Dinner

Tip #3. This is a reminder tip cause you all know this one. EAT DINNER TOGETHER!

Back in the day we didn't have alot of money so we didn't go out to eat very much, especially with 6 of us. So I cooked. Fortunately I like to cook. We had lots of casseroles and I remember the family favorite was Mysterious Manneqin casserole from the Nancy Drew Cookbook.

But of course it wasn't what we ate but that we were all together. We had fun. And everybody ate everthing on their plates. Next blog will tell you why and it WILL be controversal but I am going to tell you anyhow. Nothing says you have to agree with me and that's why blogging is also fun. You get to give your opinion, popular or not.

Oma's hint No. 2

Here's Oma's hint No. 2.

Let's jump ahead to when the kids are reading even in their beginning stages.
I am a big fan of the library! When our kids were younger, we didn't have much money so one of the free things I did was to take all four to the local library. It was a treat for all of us. They really enjoyed picking out their books and usually managed to get the limit allowed. I liked seeing the four different tastes. Kevin went for history, Michael liked dinosaurs, Susan liked puzzles and Sara liked mysteries.

I believe going to the library starts a love of reading and maybe more importantly it teaches them that you don't have to BUY everything. It also helps them learn responsibility as they have to return as many as they took out. [One not fun aspect for me was the search for missing books when it was time to return them] They also learned to take care of things as the librarian frowns on dirty or torn pages.

Nowadays the library offer so much more than the books. You have free Internet, many interesting programs for adults and children and usually a story hour for the pre-schoolers. Check it out.

Omas Tips

Hi, Back again. This time around I would like to give tips that I learned while raising my 4 kids "back in the day". They may seem dated to some of you but all I know is they worked for us. It'll be simple stuff like feed the baby their cereal at the 10:00 p.m. feeding instead of the morning. It worked SO WELL for us that Sara, our youngest slept thru the 2 a.m. feeding, the 6 a.m. feeding and waited for the 10.a. m. feeding. We couldn't believe how well this worked for us. I guess they don't advise cereal as early as they used to but I would think it works whenever you start. That thick, gooey stuff really sticks to their ribs! Let me know what you think.