Craft Ideas from Laura V!

Laura Villarreal said...

I've raised 2 kids and will share with you some of my favorite crafts:
1. Buy a box of Popsicle sticks form the craft store and they can stack and glue them into a box shape, glue them on construction paper and make a house etc..endless possibilities.

2. Make Playdough: 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of water, 1 cup of salt, 3 TB oil, 4 te cream of tarter. If using food coloring, add to water before mixing. Add all together and cook on med. heat till sticky and gathers in big lump and pulls away from side of pan. Cool and knead out the lumps.

3. Nature collages: Save cereal boxes to save the cardboard which is gives a nice weight to support collage. Have fun gathering leaves, twigs, pebbles etc. Let your kids have fun gluing the items to their cardboard.

4. Color Wall: Buy a roll of freezer paper (butcher paper) at the groc. store sold by the aluminum foil. Roll out large sections and tape to wall. The kids will love all of this large space to draw. You can also choose a wall in their room or play room and paint it will chalkboard paint found at Lowes's or Home Depot.

5. Edible Necklaces: Using Cheerios or Fruit Loops and some string or yarn, let them string them on the string and make a necklace. Good for hand/eye coordination!

6. Sponge Painting: Buy cheap sponges and cut them into various shapes. Cut 2 small slits on the top in the center and attach a clothespin. Kids can dip these into paint and press onto construction paper and use their imagination to create art.

7. Food Art: You can use a bag of macaroni and let them glue the pieces onto paper into art etc..

8. Homemade Fans: Draw a picture on a piece of construction paper or paper. Can color both sides. Show the child how to fold the paper back and forth into a fan shape using one inch folds. Get creative. They can also make all the folds and then color possibly coloring each panel.

9. Paper Bag Vest: Make a vest from paper bag by cutting a head hole, arm holes, and a fringe at the bottom. Your child can paint and decorate the vest. When it's dry they can wear it and add to their costume collection!

10. Create a Craft Box: Save egg crates, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, magazines, ribbon and wrapping paper scraps, paper plates,pipe cleaners, etc.. You can always pull this box out and let them get creative!
** I always had 2/3 books on hand that were my "go to" books for crafts, games, rainy days etc.. Many of these ideas came from "The Preschooolers Busy Book" by Trish Kuffner

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24/7 baby nurse

I am in negotiations for a baby nurse position for twin boys. It would be 24/7 care for 6-8 weeks. I have only done overnight care for 8 hour shifts at $35/hour.

I would be leaving my home and my fiance for the time period and I am unsure what to charge of what kind of schedule to propose for round the clock care.

If anyone has any input that would be great. If it helps located in southern California.

Craft time!

We have received some requests for ideas on crafts! So - we will start - our friend, Laura V at Balloon and Novelty in Stafford, Texas. Balloon and Novelty (281-240-0788) sells many fun craft ideas at her store. (you can order online as well)

I have gotten a very good reaction from kids with their "Build a Sticker Scenes" The kids create a sticker scene with a background such as Tropical Fish, Farm Animals, Santa's Workshop and Valentine's Day. Best of all - I have a bunch of Valentine's Day sticker scenes I bought on sale last year. 

We will send free sticker scenes to the 1st 20 people who send an email! We are just mailing out the free Emergen-c packets and we really appreciate the kind words from the soon to be recipients !

Below are the underwater scene as well as the Valentine's one.

Dynamo Juice from Trader Joe's.

This Juice is 100% juice! Dynamo w/calcium and NO artificial Flavors from Trader Joe's.

Juice blend from five concentrates with Calcium and other added ingredients. Excellent source of Calcium, Vitamins A, C, D & E and 8 B Vitamins. (Note, this has Vitamin D, very good for the Nanny community going thru very cold weather with not much sunshine!)

We learned about this juice from the staff at Trader Joe's while discussing ISYN and the emercen'c packets. Several people have already emailed requesting one... Have you requested your yet?

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you ?

What are your favorite ways to keep healthy while caring for your charges?

Thanks for reading!

Nuky Nuky! by "D"

It was a relaxing vacation. I was off for the better part of two weeks from my full time job and I did nothing but something called nothing during my vacation. The new year came around and I realized I had to work my weekend job. Let me tell you, it was hard getting up to be at M and DB's house at 715a on a Saturday morning. The kids were excited to see me, and it was the first time in six months that we didn't watch "Frozen" (my voice teacher says my cover of "Let It Go" isn't that bad, just not belted and sung lightly). Of course there was our three: Peppa, Paw Patrol and Bubble Guppies, plus Family Feud which the kids like. It was too cold to go outside-A is almost 3 and P is 18 months. I use our states DHFS childcare center regulation for being outside: 20* and above for under 2 years of age, and 0* and above for over 2 years of age. It was 25* with a windchill of 18*, so we didn't go outside. Maybe I should say screw the DHFS rules as a nanny, but hey, you don't want the little ones to get cold. We were inside all day, but we had fun. A long day, as I was done at 630p, even longer followed by grocery shopping after work.

Sunday was a little shorter, and once Sunday came around, I was back in "adult mode", and going back into my routine of working twelve days on between two jobs and two days off. A had a meltdown about something, and when she has these moments, I ignore her by telling her in a calm voice she needs to use words, because I cannot understand her when she cries. I go on about the morning, clearing breakfast dishes, sorting clothes, playing with P, etc. while she melts down. Sometimes she tries to kick or slap me, not because she is a mean child, but because she, as a preschooler, wants to test the limits. When she does this, I give her three warnings before putting her in her "spot", followed by the timer for 2:45 minutes. I still ignore her, and when she is done we discuss why she was upset and and the nice way to handle things. This works with her and everything is cool. She is a sweet, funny, charming child whom I love with all my heart.

I don't know what caused the meltdown. She kicked me, and I placed her in her spot, where she was screaming because she knew she made a bad choice. The next thing I know, P is having a meltdown as well, for what, I don't know. I'm keeping an eye on him so he doesn't fall and hurt himself, and while he is screaming, he's asking for a nuk. It's a guess where he learned to ask for a nuk during a temper tantrum, isn't it? I ignore him too, as I think the meltdown started largely because A started one. I have never had a toddler ask for nuk during a temper tantrum.

After a few minutes, everything was calm. We went outside, explored snow and ice and had fun. We ate lunch, took a nap and nobody had anymore meltdowns. I mentioned something to DB about his meltdown and I mentioned that he asked for a nuk during that time. DB tells me they give him a nuk to calm him down when he's upset. They are a sweet couple, yet sometimes I think they need to rethink their parenting.

When baby comes in July, A will be 3 years and 4 months, and P will be 2. Will nuks be given as a soothing calming during meltdowns and nap? I feel as though by giving a nuk on demand to calm down, nothing is being learned, such as self-soothing or regulation.

Personally, I want to throw the nuks out. I have to remember they are not my kids, yet I have free run of house when I am there. I'm considering stopping use of the nuk during nap for P, just to see what happens, because my feeling is that once baby comes, it will be harder for him to give up the nuk.

If nuks are given out for comfort, nannies should get naps, lovies and chocolate in their work agreements.

Our lives as nannies....but we love it.

Now or Never...

I have worked with my current family for about a year in half. They have one 22 month old and trying for another baby. I am very blessed with the family I work for.

My husband and I plan to adopted (our first) baby/toddler by end of year. I would like to continuing working. When and how is a good time to bring it up.

Fun and Easy Snacks from our reader Jaxx!!

Magic wands:

Heat oven to 375
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Cut 2 tortillas into 3/4-inch-wide strips
Bake for 2 minutes
Flip over
Bake for another 1-2 minutes
Use a pastry brush to lightly coat each baked wand with melted butter
Sprinkle on some colored sugar

Complements of the Disney cook book

Here is a fun treat for a party! Or just because!

Funfetti dip:

1 box confetti cake mix
2 cups cool whip
2 cups vanilla Greek yogurt

Mix together and eat with teddy grahams or graham crackers
Keep refrigerated

Winter Boots

No matter if you are a preschool teacher trying to get 20 children dressed for outdoor play or if you are a nanny of children all different ages, you will read this and see yourself( if you live in the cold and snowy areas).

My principal emailed this to me:


winter boots:

Johnny asked for help and she could see why.

With her pulling and pushing, the boots didn't want to go on.

When the second boot was on, she was out of breath.

She almost whimpered when little Johnny said, "teacher/nanny they are on the wrong feet."


she looked and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as they worked together to get the boots back on-this time the right feet.


Little Johnny then announced, 'these aren't my boots!"


she bit her tongue rather than scream, "why didn't you say the before!?"like she wanted to. Once again she struggled to help him pull his boots off.


He then said , "these aren't my boots. My mom made me wear them!"


she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots back onto his feet again. She said "now where are your mittens?"


little Johnny said, " i stuffed them in the toes of my boots......

FREE Gift to Readers/Posters ( help with colds/hydration)

From an idea from admin SS and an anonymous poster: Emergen-C and Electrolyte Enhanced Water have proven very effective in helping immune systems in extreme heat and cold. EC in particular tastes good, has no sugar and more minerals and vitamins to count here.

We will send a free packet of Emergen - C to the 1st 50 of you guys who email us with your address, it can be a business address and we will not keep the addresses, it's not advertising - just to do something helpful.

Colorado Nannies Beware

A MB with the initials NL is going thru about 1 live in nanny per month, kicking them out when they find out she is dishonest, trying not to pay ;(

Life in the day of a young toddler's nanny

5:00 am Wake up and feel like crap and can barely breathe out of your nose

6:00am Take Dayquail, get dress and head out into 20° weather

7:00 arrive at NF home. MB is at the gym

7:15-7:30 DB gives basically no detail about toddler's night(sleep training has begun but C has been teething since 5 months and its impossible)

7:30-8 change diaper...give C milk while she does every animal sound you give(proud nanny! She's 14 months and knows 10 animal sounds)

8-8:30 MB is home and gives all of C's information from last night( no sleep of course, only a three hour stretch)

8:30-9 bounce C to sleep since this is the only way to get her to sleep

9-9:15 cough your brains out and wake up C :(

9:45-10:15 you finally lay C down and head downstairs to wash sippy cups

10:15-10:35 bounce C back to sleep

12:30-1 lunch time! C doesn't want to eat anything but hummus and cheese(yum!) MB works from home so she suggests yogurt

1-3 play, read and watch the itsy bitsy spider about a million times

3-3:30 bounce C to sleep while she cries her brains out and you sneeze yours out(still can't breathe)

3:30-4:30 clean and sanitize playroom since toddler L from yesterday but her mouth on everything

4:30-MB says you can go home early since you aren't feeling well :)

Insurance Question

What health insurance provider do you use? Why is it great? Please list your State.

Wintertime Blues

This summer me and the twins went to the zoo at least once a week until it got to be too cold, we live in Wisconsin. It was so much fun (my boyfriend actually got upset because I went with them every week but didn't go with him, oops!) Their mom ended up buying a pass for the children's museum and I was so excited! She wanted to find something for us to do for the winter months so we wouldn't be cooped up! I love our children's museum and we have already used it enough for it to have paid for itself :) I have also started taking them to story time on Thursdays and they seems really enjoy that!

It's only the End of December and I'm already dreading the next few months. I am allowed to drive the girls, and have no problem doing so. But I do not want to go to the museum or story time if the weather conditions are bad. I am not going to put the girls in unnecessary risk in a Wisconsin winter. I know I can make it, I did it last year! I love to do crafts with the girls, but you can only make so many of them! Also, I am willing to bring my snow boots and play in the snow with them, but they only want to be outside for a short time since it's so cold out. Does anyone else live in an area that gets really cold and snowy? What do you do for fun? The girls I watch are 2 and we live near a bigger city, but live in the suburbs around it with not a lot to walk to in winter time.

Survey - Legal Issues

Have you ever had any legal issues with your families and how did you handle your situation?

Two More Bonuses

* Bonus this year (2015): $50
* Your weekly salary: $20-30/hour (full time nanny, part time nanny share)
* Any supplementary gifts aside from the Bonus: $50 to the movies, chocolates
* Length of time you have worked for the Family: One month, only as needed. Full time starts in a few weeks.
* City, State and Country where you live: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
* Additional comments: The family is beautifully nice to me. I just moved here from the US, and they have been so helpful and wonderful to me! It's 11 month old twins, plus a one year old nanny share.



* Bonus this year (2015): $1,000
* Your weekly salary: Full time- $1250/week (52 weeks per year) plus cash for extra hours worked
* Any supplementary gifts aside from the Bonus: Gift from kids costing approx $100- 2 weeks off ( I get about 6-7 weeks vacation per year with at least two weeks off over Christmas)
* Length of time you have worked for the Family: 3 years
* City, State and Country where you live: MetroWest Boston MA
* Additional comments: I am expecting my first baby and will remain employed by this family at my full salary after a 3 month leave

Question...Am I Wrong?

I've been working for this one family for 3 years now. The children are 6 and 4 and their dad has never once said anything about wanting cameras till this past week,he got them and set them up today. He told me about them right away but I still feel like its a invasion of my privacy even though I knew about them. Am I in the wrong?

Bad Parent Report

Date : Dec 30 2015 app 1pm
Location : Walmart @ Fry and Little York, Houston Tx

From V. E. a concerned father

Dear Walmart Bad Parents:

I saw you and your family passing these around, just laughing and sharing in the holiday merriment. I could not tell what you were saying. Maybe you were sharing family stories. You all appear to be a close knit family from the oldest looking to the toddler in the grocery basket. All were having a grand time, laughing and smiling, passing around those grapes. I am not sure why you did not purchase them. I am not sure what the price per pound was, but since you had eaten half of them, then they should not have cost that much, right? You had your own 50% off sale going on but instead of purchasing them you left them at the register.

That translates into theft. As a dad, I teach myself the opposite of these values I just witnessed. Hopefully you understand why I was looking at you like you did something wrong - because you did!

BE QUIET! (No, not you guys the professional good hearted nannies and parents reading this)

Tues dec 22 - Bad nanny sighting at the connection in New Jersey-- Little blonde girl wearing crocs and had a mini purse, red leggings, and a striped long sleeved shirt. The nanny had short black hair and her favorite words to the child were "stop" and "be quiet". The nanny was sneaky also - for more info - go here--- (permission given)
Verbally Abusive Nanny

Babysitting Horror Story

This is the story of how I learned to meet a family before accepting a job. I am a nanny for an amazing family but I will occasionally look for a babysitting gig for some extra money. About a year ago I found a job on care.com for later that night. I know a lot of people on here will criticize the mother for leaving her kids with someone she just met (lucky for her, it was me and I took great care of them). She was hoping to see a concert with a friend that night and I told her I could watch her two kids (I believe they were 6 and 2 at the time) She said that they would both be sleeping by the time I got there, when I arrived both children were awake. She said she kept them awake so they could meet me (I agree that this was a good decision). She had her son show me around their apartment which was disgusting. It was dirty, and messy, and things just everywhere. I was supposed to go home at 11. She told me that she wasn't feeling that great and would probably be home early, I said okay and told her to have a good time. I put the kids in bed at 9, which is the time she told me to put them down after saying "oh you can stay up a little later tonight, I'm sure Becky won't mind". I really didn't mind, because I go to actually spend time with the kids then instead of sitting on the couch. The daughter (the 2 year old) laid down right away pretty well. The son did not want to go to sleep though. I told him I couldn't let him stay up any longer because I cared about him, and it was late and that I wouldn't be doing a good job taking care of him if I let him stay up until his mom came home. He eventually felt better about going to sleep and fell asleep fast. I decided to sit on the couch and watch tv until their mom came home. It was around 10, only one more hour to go, and I could go home and go to sleep. When it turned 11 and she wasn't home yet, I didn't get upset. It had only just turned 11, she could still be on her way home. It was then11:30 and I decided to send a friendly text asking if she would be home soon, she said she was just leaving and would be home in 5 minutes. I kept dozing off on the couch but waking myself up because I did not feel comfortable sleeping in her home, I was getting upset because she still was not coming through her door. 2 hours later at 1:30 am she called and said she was on her way home and would be there shortly, I said "okay thanks for letting me know." I didn't believe her, I was panicking, I had to go to bed so I could be up at 6 am to go to work. Luckily, this time she really was coming home. She barely apologized to me for being so late, and hugged me goodbye( it was so uncomfortable) and told me to call her when I got home because it was a mild snow storm. She then asked if she could keep my number in her phone for the future, I told her she could. I left, got in my car and counted my money, surprisingly, she paid me accordingly. I drove home which took a good 45 min from their apartment downtown, to my place out in the suburbs. I parked my car and texted her saying I was home. Luckily, I have never heard from her again, and I'm not complaining since I had no plans on ever watching her kids again.