Positive Parenting |

March 14, 2011

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How Can You Use Thank You Cards To Make Creative Memories?

Let me tell you a little story . . .

You’re a mother of triplets, and you are so excited about your boys turning three. You have their birthday party, and your children get all these wonderful gifts.

Then all of a sudden you realize, “Oh my goodness, I’m going to have to send out three times twenty thank-you cards!” That’s sixty!

You begin to panic, thinking, “Oh man, this is going to be a lot of work!”

Well, I have a solution for you.

A friend of mine created a way to make unique thank you cards.  And I took her idea and added my own customization.

creative memories


Steps to use to create your own unique thank you cards.

I created four cards.  The first said, “Thank you” and the second said, “Love.”  The third and fourth cards had the girls’ names on them.

Once the girls were old enough, around about three years of age, they held the signs in order.  I took a picture of all four of them holding the signs.

creative memories

Each year we did a different pose but used the same cards over again.   Except for the first year, I put them in birth order every time so I could get a better idea of how they were growing from year to year.

creative memories

So, how can you use thank you cards to make creative memories?

  • First it creates a personal thank-you card for people who sent or gave your children gifts for their birthday, or for Christmas, or any time that you wanted to send a thank-you card.
  • Second, it creates these wonderful creative memories for my family. I can look back each year, as each girl holds the same sign.  It’s obvious how much they’ve grown . . .how much they’ve changed.
  • Third, the folks I send the thank-you cards to are so grateful because they also get to watch the girls grow and change over the years.  Everyone has complimented me on my unique way to say thank you and give them a memory at the same time.


So if you’re sitting there wondering, “How am I going to get all of these thank-you cards done for my children?” then consider this method.

creative memories


If you’d like other helpful tips and tricks I used with my quadruplets, and from other women that taught me, then please opt into my newsletter and receive a Free Report.

creative memories

Sign up for your free report, “Top 5 Tips To Prepare for Twins, Triplets, Or More . . .”  at this link:

http://www.tipsformomsofmultiples.com/FreeReport

To Your Abundant Life with Multiples,

Kimberly O’Bannon
Ambassador of Positive Parenting, www.howtoliveonpurpose.com
Founder, TipsForMomsOfMultiples.com
 AKA MultiMommy

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How Can You Use Thank You Cards To Make Creative Memories?

Positive Parenting |

February 22, 2011

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How Do You Tell Identical Triplets Apart?

So, you have been told you are going to have identical triplets.

You think, “Is this common?”

Well, no.  Only about 1 in 1 million triplet births are identical.

But can it happen?

Yes . . .

Identical Triplets
Along with realizing you are expecting identical triplets, comes many questions.

One BIG question . . .“How do I tell them apart?”

Don’t panic!

One answer is color coding.



Color Coding Multiples



Well, in my case, I did not have identical triplets.

I had quadruplet girls, which are two sets of twin sisters . . .one identical, and one fraternal.

And to be perfectly honest with you, when the girls first came home from the hospital, I was afraid to take the name tags off because I could not tell them apart! Especially the identical ones.

All four quadruplets were the same size with the same coloring.  So, basically they were exactly alike!

Color coding my babies helped me feel more confident about taking their hospital name tags off . . .

Yes, all four of them!

My first one was blue, my second yellow, my third, pink, and the last one was purple or green.

Why purple or green?  Well, because it was a challenge finding all green things for girls!

I bought baby onesies and pj footies  in these colors. Every size baby bottle and mixing pitcher in these four colors.  Because each baby had a different formula I needed the color-coded mixing pitchers.

There were color-coded blankets, and shoes and stuffed animals.

Everything in the house was blue, pink, yellow, and green.

Now you might be thinking I went a wee bit far in my color coding, but it served several purposes.

1. It helped me quickly identify the identical twins, Natalie and Nicole.  I always kept them in their individual colors until they were at least six months old.

2. It was easy to instruct the volunteers. Now this is important! When I had volunteers over to help me with the feedings,  it was much easier to say, “Okay, blue bottle, blue formula, go get the blue baby with the blue blankie.”

Because the last thing you want is to finally have a volunteer to help, but you spend the whole time explaining which clothes, bottles and babies go together.

Or worse, mix up the identical twins!

3. It helps immensely having the identical twins in different colors come photo time! Now I can look back and know which twin is which by her colors.

Even now I truly cannot tell Natalie and Nicole apart in their infant photos except for the color coding.

With time, I learned to tell my girls apart.  And slowly felt a little more confident taking off their sleepers and without color coding them.

I hope this tip helps you too.

Looking for more tips for your newborn (or soon-to-be-born) multiple babies?

Sign up for your free report, “Top 5 Tips To Prepare for Twins, Triplets, Or More . . .”  at this link:

http://tipsformomsofmultiples.com/FreeReport

To Your Abundant Life with Multiples,

Kimberly O’Bannon

AKA: MultiMommy

Tips for Moms of Multiples

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How Do You Tell Identical Triplets Apart?

Positive Parenting |

February 15, 2011

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How Do You Reward Your Children By Using Positive Parenting?

So what do you do when you have two or more children all born at the same time, and you want to reward them for positive behavior?

How do you keep track of each child and their good/bad behavior?

You want to use positive parenting techniques not negative consequences in your discipline style . . .

Yet you don’t know how.

Well my husband and I had the same problem.

Until one day we created a system we call The Point System.

And it makes our quadruplets feel special.

We started this when the kids were around four-years-old.  It was when we noticed they started being able to help around the house, follow directions and do chores.

positive parenting
The Point Systems

How The Point System works for us:

  1. Use a whiteboard.
  2. List different categories such as vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, cleaning up their rooms, putting their backpack away.
  3. Add a special category called Discretionary. This category is like extra credit is in school.  They get extra points here when they show kindness without being told, and just whenever they do something extra nice.
  4. List across the top each child’s name in their special color.
  5. Consider using a different color marker for each child.  This way you can see at a glance how they’re doing.  Each child gets immediate feedback when we look at the board visually.
  6. Award a star or a point for each time that they do their chores. In our system each point is worth $0.10.
  7. Add up points every two weeks and pay the children that amount of money from the points.
  8. Subtract points for misbehavior.  You will quickly see that in as little as 2 weeks the kids get upset when their points are so much less then the other sisters. This quickly keeps the kids motivated to behave!
  9. Have fun with it!  Customize it to suit your own family!


So using The Point System or something similar is an easy way to use a positive parenting technique in rewarding your child for good behavior.

It is also a fun and positive way to discipline your child.

Looking for a way to inspire yourself or your children?

Wondering how to show people you love and care that they’re special?

Chief Robert TallTree and Terri Lynn TallTree have created a special program for inspiring yourself and your children. It’s called The 21-Day “I AM a Gift to the World!” Challenge.

It’s free, fun, and there are some great gifts.

You can easily adapt it to show your kids they’re special.  Or if they’re old enough, you can take the challenge with them.

Check it out now — you might inspire yourself . . .or the children you love!

To Your Abundant Life with Multiples,

Kimberly
AKA  MultiMommy

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How Do You Reward Your Children By Using Positive Parenting?

Positive Parenting |

January 24, 2011

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How Can The Morning Blessing Make Creative Memories?

You know how sometimes when you are making creative memories you do it on purpose? Like when planning a party, vacation or special event.

Other times they seem to happen by accident . . .

Take for instance what I call “The Morning Blessing.”

I remember a typical morning with my then three-year-old quadruplet girls.  It was so crazy and frustrating.

One wouldn’t want to wear a shirt, while two others were fighting over the same shirt.

Thinking they were settled, only to discover one girl running down the hall, while another climbing on the furniture!

There was crying and yelling and hitting. It’s an understatement to say it was such an unpleasant way to start the day with a headache before 8am!

Sadly it seemed as though this was occurring daily.

You may be having similar problems. Frustrating isn’t it?

With multiples you have your hands full. And if you’re like most moms of multiple when you do get a moment’s peace . . .it’s more often spent collecting your thoughts not sorting through how to solve the problem.

Wouldn’t starting each day on a positive note really help?

Only problem: How?

Well, sometimes you find inspiration in the most interesting places — and when you least expect it.

In an inspirational book I found, well –- inspiration!

The book suggested speaking a blessing over your children.

So, one morning instead of rushing around I started by giving each one a Blessing.  It wasn’t planned; it just came from my heart.

How does a morning blessing create happy memories?

Well, by . . .
• Showing each one love. In The Blessing I ask for protection over them.

• Starting each day on a calm, positive note.

• Giving them a sense of being unique and important individuals not just because they’re multiples.

Creative Memories




I call it “The Morning Blessing.”

(Child’s name) Good morning, Good morning, How are you today?
(Child’s name), May God Bless you and Keep you, throughout the day and keep you healthy and safe
(Child’s name) I love you, I love you, I love you.
(Child’s name), then I blow her kisses.







And you know what? It works!

Before The Blessing every morning each girl would fight getting ready for the day.

It was a constant struggle figuring out what to do just to get dressed!

Within a couple of weeks after starting The Morning Blessing they became a lot calmer in the morning.

When I would forget to do The Morning Blessing, some of my girls would say,

“Please, Mommy, give me my Blessing, give me my Blessing.”

That’s when I knew it was a really good idea!

So now none of them leave for the day without having Mommy give them their Blessing!

It doesn’t take very long, but it lasts a whole day in the child’s eyes.

So, if you have multiple children — whether they’re born at the same time or just have a lot of children — it’s something you can easily consider doing in the morning.

Or you could create your own Blessing or song in the morning.

Now another reason this works is because they’re quadruplets, they don’t have many chances to be individuals.

People often look at them as a group.

I want each of my girls to know that they are a Gift to the World, not just a group of four.

They are special in their own right!

And you know what? Recently I discovered another way to make them feel special . . .

It is a unique challenge, called “I AM a Gift To The World” 21 Day Challenge
It is F R E E!! And there are Great Prizes to win!


To Your Abundant Life Filled with Multiples,
Kim
Aka: MultiMommy


P.S. If you would like to receive other tips and tricks that you can use, whether you have one child, twins, triplets or more, then please subscribe to my newsletter.

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How Can The Morning Blessing Make Creative Memories?