childhood Archives - Sunshine and Holly

5 Ways to Prepare Your Backyard for Summer Fun

By sunshineandholly on May 13, 2022

5 Ways to Prepare Your Backyard for Summer Fun

Summer break is almost here! There’s only one week of school left and believe it or not, I’m pumped! I know it won’t take me long to start counting down the days until school starts back. But for now, I’m looking forward to lazy mornings, lots of pool time, a couple of beach vacations, and spending more time with my kiddos.

(This post was sponsored by MissQuito Mosquito Control Company, but all thoughts and opinions are my own!)

To prepare for the long summer days ahead, I knew we needed to go ahead and get our backyard ready for fun. For years, our backyard has been an escape for us. When the minutes seem like hours and I’m exhausted and drained from entertaining my two wild things all day long, we head outside for a change of scenery and some sunshine. Kids need to be outside, and honestly, so do grownups! Going outside can do wonders for everyone’s mood when we’re grumpy and bored. And with summer break just around the corner, we need to make sure the backyard is ready! Here are some things we did to prepare:

I’d Rather Be a Lazy Mom than an Angry Mom

By sunshineandholly on March 1, 2022

I’d Rather Be a Lazy Mom than an Angry Mom

I always knew I wanted to be a mom. It was the one thing I knew for sure that I was going to do once I was an adult. And like most people without kids, I knew I was going to be the best mom ever. I had super high expectations for myself and I’ll admit, I was a little judgemental towards other parents that didn’t do things the way that I thought was best.

But after having 2 kids in 2 years, I quickly realized that I wasn’t going to live up to my unreasonable expectations. Trying to do it all was slowly driving me crazy. I was angry all the time. Angry at myself for not living up to my expectations, angry at my kids for being so needy, angry at my husband for not being home to help out. I knew I was going to have to let some things go.

But I had a really hard time with the guilt of not being able to do it all. And to be honest, I still struggle so much with the (completely unjustified) shame I feel when I think about everything I *should* be doing. (I know, I know – it’s silly. I know I’m a great mom. It’s that perfectionist side of me coming out!) The hard lesson I had to learn is that no matter what expectations you put on yourself for motherhood, moms are still human. We still have our own needs and wants, past trauma and baggage, flaws and shortcomings. We want what’s best for our kids, but we can’t destroy ourselves in order to give them the best. Because first and foremost, our kids need a mom. A mentally healthy, present, caring mom.

I knew I had to start letting some things go that in the grand scheme of things, weren’t that important. And I received some judgment. I’m sure some people thought I was just being lazy. But I would rather be a lazy mom than an angry mom. And if skipping out on some small things gave me the energy and mental capacity to be able to handle the important stuff, that was the way things were going to be for our family.

What things have you had to let go to keep your sanity during the last few years?

I'd Rather Be a Lazy Mom than an Angry Mom | sunshineandholly.com

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family | Family Fun | motherhood | parenting

5 Fun Ways to Get Your Kids to Brush Their Teeth

By sunshineandholly on August 12, 2021

When my kids were toddlers, they actually liked brushing their teeth. It was new and exciting for them, and something they could (mostly) do by themselves. And that made them feel like big kids! But once they got a little older and realized that brushing their teeth twice a day wasn’t very exciting, they started to whine and fuss about having to do it. When they both ended up with cavities at a routine dentist appointment, I knew I had to do something. So I brainstormed some ways to make brushing your teeth seem more fun. Here are 5 fun ways to get your kids to brush their teeth:

(This post was sponsored by Smile Brilliant, but all thoughts and opinions are my own!)

1. Let them pick out a fun toothbrush.

We headed to Target and let the kids each pick out a couple of fun toothbrushes. Graham chose a pack of Star Wars toothbrushes and Maddie picked out a pack of light-up toothbrushes. They were both excited to use them when we got home!

Can We Please Cut the Kids (and the Moms) Some Slack?

By sunshineandholly on November 30, 2020

Can We Please Cut the Kids (and the Moms) Some Slack?

Before you comment on my kids’ bad behavior, please remember…

One day in March, I picked my kids up from school, and they never went back.

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What We’re Doing to Get Ready for Virtual Learning (And a FREE Affirmations Printable)

By sunshineandholly on August 13, 2020

What We’re Doing to Get Ready for Virtual Learning

Here we go again! Another semester of virtual learning. We’ve got this!

I’m hoping it will go much smoother this time since everyone has had more time to prepare. But I won’t lie – the schedule the school has proposed is very overwhelming! If I wasn’t worried about my children losing their spot at our charter school, I would probably just pull them and homeschool until they can go back. I feel like virtual learning is homeschooling without all the benefits of homeschooling (like controlling the content and schedule). But it’s fine. It’s all fine. We’re going to make it work!

Here’s a list of what we’re doing to get ready for virtual learning:

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