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Last night we got 2 1/2 feet of snow here in Western New York. Needless to say, schools are closed and the landscape of my carefully scheduled day has drastically changed. It’s not even a fun kind of sledding snow day — it’s only 3 degrees outside so I can’t sent the kids out to play.

What to do? First things first, get the kids distracted by a dvd long enough to get on the telephone and cancel all my appointments for today. That’s done in the nick of time. The television has started to bore the kids already and their attention is drifting towards me. “I’m boorreed. What can we do?”

Any chance of me doing work at home has disappeared. As soon as I open my laptop, my chatty 5-year-old daughter comes over to ask “What are you doing Mommy. Can I help you?” I’ve been through this before. There is no computer work getting done today, at least not while the kids are still awake.

Turn to my “with kids” context from my implementation of David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD).

My with kids GTD context consist of items that I CAN do when they’re around. They like to help me with these projects. I have the routine @next actions, like laundry and dinner, and I have someday/maybe items, which are projects that are worth doing, but not urgent.

Today’s productive yet time-killing with kids item was Tear Down the Kitchen Wallpaper. This project was something we were told to tackle in the next few weeks anyway, as we are getting our house ready to put on the market. Apparently new buyers hate wallpaper.

Kids love to destroy things, so this one fit right in. In fact, my daughter started her love of tearing down wallpaper in the crib, when she used to pick at the border in her room.

I had the tools, and we had the time today. It wasn’t how I had intended to spend my day, but the kids dove right in, and the three of us finished this task in 5 hours.

It’s not always a food allergy, although that is one of the many possible causes. Babycenter has a good article on Stomach Aches in Children.

The reasons include (but more can be possible so you should always consult your child’s pediatrician):

1. Stomach flu –fairly common one this time of year
2. Milk intolerance — either to lactose or the proteins in the milk
3. Changes in diet (This was the cause of recent stomach-aches in our 5 year old and 7 year old kids — see my post about our family trying the Eat to Live diet)
4. Upper respiratory illness –this one is surprising as you wouldn’t think the two would be related
5. Intestinal blockage –causes abdominal pain and vomiting — go to the emergency room immediately if this is the case
6. Lead poisoning
7. Gas — often caused by kids drinking too much juice

Read the remainder of the article at BabyCenter.

We have been battling stomach pains in our 7 year old son, caused by chronic constipation, or encopresis. It started 2 years ago when a friend told him there were snakes in the toilet. That scared him to death so he didn’t sit on the toilet for a week, and thus became constipated. Then a pattern began and over time he started losing the sensation that he had to go. He sees a gastrointestinal specialist who advocates lots of fiber.

My son is very good about eating salads, fruits and vegetables, but it is very difficult for anyone to get the recommended daily amount of fiber. One of my parenting hacks for getting more fiber into him is mixing Fibercon into mashed potatoes, gravy, stews, and soups. Not a lot — because that also causes stomach pain until your body gets accustomed to it. I mix about 3 teaspoons into a family sized serving, and we all benefit from the small extra bit of fiber. It is tasteless, odorloss and colorless and dissolves very easily. No one notices!