40 Questions To Ask Your Child On Date Night

I think it was daughter number five (I'm the second oldest of eight girls) who coined the term "Donut Date" to refer to when our Daddy would take one of us individually out on a "date" with him when I was young. It generally meant we were getting a donut or going to the grocery store for some root beer or another treat, which was a pretty big deal at the time. In fact, I still bug my Dad to take me on a date, except I hope it's to places like Disney World or a major music concert these days. ;-) Now, the tradition has moved on and I date my own three-year-old daughter. She gets terribly excited when I ask her if she wants to have a "mommy-daughter date". There are no arguments and she is on her best behavior while we go to the local coffee shop for a slice of carrot cake and juice! My favorite part, though? The conversation. My phone gets put away, no books are brought along, and we don't sit at a table with anyone else (though she has a way about her that attracts the elderly men to come over for a chat about her baby doll!). Instead, we chat. I ask questions, and we dream together over hot cocoa and cookies.

Dating your children is an easy and precious way to create beautiful moments for the two of you. Here are 40 Date Night questions to get you started:

1. What is the best dream you ever had, and why?


2. What is the worst dream you ever had, and why?


3. How do you like to be woken up in the morning?


4. What are the top five things you are good at doing?


5. What are the three occupations you would love to have when you grow up?


6. If you were to plan your own funeral, what would you want it to be like?


7. What are five activities you want to do within the next year?


8. Who is your best friend, and why?


9. What person can you not stand, and why?


10. What embarrasses you that I do?


11. What are you proud of that I do?


12. What makes you laugh?


13. What makes you cry?


14. What are the top three things I do that make you feel (not "know") loved?


15. What is the most important thing you have learned in life?


16. If you were to plan a sleepover, what would it include?


17. If you were to be one animal, what would you be and why?


18. What are your three favorite songs and why?


19. What one song can't you stand, and why?


20. What is your favorite movie, and why?


21. What are the top three reasons why you know you will be a good spouse/parent when you are grown?


22. What is your favorite physical feature about yourself and why?


23. What three things do you not like about yourself, and why?


24. When people compliment you, what is the top thing they say about you?


25. What are the top three compliments from others that you would like them to say about you?


26. What is your favorite Bible story and why?


27. What is your favorite Bible verse and why?


28. Who are your top two favorite historical characters and why?


29. In your life, what has been your proudest moment?


30. In your life, what has been your most embarrassing moment?


31. If you were to create your own job to earn money, what would you do and how would you do it?


32. If you were to create your own cake and own ice-cream sundae, what ingredients would you include?


33. What makes you feel safe?


34. What makes you feel scared?


35. What are two things that your friends or other people you know do that you don't like?


36. What are two things that your friends or other people you know do that you would also like to do?


37. Would you rather be a boy or a girl, and why?


38. If you could go anywhere in the world and do anything you wanted, where would you go and what would you do?


39. What school subject are you smartest in, and how do you know?


40. What school subject do you struggle the most in, and how do you know?

Love Happens Here

I am the full time mama of a 3-year-old and 18-month-old. My children are 20 months apart. While I do work full time, I consider myself a stay-at-home mama just as much as I consider myself a working-outside-the-home mama. In fact, I find that the 40 hours a week that I spend at my "job" is easier and less stressful than the other 128 hours a week I spend with my kiddos. Sometimes, I think I'm going crazy, and I crave to go to work...the funny thing is, as soon as I'm at work, I miss my babies something fierce! It's a funny world, the blend between working motherhood and home motherhood.

Before anything else, I am a mother. Lately, I have been working 40-hours-straight every weekend so that I can be the one with my children during the week. I go in at 7pm Friday night, and stay until Sunday at 11am. Marvelous, it is, but it's also a schedule cut out for someone who belongs in a loony bin. Imagine the possibility of being awake for many hours straight and responsible for people's lives no matter how tired you are? Yes, I am a paramedic. And yes, your life will always come before my need for sleep and no matter how tired I am, you are going to get my absolute best care. Imagine packing three people up for three days, and getting your house in order before that so when you come back, you have something clean to wear.

Because I choose my children to come first (ok, after God!), I do things a little differently. I work ridiculous shifts so that I can be the one with them 5 days a week. The house is sometimes a mess because I don't park them in front of the TV so I can clean all of the time. I have no idea what current TV shows are playing. I haven't read anyone's blog in forever (I miss that!). Lately, I haven't even been able to work out (UGH). My sewing projects are still waiting, my bedroom still isn't arranged the way I want it to be, and sometimes, I get lonely being with no other adults sometimes for days on end. However...

There are a lot of things that we do. We do family. Lego creations get built. Magnificent make believe stories get told. Dancing in the living room happens. We do loud. Songs are sung. Pictures are painted. Baby dolls are rocked. Giggle erupt constantly. Tickle fights are a routine. Jumping on the bed (shhhhh!) sneaks in.We do discipline. Spankings, time out's, and "the look" may be given throughout the day---but they are overshadowed by hugs, attention, and the exchange of a thousand magical kisses. We do learning. Snowflakes are tasted. Letters are traced. Colors are mixed. Chores are done (even if they aren't real effective yet!). We do love.

Love happens here, and that is why those other things we don't do aren't really missed.

Barefoot Books 30% off + Free Shipping (Collaberative Order)

I'm putting together a collaborative Barefoot Books order so that everyone interested can get a big discount and FREE shipping! I just recently learned of their beautiful books and educational materials and am so very excited. These look like fabulous products for both the home and school---and I'm thinking will make perfect gifts for Christmas, upcoming birthdays, and baby showers in the next year!

Here are the details:

1) Check out the store by clicking the banner above. DO NOT ORDER THROUGH THE STORE. If you order through the store, you won't get the discount.

2) Make a list of everything you want with the item names, prices, and quantity.

3) Fill out this form here to get more information and order: CLICK HERE

Our order must be placed on December 1st, so please pass the word about this so that we can get enough orders to get the discount and free shipping in time for Christmas!

Guidecraft Complete Kitchen Center Review & Giveaway!

Win a new Complete Kitchen Center from Guidecraft (ARV $370)!

What they say...

 This compact Kitchen Center features 5 major appliances in one attractive play island. Complete with stove, oven, microwave, sink, and dishwasher with removable plate rack. Ergonomically kid-friendly counter-top provides food prep and dish washing area. Features turning knobs, silk-screened controls, acrylic windows on appliance doors, write-on wipe-off board, and wooden shelves for loads of storage.

What we think...
This is a FANTASTIC play kitchen that will become an heirloom toy in your family! The materials are very high quality and I was impressed by not only the strength of the wood it's made with, but the beauty of it as you can see the grain patterns. Once assembled, everything sits snugly and is balanced so you don't need to worry about your child tipping it over. The benefits of a child having a play kitchen are so many as it helps develop social skills, problem solving, organizing, large and small motor skills, and even verbal communications if you facilitate it. Since the colors and style of this kitchen are clearly gender neutral, I think it's an excellent choice for any family!

The only downside I found to this was that the directions were a bit tricky. It took me 2.5 hours to assemble this and I had to elicit the help of my carpenter husband to help me out. :-\ Granted, this was done very late at night and I was watching TV while I put it together, so you could probably get it down to 2 hours if you were snappy about it and didn't have to waste time figuring out how to do certain things.

The directions are only picture ones, which is actually faster for me than deciphering written ones. HOWEVER. The directions fail to mention that you need a philips' head screw driver (not included) and also fail to mention how to use certain hardware pieces (and I don't know what these pieces are called, so you'll just have to take my word on it that I would have not ever figured it out unless my husband had already known how to use these things). The tricky part is Step 3. What you need to do is take the screw and screw the bottom part of it into the "holes" of the counter bottom using the phillips' head. Only screw in until the threads change thickness. Then you place the round thing-a-ma-jigs into the holes in the kitchen base's side and lay the countertop down on top. The screws will then end up sitting in the round thing-a-ma-jigs which you need to turn clockwise to lock down the counter top. I thought I had done this (after being told how to), but my husband's strength was needed to really get it locked down. Once everything was said and done though, the kitchen looked awesome and I am not at all worried about it going anywhere.

We gave this to LoveBug for her second birthday (October 31!). It definitely passed the toddler-test. She kept saying "woah! WOAH!" while opening it (wide eyed and with a smile)...and then she couldn't wait any longer to play, so she ducked herself under the remaining wrapping paper so she could get to the fun. It's been a whole 28.5 hours now and she hasn't stopped playing with it except to sleep!

 

Can it get any more fun than the Guidecraft Complete Kitchen Center?!

 Buy It! Give your child the gift of learning through play by snagging one of these kitchens at Guidecraft's website (www.Guidecraft.com) for $370 or at Amazon for $277.99 (best price I found while writing this post).

Win It! *You MUST be publicly following this blog in order to win. Just click the "Follow (with Google Friend Connect)" button in the far right hand column near the top of this page. Problems? Send me an email and I'll help you out! lifemoresimply@yahoo.com.* Contest ends 12/1/10 at noon, EST.

To win, leave me a comment below telling me one other toy you would LOVE to have from Guidecraft! Be sure to include your email address in EVERY entry and leave a separate comment for each entry as well.


Additional entries (after the above is completed):
1) Tell me WHY you want to win this.

2) Subscribe to Life More Simply via email.

3) "Like" our Facebook page.

4) Follow us on Twitter (LifeMoreSimply).

5) Blog about this contest ---3 entries!

6) After you've "liked"/"friended" Life More Simply on Facebook, put this as your status: "I'm hoping to win the Complete Play Kitchen Center from Guidecraft for Christmas ($370!!!!) at http://tinyurl.com/WinGuidecraft ! @Life More Simply" (my name will come up in BLUE if you did it right). 1 entry/day.

7) Tweet this message (up to two times a day for 1 entry each): "Win the Complete Kitchen Center from @Guidecraft and @LifeMoreSimply (ARV $370)! http://tinyurl.com/WinGuidecraft #play #toy #win #contest"

8) Post this message on Guidecraft's Facebook Wall:  I'm hoping to win the Complete Play Kitchen Center from Guidecraft for Christmas ($370!!!!) at http://tinyurl.com/WinGuidecraft ! @Life More Simply

9) Spread the word on a parenting forum, message board, or any other way and tell me how you did it with a link!

10) Sign up to Design America's Next Diaper:  http://lifemoresimply.blogspot.com/p/life-more-simply-review-panel.html

*Note: Guidecraft supplied me with the product for review and giveaway. No other compensation was received and the opinions expressed are all mine.*

Two BIG Secrets

I have two big secrets, and seriously, I am bursting at the seams. So instead of holding it inside me any longer, I'm going to tell ALL of you whom decide to read this blog post...

Secret #1: I received the AWESOME, all natural, best-2nd-birthday-present-EVER, "Complete Kitchen Center" from Guidecraft in the mail yesterday! This is a $370 + shipping item that I received in exchange for an upcoming review.

Okay, why am I so happy about this that I could throw up while I giggle? Because my daughter LOVES to play pretend and this is going to be her birthday present (turning two on October 31!). But it gets even better for you, because I'm going to be giving one of these away in November! WOWOWOW!

Secret #2:  I am starting my own business. Really. I can't tell you everything, but it involves organic fabrics, a hybrid diaper system, clothing for little ones, and lots of beautiful love. HOWEVER. I need two things to help get me started (well, three, including a large sum of money from any investors who may be interested!): a Snap Press, and a website designer.

Here's how you can help get me a snap press as well as win KAMsnaps.com gift certificates and your choice of over $3000 worth of other prizes:

Win a $20 @KAMsnaps.com gift certificate towards snaps, pliers, or a press, plus your choice among over $3000 worth in prizes including Ooga Booga fabric and designer jewelry/handbags. Go to http://bit.ly/bwXrGR to enter.

It's very fast and easy to enter, but I really need you to put me down as your "referrer" when you enter, because if you win, then I win, too! Please write: Rachel E., lifemoresimply at yahoo.com for the referrer's information.

The second way you can help me get my business going is by helping me with my website. I just purchased my own domain name and will be moving this whole blog over to www.LifeMoreSimply.com as soon as I get the time to figure out how to do so. I want to overhaul everything, though, and get a "shop" set up on the same domain for my business. If you do website designing, send me an email at lifemoresimply@yahoo.com with "website design" in the title! Since I need to pinch every penny possible, I am hoping to find a brilliant person who will do the job in exchange for some PR from me that would include permanent links for them in my shop and my blog, as well as a blog post where I rave about how wonderful you are. The first person whom I like that contacts me can have the job. Unless April from http://www.aprilshowersblogdesign.com/ reads this and wants the job. Then she gets it because, well, she rocks.

Wow, I sure do feel better having gotten my secrets out!