ONCEKids Back to School Checklist (Part 2 of 4)

By: Kate Camillo

Welcome back fellow moms. We’re getting closer and closer to back to school! I know you’re as excited as I am. This week we are going to continue last week’s topic of a back to school checklist. Before you roll your eyes, go check out last week’s blog that describes how this isn’t just your average checklist that gets handed out on the first day of school.

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Today we’re going to talk about reading. Inspiring your child to read is big responsibility. Some kids “hate” reading. No one actually hates reading, they just think whatever they are reading is boring. If you can find a more interesting way to incorporate reading into their lives, why not do it. With all of this technology, there are so many forms of reading other than picking up a picture book. Show your kids blogs, expose them to the combination of storytelling and technology. Comic books, blogs, websites, and many other sources of reading can help your child blossom into the scholar you hope them to be.

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From reading your child can turn to writing. By playing games that include storytelling they can become interested in making up their own stories. This can help them with their writing skills in school. Storytelling to writing essays, your child will be able to do it all.

Reading and writing are those skills you can sneakily add into your kids life without them knowing. I’m sure they would notice if you asked them 5x5 and would yell at you about how “It’s the weekend!” By encouraging them to catch up on their favorite characters through a blog, or ask them to tell you story to get their creative juices flowing, you will be stimulating their mind. As a parent, it is your job to enrich their education.

As of right now, on our checklist we have:

• Provide your kids downtime
• Encourage new forms of reading
• Get their creative juices flowing with imagining stories

33 days until September 1st! 33! We’re so close. We’re almost there. We got this.

Mommy Blogger Michelle Horton’s 10 Truths About Kids’ Birthday Parties

“Mom.me” blogger Michelle Horton has broken the silence by finally saying what every parent has been thinking about their kid’s birthday parties but has never said out loud. For kids, their birthdays as well as their friends’ birthdays are super exciting events that they can’t get enough of- the cake, the goody bags, the candy, the other little kids running around everywhere, it’s like kid heaven. As a parent, you feel like you’re obligated to look forward to your kid’s birthday, it’s their special day right? The day they came into the world and changed yours. But after their 1st birthday has come and gone and the parties just keep getting more complicated with more and more kids on the guest list, it can start to feel a little more stressful than exciting. Sometimes birthday parties aren’t even fun for the kids, hurt feelings can come from no-shows or missing invites, but as Michelle points out- every year parents keep going to them and keep hosting them. Despite the fact that, like Christmas madness, parents are never going to stop throwing their kids birthday parties- they are all going to keep thinking the same things. Here are Michelle Horton’s 10 Hard Truths about kids' birthday parties:

1. No parent wants to go, and no parent wants you to come.

It’s not personal. You seem perfectly lovely at school pick-up, and given a more comfortable atmosphere (somewhere without a head-splitting noise volume, and a few less hollers for “MOMMY”) maybe we could have a real conversation. But birthday parties are awkward, across the board. After huddling together with parents we barely know, making chitchat, silently pleading that our kid isn’t the one who collapses into a sugar-induced heap of tears or punches someone in the throat, we all leave grateful that it’s over, host and guests alike. Especially for the socially awkward amongst us, birthday parties are something to endure.

2. Half the guest list will RSVP the night before

When it comes to kids’ birthday parties, RSVP basically means nothing. You’re just going to have to accept it. Then parents will profusely apologize, as if they were the only one. A handful won’t respond at all, as if we won’t prepare a goodie bag and account for pizza just in case you phone in a last-minute response. At least one will cancel the day of, happens every time.

3. Prepare for siblings to come, because they will.

Don’t act surprised when a car unloads with four kids under 5, even though you only invited the one. Don’t you dare mentally count the pizza slices and goodie bags in your head; you were waiting for this moment. You’ve got this.

4. The activities you have spent so much time planning actually suck.

Musical chairs sounds fun until the first losing kid erupts into tears, elbowing kids off their seats. Scavenger hunts seem easy, until one older sibling goes on a prize-finding bender and refuses to share his winnings. If you can make it through two hours without saying, THAT’S IT, EVERYONE IN A CIRCLE AND SIT ON YOUR HANDS, then congratulations. Success.

5. Pinterest is for parents, not kids.

No kid cares about the themed food, Pinterest-inspired tablescape or décor. All of those printable tags and DIY touches? Just admit it, that’s for the camera (or maybe for other moms), not the kids. Kids want three things: sugar, loose balloons and space to run mad. Call it a day, folks. Let’s not overthink things.

6. Piñatas are the worst idea ever, stop it now.

Every time a parent emerges with a bat and the promise of candy, breaths catch in the air. Looks are exchanged around the room, silently saying, “Brace for catastrophe.” If the kids are strong enough to do some serious damage to the furniture, or to another kid’s skull, retire the piñata. The other parents thank you.

7. Goodie bags never make it out of the car.

So don’t try so hard. Kids are surprisingly easy to please.

8. All parents wish there was booze, too.

Wine would make this whole thing a lot easier, and less awkward. Sigh.

9. No one knows what to do about the gifts.

Do we open the presents in front of everyone? Do we wait? Do we avoid making eye contact with the presents?

 10. It’s never quite as bad as we anticipate.

Yes they are exhausting and awkward and, if parents are gonna be honest, way too expensive, but parents will still show up to the parties, gift in hand. They’ll still send out invitations, even if they “have to” invite the entire class. They’ll still go through the motions and get through the day, for the sake of the kids. And of course, for the birthday cake. 

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

ONCEKids Publishing: 10 Tips for Moms Who Blog

Being a mom means helping with homework, grocery shopping, organizing play dates, rides to school, rides home from school -- you get the idea! A seemingly endless list of things to do with not nearly enough hours in the day to do them. 

So what about for our blogger moms? Managing to check off everything on your to do list and still having time to blog seems like an impossible task. 

Luckily, there are ten things you can do to stay super-mom and still have a fresh, fun blog. 

1. Keep a notebook handy

Inspiration can hit at the most unexpected times, and with all the chaos in your life you can't rely on your memory to store your brilliant idea for you. So write it down! Even if it's on a napkin, get your idea on paper so you can move on with your day and come back to it later. 

2. Have a back up blog ready

Life as a mom means a life full of the unexpected. You can't predict those days where you have a sick child, an unexpected visit, or a last minute play date. There are going to be days where you are just too busy or too exhausted to sit down and write a blog, so have one or two ready on your computer to be published at a moments notice. 

3. Have a "vacation day" from your blog

Just like with any job, we all need a day off. Plan your blog to be five or six days a week, never seven. Take a day off to relax and spend time with your family. Don't even think about your blog that day! It is important for your sanity that you don't let your blog consume your life. Take this day to pursue other interests.

4. Create a schedule 

Part of being an efficient blogger is organizing your time. Create a schedule and try to follow it as closely as possible! Plan ahead what you would like to accomplish that week and how much time you want to spend on each task. It also helps to prioritize the items from highest to lowest importance. 

5. Seek out support

Despite how it might seem, you are not alone in the world of mom bloggers! Sitting behind a computer screen can feel isolating sometimes -- so reach out! Find a group of other moms who also like to blog, or get your friends into it. Together you can share your experiences, ask for advice, and inspire each other. 

6. Cut yourself some slack

Being a mom is one of the hardest jobs out there! It is a lot of work and very time consuming, so try to refrain from pressuring yourself. Don't give yourself unreachable goals and get discouraged when you don't immediately reach them. Make sure you give yourself attainable goals to work towards to keep you encouraged.

7. Don't compare yourself to other moms (!)

Every mom is different and every child is different, so don't fall into that trap of comparing yourself to moms around you! A strategy that works for one family may not work for yours, and that's okay. Just hold yourself to your own standard and worry about your own family routine instead of concerning yourself with other families.

8. Treat your blog like a real job

In order to have a  successful blog, you need to treat it just like you would any other job. Give yourself hours and make sure to "show up" to them. 

9. Brainstorm a list of ideas

Take some time out each month or week to brainstorm a list of ideas you'd like to blog about. That way during those inconvenient times of writing block you can refer back to your list. 

10. Remember what is important

It is okay to get a little caught up in your blog, but don't let yourself drown in it. No matter what, your family is still the most important thing. 

Moms in Publishing: Creating a New Language

ONCEKids Publishing is active in social media to spread ideas to our followers and fellow Mompreneurs. For those who are not active within social media websites, such as Facebook or Twitter, hearing about how it works can feel like hearing a different language- and in many ways it is. 

This new language has become the language of the web. A recent update of the Oxford English Dictionary has altered its lexicon to include words such as "LOL", meaning laugh out loud, and "OMG", which stands  for oh my god. Facebook has created terms such as "friending" someone, which is the act of accepting or requesting someone to be part of your social network page. The term "to google" has even been established as a verb used when someone is trying to describe looking something up on the web. Coming up with names and terms that sticks may be just as important to a company as the site design itself.

To learn more about Asian themes, please visit Fujimini Island, find Fujimini Island on Facebook, follow Fujimini Island on Twitter.

An example of a site that has created its own language with incredible results is Twitter. Words such as "tweet" or "follow" have been established to mean message and subscribing to someone's twitter page with great success. Even symbols such as @, denoting an online name, and #, a hashtag denoting a topic, have been popularized throughout the site, as well as the entire web. Even many people who do not participate in Twitter understand what these terms and symbols mean. 

Other companies are trying to coin words that become as popular as Facebook, Twitter, and Google's words, sometimes with great success, other times with little success. Microsoft's efforts to popularize the phrase "Bing it!", even paying the popular show  "Gossip Girl" to use it during the show, was met with ridicule by others on the web. However, sites such as Pinterest , a site that allows people to create virtual inboards or bulletin boards, have found success with the phrase to "pin" favorite images. 

To learn more about the author of this article Eileen Wacker and her acclaimed book series,  visit ONCEKids, ONCEKids on Facebook,  ONCEKids on Twitter.

The secret seems to be that the successful ones appear more naturally occurring, even if the creation is entirely artificial. 

ONCEKids Publishing is proud of its very active social media presence with a blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.  Be sure to follow us for more information on childrens books, literacy, education, diversity, Modern Moms.