Great Gift for Mom, Dad, and Grandparents for under $15!

Pretend for a moment that you are 4 years old. Picture the season, the aromas, the warmth or coolness of the air, the people around you, and the joy of being 4. Now fast forward to 24, where you have just witnessed your life through those 20 years in a flash. Did you ever say anything bright, amusing, or just plain off-the-charts smart? Look around you. You see a book, a journal, really, sitting in front of you, and in it is recorded all the funny, silly, and imaginative things you said and did as a kid. Your life in a book! Wouldn't that be a great gift to receive?

Now be you – at whatever age you are. If you have children, which I'm assuming you do, since you're reading this blog, ask yourself how many times you said, "I should write that down," when your kids say or do something imaginative, funny, or far too intellectually beyond his or her age? Or maybe you do write down those little gems, but they sit on scraps of paper or they are buried deep inside folders on your computer, lost. 😞

Wouldn't you love to have an easily accessible book where you could record all those funny, silly, and imaginative things your kids say and do? And wouldn't you love to give it to your child as a gift when he or she grows up? You can!

And so can YOUR parents! The two journals shown below, one for moms and dads, and one for grandparents, allow all of you to record those brilliant scenarios you don't want to forget. And each book costs less than $15!

In full disclosure, I must tell you that I am an Amazon Affiliate, so I will make a little money if you decide to buy one or both of these journals. I'm also the one who came up with the idea for these journals. 

Treat yourself to one or both of these journals. You'll have a lifetime of giggles and you'll brighten the lives of your kids or grandkids when they grow up.

Thank you so much for reading this blog. Feel free to share it with friends and family. Take time to find a little joy and sprinkle it everywhere.

Tis the Season For Giving – Warm Coats to Children in Need

Let’s face it – children are expensive. While some parents are financially capable of handling the rising costs of raising them, other parents’ incomes are so low they can barely afford to buy food. For a variety of reasons – job loss, divorce, illness, etc. – some parents have little to no income. Budgeting becomes an ongoing problem for them, especially if they are single parents and the other parent contributes nothing or less than they were court ordered to pay. How do you budget when your expenses far outweigh your income and you don’t have enough money for necessities, like food, shelter, or clothing? 

Because kids grow so quickly they need new clothes and new shoes at least once a year. As a single parent who raised four children, I understand their plight. Fortunately for me, however, grandparents and one of my sisters often helped me with necessities (my other sister was raising kids of her own).

Other families aren’t so fortunate. Some children, after having no breakfast, walk to school in sub-freezing temperatures wearing nothing but a t-shirt. 

According to the United States Census Bureau, “In 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty…” 37.2 million people living in poverty! To put that in perspective, the population of the entire state of California is 37.2 million. Imagine that! How can we help all of them? 

While the basic necessities include food, shelter, and clothing, one very important item for children is a winter coat. And that’s where Warm Coats for Cool Kids comes in. Established by Garry and Debra Vaccaro in April, 2021, and staffed only by volunteers, this 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable corporation provides winter coats to children from families in need. 

Located in a western suburb of Chicago, Warm Coats currently distributes warm winter coats to children from late September through March by conducting events at local schools, churches, and other community organizations.  They also accept individual requests for coats submitted through community organizations. And when available Warm Coats distributes new winter hats with each coat.

Warm Coats offers coats in many sizes (from 4T to adult medium) and styles, and they maintain an inventory. When supplies run low, they purchase new coats from local retailers and Operation Warm. 

Be kind this holiday season by helping a “Cool Kid” be warm this winter. No child should be left out in the cold. Just click this Donate button! Not one penny of your donation goes to anything other than coats. What that means is that 100% of your $20 (or more) donation will provide one child with a high quality, warm, and stylish coat. More donation = more coats. Warm Coats for Cool Kids, all children recipients and their parents thank you for your generous donation. 

When Your Kids Say the Darndest Things, You Need to Write Them Down! These Journals Will Help!

 Your kids and/or your grandkids say the darndest things, don’t they? Have you ever heard your child say something so profound, so inspirational, or so humorous that you felt a need to record it? 

We all agree, don’t we? – that a child’s perspective on life is so delightful to hear that we want to hold on to those precious memories forever? Of course we do! 

Sometimes what we find humorous is not what our kids or grandkids say, but rather what they do. My oldest daughter, for example, when she was about three or four, needed to use the bathroom after I told her repeatedly that if she needed to use it before my shower, she should use it now. “I don’t have to,” she responded. 

About 3 minutes into my shower she decided she needed to use the bathroom. I told her that if she could figure out a way to come in, she could. A few minutes later, the door opened. 

“How did you do that?” I asked her. She showed me two bobby pins. And that was the day I learned that my oldest daughter might become a locksmith – or she was setting herself up for a life of crime. Maybe, and more likely, she was just intrinsically mechanically inclined.

My son used to sleep with every new toy he got. Somebody bought him a rifle one year and he slept with it. I took a photo of him with his treasured new toy and when he became a United States Marine, the memory of that moment surfaced.

One of my daughters is so imaginative that when she was a little girl, as we sat in the back yard on a windy day, she said, “Look, Mommy, the trees are laughing.” I could just imagine them feeling tickled by the wind.

Another daughter, when she was very young, had a very unique vocabulary, so when my mom babysat once, I had to write a dictionary for her – yoke is milk, yo yoke is more milk, yepper is diaper, and sow is pacifier.

One of my granddaughters asked me, when she visited me in my “trailer court,” why she lived in a cracker house (apartment building) while I lived in a hot dog house (mobile home in a manufactured housing community). 

Her youngest daughter, one of my great-granddaughters, would play Barbies with me. I asked her how she wanted to play with them, and she always said that her Barbie was sick or injured and that we had to take her to the hopsito (hospital obviously). She’s still very young, but I wonder if she will be a caregiver when she grows up.

One of my grandsons, when he was very young, told his mommy that he wanted to marry her. She explained that he couldn’t marry her, but that he could marry someone just like her. After thinking about his options, he responded, “I know! I’ll marry Grandma!”

OK, I’ll stop. I have 20 grandkids. I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to continue. This blog is getting fairly long already anyway. And I have written many of my stories in one of my other blogs, My Heart Blogs to You, which you can read if you're interested.

The point is that what our kids/grandkids say and do impacts us in ways we never imagined, and we want to hold on to those memories, because they’re so much fun to remember. Imagine being able to pick up one of these journals and read through it when you’re having a bad day! Imagine being able to look back from some point in the future to bring alive all those old memories!

Many of my memories are recorded in several journals, alongside thoughts, situations, and ideas. So I decided that it might be better to have a journal devoted entirely to just kids and grandkids! Before I put together this journal, when my kids told me funny, silly, imaginative things my grandkids said and did, I would say, “You should write that down.” 

For that reason I have created the following two journals, which I would like to share with you. Honestly, who is funnier than your kids or grandkids? Don’t you want to memorialize their thoughts, words, and actions!

Of course you do! And here they are!

Funny, Silly, Imaginative Things My Kids Say and Do: A “You Should Write That Down” Keepsake Memory Journal for Parents

Funny, Silly, Imaginative Things My Grandkids Say and Do: A “You Should Write That Down” Keepsake Memory Journal for Grandparents

As always, thank you for visiting! If you don't want to purchase the journals, but you still want to help me afford my life, please consider contributing to what I refer to as my "Living My Life" fund at Crystal Butterfly Creations. Thank you again!