With both of my pregnancies, morning sickness was a nightmare. I didn’t just get it in the morning or in my first trimester, I got it all day everyday until I was into my third trimester. With my son, I was able to take Zofran (perscribed by my doctor) to help with the morning sickness, but with my second that didn’t even help. So I was … Continue reading Morning Sickness Remedies
-Baltic amber necklaces (you can get them made with a magnetic clasp so they aren’t going to strangle the baby). the amber has succinic acid in it, which is a natural pain reliever. the heat of your skin warms the amber and releases the succinic acid, which absorbs through your skin. it works REALLY well – my kids each had one when they were babies, and … Continue reading This Works for Me: Teething
Choose your fights. Ask yourself if the issue at hand is worth the argument. If not, drop the issue. Have family conferences where joint decisions can be made. Discuss with your teen what the consequences should be for breaking any family rules. A great opportunity to communicate with your teenager is when you are alone in the car. There isn’t any glaring eye contact; there are … Continue reading Tips from Moms on Teenagers
Avoid jumping to unnecessary conclusions Avoid teasing us about boyfriends or girlfriends Be open. Try to be more of a friend than a ruler. Realize that we are growing up. Let us be ourselves. Talk to us as if we are intelligent. Show that listening to us is really important to you. Find time to give 100% of your attention to us. Realize that we … Continue reading Teens Talk
Aside from daily survival, I think the greatest stressors for children and parents is sibling fighting. For the younger ones I will change the focus b stopping what I’m doing to cuddle up and read a few books to them. They calm down and then resume playing. Older children are given 5 minutes to work out a solution on their own. If they are unsuccessful, I … Continue reading Moms to Moms on Stress
When disciplining children because they’ve said something hurtful or mistreated their siblings or friends–tell them the next two things they do or say must be something NICE towards that person. Run out of BUBBLEBATH? Try baby shampoo Another bathtime idea–let children ear bathing suits and blow bubbles in the bathtubs for DAYTIME BATH FUN. To sort various family activities on the calendar, us a DIFFERENT COLOR PEN for … Continue reading This Works for Me!
Freeze mini bagels for the teething baby to gnaw on. The coldness of the bagel feels good on their gums and it is soft enough that when melted they can eat it! (Jenn Rakowski) Put the pacifier in the freezer, so that it is cold when they want it. Your fingers Frozen bananas What did you do to help with teething babies? Continue reading This Works for Me: Teething
Having trouble with children eating vegetables? Try blending squash/zucchini/carrots in with spaghetti sauce (use less water, add veggies after browning meat). Another Vegetable idea for carrots is to cut them with a crinkle cutter–makes children think they were made especially for them! Add a little Spice to your coffee! Try adding 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of cinnamon/nutmeg/vanilla directly into auto-drip coffee basket for some “spice-au-lait.” Save on gourmet coffee … Continue reading Kitchen Kapers
If you know my family, then you know that every Christmas Eve, for as long as I can remember, we have celebrated the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Growing up we never really got to all seven fishes, but now with my brother (the chef) we always have seven fishes! Bacala, anchovies and smelts are what my mom grew up with. Now we may have … Continue reading Feast of the Seven Fishes
At the age of seven, my oldest son asked me to settle an argument in which he claimed the Easter Bunny was not real. I told him he was correct. A few minutes later he came back asking, “Does that mean that Santa Claus isn’t real either?” When I answered positively, he couldn’t believe that all those present really came from us (after all, we … Continue reading Moms to Moms: Dealing with the Santa Question
ART with Angela DiCicco, The Italian Grandmama's Guide 