Albany Mommy Blog - Fun things to do in the Albany New York Capital District area for kids and parents

Encouraging good behavior

This week is school break and I am home with 4 children. {So things may be a little slow on the website this week!}

Planning ahead for the week I knew that sometimes the kids don't get along perfectly when they are all together - my own 2 and their 2  cousins who are close in age- so I needed to come up with something cool.  I totally stole this idea from my son's class.  In his class they have a manner board.  Hot chocolate mugs made of construction paper on a bulletin board.  When the kids behave they get marshmallows in their hot chocolate mugs.  My son LOVES it!!

This weekend he and I cut 4 chocolate mugs out of construction paper, taped them to a white poster board (bought at Staples) and then made white marshmallows out of white construction paper.

I changed it up just a bit to encourage them to be really nice to each other.  Every time one of them did something nice for another the person who was on the receiving end would get to say "That was really nice, I'm going to give you a marshmallow!" The child on the receiving end of the nice gesture was the one to put the marshmallow on the cup.  I figured this would encourage the kids to be nice to each other in hopes of getting marshmallows and also encourage them to say "that was nice" so that they would get to put a marshmallow in someone's cup.

So far, so good!!  They are doing everything to help each other to get marshmallows!!

You have to see this!

 

Last Friday I got to try out the coolest new thing in the Capital District with a few "little friends".

Games 2 U is officially "a mobile game theater and more".  Unofficially it's "why on earth didn't anyone think of this before".

John, a father of 3 from East Greenbush, is running the local franchise of Games 2 U.  Tell me he isn't the coolest Dad on the block!! 

John met us in the Crossings and let us try out the games inside and outside of the van.  The inside of the van fits 12-16 people.  Once John got the games set up for the kids inside, it was almost complete silence.  Amazing!  My 3 yr old was playing with the teenagers and had a blast. 

Then we got to try out some of the games outside the van.  Then, the kids got to play laser tag!!  After that, we rolled the kids around in a hamster ball!! Can you believe all that?  Now that's fun.  The littler ones loved being rolled around and the bigger kids were able to get it going all by themselves.  I have never seen anything like it before, it was hilarious.  Everybody who was near us in the park stopped to take a look.

I am not a video game person at all.  (We have a Wii and I am still learning)  When we tried this I didn't think I was going to let John go home with the van.  We got to play for almost 2 hours!!  I know this is made with kids in mind, but it's awesome for adults too!  Seriously.

My opinion?  I love it, price is great, customer service is awesome, and this is just soooo cool.  John is a father and it shows.  He is so good with the kids.  When the 3 yr olds were having trouble with laser tag he got right down with them and showed them what to do and ran round with them. (That's the stuff that impresses me.)  Anytime the kids asked questions or needed help, John was right there. 

You know how I am about price and bargains.  Listen to this... IT'S THE SAME PRICE NO MATTER HOW MANY KIDS!!  Prices start at $199 for either the game van or laser tag, you can do add-ons for $50 each. So for $249 you can get the game van plus laser tag - the van can take up to either 12 or 16 players inside and another 8 outside AND you can have a whole bunch of other kids playing laser tag at the same time!  You won't even need to feed them, no way they are going to stop to eat!  Just keep throwing water or something to drink at them and they're good to go!

OK, I had a ton of fun.  My friend Kim and I both wanted to climb in the hamster ball and roll around.  The kids had an amazing time, didn't stop talking about it forever(still), I got a ton of thank yous from all the kids I invited.  Jon asked if I would ever be interested in setting something up so YOU GUYS, the Albany Mommy readers could try it out.  Of course I said yes!  Although, at the time I was thinking  - I am going to play again and bring my child back.  I also have had thoughts of telling everyone one time and telling John an hour earlier so I get play time for my only family first.  Sorry John, it's that much fun...

So, keep checking back.  Pretty soon you'll be able to try this out for yourself.  You have to see this in person.  As much fun as it sounds, it's even better in person!

Keeping kids amused in the mall

When in the mall trying to run errands and you know the little ones aren't going to last.
Stop at the travel agent and ask for a Disney travel guide.  The kids love looking at the  characters and you buy a little extra time.
You can play "How many Mickeys can you find?" and lots of variations of this. 
I can't believe how many times this has worked for me.

Smelly tip

I got a tip from someone today.
When a room gets a little too stinky - baby diapers, etc. - pour a little vinegar on a cloth and wave around for a few seconds.  Great tip!!
I know vinegar is so inexpensive and is great for removing mold and cleaning containers in a "green" way, but now I have even more uses!!

2 yr old temper tantrums

Just a note...
When your 2 yr old is acting like a 2 yr old in public and you find other parents with like aged children staring at you.  They are not judging you, they just want to see if your child can get anywhere near as bad as theirs.
I have recently openly stared at 2 children throwing temper tantrums and their mothers looking mortified.  One was my sister so I can openly stare.  The other I was too sleep deprived to try and pretend I wasn't looking.  I really was looking for tips, what was she going to do that I hadn't tried?  Please, do something that works, so I can try it myself!!!
When she looked up and saw me staring I felt like an idiot and said "I wanted to she if your's could possibly get as bad as mine does.  You got a long way to go!"  She did laugh instead of trying to kill me.
I have to say my little one had a temper tantrum in a local indoor playgym type place that I took him outside in the middle of winter without putting his coat or shoes on.(He had been hitting other children and we needed to leave.) It was so bad, that a another mother who I have never seen before asked me if I needed help carrying our coats and shoes out to the car.  That was one of the nicest thing anybody ever did for me!!  She didn't make me feel like a horrible mother at all.
Next time you see a Mommy or Daddy having a hard time with their child, try saying "Would you like some help?"  Even if they say no, guarantee it will make them feel better!!

Little sandwiches

My child has never liked sandwiches, regular bread was just too big & too much for him.
Now I buy "club" or mini dinner rolls, we cut them in half and make sandwiches out of them.
My child calls them "mini subs" and will eat anything on them.  They are just the right size for his little hands and calling them mini subs makes him feel like he's getting a treat.