Cub Scouts Christmas Skits and Cookie Exchange

Oh what a night....hanging with a bunch of boys as they gear up for a sugar fest of "homemade cookies" was a blast especially since I was hanging with one of my girlfriend's husbands. Frank Sr is a trip. Reminder to self: always sit with Frank! He is so much fun and has enough energy for all of us.

All the Scout Dens performed a skit or sung. Our Den is lucky enough to have two amazing leaders. One is the more authoritative figure. He keeps the boys in line in a fun, often sarcastic way while the other, is more relaxed, very sweet and easy. It is the perfect balance.

Handsome's Den decided on a skit centered around Santa losing his reindeer and when he fears they were eaten by a polar bear spotted near by, he heads out searching and hoping they are OK. He and his elfs happen upon a house in the woods, There is a ruckus inside, when he knocks the reindeer open the door and shout surprise. They weren't eaten, they were throwing Santa a surprise party....I love how the story came to life with the boys tossing out ideas and they were finally tossed together by one of the Den leaders who is a writer. He showed it to the boys on his iPad which was pretty cool. All the boys now want one.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the amazing cookies but I can tell you the homemade only theme went right out the window. There were Entenmann cookies there, plus a bunch of other store bought names.  Nothing against store brought, Entenmanns are some of my favorites but why did I spent 2 hours baking 3 dozen cookies! Ugh!

It was a really good time!

The Reindeer screamed surprise and invited Santa into the party. Handsome looks like he has no idea what he is doing on that stage. Basically he kept hiking his pants up all night. His belt was on but he didn't make it tight enough. Poor kid was also tired. When you get up at 5:30 this is bound to happen.

After the skit the boys received their respective badges! Handsome was thrilled to get one. I wasn't since I had sent over 25 different things I thought for sure he would have quite a few. Asked his Den leader who I had to pay to get my son decorated. He told me he would explain it to me later. I am still waiting. Hey, if I need to grease the palm, I will.

Heading up to get his award. He was thrilled!

After this, Santa came in with a bag full of Box Derby cars that the boys need to do for January. Umm...have no idea what that is so I will be handing it off to the Teach. I take him to these things, he can do the project!

Breakfast With Santa

While out and about with the kids two weeks ago I ran into the Mayor who sweetly mentioned to the kids at least 5 times about a Breakfast With Santa and asked if they were going. I was well aware and had done it with the kids in the past but it is never worth the cost for us. The kids eat nothing and I get sick each time I but since they had answered her Yes when she kept saying are you going, I was strong armed into it. It is a good time; rushed but still nice considering I know about 85% of the folks there. There is something to be said about living in small towns. You always run into friends.

We went in and paid our $16.00 or whatever it was. ate, did some shopping, got our photo taken and then I snapped a few while the kids were talking to the guy in the red suit. He is really nice and has been the Santa around all month so the kids keep seeing the same guy. Really nice so there is little confusion for the younger children. While my kids know this isn't Santa, they know he can tell the "BIG" guy what they want so they did. It is always fun to listen in but I did allow them their private time too. Wish I could have had them wearing a wire so I could listen to what they were talking about but everyone deserves privacy, even my kids.

Princess Recovery By Jennifer L. Hartstein PsyD

Princess Recovery
Princess Recovery: A How-to Guide to Raising Strong, Empowered Girls Who Can Create Their Own Happily Ever Afters
By Jennifer L. Hartstein, PsyD
Published by Adams Media


Description
If 70% of girls believe they're not good enough and 62% feel insecure about themselves,
100% of Parents Need This Book.

At two, she only wears dresses because she's a princess like the ones on TV. At six, she wants the trendiest, scantily clad doll because all her friends have it. At eight, she's begging for makeup because she wants to be pretty like the teen superstars. Your daughter has every opportunity to be independent and confident -- if only you could help her tune out the rest of the world! But can you really deny your little girl dresses, cartoons, and friends until she is out of danger?
Child and adolescent psychologist Dr. Jennifer L. Hartstein has good news: You don't have to! Her unique program teaches you to curb the world's influence on your daughter -- without making her live in a bubble. In this debut book, Dr. Hartstein teaches you to:

• Encourage your daughter to pursue her passion with industry and intelligence
• Establish high but realistic expectations of your daughter and her future
• Provide context for problematic influences -- from the media to her peers
• Build a mutual trust that will withstand her adolescent growing pains

With this plan, you can bring balance, confidence, and self-sufficiency into your daughter's life while giving her a modern, vibrant childhood.

The 411: As the mom of a 6 year old spitfire and a Daisy leader to 10 girls I love reading books about creating balance and confidence in young girls. I worry about the preteens in my life who seem to be going through so much already. As a young girl, (and sometimes still do) confidence was something I completely lacked. There was no one protecting, monitoring or filtering out what I saw or heard. I see it now with so many of my female friends, family and more who ask young kids if they have a boyfriend, or girlfriend in school and the kids are only 4 - 12 years old. So many think it is cute  when young children have a crush or wear "sexy" clothes. Personally I find it repulsive. When Goddess was a toddler and anyone said she was pretty, I would follow with she is smart too! Little girls grow up hearing things like "pretty, sexy, thin, etc" and these words sit with them and if they are not these things or if they are, they feel THIS is what matters. Dr. Hartstein's method doesn't have to be followed to a T but it is a great place to start.

Raising a smart, strong, empowered girl starts with what she is learning at home. Check yourself and make sure you are sending the most positive message. Evaluate your own morals. Girls grow up way to fast.

I love the age appropriate break down in each section too. From ages 2-3, 4-5, 6-8 you can help your daughters create a strong sense of self which will enable them to make the right decisions that will help them the rest of their lives.

My hope for Goddess is that she keeps your spirit. She is funny and doesn't conform. She knows what it means to have a good heart, to help people, and she is confident in her mastered abilities. However, as a people pleaser she is often hurt by words like, "I don't like you," "You are not my friend," "You are stupid", the annoying things other kids say when they don't have others telling them how to be a nice person. I simply ask her, "Are you stupid?" or "do they talk to you?" When she says No or yes respectively I remind her that words only hurt us if we let them. If you know you are NOT those things or Don't do those things, ignore them.

I have a long way to go to make sure that Goddess comes out empowered on the other side. I can only pray that I am doing right by her. Hopefully by spending time with her and allowing her to be herself, while filtering out the things she doesn't need to know or see, plus the help of Princess Recovery she will be a strong, wonderful woman who doesn't NEED to feel validated by others. I can only pray.

My daughter is my princess but I hope she grows up knowing she can still wear a tiara if she wants under her firefighter uniform if that is what she chooses to be.

Let your girls be who they are going to be, but lead the way with good healthy morals that teach her compassion, responsibility, appreciation of inner beauty over outer beauty!

Author Bio
Jennifer L. Hartstein, PsyD, author of Princess Recovery: A How-To Guide to Raising Strong, Empowered Girls Who Can Create Their Own Happily Ever Afters, a child and adolescent psychologist, is a regular correspondent for The Early Show. She has also appeared on Fox News, The Today Show, and Headline News. Dr. Hartstein uses a variety of treatment approaches that promote strong self-awareness, distress tolerance, and acceptance. She lives in New York City.
For more information please visit http://www.drjen.com/
Find the author on Facebook and Twitter 

Purchase Princess Recovery:

The Daisys Do Some Day Trips

Well in this case they do night trips...we meet at 6:30 p.m. Me and my fearless co-leader took our Daisy's to the Police Station and Fire House earlier this month. Our Daisy's are a fun troop of girls including my own but I love all of these girls especially the ones I have known for the past three years who were in Goddess' preschool class.

They are so sweet and funny and as much as I didn't want to take on one more thing, being with my 10 girls is a fun part of my week.

We are trying to condense two years into one as these girls are on a mission to be Brownies next year. The leader last year fizzled out and didn't really do anything to keep the group progressing. We are confident that our girls will move forward with all the accomplishments they need.

Two days of trips was hard to fit into this already busy month but so worth it. Our Police and Fire Department are an amazing group. We see them often as they come to the school for many things and host the town on Fire Prevention. They also star in a lot of our parades and such so we know a lot of them by name which makes it all the more personal as we headed in with our group.

Goddess and the other girls were excited and asked A LOT of questions. Thankfully these guys are patient because I would have lost it half way through if I were the one speaking to the group.

The girls loved being fingerprinted. I took a photo of all the girls getting their fingers done. Goddess was last and at this point my girls were moving into the next room so I never got a shot of her facing the camera. 

Their favorite part was being put in the prison cell. The moms and I were creeped out by the cell but the girls loved being in there. Can you see how happy they all are? A little too happy if you ask me.

Here is my Goddess in a bullet proof vest. They are lighter than you would think.

We are going to make copies of the pictures for our Police Department and have the girls sign a card for the guys time. They really are great guys.

Goddess looks bored in the middle but trust me she was probably as worried as I was about someone else holding my Canon 50D! God help them.

The next day we headed to the fire house to meet another group of guys.  Our girls again were relentless with their questions. The guys went over the parts of each truck and all the components on them. It was quite detailed and way too much information but the girls were not bored one bit as the guys just kept answering.

They girls each got to sit in the driver seat for a photo op. Here is my boo-boo...

After that we took a shot of them in the back of the truck. My hope is to present each girl with her own photo album at the end of the year as a way to remember her year as a Daisy. Hopefully it doesn't cost me too much. It's like a where's Waldo shot. Can you find Goddess?

Next the guys did what they do every time they go to the school. They put on a uniform as the kids watch. Statistics show that many children are afraid of the firefighters coming through the smoky house with the strange breathing sound and hide. Only to parish in a fire hiding from the person who could have saved them. The girls had a lot of questions about the suit.

After he was suited up, the firefighters explained about the special alarm that tells other firefighters where one of their own is if God forbid they get injured or collapses in a fire. If the firefighter doesn't move an alarm will go off. To show how this works, Firefighter John threw himself on the ground and didn't move. The alarm does get very loud, we all held our ears.

After that, we asked him to pose with our girls. Mine was rather interested in the firefighter next to her, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

When it was over, a firefighter opened the door (one of the dads of a Daisy) and let the girls pose by the truck. Can you tell they were freezing? It wa-assss brrrr cold!

All in all, our girls and our parents had a great time! Loved every minute.

It's The Little Things...

Having kids is one of the best parts of my life. That, my husband, good friends, a balanced outlook and the air I breathe.

This year while Teach and Goddess were putting up the holiday decorations outside they found a huge hole from mice in our blow up decorations. Ugh...just what we need, another cost for the season. I my head, I thought...OK..well this year, no blow ups. We don't need the additional expense.

Nope, Teach is a good dad and when he promises, he usually comes through....

He headed out and picked up an animated snow globe, the kind with snow that moves around inside.

He started putting it up as I headed to the bus stop to pick up the kids. We walked back and they noticed our neighbors set up...ooohhhhing and ahhhing. I couldn't wait for them to notice ours so I said, "I see something else that is pretty cool or something like that."

They came running up to the house, shouting, "that is so cool!" Loved it.


After dark we headed outside as a family to see how it looked. Kids are easy, we don't have a lot of lights and stuff, but they LOVE it and that is all we care about.

I love this picture of Goddess with the elf hat and her missing bottom teeth...oh yeah...my baby lost two teeth but I have been too busy to write about it. Makes me crazy.

Here she is pointing at the house telling Handsome to look at it...because he was busy running around. Crazy that in December we were outside without coats. In fact, Handsome has his PJs on because that is how he rolls. He comes home and changes right away where Goddess is in her clothes until the very end.

Believe

Christmas Decorations are one of my favorite things to take photos of next to my children.

Color Carnival Sunday #11

WOW...is it really Tuesday? I haven't turned on the computer since Thursday night, giving myself a loooong, well deserved break.

This week, my submission is from a place called The Ice Caverns in New Jersey. I love it here.

Because God Forbid She Lets Him Take A Photo Alone

Handsome asked for his photo with the Grinch to be taken. His teacher sent him home with the book and the stuffed doll. He needed to write about what he did with the Grinch in a universal journal that the class shares. He was so excited to read what his friends did with the Grinch and since the Grinch goes back to school to move onto the next child he really wanted some photos.

Goddess just couldn't control herself. I had to crop her out of every photo! Except these.

She is completely nuts

Can You Believe It's Almost Here?

Handsome and the Grinch!

This week is flying by.
I started a data entry job on Monday. It is turning into a little more than data entry. Don't think they really know what they want me to do. Hopefully they figure it out eventually. Interesting having them talk about me as if I am not there. They are all very nice thankfully which makes taking it easier. Working in an office was the last thing I ever wanted to do again. It is how I spent almost all of my life before having my kids and was never pleasant. Sitting at a desk with chatty woman is never a good thing for me. I prefer the quiet, non drama of being alone at home working from my computer but $12.00 an hour is $12.00 an hour.

It feels strange to start a job (especially one I didn't see coming) the week before Christmas. There is so much to do but so far it has been accommodating.

No work today which means, I will spend much of the day preparing for the next week and a half. The kids will be home starting tomorrow so all holiday stuff HAS to be done.

3 more presents to wrap. This is the first year they will not be even. I started out making sure that they have exactly the same amount of gifts but over the last week, some have been added and I have a feeling they are unbalanced. Is anyone else like this? You need to have the numbers the same with your kids even though one of their gifts costs so much more than the other.

I could buy Goddess so much more since she never asks for $39+ electronic games. The items on her list are usually more in the $10.99 - $12.00 range and so much larger than a Wii game. Started putting Handsome's stuff in bigger boxes just so it looks like more. Kids are so funny. He rips through his stuff in record time just oohhhing and ahhiing...while she opens slowly, looks at it, shows us the item, looks at it again and then has to be told to get her next gift. He is done almost 15 minutes before her and looks at her like, "wait a minute, you have more than me!"

Handsome also is an early bird. We have never opened gifts after the 7:00 a.m. hour. We are usually done before that. His normal wake up time is a few minutes after 6:00 a.m. but on Christmas his present to us is usually waking before 5:00. Hooray. This year we told him to hold off until 7:00 but when I hear him awake, I can't sleep. Now that he is older, he walks into the living room and goes through the gifts spoiling our pleasure of seeing him see his stuff! My parents used to make us wait on the stairs and not go down until they were awake. They went down before us to turn on the Christmas Tree lights, music and get the camera ready. Being such good kids we would never have thought of going against them. Not my kids. No respect!

2 more days and I can't wait. I am so excited to see their reaction to some of their items this year. Hopefully they will be as happy as I am expecting.

How do you do Christmas Morning?

What's Your Number On DVD January 10th1

An Outrageous Romantic Comedy Arriving on Blu-ray and DVD January 10 as an All-New Unrated Ex-tended Cut

Ring in the New Year with a fresh and funny tale about dating, relationships and life as Anna Faris (Scary Movie Franchise, The House Bunny) and Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Captain America) come together in a hilarious quest for “the one” in WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER? Unrated Ex-tended Cut, debuting on Blu-ray and DVD January 10 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

After reading a magazine article that insists if a woman has slept with at least 20 people that they have already missed Mr. Right, marketing executive Ally Darling (Anna Faris) begins to panic, thinking that she will be alone forever. With the help of her hunky new neighbor (Chris Evans), Ally starts tracking down all her ex-boyfriends, hoping to find her real true love while she helps him escape his latest fling. Hilarious hijinks and adventure ensues as Ally goes on her wild search for the best “ex” of her life, only to find what she is looking has been right in front of her all along.

Featuring hysterical supporting performances from Chris Pratt (Moneyball, “Parks and Recreation”), Joel McHale (“The Soup,” “Community”) and Andy Samberg (“Saturday Night Live,” Hot Rod), WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER? is based on the book “20 times a Lady” by Karen Bosnak and will be available as a Blu-ray combo pack and single disc DVD. Flaunting an unrated extended cut of the film and loaded with laugh-out-loud bonus material including new expanded flashback dates and gag reel, the Blu-ray combo pack and single disc DVD will be available for an average retail price of $29.99 and $19.99 respectively. Prebook is December 14.

WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER? Special Features
●	Extended Cut of Movie
●	Extended Flashback Dates and deleted scenes
●	Gag Reel

About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globally for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce throughout the world.

###

Follow Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment on Twitter @FoxHomeEnt

To Purchase:

The World's Oldest Joke Book - Perfect Stocking Stuffer Idea

Still looking for that special stocking stuffer for the adult in your life? How about The World's Oldest Joke Book by Dan Crompton.

My father-in-law is the perfect candidate for this book. His jokes are legendary for being the absolute worst. We even call other family member's bad jokes, "A Peno`. Peno has always been one of my favorites in my husband's family. He is just too silly not to love. He cracks up easily and especially when telling his own joke. In fact, some of the jokes may have come out of his mouth in the 20 years I have known him.

Sailor: Where’s the wind coming from today?
Captain: Onions and cabbages.

Apparently farting has been funny for a very long time. Well, at least since the fourth century when Philogelos was written by the ancient Greeks.

In the recently released, The World’s Oldest Joke Book readers will find hundreds of filthy ancient quips translated from what historians believe is the oldest joke book in the world.

From absurd situations, to farting and foolishness, The World’s Oldest Joke Book contains a wealth of jokes, some of which still hit the mark and some that will have you groaning with laughter (even if it is because they’re so bad, they’re good). Among these ancient gems you will find:

An idiot hears that a crow can live for up to 200 years,

So he buys one to see if it’s true.

An Abderite meets a eunuch who’s chatting with a woman, and asks him if this is his wife. When he’s told the eunuchs can’t have wives, the Abderite says, “My mistake-it must be your daughter.”

With over 200 wisecracks and absurd one-liners, The World’s Oldest Joke Book will prove beyond doubt that when it comes to witty repartee, humankind will never be able to top “Yeah? Well, you smell.” 

The perfect gift for the men in our lives who tell terrible jokes!

This is a fun book to read out loud at a gathering. Someone is sure to laugh. Pass the book around, sometimes it is the delivery and not the words. Stocking stuffers should always be under $10.00 and this one is. Happy reading!

To purchase:

Blue Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday, + Extra

I was heading into a Merchants Guild Meeting (my first for my company) and had to show you the beauty. The only thing that would have made it better is if there was Christmas Carols playing and a few snow drops. The food was amazing and I wish I could have taken photos inside but people were enjoying quiets meals and once I headed upstairs the meeting got started right away. 

This place has changed hands so many times. Hopefully these kind folks stay open a lot longer. They have amazing food and tried Doc's Pumpkin Spice, Hard Cider, (INCREDIBLE) which I have been craving ever since. Seriously need to get my hands on a bottle or at least head back there for a drink.

Isn't their porch decorations adorable? Love this...Looks like someone is ready for a nice cup of hot chocolate and a read!

Color Carnival Sunday #10

Here is my colorful submission for this week.

Here are some goodies from a local bakery. This place smelled awesome.

Can't wait to see what you post.

Post your colorful pictures and link up to this cheery meme.

A Year Ago

A year ago I was sitting in the hospital with a tube down my throat, a catheter and three IV's. I was alone except for a very busy nursing staff.

A year ago, I missed my kids and husband terribly and wanted in the worst way to be home.

A year ago, I prayed that I would heal fast.

A year ago, my life was scary.

A year ago, wasn't that long ago but thankfully, it it behind me.

Lifetime Double Feature

The 411:
These movies are good if you love Christmas movies and if you are fan of Lifetime Movies. Maybe not in my top 20 Christmas movie list but definitely movies I would watch again.

In Christmas in Paradise, we meet two families celebrating the Christmas Holiday while taking a cruise into the Caribbean. One family is without a father and the other without a mother. The parental units are missing for different reasons; one has passed away and the other has abandoned the family.

Each family is having a difficult time and when they end up befriending each other, the families share a sense of healing and understanding. Eureka's Colin Ferguson and the beautiful Charlotte Ross from Glee are the struggling single parents and they both play their roles very subdued allowing the children to shine. Colin Ferguson spends most of his time making "I am so ashamed of you" and "Please let me help you faces."  The children actors are talented and I love all the hocky singing and prancing about. I even love the rebellious daughter who is doing anything to show how much she doesn't care and the precocious younger sister who seems to have all the answers. Very cute movie. I love happy endings.


Deck the Halls stars Gabrielle Carteris of 90210 fame and a new face for me who is complete eye candy, Steve Bacic.

This is about a widowed woman named Holly who moves back to assist her father's toy company with her 8 year old son, Ben.  As the CFO she is trying to wrangle the over spending by her father's favorite employee Nick. Nick has been hired to boost sales and with his swarm of midget friends and reindeer pets, Ben believes he has finally met Santa. After being set up by her son Ben who writes emails to her from a secret admirer, she and Nick get to know each other a little better. As her son gets closer to Nick, she reluctantly asks him to distance himself knowing that Nick will be leaving in December. When Ben's dog is hurt, Nick promises them everything will be OK. Is Nick Santa? Ummm...if so, he is the cutest Santa ever!

My only problem with the movie is that while Ben asks Santa for his father back, he is still trying to set up his mom. Umm...strange 8 year old.

This is an adorable movie about believing and miracles.

Tuesday Takes - Holiday Decorations

Tuesday Takes

We decorate earlier than we used to. Kids tend to do that to you. Their excitement ignites something inside you and you want to make it as perfect and special as possible for them.

My husband's decorations get better each year as he purchases more things for the front of the house. We lost our inflatables over the season due to mice eating huge holes in them. I hope those little bastards are warm considering they forced Teach to spend money but we do love our new inflatable.

Teach and Goddess put these up two weeks ago and I love driving up to the house and seeing them especially knowing that my husband and his Daddy's girl helped did it together.

I think we are missing a nice, big wreath over the door.

Can't Stop Thinking About It!

Last year at this time I was getting ready to go into surgery for a problem with my intestine. It was one of  the most stressful, scary times in my life and my anxiety was at an all time high.

Preparing to leave my family to have major surgery right before the holidays made me so sad and I remember being stressed about not being home for Christmas.  It was the most important thing to me. I just had to be home. I remember saying, please Lord, let me not spend Christmas in the hospital.

I went in on the 14th which was the same day as the kids Christmas Concert. In pre op, Teach stayed with me until the last moment. I NEEDED him to go to the school and take video of the kids since I couldn't be there. I NEEDED to see it. Knowing I was going into surgery and had no one waiting for me at the hospital made me anxious too.

The whole fiasco was such a trying time in my life and at such a memorable time of the year that it weighs heavy on me. Hopefully it goes away with every passing year but for now, I am watching the calendar and the clock remember what I was doing this time last year.

To read about the whole thing....go here


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Ruby Tuesday - Holiday Picture Outtakes

The other I asked the kids to put on their selected holiday clothes and get next to the tree for our annual Christmas Card photo session.

I wasn't feeling it, it was after homework and that is never good. Goddess is the worst homework worker ever! Takes sometimes 2 hours to do 15 minutes of work. She sucks! Usually everything is too hard or she hides under the table saying she doesn't know. Not sure what she has been doing in school since 3 years of age but she doesn't seem to know anything. Then when you finally are at your wits end. She comes through. She is obviously playing with us but ughhhhh.....it takes everything not to start swinging.

The kids ran and put on their Christmas outfits and we proceeded.

Here are some that have not made the cut and there were too many of those.

Handsome's face....umm...yeah...I don't have words. Nevermind, the crazy, spastic hands. What the heck?

This would have been OK but Goddess was doing some move as I shot. I think it was a freeze dance or maybe she had an itch but whatever it was, she moved and we lost the shot. Handsome biting is lip is cute to me. I would have used it.

Yeahh....nooooo...not sure where this pose came from but it will never be developed.

Handsome's crazy moves make me believe he recently watched someone bowing on stage. Not sure where this move came from but it will not ever be developed either. Especially with the weird shadows under his throat.

Handsome is practicing his hitch hiking pose I assume. That or he is saying, take my sister, please!

This one could have worked if Handsome had just looked at me. I kept saying "look at the camera!" He kept saying, "I am!" Ugh...not just with your face, with your eyes child! Grr....

Chick-Fil A Cow Watches Giveaway

The Cow Watches are here! Now in every Chick-fil-A Kid’s Meals you will get a really fun, cool Cow Watch.

Beside looking fun and colorful, the watches have another job intended. They want you to take time from your very busy holiday season to take some time to spend together as a family. Making the most of your quality time with your loved ones is important to the stress filled holiday. .

The Cow Watch come in assortment of 15 minutes of engaging family activities and the PDF activity sheets which you can print out enhance your family time.

Thanks to Chick-Fil-A I have a family fun giveaway for my readers that I am thrilled to host!

I Said NO! by Zack & Kimberly King

Helping kids set healthy boundaries for their private parts can be a daunting and awkward task for parents, counselors and educators. Written from a kid s point of view, I Said No! makes this task a lot easier.

To help Zack cope with a real-life experience he had with a friend, he and his mom wrote a book to help prepare other kids to deal with a range of problematic situations. I Said No! uses kid-friendly language and illustrations to help parents and concerned adults give kids guidance they can understand, practice and use.

Using a simple, direct, decidedly non-icky approach that doesn't dumb down the issues involved, as well as an easy-to-use system to help kids rehearse and remember appropriate responses to help keep them safe, I Said No! covers a variety of topics, including:

• What is appropriate and with whom.
• How to deal with inappropriate behavior, bribes and threats.
• When and where to go for help, and what to do if the people you are turning to for help don't listen.
• Feelings of guilt and shame.

 

Perfect for teaching about inappropriate touching

Zack King came home from a sleepover one day with a problem. He’d had a not so good real life experience with a “friend”.

In order to help him understand and cope with his feelings, his mother Kimberley and Zack together talked with counselors, therapists and other parents and then wrote a book about what they learned.

In I Said No! they share what they learned about how kids can deal with the problems and challenging situations associated with inappropriate touching.

Helping kids set healthy boundaries for their private parts can be a daunting and awkward task for parents, teachers, and counselors.

Written from a kid’s point of view, I Said No! makes this task a lot easier.  I Said No! uses kid-friendly language, a simple mnemonic, and engaging illustrations by experienced child book illustrator Sue Rama to help parents and concerned adults give kids guidance they can understand, practice and use.  The book covers the most important issues in a straightforward and easy to understand manner. Here are some sample pages from the book:

 I Said No! helps kids learn what are private body parts, as well as the difference between good touching and bad touching, and people they can trust and people 

The 411:
As a child of molestation by a family member, this is something I am very passionate about. I never want any other child to suffer like I did. The shame, confusion and guilt I felt as a child and now anger I feel as an adult toward this, is something I pray my children never ever feel.

My children are 6 and 8 years old and while we always said things like, "your privates are private" and "no one should see or touch your privates" we never went further and I trust no one so they are never alone with anyone but I knew that as they get more involved with school and extra curricular activities this should be discussed. Over the summer when we had some peers out, there was a child who asked my son to "sign" his butt. My kids thought it was funny. I did not! It made me feel nauseous and worried.   It was then that we upped the conversations a little pulling in my son's den leader to give a lecture to the boys about inappropriate touching.

I Said, No by Zack and Kimberly King helped me talk more about this with my children in a non scary way.  The book discusses the a green and red flag system. Green flags are your caregivers like your parents and and doctors who sometimes will see your privates. "Your doctor will examine your privates only if mom or dad are in the room, to make sure all parts of your body are healthy.  When you are younger, your parents or caregivers will clean your bottom and bath you because you are too young to do this yourself. These are green flag people.

Your red flag people are the ones who make you feel:
upset
uncomfortable
lonely
sad
yucky
etc.

The book than goes on to explain various ways you would want to throw up a red flag.

bribing
touching
threatening
etc.

This is a great system and a great way to begin the process of explaining to young children one of the dangers they may encounter in their lives. Sexual predators aren't always mean, old, ugly, strangers. Sometimes they are nice, neighborly, friendly or even family.

I highly recommend this book for any one with children.

Depending on your child, their age and comprehension this is a great start. Was able to ask open ended questions to my children and give them information that we will go over again and again. My 6 year old was a little bored with some of the repetitiveness but I believe this to be a great starting place for parents to broach the subject of sexual predators without being too scary.

To Purchase:



Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.