Taming the Morning Routine! This is how I established the Morning Routine!
Hi, it’s Marvin. I’ll tell you how my household tamed the morning routine! They brought me into the house! That’s how!
If it weren’t for me, my people would still be in bed! From the first morning I was in the house, I knew that this family needed some intervention on how to deal with the morning chaos. And that’s when I started my little morning routine.
Back to School Mornings – 5 Easy Steps to Calming the Storm
When school starts back after the summer, the morning routine can be very demanding and stressful for the whole family. Most households are chaotic from the moment they wake the kids to the moment they drop them off at daycare or wave good-bye to them on the bus.
Do you often think, “OMG, get me out of here!”?
If your house is anything like mine used to be, mornings were one of the most stressful times of the day. There was bickering, fighting, and sometimes even crying. Can you relate?
Back to School?? What is Back to School?
Hi it’s Marvin again! Can you explain “Back to School” to me? Being a dog I am not sure what all the excitement is all about. I watch all the running around, taking clothes out of the closet. Some clothes go back into the closet and some clothes are put into bags and taken to the car!
Then new bags are brought back into the house in exchange for the other ones that were taken out! I’m confused, what is the point of all the fuss?
New pencils, crayons, paper and I think it’s called glue, are all brought into the house in bags then sorted and put into back packs?
Food is prepared and put into lunch boxes (and I don’t even get a chance to taste the food before it’s packed!) And then this food isn’t even eaten till the next day!! I mean, WHY?!
Going Back to School – 7 Tips for Getting Your Child Ready to Go Back to School
It’s that time of the year, again. The first day of school is just around the corner! Where did the summer go? Do you have the list of back to school supplies bought? Are your kids groaning on the outside? Just realize they are most likely excited (and a little bit nervous) on the inside with the thought of going back.
Now you need to get everyone back into the school year routine. How do you accomplish that? Where do you start? Here are some ideas that have worked well for our family for you to test out. After you read this let us know how they work for you and you can add your ideas as well.
- A couple of weeks before school starts get the whole family together and create a plan. Create a list of the family’s daily and weekly activities. List things like homework, after school sports and lessons. Now, create a calendar from your list. Make sure the kids are involved with the scheduling, the more input the kids have in their schedule, the more interest they will have to see it successful. Balance the schedule out so so you include time for family fun as well as homework and sports etc. Once the schedule is set, be vigilant for a few weeks to set routine and work out the bugs.
- Ask each child to pick one or two extra curricular activities to enjoy outside of school. Schedule these activities in to the calendar, keeping homework a priority. REMEMBER…any “must see” TV shows can now be recorded and watched later in the evening, week or weekend. (What did we do before TiVo?)
- Make homework a priority. Decide with your kids where and what time they will complete their homework. The “homework” area could be the kitchen or dinning room table, the kid’s room or the family den. Set up the “homework” area with supplies like paper, pencils, crayons etc. Having supplies on hand will ensure homework will be completed successfully. to continue reading or to comment
Marvin’s Adventurous Road Trip…Part ll
Attack of the Angry Skunk!!!
Hi Everyone; it’s Marvin with an exciting short adventure story to share! Have you ever seen a skunk? Or even smelt one?
Well I am here to say that you do not want to have the experience of smelling one. You see, skunks do not live where I used to live. So when Kathryn and I were camping, I discovered what a skunk looks like, sounds like and smells like!
We were sitting around the campfire late one night. Kathryn and Dad were chatting with some friends, when all of a sudden Dad tells everyone to sit still, not to move and to be very quiet! I looked over towards the camper and out from under it, walks a black and white cat. Or at least my first thought was cat! Up to this point I have never seen a skunk. Of course my first instinct was to chase the cat. No, Kathryn grabbed me and told me that it wasn’t a cat and that I was better off just watching the skunk walk away. I whined and whimpered!
Family Vacation 2011…Part ll
With the Internet these days, all it takes is a little research and you can find lots of family oriented destinations. Just in your back yard one can find campgrounds with swimming pools, playgrounds, hiking and bike trails and golf.
Where we are staying in the East Kootenay’s, our campground offers all that and more. We have a river close by that offers the avid fisherman the opportunity to teach their fisher “child” how to fish. Not to mention the wonderful hiking trail along the river where one can find private spots to enjoy a quiet moment on sandy beaches building sand castles
Not far away is access to a paved biking/hiking trail; that is easy for the whole family to enjoy. The scenery is breath taking and the photo opportunities abound with wild life and wild flowers. Our little group, ages ranging from three to adult (the little one road in luxury in a ride along cart), biked 11kms before we forced ourselves to turn back! We were so wrapped up in our adventure, we lost track of time. Remember to take along snacks and lots of water!
Marvin’s Adventurous Road Trip!
Hi everyone, its Marvin. I am excited to be telling you about my road trip with my family. You know even thou I am a dog I think I can tell what Kathryn is up too.
When she pulls out her suitcase and starts to put clothes into it, I get depressed and worry that she is leaving and I will have to stay while she goes on an adventure without me! I lie on her bed beside her suitcase and give her my “puppy dog eyes” in the hopes that she will take me along on the adventure.
This time she started packing lots of stuff and I mean there were boxes and bags everywhere! But none of it was Hibou’s things or mine. What is Kathryn doing?!
Then she did a horrible thing! She made Hibou and I go into the back yard. From the fence we watched as Kathryn and the family packed the truck. All those boxes and bags and bikes and golf clubs and suitcases all were packed into the truck. Until the truck was full! Where are my things?!
Family Road Trip Adventure 2011!!
WooHoo! We are on our way! RV road trip to visit friends and family! Now is the time I take my own advise on “family vacations”
Passports? Check!
Expectations for the trip? To have fun, relaxation and visiting with family and friends? Check!
Kids and involving them in making the plans? Check! Ok, my kids are grown and out of the house and yet I still involve them in my travel plans. I talk to them about where we are going, how long we will be gone and that they are welcome to join us at any point in our travels: especially during a RV road trip. Which, I am happy to say; one of our kids will be joining us on this road trip!
5 Reasons to Give Your Kids an Allowance
Would you prefer to listen to the blog post? If yes, click the player below.
What will assigning chores teach my child? What will giving an allowance teach my child? Do I link chores and allowance? What chores can I assign to my children? How much do I give my child for an allowance? These are all questions many parents ask themselves. What we can do as parents is, seek out advise, research and read: then make an educated guess.
What will assigning chores teach my children? The life lessons a child learns from doing assigned chores are independence, responsibility, organization, and a sense of contributing to the family unit. They gain the feeling of accomplishment when they complete their task. They learn how to organize their schedule and the art of negotiating to accommodate their personal commitments. Being proud of the contribution they make to the family unit will certainly transfer into contributing to the community.
8 Facts about Me!…Marvin of MarvinDiscovers
I found Kathryn and her family when they came to the pet store where I lived in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. There they stood, looking at my brother’s and sisters and me. Everyone was so noisy, fighting for attention. I just sat still, quiet and wagged my tail and looked straight at Kathryn hoping that I could win her heart! And, it worked, she scooped me up, showed me to her husband and the deal was sealed!
My birthday is on June 5; I was born in 2005. I celebrated my fifth birthday with Hibou and my family. We played in the park, had cake and ice cream. Oh… I can’t forget, opened gifts! I love to tear the wrapping paper!
