I’m done. There is still two more days left to Norouz and I’m finished with my organization.

Still have to clean up the house but that’s the daily chores, doesn’t count

It was a very interesting and enlightening project. To tell the truth I was very close to calling it quits. At the beginning, it was kind of difficult to see things in a different way, in a more practical order. After a few drawers, I got the hang of it and then it was not that bad.

I kept these tips in mind during the project:

1-      Sort out

2-      Keep related things in one place

3-      Use containers

4-      Keep order of things as practical as possible

5-      Find the bottle neck that makes the mess, remove it

I can say I’m a changed organized mom now, and the kids are getting the hang of it too. They are more organized than they were before, of course for a toddlers.

Off to baking cookies

Until later,

Tags: amoo norooz, Home Organization, norooz, preschooler, toddler, toddlers

Last Friday kids and I had fun spring-cleaning. As soon as dad came home I started emptying, cleaning and reorganizing kitchen cabinets one after the other. After I guess two of the cabinets, my son came and told me he wants to help. He started helping in emptying and wiping the cabinets. My daughter as well asked if she can also clean something, so I gave her a clean wet towel and told her to clean the cabinet doors.  They had a blast helping me and they were proud of themselves telling dad that they are helping mom getting ready for Nowruz.

This lasted only about half and hour, but it was the most enjoyable half an hour of my life. They had a goal, a purpose. We all enjoyed working together. They still like to help but not that excited about it.

This experience reminded me of my mom telling stories of her childhood and Nowruz cleaning (spring cleaning). Unlike now they used to live in big houses with grandparents, uncles and cousins and for Nowruz the kids each, had a section of the house to clean. She always tells the story with such joy, remembering all the fun they had cleaning the house as a family all together.

I hope to create that joy for my kids too. Maybe these memories stay with them a life time.

I have only 8 days left to finish my project. So far so good with organizing, more than half the kitchen is organized. The spice cabinet is done which is the most important and difficult one. But!  Yes, there is a big but, my whole house is upside down due to my son’s birthday party couple of days ago and his sickness the day after.

Until later,

Tags: amoo norooz, Home Organization, norooz, preschooler, responsible, spring cleaning, toddler, toddlers

This is a very cute and easy craft, my kids did this jumping up and down, couldn’t wait to finish the project.

And of course then the attention was on something else!!! What should I expect from a 4.5 years old boy and a almost a 3 years old girl???

So, the craft! You need:

Construction paper

Googly eyes

Colourful feathers

Glue

Red crayon

Pencil and scissors Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Fall craft, preschooler, Thanksgiving craft, toddler, toddler craft, toddlers

My son has been asking for a pet for a while. One of his wishes for Santa was to have a puppy and a cat for Christmas. Now that we are getting close to spring and Nowruz (Persian New Year) he started again, he wants a rabbit or a hamster from Amoo Nowruz (Persian version of Santa, except that he wears green and his beard is not white, because he represents spring)

I have been against having a pet selfishly. I love animals, but I guess for some psychological reason I don’t feel comfortable around them. And as animals have strong sense they are always after me This is very frustrating for me because all my neighbours and most of my son’s preschool friends have pets. Especially because people who have pets think it’s normal to pet an animal, well I can’t. Most of the times I have to explain my problem so they know it’s not their pet, it’s me ???

When I saw my son being so eager to have a pet, I decided to at least do some research and see how I feel about it. The more I read on internet the scarier it got. I had no idea there are so much to do and spend for a pet and so much to read about!! Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: amoo norooz, norooz, pet, preschooler

Well if you are raising siblings you know there is going to be fighting, screaming, and chasing and …
Interestingly the family consultant who held the parent’s night at our preschool was mentioning that fighting is OK.

As per her advice, if there is no blood involved let them fight and figure it out themselves. Don’t give them any kind of attention, negative or positive. Let them know you know of the situation calmly and tell them you are in the other room doing your thing. They are just looking for attention and when they see they can’t get that with fighting, they will stop sooner or later. Make sure to listen and watch them secretly if you can, to prevent any damages. Of course, you have to stop them if you see they are hurting each other.

The other option is that to tell them because you have to protect your ears they have to fight outside. Take their hands and let them in the deck or yard to fight. They will just stop, I tried this

It is amazing, since I started to leave them alone and not getting in the middle to fix things they have a better relationship. They fight and cry but they have more fun moments compare to before.

She also mentioned that if you have to discipline any of them don’t do it when they are in the middle of fight. Let them to cool down, and them calmly explain, or use other subtle similar situations. In the middle of the fight they are fired up and won’t listen to anything you say, positive or negative.

Well it’s an on going battle, I guess they will be fine if we are.

Until later,

Tags: preschooler, Sibling Rivalry, toddlers