Questionable Choices in Parenting

Laughing at life as a parent so they don't commit me

Hitting the Road with Your Kids? Quick and Easy Ways to Pack Healthy Snacks for Your Kids

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Whether you are shuttling your kids to their after school activities or packing up and taking your family on a quick trip-you are going to need lots of snacks. But instead of grabbing unhealthy snacks or spending a small fortune while you are on the road, here are a few ways to make sure you always have healthy and yummy snacks on hand for your kids.

Healthy Snacking is Easy When You Pack:

Fresh fruit is always a great option for a healthy snack. Since you are going to be in the car, go for easy to serve and less messy fruit options like sliced grapes, sliced apples and peeled oranges.

We are also big fans of freeze dried fruit like strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. Before the trip, divide the fruit into individual servings and place in plastic sandwich bags.

Fresh veggies like carrots and celery sticks are a great option and easy to serve with dips like peanut butter and hummus, which can be found in individual travel sizes as well.

 

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4 Breakfast On-The-Go Recipes You Can Take in the Car

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You already know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If only there was more time in the morning to actually make and enjoy a healthy breakfast, right? But instead of skipping your first meal or grabbing something from a drive thru, here are four easy, yummy, and healthy breakfasts you can whip you ahead and take in the car.

Yummy Homemade Granola Bar

What you need:

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup flax seeds

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2/3 cup honey

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp.  salt

1 cup dried fruit, chopped

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Smartphone Apps to Help Your Teen Driver

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Before you teen takes the wheel of your car, you might want to download a few apps that will help you have some peace of mind and hopefully, help them to become safe drivers. From monitoring their speed and mileage to making sure they keep their eyes on the road, here are three apps that all parents will want when they have a teen driver.

 

DriveSafe.ly- This is a great app to encourage your teens to not text while they drive. This app ispowered by iSpeech and it helps puts a stop to distracted driving by reading SMS messages out loud. So now your teen drivers won’t feel tempted to look at their phones to check a text. There is also a feature to send auto responses to make sure your teens keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel. This is an apt that you’ll want to use as well.  There is a cost for this app, for a single user, you can expect to pay $13.95/year or $3.99/month and for a family pack: $34.95/year or $9.99/month

 

Automatic- Automatic Pro is a car-monitoring app that parents with teens who drive. The app works with an adapter that is placed under the dashboard and monitors your teens driving. It works by collecting data and sharing the data with you via the app. So you will get speed and driving history as well as crash service with 24/7 emergency response contacts.  While the adapter is $130, the app is free and works with IOS and Android.

 

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8 Holiday Apps for Kids to Keep Them Entertained While You Travel 

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With all of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, sometimes our kids will get a bit stir crazy if they are stuck in their car seat or stroller for too long. So this winter if your kids are tagging along while you run to a few stores, parties, family get-togethers, and of course, spending some time in the car traveling with over the river and through the woods, why not load up your phone or tablet with a few fun holiday themed apps.  These apps are fun for kids of all ages and will keep your kiddos happy while you check off your holiday to-do list.

  • Toca Boca Hair Salon Christmas (Free, iOS) – Kids can style Santa or a Christmas tree’s hair by choosing wild colors, adding lights and branches, or shaving it all off.
  • Gingerbread Crazy Chef – Here’s the easiest way to make holiday cookies without the mess-or the calories. This fun app lets kid mix ingredients to whip up a gingerbread man and when he is done baking, kids can decorate their gingerbread man with over 100 outfits and accessories.
  • Elf Pets Reindeer (Free, iOS) – Help the elf care for his pet reindeer by making sure the reindeer is fed, clean, happy and cared for every day.

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30 Things You Have to Do With Your Kids This Holiday Season

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Tis the season for lots of family fun! No matter which holiday you celebrate, here are 30 activities to get you and your family outside and enjoying the winter weather and winter holidays. Even though its cold outside, these activities pair perfectly with hot coco and quality family time.

1.       Have your kids sing their favorite holiday songs and record them while they perform. Send the videos to their grandparents. They will love them!

2.       Find tree lighting ceremonies in your area

3.       Create winter flower bouquets and donate them to local charities or nursing homes

4.       Start a Secret Santa gift exchange with your family so everyone gets a few small gifts before the holidays start.

5.       Make holiday decorations to hang in your home or donate

6.       Write letters to Santa

7.       Giftwrap your favorite holiday books, then open one each night to read before going to bed.

8.       Make Christmas cookies or holiday treats together.

9.       Take a drive and see Christmas lights in your area or go to a drive through light display.

10.   See a holiday play or musical.

11.   Find holiday festivals near your home.

 

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Traveling for the Holidays? Here’s How to Safely Pack Food for Your Trip

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If you aren’t hosting dinner for the holidays, then you’ll probably want to bring a dish so that your host or hostess doesn’t have to make everything. The only problem is getting the food from point A to point B intact and still looking and tasting delicious. So if you are traveling over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house or all the way across town to enjoy some holiday family time, here’s a few quick and easy ways to travel with food.

Pack the finishing touches like garnish and toppings and put those on once you arrive. For desserts or dishes that have any extras, leave those until you arrive so that you can add the garnishes right before the food is served.

Use the Floor and Lots of Plastic Wrap. Don’t set food on a seat. Instead place it on the floor so there will be less chance it will spill. When packing up the food, use lots of plastic wrap on top of the serving dishes or plastic containers then place lids on top. This gives you an added layer of protection. Then finish by wrapping the lid and containers with more plastic wrap.

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Life Hacks to Help You Survive Winter

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There is so much to love about winter: watching the beautiful snow fall, ice skating, skiing, building snowmen, and sipping hot coco after a fun day of playing outside. However, there is a lot to winter that isn’t so great: ice, snow covered roads, and freezing temps. Since we can’t always play in the snow or just stay inside and wait for spring, here’s a few winter life hacks to help you survive the coldest months.

With freezing temperatures often comes car doors that are frozen stuck. Use this hack to fix a frozen door. Spray a small amount off cooking spray on the inside of your doors to prevent them from freezing at night. The cooking spray keeps the water that runs in the cracks of your door and the rubber parts from freezing overnight.

Foggy windows and windshield are a constant winter annoyance and it makes driving impossible! Stay safe while you drive with this hack. There are two quick fixes: roll down the window for some fresh air to defog and use a chalkboard eraser to clear the windows without leaving a smudgy mess behind.

To prevent the foggy windows, put shaving cream on the inside of your windows and wipe it off. The shaving cream will leave a thin layer on your window, but won’t affect your view. The ingredients in shaving cream are similar to expensive commercial defoggers.

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25 Winter Family Activities

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Get out the mittens and scarfs and make sure you are all stocked up on hot coco and marshmallows because winter is coming! Instead of just staying inside and logging serious time just watching TV-let’s get moving and enjoy these snowy days. From exploring your town to playing in your own backyard, here are 25 things to add to your winter bucket list for you and your kids.
1. Make pinecone bird feeders. These bird feeders are simple to make and it’s even more fun to watch the birds enjoy a winter snack
2. Go ice skating as a family
3. Take the entire family snow tubing
4. Make snow angels. Don’t forget to take lots of pictures
5. Go on a winter picnic. This is a great activity for a day that isn’t too cold.
6. Build a family of snowmen.
7. Bake and decorate cookies. Share a few with neighbors if you have extras
8. Build gingerbread houses
9. Go on a winter hike and enjoy the outdoors
10. Go bowling. This is the perfect indoor activity on a cold and snowy day.

5 Games to Play With Your Kids in the Car

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Before you hear the words “Are we there yet?” for the millionth time, here’s a few quick, easy and fun games you can play with your kids. No technology or special game pieces needed here-just a little creativity and lots of fun. The best part, they take NO planning on your part!

1. Good News/Bad News – The bad news is the car ride is going to be super long. The good news is I have another fun game with you. This game helps everyone see the bright side of everything in a super silly way. The first person starts with “bad news” The bad news is there is a dinosaur in this car! The next person has to give the “good news” The good news is that he only eats leaves! Then the next person has to give the “bad news” and so on and on.

2. Alphabet Race – A great way to get the entire family playing and pass the time is to play Alphabet Race. Starting with the letter A and working all the way to Z, each person must find something inside or outside the car that begins with that letter. This is a great review of letter sounds for your younger passengers and because everyone has to find one item that starts with the letter, kids won’t get bored easily. My kids think it’s hilarious when their Daddy picks an item that doesn’t match the sound.

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