Pinteresting Perspective…

Perspective is “A mental view or outlook” as defined by www.freedictionary.com. I like this simple definition. I have read so many blog posts and Facebook rants about Pinterest over the past few months that as I read the last one I thought someone has to take a different stance on this; share a different perspective.

Here is what the thing actually is minus perspective:

Pinterest is an online collection of pin boards to store ideas.

So many women have ranted and complained that it is just another tool by society to show off or fuel mom-petiton (A Glennon Melton term – see here for explanation). I LOVE Pinterest! Now I do have 4 children, work full-time, and try to write a blog – so it is possible that I am just completely off my rocker so you can take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I am going to give my opinion anyway.

For one it is a great way for me to find recipes fast. I have made a ton of Pinterest found recipes (there is list below) and 90% have been fantastic. I am no cook and I am grateful to the women that have pinned these recipes – I can follow a recipe. I have made quick easy dinners for my family that actually tasted good. Thanks Pinterest!

Also, I am a parent that is always open to suggestions on how to do something better. I know I do NOT by any means have all the answers and I make a bazillion mistakes, but that is what we have each other for right?! To help each other find answers and ideas that may help us do things a little bit better or in a new way that achieves better results. Pinterest offers all kinds of ideas for behavior, activities, children’s books, and parenting tips and articles all in one place. I have found so many great ideas. These two are my favorites:

1. The Behavior Chart is an inspiration from this pin. (Or this blog)

I created the above version because I loved the chart I found on Pinterest, but I just thought it needed an up and a down. I like positive reinforcement myself, but I like that negative actions have a negative consequence. So I created the above version of the chart.

For us, it is fantastic. I love if there is whining or fighting I just say, “Go move your clip down” or if there is helpfulness and extra kindness, etc. I can simply say “Thank you. Go move your pin up.” It really is a wonderful tool and I am so grateful to the mom and blogger that shared this. Plus I am a former teacher who still loves to color and create and this was a fun 15-20 minute activity for me to make. The kids definitely have their spot that they strive to earn, but they really do strive to get to the top and there have been a few times that one of my children has landed on the very, very bottom and that has served its purpose as well.

2. The What to do chart (For lack of a better name). The below was inspired by this pin. (Or this site).

So I made one for each of my older two kids, and the truth is for me as a work from home mama this kept me on track all summer. Each day we had something to do – no getting bored in our house. Now, there were days that the chart went by the wayside and wasn’t used at all because the kids kept busy on their own, but this gave them other things to do besides TV and Video Games. Below are pictures from our first make something Monday of the Summer but we made Lego sculptures, cookies, paintings, huge cardboard box houses, salsa, light catchers, necklaces, bracelets, and books.

We had swim days, sprinkler days, park days, beach days, local amusement park days, and movie theater days. We also learned about the Titanic, Big Foot, various countries and food, made lists and lists of multi-syllable rhyming words, learned new words, wrote stories, drew pictures, grew crystals, sat in our pjs all day and had some fun play dates. We definitely did not have a boring summer and it was great to have something visual to keep us all on track. The kids loved Make Something Monday, Totally Tubular Tuesday, and Thinking Thursday.

Another great idea from Pinterest was our chore chart (shown below). We started this awhile back and the visual is so helpful to the kids. They never ask what their chores are and often do them without being reminded. I know seriously, cool right?! DMack even saved up enough money to buy her own Barbie house. Yes, this past year my daughter saved enough to buy a Barbie house – we helped a little, we were so impressed that she saved every penny for months and months and months.

Just a few other great things I have found that are kid related are:

Kid habits (I am so making this for our house).

We use this letter template at Christmas and I think it is AWESOME!

I have made – I’m bored sticks, found new books, found great teacher gift ideas, and even found cool new lunch ideas on Pinterest. Thank you my dear, dear Pinterest.

So all in all, I love Pinterest. It is just an idea board, created with the intent to be an online idea board. I think it is a great place to share ideas and I am very thankful to the people who come up with the ideas and share them and for the people who I know that pin them and help me find them. So I don’t think it fuels mom-petition or creates more envy or guilt – we do that to ourselves. Being a mom is hard (to put it mildly) and not without guilt or comparison – we are human after all. But the perspective we chose to take and hold onto…that truly belongs to us alone.

Happy pinning-

Me

Some of my favorite recipes from Pinterest.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with Sea Salt – yes of course I had to start with cookies.

[The best] Pancakes [You will ever have!!] – love these, easy and made from scratch.

Bacon wrapped chicken – quick and delicious.

Cucumbers with Chile and Lime – we love this snack and vary it with different spice from time to time

Baked Avocado – I loved these and add our leftover taco meat as well to the mix.

Lemon Garlic Cauliflower – I liked this and my husband even ate a little

Meatloaf muffins – I make with ground turkey

Honey Sesame Chicken – I love Six Sister’s – they have a ton of quick, easy, dinners

Roasted Chicken with potatoes, lemon and asparagus – quick meal all in one pan!

Crispy smashed potatoes – Crispy Smashed Potatoes Boil potatoes in water until completely cooked through (can poke all the way in easily). Let cool for 10 min. Smash the potatoes w/ a cup, coat with olive oil and spices. Bake for another 15 min. on top rack, then 30 min. in middle rack. (The link to the recipe is broken, but I am sharing it any way because I love potatoes and these were good.)