She Buildeth Her House

Archives for May 2020

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Three Hands-On Ways I Use to Teach My Littles about Memorial Day

I personally have never served in the military, but I have so much respect and admiration for those who have. If it weren’t for their sacrifice, we couldn’t live in this great land of America. I am so grateful for those who have paid the ultimate price by giving their life. I am also grateful to their families, for they too have paid a price much steeper than I could ever grasp.

Because of this, I have a deep desire to instill in my children from an early age a great respect for soldiers, and to understand that Memorial Day isn’t about cookouts and yard sales.

Here are three easy ways I have sparked conversations with my children, even though they are still very young, concerning what Memorial Day truly is about.

  1. Visiting graves of soldiers and leaving flags. We did this when my daughter was 3, and again when she was 4. This year at age 5, she asked me when we were going. She loves it. We buy a few flags, go to a local cemetery and look for those who have served in a branch of the military, and put flags out as a way of saying thank you. Simple. Memorable. And we’ve had some great conversations about soldiers, as well as spiritual conversations about some of the things we’ve seen there. I’d highly recommend it.
  2. Playing toy soldiers together. I was in the Dollar Tree and grabbed a little bag of cheap toy soldiers and then found some painters tape we had leftover from when we first moved into our house. Stuck some “battle lines” down with the painters tape and wow. My kiddos have HAD A BLAST. And we’ve talked a little more about what it means to be a soldier and fight for your country. So simple I’m a little embarrassed to even make a blog about it, but it was so effective that I wanted to share!!



  3. Make a thank you card for someone in your life who has sacrificed. Maybe someone from church who has a child in the service. Maybe a family member who served years ago. Maybe someone who has lost a loved one in the military. Have the kids draw a picture and mail it or hand deliver it. Again, super easy but effective.

Hope these simple ideas inspire you to do something this Memorial Day to share with your kids what it is really about. It’s often the most simple actives that make memories. 🙂 Happy Memorial Day!

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How I Tamed the Toy Chaos

I have two sweet kids, ages 1 and 5. They LOVE toys.

I love my kids.

I love to PLAY with my kids.

I do NOT love tripping over and stepping on their toys.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash


Also, for those of you who don’t know, my husband is totally blind, and so if I were to ask him, I would bet he doesn’t love tripping over them either.

So for my sanity (and his physical safety!) I decided I had to tackle our toy problem.

After researching and wondering how on earth I was ever going to make any progress, I had just had enough one day, and decided to just do it!

I didn’t have a really sophisticated system, so if you’re looking for that sort of thing…you may just want to head off to another blog!! But if your’e looking for simple solutions…here’s what I did:

  1. Get a babysitter/mother’s helper or put on a movie to distract the kids!
  2. Gather big black trash bags and grocery bags. (If you have other containers to use that are prettier, feel free to use them, but I just used what I had on hand and it worked just fine!! )
  3. Put each toy set with multiple parts (i.e. little people, puzzles, legos, building blocks, etc. ) in a bag and tie it so they don’t get lost.
  4. Put those bags and any big toys in big black trash bags.
  5. GET RID of anything broken or they absolutely don’t play with at all anymore.
  6. CHOOSE ONLY ONE TOY WITH MULTIPLE PARTS ACCESSIBLE TO THE KIDS AT A TIME! (Don’t feel guilty! Just try it and you can always go back to how things were!) I didn’t include books, games, or craft supplies in this rule personally, but do what works for you!
  7. Neatly put that toy set, along with any other single part toys you wish for them to access, in the space you have available. (A stuffed animal, a dress up hat, a doll, a big truck, etc.)
  8. Put anything that won’t COMFORTABLY fit in the space you have available for toys OUT OF SIGHT. Maybe in an outbuilding, attic, bottom of your closet, wherever you have room. (Make sure kids can’t get to them without your help or you’ll have a big mess on your hands!)
  9. Every week or two, rotate out a couple of the toys, and your kids will act like it’s Christmas!! (Trust me, I didn’t think that this would be true for my kiddos either, but it was! Just try it!!)
  10. Enjoy the extra time with your kids, as well as the extra time to yourself because they’ll play a lot better if they aren’t overwhelmed…or at least mine have been!!

Note: It’s not mean. It’s not punishment. It’s just a way to help your family be able to more easily take care of the space God has given you as a family to live in, and therefore spend time on more things that truly matter!! And the bonus is that your kids will learn to be more creative with what they have, and more grateful!

And if you are all about teaching your kid to be self-sufficient, as I am, this will help them to be able to more easily clean up their own stuff!

JUST TRY IT!! It likely won’t take as long as you think. Your feet will thank you. AND you will thank yourself when you see how much less picking up you have to do, and how much more time you have to play with your kids instead of just helping them clean up their toys!

Let me know how it goes!!