Vitamins

My son loves vitamins. And I can see why. They look and taste like fruit snacks! They have come such a long way with vitamins. Back in the day, vitamins were to children like vitamins are to adults: something you have to swallow through (literally). Then they came out with the chewy kind (loved those as a kid) and now they're gummies!

Our favorite:
(And yes, you may have noticed that behind my son's vitamin bottle is a box of Girl Scout thin mints. He may think vitamins are a treat, but I know the truth.)

I seriously find myself acting like these are a treat because to my son, they are. So when he asks for a vitamin, I say, "Not until you finish eating your corn dog." Yeah it might seem like I have my priorities mixed up, but my son is lacking in the protein department and will use vitamins as an incentive to eat some types of protein (he still absolutely hates chicken... unless it's chicken nuggets). It makes me just want to hug that vitamin bottle. Okay, not really.

What about your kids? What kind of vitamins do they like?

What is the best: Part 2: To bring or not to bring?

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Our contributors are as well, and so are most of our readers. But not all.

So, if you are not of our faith, here's a quick lesson on our Sunday procedure. We attend three hours of church every Sunday. Our first hour is a meeting with the entire congregation. The second hour is broken into Sunday School classes (one for adults, one for teens, and a whole slew of classes for kids depending on their ages). The third hour is broken down again for teens and adults. Women go to one class, men to another. Teenage girls (12 - 18) attend one class, while teenage boys attend another. The children are still in the same class.

A child enters his/her first "class" at the tender age of 18 months. By this point they have social skills (if somewhat lacking), are able to understand and follow basic commands, and they have attention spans. Sort of. And yes, they still learn about Jesus at this age.

Husband and I had years and years to sit in Sacrament meeting (the first meeting with the congregation) and watch all the little families around us, and see how they get their kids to behave. AKA, be quiet. Some brought lots and lots of treats. Some brought toys of all shapes and sizes. Some brought a book or two. Some brought nothing.

It seems to me like the nothing category seems to be the option that keeps a child the most reverent. However! That's not always the case.

With us, S has to have at least a mild distraction. We bring a snack, a few books and usually a stuffed animal. I know that sounds like a lot, but it's really not. We've tried to bring toys, but he gets rowdy and we're distracted. But he's so young that if we had nothing, he'd get bored...and then he'd get naughty and loud and embarrassing. And not to mention we had to have enough to "entertain" him through three hours of classes because he wasn't old enough to go to Nursery (the children's class for babies.)

When I was a kid, my parents didn't bring anything. We just sat in the very front row and had to sit quietly. Occasionally we could have a pen and paper and write notes to each other, but not often.
Some families can bring lots of toys and coloring books and games, and their kids will sit quietly and play. Or they will feel like it's play time at home and they get loud.

Here's my question: What works best for your child or children? Did you have to change things once you had two or more kids?

Just curious.

Your Average Day

I've been thinking about the last post for almost the last month. With a new baby in the house, a lot of things have changed - especially my schedule (note that it's almost 1 a.m. as I'm writing this).

Not only has my schedule been thrown off kilter, but so has my toddler's. Before N was born, we had a fairly good routine down for dinner and bedtime. Now, he does everything he can to stay up longer and longer and longer. I'd like to ask another question of all you moms out there because you are full of great advice that you definitely can't get in parenting books because your experiences are your own and most of you haven't published...at least not that type of book. (Wink at Deborah, since she's having her book published later this month!)

My question is what is your schedule like on an average day? I'm trying to fit everything back into my life that fit before, and it's like I'm doing a puzzle with too many pieces. I know it'll take time for me to see how everything can fit, or at least pare it down, but I'd really like to know how you other moms do things.

So, what does your average day look like?