I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, crafter, and blogger living in rural New England. As seen in Martha Stewart Living, Food Network Magazine, and more! | Tutorials, DIY, crafts, parenting tips, recipes, money saving tips, product reviews, local product features, New England living, intentional living, and more! |
Just wanted to hop on here and share this ADORABLE KidKraft Cabana my sister bought for our kids as a fun, very thoughtful gift. We’ve been trying to turn our home into an oasis of sorts for the kids since we’re home 24/7 now. Mostly just rearranging their current toys and books to create zones and make things more efficient for play, remote learning, and relaxing - but this Cabana takes the cake! It’s absolutely adorable and perfect for relaxing outside for snack, reading a book, or taking a rest after they get out of the kiddie pool. We might not be able to go on vacation this year, but they can certainly pretend they’re at a beach resort now - though I must confess, I’m totally jealous and wish I had one in my size too!
The Cabana also has cupholders and a little storage cubby which the kids absolutely love! It’s definitely been a huge hit and now I know where the kids will be hanging out all summer long.
Thanks again Auntie Suz for such an awesome gift for the kids! :)
With the Covid-19 Pandemic still persisting and school in our state cancelled for the rest of the school year (and maybe longer), average parents have been thrown into the role of becoming teachers too and most of us weren’t prepared at all. While I have a degree in Art Education, I went a different career route after graduation and my teaching/classroom management skills are now quite rusty. So I pulled from my own classroom and remote teaching experiences - as well as polling many teacher friends, homeschooling parents, and regular now-remote-teaching-parents for ideas on what’s working for them and what supplies have been lifesavers as they navigate this new remote learning world. | This post contains affiliate links |
Give Yourself Grace
This is probably the biggest takeaway from everyone I’ve talked to…. remote learning during a Pandemic is definitely uncharted territory and everyone is trying to figure things out - readjusting roles, schedules, expectations, everything. Most of us weren’t cut out to be teachers, and it can be incredibly hard to motivate and focus your own kids as well as their teachers are able to. Ultimately, it’s a matter of doing the best that you can in the circumstance you’re currently in… and don’t beat yourself up if everything isn’t perfect.
Communicate with Teachers and Administrators
If you have a lot going on at home (working from home yourself, several kids schedules to juggle, other personal hurdles to deal with, etc) or if the teacher’s expectations for remote learning are just unrealistic, definitely reach out to them to voice your concerns and come up with a plan. Maybe deadlines can be extended, or the workload can be reduced to the essential assignments. Maybe the big group Zoom meetings are too overwhelming and frustrating for your young child and they need a one-on-one meeting instead. Maybe the schedule the teacher came up with won’t work for your family with your own work and other school schedules. The point is - if you or your kids are feeling overwhelmed and stressed about about the whole remote learning process, it’s worth discussing with their teachers and administrators so that you can come up with something that works for everyone and still meets all the learning requirements.
Come up With a Schedule that Works for Your Family
This will take some trial-and-error. And if you have older students with a heavier workload, their home school day might just look very similar to a regular school day schedule-wise and time-wise - especially if they can work pretty independently. But for us with younger kids, mom or dad needs to be there to walk them through each assignment, activity, and online meeting.
If you’re also working from home or juggling other kids schedules too this can be particularly challenging and exhausting... if you need something to buy periods of occupation from your kids (maybe so you can do an uninterupted confrence call, or you can concentrate helping one child with an assignment while keeping the other kids busy), consider giving them something they will enjoy doing and keep them safely occupied (but always under some parent supervision of course). Maybe it's educational games on the Kindle, or perhaps low-mess craft projects, or an hour of TV time, or reading a book series on their own that they enjoy, etc. Or maybe you find school work or office work done in fragments at unusual times is what works best for your family.
For us personally with younger kids, we’ve fallen into a good rhythm and schedule over the last two months of remote learning. For our family we’ve found it best to buckle down in the mornings and get the work done first thing when attention spans are at their best and everyone is well rested. So our daughter works through her assignments one-by-one every morning with breaks for snack and classroom meetings. Our goal is to have all her work completed for the day by lunchtime, and while some days that doesn’t happen and things need to be finished after lunch, most of the time she’s done by noon which leaves the afternoons for “free choice fun.” Typically, spending the whole afternoon outside if the weather is nice or inside playing legos or watching a movie if it’s raining (and while the kids are playing I can chip away at whatever work I need to get done too). Our days have consistent expectations and a nice rhythm to them now which helps a lot.
Set Snack and Meal Times
As anyone with kids home 24/7 can tell you, they can and WILL eat you out of house and home if you let them. By having set snack and mealtimes it will help your pantry and wallet by not blowing through all your quarantine snacks in 2 days flat. I’ve seen some parents even pack their kids lunch box every morning, just like they would for school, so the kids have a finite amount of snacks and lunch food for the day.
Designate a School Space and Stay Organized
Having a designated “school space” that has all the supplies your kids will need to complete their assignments at their fingertips can be crucial to success. Ideally having a desk or separate workspace would be ideal, but any designated space can work. For us, we set up one end of our kitchen island - it has a laptop where our daughter completes most of her assignments online and a small basket where we store paper, workbooks, flashcards, and a few ziplock bags containing different supplies that she uses often (markers, counting chips, etc). By having everything ready to go each day, there's no excuse when it's time to get to work.
I polled many friends, both teachers and regular parents who are now remote teaching, and compiled a list of things they have needed or found to be extremely helpful during this time. Younger kids definitely tend to need more learning aides so the list has many items geared to younger students but there are also some items that can be useful for older grade levels listed too. Click the button below to browse our picks, which I will be periodically adding to as I get more suggestions:
Because someday the kids will go back to school… (Right..? Right! fingers crossed) I ordered our youngest her own pink monogrammed L.L. Bean Boat and Tote to match Mama and big sis for when she hopefully starts school in the Fall. I love that each will have her own tote for school to stay organized and carry snow gear and sports things, and that these bags are something that will grow with them and be used for many years to come.
A bag for each of us and each of us has our own color to keep us organized. Our oldest’s bag has been through the wash many times and is a bit softer and more broken in :) These bags get better with use!
L.L. Bean Fashion
| This particular post is not sponsored by L.L. Bean but contains affiliate links and my personal opinions |
Happy Earth Day! Back in the ‘80’s my Dad bought these Vermont State Parks t-shirts on a camping trip for himself and baby-me... somehow they survived all these years and now me and my kids wear them. Vintage ;)
Hope you have a great Earth Day and can find a safe way to better your household or neighborhood during this Pandemic.
Today there’s always so much stress in our daily lives. That’s why it’s more important than ever to make time for yourself to relax and reset yourself after a long, tense day. After hearing so many great things about weighted wraps and blankets, I was so excited when Lynne from NH-based Hug Patrol reached out to me to give one a try. | This post contains an honest review of product provided by Hug Patrol |
I don’t know about you, but I hold ALL my tension in my shoulders and neck. Whenever I feel stressed or have a lot going on my shoulders get tense and I can feel them creeping up, getting tighter and tighter. Using Hug Patrol's 3lb Calm Wrap has really helped me release the tension in my shoulders. I’ve found it to be a really comfortable weight that gently rests on my shoulders and reminds me to relax my shoulders down and drop the tension.
I also love that it can be heated (in microwave) or cooled (in freezer) to help with relaxation or muscle aches. A really interesting fact that Lynne shared with me was that her wraps are made with 100% USA-sourced heavy duck cotton and food grade flax seed, while many competitor wraps are made with polyester-fleece (polyester is made from plastic and omits potentially harmful compounds when heated). I had never thought about that before but it definitely brought up a great point! I certainly feel better about heating it in our microwave where we also heat our food too.
I really love the Calm Wrap’s ergonomic U-shape - it’s perfect for wearing around my shoulders while I’m reading, relaxing, or working on my computer. I feel like it would be great on a long trip too! The quality is also incredible - from the thickness of the fabric to the sewing, you can tell it’s very well made - and the sectioned off design keeps the weight distributed evenly no matter how you wear it.
Hug Patrol offers a wide range of comforting products including different sized/weighted wraps, lap blankets, blankets, eye-pillows, socks, mitts, and more. Some also have the option of being scented with real lavender. They even offer products with antimicrobial covers to be used in multi-user settings like hospitals, rehab centers, spas, yoga studios, etc.
Keep Up with Hug Patrol
| Shop | Instagram | Facebook | Also can be found locally at Whole Foods in Bedford NH, Nashua NH, and Westford MA |
GIVEAWAY!
Hug Patrol was kind enough to give a Calm Wrap to a follower too! To enter, please head on over to my Instagram (@birchlandinghome) or Facebook and look for the Giveaway post - enter on both Instagram and Facebook to increase your chances!
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.
As I had mentioned previously in my “Goals for the New Year” post, one of my goals is to use less plastic in our daily lives. We already make an effort to recycle as much as possible and not be wasteful but watching the documentary “Broken: Recycling Sham” on Netflix was eye-opening. So much of what people put in the recycling bin ends up in landfills or the ocean in the end, as a lot of plastic is too difficult or expensive to recycle and it’s sorted out and discarded. (PS - if you haven’t watched this documentary yet, I highly recommend it!) If everyone were to decrease their use of plastic in small ways it would eventually decrease the demand and less plastic would be made and end up in the environment. Here I’m sharing some small ways we’re working towards less plastic in our lives. | This post contains affiliate links |
As Emily Ley would say, I’m striving for “progress, not perfection.” I am not planning on eliminating all plastic from our home overnight - after all that wouldn’t be environmentally responsible either. We have plenty of BPA-free Tupperware, kids plates, reusable bottles, containers, etc and they are serving us well - there’s no need to go chuck them in the trash now. It’s also impractical (and arguably impossible) for our family to totally eliminate plastic from our lives. - But moving forward, we will try to consume less plastic, and as things wear out and need replacing we will look to non-plastic or high-recycled-content materials for replacements.
Here are a few eco-friendly “swaps” we have implemented or are planning to in the future:
Reusable Water Bottles. This is a very easy one... find a Reusable Water Bottles that you like and carry it around with you, refilling it as needed. I personally prefer stainless steel bottles, but others prefer glass or plastic. Not only is a reusable bottle good for the environment, it's good for your wallet too as you'll never have to buy an overpriced bottle of water at a gas station or cafe again. Most office buildings, schools, and malls have bubblers (AKA water fountains for all you non-New Englanders) where you can fill your bottle, and most cafes and fast food restaurants will refill your bottle with water for free too.
Reusable Grocery Bags. This is another easy change - in fact, I can almost guarantee you have some Reusable Grocery Bags kicking around in your closet or car trunk this very minute since businesses often give out reusable bags for promotions and advertising. Dig those bags out and make a neat stash of them in your trunk or car door pocket and make a mental note to grab them before heading into the grocery store. (Side note: It's a good idea to periodically wash your reusable bags to keep them clean and reduce the spread of potential germs.)
Reusable Produce Bags. Purchase some small cotton Reusable Produce Bags to use when you go grocery shopping. Produce bags are often overlooked since they're small but they add up fast during a weekly grocery trip. By using reusable bags you're reducing your plastic consumption (and not to mention no more busted plastic produce bags when you're buying a decent amount of potatoes or apples - yay!).
Reusable Travel Mug for Coffee/Tea. Find a travel mug that you love (personally I love my Yeti Rambler - worth every penny in my opinion!) and take your coffee to go. A lot of coffee shops will give a small discount for bringing a reusable mug in too - it pays to be green ;)
Silicone "Plastic" Bags. Plastic snack and sandwhich bags are another thing that quickly add up, especially if you pack your own lunch. Switching out plastic for washable and reusable Silicone "Plastic" Bags will cut back on a lot of the single-use plastic in your life.
Glass or Metal "Tupperware". We have plenty of good quality plastic tupperware for packing lunches and leftovers, but as they need replacing we'll look to switching to glass or stainless steel.
Sustainably Made Wooden Toys. Our kids will still play with plastic toys (legos, action figures, etc)... we're not going to forbid it. But we're definitely being mindful about what and how much plastic toys we do buy - and when we have the opportunity to provide them with sustaibably-made wooden toys like play food for their kitchen set or blocks we definitely will. (Side note: I had recently partnered with the company Lovevery to review their sustainably-made Block Set and was super impressed! Feel free to check out that previous post HERE, I highly reccomend them).
And while the recycling business is far from perfect, you should still always recycle whenever you can. That way your waste has a chance of being reused. If items are reusable things in good shape (toys, containers, etc), donate them to local charities or a "drop 'n swap" where people leave items to be taken for free by someone that can use them (check your local dump/transfer station to see if they have one).
If they are single-use items (like plastic bags, milk jugs, food packaging, etc) then sort and recycle as best you can. Setting up an in-home recycling system can make sorting and recycyling second-nature so everything (plastic, glass, paper, cans, etc) makes it to recycling center with the best chance of getting recycled.
Are there more ways to go plastic-free? Oh heck yes. But I’m personally looking for doable, attainable changes that fit with our lifestyle. I feel like these are changes most people could accomplish as well too. If everyone just reduced their plastic consumption with simple changes it would add up and make a huge difference.
We’re making more of an effort to be more conscious about what we buy our kids - less plastic “junk” that they will quickly loose interest in and more toys that are educational and encourage open-ended play. I was so excited when I stumbled across Lovevery - a company that is passionate about making educational and sustainably made heirloom toys for babies and young children. | This post contains an honest review of product provided by Lovevery |
We received The Block Set from Lovevery right before Christmas and thought it would make the most perfect gift for our two-and-a-half year old. Lately with Christmas, birthdays, and other holidays we’ve been striving for “quality” over “quantity” for gifts - buying only thoughtful toys and books that will be enjoyed for a long time. This block set fit that requirement perfectly! We opted for a simple red ribbon to wrap it for Christmas morning and let our kids start enjoying it right away.
What was I most impressed about with The Block Set? The quality and the variety of blocks that it came with! Everything is solid, sustainably-harvested wood which has been finished with brightly colored water-based non-toxic paints. There are 70+ pieces, and 18 different shapes and tools including little people with different skin tones. It even comes with an activity guide and planks which I haven’t seen in other block sets, making for lots of fun building and game opportunities (think bridges, houses, dominoes, and more)!
Our two year old (and six year old)’s favorite feature of The Block Set? How the storage box turns into a car! The circle blocks have recessed magnets which connect to dowels that can be threaded through the box, making for a very sturdy and easy-to-build car. Every day since Christmas she has pulled this car all around our house collecting blocks, dolls, dog toys, and whatever else she can find!
Another innovative feature of The Block Set is how the lid is also designed as a shape sorter, allowing for little ones to learn organization, as well as shape and spatial recognition. Lovevery consults with experts so their toys are designed to help promote cognitive and motor skill development as well as encourage pretend play.
And as a mom, I love that it also came with a cute gingham drawstring bag for flexible storage or quick pick-ups!
Lovevery has lots of other amazing, heirloom-quality toys and products as well - including play gyms, pull and push toys, and age-based subscription boxes for little ones from birth-24 months. I wish Lovevery had been around when our kids were first born - their subscription boxes are definitely something I would have loved to do for them! Everything I have seen from Lovevery is thoughtful and high-quality, and I honestly recommend them highly (and no, exceptionally high praise isn't something I normally throw around!). If you’re looking for something unique and thoughtful for your little one or as a gift, definitely check out Lovevery.
- I received this item for review from Lovevery but all opinions expressed are my own. Please see our full Disclosure Policy for more information -
