AGP GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

Because parents deserve something for free. Ha! Did you like that tagline?! (P.S. you don't have to be a parent to enter.)

Get excited- it’s Avant Garde Parenting’s very first giveaway!!! Liz at Sweet Simplicity Designs is giving away

One Free Custom Photo Card Design PLUS 25 (5 x 7)

Free Prints (of the same design)

Have you seen this site? It’s amazing! Sweet Simplicity Design offers the cutest, most affordable custom and pre-designed cards for any occasion you can think of.

Need a birth announcement? Gotcha covered.

Updating the fam with an annual Holiday letter? She does those, too!

Planning a slammin’ birthday party and need a flashy way to let everyone know? Fear not.

Okay, I know you don't want to miss out on this awesome prize. Go. And tell your friends.



Contest Details:

1. The winner will receive one free custom photo card design plus 25 (5x7) free prints of the same design.

2. Your choice of one of the following photo card categories:

• Holiday card
• Birth announcement
• Birthday invite

3. The prize is for a custom design, but you may choose a pre-made design on the website if you would like.

4. The winner may order additional photo cards at the set design prices on Sweet Simplicity Designs' website if desired.

5. You have until NEXT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2010 at 11:59 pm to enter

6. The winner will be announced the next day and will have 72 hours to respond

Here’s how to enter:

• Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry (For example: One comment: ‘I liked you on Facebook!’ Another comment: ‘I follow your blog!’) and your email address or a way to contact you.

Mandatory entries:

1. Publicly follow my blog on Google. See all the little photos of my followers over there on the right? Scroll up a little. Right above them there is a button that says ‘follow.’ Click it. Ta-da! You are now following my blog!

2. Visit Sweet Simplicity Designs. Come back and leave me a comment telling me what you would have Liz create for you!

Extra entries:

1. Follow me on Twitter (1 entry). I’m @avantgparenting

2. Like Avant Garde Parenting on Facebook (1 entry)

3. Tweet this giveaway (1 entry per tweet; up to 5 tweets per day with 3 hours between tweets). Leave a link to your tweet each time. You can tweet something like this:

WIN a free custom photo card design + 25 free prints from Sweet Simplicity Design http://avantgardeparenting.com #giveaway

4. Like Sweet Simplicity Design on Facebook (1 entry)

5. Comment on another AGP post and leave a comment telling me which one (1 entry)

The Fine Print:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

Promotion is open to U.S. residents only (sorry, Canadian friends)18 years of age or older as of  (September 30, 2010).

Void where prohibited. All federal, state and local laws apply. All taxes are the sole responsibility of winners.

Judging: Avant Garde Parenting will assign each entry a number and choose a random winner using www.random.org, a random number generator. Avant Garde Parenting reserves the right to disqualify any entry that, in the sole opinion of the judge, refers, depicts, or in any way reflects negatively upon the sponsor, the host, the promotion, or any other person or entity.

Avant Garde Parenting assumes no responsibility for the actions of the sponsor. If a prize is not received, Avant Garde Parenting will make every effort to contact the sponsor on the winner’s behalf, but will not be held responsible for providing an identical or a different prize to the winner and will not be expected to compensate the winner in any way.

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I’m Sorry- Did you just LIE to me??

Does your young child lie? Does it appall you? You’re not alone. And I’ll tell you something that will shock you: it’s completely normal and may even indicate that you have a smarty pants on your hands! Some research suggests that if your child is showing these skills as early as two, he may be showing early signs of high intelligence!

Okay, I’m going to get researchy for a second. Lying emerges in children around age 3 and is often the first sign that children are developing a theory of mind. Theory of mind is the ability to simulate in your own mind what others are thinking. Think of it as ‘putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.’ Kids begin to learn this at a young age but they aren’t perfect at it, as you well know.

Take this example: You buy some new red nail polish. The nice, $9, OPI brand. Or China Glaze, whatever. It’s on the counter in your bathroom. When you go in there later, it’s all over the counter, down the cabinet, and running on the floor. You look at your daughter. It’s on her fingers, hands, and face.

“Sweetie, did you open mommy’s nail polish?” I know she did, obviously, because it’s all over her.

“No.” She was in the kitchen. She didn’t see me.

At this young age, kids can’t yet put together all the evidence: that even though mom didn’t see me get into the nail polish, she’ll know it was me because I’m covered in it.

What’s hard as a parent is realizing that our children aren’t lying to ‘be bad.’ They’re not trying to be malicious and untruthful- they are merely practicing this newfound skill. So while it’s frustrating and patience-trying, it’s completely normal for your child to test out his new ‘lying’ skills. And exhale- there’s no link between childhood lies and later big-time fibbing like cheating on taxes or cheating on spouses.

But we still want our kids to know the importance of honesty. So what can you, as a parent, do to help your child learn that lying isn’t okay? Here are a few ideas:

• Teach the difference between fantasy and reality. When sharing a book or watching a television show, talk to your child about why what he’s seeing isn’t real. In the same vein, recap actual experiences with your child (going to the zoo, the doctor, grandma’s)
• When your child lies, comment on the positive intent. Your child wasn’t intentionally trying to anger you. Instead of ‘Why would you get into my nail polish?! Do you have any idea how hard this is to clean up?!’ try, ‘I bet you really wanted pretty red nails like mommy, huh? You know you’re not allowed to paint your nails yourself (ß that part can be stern), so why don’t you let me help you?’
• Don’t set your child up to lie. For example, if you know your kiddo has not brushed her teeth as she’s hopping into bed, don’t ask knowingly ‘did you brush your teeth?’- she’s likely to tell you she has because she knows that’s what you want to hear. Instead, play dumb. Say, ‘Okay, let’s go brush your teeth!’ If she’s already done it, trust me, she’ll tell you!
• Praise the truth when your child does tell it. Even if it means your child has misbehaved, recognizing that your child has told you the truth will encourage him to do so again in the future.

Tell me about a time your child has lied. Were you furious? Did it make you laugh? 

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AGP got another award!! Can we go to to CiCi's now?

****SIDE NOTE****I have something VERY SPECIAL to announce this Thursday (and no, I'm not pregnant). Be sure to tune in this Thursday because you will NOT want to miss this!!!

AGP got another blog award! These just always make me sit a little higher in my seat, ya know? They make me feel so gosh-golly good like, ‘Someone is actually reading this?! And they like it?!” Ha! I just chortled a little.

The 'Versatile Blogger' award came from Kimberly over at The Stinker Pinkers. If you haven’t read her blog yet you should. Can I just say for a second how real she is? She has this great way of giving her opinion without being judgy and she opens topics up into great conversations via her comments. Sigh. I love this gal.

To accept the award I’m supposed to tell you 7 things about myself. Here goes.

1. I never forget a name.
2. I hate how high my voice is. But I guess it's better than having a really super low voice.
3. I can still beat you (and most kids) in a handstand contest.
4. I have four best friends and they all have bright red hair.
5. I haven’t had caffeine in almost 15 years.
6. My husband and I have the same first, middle, and last initials.
7. Speaking of my husband, here’s my happy place: one night a few years ago we were watching So You Think You Can Dance. He never really says anything about any of the dances but that night, for the first time, he saw a Doriana Sanchez Disco routine. He looked at me, nodding his head slowly and said (completely serious) “I’m really feelin’ this one.” To this day, when he hears the disco music coming from the tv, I see his head pop into the room: “Whatcha wachin’?” That’s my happy place.

So that’s me in a nutshell. But you know I have to tie it to parenting, right?! Here’s a fun idea to build your child’s self confidence and self-concept: make a ‘me’ book. It’s easy. Take several pages of printer paper and fold them in half while still stacked together. Then staple on the side you just folded so that you have a ‘book.’ Inside the book, help your child make each page something about him or her. For example, favorite color, favorite toy, name, hair color, eye color, etc. Your child can draw pictures inside or you can take and develop photos to include in the book. I guarantee this will be a book your child will want to read over and over!

Now, on to whom I’m passing the award on to. In order to accept the award you must:

1.    Thank the blogger who gave it to you (me) and link back to their site

2.    Tell 7 things about yourself

3.    Pass it on to other ‘versatile’ bloggers!

1. Holly at I Heart Bowheads – Don’t you just love that blog name?! Holly is a fellow DFW blogger who makes me smile, chuckle, and sometimes full out snort laugh.
2. Sue at Mommy’s Pen – I knew I loved this blog when I read that her preschooler goes to a Waldorf school (do you know what that is? If not, check out her blog. If so, check out her blog). Sue has great, to the point posts that make me think and smile.
3. Cristy at Is there a Doctor in the House?– Umm she has a cute baby. Need I say more? But really, this blog is just a good ‘life’ blog that truly is versatile. I love checking in everyday to see what new topic Cristy has written about. 

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