how YOU who are not called to the nursery can help with the nursery

there is one job that i never, ever, ever want. it's a division one football head coaching job. if you are doing well, then awesome, everyone loves you. but the second you slip up, look like you are failing, then everyone on every form of social media wants you gone. all of a sudden they forget all of the amazing things you did before that one moment of weakness. there are open letters that float around saying how you can do this and this better and why aren't you doing this. tweets and retweets about your terrible lack of character, etc. sometimes, often times, from an outsider perspective, we think we can do better than what the current person is doing. and unlike a head football coaching job where we can't call them up and share with them what we think they could be doing to be better, we can with other things.

enter the point of this post.

i've heard from a few people, "i wish my son was in your nursery class" or "i wish our nursery leaders were like you." we all wish for better things in different areas. i'm flattered, don't get me wrong, and would love to visit (with the nursery guru aka my mom) and teach in all the nurseries of the world, but there are some things that you, as parents of nursery party goers and auxiliary leaders, can do to help a nursery leader out! maybe you have tried to suggest a few things, and they didn't go well. but maybe, just maybe you are the answer to a desperate prayer that a tired, stressed out nursery leader has sent up to the heavens week after week. so...make friendly suggestions without overstepping (you know, like refer them to my blog or instagram ;), let the nursery leader know that he/she can ask you to help in the nursery when they are short-staffed, or even better, ask the bishop for a calling in nursery! oh wouldn't that just be the ideal!

and now...

here are a few ways that have helped us get what we need for the nursery:

UTILIZE OTHER AUXILIARIES
 -The Young Women Auxiliary: ask the YW president if there are any girls who are in need of personal progress projects (like a Good Works value project) that would like to take on a project for the nursery i.e. organizing toy/puzzle/book donations, putting together DIY motor skill activities. Maybe the YW could use a few mutual service mutual activities. If you are in another type of religious congregation that has a youth program, ask their leaders or the youth themselves if you can organize a service activity that will help the toddlers. Or if they need to take on a community service project!
        - The Relief Society Auxiliary: meet with the RS president and ask if they would like to                       organize an activity for enrichment night. Kindly tell her what you need and let them run with             it.
        - The Young Men Auxiliary/Scouting program: Find ways that the boys can fulfill scouting                requirements/service projects that can help with the nursery like cleaning all of the nursery                  toys, repairing broken toys, organizing donations, etc.
        - The Primary: Activity Days girls: Activity days girls love doing DIY projects, so why not                meet with the leader to ask them to help with the nursery?
     
       

[missionary monday] - toddler approved motor skills package

my sister, Marie, is on a mission in Vancouver, WA. if you see her, say hi, give her a hug. she'd love that, and she's a great hugger.

anyways, seeing that i'm blogging on the regular now, somewhat with a purpose, my mind never shuts off and i am always jotting down ideas. one of my ideas in the middle of a night when i desperately needed sleep was to see if my sister could use some of these things we had just found at the dollar store as teaching helps. mostly as a way to help small children keep quiet and occupied (and to feel engaged in something) during lessons.

last monday came around and she replied with, "Answer to my prayers. That would help SO MUCH. I was going to ask you for stuff like that in this week's email."

how validated do i feel right now??

we've always kind of functioned on the same wavelength with eight years in between us (i'm the oldest and she's the youngest) so this whole email correspondence was a little hilarious but mostly awesome.

here's the breakdown of the package:

Travel sized peg set - $1 -  found these at the dollar tree but you can find them at walmart or target or anywhere that will have travel sized games in the game/toy section. right now, these are all over the place because it's the holidays and they are great stocking stuffers. 

Homemade notebook - took some leftover scrapbook paper, cut computer paper to fit inside, then stapled it. i taped the sharp side of the staples on the back cause those snag and cut little hands. 

Ambulance puzzle - $1 - found this at the dollar store. i drew the numbers and the dotted lines because as cute as these puzzles are, they need a little guidance for toddlers.

Smiley stickers - $1 - dollar tree score as well. it gets pretty overcast up in the PNW so i wanted her to have sunshiney stickers. 

you can also insert lacing cards. those are fun and I need to pick some up.

make sure to put anything with little pieces in ziploc bags so they are ready to go when the package is opened.

total for this package is a little under $10 including postage!