Category: parenting

From the Trenches: How to Fly with Toddlers

Recently we took our 4 kids, (9 yrs, 4 yrs, 18 months, and 3 months), on a trip to visit family. The trip included 6 hours on a plane, including a 2 hour layover in between flights. I was desperate to find activities for my 18 month old. I went to the wonderful world of Pinterest to search for genius ideas on how to fly with toddlers, as well as asking advice from friends and family.

First- this was one of our FAVORITES! Super simple and inexpensive. I purchased fun buttons and a sandwich container. I cut a hole large enough for the buttons and kept the buttons in a bag in the container to pull out when we were ready to play. He loved placing the buttons in the hole and this activity saved us from a few melt downs.

I found this activity at a local book store. It came with many different color shoe laces and a few different boards to thread. While my 18 month old didn’t quite enjoy this like I thought, my four-year old loved it.

This was the best one yet! My friend had this in her church bag and when I saw it I knew I needed it as well. This was super simple and an ingenious idea.

Take a spice jar with the larger holes on top, and cut pipe cleaners to fit the length of the jar.

My 18 month old loved this. He would pull out all the pipe cleaners and put them in one by one.

Last but not least, this snack kit that I found on Pinterest was awesome. Even the flight attendants stopped to look at them and commented that they wanted some for themselves on long flights.

I packed a few sweet snacks but tried to keep it healthier by packing crackers, jerky, nuts, and granola bars. You want more high protein snacks to help have fewer melt-downs.

Since our trip I have used these ideas at church and it has helped tremendously to keep my little ones quiet and entertained.

What things have you tried?

Mom Talk: Heather’s Birth Story Photography

We’re excited to introduce a new series of posts on the OSC Blog: Mom Talk. Every mother has a story. Every day. Good, bad, adorable, not-so-adorable…we’ve all been there. So let’s share!

Birth Story Photography

First up is Heather, who recently gave birth to her third child…a long-awaited sister to two big brothers. Heather, a professional photographer, has a beautiful sense of style and is very thoughtful when it comes to details in every aspect of her life. As she was preparing for this baby girl, it was only natural that photographing the blessed event would be on her list of must-dos. She graciously shares these thoughts:

“Having a child can be such an amazing experience. The only downfall to it all is that I am always too loopy to really remember much of what is going on or see all the details of my new baby since I am in a bed across the room, or worse in another one completely. I cannot express how much this session means to me and my family. Having [my business partner] Kayla there to photograph the things that I was unable to see was amazing. She was able to capture my kids in the hall building Legos, and the anticipation of all my loved ones, and was there to capture Miss Penelope’s first moments into this new world. At the time I felt pretty aware of what was going on, but after I was able to see the images…..I would have missed sooo many great moments without those images to remind me. It was amazing and I am so grateful to have such a good photographer as a business partner and friend. I recommend anyone having a child seriously consider having a professional photographer there to capture some of the most cherished memories you may ever have.”

Day in the Life of Mom: Bethany

Highlighting one of our own One Small Child Moms and what a not always normal, but somewhat regular Day in the life of Mom looks like.

5:00am – Accidentally hit “dismiss” instead of “Snooze”. I’ll totally get up….

6:00am – Feed the baby. Finally get up.

6:30am – Bring myself downstairs to eat breakfast and do my daily devotional. Somehow even when I am alone I eat standing up. I stare at the overflowing dishes in the sink from last night. I lay my bowl on top.

7:00am – Exercise to either Jillian Micheals or Richard Simmons. Feeling lazy, Richard it is.

7:30am – “Mommy! Where are you?” I get the kids cereal and turn on a show for them. After a few snuggles I do some laundry, the dishes and feed the dog. Throw away a business card my husband wrote on years ago, no way it’s any good. The garbage man takes it away. Bathe the kids and get them dressed for Preschool. There is at least 1 meltdown and 1 toddler argument. Forget on the way out it’s Show and Tell day. Pick a toy, of course for both it’s the wrong one. Go back in and get new ones.

8:55am – Finally getting in the car, good thing Preschool is only a mile from our house.

9:05am – Get home and feed the baby. Cuddle him tight and really enjoy our alone time together since he is our last. Do a little bit of work and hopefully put on “real” clothes. I don’t…

11:15am – Get home, get lunch ready and do some reading/homework. More laundry.

1:15pm – “Quiet time”. My older two no longer nap. I want to cry uncontrollably over this.

1:30pm – Cleaning and de-cluttering. Doing a “Minimalist Challenge” since all of our ~~junk~~ stuff is starting to drive me crazy. I throw away a few more things I hope my husband doesn’t notice. Husband texts me to ask if I have seen a business card with writing on it, there is a lock combo on it for his work locker. He can’t remember the numbers… “I don’t know where it is.”

2:00pm – Sit down to work. Suddenly hear running water upstairs I don’t recognize… my kids put a whole roll of toilet paper in the toilet and flushed.

4:30pm – Start dinner. Husband calls to say he is on his way home and will promptly be called back to work in about 10 hours. Great. Confess to my card crime.

7:00pm – Get the older two in bed. Praise all that is good and holy.

7:30pm – Dishes/work/attempt to watch a show on Hulu. I get half way through one and promise I’ll finish it tomorrow; probably won’t.

10:30pm – Bed finally. Write my “to do” list on the ceiling like Sarah Jessica Parker did in “I don’t know how She does it”. Maybe I’ll try to watch that tomorrow…

Bethany is our social media consultant and works from home. She has 3 children, ages 4,3 and 4 months. Her husband works on call and is away 2 days at a time, so she has a lot of non-alone time. She dreams of a beach vacation, paying someone to clean her house every week and fall year round. Being with her kids and husband is her favorite way to spend any day.