Wednesday, December 19, 2012

"O" My Mess -- Some Fond Sticky Situation Memories, Tips and a Great Contest from Wet Ones!



















http://bit.ly/U0jd2X

      Ever notice how kids and sticky-ness just seem to go together? Kids are attracted to messes like magnets are to metal! Some of my fondest memories of my kids growing up involve "sticky situations" though. So Wet Ones' Sticky Situations Facebook contest is right up my alley!
      "Wet Ones is giving us the opportunity to share all of the Sticky Situations we have found ourselves in and tips on how to deal with them! Simply log on their Facebook Contest and share your story and tips, and you can be entered to win:
- an iPad Mini 

://bit.ly/W6GhPK

or

3 sets of prize packs with tickets for 4 people to go to Six Flags. 
://bit.ly/Z6nTbx

     I know 'tis the season to be busy, but don't worry. I just entered and it doesn’t take long at all! Here’s the link to enter:
https://www.facebook.com/momcentral/app_248884015238315
     Hurry though. The contest deadline is:
.December 28, 2012 @ 09:59 pm (EST)
     One of my first "sticky situations" memories has to do with my first child, then a toddler. I can still picture it even though she's now 20 years old!
     We were in the living room and I had to answer the phone. But I'd made the mistake of leaving an open box of those famous "o's" cereal within her reach because I was just about to give her some. 
     Of course, when I returned, my cutie had strewn the little o's all over the living room carpet, and was happily picking up, throwing them about, and otherwise playing with them. Although my mom probably would have freaked out at the view, I just had to giggle because she was having so much fun. So I let her play a little before I took photos (which I wish I could find to show you right now!) and started vacuuming. But not before wiping off her cute little hands with wipes first because of all that sticky cereal "dust." 
     I learned that day never to leave an open box of cereal in my child's reach if I didn't want a recurrence of the huge mess. Instead, put single servings worth of cereal into a little tupperware or other foodsafe plastic container and take that with your child. (Draw a big "O" on it with permanent marker if that is your child's favorite.) Even if they get a hold of it, it won't be enough to fill the carpet. And if they still want to play, let them throw one "o" at a time into the container from a reasonable distance according to age. This makes a fun counting game for little ones. Or have them learn to say the "o" sound.
     I've also always enjoyed my kids doing arts and crafts. (Ok, so I love doing them with them.) Sometimes, the messier the better. 
     When renting an apartment, though, I had to take some precautions to protect the floor and adjoining white wall next to the art easel before letting my child go wild with paints and other craft supplies. So I got a dollar store shower curtain and taped one side to the rug on the floor using duct tape. Then I used hooks at the top of the wall to hang the other side of the shower curtain, making sure the bottom of that section was taped with duct tape to the floor shower curtain. 
     Voila, instant art area! Now the whole area was protected for paint and any inadvertent splashing. It worked great through many a masterpiece! From paintings to clay clowns to ooblek! (Yes homeschool science projects have given us great sticky memories too, including many with my sons!)
      Plus whenever the plastic shower curtains got too messy, it was easy to use Wet Ones clean up!

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