Real-life reviews from parents.
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Peanut butter. By itself, on a sandwich, with sliced fruits - it’s a delicious work horse in the protein department!

Yogurt. My little kids are picky about what they’ll eat at school for lunch, and won’t eat most foods with protein, leaving them hungry. Thankfully, I recently realized they'll eat yogurt, which has helped a lot.

Hard boiled eggs. We will hard boil maybe 6-8 on Sunday for my teen to eat throughout the week. Stinks up the fridge, but worth it! (And actually, when I store them in a container with a lid it’s not so bad.)

Deli turkey is a good protein food that we usually have in the fridge. My kids will just roll up a piece and eat it for a snack.

Make a Halloween playlist (or find a ready-made one), and listen to it throughout October. We have a few streets around us that really go all out with Halloween decorations, and we like to listen to a playlist in the car while we drive around and check them out.

Find a local pumpkin patch or corn maze to explore as a family. Many really go all out with fun Halloween activities for kids.

Hide candy or little Halloween trinkets inside Easter eggs for a Halloween egg hunt.

There are so many great Halloween movies for kids, you can easily pick a new one each week for a whole month of spooky family movie nights. Lean into the theme by mixing some candy into your popcorn.

Many amusement parks host Halloween events with haunted houses and other festivities. This can be a fun thing for teens to do together.

Teens can do an escape room for Halloween. Many have spooky themes that are perfect for the holiday.

A murder mystery dinner is a fun thing for teens to do for Halloween with friends. You can use a kit that sets it all up for you, and everyone can dress in costume that matches the time period or setting of the game.

Read scary books or spooky mysteries in the month of October to get in the Halloween spirit. My teen is reading a few Neil Gaiman books this year.

If there are six apples and you take away four, how many apples do you have? Four.

The more you take away from me, the bigger I get. What am I? A hole.

What starts with E, ends with E, and has only 1 letter in it? Envelope.

Michael’s father has three sons. Two are named Snap and Crackle. What’s the third son called? Michael

I bought peepee teepees and used one once. Receiving blankets. Used maybe once or twice. Baby nail file! As much as I have to admit it...just get clippers and suck up the fear of cutting their nails. The files don’t work very well.

Blankets, quilts. Used swaddling blankets only.

Pee guards. I didn’t use these with my first boy but decided to give them a try with my second. Only used it the one time!! It totally got in the way when trying to change him and I needed to take it off to wipe him anyway. Better to just move as quickly as possible, and use the diaper itself as a guard if necessary, to avoid the pee in the face!

Multiple baby bath towels - the ones with the irresistibly cute animal face hoodies. They were bulky to wash and awkward to fold. Plus, my tots grew up and out of them so fast. They wore more like capes than towels.

Consistency is a key factor !

Give yourself plenty of time for the routine! I think starting an hour before we actually want the kids to be asleep has worked best for our family.

Involve them however you can, so they have some choice in the process. For us, it is often picking the story we read, or the number of books we read (within reason), as well as which kid goes first to brush teeth or take their bath.

How to do laundry!

How to grocery shop and make simple meals with the stove and oven - eggs, pancakes, sandwiches, pizza, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, cutting/peeling fruits and vegetables

How to change a tire and jump start a car.

How to schedule a doctor’s appointment.

Rosie the Riveter with jeans, blue button up shirt with sleeves rolled up, red bandana around the head, red lipstick.

Wednesday Addams. Wear a black dress/skirt with a white collared shirt. If you can, put on a black long sleeve shirt over the collared shirt, and add white knee socks, black shoes, dark makeup, and braid your hair for the finishing touch!

Scarecrow is an easy diy costume. Jeans, button down plaid shirt, floppy hat. Use makeup or facepaint for a brown nose and red circles on cheeks.

My husband dressed up as a picnic table one year at last minute, to match our son's ant costume. He cut out a big rectangle from a cardboard box, and hot glued some of the kids' toy food onto it, including a tablecloth and toy dishes. Then he hung it around his neck using some yarn, and voila! A picnic table. It was done in less than 30 minutes, and he got so many compliments!

What did the shark say when it ate the clown fish? Tastes funny.

Why does a duck have feathers? To cover his butt quack

What did the triangle say to the circle? You're pointless.

Why should you never give Elsa a balloon? Because she’ll Let it Go.