Mommy Fleyot

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First Post!

This is the post excerpt.

Hi guys, I’m Roni and I am going to share some things with you. I have a lot of great ideas and subjects that I know readers will enjoy—but before I get to that, you probably want to know who I am. That’s not such an easy answer.

I am a wife to my husband Ramses, mother of three amazing kids, daughter to some amazing parents, sister to my best friend, friend to anyone who needs me, and nanny to some of the cutest little ones around! Now I can add the title of mommy blogger to that list! I am a lot of things, but I am not weak and I am not fake. Over time you will realize that I am even more things that I reveal to be. Most of all, I hope to be a voice. A voice that shouts the things that we are often thinking but afraid to say. Things we are unsure of, but need to bring up. Things that are new and different that we are scared of, ashamed of, or embarrassed of. I want to break the silence and bring these issues to light in the mommy and family world.

Please, don’t be shy! Say what you are thinking, we didn’t make history for being polite. I hope you enjoy my blog and share your favorite articles with your friends. Tell me in the comments if you have a subject you want me to blog about. Thank you for reading!

When your daughter screams at you…

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Don’t freak out. She just challenged you. She screamed in protest. She said it’s not fair. You can do one of two things. You can either reassure her that you love her more than oxygen…..or you can reality check her in the face with a hockey puck of truth..

Continue reading “When your daughter screams at you…”

Toddlers don’t have to be your enemy…

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Once upon a time, I had 2 babies. Ricky and Lucy are a mere 12.5 months apart in age and I almost didn’t survive the first few years (and I am still barely hanging on some days!) People like to give you parenting advice to the tune of “Get ready for the terrible twos!” or “You think two is bad, three-year-olds are worse!” and so on. We get it. It’s all really, really bad if you let it be. Some parents feel defeated with their children and just give up on trying to do anything or go anywhere.

I would describe my children in many ways: smart, creative, adventurous, and most definitely difficult. All children have different personalities and can be motivated by different things. However, there is one universal language that speaks to nearly all toddlers. GET THEM PUMPED UP!. If you get a 3 year old pumped up about something, they will be so much easier to deal with. It doesn’t matter what the task is: clean up, lunch, nap time, going to the store, checking the mail–whatever! If they see that you are pumped up and believe you are being genuine- they can feel it in their souls!

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Another great way to encourage a group of little ones, or even just one, is to offer an incentive. I used to shamelessly make my kids race to pick up toys and they believed in their hearts that one of them would reign supreme for picking up faster. It was always a tie. PLUS: their prize was usually the snack I was going to give them anyway. Stop just giving things to your kids for free, make them earn their snack. Heck, give them a sticker. Give them a freaking band-aid. Toddlers are the easiest people on earth to please. If nap time is a struggle, plan a fun activity for when they wake up. Or you can try the old swicheroo…

This trick is a favorite of mine when it comes to making nap time easier. If a child asks to watch TV during nap time, lay them down in bed. Say to them, “It’s time to lay down and rest, but it is NOT nap time, don’t take a nap, ok? We are just resting.” Then when they ask for a show say, “Yes, I will turn your show on–oh, one second I have to go (make something up, maybe go to the bathroom) I’ll be right back…” and shut the door and remain quiet. They will fall asleep waiting for you to come back (almost) every time. By changing the subject and creating a distraction you are avoiding a fight. That is ALWAYS a good thing when you are exhausted and nap time is your only break of the day!

Now- of course these things won’t work for all children and I’m not a psychologist but I think I am pretty good at getting kids pumped up to do what they are supposed to do. If you are having a specific issue with your kiddo and want some feedback, leave a comment or message me on Facebook. If you liked this post, share it with your friends and follow my blog!

I’m never boiling potatoes again!

..or peeling them for that matter! There are two things I cannot stand to do in the kitchen (besides dishes)…and that is peeling potatoes and peeling eggs. For some reason, when I do tedious hand work I always get horrible cramps in my hands. I usually use this as an excuse to make my husband peel potatoes. I also have been notorious for using frozen and even instant potatoes! (I know, I know. My mother raised me better.) Well today I had a revelation.

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I threw some yellow potatoes in my pressure cooker and steamed them for 15 minutes. The end result is seriously a game changer.

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They were completely cooked, soft and easy to cut. The peel came right off! Can you imagine the possibilities?! I can use this when I want to make potato salad, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, twice baked potatoes, hash browns, casseroles, potato cakes– the possibilities are endless! I can make them softer or firmer depending on the dish by adjusting the cook time as well. Why have I never thought of this? I also started steaming my “boiled” eggs in the pressure cooker and they have never been easier to peel! But today, these potatoes were turned into hash browns. My baby girl Sailor loves to eat potatoes, now I can make them without the extra headache!

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Follow my blog for more posts. Comment here or on Facebook if you have any suggestions! Share this post with your friends!

How to make your kids stop fighting…

Kill them. This is the quickest and most effective method for making your kids stop fighting. Just prop up their dead bodies to look like they are playing nicely in their room–maybe a nice board game. (Just kidding, this option was suggested by my 8 year old, Lucy)

Chores! This is my favorite go to punishment to get quick results. Here’s how I execute this method. First, I hear the kids fighting…I wait to see if they will settle it by themselves. Usually, Ricky (9) will quietly do something to get under Lucy’s skin. Then Lucy SCREAMS. When I hear that scream, I announce that chore time has commenced. For every protest, rude remark, and back talk I add another chore. I’m like DJ Kahled:
Separate them. Make them get far, far away from one another until they are begging you to let them play together again. Distance makes the heart grow fonder.
Trick them into loving each other. Warning: THIS METHOD MAY CAUSE EMOTIONAL TRAUMA, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. If you really want to make your kids realize how much they love each other, convince each child that the other one is dying. After you get them all worked up, pull the rug out from under them. Then- rub it in their face that they were actually sad and they do, in fact, love each other. (side note: if your child shows no emotion regarding the imminent demise of their sibling, they may be riddled with demons–in which case you should call an exorcist. )
Make them hold hands ( or some other kind of awkward closeness like a “get along shirt”) This probably works better on little ones who are not old enough to do chores.
Seriously, make them do chores. By the time they finally stop arguing with you and have racked up a whole list of chores, your house will be clean– PLUS: you get to watch whatever you want in the living room because they are busy doing chores!

If your children are old enough to work, but still young enough to be scared of you, take ’em for all they’ve got! One day it won’t be so easy!

Why am I just now realizing that….

blog pic2.png …YOU CAN USE LUNCH MEAT FOR MORE THAN JUST SANDWICHES!

Call me young, call me dumb– but there are a lot of things I am just now realizing in my late 20s. One of those things, for me, is that I am using a lot of my food wrong! I have been throwing out food that I thought I would never be able to use up before the expires for years!! (I just recently discovered you can use up the rest of your sour cream in box mac and cheese– skip the butter and save the milk for cereal!)

Today I was going through my freezer and throwing stuff out when I came across some Boar’s head buffalo chicken from the grocery store deli. It was sliced pretty thick, so I decided to warm it up in a skillet and see if I could figure out a dish to make with it. I used some pasta, cream of chicken soup, and a can of peas to create what turned out to be a pretty legit lunch. PLUS: there are plenty of left overs to feed my husband for a day or two!

After the wild success of that dish I started thinking of what I can do with a pack of ham. I have never tasted or prepared ham salad before but for some reason it came to mind. Ham salad seems like a weird food to me. It reminds me of movies I would watch as a kid where they would show a montage of “party foods” that all just looked like strange colorful blobs of unfamiliarity, like Jell-O molds and macaroni salads.

Well, I now realize that ham salad isn’t “old people food” it is actually “smart people food” because it uses up leftovers that you would otherwise throw out. I am fortunate enough to have one of those husbands that will eat almost ANYTHING I cook and serve him! *praise the lord* So I don’t have to worry about wasting food. I HATE WASTING FOOD!

Here’s what I put in this dish: blog-pics

I am sure it could easily have many, many variations or be turned into a yummy casserole by cooking the noodles to “al dente” and finishing it off in the oven! I will probably top this with some finely chopped red onion for my husband. This tamer version was mine and the kids lunch today! Next up, HAM SALAD! If you have any other ideas or know what I can do with a couple pounds of deli turkey, let me know in the comments!