Chores For Children

Most agree that having children do chores is a positive thing... It teaches responsibility, a feeling of accomplishment and the value of earning money (provided an allowance is associated with these chores, of course!).   Keeping track of each child's chores can be difficult - for both parent and child!  We found these AWESOME chore charts at Posh Little.  They are colorful and modern and a great way to keep the family organized!



Love these!  And better yet.. the KIDS will love these!

How to Make A Lemonade Stand

Summer time.... Sweet summer, summer time!  What seems to go hand in hand with kids and summer vacation?  Lemonade stands!  My kids love to visit them, and I happen to have a soft spot for little kids selling stuff, so we always stop.  (Yes - the Girl Scouts SCORE BIG at our house! :) 

I love how Staci at Just Sew Sassy turned an old desk into one AMAZING lemonade stand!  What little budding  entrepreneur wouldn't love to set up shop here?!?

Check out how she made this amazing transformation.  Super creative and HUGE impact!  I know all the neighborhood kiddos must LOVE it!

Great idea Staci!  Thank you for sharing!

Creative Ways To Organize

Keeping organized is a must for saving time and reducing clutter.  I'm particularly fond of creative storage devices that make organizing fun and that look great too!

Kim at Everything Etsy features 13 Great Ways to Organize with Recycled and Repurposed Finds.  It's a great collection of creative and attractive organizing solutions.  My particular favorite is the suggestion with the baby food jars.  LOVE it!



Thank you Kim at Everything Etsy for the great article!

Photos Into Art!

Photos. We take them everywhere, all the time.  At the beach on vacation... the kindergarten play... Christmas morning...  randomly throughout the day to capture the cutest of cute faces our children make.  But then what?  They stay in a photo box or worse yet in digital form where we only enjoy on occasion.  I know some of you are good enough to make scrapbooks which always impresses me.  I absolutely loooove them - don't get me wrong... but there is a time factor here that I cannot seem to overcome.  For this very reason, I GREATLY appreciate creative uses of photos, and classy ways to integrate them into our home decor. 

I found a fabulous example of this on the blog called Isabella and Max Rooms. They feature a decorative element using a photo turned into art by Modern Bird Studios. 



This has soooooo many possibilities I'm almost giddy!  Let those creative juices flow... This would make a creative addition to any children's room theme. 

Thank you to Isabella and Max Rooms for the great idea!

Potty Training Part II

When potty training, rewards are a great way to reinforce a successful trip to the potty!  From A Pumpkin and a Princess, here is here is an awesome Potty Treats Jar!  LOVE this and I must say we'll soon be featuring one in our house! :)

Fop Five Potty Training Tips

Potty training.... For some of us, we look forward to the days of no longer having to change diapers. For others, we dread the day our baby takes one more step towards being a "big kid." For all of us - its typically a challenge!

Here is our list of the Top Five Potty Training Tips:

5) The Naked Game - Many parents have found that wearing no diaper and no clothes can create a greater awareness of having to go to the bathroom. To use this strategy, dedicate a weekend to the initial training, and let your child go naked for extended periods of time. Before bath time is often a good place to start. Once the naked potty use is mastered, start adding the clothes back. First big kid undies, and then pants.

4) Target Practice - For those of us with boys in the house, it doesn't take long to figure out that aiming is a problem. Turn this obstacle into a game - it not only encourages potty use, but it helps get them going in the right direction. Take a few cheerios, they float nicely, and encourage your son to aim at them.

3) Praise - No better way to encourage a child to do anything than positive reinforcement. Give your child plenty of undivided attention, love and praise. Each time you have a successful potty, go overboard with the attention and praise. Children want to please and the additional excitement you create will help encourage going to the potty.

2) Stickers - A reward system is a great means to encourage potty training. Stickers seem to be a very popular choice. Create a board in the bathroom and reward your child with a sticker with each successful trip to the potty. Another popular alternative is covering a child's clothes with a sticker after each trip. This can create a constant reminder of the reward and help to remember to go to the potty with the need arises.

1) Bribes - when all else fails, a bribe is a fabulous option. M & M's always seem to be a popular choice. Promise your child each time they go to the bathroom they get some M & M's. If your child has another favorite, go with that. Many parents have had success keeping a reward jar in the bathroom filled with treats. With each successful potty, they can choose one.

No matter which strategy you choose, stay consistent and constantly encourage. Positive reinforcement, no matter what behavior you are encouraging, is a magical thing.

Let us know any other tips you may have and best of luck!

Affordable Nursery Decor

I adore affordable decorating ideas. Owning a baby boutique, we are always looking for creative ways to decorate baby nurseries.  That being said, I HAD to share this idea I saw on another blog - Love Sweet Love. 

So many possibilities... how cute would this look in a nursery?!?! What an affordable, creative way to add some flair! Thank you Love Sweet Love for posting such a great idea! For complete step by step instructions on how to make, please see their blog at the link below. 

Love Sweet Love: Sweet Tute Tuesday #2-Family Blocks

 

 

 

Love Sweet Love

Sweet Summer Clothes

We are very excited about the newest clothing lines featured in our baby boutique! These clothes feature fun, colorful fabrics, unique designs and the trendiest styles in children's fashion. We are confident the collection we have put together for our Spring/ Summer lines offers more style options than any boutique we have seen so far! We hope you love them as much as we do!

As always, thank you for visiting www.sugarpatchbaby.com!

Top 25 Children's Quotations

1. "You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance."-- Franklin P. Adams
2. "A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine."-- Anonymous
3. "Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own."-- Aristotle
4. "Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them."--James Baldwin
5. "The best inheritance a person can give to his children is a few minutes of his time each day " --O. A. Battista
6. "Human beings are the only creatures that allow their children to come back home."-- Bill Cosby
7. "There are three ways to get something done: do it yourself, employ someone, or forbid your children to do it."-- Monta Crane
8. "The children despise their parents until the age of 40, when they suddenly become just like them - thus preserving the system."-- Quentin Crewe
9. "Your children will see what you're all about by what you live rather than what you say." -- Wayne Dyer
10. "The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives."-- Albert Einstein
11. "We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body."-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
12. "Teach your child to hold his tongue; he'll learn fast enough to speak."-- Benjamin Franklin
13. "The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."-- Theodore M. Hesburgh
14. "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation Where they will not be judged by the color of their skin But by the content of their character."-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
15. "The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy."-- Sam Levenson
16. "Children need love, especially when they don't deserve it." -- Harold Hulbert
17. "If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters."-- Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
18. "Children are living jewels dropped unsustained from heaven." -- Robert Pollok
19. "Good parents give their children Roots and Wings. Roots to know where home is, wings to fly away and exercise what's been taught them."-- Jonas Salk
20. "While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."-- Angela Schwindt
21. "I think that maybe if women and children were in charge we would get somewhere."--James Thurber
22. "Child rearing myth #1: Labor ends when the baby is born."-- Unknown
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23. "Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said."--Unknown
24. "Children are the sum of what mothers contribute to their lives. " --Unknown
25. "When you put faith, hope and love together, you can raise positive kids in a negative world." -- Zig Ziglar

Resource Box - © Danielle Hollister (2004) is the Publisher of BellaOnline Quotations Zine
- A free newsletter for quote lovers featuring more than 10,000 quotations in dozens of categories like - love, friendship, children, inspiration, success, wisdom, family, life, and many more.

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