Backyard Camping Tradition During Quarantine

We’re still social-distancing very seriously but all our favorite outdoor spaces (hiking trails, lakes, beaches, camping areas, etc) have been totally overrun lately with people looking for a change of scenery. This unfortunately makes it impossible to social-distance safely, so we tend to just stay home. | This post contains affiliate links |

In order to make our weekends more special we started a weekend tradition early on during Quarantine to “camp at home” every weekend. During the colder months and bad weather, this meant camping in our living room every Saturday night with sleeping bags and staying up late watching a family-friendly movie. Sunday mornings we make a special breakfast, usually of pancakes or egg sandwiches.

Now that the weather is warmer, we’re doing more backyard camping. Our large tent is nice and roomy for all of us to spread out - and the extra large screen areas on the top mean we can leave the rainflap off in nice weather so we can see the stars and watch the fireflies (which is what we typically do). It feels really magical and the kids love it!
When we set up the tent we typically try to camp for at least two nights in a row to get more out of it.

(Pro-tip: Put a doormat outside your tent to help keep grass and sand from getting tracked in - We purchased our mat from one of our favorite companies, Maine Rope Mats.)

We may be stuck at home, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t make special memories. I hope you can find a fun tradition to start at home during this time too - stay well!

---

---

Related Posts:

• Cloth Face Mask Organization and Storage

• Basic Emergency Preparedness Ideas

How We're Handling the Tooth Fairy

A lot of families have their own traditions for when the Tooth Fairy comes - some do elaborate gifts or glitter-covered dollar bills, others do a quarter under the pillow and keep it very simple. We decided to keep our tradition simple, but still make it special. Here’s how we’re handling it… | This post contains affiliate links |

Those loose teeth seem to sneak right up on you. Out of nowhere our daughter’s tooth became suddenly very loose and she lost it within a few days. Luckily I was on top of it and had already planned how we were going to do the Tooth Fairy, but I suggest being prepared and having any special Tooth Fairy supplies or money set aside well ahead of that first loose tooth.

Since our daughter can be a light sleeper, we decided having a separate "Tooth Pillow" would be the easiest and safest bet to keep the Tooth Fairy's visit undetected. The Tooth Pillow we purchased also came with a cute little notepad for the Tooth Fairy to leave her receipts and a bottle of glitter (which we decided not to use... we didn't want glitter all over the place, haha). When she looses a tooth, it goes into the pillow which we hang on her closet doorknob and the Tooth Fairy trades the tooth for money and a receipt.

How much money should the Tooth Fairy leave? Well, that’s up to you and your family. Some people leave a lot of money per tooth (like $5-10), others just leave change. We decided $1-2 per tooth was a good amount but to make it more special we leave “unusual” money that you don’t see every day. Prior to her loosing her first tooth I went to our local bank and traded a $10 bill for any unusual US Currency they had in their drawer. In exchange I got a few $1 gold coins, some $2 bills, and a few half dollar coins. This way she gets special unique “Tooth Fairy Money” that can be saved or spent at her discretion.

To Keep or Not to Keep the Teeth? Again, another personal choice for you and your family. For us, we decided to just keep that first lost baby tooth in a small jar which we put away with other baby keepsakes. (They also sell some cute specialty Keepsake Boxes for these things.) Some people do decide to keep all lost teeth, but for us that's just not our thing.

Once those teeth start getting loose be prepared for them to keep coming. After our daughter lost the first tooth, we had about a two month break and then she lost three more teeth in less than one week - it’s definitely a good idea to be prepared with a stash of Tooth Fairy Money because you never know when the next one will happen.

A Special Corner

I’ve had this plant cloche for awhile and just picked up a little Boston fern for it today. This is a special little corner of our dining room - my grandparents’ candle sticks, a photo from my great-grandparents’ farm, and an old photo of my husband’s grandmother.

A lot of family history in this little corner.