Parenting

What you can do about it…

Establish a Bedtime – and stick to it

Our daughter got into a really bad habit of watching movies at night. When she was younger it didn’t matter because she would pass out 30 minutes into the movie every night, but as she got older we noticed she was staying awake until 10 pm some nights!

We started putting her in bed at 7:30 pm after our bedtime routine and it made a world of difference. Most of the time she is passed out in minutes! We do let her take a book to bed that she can read on her own.

Bedtimes will look different for each kid, but the key is staying consistent with it. Bump the time up 30 minutes or so to see what works best for each child!

READ: How many hours should my kids be sleeping per night?

Routine

Kids thrive in routines. Especially bedtime routines.

Our 4-year-old is extremely independent so telling her what to do at nighttime is typically a power struggle. I printed out a bedtime routine chart that is a checklist of everything she needs to do before bedtime and she follows it on her own and LOVES it.

Find out how your kids take direction best and use it to your advantage. She loves feeling like she accomplished all of the things on her list by herself so that is what tool we use to get her moving at bedtime.

We use a routine similar to this one.

Wake Up Time

This was the hardest thing for me to do. Wake her up.

My philosophy has always been to let a sleeping child sleep, but when her sleeping in started to mess up her bedtime I knew I had to start waking her up at the same time each day.

Now, her body is waking itself up at the right time every morning and she is tired by bedtime every night.

Consistency is Key

Sleep training is not something that is done overnight. This will take nights and nights of consistency to click with you child, but I promise you it is so worth it.

It will lead to both a happy kid and happy parents!

More Sleep Tips…

Spending one on one time with kids is one of the most crucial ways to improve your relationship with them. These are moments that your kids will always remember, moments where you will get to know their personality the most, and times that help build trust and a bond between the two of you that will last a lifetime.

It isn’t hard to devote one on one time with each child. You just have to make a plan and put in the effort. 30 minutes of your day can mean the world to your kids.

Spending One on One Time with Kids

I only have one daughter, so it is a bit easier for me at this point to carve out time in my day for JUST her. No phones or distractions. But when you have multiple children it might seem difficult to make this time to spend one on one time with each child.

If you have multiple children, let them pick a day or two out of each month where they get their own mom and me or dad and me time. Have them write it on the calendar each month so that they can look forward to it!

The best part about spending one on one time with your kids is that it doesn’t have to be complicated. I feel SO fulfilled and I can tell my daughter does too after doing something as simple as cooking dinner together.

When I first started making an effort to leave my phone on silent and dedicate 100% of my attention to my preschooler I thought I was doing it for her benefit, but after a few times of doing it I realized how much it was fulfilling my mama heart to talk with her and spend time with her that I normally would have missed out on because of work emails or other distractions.

30 Day One on One Time Challenge

If you struggle with finding time to spend with your kids one on one, here is a starting place…a 30 day one on one time challenge!

It can be hard to alter your routine and find a time to do this so a challenge that gets the whole family involved is the perfect way to start.

I’ve included a printable of these ideas and you can use them in 2 different ways.

1. As a calendar – print out this sheet and put it on your fridge. Then you can mark out the days one by one! If you have multiple children you can use a highlighter to “assign” the days to different kids.
2. As cards – print out the sheet and cut out the individual boxes. Then place them in a jar and have your kids draw a random card out of the jar each day. Again, if you have multiple children assign days that they get to draw their cards!

Here are 30 different ways to spend one on one time together! If your kiddo isn’t interested in one of these have a “free day” where they can choose what they want to do with you.

Day 1: Play board game together

There are tons of fun board games out there for kids. If they are younger, try something like candy land! There are also some really fun educational board games for preschool aged kids on Amazon that we love too.

If your kiddos are older, let them choose from the board games you have at the house!

Day 2: Watch a movie

My daughter loves when we make a “movie theater” in her room. We shut off the lights, make a pallet of blankets and pillows on the floor, make popcorn, and watch a movie together!

Day 3: Go for a walk

This is one of my favorite ways to bond with my daughter. It burns her preschooler energy, gets her talking to me, and she can explore nature too! I have had some of the best conversations with her while taking walks.

Day 4: Bake a dessert

It can be boxed or it can be homemade, either way I don’t know a single kid that doesn’t love getting messy in the kitchen!

Day 5: Read a book out loud together

At my daughter’s age I read her picture books, but as she gets older I can’t wait to read chapter books with her!

Day 6: Have a spa night

This might be primarily for girls, but you can paint your nails, do facials, or other fun things like that!

If you have a boy who has 0 interest in this, let him have a free day and pick what he wants to do with you.

Day 7: Go on a picnic

This doesn’t have to be elaborate and can be in the backyard or at the park.

We ate sandwiches for dinner at the lake the other night and it was so fun!

Day 8: Go on an ice cream date

This is one of my favorites too, but that just might be because I love ice cream.

We go to the local Sonic or Dairy Queen to get yummy treats and spend time eating there together!

Day 9: Color in a coloring book together

Not only is coloring relaxing, but it can be fun to do with your kids too! Try an adult coloring book if you don’t want to color something out of a children’s color book!

Day 10: Go to the playground

Our playground is just around the corner so it isn’t hard for us to take a walk to play on the playground for a few minutes before bed!

Day 11: Build a LEGO kit together

My daughter LOVES these LEGO kits. They have different levels for different ages. When I do one with her we usually grab an older age group, but when she does one on her own we like the junior kits.

Day 12: Go to the dollar store and pick out a toy

We have a Dollar Tree where literally everything is a dollar and they have TONS of toys. It is so fun for kids to go there and pick out something fun to play with. Plus it makes them feel special.

Day 13: Go to the library and check out books

We do this almost every week and it is a fun way to get her doing something educational while spending one on one time with me! Then we spend more one on one time together reading the books before bed.

Day 14: Build a fort in the living room

Forget the mess and have some fun! Build a fort in the living room and camp out, watch movies, play games, or read books inside!

I tend to hate the messes that come with doing stuff like this, but remind myself that once a month or so isn’t going to kill me and I let go and have fun!

Day 15: Camp out in the backyard

If you have a tent, head out to the backyard and have some fun!

You don’t have to sleep out there if you don’t want to, but just going out there and pretending is always fun.

Day 16: Roast marshmallows

Build a campfire and roast marshmallows together! If you don’t have a place to make a fire you can get creative and make them in the microwave or oven.

Day 17: Play with play doh

My daughter would choose to do this every single day if I let her. You can get fun accessories to go along with the play-doh too!

Day 18: Make slime

It is a mess, but it is fun for kids!

We usually head outside for this. Here are TONS of fun slime ideas for you!

Day 19: Paint or finger paints

I get washable fingerpaints and head out to the backyard for this one! It is super easy to wash off and my daughter has a blast doing it!

Day 20: Build a puzzle

There are TONS of kids puzzles to choose from and it is also really educational for kids to do too!

Two of our favorites:

USA Map Puzzle

Spelling Puzzle

Day 21: Go for a bike ride

An easy way to get in some exercise and spend one on one time with your kids!

Day 22: Have a dance party

This is one of the best ways to deal with the dreaded “witching hour” too. Whenever everyone starts getting a little cranky, we turn on the tunes and have a dance party!

I let my preschooler make her own Spotify playlist with her favorite songs on it!

Day 23: Watch the sunset

Grab a chair and sit together to talk or watch it while eating dinner. There are tons of ways to do this, but the important thing is taking the time to put the phone away and enjoy it!

Day 24: Write a letter to each other

I love doing this and another really good idea is to write letters to each other to open in 5 years or another time.

If your kids are older try these journals:

Mother Daughter Journal

Mother Son Journal

Father Son Journal

Father Daughter Journal

Day 25: Play 20 questions

This is a super fun way to get to know your kids a little bit better!

Day 26: Make a time capsule

We haven’t done this one yet, but I saw it on Pinterest and it looked like a really cute idea!

Day 27: Do yoga

There is a kids yoga channel called Cosmic Kids Yoga that is really fun for kids. You can do your own Yoga routine beside them!

Day 28: Have a living room sleepover

This could be fun to do along with the fort!

I did this not long ago when my daughter was sick and thought to myself “why don’t I do this more often”!?

Day 29: Go to dinner just you two

We usually do breakfast dates together since I am a work at home mom and she isn’t in school yet, but taking your kiddo on a dinner date will make them feel so special.

Day 30: Play a sport of their choice

Get outside with them and play soccer or baseball!

They will love to see that you are interested in what they are interested in.

I have always been a prepared person, but now as a mom I find myself wanting to be prepared for anything and everything ahead of time. That way I don’t have to worry about things last minute.

One place that I ALWAYS try to keep stocked with things I might need is my truck. I am extremely forgetful so having a summer emergency car kit is a must.

I can’t tell you how many times I have arrived somewhere just to discover I forgot the sunscreen or something else equally important. So I combat my mom brain by staying prepared ahead of time!

I usually try to stay prepared year round with a backpack or bag of some sort in the truck that has a change of clothes and extra diapers/pull ups with wipes because year round you can never have too many back ups when it comes to leaving the house with kids.

And like I said. I’ve had many accidents happen and only then realized that I had forgotten extra clothes for my daughter at home.

In addition to the backup I also think it is a brilliant idea to keep a seasonal emergency kit in your car so that you are prepared for anything that could come at you while out with your kids.

Summer Emergency Car Kit

This is what we are keeping in our vehicles (and have considered it for the boat too) this summer to make sure we are prepared.

The best part about this summer car emergency kit is that I got almost everything in the dollar trial sized aisle at Walmart. So making this kit is super inexpensive and easy to do!

Baby Hand and Face Wipes

Obviously, these are amazing for anything related to kids (haha!). You can pretty much guarantee that kids are going to get messy no matter where you go so I take these along to clean them up.

I use them to clean my daughter up after we’re done at the park, for getting sticky snow cone juice off her face and hands before we get into the car, and if we are at the lake I use them to clean her up before heading out to eat.

They are really great to have on hand no matter what situation you are in.

Mom Hack: you can also use these to remove makeup on the go! If I get sweaty after a workout or just want to freshen up my makeup I use these to remove what I already have on.

Insect Repellant

This also kind of goes without saying, but the bugs in the summertime are bad in Texas so we carry bug spray with us in our summer emergency car kit. If we don’t the mosquitos will eat us alive!

Baby Powder

This has got to be my favorite hack ever and it is the sole reason we carry around baby powder in the summer. If you are at the lake or the beach and you or your kids are sandy, you can cover the sandy areas of your body in baby powder and the sand will rub right off.

I LOVE doing this because my family would drag sand into my truck and then into the house after being at the lake all day and it is impossible to clean every grain of sand up. That stuff follows you everywhere!

Hand Sanitizer

Hand sanitizer is just great to have on hand for cleaning hands before mealtime. In the summer we are out at the park, on the boat, or at the lake beaches and typically head out to eat afterwards.

It is also great for cleaning up sticky kid hands!

Mini First Aid Kit

You never know what might happen so we put a mini first aid kit into our car emergency kit. It only holds a few bandages, gauze, and sanitizing wipes but I got it in the dollar trial size aisle at Walmart so when you run out it is super inexpensive to replace.

Baby Oil

Baby oil is simply a must have for me. There are so many ways to use it and it is so nice to have on hand. It can act as a bug repellant if you’ve run out, I can remove my eye makeup after a workout or before I go swimming, it can soothe dry itchy skin on both me and my daughter…

There are SO many uses so I always keep it in my summer emergency car kit!

Sunscreen

I keep sunscreen with me at all times in the summer! You never know when you are going to need it and it will always come in handy when you are outside with your kids.

This post is sponsored by Milo’s Kitchen® Homestyle Dog Treats, but all opinions are 100% my own.

We got our oldest dog, Harley, when I was about 4 months pregnant with our daughter. Everyone, and I mean everyone, called us crazy for getting a puppy when we were about to have a newborn, but I still think it was the best decision we ever made.

Although it can be hectic having both kids and dogs, these are the reasons why I think that every little girl should own a dog.

Companionship

Our daughter is never lonely. Both her and our dog Harley are 4 years old. They grew up together as best friends, partners in crime, and now they hardly leave each other’s side.

Our dog will continue to be a shoulder for her to lean on when she starts school and dogs make an excellent playmate.

With Braylee being our only child, she finds her companionship in Harley and they are often playing together in the backyard, keeping each other company.

Responsibility

Braylee is just a preschooler and already knows how to take care of an animal. She not only knows how to feed them their meals, but actually looks forward to it every morning and evening.

It is also too cute to watch her get joy out of feeding our dogs their treats. We use Milo’s Kitchen® Homestyle Dog Treats because beef, chicken or duck are the #1 ingredients in their treats. They actually are what they look like: jerky, sausage slices, or meatballs.

Our dogs go crazy for them and that gives our daughter room to learn how to train and take care of our dogs properly.

Protection

Both of our dogs are chocolate labs so I wouldn’t say they are super aggressive or anything, but I know for a fact if anyone were to approach our daughter that they would protect her.

Most days I let Braylee play out in the backyard with the dogs while I cook dinner and I always know if they dogs see someone strange through the fence because they bark to let me know and I can check it out.

It eases a lot of my worry about her playing outside even though she is just in the backyard. We all feel a lot safer knowing that our dogs are here to alert us if anything is weird!

Keep Active

Having a dog is an easy way to keep kids active throughout their childhood. Playing in the backyard or going on walks are just some of the ways you can get active with your pets.

Lots of breeds love to do things like hiking, going to the lake to swim, running, etc. Having the responsibility of taking the dog out for exercise gets kids up and exercising too!