Bargains, Co-Sleeping, and Nakey Art

Yesterday was a bit of a special day because the girls got bunkbeds!  

My best friend, the queen of bargains, found them at a garage sale for only $50, and was even kind enough to haul them and help me set them up since I was watching 3 kids in addition to my own that day.  My mom found the comforters marked half off just because the company came out with new packaging for them and they had to get rid of the ones with the old packaging.  Heck yes!  I ended up saving 4 or 5 hundred dollars thanks to those great finds.  The beds are in great condition.  I might paint them white just because I prefer it.  Other than that, we only need to anchor the bottom of the ladder so it's more stable (that's a belt you see there as a temporary fix, lol).  

I thought about getting a rail for Charlotte on the bottom bunk, and then I realized she's been sleeping on a bed without rails for her entire life, lol.  It's never been an issue, so I think she'll do great.  It's a tad bittersweet, as she seems as if she may transition easily to her own bed after 2 and a half years of co-sleeping.  Which, by the way, is something I'd like to clear up.  Yes, we only have 2 bedrooms, but we didn't choose to bed-share because we "had to".  If we really wanted to, we could have put a crib in our room or even Brooklyn's.  The reality is that safe co-sleeping is a parenting choice with benefits that I've read about for several years and believe in for our family.  No, I don't feel like "oh, she's *finally* going to be out of our bed!", and neither does my husband for that matter.  I get a surprising amount of questions and comments about that, so let me just clear that up now, lol.  Yes, we still have plenty of sex (probably more than you, lol) despite co-sleeping (believe it or not, MOM!), and if you can't figure that out, then maybe you're not creative enough :-P   (Why yes, I AM fond of parentheses!)  And no, we're not going to force the bed transition, any more than we would try to force a child to walk or talk.  When they're ready, they're ready, so we're just going to see where Charlotte goes with this.


(For more, see: Benefits of Co-Sleeping, Medical and Developmental)

Today, we made woven paper place mats.  It's a fun little craft that is good for fine motor development.  Later we also made macaroni art with noodles that I dyed, which Charlotte insisted upon doing naked (surprise, surprise). 

Weaving Paper Place Mats

Materials:
two pieces of colored construction paper
scissors
tape
clear contact paper (optional)

Fold one piece of construction paper in half and draw cutting lines one inch apart, starting at the fold. (The lines should not go all the way to the edge of the paper but should stop an inch inside.) Then help your student cut along these lines. Next have him cut out strips one inch wide from the other piece of colored paper.

Unfold and display the first piece of paper. Demonstrate how to weave by taking a strip and carefully passing it over and under the cut piece. Then have him try, but do not expect perfect results! You may need to assist. (If he wants to make the place mat permanent, cover the mat with clear contact paper.)