Always Watching so Watch Always

Write-Downable (n) 

"A statement that is cute, funny, priceless, sensitive, loving, one-of-a-kind, sweet, or spiritual; a word, phrase, sentence, or story that touches the heart of another and is deemed worthy to write down, thus recorded forever and not forgotten."

Word Created By: The Bushman Family

Definition By: Julie Bushman

Write-Downable of the Week:

Child: Mommy, am I blind?

Mom:  No, you're not blind.

Child: How do you get blind?

Mom: Well, Daddy was born blind.

Child: Oh, that's bad!!!

This was my sweet little four year old talking to me this week. She has become very interested in the eye. She notices the color of one's eyes, if they're happy or sad eyes, and practices winking. She understands that her Dad can't see and quickly moves out of the way when he's coming her way. She has even learned how to draw an eye (thanks to La-La); a real eye...not just a filled in circle on a smiley face. I think it's pretty good for one who just turned four. This is my eye - she colored it the correct color and she even knows how to write my name!

These little people sure see a lot around our house. They see a huge range of emotions between all members of the family, they see messes but don't care to clean them up, they see Mom and Dad working hard, they see siblings tease other siblings, they see love and fun, and everything in between. They learn behaviors by watching those around them. I've seen them watch what I do this week and have a greater desire to do good so they learn proper, kind and loving behavior.

We were raking leaves the other day before the storm arrived. We finished up our yard then noticed another yard that was full of leaves with two teenaged girls trying to get the leaves raked up. What a task for them! I decided to go over and help them. A couple of my children saw me go over, and they quickly picked their tool of choice and joined me. The six of us got those leaves cleaned up so fast! It was exciting to see them follow my lead to help another without any complaining, nor being asked. 

This morning I was doing my exercise which consists of walking/running the stairs in the house. Kind of goofy but it's a good workout and I don't have to go anywhere! I usually do it early in the morning but it was Saturday and I enjoyed a little bit of sleeping in. The younger children were all awake when I began. I think they were shocked at this new phenomenon...Mom walking up and down the stairs, over and over again, listening to something on her iPhone. They all asked me what I was doing. Between pants, I told them I was exercising. They started following me. They went down the stairs, then up the stairs. They marched in place with me as I did so, trying to catch my breath. This lasted for ten minutes or so, but then they got tired...before I did. Oh, what satisfaction to beat out little people with endless energy!

What's my point? Children see our behaviors and follow them. 

Even if they're a little weird....

...or conspicuous.

Reminder to self: They are always watching so watch myself always!

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

Be a Hero in 15 Minutes

Gratitude for Duck Tape and Velcro

Flag Football has been "the thing" at our house. Even the little girls want to get in on the action. Our children have been getting together with our neighbor's kids for some fabulous flag football fun. However, there was one problem a few days ago. The neighbor kids had the flag kit and they couldn't play because they were not available. What to do?

The kids were mopey and bummed out. Mom got out her creative cap and said, "Why don't you make your own?" They looked at me as if I did not have a brain. "How do we do that?"

It was as simple as duck tape and sticky velcro. Fifteen minutes later, they all had a belt and flags made and were outside playing together.

This is the stuff I love to see. My thoughts that day: "Get away from the TV and the computer. Communicate, Create, and Cooperate. Oh, and have a fabulous time doing it! But will you please wear your shoes next time?"

Today's Stick-to-it Tip: Spend some time assisting your child with a task important to him/her. You'll be a hero in his eyes and he'll feel extremely valued - all in 15 minutes. You may just end up with lots of thank yous and hugs, too. That's the best part!

PS - Thank you to the duck tape and velcro for bringing joy to our family.

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

Jump 'till you can jump no more!

Tradition: The Baer Family Jumping Competition!

Ahhhh, swimming pool fun at Grandma's Pool! It's become a tradition when my siblings come to visit with their family. Part of this tradition includes the Annual Baer Family Jumping Competition.

Rules of the Game:

Have all participants line up along the side of the pool. Participants are usually divided by age and gender. No, we're not trying to discriminate - just trying to make the most competitive, yet fair structure we can. This year we had two groups. Boys (9-13) and Girls (7-10). The older kids were too cool and the younger kids, too scared.

Determine an announcer and a judge. It's best that the judge is not the father or mother of one of the participants. It helps with the bias factor.

This year's judge - the guy on bottom!

I had fun being the announcer. No picture since I'm the one taking the pictures! 

Object of the Game:

Receive the most points for your jumps into the pool...similar to diving competitions. Here are some of the categories we have used...

Most graceful jump

Jump with the least amount of splash

Most athletic jump

Most original jump

Jump that produces the most splash

The best belly flop (double points)

The farthest jump

The jump that makes the best use of arms and legs

The best cannon ball

The funniest jump

The best hurdle jump

Most patriotic jump

Each category is a round. Every participant takes a turn to do their jump for the specified category. At the end of the round, the judge gives points. 5 for the best, 4 for the next, 3 for the next, etc. Sometimes more than one person gets the same amount of points. The jump-ee keeps track of his own score. The person with the most points wins! Get your creative gear in mind to come up with some really fun categories!

This is a very fun, improv game that takes no advance planning. The kids love coming up with new ideas for jumps that fall into the designated categories. The judge and the announcer laugh and enjoy the faux pas and originality. 

If you really want to have fun with it, plan in advance: Have three or four judges. After each person's jump, the judges put up a number from 1-5. The judges keep score and declare a winner. We haven't taken it that seriously yet but there's always next year! Prizes could be awarded as well. This would be a fun birthday party activity!

Most Original Jump

Best use of arms and legs jump

Most athletic jump

Jump that produces the least amount of splash

Ready for the next category!

Dunk the Judge!

I love FREE, no planning fun, especially activities that are active, social, and away from media! 

Today's Stick-to-it Tip: Plan a family jumping competition and let the fun begin. My kids are already begging for another day at Grandma's Pool to jump until they can jump no more.

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

Averted or Accomplished? Think Contentment

Handing me an eggroll, my sweet little guy (5 tomorrow!!) asks, 

"Mom, how many points is this?"

Wow, is Weight Watchers consuming the life of my five year old, too?

So I've been using these a lot lately...

...and eating a lot of these...

Although, I prefer "Lightly Salted"

Focusing on Mom makes a lot of other things go down the drain. Like this:

My laundress moved away!

Or, you rely on a three year old to clean the living room:

Love the pillow configuration!

So that's how she does it...stuff it all under the couch

I've come to the conclusion that when Mom makes her well-being a priority, other aspects of home and family life are going to suffer. There is just not enough time in the day to do EVERYTHING. 

I try waking up earlier. Well, I just have to go to bed earlier. I try setting a goal each day to accomplish something that I don't think will get done. Great idea! However, then someone is sick or the dishwasher isn't working or your child's ear gets blasted by a bike pump (story for a later day).

So, what is it going to be today? Is the goal going to be accomplished or averted? Either way, I try to find contentment in what is achieved and avoid looking at the disasters that will just have to be saved for another day. Off to fitness class...

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

Family Fitness "Fun-For-All"

Enough is Enough! Time to make changes to our family's habits! As you know, I love charts! I love tracking progress and having a visual for responsibilities, tasks, to-do's, and such. So, I created a chart. It's our Family Fitness Plan. Right now, four of us are actively involved in the plan, but we're making changes that the whole family will benefit from.

Here's a copy of our plan:

This is a point based chart that rewards you for doing GOOD things. For every glass of water, mark a box and that's one point. For no seconds, that day, one point. You'll see two boxes for exercise - at least 20 minutes per box for two possible points. Sweets has been our family's down fall so if you have a "no sweet" day, five points are awarded if your box is checked. Three boxes for vitamins/herbs/health drink. Two boxes for choosing GOOD snacks, rather than junky snacks. Total up your points for the day and at the end of the week. Whoever has the most points is the winner...they get a special outing with a small treat that doesn't go against their points for that day. Having a winner is a fun thing, but the biggest reason I put this together is to have a system that we're all working towards, to help encourage each other, and to work as a whole for a common goal.

This has been very beneficial for me. I love seeing it right in front of me - all the good choices I've made. It encourages me to continue to make good choices and WANT to strive for health and fitness. I'm also amazed at how well my children have taken to this plan. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of encouragement and push, to get on our way, whatever it may be. For example, it's all good and fine to tell you son, "Drink more water and cut down on your treats", but without a plan to do it and others encouraging and doing it with him, it's about impossible. 

I noticed this with my oldest daughter who is trying to graduate in three years, not four. She had to take an extra PE class via independent study to make the requirements. She chose a jogging class. She had to jog 140 miles to get an A for that portion of the course. She dragged her feet all through the summer, not taking advantage of the nice, warm weather. We knew she was getting close to her deadline so I decided to encourage and do it with her. I got her up one morning and said, "We're going to the gym." For weeks I went with her every day to get her miles in. I ended up hurting my foot so I quit going but she kept it up. She has 25 miles to go and she's now working on it herself. It took that extra encouragement from Mom to get her going. How beneficial it is to work towards a goal with someone else to push and keep you going!

Thoughts on the plan: Don't buy and bring home any sweets...it's too tempting!! Cut down on portion size! Get your water points because that alone will help tremendously. Maybe consider more points for exercise? I'm not very motivated by two exercise points when I can get two points drinking more water. Have LOTS of good snacks in the house so there's a wide variety of choices. Now the key is to Stick-to-it! Wish us luck!!

More to come...but until then, Stick-to-it!