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We have been doing organized sports with Lincoln since he was four years old.  He loves to play sports and we love keeping him active and fostering his talents. 

We have done soccer, basketball, football and baseball.  While living here in Jacksonville, we have enjoyed participating in sports both on and off base.  We have had both good experiences and bad experiences.  Most importantly, Lincoln always has fun.

We have found that our favorite coaches are on the field playing and practicing with the kids.  We like coaches who involve the parents and invite parents to play with the kids.  We enjoy coaches who genuinely love sports and love kids.

Lincoln played football on base this past year.  On that team we had one of our very favorite coaches.  He was a young single marine who loved football and loved kids.  You could tell he genuinely loved the boys and teaching them about a sport he loved so much.  Most importantly, we loved how he made everything fun.  He didn’t get worked up when someone made a mistake.  He patted them on the back and gently corrected them.  If we could choose coaches for the rest of Lincoln’s years playing organized sports we would want coaches just like him!!

Sports are a great way to keep kids active and teach them about working with others and having fun.  It is a great way to teach them good sportsmanship and how we treat others…if they are on our team or aren’t on our team. 

As a family, we will probably spend most of our lives in the stands cheering for Lincoln.  I surely hope that we keep the process of sports fun while developing a good work ethic and good sportsmanship.

What has your experience been like while having your kids play organized sports?

Socializing with other young people has finally taught the girls a few words that I’m not crazy about.  I won’t go into profanities, but just words like hate and phrases like: I’m not your friend anymore, that sucks, and shut up are just a few on the list.  I am pretty good at monitoring my own speech in front of the girls; I don’t want them to get it from me.  However,  I also know that this is just an inevitable stage in the whole scheme of growing up. 

I’ve tried two basic techniques to  stop the swearing.  The first was punishment.  This is very effective with one of my daughters, but not so much with the other.  Last time Vannah let one slip, I made sure to take the Wii and television away.  I haven’t had a problem with potty mouth ever since.  While this is effective with one child, it doesn’t work that well with Mallory.  With Mallory, if I completely ignore her (no attention whatsoever) she stops and realizes why she’s not turning my head. 

In addition, I’ve been monitoring what they see on TV a little more closely (could they have figured out the cable box behind my back?) I also talk to them about using appropriate words to describe your feelings, no matter how angry or sad you happen to be at that very moment.  Finally, I made sure to let them know that those types of words are harsh and can hurt the feelings of those around; there are much more gentle choices available to articulate their thoughts. 

How do you deal with potty mouth?  In what ways do you try and prevent it?  How do you stop this negative social influence?

If your kids are like mine at all, they are easily mesmerized by the glow of the Xbox or Nintendo DS (or any other particular console you may have.) Whether its sports, fantasy or strategy games, at some point in my week I need to fend off two obsessed little men who will do almost anything for “just a few” more minutes of game time.

We have never allowed them to play excessively. We have a timer that is set and they cannot go over 60 minutes per day. Sounds easy enough…..right? Not so fast!

The boys have to earn their time on the clock. They do things like go to bed on time (no whining), get ready in the morning (without being told 10 times to do s0) and they help with little chores. All of this earns them “daddy dollars” that they can spend on game minutes. One dollar earns them 10 minutes. This works well on the front end of game time….to get them started. It is when itis time to turn off the console that the real problem begins.

I hear “I need to finish this battle” or “Can I ride it just one more time?” It never fails. Not once has the timer beeped and immediately been followed with the controller down and game off. What has also never failed is that I do not allow the extra time so someone please tell me why they keep trying anyway??

I suppose it will always be like this….time is earned, timer beeps, groveling begins and I reply again “no, turn it off.”

Anyone else have little gamers to contend with? What is your strategy to limit time?

On a side note…anyone looking to create your own daddy dollars for an incentive here is the link.

Our kids and their teeth are such a process of life.  They start as newborns  with a mouth full of gums.   Then they slowly start growing their teeth in and enter the wonderful world of teething.  Once they go through all the pain of growing their teeth in……..those same teeth fall out!  It is such a complicated process.

Kids usually start losing their teeth when they are 5 or 6 years old.  They live in that awkward snaggle-tooth stage until they are about 12 or 13 years old.  By then, all of their permanent teeth have most likely erupted (except their wisdom teeth.)  Then they really enter the awkward stage and get those pretty silver braces stuck happily to their teeth. 

It is a big job taking care of our children’s teeth.  By the time they are 2 years old we should be scheduling their first appointment with the dentist.  There are two reasons for this, first is to be on top of their dental care and second is so they feel comfortable with the dentist.

Lincoln has started losing his teeth in the last couple years.  I have found myself  in such awe  watching his teeth fall out.  It is such an interesting process.  The tooth starts to wiggle a little, then it wiggles alot….then it is either pulled out or falls out somewhere crazy!!

As  parent’s, it is important that we take an active role in teaching our children the importance of their oral health care.  Here are a few tips and tricks to get them started making good habits to take care of their teeth.

- Have them brush their teeth morning and night.  If they are home for lunch, have them brush their teeth after lunch too.

-Kid’s should be brushing their teeth for two minutes.  Put a timer in the bathroom so they can set the timer while brushing.

-Have them floss their teeth once a day……they have so many cool kids floss products…take some time to check them out.

-Remind them to use round strokes while brushing and not to scrub their teeth too hard.

-Visit the dentist every six months for a cleaning and check-up.  Try to stick with the same dentist so they have a happy and healthy relationship with their dentist.

What has worked for you in terms of getting your kids to take good care of their teeth? Please share in the box below.

Well, I finally got a call from my husband on Saturday.  I’ll be honest, he was a little on the cranky side; however, I suppose he has a good reason.  I’m excited because the weeks are just flying by; thankfully this will all be done and over with before I can blink an eye.  I’m already excited and nervous about homecoming.  It will be nice to have an adult helper.  I can’t imagine how much easier my life will be.  Between training up for the deployment and actually deploying, it’s really been close to or over a year since he was home on a routine basis.  We haven’t gotten any official word as of yet as it pertains to his return, but that’s pretty typical.

 Everyone made it through school this week, yet another miracle and I’m finally starting to feel human again now that there’s actually some daylight and sunshine!!  The girls were pretty upset after they got to talk to daddy, but I’m just glad that they received the opportunity hear his voice and know that he loves and cares about them.  They’ve been pretty good about it all; sometimes the subject of daddy being gone comes up at night as they’re getting tucked in.  They tell me they miss him and we talk about it.  I don’t want them to feel as though it’s not okay to be sad or miss him.  It’s perfectly fine; however, sometimes I think they use it as a crutch.  It’s kind of difficult to strike that balance. 

Uneventful is the best way to describe this week; I say that with a sigh of relief because there’s no telling what the next few days hold!