Susan Merrill's Blog, page 29

Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt

Have you been to, heard of, taken advantage of all the cool kids activities at…

Well go, see, have fun–today! I am blogging at their site with a ….

Why? Because this is a great site. Kids love adventure and after that turkey on Thursday everyone over the age of 2o will be comatose. Everyone under the age of 10 will be bored and ready for some action. So send them on a mission and make it fun–cousins unite in a colonial adventure from me and My Kid’s Adventure.

Hop to it and Happy Thanksgiving!

Home Alone Rules for Kids

Eventually there will come a time when your kids will have to stay home alone. Make sure that they are well-prepared with the right safety tips in mind and the right phone numbers to call if necessary.

Use these resources from iMOM to give you more peace of mind when your children are home alone.

10 Simple Rules for When You’re Home Alone

Home Alone Rules By State

When Mom’s Away Planner

Home Safety: Leaving Your Child At Home

Mother Son Bucket List

It’s easy to fall into a mindset of just going through the motions. It’s easy to go through the days without really seeing or caring or experiencing. It’s easy to just get by to the next day without focusing on the moments it takes to get there.

As parents, how do we get out of this funk? How do we make the most of the time we have with our kids? I answered those questions three weeks ago with a mother daughter bucket list. Today I tackled the same list but for our boys!

Moms, I want to encoura...

Count Your Blessings, Instead of the Cost

When I saw the image below I thought surely someone had snapped a picture of Mark and I on our last vacation—just kidding! This couldn’t be us. We don’t look this good and we weren’t alone on our last vacation. We had five kids with us. We also wouldn’t be lying on the sand. We Floridians know that you can’t get all comfy and serene on sticky, itchy sand. Nope, these are models for sure. The sand that this lovely, serene couple is lounging on is the soft sort found on the beaches in Sarasota...

Using My Productivity Tools in Relationships

Sometimes, it feels as if there’s an app for everything. Technology seems to have a solution to every problem, a way to make any situation easier. But when it comes to relationships in our family, friendships and just using our gifts to serve, there isn’t an app to do it for us. The best you’ve got is right inside you not in an app. So rather than looking for a quick trick to help, try taking a deeper look at the strengths you have already built in you and I do have a little help for that.

We...

A Fall Date Night for You and Your Man

In Florida, we have to wait a long, long, sometime never-ending time for Fall. It was 86 degrees on Halloween night and the poor kids were sweating in their costumes. People are often envious of our balmy weather but when the rest of the world is sporting sleek boots and cozy sweaters I get a little green longing for fiery orange and falling red.

When Fall finally makes an appearance we scramble to milk it for all it’s worth. And it’s worth at least several romantic, cozy, intimate and cheap d...

8 Days of Being Thankful

I. Love. Christmas. But in my rush to get to Christmas decorating/crafting I have a tendency to slack off on Thanksgiving.

This year, there will be no Thanksgiving slacking! Because our team at iMOM had a great idea, an 8 Days of Being Thankful activity. It is a simple little craft to add some fall flavor in your home. Another big plus to this activity is that your kids will spend a little time reflecting on the blessings in their lives. You can use the printable all at once to make the craft,...

Little Things Matter

Talk about tugging the heart strings. Watch this and know that the little things matter.

Note to self: Must learn origami.

A Marathon Mindset in Parenting

Parenting is much like a marathon, and if you wish to succeed at the 18-year marathon, you’re going to have to pace yourself. Pace yourself, so that you can push past the fatigue andenjoy the endorphins that each mile will bring.

When All You Can Do Is Pray–And a Giveaway That Can Help!

There have been many, many, many days of parenting when all I could do was pray.

Sometimes prayer was my only option because a child was really, really sick. Like the time I came home from the hospital after giving birth to Emily. Within 24 hours Megan, at the age of two developed a fever of 103 and dehydration from vomiting. The next day we were back in the hospital with Megan.

All I could do was pray.

Sometimes prayer was my only option because a grown child was in a dangerous situation out...