mom | 3 Boys And A Dog

Menu Plan Monday: One Week Until Christmas!

December 17, 2012 by Kelli Miller Leave a Comment

Lots going on in my home and on the blogs this week! I have some last minute printables that I need to make. Over on the deals site, I have a listing of the current printable coupons that are available for last minute Christmas gifts, I have a long household to do list, and I really need to get some posts scheduled for next week.

Plus, I still have some candies to make!

What about you? Are you starting to feel the last minute rush?

Be sure to print out your coupons this week! Remember, you should be able to print them twice.

Ok, on to my menu plan for this week:

Monday: Easy Chinese Stir Fry

Tuesday: Taco Bake

Wednesday: Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Thursday: Leftover Soup

Friday: Clean out the fridge / leftovers

Don’t forget to visit Org Junkie & Susie QT Pies for Hundreds more menu plans and before heading to the grocery store… Print coupons for your favorite brands and save at Coupons.com.

Looking for more ideas? You can find plenty of recipes as well as a free menu planning sheet on my kid friendly recipes page!

Filed Under: Meals / Menus Tagged With: kid friendly recipes, menu plan monday, menu planning, menu planning monday, mom, MPM, southern, week, Weekly Menu Planning

Am I Old Enough? Saying “NO” to your child is still in fashion

August 10, 2012 by Kelli Miller 1 Comment

A month ago a video went viral when a 12-year-old girl recorded herself looking very sincere with a cute hat on her head asking if she was pretty. The little girl took the recording, posted it on YouTube and the rest is history. Every person interested in vulnerable silly little girls modestly dressed with a cute voice responded. The responses were mixed and extreme. Some comments told her how ugly she was, some validated her concern but reassured her, and a few scolded her for doing such an action. The most common criticism asked where her parents were (her mom was especially named) and why were they not monitoring what she does online.

Recently during my segment of answering viewer questions on the local TV station, a 12-year-old sent me the following question:Dear Mary Jo,
I tape your segments each week. This week I have a big problem. I want to go to a concert. I am an honors student, get only A’s and B’s and am very responsible. I want to go to a concert with my friend. My mom says I am too young. I have reassured her that I will call her every half hour, and she knows my friend and trusts her. Will you please help convince my mom that it is okay for me to go?
Thank you, Kellie.

I answered Kellie’s question on the air, because she asks a very poignant question. How can a 12-year-old talk mom into getting her own way? It is obvious that Kellie has no idea what dangers lurk in a concert crowd for a 12-year-old. Kellie is able to use the Internet and Facebook (even though you aren’t suppose to be on Facebook until you are 13); she has a cell phone so she can call home to check in with mom; and she believes that if she continues to bargain a bit longer with mom, that mom will acquiesce due to fatigue.Moms (and dads) are more and more under the gun. They not only have to try to secure their child’s safety from the dangers they can see, but they have to try and minimize the more threatening danger–the virtual world these kids belong to. This was my answer to Kellie:

Dear Kellie,
I want to thank you for watching my segments and trusting me with your very important question. I love your mom. I want to put her face up on a billboard and say, “This is what a mother does…she says, ‘NO.’” You sound like a smart girl, and you sound as if you have been taught to negotiate and be assertive. These are wonderful traits, and I am glad your mom has helped nurture these skills. There is one trait you must learn a bit more though…and that is respect for “NO” when it is in your own best interest. I agree with your mother. You are much too precious to go to a concert at the age of twelve without a parent. You have no idea, Kellie, of the possible dangers, and no one will ever love you like your mom. I would like you to go to your mother and tell her that you are so grateful you have a loving, engaged mom, and tell her Mary Jo wants to use her for a poster mom. Lastly, if you really want to negotiate further, one thing she may enjoy is if she invites a friend and they take you and your friend to the concert. You can make it a “girl’s night” and strengthen the mother-daughter bond that you are so fortunate to have. Thanks for asking my opinion; I am expecting great achievements from you in the future.

Being a parent has always been tough, but being a parent today is tough for many different reasons. Our society has become so permissive with the parent/child boundary that telling your child, “No” is increasingly difficult. This is partly due to the parent’s lack of engagement in their kid’s life. They have no idea what their child is doing. That may not have been necessary years back, but now if the child has a computer in their room, their body may be in their room, but their mind and actions can be anywhere. If parents don’t talk to their kids and understand their virtual world, they are missing out on 50% of what is going on in their child’s life.

For all of you parents who feel overwhelmed by your child’s virtual world, this is a quick way to begin to get a handle on it:

You need to talk to your kids. You need to find out who their friends are and what websites they frequent. This is a good time to say yes or no to inappropriate sites.
Get the computer out of the bedroom and into a large family area. Have a large screen so you can glance at it quickly as you walk by. Computers in a child’s bedroom are a luxury (for the child and many time the parents). If your teen has a computer and food in their bedroom, why would they want to come out?
Prior to setting up a computer, talk about online acceptable behavior. Digital manners are important with all virtual media.
Limit all computer and cell phone use. If a child wants to post a picture, it must be parent approved.
Your child should never befriend an adult unless they are related to you.
Your child will have difficulty understanding the concept of permanence; this is due to their frontal cortex not being fully developed. As much as you can, underline the fact that nothing is ever truly gone on the Internet. Being a child means making mistakes, but in the case of posting a mistake, it goes on and on.
If you are too busy to monitor your child’s activity on the Internet or their cell phones, hire a company to monitor for you. I am an expert for www.truecare.com and can tell you of numerous lives it has saved, as well as accidents it has prevented.

We cannot save our children from all of the dangers, any more than our parents could save us. We can be proactive though, and we can assert our parental authority and say “NO,” even if that isn’t the most popular response. Parents cannot be parents and be their kid’s buddy. Be your spouse’s buddy, be your kid’s mom and dad.

Guest article provided by Mary Jo Rapini, MEd, LPC, who is a licensed psychotherapist and co-author with Janine J. Sherman, of Start Talking: A Girl’s Guide for You and Your Mom About Health, Sex or Whatever. Read more about the book at www.StartTalkingBook.com and more about Rapini at www.maryjorapini.com.

Filed Under: 3 Boys & A Dog General Posts Tagged With: answer viewer, big: the musical, Children, dear mary, fashion, girl records, human interest, kellie, mary jo, mom, mother insult, question dear, sayings, your child

Send Mom a Bouquet She Won’t Easily Forget!

May 7, 2012 by Kelli Miller Leave a Comment

I told you about shopping at RedEnvelope for my Mom and Personalized Gifts for my Mother-In-Law, now I get to tell you about my own Mother’s Day gift! LOL! I am not a flower type girl which I guess is a good thing since my husband hasn’t brought me flowers in more years than I can count. I am not complaining! He brings me Chocolate and that really is sooo much better. However, there really is nothing like sticking your nose in a big bouquet of flowers is there? It just makes me feel all misty and girly.

So, when given the chance, I ordered myself a BIG vase of flowers! I must say, this is the first time I have ordered from ProFlowers and I am impressed! Not only do they have so many great mothers day gift ideas, but their prices are amazing!

I brought my boys in to the computer and told them I was choosing myself a Mother’s Day gift and asked if they wanted to give their opinions. Hmm.. 2 out of three are exactly like their Father “Whatever YOU like Mom!” Not Zack, my sensitive man who told his little girlfriend the other day that he “respects her decision” about whether he should call her on the phone or not! Zack hung out with me for quite some time while I flipped through page after page of the great mothers day gift ideas and we picked quite a few that we really liked:

Send Mom a Bouquet She Won’t Easily Forget!

However, we settled on the vase of Tulips that see you at the top of my page. I was impressed when they came and so happy with the fact that they lasted about a week!

*I was given a gift code by Pro Flowers to test their products and service. Any opinions stated are strictly my own!*

Filed Under: Parenting, Reviews Tagged With: bouquet, day gift, easily, flowers, flowers type, forgotten, great mothers day gift ideas, human interest, mom, mothers, personalized gifts, send, she, tell

Personalized Gifts at Personal Creations For Mothers Day

April 30, 2012 by Kelli Miller Leave a Comment

Yesterday, I told you a bit about one of my favorite online stores, RedEnvelope. Today, I want to tell you about one of their brands, Personal Creations. I had never shopped at the Personal Creations brand before and was pleasantly surprised. There were seriously GOBS and GOBS of personalized gifts for Moms! Honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed trying to decide what to buy my Mother-in-Law. I called my wonderful, helpful Husband in to get his opinions on a personalized gift for HIS Mom. He spent several minutes listening to me say,

“I really like this:”

Personalized Gifts at Personal Creations For Mothers Day

“Oh, I think your Mom would love this:”

Personalized Gifts at Personal Creations For Mothers Day

“OOOHHH! This one, let us do this one”..

Personalized Gifts at Personal Creations For Mothers Day

“Shoot, I don’t know Ricky! Maybe this one:”

Personalized Gifts at Personal Creations For Mothers Day

…before he finally said, “It doesn’t matter to me, Babe. Get what you want.”

Hmm… helpful no? Tee hee! I finally settled on a great gift, which I can’t show you because my Mother-in-Law also reads my blog. However, you be sure to check my blog on the day after Mother’s Day and I will reveal what both Moms received for Mother’s Day this year. LOL!

*I was given a gift code by Personal Creations to test their products and service. Any opinions stated are strictly my own!*

Filed Under: Holidays / Seasons, Reviews Tagged With: day, for mothers day, gifts, gobs, human interest, mom, mother's day, mothers, personal creations, personalized gifts, personalized gifts for Moms, RedEnvelope, review, tender hearts

Shopping: Love Your Mom With All Your Heart! #EqualSucralose #CBias

March 29, 2012 by Kelli Miller

I love to spend time with my Mother and seeing my friends and relatives lose theirs just makes me appreciate mine all that much more! On this shopping trip, my Mom was trying on clothes and we were laughing and cutting up. I was sitting on the floor outside the door and was chatting with her. As we were heading out, this older lady was coming out a couple doors down and she had tears in her eyes as she said, “I love listening to you two! I don’t have anyone to do that with now and I really miss my Mother.” OMG! It broke my heart!

OK, so we had a great time today (as we do every time we go somewhere) and you can see our entire fun trip (about 8:30 am until right at 1 pm. LOL!) in my Google+ photos, by clicking the image below.

Equal 3.29 Shopping: Love Your Mom With All Your Heart! #EqualSucralose #CBias

Seriously, I love the Equal Canister! In addition to it being a better price than Splenda, it takes up so little room in my pantry compared to other items! See:

What can you make with Equal Sucralose? How about this:

Spaghetti Squash-Coconut Custard Pie

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Makes: 8 servings at under 120 calories

Ingredients

½ medium spaghetti squash
1 ½ cups Blue Diamond Original Unsweetened Almond milk
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup Eggbeaters
2 tablespoons light margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
2 tablespoons grated unsweetened coconut (mixed into other ingredients)
1 cup of canister-style Equal Sucralose
2 tablespoons grated unsweetened coconut (sprinkled on top before baking)
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of cinnamon
Fat free Cool Whip

Directions

Cut medium spaghetti squash in half. Microwave one half, face down on microwave-safe plate, for about 8-10 minutes or until completely tender throughout. Save second half for another dish on another day (Just cover with clear wrap and place in fridge until ready to use). Allow cooked squash half to cool a bit. While squash is cooling, mix all other ingredients, except squash, last 2 tablespoons of coconut, nutmeg, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. When squash is cool enough to handle, shred pulp with 2 forks. Stir squash strands into custard mixture, and set aside.

Spray or grease a deep dish 9-10 inch pie plate. Sprinkle corn meal over bottom and sides of greased plate. Pour custard mixture into pie plate over cornmeal. Sprinkle the remaining coconut, nutmeg, and cinnamon on top. Bake at 350F for about 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool. This is absolutely delicious topped with a bit of fat free Cool Whip or fat free Reddi-Wip.

TEN LUCKY 3 Boys and a Dog READERS COULD WIN:

I am very curious to see how many people read this post. LOL! I have some $2.00 off Equal Sucralose Coupons here at home and I am giving away 10 of them with this post. Simply leave me a comment telling me your favorite Spring Time Treat and I will choose 10 people to win them. That’s it, just your favorite Spring Time Treat. No bonus, No follows, No tweets – simple to do, just like the Equal Sucralose Canister!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias

Shopped at: Walmart Supercenter #853-Mobile