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Valentine’s Day Crafts for Sitters

Valentine’s Day Crafts for Sitters

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Now that parents have found something to do to celebrate their love, it’s time to let the kids in on the action! Help them share the love by setting up these Valentine’s Day crafts and games. Parents, these are great activities to let our sitters do with your kids while you’re out–just leave them the supplies and they’ll do the rest. 

Write Valentines for Mom and Dad

Use whatever you have lying around–construction paper, pipe cleaners, magazines–and let the kid’s express their love for their parents. Help them write a list of ten things they love about mom and dad or draw a picture of what they love doing together. 

Create a Paper Chain

Countdown to love day by creating a paper chain. Use red, pink, and white construction paper to create strips. Loop them together and secure them with glue or tape. Kids can take one chain off each day to create excitement–and it makes for a cute decoration in the meantime! 

Create a Valentine’s Day Treat

Who doesn’t love a little something sweet for the holidays? Try this cute ten-minute dessert from Six Clever Sisters which just takes a few ingredients: Hershey’s Hugs, pretzels and M&Ms! This a great “cooking” project for little hands. If you make enough, take a walk and share with your neighbors! 

Let’s Talk About Love

Do a little research on the history of Valentine’s Day and help kids come up with a “lesson” for Mom and Dad about love. Kids can create their own skit to act it out and even make a list of how we can spread love now–complimenting strangers, helping mom and dad around the house, sharing with siblings–the possibilities are endless! 

Chemistry is Real! 

We love any chance to incorporate a little STEM into our day! These salt hearts will get you talking about a different kind of love on this Valentine’s Day! What is nice about these is that they last forever so you can display them year after year as part of your decor. 

Hidden (love) Messages 

Create invisible ink using pure lemon juice! Simply squeeze a lemon into a bowl and use a q-tip to draw your secret messages on paper. Let them dry and when mom and dad come home from date night they can use a heat source (light bulb, low temp iron) to reveal the secret message. 

Geometric Hearts

Need an activity for older kids? This art project is great for talking about color theory, math and creativity. You likely have the supplies at home and the end result can be given as a gift or displayed for years to come.

Art Tutorial 

If you’re working with younger kids but still want to get artistic, this sweet tutorial would be a blast! The step by step directions make it easy for younger kids to create a masterpiece they are proud of. 

Heart Shaped Pizza

Our sitters are happy to make dinner for your kids while you’re out–so why not make it fun? Pre-made crusts make this homemade pizza easy to assemble and kids will love calling the shots for dinner. 

Love-Themed Movie Night

Grab some popcorn and candy and let the kids enjoy a movie night full of love-themed movies. Try “Lady and the Tramp”, “Beauty and the Beast” or “Up!”. Make it extra special with blankets and pillows on the floor!

Kid’s Birthday Parties: Which kind of mom are you?

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I feel like there are two camps of Birthday Party Moms out there. In fact, at some point, I have been both of them. We are in the throes of planning my oldest daughter’s birthday celebration (no party this year!) and so it got me thinking about how much effort I have put in some years versus how little effort I have put in other years–and how  regardless, she has always enjoyed her birthday parties.

All children smiling while kind mother bringing birthday cake
In my mind, I was this blissfully happy during these parties and not frantically running around looking for the lighter I forgot to buy.

So, the first type of mom is the Pinterest mom. This mom loves a theme. My daughter had heavily themed birthday parties for her first four years–giraffes, then Minnie Mouse (I painstakingly halved Oreos to create “ears” for those cupcakes), followed by Disney princesses and then when everyone was doing Elsa, we were also doing Elsa. We went all. out. From the shirt, to the cake, to the banner and of course the invitations, there was a dedication to the the theme.

Don’t even get me started on the goodie bags. My greatest birthday accomplishments to date have been a solid goodie bag–forget candy and annoying trinkets. I would find the good stuff heavily clearance, stockpile throughout the year and whip up something truly spectacular at party time.

Those years I felt a similar excitement and intensity as I did when planning my wedding–the thrill of finding a bargain decor items that matches said theme, the rush of finding out the date you need at the venue is open, the feeling of seeing the party photos after–totally Instagram worthy. But let’s be honest–those parties are for the parents. My kiddo never really cared about much of these efforts—except when I put the Barbie in the cake–that was a win!

Birthday Cake
I know its hard to believe but this is literally all your three year old girl wants for her birthday.

Then there is the “laid back” mom approach. In more recent years, we have fallen into the “lets have a cookout and a grocery store cake” camp. Its not because we care less–if anything, her parties are more about her than ever. But the focus is entirely on her friends and the playing that goes along with it and less about the photo ops. I am entirely okay with this– it is cheaper, easier and less stressful.

Although, I do miss the themes and will be returning to this strategy as my youngest approaches her first birthday.  She is 8 months old and I have the outfit and a few decor items and I AM NOT SORRY. After all, I survived the first year too, and we are going to celebrate in style.

I think birthday party planning is a lot like motherhood. You have to learn to adapt your approach as the years go by. You have to know when to bring out the big guns and when it’s okay to dial it back. This will the first year my oldest daughter does not have a birthday party. It feels like the end of an era but if I am honest, I know she will have more fun this way. She is a one-on-one type of gal and so having a a couple of friends over to go do all of her favorite things is way more her speed–and after all, it’s her birthday!

How does your family handle birthdays?

Top 5 Parenting Instagram Accounts

Top 5 Parenting Instagram Accounts

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It’s raining–and it doesn’t appear to be letting up anytime soon. What better way to pass the time with a few great Instagram follows? Below are some of our favorites! While you’re at it, be sure to follow PlatinumSitters!

Kid’s Activities

First up, Busy Toddler! This mama of three is constantly churning out the coolest ideas for her preschool and elementary school kids. This is the perfect follow for a rainy day because you will instantly have something to do to keep them busy. Almost all of her activities include household items you likely already have–or something you can Prime in less than a day or two! Plus, I love that she keeps it real with cute hots of her kids followed by the messes they make. It would also be awesome to set up one of these ideas ahead of your sitter’s arrival–then they can handle cleanup!


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Mindful Parenting

Simply on Purpose is an account focused on helping parents get the most out of the journey. Ralphie’s soothing tone and real life examples help make her parenting tips seem practical and doable. I love her whole child approach. She really values childhood and letting kids be kids while also holding them accountable and her stories are a nice reminder in my day to reset my mindset.


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FeedingLittles

Even though I have been at this parenting game for a little while now, I was still a little stumped about introducing my youngest to food. I have always been a fan of babyled weaning and stumpled upon FeedingLittles. I love their take on food and find their infographics super helpful.


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For Keeping it Real

I started following Leslie in the middle of the night while nursing my youngest baby and found myself stifling my laughter as I scrolled her post. She iss funny and refreshing while still recognizing motherhood as a calling. I appreciate the balance and her candidness about things like nursing, date nights and hard topics (her recent posts on talking to her daughter about death were great).


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For the Coparents

Janey is HYSTERICAL so I would honestly suggest you follow her even if you don’t have a coparenting situation. She is also an amazing human being who puts her therapist skills to use on international trips where she helps provide wheelchairs and OT to impoverished children (check out her stories for how to donate to her latest trip). But what REALLY makes me love her is her fresh take on coparenting her oldest son. She keeps it light, encouraging and honest–what more can you ask for?


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Follow Friday!

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I don’t know about you guys but The Great Social Media Blackout of 2019 on Wednesday really got me thinking about who I follow and how much time I spend on those apps. While I do think it would be good to cut back again, I also have to admit that many of the accounts I follow on Instagram bring me a lot of joy for various reasons: parenting solidarity, good bargains, or just a solid laugh. Here’s who I am loving these days:

MirandainCLT— Admittedly, I consider Miranda a friend but I actually followed her before I knew her! She is a Charlotte local so I love seeing what she’s up to as a way to find out what’s going on around town. More importantly, I love her take on parenting–honest, real and fun.


Emily.Fee— Emily is a recent follow for me and I am loving her feed! She is also a Charlotte local and I find myself cracking up at her daily commentary. Her family is also ridiculously good looking.

Things.I.Bought.And.Liked — It’s my missing in life to tell everyone to follow this account. I think most people already are–but just in case you’re not: DO IT. She finds the coolest things and I am ashamed to admit how many of my recent Amazon buys are a direct result of her Instastories.

Maketodayahollyday — A Raleigh influencer! Holly has the sweetest 8 month old little boy and a feed that is just positive and bright. I love her style and her “Raleigh” highlight bubble on Instastories has me making a list of places to hit when I am in town visiting the PlatinumSitters girls!

K8_smallthings — Kate is also from Raleigh and has. the. best. hair. I just watch her stories in an attempt that my hair will look that good by osmosis? I don’t know. She also finds the best fashion finds for a stylish mom–you know, a cute dress that I can actually pick my baby up in? #hereforit

CBChatman— Charlotte and husband, along with their four ADORABLE kiddos, are renovating a historical home near the Outerbanks. Its every bit as dreamy as you’d imagine. What I love about her feed is that its beautiful but she also shares the real stuff. A lovely balance that I look forward to seeing!