Yard Sale Wagon: $5, Fun Times For Four: Priceless

Today was my CMOMs yard sale. A yard sale for multiple mothers of multiples = lots and lots of stuff, and more than 100 customers in the first hour. I worked there for four hours today while Cary watched the kids, and came home with some clothes for Everett and a few fun surprises. (I also got rid of our most obnoxious toys. *grin*) Since the weather was a bit on the chilly side and I didn't feel like getting everyone dressed up, we let them try the wagon out indoors today. They pushed and pulled for a while, and when they got tired of that, the girls decided that the handle made a great sliding board! Kids are so creative.

(Maddie is in stripes, and Gwyn is in green.)  Here's one more of Maddie.  The girls' new favorite game when I pull out the camera is to rush over to me and try to push the flash closed.  Many shots end up with an arm over the face or very blurry!  Maddie is smiling because I'm holding her arm down and tickling her.

 

MOMs Night Out

Warning: This post actually contains information which may be useful to parents of preschoolers. If you will find this boring, you may not wish to read any further.

Since becoming a mother of four, I have joined two MOMs clubs (Mothers Of Multiples). I never thought I would do anything like that, but it's really nice to get out and have some adult conversation and relaxation once or twice a month! One group, which I attend more than the other, is really informal. We just meet for dinner once a month at different restaurants. The other group has social events too, but they also have professionals come in to speak about various subjects.

I was really interested in the topic tonight, and am excited to try out what I learned at home. We talked about handwriting, and in particular, a method called "Handwriting Without Tears" that seemed like a really good idea to me. The letters are grouped into categories that make sense. You start with letters that begin with a vertical stroke on the left side (L, F, E, M, N, etc.). In a nutshell (from what I learned tonight), the method has three basic parts.

1. Using a rectangular foam mat and wooden pieces shaped like letter strokes you demonstrate to your child how to build a letter on the mat. Then they build the letter. (At some point they will be able to build it without seeing it first.)


2. This part is called "wet-dry-try". You write the letter on a small chalkboard. Your child takes a damp piece of paper towel or sponge and wipes the letter clean, following the strokes you made three times. They then do the same with a dry paper towel. This is something that will encourage "muscle memory".


3. You demonstrate how to write the letter with pencil on paper. They then write the letter.

I'm sure this is a watered-down version, but you can visit the website in the link above if you're interested. When I asked the speaker how much the kit costs, she said that she usually recommends that parents buy foam sheets from Wal-Mart or a craft store and cut out pieces to make their own kit. The pieces are listed in the products section of the website.

I've discovered that Everett is a bit of a perfectionist in some ways. (I wonder where he got that.) When he tries to write letters and they're not "just right" he wants to erase them. He gets frustrated or loses attention rather quickly despite my encouraging words, so I'm hoping this will make it easier and more interesting for him. We're not putting a lot of pressure on him, but I'd like him to learn and enjoy it too!

This is one of the things we were working on before I heard about the HWT method. (I would have shown the "E" page, but Everett erased all of his "E's" and my elephant looked rather gimpy.)