Pillows Kids Can Help Make

It’s always fun to do crafts with kids, you get to spend time with them, get to know them, and best of all laugh with them. The problem is, crafts are usually easy to rip or break because they’re mostly for looking and not touching. If you’re looking for something you can do with your kids that’s easy to do, and something they’ll get a lot of use out of, pillows are an excellent choice.

To be quite honest, I’m not the artsy, crafty kinda mom…as much as I’d love to be…I’m just not. Sometimes I’m too busy and sometimes I just don’t feel like it. But making pillows is just so much fun. And the only reason I even slightly know how to do it is because back in the 90’s when I was in Middle School, they made us take a much needed class called “Home Economics” where children were actually taught to sew and cook and manage finances. I don’t know where the hell that class is these days…but anyway…

You don’t need much to make pillows. Just 3 items…

1. Mini Sewing Machine

Varmax Mini Sewing Machine with Extension Table

I decided to buy the Varmax on Amazon because it was the cheapest one I saw lol. I was expecting to be disappointed and to struggle with it because it was so cheap, but it pleasantly surprised me. It gave me no issues and it was so easy to use. I love it!

 

 

2. Poly-Fil

Fairfield the Original Poly-Fil Premium Box, 20 lb, White

In case you don’t know what Poly-fil is, it’s pretty much the cotton to stuff the pillow. I bought the 20 lb box because I was making pillows for 6 of my kids. I highly recommend this box even if you’re only making 1 or 2 pillows just because it’s THE BEST DEAL on poly-fil you’re gonna find, and it gives you more than enough to make more pillows for your sofas, family members, etc.

 

If you don’t plan to do this more than once or you just don’t have a need for a 20 lb box, the 32 oz bag should work just fine. But I don’t recommend any size smaller than that.

 

 

3. Fabric

Hygloss Products Fabric Squares, 18″ x 36″, 12 Piece

I bought my fabrics from Walmart because I let my kids choose their own fabric. But during that process I came to find that most Walmarts have discontinued their Fabrics Department. So if you don’t live near a Walmart that still sells fabric by the yard, Amazon is a good alternative.  I chose to do 36″ long pillows just to give the kids nice, big, comfy body pillows that are also decorative throw pillows for their beds.

That’s all you need!!

Oh and One More Thing…

NEX 60 Piece Sewing Thread Kit for Sewing Machine, Mixed Colors

Because the Varmax Sewing Machine comes with thread refills, you don’t have to buy thread. But the refills are all white. So if you’re OCD like me and you want the color of the thread to be consistent with the color of the fabric, I do recommend this 60 piece thread kit. I was so glad I got it and you can never have too much thread when you have kids and pets.

 

 

Here are 7 simple steps to make a pillow:

1. Cut the fabric into two squares or rectangles of equal size.

2. Place the fabric pieces together right-side-in.

3. Sew three of the edges together.

4. Sew the fourth edge together leaving an opening in the middle of that edge.

5. Turn the pillow right-side-out making sure to push the corners out further so they are nice and sharp.

6. Stuff the pillow. (This is the part kids enjoy the most. Let them take charge! Just make sure they stuff the four corners well and help them stuff the rest of the pillow as evenly as possible.)

7. Sew the opening shut.

And there you have it!

Here are the pillows the kids and I made together!

 

 

Co-Parenting with a Toxic Person

Although it is ideal to co-parent as friends, this is not always realistic. Functional co-parenting requires both parties to be willing to do the work necessary in order to accomplish a mutual goal. If one party is willing but the other is not, the willing party has some realities to deal with and some decisions to make. It is an unfortunate truth that some people are just toxic, uncooperative, spiteful, and entitled.

When custody is not split 50/50, in other words, when one parent has the children significantly more than the other, that parent should have the right to make special requests. Because the custodial parent has to constantly manage the children’s daily needs, activities, appointments, discipline, etc., that parent is entitled to setting certain boundaries and requesting certain accommodations from the other parent. For example, the custodial parent may ask to be informed of any plans (outings, gifts, etc) before the children are told. This is because the other parent is not around the children daily and is not always aware of which child has had privileges taken away or which child has already received a particular gift. Therefore, this request should be accommodated by the other parent. But when dealing with an uncooperative person, the children are being told about certain plans before you are. And now that they are excited and they’re hopes are up, it constantly makes you the bad guy to be the parent that’s always saying “no”.

It can be extremely frustrating when the toxic parent attempts to dictate what should or should not go on in the custodial parent’s home – meals served, extracurricular activities, clothing and shoes – without even providing regular child support or financial assistance needed to change what the toxic parent is complaining about.

When co-parenting with such a person, it is important to maintain your peace. DO NOT let the toxic parent disrupt your entire day with nonsense. Try to remember to stay calm and sometimes it’s best to refrain from responding. Especially if the toxic conversation is not in person. You are not required to answer every phone call. You are not obligated to answer every text message. Simply put: THEY ARE NOT THE BOSS OF YOU. They may try to make it seem as if their concern is for the children. But if that were the case, they would buy the food they want their children to have and drop it off or have it delivered, instead of pestering you to change your grocery list. They would pay for the extracurricular activities and provide the transportation for their children to get there instead of trying to make you feel like less than a parent when you are unable to do it. If their concern is the children, they’ll do for the children. You owe them no explanation as you provide for your children daily, and they only do so as it is convenient. That being said, as ideal as co-parenting as friends may be, with certain people it’s best to co-parent from a distance.

 

 

Here are some resources to help you co-parent with a toxic person

Co-Parenting with a Toxic Ex: What to Do When Your Ex-Spouse Tries to Turn the kids Against You

 

Co-Parenting with a Narcissist: A Guidebook for Targeted Parenting

 

Self-Centered Co-Parenting: Managing an Uncooperative Co-Parent

The Most Ideal Way to Co-Parent (It Can Be Done)

When you first separate or get a divorce things can be really tricky because emotions are very high, both parties are hurt, and no one is interested in what the other person has to say. It can be really hard to put feelings aside in order to do what’s necessary for the kids, which is being friends.

Now in some cases it’s best to cut ties and co-parent from a distance, but there are situations where it’s best for the children to put your hurt feeling down and become friends which was the case in my situation.

When my ex and I first separated it came as such a shock to my children because when we argued it was never in front of them and they could never hear it. So it wasn’t something they saw coming, it caught them completely off guard. And so in order to comfort them through that we promised them that even though we weren’t going to be married anymore, we were going to be best friends. It was a promise that we made in order to help their minds process what was happening.

So after making that promise…oh boy! did we come to realize how difficult that was. Because, like I said, we had hurt feelings because of everything that lead up to the separation. And on top of that, we had things that we did not agree on – custody, child support, who the kids would continue to socialize with, etc. – We still had so much to figure out.

It took a lot of work to get to the point of actually being friends. We had to start listening to each other’s wants and needs, we had to take each other’s opinions and wants and needs into consideration, and we had to learn to give in on certain issues, compromise on certain issues, and not budge on certain issues. In other words, we had to learn to pick our battles. This takes a whole lot of forgiving, self reflection, and consistency and we are in a much better place because of it.

The kids are so much happier as they witness our genuine friendship. They are honestly quite entertained and amused by the way we interact, and it just makes all the hard work worth it!

 

Here are some resources to help get you to the most ideal way of co-parenting

The Divorce Recovery Workbook: How to Heal From Anger, Hurt, and Resentment and Build the Life You Want

 

Healing After Divorce: 100 Practical Ideas for Kids

Mommy Blog Tag!

Hey Readers,

I thought this blog would be the perfect way for people to get to know me and my family. Hope you enjoy! 🙂

How We Named Our Kids

Naming children is one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. There are so many names to choose from and so many different spellings for each name. It’s very difficult to make a decision and stick to it. And because I hated my name