Ways To Start Your Child's Day Off Right

I want to get my 3rd grader off and running in the mornings with a good energetic start. I started to think about his day. As a past teacher, I know that once the kids arrived in my classroom, I had things waiting for them on their desk to start right away. These assignments are called "Morning Work". They are usually required to be completed and turned in soon after they begin. The morning work sometimes includes copying things down from the board and then transferring that information back to their paper. So the skill of finding the item in one location then remembering it to then transfer that item to the paper without loosing their place at either location can require lots of concentration for the elementary aged child. If my child has to do required work as soon as he walks into the classroom I want to make sure he has had a good start to his morning.

He needs time to wake up and become alert, get dressed, eat breakfast, get some love from us and feel secure and not pushed off from us for the whole day. We have had days that we have hit the snooze and wake in a panic. We try very much to stay calm and not communicate angry sounds that are actually frustration at ourselves for sleeping in too late to give the morning a good start, that is hard to do sometimes. When our oldest started school we had a newborn at our house. We started planning the night before and set out the cereal, bowl, napkin and spoon on the table. We also made sure the night before that everything was in the backpack including snacks and money which was placed by the back door. We picked out the clothes for the next day and made sure shoes were near the door as well. Just these few plan ahead steps made the mornings run so much more smoothly. So I am always looking for more ways to get the day starting off right for him.

When I came across this information it really made breakfast time easier to balance and start his day off with a brain boosting way.

I hope this helps you as well.

10 Balanced Breakfasts

An ideal, nutritious breakfast contains a balance of complex carbohydrates and protein. Think grains, plus dairy, plus fruits. Examples of balanced breakfasts are:

1. granola cereal, yogurt, a sliced apple
2. scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice
3. veggie omelet, bran muffin, fruit with yogurt
4. whole-grain pancakes or waffles topped with berries and/or yogurt, milk
5. whole-wheat zucchini pancakes topped with fruit, milk
6. french toast topped with fruit, orange juice or milk
7. low-fat cheese melted on toast with a piece of fruit
8. low-fat cream cheese on a whole-grain bagel, orange juice
9. peanut butter and banana slices on an english muffin, milk
10. For a breakfast-on-the-run smoothie, see "School-Ade."

Of course, it's what you eat not what you say that impresses a child most. By treating yourself to a healthy breakfast, you model to your children that eating a healthy breakfast gives the whole family a smart nutritional start.

School Time Is Such A Rush

School-Ade: A Breakfast-On-The-Run Smoothie

Anytime is a good time to get your child ready for the SCHOOL-ADE advantage. Here is a Dr. Sears family recipe for a smoothie we give our children and ourselves for a quick and nutritious breakfast as they are hurrying off to school and we are rushing off to work.*

• 3 cups milk or soy beverage
• 11/2 cups plain nonfat yogurt
• 1-2 servings Juice Plus+® Complete or similar multinutrient supplement
• one banana
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup each of your favorite fruit, frozen (e.g., organic strawberries, papaya, mango)
• 2 tbsp. flax oil or 1/2 cup flaxseed meal
• 4 ounces tofu
• 2 tbsp. peanut butter (optional)
• 1 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 avocado

Combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth. Serve immediately after blending while the mixture still has a bubbly milkshake-like consistency

There are many tasty and healthy recipes included in The Family Nutrition Book.
Click here to learn more.

Back to School

Just who came up with the idea that at age 6 children should be forced to go to school? I just think that those people are crazy people....crazy I say!

This year marks 6 years of my child being at a school. We started him when he was 2, for some strange reason, and now he is going to be a 3rd grader, and it's just wrong.

Ok, so I get this way every year. I miss him before the month of July is flipped to on the calender. Sigh... I have always wanted the best for him and we paid tuition when he was 2 so he could go to an incredible Montessori school.

This week school starts and will continue until May. Such a long time to be away from my sweet kid... and for him to be away from his momma!

I have to get used to the live capture and release programs for moms. sigh.

He, on the other hand, is so excited that when he found his desk he also had his school supplies that we purchased from the school last year so they were all waiting in his desk for him. He spent a few minutes organizing his supplies. He spent more time sharpening his pencils...he is set for the new year, let me tell you! sigh....

He and I were leaving the school and he said that he knows this is going to be a great year... sigh....

letting go...who said that is a good thing? Hugging and not letting go feels better. :) sigh....

The boy loves to learn and school fits his need perfectly. sigh... sniff... he's all grown up...

International Literacy Day on My Birthday!!

Character

When I was single I was really careful to date people with character. I think that it's important to look at someone closely for a while and really get to know them. Dating several people at a time, to me, was a great way to meet lots people and see the characteristics in guys while seeing if I would like to know one of them better.

I was determined to marry a guy who was, of course, cute, funny, talented and just a bit different from the others whom I had dated in the past. Just who had I dated in the past? I dated the offspring from my families circle who were churched, wealthy and politically raised. All things that promised a great future and the nod from my circle. I was not against getting the nod from the circle, it just seemed to be a limited circle. Many of those men found beautiful brides and live happily ever after...I just wanted someone that I could claim on my own.

As I grew up in my circle, I was good friends with college guys who were adorable and admiring but just didn't have that certain something that made me want to have a relationship with them, something was lacking in their character. I wanted someone different. Someone quirky, a bit wacky, and a whole lot adorable. Someone soft and walked with a certain confidence who wanted to work together as a team. Someone with so much character that it would be very hard to walk a day in his shoes.

Did I ever snag a guy with character! He was literally hot, a real tiger...gggrrrrrrrrrr!!

I love you Allan.

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First Beach Vacation for Baby Boy

If you have ever planned a week long beach vacation you know that lots of high hopes about the weather being just right while you are there starts about when you pay the deposit and place the dates in pen on your calender. You get the people at church to pray with you about the weather and you check the weather channel's week outlook everyday leading up to your arrival date.

I checked my iphone weather application the day of our travel and the ONLY day that was to be sunny was the actual travel day and it was about 6pm at the time. sigh....

But guess what? The weather was perfect! We had our rain showers at night when we were all tucked in our beds and it made sleeping extra great!

The only stormy weather we had was when we attempted to take our toddler to the beach. Daily we packed everything imaginable that we all four might need while at the beach from flip flops and Crocs to sand buckets, beach towels, sunscreen in all numbers of protections and hydrating icy cold liquids in various choices. But once we made our first step onto the snowy white soft sandy beach our toddler, who by the way knows very few sentences screams, "ALL DONE".... not once mind you but 77 times!

It took until the next to the last day of our week long beach trip and several beaches until he got into the idea of sand and surf. THEN he could not get enough and didn't want to leave.

We all had a ball!