Teaching Children Responsibility through Pet Care

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I can't express enough how positive the experience of adopting a pet has been for our family! I was really nervous about adding another living thing to our lives but it has so much easier than I anticipated and adds immeasurable joy to my kids' everyday!

My boys have truly enjoyed the experience of having their first pet and I have loved walking through this special time with them! They are at perfect ages (6&10) to help out with pet care; in fact they love getting involved and taking on the extra responsibility. I'm partnering with  Purina® and PetSmart today to share a few ways to get your kids involved and teach responsibility by caring for a pet! I love that not only am I strengthening their bond with Finn but am also helping them mature by learning to serve and care for someone besides themselves!

Involve your Kids from the Beginning!

Our decision to get a cat was kind of spur of the moment but also something that had been pressing on my heart for about a year prior. The kids were over the moon when I announced that we would be spending the weekend looking for a cat and they were with me every step of the way!

If bringing home a pet is something you plan for in advance, you can get your kids involved by having them help research pet care online or by looking for books at the library. Even though we didn't plan far in advance for Finn, the boys were with me at the pet store to help choose what we needed (vs. what we wanted) to care for our new kitty! We also started talking about what they would be doing to help out and I made it clear that they would need to show responsibility from the start!

Play Time

This is one of the easiest ways to get your kids involved in pet care because hello, kids love to play and so do animals! I've taught the boys that sometimes when Finny starts biting or getting a little too rambunctious, he is telling us that he needs to play. They love tossing toys for him in the living room or even creating cat toys out of cardboard. Asher was making forts for Finn the other day in the bedroom and I love seeing our cat bring out their creative side!

Feeding

Feeding is another easy way to involve your children and teach them some responsibility! Asher, my 6 year old, especially loves feeding Finn. When he gets home from school, he always makes sure Finn's food and water bowls are filled! Finn gets especially excited about his morning meal because that's when we give him wet food and Roman loves helping with that!

We like mixing it up and offering Finn different foods and have recently tried the Purina® Beyond Natural and Purina® Beyond Simple Origins lines that we picked up at PetSmart! PetSmart has the widest variety of premium quality Purina products available at amazing prices. We love and trust the Purina brand (check out my last post with Purina here!) because they provide complete and balanced diets for pets!

Rome and Ash love our visits to PetSmart and we always seem to come home with a few extra things that we didn't come in for... During this trip, Roman tried to convince me that we should get a Chinchilla, ha! PetSmart allows pets in store and I really want to bring Finn on one of our trips to see how he does!

Click on the image above to shop the Purina Beyond Natural cat food for your kitties! We tried the Indoor Grain Free cat food in the flavor Salmon, Egg & Sweet Potato and as you can see,
it is Finn-approved!

The Dirty Work

Honestly, most of pet care is pretty fun and enjoyable in my opinion but of course there are a few aspects that take a little more encouragement when getting the kids involved! I am definitely dropping the ball a little in this area. I usually clean out the litter box myself because it's just so easy but this is an area that is perfect for teaching my boys responsibility! I also need to involve the boys a little more in making sure they brush Finn regularly because the cat hair situation is starting to get real around here!

Best of All, Cuddling!

I really feel like giving our kids more responsibility in pet care helps to strengthen the bonding process! Feeding, grooming and attention are all ways my cat feels love and giving my boys a nudge in those areas has helped them to connect!

The cuddles between my boys and Finn are the sweetest part of owning a pet. It's literally priceless to see how Finn will lay on his back and let Asher bury his face on his tummy because as Ash says, "it just feels so good!" Roman is not a great sleeper but now Finn likes to hop onto his bunk bed with him some nights and those are the nights that Roman always falls asleep the fastest! 

Well, I'm literally getting a little emotional because honestly having a friendly furry animal in the house is one of the best decisions I've made as a parent so far! I hope this post has helped spark a couple ideas for you if you are planning to get a pet or have just brought one home! 

I'd love to hear your stories of adding a pet to the family in the comments below! For more cute cat pictures, follow me on Instagram: @bygillianclaire

Check out your local PetSmart to try the Purina Beyond Natural and Beyond Simple Origins cat food for yourself! 

Other Kitty Posts:

Fall-ing in Love with our Kitten

We Got a Pet!

XOXO, Gillian

Happy Birthday to Roman: My TEN Year Old!

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Can you even believe this tiny baby is TEN today? My heart can barely take it. It's gone by in a blink but at the same time it seems like an entire lifetime ago that I was 21 years old meeting my precious purple baby at 3:01 am on a cold winter Cincinnati night.

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This boy, my Roman, made me a mother 10 years ago. I always, always wanted to be a mom and Roman made all those years of playing with Cabbage Patch babies come to life for me. Roman's baby years were a dream, we spent almost every moment together and he became my entire world. 

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Ten years later, and Roman is still a dream of a child. He's good natured, kind, loving, compassionate and sentimental. He's sarcastic as hell (thanks to his parents) and definitely has a fly off the handle temper. He is the most passionate child I've ever seen and spends hours and hours practicing his sports moves in the living room.

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This has been one of the hardest years of Roman's life because one of his best friends was tragically killed in a place crash in September. I've had to watch this sweet, innocent boy venture into those dark places of life that you hope your child will never have to know. It's been hard but he's pushing through; we're pushing through together. The morning we found out he had passed, before I knew, I sensed a deep pressing feeling that I needed to be more for Roman. I had no idea that we would later find out Benny had died but now I know that they were related. That's what I've tried to do since that day, be more for this boy. We've done more arts and crafts and we got a pet cat that we adore. I've spent nights talking and crying with Roman about death and life. 

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10 years of motherhood and I'm still figuring it all out. It's a lot harder now than it was in those easier and simpler, sweet baby days. If I could give any wisdom and mothering advice after doing it for ten years, it would be: 

Laugh with your kids and allow them to bring out the child in you. 

Have dance parties and let them jump on the beds. 

Don't ever hold too tightly to your "parenting type" because I guarantee your views will ebb and flow.

Most importantly, tell your kids you love them everyday. Tell them multiple times a day. You can't ever tell someone you love them too much.

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Happy TENTH birthday Roman! I love you, moon....

xoxo,

Gillian

Summer Portraits, Part 2.

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I finally edited this second set of photos that I took of the boys on a summer day in Somerset, Kentucky. 

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(See the first set: here!)

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I am so in love with these photos. This old wall, the random U hanging on a wire, my little boys.... these just scream childhood to me and fill my heart. I hope you enjoy them as well. :)

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xoxo,

Gillian

A Little Roman Update at 9 Years Old.

Sponsored Post: This post is sponsored by Fruit Shoot but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.     

     I feel like Roman hasn’t made many appearances lately on my blog. He is NINE years old now, can you believe it? When I started my blog, Roman was only 3 years old and I was pregnant with Asher. Now my boys are 5 and 9 and life looks much different for sure!

  
     I figured it's time that I give you guys a little Roman update. We’re so thankful to be partnering with Fruit Shoot for this post. Fruit Shoot is a popular brand in the U.K. that has finally made it's way here! I don’t know about you guys but my kids pretty much freak out with excitement when they see anything pre-packaged and kid-friendly like these juices. It makes me feel good that these drinks have no added sugar!  They made for the perfect treat to take along for our photo shoot / park date so that I could capture some new photos of Roman doing what he loves best: playing soccer!

     It has been so interesting to see my children grow up and realize that they really have the same personalities that they were born with. When your baby is born, it seems impossible to picture them as a growing person with their own interests and unique gifts but as they grow up you start to see how their personalities have been there all along!

    
     Roman was the sweetest, quietest and easiest baby ever. I mean really. Those days are so sweet to think back to now. I was only 21 years old and Roman quickly became my little sidekick. He  would happily sit in the stroller while I shopped at the mall. We spent hours at thrift stores and took walks together in the neighborhood. He was always happy and went with the flow. We were attached almost constantly until he started public school during the second half of his Kindergarten year.

     Roman is still sweet as pie and he is definitely a very easy going kid. His teachers rave about him. School comes easily to him and he does very well there. Kids in his class seem truly drawn to Roman’s sweet and happy disposition.

     
     During first grade, Roman became full out obsessed with soccer. This obsession kind of came out of nowhere. When Roman develops an interest, he really dives into it full force. This is another one of those qualities that I started seeing when he was very small and that still shines in him today.

     I am not exaggerating when I say that since 1^st grade, Roman has spent hours every day practicing soccer. It’s really fascinating to see. Roman has never really had a huge interest in toys. We don’t have video games in our house so he doesn’t spend time on that either. His absolute favorite thing to do is running around the living room practicing his soccer skills and kicking the ball against one of the walls. (Yes, we do allow this!) Roman spends a lot of his “screen time” watching YouTube videos and learning new soccer tricks. He has truly found his "thing" in soccer. Weather or not soccer sticks with him for life, I have loved watching the determination and passion that he has put into it and I know that these qualities will stay with him in whatever he chooses to pursue in the future.

     
     I am so genuinely proud (as we all are of our children) of our Roman. It’s a very strange feeling to have a 9 year old. This year, I feel like Roman has made that transition from a little kid to a big kid although honestly Roman has always had an old soul wisdom about him. He is truly a little wonder and I am so happy and blessed to have the chance to be his Mama.

     Thanks to Fruit Shoot for sponsoring this conversation. One thing that I always forget about, even ten years into mothering, is the benefit of bringing along snacks + drinks for my kids. These drinks were perfect to pack for the park and my kids loved the new fruit punch flavor. I really appreciate that they come in bottles as opposed to "pouches" and the resealable cap makes them so convenient! The boys and I made such fun memories creating this post together and spending time at the park. Roman loves these photos that we captured and he can't wait to share them on his Instagram. 

     Be sure to check out this link to find a retailer near you that carries Fruit Shoot! What are your kids' "things"?

Speaking of personalities, this photo sums up Asher's pretty well -hah!

romey turns 9.

 

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words can't even touch how i feel about my first baby, roman, turing 9 years old today. when he was born, i was practically a baby myself and how lucky i am now to have grown through these years with him by my side. i call him "moon" and he calls me his "star" and it's a universe that i'm pretty damn proud to be a part of. 

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just some words i shared on instagram on roman's birthday 12/6 

during his birthday week i tearfully went through these old photos of him, thinking deeply about this beautiful boy and what he means to me.

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happy 9th birthday romey, i can't wait to see what another year brings. <3

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