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The Marvel of an Ordinary Life

September 16, 2019 by Chris Leave a Comment

Marvel of an Ordinary Life“Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.”

― William Martin, The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents

These beautiful words are important to consider in the modern world where there is constant pressure to enjoy extraordinary vacations with the kids, have the latest toys or teach kids Mandarin or the cello before they’re in 1st grade.

At five, the boy’s tantrums are less frequent but almost always occur in public at an ice cream shop or a restaurant. We’ve walked out empty-handed to the cries of “I hate you.” One, in particular, is probably somewhere on Instagram judging by the wide-eyed patrons of the crepe shop. It’s when they want something in addition to the treat is when they breakdown.  Ice Cream, I guess, is too ordinary.

William Martin encapsulates my favorite dad days. Short hikes and long days.  Fostering creativity and mindfulness will snowball into an avalanche of curiosity and understanding later in life.

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Parenting: 4 Years and 51 Sometimes Funny Observations

December 2, 2015 by Chris 1 Comment

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Next week the boys turn 4.  Those four years took much longer when I was in college. Unlike college, everything I learned in parenting expires and won’t get my that executive level position.

Here are some of my favorite things I’ve learned.

  1. If your one-year-old is quiet, they’re pooping.
    If your two-year-old is quiet they’re listening.
    If your three-year-old is quiet they’re about to stick something into an electric socket.
    If your four-year-old is quiet, they’re in school.
  2. The Golf Nap. What was boring pre-kids is now a welcomed tranquilizer.   Life Pro Tip – Talk like Golf commentators and your around
    Life Pro Tip – Talk like Golf commentators and around your children to calm yourself and your kids down during stressful situations.  I don’t know if this works but worth trying.
  3. Don’t read picture books from the 70s.  They were drawn by accountants on LSD.
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  4. If you have a newborn and you don’t know if you brushed your teeth – you didn’t.

  5. Taking your toddlers to a restaurant?  Order the cheapest thing on the menu, since you won’t remember inhaling it anyway.

  6. Don’t worry things will get better, like when you say goodbye to diapers.
  7. But they will also get worse, such as when they become jerks and insult other kids in front of their parents.
  8. Never give your toddlers more than 5 minutes advance notice where you’re going, but then immediately tell them when you’ll be leaving.
  9. Sleep when you can. Coffee when you can’t.
    coffee
  10. But remember it’s better to be tired than wired.
  11. The future comes faster with kids. You never have as much time as you think.tumblr_n47fo0mywr1qd8w33o1_500
  12. The Terrible Twos are a cakewalk compared to the Terrifying Threes, or the Frightening Fours
  13. Dressing a child will take between 45 seconds and 45 minutes.
  14. Never dress warmer than your kids.
  15. Speaking of dressing, dress yourself first.
  16. Never look up symptoms on the internet.
  17. You can’t spell thermometers without her mom, and you’ll own 6-8 non-working ones before your kids are four. Anyone’s guess.
  18. 99.3 degrees is not a fever unless you’re a catfish.
  19. Commercials during Football are far worse on Fox than CBS.  If men injuring themselves on a field isn’t traumatic enough, the torture porn commercials for Gotham or some crazy doctor show will.
  20. You watched 20,000 commercials as a child.  Between Netflix and PBS our kids have seen about twenty and they all ended up on theri Christmas list.
  21. Then again I didn’t know what binge watching was until I was in my 30s.
  22. Dad bod is fine, but at least exercise. Your kids will thank you and so will your spouse.
  23. When you want to yell -do ten pushups.  If you do yell do twenty. Then tell your kids you’re sorry.
  24. With twins, it may take an hour to unload a dishwasher when they’re awake and it’s like playing a game of Operation if you do it when they are sleeping.
  25. Never buy toys on clearance.  There is a good reason they’re there.
  26. Develop some good character voices to keep reading interesting.
  27. What rolls under the oven, stays under the oven.
  28. Don’t look your pre-kids pictures. It’s not you anymore.
  29. You won’t know the last time your kids poop their pants, but there will be the last time.
  30. You won’t know the last time they kiss you goodnight and tell you they love you, but they’ll likely be the last time. Just kidding, that’s too sad.
  31. When you’re tired, your 6-month-old won’t stop crying and you are about to lose your mind put on your headphones, listen to some Howard Stern. Trust me.
  32. Feeling liking sharing everything your kids do?  Skip Facebook, start a blog so at least you own your kid’s pictures.
  33. Those new adult friends right?
  34. Yes, your kid is better than everyone else’s kid.
  35. Don’t eat a cereal with Yoda on the box.
    StarWarsCereal
  36. If you wouldn’t give it to your dog, don’t give it your kid, because your kid will give it to the dog anyway.
  37. Kids are easier when they are in Diapers.
  38. The fantasies of your childless days really kick when the kids turn three.  When you get a weekend alone, you’ll be so productive it’ll feel like you’re on speed.
  39. Gloss or semi-gloss. Never matte.
  40. Yes. You do need to eat whatever combination of food your kids offer you.
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  41. You know more about what’s going on in the world of Star Wars than the actual world.
  42. The word poop. Kids love it. You’ll hate it.
  43. Little kids have no idea what wasting food means.  Save your breath and compost it.
  44. I love my dog, but that doesn’t make me a dog person.  I love my kids….
  45. Carrots work.  Sticks don’t
  46. You may not know it, but you have a parenting philosophy and everyone else knows what it is.
  47. If you’re smart and you care, you can mostly wing it.
  48. Don’t take seriously parenting “experts” who don’t have any kids older than three.
  49. Take your kids to lunch at 11:45 for lunch or 4:45 for dinner. No wait.
  50. Toss your antisocial and introverted ways aside until your kids can figure it out on their own.
  51. Just remember, those perfect mom instagramers spent 60 minutes on their phone in front of their kids to convince you they’re the perfect mom.
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Babies with Reflux

June 8, 2014 by Karen Leave a Comment

All babies have some degree of reflux. Some worse than others. We saw this with our twins. One boy was an absolute joy to nurse, content, and milk drunk most of the time. The other twin was the complete opposite. I felt like I was torturing him every time he nursed. It was SO STRESSFUL!!!!!

He would cry because he was hungry. I would nurse, he would guzzle and scream, guzzle and scream, guzzle and scream. If I tried to hold him off, he would scream. This started happening between 3-4 months old. When we came home from the NICU, the nurses had us nursing them every 3-4 hours. Because they were sleeping most of the time it was very easy. It worked for his reflux. As they grew and we became more comfortable with our newborns I started nursing on demand. It was fine for one boy but that is when we noticed the reflux present in the other boy.

I knew from my feeding therapy training that putting him back on a feeding schedule was a must. The challenge I had was determining/measuring the amount he was nursing. He was and still is a guzzler. We put him back on a schedule of every 3-4 hours, it improved but the discomfort was still present during those hours. It seemed to happen most during those bewitching hours for all kids 4-6pm. Nursing him throughout the night was fine, most likely because he was going longer between nursing and too tired to guzzle like he typically did during the day. He was also slightly elevated either by my arm or we would let him sleep in the Fisher Price Newborn Rocker.

Thanks to a wonderful cousin who had first-hand experience with an infant refluxer, we started him on medication. What a difference, PHEW! A totally different baby. Reflux medication does not take away the reflux, it only acts as a bandaid to make them more comfortable. Medication and a schedule made our STRESSFUL feeder into a totally different baby.

In addition to the medication and the schedule, I found babywearing to be a lifesaver. He was upright and in an optimal position for digestion after nursing and I could still get things done. He was happy and mama was happy!
This is him in a Dolcino but I also used a Moby wrap with him as well.

We were able to wean him from the medication at 9 months. I continued to wear him and keep him on a schedule much like the one we follow as a family; 6 small meals a day. He continues to be a guzzler and a somewhat pickier eater than his brother. Our little refluxer will take a week or two longer to advance up the Steps of Eating but he eventually gets there.
Refluxers are prone to becoming picky eaters, they learn how not to eat very quickly. Hopefully, I have been able to provide you with the tools here on this blog to help your picky prone refluxer grow into a confident eater.

I’d love to hear about your experiences and what worked and didn’t.  Feel free to comment below or email me at hq@goodfitfam.com

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About Us

All our Boys

Karen Rodgers is a mother of twin boys, wife, and speech language pathologist for the Champlain Valley School District in Vermont and New England Speech & Feeding. She knows her way around a weight room and here on the GoodFitFam blog Karen and her husband Chris will share their wisdom, experience and contagious passion for kids, fun and fitness.

Speech + Feeding

Why Picky Eaters LOVE McDonalds

Kid’s Who Say, “I can’t”.

Be flexible and other Social Dynamics

Address the Social and Emotional Impact of Food for you and your Kids

Getting Your Kids to Eat New Foods.

Workouts

Getting Stronger and Meeting Goals

Shoulder Day

30-minute Leg & Glute

Arm Blast

Try this 40-minute Full Back Workout

Parenting

Explore New Foods with your Family

6 Ways to Make Your Free Time More Productive

Babies with Reflux

Thirty Six Words for Butt – Lessons in Storytelling.

Story Pirates for Language Narratives and Reading Comprehension

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