a meal to if they have any food allergies. Having none myself, this is the farthest thing from my mind. Several of the people who brought us meals called in advance to ask.

Overall, our experience with receiving meals was wonderful. It was such a blessing and another reminder of why we love our church family so much. They displayed Christ's love in the way that they served us. They kept in mind that service is about the one you are serving, not about yourself.

Meals for New Moms!

This week is all about supporting new (not just first time) Moms! Mostly through food, but there will be other ideas as well.

I first read about this ideas in Taste of Home magazine. (Great magazine with easy recipes!) There was an article about a baby shower given for a new Mom-to-be with MS. She was a first time Mom, but I know this idea would be just as helpful for 2nd or 3rd (or more!) time Moms as well.

She threw a "food shower" where guests brought a dish to be frozen in her freezer! After the shower, the new Mom had a freezer full of goodies to pull from once baby came. This is a GREAT idea to reduce the number of visitors after baby arrives. Though the meals are great, sometimes visitors daily or even every other day can be overwhelming when you can't hardly fine time to shower!

Though I've never thrown one of these, here are some ideas I have on how to make it happen!

-Be sure it is near enough to the Mom's due date so the meals will still be good once baby arrives. Typically showers are thrown earlier in the pregnancy (my first was at 31 weeks), but that would mean the food was already in the freezer for more than two months by the due date! About 3 weeks before the due date might be more reasonable.

-On the invite, you can ask guests to avoid certain foods that Mom (and Dad) may not prefer or "breastfeeding friendly" foods as well.

-Ask the guests to use disposable containers so Mom does not have to worry with returing them.

-Provide permanent markers, paper, tape, stickers, etc. for guests to write cooking/reheating instructions on their meals if they forgot.

-Asking guests ahead of time to provide a copy of the recipe and cooking instructions with their meal would be helpful too. You could even include a recipe card in the invite for this.


Have any of you ever thrown a shower like this? Have any other ideas to make this successful?

Fall/Winter Topics!

After a busy and unscheduled summer, here is our new fall and winter lineup! These topics will take us through the holidays. We're really excited and can't wait to share all that's currently floating around in our heads!

9/6 Meals for New Moms
9/13 Being intentional with the Bible
9/20 Extra Curricular activities for Kids
9/27 Sibling Rivalry
10/4 How to Make…Craft ideas for Mom and Kid!
10/11 Ways to minister to your husband
10/18 Passages we're reading…
10/25 Mentoring Moms
11/1 Creative Playdates
11/8 Mom's ministry (out of the home!)
11/15 Baby Shower Ideas
11/22 Rooms of the House
11/29 First Trimester Tips
12/6 Our schedules this week
12/13 Relating to our parents
12/20 Chores for Kids
12/27 Holiday Rewind

Stay tuned for a fun week with "Meals for New Moms" including recipes and more!