Exercise - the new Valium...

My two boys (Kent, 12 and Cam, 7) tend to be high energy kids. If they can't get outside, they start to act up. Too much energy, not enough physical activity.

My stepson (Kodey, 18) has signed up with the Marines. He has to finish his Senior year, but if all goes well, he'll start basic training in September. He's been telling his younger brothers all about the exercises he has to do.

Well... this weekend our house was a mini-bootcamp. At any given moment, the boys could be found doing sit-ups, push-ups or jumping jacks. This was an absolute blessing, because none of the boys' friends were around to play with, and the exercise provided an excellent outlet for their energy.

They slept well, ate well and were better behaved all the way around. Hmmmm, could exercise be the new Valium?

Worth Its Salt (How Cam became a speller)

Our second grader had been having a really hard time learning his spelling words this year. He didn't want to practice them, and even when he did write them, they just weren't sticking with him.

At parent/teacher conference time, his teacher suggested letting him write them with his finger in shaving cream. Uhmmmm, shaving cream is expensive and not reusable. He then suggested flour. All I could see was a huge mess in my living room. We decided to try salt.

I have a dark metal cookie sheet (the kind with the lip around the edges). In salt about 1/3 of an inch deep, Cam wrote his spelling words. He'd write a word, and then slide the pan side to side to clear it. When he was done, we poured the salt into a Ziploc bag, so it could be used again the next night.

By Thursday night he knew his words, and came home Friday with a perfect spelling test. His second test, last week, was a 14 out of 15. YAY, Cam!

The funniest thing is last week he decided to just write them on paper with a pencil for practice. Maybe the salt method was the confidence booster he needed. All I know is it worked!

Cozy Calm

My youngest son has not slept through the night consistently since he was born. He's gotten better in the last few years, but there are still 3 nights out of 7 when he wakes in the night - usually due to bad dreams.

So, when my friend, Eileen, offered me a Cozy Calm Weighted Blanket™, who was I to say no? Cameron was so excited to try it out this past Friday night. He loved how soft it is (cuddly, anti-pill fleece), and how comfy he felt just lying under it. He wanted to go to bed right then, but considering it was only 3:30 in the afternoon, I told him he had to wait.

He went to bed at 7 pm. He usually watches Mythbusters before he falls asleep. He was down for the count before the episode ended. AND, he slept 9 hours straight! He has slept soundly, and woken up chipper, every night since.

Eileen also gave Cameron a Cozy Calm Weighted School Lap Cozy™. It's sort of like a lap blanket and Cameron uses it when he is sitting at his desk at school. It's amazing! It stops the fidgets and allows him to focus on his schoolwork.

Full disclosure - Eileen has been a friend for the last 17 years, and I also do some writing and editing for her website, CozyCalm.com. If I hadn't seen how well the blanket and lap cozy work with Cameron, I would not be posting about it. As Cameron says "Thank goodness for Eileen!"