A Letter To My PreBaby Self

Looking back, this is what I would tell my pre-baby self

Sometimes I think back on what life used to be like, and what I used to think of people with kids before I had them myself and I laugh/shudder. I had some strong opinions on how children should be raised, and knew exactly how I was going to do it and do it right. Hahahaha, ohhhh Paige. Oh dear girl. Here's a letter from me to me with what I would say to my pre-baby self.

Pre-baby Paige thinking she knows everything... Ha!

Dear Paige, 

Shut up. No I'm serious, shut up. Listen up. YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING.

It's cute that you think you'll breastfeed for over a year, and everything in the house will be nontoxic and organic and it's adorable that you think exposing your child to fruits and veggies early on will result in him loving that food for his whole life. 

Here's the reality girlfriend: You have no idea how exhausted you're going to get. I'm talking weeks and weeks and months of 5 hours of sleep or less a night, and not consecutive five hours. You have no idea what that does to a person. Sleep deprivation is actually used as a torture device for a reason, and new moms and dads know this well. Moms who give their babies formula so that their partners can help with feedings at night aren't bad moms, they're smart moms. Once you reach the breaking point of sleep deprivation and discover that formula isn't the devil, give yourself a pat on the back.

You are going to try and try and try to get your toddler to eat healthy foods, to develop his taste buds. You'll expose him to everything possible. You'll go out of your way to make him healthy meals that you know he'll love and guess what? He won't eat it. But he'll always eat cheese and crackers and that will drive you MAD. Let it go, sweetheart. Some days, all your picky eater will eat is a container of blueberries. Other days, he'll eat fish and spinach lasagna. You cannot control his taste buds or what he'll eat - he's a toddler, he's crazy. You were wrong when you thought picky eaters were made and not born. Henry will defiantly show you that. 

And right as you're about to lose your mind with his pickiness, Otto will come along and happily eat anything you make with gusto. He'll be the reason you cook dinner at all, although he'll make you lose your mind over other things.

As you grow in motherhood, you'll find yourself becoming far less judgmental, especially of other moms. Right now, you sneer at moms with screaming toddlers and of course think she's handling it wrong. But the truth is, YOU'RE wrong. She's handling it the best way she can on as little sleep as she has, pulling together every last ounce of sanity she possibly has to get through that shopping trip. In time, you'll learn this.

I know you think you know what being tired is like right now, but trust me - you don't. So enjoy sleeping through the night now, because even after your kids start sleeping through the night, you'll get up. You'll still wake at the times you used to nurse Otto and bottle feed Henry. Henry's nearly three and you're still waking up several times a night, so sleep now princess, sleep now.

That all sounds kinda like a bunch of bad news, so I'll end on a positive note for you, child-free Paigey. You'll get your body back after popping out babies. It will be a different body, some things won't ever "come back" but you'll be in shape. The gym will be you're break. Funny huh? Right now it's another thing to do after work, but after kids, it will be your break in the day. You'll go even when you're sick because a barre class is less work than running after two kids. Imagine that! 

Oh Paige, you have lots of ideas about what having kids will be like, and most of them - if not all of them - are wrong. But you'll figure it out, and through motherhood, you'll become a better person.

Post baby Paige who's wiser and kinder

What To Put In Your Toddler's Easter Basket

If your children are too young for an Easter basket full of candy, check out these fun, age appropriate alternative ideas

Easter is right around the corner! (April 16, 2017 in case you were wondering like I was. I never seem to know what day Easter or Thanksgiving falls on in any given year, please tell me I'm not alone...) Growing up, we didn't do big fancy Easter baskets but instead, my parents hid little nests of plastic green grass full of candy and we'd have a "hunt" to find them all. Fast forward several months, and sometimes we'd still find old "nests" that were forgotten about! I want to forgo the mess and give my kids Easter baskets instead. Henry will be a month shy of 3 on Easter, and Otto will be just 16 months. My toddlers aren't big into candy (more on that later) but I've come up with some great alternative ideas on what to put in your toddler's Easter basket.

It's not that I'm opposed to my kids eating candy. In moderation, they can eat whatever they'd like. But get this: We went out to eat this week to a European deli that has an amazing bakery attached. After our meal, we headed over to the bakery so that Henry could pick out a treat. He wanted a chocolate chip cookie. I knew he wouldn't like this because he's always spitted out anything with even a trace of chocolate in it, but he was adamant about that dang cookie. So we got that for him, a sugar cookie for Otto and a few treats for me and hubs (that hubs later ate all of, because I take one bite of sugar and feel instantly like crap).

We take the sweets to go, and Henry talks about his cookie the whole way home. We let the boys have their treat upon sitting at the table. Henry takes two small bites, looks disgusted, sets his cookie down and says, "I'm done. Can I go play?" Otto ate about a third of his cookie, but homeboy ate almost an entire adult-sized grilled cheese, and I'm pretty sure his belly was maxed out!

The next day, I let them split the remainder of the sugar cookie, which both boys loved. Otto, being ever the good eater, wanted more so I broke off part of Henry's chocolate chip cookie. He shoved it in his mouth and frowned. Chewed on for a minute. Then spit the cookie out all on this white onesie. 

My kids hate chocolate and can barely stomach sweets it seems! My little apples didn't fall far from this mama tree. Before you roll your eyes, don't worry: Put a bowl of chips and salsa or queso in front of me and I will lick it clean.

So, clearly the traditional sugar filled Easter baskets won't work for my kids, at least not yet. However, I didn't want to gift them "big" gifts, because this isn't their birthdays. It's a religious holiday that's not centered around getting massive gifts. I wanted to give them small, little things that they'd get a kick out of and spend less than $15 each on it.

Otto's Easter basket contents

Henry's Easter basket contents

Dollar spot at Target to the rescue! They had a great selection of little (and cheap!) crafts, toys, ties/bow ties and Easter stickers. Perfect fun, inexpensive things for them to play with or for us all to do together as a family without the sugar crash. I didn't get them exactly the same things because here's how things play out in our house: Whatever Otto gets, Henry wants and whatever Henry gets, Otto wants. So I get them slight variations and then they can switch and trade fight over who gets to play with what and when.

I happened to fill my Easter baskets from the dollar spot at Target. If you don't happen to live near a beloved "dollar spot" here are some other affordable, age appropriate, non candy ideas to put in your toddler's Easter basket:

• First, want a fabric-lined Easter basket that you can reuse every year? Here's a very similar one to the one in these photos that we reuse every year!
• Crayons (that are large for small hands and washable - LOVE that!) and a coloring book (that's Easter themed)
• Bubbles (if you follow me on Instagram, you know these are a constant favorite at our house!)
• Stickers (These are super cute and also Easter themed so they can stick them in the coloring book)

^Like it? Pin it!^

Easter is such a fun time of the year! It's spring, everything is blooming and I get to dress my boys up in cute bow ties and ties. Easter baskets are a fun tradition I didn't have growing up, but am excited to do with my own kids. Currently, candy ain't their thang (I'm sure that will change), but there are tons of fun things to put in your toddler's Easter basket that aren't candy! I hope my ideas inspired you to get creative this spring.

Creating A Schedule That Works For Your Toddler

Toddlers NEED schedules and routines. Here's how to create one that works for your family with a free printable!

I'm big into schedules. Real big. Before kids, routine and scheduling kept me organized and put together. Post kids, it keeps me sane, keeps the kids on track and makes all of us much happier. Our days flow pretty seamlessly with minimal to no tantrums. Part of that is due to my kids knowing the routine of the day, and having some power in their schedule to do things they enjoy. I know some parents aren't into schedules and if that works for you, great. But I'm here to tell you how awesome they are and how you can create a schedule that works for your toddler (and you)!

Here's why schedules and routine are so important for toddlers: They know what to expect, and know what's expected of them. When you are consistent in how you structure your day, there are no surprises, no wildcards for them to process. This results in your toddler being able to better communicated with you. Meltdowns and tantrums are usually a result of big emotions, thoughts or feelings that your toddler is just too young to be able to communicate yet. So when you take out the randomness and chaos of the day and replace it with constant routine, your toddler has less to process. When his or her day is more consistent, s/he knows what's coming next. That knowledge brings a sense of security. Secure toddlers are better equipped to communicate when something is wrong or they have a need. (Or when they're happy and having a good time, too!)

Not convinced that toddlers need a good routine yet? That's ok. Try it for a week and see the effects and affects it has on your little one! Here's how we structure our day:

My Toddler's Schedule

MORNING

6-6:30am - wake up, breakfast bars and milk, 30 mins of a movie or children's TV (so that I can make coffee and wake up too!)

7am - playtime in the playroom

8am - get dressed

8:30am - if it's a school day, leave for school. If not, the nanny arrives and cooks the boys a larger, second breakfast. I work; go to yoga; run family errands. The boys help the nanny with laundry, play games, read books and eat a light lunch with her.

NOON

11:30 - nap time. Henry has mostly given up his nap so he has quiet time.

1:30 - if it's a school day, I leave to get the boys from school. If it's a nanny day, the nanny leaves.

AFTERNOON

2:15 - play time in the playroom. Otto is always up by now.

3:00 - snack time at the dining room table

3:30 - afternoon activity. I always try to get the boys out of the house, even if it was a school day. We'll walk to the park if it's nice, go to the arboretum, run kid friendly errands, or I'll plan a play date. In the summer, we'll play in the back yard in our kiddie pool (this is the one we have and it's ridiculous how much use we've gotten out of a $29 blow up pool! We're going on three years with it. That thing holds up), go to a friend's pool or visit the community splash pad.

EVENING

5pm - dinner time for the kids 

5:30 - bath night is every other night so if it's bath night, they bathe now. (PS- my kids color their bath water with these things - the colors don't stain hair, skin or towels!) If not, I turn on the news and bring some toys into the living room. 

6pm - change the kids into jammies and give them sippy cups of milk

6:15 - turn on a children's movie. They sit on the couch and drink their milk and watch the movie. No playing this close to bedtime - it's time to wind down.

6:45 - Otto goes to bed so that he's asleep by the time Henry goes to his crib (my boys share a room)

7pm - Henry's bedtime.

This is what works really well for us, since I work part time from home. We keep this schedule on the weekends too. If we go out to eat, we're at the restaurant with food in front of us by 5pm, which is kind of a bummer for my husband and I, but keeping the routine is SO worth it! My kids don't fight bedtime, don't fight nap time, eat consistently and I've only had one public meltdown with Henry (who's almost 3) and no meltdowns with Otto (who's 14 months). 

If you aren't a work from home part time mom, how can you create a schedule that works for your toddler and family? I'd start by being consistent with bedtimes and wake times. If you let your child sleep in until 9am and then are frustrated they're still awake at 10pm, start waking them up earlier consistently, and putting them to bed at the same time consistently. Every day. Even on the weekends. 

Then create blocks of time that you can fill with activities. Morning, noon, afternoon and evening blocks. If you work full time, you can still do this for the weekends and evenings. Just make sure that the evenings during the week are the same as the weekend. This will help with making bedtime so much easier! And hey, I made a printable for you (11x8.5) so that you can organize your own tot's schedule:

FREE PRINTABLE

Routine has been essential for our family. It creates a consistent pattern of habits so our boys know what's coming next. It's a stable environment for them, and frankly, for us too! Crating a schedule that works for your toddler will help immensely with those big toddler emotions they don't quite yet know how to verbalize and will make for a much easier, struggle-free bedtime.