Lessons from Mom

While we are all still recovering from the holidays, I thought I'd post a couple of lessons my mom has taught me to make things more manageable.

My Finished Rice Krispie Ornaments

1. Freeze Your Goodies

We all love Christmas cookies and snacks. Every year I over eat because I leave those yummy treats out on the counter. My mom has always had a lot of self control in this area, and she says its because she'll put them all in the freezer where she's not constantly walking past them. This way you'll keep them fresh, but you can enjoy them longer by grabbing a couple at a time, instead of all in two days!

Louie's New Book of Cutting Activities

Leo's Alphabet Train

2. One Thing at a Time


We were all very blessed this year with lots of Christmas presents, mainly from my parents. This can be a bit overwhelming, especially all the kids toys. The kids are so young that they generally take everything out at one and throw the pieces all over until they are lost or broken. My mom suggests taking one thing out at a time, its less overwhelming for everyone and you can keep the toys in good shape for much longer. There are some things that we still haven't even opened! Then keep them put away where the kids can't just take them out and throw them all over. For example, have puzzles, board games, and Lego sets in a closet somewhere and only take out one at a time.

This is especially important for nice toys or games. Last year my father-in-law got Louie a Leap Frog, he loves it, but we put it away for awhile because he was too young to play with it by himself. We've recently starting taking it out a few times a week, it seems more special now and we were able to keep it in good working order all year!


Thanks for all the advice, Mom! (She has also influenced most of the After Christmas Traditions.)


Here is the Lego organizer we got from my mom which has been working well for many types of activities with small parts (Legos, K'Nex, Puzzles):