MamaManagement

This is my art mat beneath a window on the floor in the corner of my dining room. It's not pretty. It's a mess. I love it here. If you follow me on Instagram @bookwormanista (and if you don't, you should: instagram.com/bookwormanista ), then you already know that I had a lot of fun playing on my art mat in the month of December. I took the month off from writing, as a recovery period after winning Nanowrimo2018 and finishing the first draft of a new novel. I tend to let things go in December. I didn't so much succumb to the insanity as I did when the kids were younger, but things are crazy and there is much ado, so I just try to roll with it. Rolling with it meant decompressing on my art mat and discovering a new process for myself. Which was super cool. A few months back I took a one day art class with a local artist whose art I admire. It was supposed to be a group class but others cancelled last minute and it ended up being just the two of us. Which turned...

aka: The last-minute punt to occupy the kids so I could get dinner ready. aka: I love masking tape. Last week my husband was out of town on business for four days, leaving me the sole referee for the the crazy 4 and 2 year old that rule my world. Which, most of the time, is fine. But as the dinner hour approaches, things can get a bit harried (understatement). On this particular night I was trying to cook a real meal and the kids were having trouble getting along. Out of sheer frustration and determination to get dinner made, I had a creative burst. I left them squabbling in the family room and walked out into the kitchen, grabbed a role of masking tape, walked back into the family room and began pulling strips of tape out and sticking it to the carpet. The kids stopped what they were doing and watched intently. My four year old asking repeatedly, "What are you doing, Mommy?" To which I replied, "You'll see." In about two minutes time, I created this: ...

So, it is ridiculously cold outside right now. Like single-digits-to-teens cold, plus a windchill. And it's snowing. Which is kind of a slap in the face for my daughter, because it's actually too cold to go out and play in the snow. She can just watch longingly from the window as it falls to the ground. And it's been like this all week. So I have a couple of stir-crazy kids who need a little physical activity. A while back I remember seeing something on Pinterest about "masking tape games." I'm not even sure if I looked at the actual link, or if I just saw a picture on the pin and that was enough to plant the seed in my brain, but when I was a Target earlier in the week I picked up a fresh roll of masking tape and then got to work on some games. As you can see, I wasn't going for perfection here. Kids usually don't care so much about how straight your lines are or how neatly you tear the tape...they just want to get jumping. So here we go! Port...

This is a totally random post, but my kids love laundry basket rides so much these days that I just had to share... Here's all you need: a sturdy, smooth-bottomed, plastic laundry basket and something to tie to it that is strong enough to act as your tow rope. I've had a fabric-lined, wooden laundry basket for a long time that is not kid-appropriate and they were always trying to climb in it. So I went out and bought this guy for around 5 bucks, on sale. Our "tow rope" is the fabric sash from a pirate costume which I just looped through the basket and tied at the other end. They climb in one at a time or together for rides just about every day. (My son climbs in it and chants, "Ride! Ride!" until you come pull him around.) And they love it! They also load it up with toys and take them for rides. My daughter even uses the tow rope to attach it to other things, like her doll stroller or our ride-on Pooh train to create trains, or, in this case, she atta...

Activity Sticks. I love this idea! I'll just get that out of the way from the start. It's so versatile. Anyone can use these. Looking to mix things up a bit in some area of your life? Activity Sticks may be just the thing for you. Want to try new, fun activities with the kids, but gotten stuck in a rut? Try Activity Sticks. Want to do something different for date night, but gotten stuck in the "What do you want to do? I don't know, what do you want to do? I guess we'll just go to dinner." rut? Try Activity Sticks. Want to mix up your workouts for better results and less boredom? Try Activity Sticks. The examples I'll show here are specific to young kid activities, but you can do this for kids of any age, for yourself, or for you and your partner. First, here's what you need: a jar or other container (I used a washed-out Ball canning jar. But you could use a cup, a mug, a small vase, a small bucket or whatever else you can find around the ...