Category Archives: thanksgiving

14 Things

Since every other blogger is making lists of things they are grateful for, here is mine. When reading this, keep in mind that this is not to say I am not grateful for my friends, and family, and all of the wonderful opportunities I have gotten. I am. But everyone already knows this. There are so many small things each day, that I don’t always stop to acknowledge, for which I am also grateful. And here are fourteen of them.

1. I am thankful that my children don’t yet know how to tell time, so bed time is whenever I am too tired to continue the day.
2. I am grateful that my friends haven’t yet figured out that I don’t know what I am doing half the time, or if they have, that they have kindly kept it to themselves.
3. Dry shampoo. Very grateful.
4. I am thankful my daughter obviously inherited my genes and now owns over a dozen pairs of shoes (which, for a three year old, is very impressive).
5. I am thankful for just about anything with caffeine in it.
6. I am grateful to the make-up companies that created 16-hour everlasting beauty products because it makes me feel like I am not the only person who actually has days that last long enough to require these types of products.
7. I am thankful for the people at Smirnoff. They do good work.
8. I am thankful for writers, who shall remain nameless, and who created works so purposefully difficult and practically unintelligible, that, should I ever wish to torment my students, would more than serve the purpose.
9. I am thankful that my children are at the age where my biggest problem is that they can’t find their juice bottles.

10. I am grateful that none of my kids or cats have thrown up on me in the last week. Small victories.

11. I am thankful to whoever invented cake frosting in a can. I cannot thank you enough.

12. I am thankful for BeBe, a brand that has been clothing me for over a decade, and makes dresses so tight that even if I were to gain weight, you couldn’t tell.

13. I am thankful for friends who will be honest enough to one day tell me to stop wearing skanky dresses.

14. I am grateful for my bed, that I don’t see as often as I should, but which I think about and miss every waking moment.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Getting Your Child to Sit Still… Sort Of

I have several friends with small children, and it has occurred to me that they believe at Thanksgiving tomorrow evening they will be having dinner with extended family and friends. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but children younger than four (and sometimes older), will not sit through an entire Thanksgiving dinner. Or any dinner for that matter.

Small children  need to be entertained throughout. Forget getting them to actually eat the entire time, but simply having them sit relatively still at the table while you get a few bites will require an entire circus performance on your part. However, it can be done. I have done it before, and I plan on doing it again tomorrow.
You know that saying about idle hands and the devil, and something like that? Well, it *is* like that. The best and only tip I have for you and keeping your small children seated is to not allow them to get bored, because that is when they take it upon themselves to scream, cry, fidget, play with food, etc.
Pick a few toys (preferably plastic and/or easy to clean) that your child loves to play with and bring them to the table. Don’t give your child all of the toys at once as he will get bored of all of them simultaneously.
Once dinner is served, have the little one eat which should take a bit of time. Once they are done you will probably still be eating. Hand your child a toy. He will play with it for a while, and then get bored and start fussing. As long as you have several toys that you can trade out, this should keep him busy for some time.
The only caveat is that this will only work for about an hour at most, after which the child will be restless. If you have the sort of child that at this point will take a nap, or be okay just sitting on your lap while you continue on, then that is wonderful. If you don’t have such a child, then get up and walk around/play with the child away from the table for a bit. Chances are just a little movement will suffice to calm restlessness and general fussiness.
Yes, you will have to repeat the above all night in roughly hour intervals. But it is not so bad. And better than the alternative.