Mary Grace's Posts

Creative Kids Corner: Create this creative kids corner for your 3-5 year old with school supplies.

It’s that time of year again, the start of school. The newness of the school year has always been something I have looked forward to as a teacher. I loved getting to know my new students and beginning the adventure of a new year together.

This year, while I may not be going back to teaching just yet, I am starting a new school year with my preschooler. I get to watch him as he excitedly begins his new school year as a Pre-K student. He is going to do great! Also, this adventure of a new school year brings the opportunity for new school supplies.

School Supplies for Preschool
Assorted School Supplies
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Teacher appreciation was a few weeks ago. Being a teacher once, I remember some of the things I have received from my students. It meant a lot to get notes and gifts from them. I actually have a file still out in my garage of notes that I have received from my students that really had an impact on me. This year offered a reverse of this activity–my son has two incredible preschool teachers, and we wanted to say thank you to them! We made these wonderful flower pots as a thank you.

Flowers for teacher. Gerber daisies in a flower pot for teacher appreciation.
Flower pot with words, “Thank you for helping me grow!”

I went to Pinterest to look for some ideas. I found several places that had flower pots with the writing, “Thank you for helping me grow!” One of my favorites was this one from Kelly Leigh. I didn’t have time to put the tape measure design around the top, but I think the teachers name at the top looks nice.

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Basket with food for husband. Popcorn, chips, yogurt, granola bars, root beer, Izze, and cashews.

There comes a time every so often when a woman just needs to get away. Sometimes it is business, but other times it can be for fun.  Taking some time for yourself to be whole, reflect, and just relax are important. They are what help to make you a better mom. I had the opportunity to do this for a weekend. It was amazing!

Now onto the scary part, or for me it is scary: Leaving your family and just going.  Here’s the thing. I have an amazing husband, who could keep things running well without me, but I still sometimes feel guilty about leaving.  I have all these worries. I decided though before I left this time, I would step into teacher mode for a moment. I never left my students without a lesson plan or list of things they could do while I was gone.  So why would I leave the little people and the wonderful husband with nothing and say, “Wing it, good luck and I will be back Sunday.” I could, and they would be just fine, but I would worry.

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Children's Books for bedtime routine: Bedtime routine items include pjs, books, toothbrush, and stuffed animal

When we first brought our oldest son home, we did not have any routines established. It took us a while to come out of the fog of newborn life. As we wanted to establish routines for our family, especially at bedtime, we asked ourselves what we wanted that to look like. Then we looked to children books, to help set up these simple but powerful routines for our family.

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Today we are going to venture to something near and dear to my heart, crafting.  I find craft time is very limited right now.  Anytime I get to craft and it has a dual purpose (i.e., Valentine’s gift), it is a win-win for me.  These gift card holders make great Valentine’s Day gifts for teachers or anyone you care about!

VALENTINE GIFT CARD HOLDERS

Today’s project will be Valentine gift card holders made out of recycled material.  In this case, I used recycled Kool-Aid drink pouches. I love this project, because it is environmentally friendly, hello upcycling!  It is is also cute and makes a fun gift for the receiver.  It takes a little sewing, but it does not take long to do one. (If sewing is not your thing, I am sure some hot glue or even fun duct tape could be used to put these together.)

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Motherhood is difficult. It is a journey, and it is best not completed alone.

image of beach sunsetMOTHERHOOD THE JOURNEY

Being a mom is hard, even on its best days. You try to get the little human to do things like sit nicely (so you can buckle them in a car seat), clean up after them for the umpteen millionth time (hello potty training), and are on call twenty-four hours a day (sick child anyone?). It’s easy to get worn out and discouraged. We birth or foster/adopt these amazing little humans, and journey through this life using every available resource to us, as we endeavor to raise responsible adults. Each day can be a learning day for both the child and the parent involved.  It is exhausting at times. One of the most helpful things I have found in this journey is Mom Friends, or, my Mom Tribe!

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The ball has dropped and people are excited about the new year. Social media is inundated with posts for a healthier and better you, and one of the big topics for January is organization. I wish the word “organization” conjured up positive mental images in my head, of a perfectly organized home or the newest organization item I was adding to our home. However, organization for me is a word of anger, resentment, frustration — a trigger word if you will. While for anyone else it is simply a word, for me it is a strong word, and it has been wrecking my life.

BACKGROUND

How did I get here? Why is this such a strong negative word for me? Here’s the root of my problem: I am a creative person who wants to be organized, who at times keeps up the appearance of being organized (especially as a teacher and now as a mom), who wants organized structures in place, but is terrible at follow-through. For example, when I was little my mom would ask me to clean my room.  I couldn’t just do a clean sweep of the room though; I had to go through and turn out drawers and “organize” everything into groups or parts. It would take forever. But the problem was that two days later, after I had “organized” everything, I would have turned it into a total disaster.

As a student, I wasn’t really organized at school either. I would find myself many times taking a binder and reorganizing it, because I had papers stuffed everywhere.

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Some Sunshine for a Teacher’s Day

Know of a teacher in your life? Do they look a little tired or blue? Maybe they need a hug? Ok not a hug, but better yet brighten up their day with a care package full of sunshine and rainbows!

Why do teachers need any extra encouragement? They are well paid, right? Haha!  Friends, teaching is one of the most difficult jobs I know. On top of all the regular teacher work, the standards they have put on teachers to perform in the last few years have made this difficult job at times downright impossible. The saddest part of all is many of the good teachers I know, like some of my mentor teachers, are leaving the teaching field. They are leaving the field of education because they have said “it simply isn’t worth it anymore.” As I am sitting here writing this, I honestly don’t know

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Hospitality, something I strive to be better at.

My life is truly blessed with incredible woman who have modeled hospitality to me (both my grandmothers and my mom). While their homes might not have been updated with the most modern decor, their homes were a place of welcome, a place of peace and love. As I reflect on their homes, they were welcoming places because of three main areas. First, when people came to visit, their homes were clean. Secondly, when people came to visit, their homes had all the creature comforts needed to make your stay restful. Lastly, when people came to stay, they never left hungry. There was always incredible food to eat.

Recently, we had the opportunity to open our home to my sister and her coworker/friend. Even though my sister has stayed with us before, it had been a while and she was flying in from another state. Her friend coming with her was someone I had never met.  I wanted their stay to be wonderful!

As I began to prepare for our guests, I wanted to put the three parts of hospitality into practice: cleanliness, comfort, and delicious food. To help prepare a little more, I wanted to get to know our guests a little better. Hence, a Hospitality Questionnaire was born:

Hospitality Questionnaire

We are so excited you are coming to stay with us.  We have just a few questions so we can get to know you more and make your stay with us as comfortable as possible.

  1. What are your favorite types of food or snacks to eat?
  2. Do you have a favorite salad dressing?
  3. Do you have any food allergies or any foods you are trying to avoid?
  4. Do you have anything you like to drink?
  5. Do you have any scents you enjoy, or are there any scents you avoid?
  6. Do you have a pet allergy?
  7. Do you have anything medical you would like to share so we can be prepared?  For example, my sister is diabetic, so as a result I always have juice available if her blood sugar crashes.  Another example, my son has sensitive skin and we have to be careful of what laundry detergent we use so he doesn’t get hives.
  8. Is there anything you are looking forward to seeing while you are here?
  9. For fun: What is your favorite color?  What is your favorite flower?
  10. Is there anything else we can do for you while you are here?

The questionnaire was a big success with our guests.  They enjoyed filling it out and knowing we were taking a little extra time to make sure their stay was as comfortable as possible.

Now armed with this information, we were able to prepare a little more for our guests!

To begin, I reflected back on the three parts of hospitality.  The first one was cleanliness.  Now once upon a time, when I was not a mom, this was not too hard of a task to accomplish.  I would set aside some time before guests arrive and put in a little effort, and voila, a clean house.  Now fast forward to today, mom of two wonderful little boys age 1 and 4.  Let’s just say it takes a lot of extra work, and humor to clean up after the little humans.  Ten minutes later it might be just as messy as when you started.  I believe my guests understood this, and I did put in a good effort, but let’s just say it was far from perfect.

Next, onto making our guests comfortable.  I began by making sure they had a comfortable place to sleep.  I made sure our guests had comfortable bedding, and they each had their own space to be able to relax.  I also made sure they each had a nice towel and washcloth.  Additionally, we went above and beyond to add some comfort to our home for our guests.  One of the things we do is to have a basket in our guest bathroom we stock with toiletry items. We make sure our guests know the basket is just for them. Another thing we like to do for our guests is leave a little gift for them when they arrive.  Waiting on their pillow when they arrive, we either leave a little chocolate or coffee sample from a local place.  This time we also left some flowers by their bedsides.

guest room with flowers

Another way we made sure our guests were comfortable was showing them around. Our guests arrived late at night, but I still was able to give them a quick walk through the house.  I was able to show them where things were like lights and how to open child safety gates.  I also was able to show them around the kitchen. I had water bottles for them in the fridge and a cabinet stocked with snacks.

This brings me to my last unit of hospitality, food. Before our guests arrived I was able to make a menu based on foods we enjoy as a family, and foods they might enjoy from the Hospitality Questionnaire. I was also able to have any snacks or drinks they might want or need.  We even planned a couple of meals out, so they could experience our favorite local restaurants. No one left hungry!

My sister and her friend had a great stay! We were able to offer a great place for them to stay which was clean, comfortable, and full of delicious food. This whole process of reflection and communicating with our guests using the Hospitality Questionnaire was very helpful.  Please feel free to use this Hospitality Questionnaire.  I hope that it comes in handy for you as well!

Do you have any special tips or tricks you do for your guests? I would love to hear!

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