Daycare Archives - Nesting Story

Four kids and the logistics, tips and tricks on how I get out the door to school/daycare safely with them 

When I was pregnant with our twins, and caring for our two older kids as best I could with a massive belly in the way, I would think about every logistical complication that could possibly come with having four kids, and make plans.

I made plans for solo tandem feeding our twins at night, (you can watch my tutorial here.) I made plans for where I would place our babies during the day so our big kids wouldn’t trample them, (I utilized bouncy chairs, high chairs and swings all over our house). I also made plans for how I would safely get everyone out the door in the morning.

Everyone has their own way of doing things, but I think that most parents would agree that getting your kids out of the house in the morning is particularly tricky and chaotic. Sometimes just hearing what another mom has found worked can be extremely helpful. Here is our family’s evolution of getting out the door and buckled into our car each day safely…

When our twins were babies, it was pretty easy. I would use their portable bucket car seats, which they couldn’t escape from, and escort everyone out to our car together. Once they grew out of their bucket car seats, I would roll our active twins to the door each safely buckled in their highchairs, and then escort my big kids, and finally each twin out to our car, which was parked closely within view.

Today, as I get our four kids out the door to school and daycare each day, ages 3 – 8, I have a new system. Everyone gets ready in our mudroom, which is sandwiched between our kitchen and our garage. Our big kids get ready first, and to free up some space in our mudroom, I send them out to our garage, which I like to call “our holding room.”

Once all four kids are ready and in our garage, I grab all of the bags, (I prefer to be in charge of the bags), and open the big garage door. This is the part that our large family has become a bit of neighborhood spectacle. But do you see me caring? Not one bit. Some days we are a spectacle because my neighbors might hear me yelling, “get off the parked bike, you are not wearing a helmet,” or “can whoever threw the basketballs all over the garage put them away?”

But most days we are a spectacle because as that garage door loudly rises, my kids automatically know to line up at the threshold of our driveway and wait. That’s right, I have totally taught my kids to line up Von Trapp style, just call me Maria.

All right, some days one kid is climbing our basketball net while another is looking for worms in puddles on a rainy day, but you get the gist.

I then announce that whoever is waiting patiently will get their name called first to get into the car. Although this system isn’t always perfect, it sets a standard for what I expect of my kids, and makes the morning a little less chaotic.

Before driving off to school and our twins’ Kids & Company daycare, I often take a minute (or few) while everyone is buckled and sit in the parked car in our driveway. I do this to collect myself and praise my kids on what a great job they did getting out the door. It is a practical way to set a positive tone for the rest of the day.

I’d love to know, what does your morning routine look like? What are your tips and tricks to get out the door safely?

This post was created in partnership with Kids & Company.

Finding a childcare that not only gives me time to build my career, but that my kids also love, has been such a wonderful aspect to having more of a work/life balance. Kids & Company has the flexibility I need with my schedule, but also the unique programming, learning opportunities, from-scratch meals and sense of community they provide fills me with such confidence in my choice in childcare.

With locations all across Canada, Kids & Company is a high-quality care and early development centre that parents can trust and kids will love. It started under the leadership of two moms (one with 8 children!), who felt there was a need for flexible care options in a setting with amazing teachers, community, proven development programs and an understanding of today’s families.

Whether it’s their Grab ‘n’Go snacks, parent workshops, or their complimentary care for date nights and shopping days outside of regular hours, nothing has been forgotten.

Here’s where it gets exciting… right now Kids &Company is waiving the registration fee (a $150 value) for Nesting Story readers! Just email amcnaught@kidsandcompany.com to access this exclusive offer.
One waved registration per family for a newly registering child before December 31, 2018. Subject to availability.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Kids & Company. While compensation was provided, all opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily indicative of the opinions of Kids & Company.

What we do about behavioural obstacles with our four kids

Sometimes when I scroll through Instagram or Facebook and once again start to think about how I really need to “up” my photography game, I also start to think, I wonder if we turned the camera around in that beautifully styled room, or if we could rewind time by just five minutes, to see the build-up of the photo of the adorably happy children sitting on chairs in matching outfits, what would we see?

When I used to attempt perfection…

Would we see a three-year-old refusing to wear the perfectly curated outfit and insisting on wearing pajamas… all… day… long…? Would her twin sister be running away, suddenly tripping and hitting her head and begin to sob? Would you see a seven-year-old picking apart your idea for the staged photo, or an impatient almost-nine-year-old sighing loudly asking “how much longer?”

That’s what you’d see in my home. Seriously. That is our home on a daily basis.

The reality…

(To be honest, I loved the beautiful chaos and the humour of our family’s outtakes so much that I stopped going for perfection and started to document real-life)

Oh right, that is why I don’t have a stunning and beautifully curated Instagram feed. I like to call my Instagram, real-life with a filter.

Seriously though, my kids misbehave. With four kids I have learned that there will always be a wobbly plate, (as I like to call our child that is struggling). Every time I get that kid figured out, sure enough another child starts to push my buttons and their limits.

Our family has faced everything from lying, to stealing, hitting, biting, ignoring, rudeness, property destruction… I could go on but I think you get the point.

These are regular kids, just testing the waters, and their parents. Sure, our kids can also be incredibly kind, sweet, caring and generous. But everyday life is peppered with behavioral problem solving as a parent.

So, what do I do about it?

I pick my battles. When it comes to tattle tale-ing and minor offenses, I often say, “work it out.” Or if I can tell that this minor offense is a bid for my attention, I will ignore it and then be sure to make a fuss when I see that child doing something good.

I talk to my kids, other parents and caretakers. Communication in our home is extremely important. I think that regardless of what transpires with bad behavior, it is very important for our kids to understand not only what they did, but what our family’s expectations are. Sometimes a conversation and some understanding can go a long way.
When I am really struggling with a behavioral problem, I will talk to other parents and even the teachers at my kids’ school and at Kids and Company. I’ve had more than one situation resolved with help from a teacher giving some useful advice at our twins’ daycare. Also, it is important to hear that your kid is not the only one going through this particular stage.

I revoke privileges. There’s a bit of a debate about tablets and kids. I, for one, am a fan of kids ages four and up having their own iPads. That means that two of our four kids have iPads. Here’s the beautiful thing, iPads are a great tool for discipline, at least in our house. When action must be taken with our older kids I will give a warning and then follow through with an iPad being taken away. Depending on the seriousness of the offense our kids will lose their iPads for hours (and earn it back with good behavior) or weeks.

I let them cool off. Occasionally a fight will break out so intense that there needs to be a cool-off period before even doing anything about it. In this situation, when a kid can’t cool off, can’t talk and doesn’t even want a hug, we guide them up to their room and give them five minutes.
Almost every time I will go back in and they are not only calm, but they act like nothing even happened. I think we can all use a little space sometimes.

Whether it’s a biting phase with a toddler, or a call home from a teacher, I want you to know you are not alone. We all go through it. It is important to keep perspective, lean on your village and know that you are doing a great job!

This post was created in partnership with Kids & Company.

Whether it’s their Grab ‘n’Go snacks, parent workshops, or their complimentary care for date nights and shopping days outside of regular hours, nothing has been forgotten.

Here’s where it gets exciting… right now Kids and Company is waiving the registration fee (a $150 value) for Nesting Story readers! Just email amcnaught@kidsandcompany.com to access this exclusive offer.
One waved registration per family for a newly registering child before December 31, 2018. Subject to availability.

5 Tips on how to create a routine for your family – Part two of a two part series

This post was created in partnership with Kids & Company.

Read part one of this series here.

Creating a routine came out of necessity when I first became a mom. I was a new stay-at-home mom, and the routine-less life was starting to get to me. In fact, there were days that my husband would come home from work and I’d be anxiously pacing the halls.

I truly believe that some people thrive off of constantly switching it up and living life freely. Others need a set routine to feel grounded and happy. I am a routine person, through and through.

So when I was finding myself floundering as a routine-free mom, I knew I needed to make some big changes. Over the years I have found ways to create a routine for myself when a job outside of my home wasn’t doing it for me.

Today I am a full-time, work-at-home mom, which leaves my daily routine’s structure up to me. Having childcare has been a huge game-changer for my routine, as well as some other tricks on how to create a routine I have learned along the way…

1.Set your alarm. This may sound like a no-brainer, but not having a job outside my home makes it very tempting to sleep in and race around just before sending my kids to school and Kids & Company (child care and early learning). Before my kids were in school it was even harder setting an alarm and sticking to it.

The days I actually do set my alarm and stick to it are typically great days. I am able to eat breakfast before my kids, feel more in control of my day and tend to have more patience. When do I wake up? I find 6:00 A.M. is the sweet spot… one hour before my family wakes up.

2. Use an agenda. I don’t know what I’d do without my agenda. I’m talking about an old-school paper and pen agenda. Everything from our four kids’ appointments to work deadlines and weekly meal planning goes in there.

On the days that I feel a little anxious about what is on my plate, just sitting in front my agenda book and planning right down to the detail, makes my stress melt away.

3. Embrace a to-do list. My to-do lists go hand-in-hand with my agenda. What I do is write a list each week full of must-dos and back-burner items (you know, those tasks that aren’t urgent, but hanging over your head), which include deadlines, shopping lists, chores… you name it. Then each week I hack away as best I can.

Some weeks I cross off my entire list and others I am just able to get the mandatory tasks done. On the weeks that I haven’t tackled my back-burner items, I carry them over to the next week and try again.

4. Keep track of how you feel during different times of the day. Something I learned when I first created my own routine was how much more efficient I am in the morning than in the afternoon. In fact, most days I have to stop and have a little rest right after lunch.

Tuning into how I felt each day has helped me manage my energy levels and workload. I tackle big projects, must-dos and deadlines in the morning, and then leave my back-burner items until after lunch. So on those days that I am dragging my heels because I have been up all night with a sick kid, I can take the afternoon off, (well, as “off” as you can when you have a sick child at home).

5. Do laundry on the weekend. Can I tell you a secret? I don’t hate doing laundry. I know, I know, am I even human? Don’t worry, I detest doing dishes. But when it comes to laundry, I always schedule around it on the weekends. Being so protective of my “laundry time” on the weekend has dramatically changed my relationship with this weekly chore.

Every Saturday we (and I say we because my husband helps) wash all of our kids’ laundry and on Sunday afternoons I fold it. Because I have built my laundry-folding marathon into each Sunday afternoon, my kids expect it and I make it as pleasant as possible, while watching a movie on my iPad.

Whether a stay-at-home mom, a work-outside- the-home mom, or a work-at-home mom, routines can not only change your mood and help you complete your to-do list, it can help you complete more each week than you thought possible and even love some weekly tasks more than ever before.

Whether it’s their Grab ‘n’Go snacks, parent workshops, or their complimentary care for date nights and shopping days outside of regular hours, nothing has been forgotten.

5 Reasons why having a routine is so good for our family – Part one of a two part series

This post was created in partnership with Kids & Company.

Routine. It’s the holy grail of motherhood. At least in my eyes it is. Routine for me was something that I found during a low point as a stay-at-home, first time mom. When your kids are in school, or you work outside of your home, a routine tends to be born out of necessity. But as a stay-at-home mom, or a work-from-home mom, (which I currently am), creating a routine and sticking to it must be an intentional decision.

Sticking to a routine is not only something that our family of six benefits from, but I do as well. Having our twins in daycare at Kids and Company has been a game changer for rounding out our family’s routine. Here are five reasons why…

1. Our kids are happier. All kids are different and thrive off of different environments and schedules. I’m not sure if it depends on their parents, or just how they are. But from very early on, when our first child, Holden was just over a year old, I realized that he craved a routine. It was at this time, while exhausted and pregnant with our second child, that I started putting Holden into part-time daycare. Using those few three hour breaks a week I created a daily schedule for our family and our kids thrived.
Today our kids thrive on routine. They are generally happier on weekdays when we have a strict routine. It’s predictable, it’s segmented, and it’s exactly what our kids need.

2. Easier to parent four kids. Four kids is a lot of kids. Jumping from two to four kids when we had our twins was a big transition for our whole family. One thing that I have found helps is doing daily tasks in large quantities. Snacks, meals, baths, getting dressed and brushing teeth, are each less time consuming and easier to remember to do when everyone does it at once and at the same time each day.

3. There are fewer complaints. When you do many of the same tasks every day around the same time, everyone becomes accustomed to it and there is very little push back. On weekdays, after breakfast when I ask our kids to go get dressed, there is rarely a complaint. But on weekends, when we’ve slept in a little and had a slower morning, the moment I ask our kids to switch gears and get themselves dressed I hear excuses and complaining. I have often implemented a routine on holidays and seasonal breaks from school just to avoid this problem.

4. Helps control my weight. Having a routine makes it much easier to keep track of what and how much I am eating. Having a schedule leaves room for meal planning, which I try to take full advantage of. Also, I find I am more likely to work out regularly if I choose a specific time each day and stick to it.

5. I am happier. I am. I thrive on a routine. I was raised on a routine and I come from a long line of routine-driven people. It’s in my blood. When I stick to a routine I feel happier, clearer, more levelheaded, more ambitious and more energetic. What more could I ask for?

Finding a childcare that not only gives me time to build my career, but that my kids also love, has been such a wonderful aspect to having more of a work/life balance. Kids & Company not only has the flexibility I have needed with my unique schedule, but the incredible fresh, from-scratch meals they provide for my kids each day (which they actually eat), fills me with such confidence with my choice in childcare.

With locations all across Canada, Kids & Company is a high-quality childcare and early development centre that parents can trust and kids will love. It started under the leadership of two moms (one with 8 children!), who felt there was a need for flexible care options in a setting with amazing teachers, community, proven development programs and an understanding of today’s families.

Whether it’s their Grab ‘n’Go snacks, parent workshops, or their complimentary care for date nights and shopping days outside of regular hours, no detail has been forgotten.

The day I dropped the guilt and embraced our village

This post was created in partnership with Kids & Company.

One vivid memory I have during my pregnancy with Beau, is having Mike drop me off at the hospital’s labour and delivery room, (not in labour), sitting myself down, and feeling a flood of tears making their way out. Before I knew it, I was sobbing uncontrollably.

At the time, Holden was eighteen months old. I was struggling with a child who hated life at the time and I was about to bring a newborn into the mix. Without having said much about my then situation, two incredibly compassionate nurses rushed to my side as if almost knowingly, and proceeded to share their own parenting horror stories.

They then offered what I strongly believe to be the best parenting advice every parent deserves to be in on: “Get. Help.”

Before this I had never considered getting help. I assumed that as a parent it was my job and my job alone, to take care of anything and everything. It was almost as if these nurses had freed me from the guilt I would have felt had I sought after help. Their encouragement permitted me to be okay with the idea of asking and almost immediately pulled me out of my misery.

I hired a babysitter to come twice a week to be with Holden, while I went out with our new baby girl Beau. Soon after, I moved him to a home daycare two afternoons a week, then three. Holden started to enjoy life more, being around his peers, and I was beginning to manage better as a parent.

Three years of doing this and being home, I was yearning to have more of a work-at-home-mom balance. With this new goal in mind, I looked into where I could use more help. I tried working part-time while my kids were first at home with a nanny, but we later realized that this new arrangement wasn’t quite right for our family.

Over the years my mural painting business, Nesting Story, (yes, that’s where Nesting Story began), transformed into a blog, we added two more kids to our family, and grew our village to include help with cleaning our home every other week.

Today, our twins (Mia and Everly), are at daycare four days a week and both our older kids (Holden and Beau) are in school and attend day-camp during the summer.

Kids and Company has helped our family establish a routine with our twins, prep them for school, and supports our family by creating balance in our world.

With every change in circumstance, I’ve allowed myself to be okay with getting help and it has made a huge difference in our lives. I am a big advocate for women’s mental health and I urge every mother to look for a way to find balance in your life, even if it means having to lean on a friend, family member, or any other support.

It is important to have a career and be able to pay for steady childcare for my kids. To create a routine that works for everyone, is what keeps my family healthy and happy.

It took a long time for me to let go of these expectations I originally set out when I became a new mom. I had this ideal image of myself having everything put together, my career and my family life being perfect. Though I have my career and (at most-times) a happy family, it took some help to get here. I urge you to rid your guilt, and really think about where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Don’t lose yourself in the shuffle. Carve your own parenting path, even if it means getting help. I definitely don’t do it all, and I heavily rely on our village.

Whether it’s their Grab ‘n’Go snacks, parent workshops, or their complimentary care for date nights and shopping days outside of regular hours, nothing has been forgotten.

Here’s where it gets exciting… right now Kids and Company is waiving the registration fee (a $150 value) for Nesting Story readers! Just email msawatzky@kidsandcompany.com to access this exclusive offer.
One waved registration per family for a newly registering child before December 31, 2017. Subject to availability.