Sharing My Good & Honest Moments + GIVEAWAY #GoodandHonest #Motts
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my Disclosure and Privacy Policy.
This post is brought to you by Mott’s and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.
We’ve all been there as parents. Those moments when you know you aren’t the perfect parent. Sometimes things don’t always go as planned so we have to just roll with it. We all have come up with our own little parenting hacks to help us get through the ups and downs of parenthood. Mott’s understands that moms and dads work hard to be the best parents they can be, but sometimes in the balance of life, we falter and recognize that we can’t always be perfect. That’s why they recently launched the Good & Honest campaign with ads sharing some of life’s “parenting truths” moments to uplift parents, share a laugh and acknowledge we all improvise along the way.
I got a laugh at this new campaign because I can totally relate. I am that mom who has made some extremely annoying toy disappear. My sanity is important after all. And I got to thinking of some of the ways I’ve improvised over the years. Here are some of my Good & Honest moments.
Song & Dance
I like to make up songs. When my eight year old was a baby, he cried, a lot. I found that singing to him, even with my terrible voice, helped soothe him. I didn’t know a lot of the words to popular lullabies (and some I found a bit creepy), so I made up my own fun lyrics. They never failed to make me laugh and help me get through a long and sleepless night. Often I couldn’t remember the words I came up with even the next day, but it didn’t matter.
I have continued with this tradition with all my kids, even as they have gotten older. If they are having a bad day or simply need a distraction, I will bust into a silly song and dance. I have no problems embarrassing myself and most of the time it works to make them smile. I think this helps me release stress as much as it helps them.
Child Labor
I love taking a task that would normally be called a chore, and making it into something fun. Thankfully my youngest enjoys helping me out. Tasks like loading the dishwasher or doing the laundry are fun for him. Last week I caught Wes eyeing the sticks in the backyard. I suggested we pick them all up for daddy to help him out. He was a very enthusiastic helper and thought picking up sticks was a blast!
I wish I could say I’m a master at this still with my older kids who have figured out these tasks are actually chores, but I’m working on it.
Goodbye Artwork
I’ve learned the hard way that I can’t let my kids see me throw anything they’ve created away because it suddenly becomes their most prized possession. I admit I feel a little guilty discarding their artwork, but I really can’t keep it all. Out of sight, out of mind totally works. I’ve thrown away a ton of stuff they’ve never asked about, but I have to be stealth like when doing it. Folding it up, putting it in with other papers, shoving it to the bottom, all of them work. I just don’t make the mistake of leaving it on the top of the recycling bin unless I want a, “How could you?” kind of response followed by a wave of guilt.
Mott’s celebrates parents everywhere who are doing the best they can every day for their kids. Since 1842, Mott’s has proudly created delicious and nutritious products for adults and children and continues to provide “simple solutions” to meet the needs of today’s busy families with products like Mott’s Original, Mott’s for Tots, Mott’s Naturals Mott’s Juice drinks, Mott’s Healthy Harvest Sauce and Mott’s Snack & Go Applesauce Pouches. My kids are big fans of Mott’s Original apple juice, and I love to buy their natural applesauce with no additional sweeteners added.
WIN IT:
Got your own Good & Honest moments? Enter by sharing yours for the chance to win a $50 gift card and Mott’s product! (No judgments here, honest!)
When my kids were smaller they didn’t want to try fish so we used to tell them it was “special chicken”. It worked.
My son was a picky eater, and I could not get him to eat his baby food, so I cut his bottle opening and put his baby food in his bottle and he did not even notice that he was eating his baby food!
My niece wouldn’t take her medication when she was sick so I chopped up the pills and put them in applesauce. She had no idea.
I add veggies to my kids smoothies and they can’t taste them there
My little guy had issues feeding and never was hungry. So I started letting him do tummy time and play until his heart’s content and then offer a good bottle of warm milk and mama’s cuddles and voila! He drank much better each day – thank God for the little hacks of wisdom we pick up along the never ending path of parenthood!
I guess I do various things to somewhat trick my kids with many things. They do like the fruit juice with the veggies in it but I will not tell them it has them in it or else I know they won’t try it. I have to do that often with anything pork as well because they tell me they do not like it so many times I will use like pork chops in scalloped potatoes and tell them it is chicken in there.
we used to tell my little sister that veal was chicken, my dad used to hunt so he brought home Pheasant once, we told her that was chicken too. (then I started chanting “you ate the bird, you ate the bird”) and she cried, lol. woops, sorry sis.
I use the juice that tastes like fruit but actually has veggies in it.
I sneak veggies in where my kids won’t notice it… like baby food peas in spaghetti sauce!
When my boys were younger I put cheerios in the toilet to help them get potty trained.
Oh my gosh what have I now done to make a child of mine happy? LOL I think the most embarrassing was sing the potty song in a public restroom so he would quit crying and go potty!
To get kids to eat broccoli, we tell them it is a must if they are going to run faster in the next soccer game. And there is always a next game, this works like a charm in our house.
I always try to make a game of cleaning up.
My son would only eat the green veggies, green beans were his absolute favorite. I would add them to any dish that he did not like, he would then eat my casseroles. 🙂
When my grandson, who is now in 1st grade and too smart to trick, started kindergarten, he was very stressed out. He cried every morning and sometimes made himself throw up from anxiety. He would ask me every morning how long he had to stay there. It was really 7 hours but I would tell him only 3 hours. he couldn’t tell time then so it pacified him somewhat. Thank goodness he got used to being away from me and started to enjoy school pretty soon after that.
My daughter likes to push those little carts at the store. They didn’t have them the last time we went, so I let her carry a hand basket and she was thrilled… plus it was much easier!
If you children don’t want to brush their teeth when they are very little, play music and make it into a fun event where they can dance around with mommy and/or daddy as they brush brush brush!
I try to make a game out of math homework.
My daughter used to get a lot of ear infections when she was younger. To get her to take the liquid medicine, I had to mix it with chocolate syrup and put that on top of vanilla ice cream. She thought it was great that she got to eat ice cream, and I got her medicine in her. Win-win!
I Have Danced And Sand During Chores And Homework, It Makes Each Task So Much Fun And Entertaining