As Ring Luck would have it

Eating dinner out, and potty training are two things that do not combine very well. First off, when our kids were slightly younger than they are now, any dinner out was a disaster. There are three of them and only two of us, so right off the bat, we are outnumbered. There’s no man-to-man defense in a situation such as this. Add to that the fact that two of them are twins and sometimes you can have yourself a real situation.   Once, when the girls were not quite fully potty-trained, we were having a dinner at a restaurant. Of course, for us, ‘having dinner’ means there was food on the table, but instead of eating it, we were frantically jumping around catching thrown forks and spilled cups and tipping high chairs.    At one point, one of our daughters said she had to go potty. If you’ve ever potty trained a child, you know the thought process that happens at this moment. There is mild frustration at having to interrupt dinner to take care of things. There is excitement a...

  If it weren’t for my kids, I would never have considered the advantages of keeping cheese in the cleaning supply closet for several days. These are the sorts of enlightening tidbits that you pick up when you become a parent.   My children love to help. They are overflowing with excitement and energy when it comes to all sorts of chores. Except, of course, the ones they are supposed to be doing, such as cleaning up their messes. Still, whenever they see us carrying something heavy or working with some sort of high-powered appliance, they are eagerly on board. Particularly if it is potentially messy or dangerous.   Unfortunately, a child’s desire to help you is inversely proportional to the actual level of help they are physically capable of providing. So in letting them help, we are actually making things take longer and usually creating more of a mess. Still, we don’t want to discourage them, because we know that eventually the day will come that they will be abl...