Remembering Dr. Seuss

Last Tuesday would have been Theodore Seuss Geisel's 106th birthday. Dr. Seuss has always been a favorite for me personally, but also for the children I've cared for. What is it about his books that are so compelling? Maybe it’s the rhyme and the rhythm or the energetic artwork, or maybe the flow of fun that is woven into every story. No matter what the reason they have stood the test of time and continue to delight and fascinate children and adults alike.
Our favorites include:
One Fish, Two Fish – a great first reader book with a wonderful sing-song rhythm
Hop on Pop – another wonderful beginner reader, which is often a favorite of preschoolers
Green Eggs and Ham or The Cat in the Hat – crazy fun, encouraging reading
The Lorax and The Sneetches – for life lessons that still speak to us

There are so many more wonderful titles and great stories. We’d love for you to share something about your favorite Dr. Seuss books! Please comment below. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Head to a Museum!

by Kelly Miller

Are you looking for a fun, inexpensive outing with the children?  Check out the Museum Adventure Pass program at the melsa metro public libraries (www.melsa.org/museumadventurepass/).  Each week, the boys I nanny for look at the brochure and pick a museum to visit. Obtaining a pass at the library usually is not difficult, and one pass lets two people in free! (the Minnesota Zoo is harder to get .... be there right when the library opens!).  We have visited the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Bakken Museum, and today, we are heading for the Works.  Have fun exploring!

Gardening With Kids

The melting snow has us all thinking about spring. If you want to garden this year, it's not too soon to begin planning. A garden is a wonderful place for children to explore science, art, creativity, and the concept of life--not to mention that gardening can be great exercise. KidsGardening has a fantastic guide about gardening with children of all ages.

Tips for a Great Interview

By Colleen O’Connor


With the job market as competitive as it is, acing an interview is more important than ever. At Nannies from the Heartland we provide our nannies with an interview guide to help them do just that. Here’s a bit of our best advice.

Travel Together: Family-Nanny Travel Tips

No matter what time of year we get questions from both nannies and families asking for travel tips – how to make the experience positive, how to set expectations, how to prepare, and many more. Nannies who travel with their employer families and families who have their nannies travel with them have a unique experience ahead of them. The key is planning and preparing in advance, being clear about expectations and boundaries. The bottom line is that this is the family’s vacation and the nanny is included as the child care provider. Ideally everyone should come home with fond memories and good feelings.

Olympic Fever

I love the Olympics! I have to confess I try to see as much of it as possible. When the children in my care were little we would celebrate these weeks with fun activities which included our own version of the Olympic experience. We made a "luge" track using the slide on the swing set and banking up snow to create a couple of turns. It was fun to make and had us thinking about the engineering involved. We discovered how sharp a turn we could maneuver and techniques to make the run really smooth. Then we had weeks of enjoying our luge track.

Bring the Beach Indoors

By Colleen O'Connor

Dreaming of a warm getaway? If you can't head for the beach, do the next-best thing and bring the beach to you! This is a great way to help children stave off cabin fever on a dreary February day.