25 Random Things About Parenting

For those of you active on Facebook, you’ve probably seen the “25 Random Things about Me” going around recently. Well I’m a little too lazy to come up with 25 but as it turns out, Jim Deitzel from Rubbermaid (sister company) has a little more time on his hands.   I teased him about that and he responded with a great idea (what a good sport he is!) – why don’t we (Graco) come up with 25 Random Things About Parenting? So we did!  I asked the Graco blog team to come up with a couple random tips, tricks or anything they would share with other parents given the chance, so we compiled the very random list below. Some are practical, some are funny, and some are quite sentimental.  And don’t worry- we’re not tagging you so no need to compile your own list- just sit back and read our list – and take notes, of course!

Jon DeHart -
1. TV remotes are NOT vomit-proof
2. He’s always, “MY boy,” until his diaper’s loaded. Then he’s “YOUR boy.”
3. When I asked him if he was TRYING to drive me nuts, he said “No, it just comes natural.” If that’s the case, my boy is GIFTED!
4. As long as you’ve got your favorite Teddy Bear, all is right with the world.
5. Little kids see you mow the lawn every week. They ask and beg and so want to push the mower…until they’re a little older and you actually give them that chore. Some sort of lawn & garden equipment allergy, I suppose.
6. Scary movies get you alot of extra hugs. So does a whoopie cushion in your shirt.
Amy Sleep-
7. Giving in to whining kids provides a short term gain, but a long term pain
8. If it’s a tough day with the kids, get out of the house. It’s amazing what a change of scenery can do
9. Keep a calendar on hand to mark down all the big (and little) events. It’s much easier to write little notes than to complete the monthly baby book – and it’s SO much fun to look back and reminisce over what was going on. (and I’ve used my little daily notes to fill in the baby book, which I tend to do 2 months late!)
10. I highly recommend those digital frames. I have SO many pictures that live on my computer or in books. But having the frame makes it easy to see them all.
11. I love taking pictures of my little ones next to a large stuffed animal (for us it’s Grover). We do this every month (or 3 months when they get bigger) so see how much they’ve grown.
Lindsay Lebresco
12. The cheap, thin washcloths you get at the Dollar Store are the best. They’re tiny so they can fit in your pants pocket without a big bulge so you can always have them wherever you go and they’re thin/soft enough to clean the nose of any unrelenting toddler.
13. Just like real estate, keeping kids interested in their toys is all about location, location, location – or rather, rotation, rotation, rotation. Just rotate toys in and out and from room to room and the kids stay interested. “I love my new car garage!” (it’s not new- I simply moved it from the basement to the family room and all of a sudden, it’s my son’s favorite “new” toy!)
14. My kids had a couple “lovies” that were given to them when they were babies but the kids never took to them. I decided to make them my lovies so I sleep with them and when I travel, I give each kid one of my lovies that they get to sleep with while I’m away.
15. Now that my kids are a little older (4 and 2 ½), I let them sleep together on Friday nights. It’s a treat they look forward to the whole week (and a treat I can threaten to take away!) Now, when we travel and they have to sleep together, it’s not such a novelty that they can get a good night’s sleep.
Melissa Parlaman-
16. Preparedness is key. when prepping your house for new baby or venturing out with your newly potty trained daughter, you have to plan out what you may need & be ready for (change of clothes in the car, being well stocked with diapers/wipes, etc)
17. Relax & pick your battles wisely. People that worry too much stress me out & when I’m stressed out then my family is stressed out. You need to take time out to just laugh & let your kid be a kid (not to sound like Chuck E. Cheese or anything…)
18. You are a role model to your child..it is nuts how kids pick up on your attitude, mood, likes/dislikes so you have to be even more aware of yourself. My daughter already makes my dirty looks & covers her nose & says food is yucky before she tries it (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree).
Melissa Landis-
19. It is OKAY to mix equal parts of chocolate syrup and Amoxicillin…it is far better that the medicine actually gets down the throat…(I have confirmed this finding with my doctor.)
20. Getting Lovey attached to a “bird’s eye cloth diaper” as her special blankie completely eliminated the chance of losing something irreplaceable or having to wait for it to come out of the dryer…they are inexpensive, come in packs of 12, and I can have one handy no matter where I am (the car, diaper bag, purse, grandma’s house…)
21. Brushing Lovey’s teeth while in the bathtub speeds up the nighttime routine and allows for more snuggle time before bed. AND…filling her hands with foam soap keeps her concentrating on not “spilling” the treasure she is holding so I can concentrate on getting to the molars.
Jim Deitzel (yeah- I let him play too- he’s a dad afterall!)
22. Children grow up really fast. Be sure to enjoy every moment. You don’t get a second chance.
23. Be a good role model for your children. They learn from you and you’re very important.
24. Your children may not love Mister Rogers and Sesame Street as much as you did. If they don’t, that’s fine. They’ve got their own stuff they’ll cherish
25. Teach your children good habits during the early years. It will help as they get older.
Bonus 4 from Amy Trice
26. Light blocking shades are THE BEST. They’re perfect for those long summer days when you have a baby/toddler or even an adult that must go to sleep before the sun goes down.
27. Start rotating lovies and spare lovies before your child knows the difference. In our case, we didn’t want Slick to have a lovey that couldn’t be easily replaced if lost. We noticed he liked to rub the corner of a cloth diaper we used as a burp cloth while dozing off after a feeding. So, we stocked up on cloth diapers and rotated them constantly. Viola! Slick doesn’t have a favorite one and we have a giant stack of spares.
28. When you are a parent, you do gross things you would have never thought of doing before. For example, scrambling to catch your child’s throw up in your hands. Yuck!
29. Pez makes a great special reward. We only put 2 in the dispenser, but Slick loves his opening his “reindeer” and trying to get the candy. He loves the candy. We love how getting to the candy keeps him busy and helps him develop his fine motor skills.

And if you did the real Facebook version, this might make you chuckle.