Ask the Expert - MOPS Edition

...where YOU were the expert! What fun it was to brainstorm some of our favorite tips, tricks, places and resources. Hopefully this will provide you with great new ideas for yourself and your kids!

1.       Your friend just drove to Seattle with her kids and has $20 to spend. Where do you recommend she go (can do a summer or winter option)? We’ll assume parking is free. :)

·         Museum Tips and Tricks:

·         Children’s Museum – At one time the last hour was pay what you want. Not sure if that is still the case. 

·         Frist Thursday many of the museums in Seattle are free – MOHAI, Museum of Flight, SAM.

·         Reserve Passes through the Seattle Library – passes are made available month out at 9pm 

·         Boeing Field to watch the airplanes from the museum of flight. There is a drive thru Starbucks close by (this is where you can use the bathroom too)

·         Parks: 

·         Golden Gardens, Volunteer Park, Greenlake, Discovery Park, Carkeek, Gas Works, 

·         Playground at Seattle Center (it’s free) and maybe take the monorail.

·         Wading Pools and Splash Pads: Greenlake, North Acres

·         Ballard Play Space @ Ballard Church (free)

·         Transfer Station (the dump) 

·         Take the Water Taxi – there is a free shuttle to the beach area

·         Take a Ferry 

·         Bring a meal and have a “picnic” on the ferry 

·         Walk on, ride, get off, and get right back on. Most ferries you only pay one way. 

·         Ballard Locks 

·         Greenlake walk

·         Get a really yummy hot chocolate or mocha from Chocolati 

·         Pike Place

·         Ikea playspace and then lunch

·         Construction Site – University Village some fun action going on. 

·         Groupon to find deals on museums, gameworks,

·         Perry’s Playground @ Sandpoint Community United Methodist Church (free) 

·         Toddler Gym at Community Centers then hot coco/ice cream

·         Matthew’s Beach and ice cream from the ice cream truck

·         Ice Skating 

·         Bowling 

·         Lynnwood Rec Center

2.       If you could walk into a PEPS/Postpartum support group for first-time parents of newborns, what is the one piece of advice you would give them?

·         Learn. to. love. Coffee!

·         It goes so fast

·         Let them cry, binkie instead of feeding in the night

·         Short bedtime routine/habits start early.

·         It won’t always be like this

·         Do what works

·         1^st year is the worst

·         Figure out what works for you and your baby

·         Give yourself grace in this time of change – times of change can be good AND so hard 

·         This too will pass

·         Take care of yourself. 

·         Get a lactation consultant

·         Build your friendship within the group (PEPS or Support group) to keep encouraging each other

·         The 1^st year is so hard. Just survive the 1^st year.

·         Don’t be so hard on yourself.

·         don’t stress about small things

·         it goes faster than you think

·         ask if a person has any questions as opposed to offering advice.

·         Each day is a new day/a fresh start

·         Smell that sweet baby head

·         Check the neck rolls for milk

·         Find a friend and go to happy hour with the baby

3.       Everybody talks about the best gifts to buy a new mom but what is the best developmentally appropriate gift your child ever got as a 1/2/3 and/or 4 year old?

·         Just tell your family/friends what your child needs or wants

·         Magnatiles

·         Play Kitchen and food – especially things that can be cut into pieces 

·         Legos/Duplo

·         Indoor Stepping Stones

·         Art supplies

·         Blue Tape

·         Fort Kit – Buy a bunch of different sized clamps from a hardware store

·         Experimental gifts – Everett Children’s Museum annual pass

·         Money

·         The LOX!

·         Fubbles

·         Books

4.       If you could pick ONE book/blog/podcast to share with a mom friend what would it be?     

• Blog
                  Precious Little Sleep
• Instagram
                  Busy Toddler
                  Days with Grey
• Podcast

The Mom Powered Life 

NPR – Lifekit

Don’t Mom Alone

Love and Logic

3 in 30 Takeaways for Mom

Revisionist History

Dr. Finlayson – File Podcast Archive (about relationship and sexuality) 

• Books

Family Ties that Bind – by Richarson

Dr. Jack Newman – his book about Breast Feeding

The spirted Child

Healthy Baby, Healthy Habits

Babywise

Like a Mother

Dear Girl (explicit)

5.       The rain is POURING and you are stuck indoors with your kiddo(s). What is the best thing you can pull out of your cupboard to keep them entertained?

·         Playdough

·         Sensory Bin: Cornmeal, Rice, Flour… 

·         Bake/Cook

·         Pudding Finger Paint 

·         Freeze toys in ice and “rescue” them or break the ice using spray bottles, salt, and….

·         Moon Sand

·         Stinky bubbles (cover food coloring with baking soda and pour vinegar over it to reveal the hidden colors)

·         Just add water – glass of water, play with ice, water sensory bin, bath, play in the sink

·         Play on a mat with kitchen utensils, pots/pans (add dried beans or rice)

·         Outlining bodies on big paper

·         Draw on big pieces of paper on the floor

·         Anything Busy Toddler

·         Build a Fort

·         Your TV

·         Tupperware

·         Video Chat with Family

·         Videos and Photos of each themselves

·         String Maze

·         Play snow

6.       Bath time hacks… what is the best tip you’ve ever tried to keep your kids entertained in the tub.

·         *Use a bathtub desk/tray to separate the kids*

·         Bath Crayons (homemade)

·         Shaving Cream

·         Animals

·         Make Bath Bomb

·         Food Coloring

·         Color Fizzy/bath Bomb

·         Measuring cups/Spoons/Funnels

·         Sand toys

·         Music

·         Popsicle

·         Goggles 

·         Foam Letters

·         Seaweed (there is a special type that opens up when its in water)

·         Color Tablets

·         Face Paint/Body Paint in tub then wash it all off

·         Legos

·         Potion bath – have kids mix up potions with bath bombs/salts

·         blow bubbles

·         glow sticks

·         play “what floats?”

7.       Congratulations! You found a Babysitter! But you don’t have a lot of money for a date night…. What would you suggest as a fun low-cost activity for couples?

·         Pack a picnic or grab some food from the Ravenna Brewing food truck and head over to the Montlake Cut to watch the boats float by

·         Ballard Locks

·         Go for a walk around Greenlake or at Magnuson 

·         Go for a drink or a dessert – check out Lucinda

·         Concert at the Locks in the summer (Free)

·         Find last minute cheap tickets on the App Gametime

·         Check out Parent Map for ideas

·         Go to a movie at the Crest Theatre

·         Dinner at Red Robin

·         Improve night/Comedy club – 

·         Farmer’s Market

·         Reserve a museum pass through the Library 

·         Walk around Downtown 

·         Rent a Jump Bike – don’t forget the helmet 

·         Do a babysitting swap with friends to cut down cost!

·         Wine tasting

·         Walk/hike