Preparing for Preschool

Lovey starts preschool in exactly three days. Most days she is so excited can hardly stand the wait. “How many days ‘til school? Is it just one day? Can I go to school tomorrow? Can we practice school today? Let’s do story time. Let’s practice writing my letters!” Then she starts to feel overwhelmed by the thought of leaving me and says, “I don’t want to go to school anymore. I’m going to miss you too much. I just want to be with you forever.” She is my Velcro-baby. She is always next to me, as close as she can get. I say often that if she could crawl back into my uterus and hang out for a while she totally would. Eating lunch, our chairs are touching, and she is on the far edge of her seat so that at minimum our sides touch while we eat. For about the first year after I weaned her from the breast, she had to hold my hand while we ate every meal. She sleeps next me in bed every night and crawls into my arms as soon as she wakes for hour long cuddles. If we have to rush to get up and get ready for something and she doesn’t get her cuddles, her whole day is off. She plays independently during the day and loves to be outside with Daddy, but she always comes back to my arms for a quick cuddle.

I always intended to home school her, but I know that she needs this school year away. She needs a place where she can be her own person. Where she can have her own thing. Since having Nature Baby, Lovey has had to share her most prized possession, Me. She has been very gracious but I know it wears on her when I can’t do a painting project with her because NB will get into the paint, or we can’t dance together because NB needs to have a nap. She needs play time where she won’t be interrupted by baby’s nap. She needs other kids to be silly with and create bonds with. I know she will love school. She loves to learn, it comes naturally for her. She does addition and subtraction every day just in her play. She loves to be read to and loves to make up her own stories. She also loves to do worksheets from preschool and kindergarten workbooks we have. We are blessed to be able to send her to a great school, the school where I taught all those years before having her. I know the teachers, the principle, the school board members. I trust them. I have security in knowing that she will be cared for and safe. I couldn’t send her to any school but this. She is going to have a blast!

There are a few things we are doing to prepare for preschool.

               Gear: She picked out her backpack and water bottle. We ordered them online to get the best deal and find something different. I made her cozy nap mat cover complete with one of her baby blankets for extra coziness. I made her cute cloth napkins for her lunch box and bought her a special fork and spoon. I searched and searched and finally found BPA-free, phthalate free, lead-free, all-that-other-bad-stuff-free food storage containers. I love these reusable sandwich bags (bottom right).

Bedtime: I have been pushing her bedtime up for a few weeks now. Lovey is a night owl and she loves to sleep in. I can’t stand waking a sleeping child. It just doesn’t seem right. They need to sleep to grow and be healthy and happy. But because school starts at 8, she’ll need to be up around 7. Probably 6:30 to include cuddle time, but that just seems so early.

               Morning Routine: Lovey is a slow mover in the morning. I made a chart with the things she needs to do in the morning. Get dressed, brush teeth, brush hair, put on shoes, grab backpack. (She will eat breakfast in the car, since I’m sure we will run out of time quickly and we have about a 5-10 minute drive depending on traffic.)

               Special token: I bought these sweet charms and put them on a necklace for each of us. She can wear hers to school and when she feels too far from me, she can look at it and know she is in my heart and I am in her heart. I’ll give the necklace to her the night before her first day of school. My mother in law also bought a special book for me to read to her the night before her big day.

(Her necklace is above, mine below.)

               Gift for her teacher: We decided we should bring a gift to her teacher on the first day of school. She said she wants to bring some books for the classroom. I also want to include something sweet just for her teacher and aide so I’ll most likely get some good chocolate.

 I can’t wait to see her in her backpack, all ready for a big girl adventure. I know there will be tears (mine) that first day. I’m sure I’ll drop her off then sit for the next 7 hours and hold nature baby and cry that my big girl is off to school. The good thing is she only goes three days a week so we get a whole day of cuddles between!

The Day That Lady Called Me "Supermom"

My husband and I have a favorite restaurant that we visit at least once a week. The wonderful thing about it is that they have an extensive menu so my husband has lots of options even though I get the same thing every time. And they have the best sweet tea on the planet. It also helps that on the weekend kids eat free. We have been going there since our daughter was a baby. It makes us feel at home. Lovey gets really sad when someone is sitting at our table. I’m sure she has thought of asking them to move a time or two. One day while we were sitting at our favorite table, something awesome happened. A lady, well she was in her late teens/early twenties, called me “Supermom”. She happened to be waiting on us that day and noticed the babycubes that I had packed Nature Baby’s lunch in. She marveled at them, “Where did you get those neat little containers? Those are so cool!” Then, “Oh my gosh! I have never seen a seat like that before! Where did you get that? That is so neat! What… Are you like Supermom or something?” I told her I got this booster seat from a resale shop near our house and yes, it was the coolest thing ever. Looking at Nature Baby, she said, “You have the coolest Mom ever!” Now, obviously, I am not Supermom, but in that moment, just hearing someone say those words… I felt great! I thought to myself “I’m not Supermom, I just happen to be blessed with some pretty neat gear.” Then, I thought, you know she thought I was Supermom because of material things that I had. I wish she would have called me Supermom because of my patience, because of my quiet voice when my children are impatiently waiting for their food, because of the games I make up on the fly to occupy hungry children. But still, in that moment, she lifted me. Just hearing the word “Supermom” brightened my face. No matter her reason, I felt good about myself.

 I know a true Supermom. She goes to doctor visit after doctor visit with her child. She reads, studies, researches, reads some more to try to make her child’s life easier, better. She sacrifices her time, money, social life to ensure her child has everything he needs. I do not even come close to Supermom. But does Supermom know that she is Supermom? Everyone feels that they are just doing what they have to do. That they are doing the things they do for their family because it is what they do. They don’t feel “Super.” But wouldn’t you like to hear that you are super? Wouldn’t it make you feel good to know that someone is proud of you, that they think you are awesome? Guess what, YOU ARE SUPER! You are! If someone hasn’t told you that lately, consider telling yourself. You are amazing. There are things that you do that no one else can do. To your children, you are the best. Even if they don’t always verbally praise you, they are thinking it. Imagine what could happen if we took the time to tell people that they are “Super!”

 

I’d love to hear your stories of when you felt great about something you accomplished, or when others lifted you, or how you have helped to lift up others.

Why are there so many creepers?

So because there are creepers in the world, I am not using my children's names on my blog. My daughter, who is 4, will be Lovey. My son, who just turned 1, will be Nature Baby. Stay tuned for a post about how he got that name.

Thank you for reading!

Frugalista at Heart

You may have noticed the title of my blog is FrugalistaMommie. I am a frugalista momm(ie) at heart. I can’t remember a time in the past 7 years that I have purchased anything at full price, except groceries. I don’t coupon much. I never find coupons for things I actually buy. We don’t buy a lot of processed foods and there just aren’t coupons for produce and meat. I make a lot of our house hold products such as cleaning supplies and toiletries. If I found a coupon for tea tree oil and avocados I’d be set! I am a sale seeking, clearance rummaging, consignment shop stalking, deal days connoisseur.

We are a one income family so we have a pretty strict budget. I am a shopper though. I love to shop and love to find a deal. I get great deals on the things we need and even some of what we want. I don’t shop online much because I like to see (and feel) what I am buying. It seems every time I order something online it turns out to be very different from what I thought I was buying. Here are some tips I have for saving money and getting what your family needs (and wants):

               Be green: A great way to save money is to think “re-usable”. We use washable (cloth) diapers, cloth wipes, cloth napkins, cloth handkerchiefs. We don’t buy paper plates and use very few paper towels. We re-use things as often as possible.

Check for a coupon: Before I go shopping, I check online for coupons. If I am going to Hobby Lobby to get craft supplies, I print a coupon from their website. They always have 40% off coupons available. You can also search for coupons on your smartphone if you don’t plan ahead. Believe it or not, I do not have a smartphone. I have a nifty little Samsung phone that calls and texts and is made of 80% recycled material. So, if you have a smart phone you can look up coupons and deals while you are in the store, if not, print them before you go.

               Head to the back: When you walk in a store, go straight to the back. The clearance section is always hidden in the back of the store. They want you to walk through all the racks of regular priced items, but don’t get distracted, the real deals are on the back wall. On a recent trip to Gap I bought a pair of jeans for myself for under $17, a pair of shorts for $15, a pair of jeans for my daughter for $4.99 and a button down shirt for my son for $9.99. You can be frugal and still be fashionable.

               Like them on facebook: If you are on facebook, which I’m sure you are, often if you “like” a company you can see deals and coupon codes they post on their page.

               Sign up for emails or paper mailings: I receive a booklet from Hancock Fabrics every couple of weeks with deals and coupons that I can take into the store. I also receive email deal alerts and coupons from Gap, Target, Children’s Place, and others.

               Join local swap or b/s/t groups on facebook: You can find groups for used furniture, kids items, clothes, cloth diapers, baby carriers, just about anything you can imagine. I buy the majority of the cloth diapers we use from a local b/s/t group.

               Join a co-op: There are many co-ops locally, and around the globe, that offer discounted prices when you buy in bulk with a group. There is even a whole food, natural product co-op here that I am excited to try out. You can find these co-ops on, you guessed it, facebook. (I could write a whole blog post on “How to save money using facebook”)

               Check the online price: Sometimes the price online is cheaper than you find in the store. Some stores have special deals to get free shipping when you spend a certain amount of money. Also, amazon often has free book downloads! I can’t ever pass up a free book, even though I have a kindle library full and have only read 3. Some major retailers have free shipping to the store and you can pick up your item in the store.

               Check out local consignment and resale shops: If have found so many things we needed at local resale shops for a fraction of the cost. I buy children’s clothing, new-in-package shoes, name brand jeans, and lots more. My favorite item from a resale shop is the booster seat I use for my son every day. It is the perfect portable booster that we use in restaurants and when we go to friend’s houses. I even had a lady comment on it while we are at lunch one day, “Where did you get that awesome seat? I have never seen anything like that? What are you like supermom or something?” The supermom comment might have been a little extreme but I sure liked it!

               Make your own: A very simple way to save money on items you use every day is to make your own. I make my own cleaning supplies, hand soap, wipes solution, diapers, cloth napkins, and even clothes. I plan to replace one store bought item with a home-made version each week. This saves us tons of money already. I love making clothing for my kids (and some for myself). I make summer dresses for my princess, pants, babylegs, and even diapers for baby boy. I usually make outfits for each holiday throughout the year. (No, not cheesy matching plaid ensembles like our childhood pictures from the 80s) I made a super cute pair of pants today for my big girl. I found the fabric in a remnant bin for $2.80 and used other scraps that I had in my sewing closet from previous projects. That is a major deal! You can find recipes for all sorts of products and tutorials online (and pinterest!).

I hope some of this helps you to save money and live like a frugalista. I could go on and on, but it is late and I should wrap up at some point. I can always do a part 2. One last tip… bring snacks with you. You can save lots of money by bringing a bottle of water, a protein bar, and snacks for the kids when you will be away from the house during snack time.

What’s in a name? “Nursing” vs “Breastfeeding"

So, I have always referred to feeding my baby as nursing. I’m not sure why I called it nursing instead of breastfeeding. Maybe I felt like breastfeeding was more the medical, technical term, while nursing was the informal, used-at-home term. Like patella and knee cap. Another reason I probably said nursing is because the word nursing encompasses all aspects of nurturing at the breast. It is feeding, pacifying, comforting, lulling to sleep. My daughter didn’t just breastfeed. She “nursed”. She was always at the breast. She never once fell asleep without nursing, well maybe once, but it was probably a fluke. She pacified at the breast, turning minutes into hours. She nursed into toddlerhood which meant she came to the breast for comfort when she fell down, was overwhelmed by a crowd, was sad that her cousins had to go back home. She often spent the good part of a play date in mommy’s arms, nursing, while observing the other children.

While nursing my daughter, I was not aware of what others were doing when it came to breastfeeding. I was not concerned with how long others were breastfeeding or when the appropriate (read: societal norm) weaning time was, or that there was a need for “normalizing breastfeeding.” I assumed people knew that breastfeeding was best, and while I was met with lots of criticism for nursing well into toddlerhood, I did not feel a responsibility for normalizing breastfeeding. I found out about La Leche League meetings when I was pregnant with my son and started attending meeting regularly. This opened a whole world of breastfeeding to me. I knew only a few other breastfeeding moms while I was nursing my daughter and they were the hiding in the back room, not nursing in public, type. No one around me was nursing into toddlerhood. At La Leche I met moms who were breastfeeding into toddlerhood, not hiding in dressing rooms, and trying to make a difference in breastfeeding statistics. As I joined facebook groups supporting breastfeeding I realized that no one really used the term nursing. It is breastfeeding. I realized I started saying breastfeeding more often and using the term nursing less.

Why say breastfeeding anyway? I believe it is a step toward normalizing breastfeeding. It is important to normalize breastfeeding. Saying “breastfeeding” is making the word breast normal. It is identifying breasts as tools to feed a baby and not just a part of a woman’s body. God designed breasts to make milk to feed a baby. People have forgotten that. People who believe that God created their body, still have a problem with breastfeeding. They can only see breasts as sexual and not as they were fully intended to be. I do also believe that God designed the body to be enjoyed by the person’s mate. (See Song of Solomon for more on that.) The more people see mothers breastfeeding, hear the term breastfeeding, the less emphasis on the sexuality of breasts, the more people will see breastfeeding as the norm. Breastfeeding is important—for the mother, for the baby, for the whole family. I want to normalize breastfeeding. I want those I love to breastfeed their babies. I want my children to breastfeed their babies. I want my future daughter(s) in law to breastfeed. I believe in breastfeeding and I pledge to do my part to bring breastfeeding back to where it was years and years ago—the norm.