The Poopsie Collective

Homemade Frozen Yogurt Drops

written by STEPHANIE

My daughter LOVES yogurt drops. We call it: The Baby Crack. Pirate’s Booty also gets called The Baby Crack. As it turns out, Pirate’s Booty is also The Mom & Dad Crack. It’s so good! Anyway, out at breakfast one morning I spread some yogurt drops on the table to keep Marlowe quiet while we waited for our food, when the waitress passed and told me that she had seen tutorials for making yogurt drops on Pinterest. Since I love any excuse to have massive amounts of time sucked from my life, I logged onto Pinterest to investigate. A few hours later when I remember why I’d logged on in the first place, I typed in ‘yogurt drops’ and voila! There is was, simple as simple could be. So I gave it a try and you should too. SO easy and SO delicious and SO cheap!

Instructions:

- yogurt (any flavor)

- cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

- ziplock bag

- scissors

Scoop yogurt into ziplock bag and shake the yogurt down into one corner of the bag. With a scissor, cut a VERY small corner off the bag. Using the ziplock bag like a pastry bag, drop small dollops of the yogurt onto the cookie sheet. Continue in rows until you have enough. Pop them in the freezer for around 1 hour. Eat and enjoy!

Toddler Activity: Creative Crates

written by STEPHANIE

Boxes are piled on my desk: Aamzon, Zappos, 6pm.com, Wag… I’m a bit of an internet shopper. I find catharsis in loading up my “cart”, and from time to time, the goods actually make it through the checkout process, finding their way into my home.

The shipping boxes have a second life of their own. They become Creative Crates, offering endless entertainment for my daughter. She loves pulling items out of the boxes, or putting new objects inside. She stacks the boxes on top of one another, lines them up in neat rows, sits atop them, and loads them on top of the dog. Sometimes I preload the boxes with items I hope she will find interesting, like wooden blocks or measuring cups. And I try to change the contents every few days to keep things fresh. This type of play is important, as it allows your child to explore and use his/her imagination freely. Too often during the day we have to tell them “no”. So filling the boxes with safe items is a lovely way to give them an opportunity to play without limitations. This activity is one that grows with your child, as you can change the boxes’ contents to be age appropriate, filling it with art supplies and such as your child gets older. Plus, this can be FREE! There’s no need to buy anything. 

Here’s how you can make your own Creative Crates:

- a box (or more)

- household items like socks, books, empty toilet paper rolls, rubber ducks, spoons, plastic bowls, etc. It’s nice to fill a box thematically to help your child find similarities in the items. For instance, all red items, or plush items. 

Have fun!

Activities for Toddlers: Sorting

written by STEPHANIE

My 16 month old daughter is high energy. She is quick, she is busy and she wants to be stimulated all the time. I have felt at my wits end with her the last few weeks looking for activities to keep her occupied. Here is the latest that I have to say was a pretty big hit!

What you’ll need:

- Cheerios in a large bowl

- Muffin tin

- Measuring cups

- Tupperware containers (very small)

I set her up on the coffee table because it’s her height and allows her to move around. She doesn’t like being in a chair. She first sampled the goods, happily munching on her favorite snack. Then I showed her that the Cheerios could be scooped up with the measuring cups and dropped into the muffin tins. She got it from there and went to town meticulously moving Cheerios between containers and eating a few more along the way. Then she stuck her hands into the bowl of Cheerios and giggled while she gripped them in her fists. 

After about 20 minutes, she expanded the game from the table and onto the floor, dropping Cheerios first one by one, then by the handful. The dog sat nearby waiting for her turn to clean-up. When my daughter then picked up what was left in the bowl and started to take it away from the table, I steered her back, at which point she lost interest and wanted to play with the kitchen towels that she carts around the house in her doll stroller. 

I picked up the containers on the table, asked the dog to take care of the floor droppings and we were done! Easy set-up, easy clean-up, and my daughter was delighted by the game. 

Next time? I will use multi-colored snacks to introduce an additional sorting element.

Do you have an activity your toddler enjoys? Please email us at poopsiecollective@gmail.com … We’d love to share it with all our readers. 

Unsolicited Advice for the Stay at Home Mom

written by STEPHANIE

I’m a Stay-at-Home Mom. I didn’t quite intend for this to be the case, but it is. I had quit my job to travel, found myself preggo along the way, moved back to the States just in the knick of time to deliver, and so found myself “at-home”. While I enjoy my days home with the munchkin there are things I never expected to be navigating when I imagined the life of the “stay-at-home” mom. Here are my notes to my other stay-at-homies.

1) Time off. Marlowe is fourteen months old and I’m lucky if I can go to the bathroom without her barging in and wanting to sit on my lap. Early on a friend gave me excellent advice. “You need to take time for non-essentials, like mani-pedi’s. You deserve it and it’s just as important (for your mental health) as a doctor’s appointment.” Luckily, I have a stellar mother-in-law who loves spending time with my little one, so much that she sincerely thanks me each time she gets to babysit. We’ve arranged for the two of them to spend every Wednesday together, and I get the day “off”. I spend most of these Wednesdays doing whatever the heck I want! It’s my mental health day and I would be lost without it. If you don’t have an angel for an in-law, ask your husband for a set time each week when you can plan your own time-off. 

2) Find Personal Space. Looking back on my corporate days, I felt like I was trading in my soul for a paycheck. But finding myself without personal time and space as a new mom, I fantasize about my employed morning ritual: the latte from Le Pain Quotidien, slowly perusing papers on my desk, going through each email in my inbox and responding. It’s a miracle now if I’m able to answer a phone call. Forget emails. My hubby and I worked out room in the budget for a gym membership with a kids’ club. It’s AMAZING! First, it’s a fancy gym, which is just fantastic. I feel pampered the moment I walk through the door. Sigh. Second, I drop Marlowe at the kids’ club and get to spend the next two hours doing what I want, when I want — yoga, running, stretching and long showers with Khiel’s products. I told you it was fancy!!! Find a place in your life where you are accountable to no one except you.

3) Take care of yourself. We spend 9 months during pregnancy listening to every craving and sensation, trusting our bodies and treating them with compassion. And everyone around a pregnant woman participates in this self-indulgence. Then the baby comes, we need the support more than ever, but suddenly nothing is about the woman anymore… it’s all about the baby. That tiny human becomes #1 on the totem pole. But in focusing so much on my new baby, I wasn’t taking care of myself. My body was taking a beating from the physical burden of motherhood and I was in constant pain. Re-learning how to make myself a priority in my own life has taken many, many months. Now thanks to that fancy gym membership, I am doing yoga an average of 3 times a week. And all that yoga has shifted the focus in the rest of my life. Instead of ignoring my body and downplaying my personal needs, I’m listening to myself and getting stronger. Take it back to YOU and care for yourself properly so you can care for your baby. 

4) Projects and hobbies. Even though it’s really hard to find extra time and energy, it’s crucial to have something in your day aside from mom/household duties. Days when I’m not at the gym or without a specific side project are days when I get pissed that Marlowe napped only 40 minutes instead of 2 hours. Or when she hasn’t eaten anything other than Goldfish, I start to come undone. Having something other than my child giving my day a purpose is a must. Pressed for time? Call a friend for a 10 minute catch-up. Feeling ambitious? Commit to getting through a novel. Really going for it? Start a blog. Ha!

Are you a stay-at-home mom? What advice do you have to keep sane and healthy?