You Just Bought the Furniture

My little brother is the baby of the family. I should probably stop calling him little, as he's over 6-feet tall and towers over his sisters. My brother has the distinct disadvantage of growing up with siblings who were old enough during his toddler years to remember his shenanigans. (You can unclench, Westy, I'm not here to share any secrets.)

I remember my little brother and my dad having the weirdest power struggles. I say weird because as a kid, I was all "little brother, why are you fighting with Dad? He's the dad! You do what he says!" but now as an adult who has parented a threenager, I'm all "Dad, why did you fight the tiny rage tornado? He was three years old! You could not win!" Hindsight is 20/20 and all that jazz.

Anyway, one day my family was sitting around the kitchen table eating dinner when one of these power struggles erupted. I don't remember what prompted him but my dad said something along the lines of "when you're in my house, you follow my rules." My little brother, bless his heart, responded with "this isn't your house." This isn't your house. You guys. If you have not yet parented a three-year-old, this is what you have to look forward to.

It was like all the air was suddenly sucked out of the room. No one breathed. My dad met my little brother's defiant gaze and asked, "no? Then whose house is it?"

"Mom bought the house," my brother announced, disdainfully. "You just bought the furniture."

I love my siblings more than I can properly articulate but today, on National Sibling Day, I want to say how grateful I am to have a built-in crew of people who know exactly what I'm looking for when I say I need the pumpkin pie recipe, who feel the same isolation when it comes to pop culture because none of us were allowed to watch the cool movies or tv shows growing up, and who can simultaneously put me in my place and make me howl with laughter by telling me I just bought the furniture.

{Photo by the amazing Alanna of Dyani Photography}

April Fools' Day PSA and a Fun Prank for the Kindergarten Crowd

I hesitate to make any sort of "you should do this" or "you shouldn't do that" statement because really, who am I to tell anyone how they should live their life? You do you, babies.

With this exception: if you are thinking of posting a fake pregnancy announcement tomorrow for April Fools' Day, don't. Just don't. Fake pregnancy announcements are not funny. At best, they're insensitive and tone deaf. They can be incredibly hurtful to people struggling with infertility, miscarriage, baby loss, and more.

We've managed to avoid April Fools' Day with Grady up until now. This week he came home from school and told me about this hilarious holiday called April Fools' Day. All week he's been pranking me like "hey mommy! There's a giant monster behind you!" *finger guns* "APRIL FOOLS' DAY!" And I have to laugh because he's my kid and I love him and his innocence is adorable. But people don't have to laugh at fake pregnancy announcements. I hope that if you encounter a fake pregnancy announcement in the wild (believe me, it's a matter of when, not if) you'll tell the prankster that they're not being funny, they're being rude.

Right! April Fools' Day PSA over. Now for the fun part.

I don't want to encourage this pranking nonsense because honestly, I don't have the time or energy for it. But! I do want to satisfy Grady's imagination and encourage his belief in magic. So today after school, Grady and I will be filling an old flower pot with rocks. Then we'll plant our "doughnut seeds" (Cheerios). Tomorrow morning, when Grady wakes up on April Fools' Day, his doughnut seeds will have sprouted doughnuts. I am ridiculously excited (to see his reaction and, umm, to eat the doughnuts).

My prank didn't take a lot of prep and won't require a lot of cleanup. And we get to eat doughnuts for breakfast. It's the perfect April Fools' Day prank.

Do you participate in April Fools' Day with your kids? How are you planning to prank them tomorrow?

Put Me in the Story: Personalized Books for Easter

Easter holds different meaning for different people but in our house, it's an opportunity to welcome spring, celebrate family, and enjoy some chocolate. Poor Poppy is too young to participate in the Easter egg hunt / chocolate fest that we've put on for Grady in recent years, but that doesn't mean she'll be left out.

Put Me In The Story to the rescue!

“Put Me In The Story takes bestselling books and beloved characters and creates personalized books complete with the child’s name, photo, and a message from the gift giver! Reading becomes more fun and engaging for kids when the book stars them!”

Put Me In The Story has lots of options to choose from, appropriate for different religious aspects of Easter (including non-religious options) and age levels. The ordering process was quick and painless. I was easily guided through entering specific information (child's name, personal message, photo, etc.) and in no time flat, I had a perfectly personalized I Love You Honey Bunny on its way to me to put in Poppy's Easter basket.

I was slightly skeptical at how the personalized content would be integrated with the rest of the story but my concerns were unfounded. It all fits together beautifully and doesn't look like someone swapped in different pages for different people; the book truly looks like it was custom-made for our honey bunny.

You can win a personalized Easter book and plush gift for your own honey bunny! Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{Disclosure: I received product in exchange for this review; all opinions stated are my own.}

Let's Faff

I haven't faffed in a while. Shall we faff? Let's faff.

(Don't know what faffing is? It's dithering about. I have approximately 92 important things on my to-do list today and instead I'm blogging about pretty much nothing. I'm faffing.)

Today is St. Patrick's Day! Did you know that St. Patrick's Day is a thing now? I blame Pinterest. I mean, I knew it was a thing in my twenties when I drank green beer and danced jigs all night. But I don't remember it being a thing when I was a kid. My mom didn't put green food colouring in the toilet water or leave gold coins or glitter hidden around the house on March 17th and I don't think my friends' parents did either. I don't remember feeling like my family was left out of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Apparently now it's a thing and kids expect leprechaun magic and look, I'm all about celebrating imagination but I just don't have it in me this year. This year we all have head colds and it's rainy and miserable. Maybe next year the leprechauns will visit. Am I a St. Patrick's Day Grinch? What are you doing today? I promise I'm not judging you if you're going all out with leprechaun trails and four-leaf clover hunts. You do you.

Speaking of head colds, Grady has had a very low key spring break so far. I had big plans for playdates and adventures but I don't want to invite his buddies over to catch our germs. We've managed a few fun projects (we baked a triple chocolate pie for Pi Day) but the rain is keeping us inside and the colds are keeping us exhausted. The colds and little Miss Poppy No-Sleep.

We did make it to Home Depot yesterday for a fun DIY workshop though (and I definitely earned some Cool Mom points when I let Grady use all the tools). Did you guys know about the Home Depot Kids Workshops? Home Depot hosts free workshops for kids aged 5-12. I imagine the schedule varies from store to store (so you should call ahead) but our local Home Depot is doing one every morning from 10-12 for the entire two weeks of spring break. You just show up and they've got tables and projects set up for building. They supply the materials, tools, and instructions and you just have to supervise your kid and help make the magic happen. Grady used a hammer, screwdriver, and wood glue yesterday like a pro. He got a little apron to wear and a pin for completing his project. He loved it and it kept him occupied and interested for a full hour (no easy feat). Then we brought it home and he spent another hour at home doing the paint job. We're definitely going back to do more building and collect more pins.

How are you keeping your littles occupied during spring break? I need some ideas for next week!