Kool-Aid Play Dough

For weeks, I had been staring at a pretty rough, battered packet of Kool-Aid on the floor of our walk-in pantry.  I had full intention of picking it up and disposing of it, someday, but that would involve expending what little energy I had left on bending over and walking to the trash.  Thank goodness I have friends that are often more motivated and creative than I am, or that Kool-Aid may have continued it's lonely existence...or an even worser fate.

Thanks to the inspiration of a fellow mom, I decided to try my hand turning the tired beverage mix into play dough.  Here's how:

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup salt
1 (4 g) package unsweetened Kool-Aid powdered drink mix
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
-Mix flour, salt, Kool-Aid until blended.
-Add oil to boiling water, mix with spoon until cool enough to knead.
-Continue kneading until color is blended.
-Store in air tight bag or container in the refrigerator.

It was a hit...especially when we got some textured toys out to press into it (and when I made his favorite red, furry monster that he's currently obsessed with).

Again, toddlers will eat anything....especially when you give them play dough the day after cookie dough.

Baking With Toddlers

After a week that seemed harder than most, I confided to my husband that I was stuck in a horrible maternal rut that involved not enough coffee and too much television.  While it didn't at all contribute towards a cleaner house, I decided to take his suggestion and attempt baking with my 16 month old.  I learned some important lessons through this adventure:

A toddler will eat ANYTHING, regardless of how it tastes (even Crisco).

Everyone likes to lick the beater.

There's no mood (or mess to clean up) that a chocolate chip cookie can't fix.

We'll call this one a success.

Toddling Towards Sanity While Mothering a Toddler

If you've found yourself here, you're probably in the same place I am: muddling through the insanity we call motherhood.  Inspired by my toddler and encouraged by some important people in my life, I've decided to share this journey with you.  My hope is that, through some creativity and intention, I can find more ways to enjoy more moments.  Thanks for joining me in this grand experiment.  Hopefully, through sharing our successes and our failures with you, we can inspire you get up on your feet towards sanity, too.