By Julie Carrara
It has been almost 10 years since I became a writer for
The Family Post by contributing my first “Perspectives”
column. Since that time, my toddler has grown into a pre-teen,
and a whole new set of parenting challenges has arisen (note
Tulum’s Column this month!).
This set me to wondering whether my ”Perspective”
as a parent of older children remains relevant to the majority
of Post readers, namely those with younger children in the
0-8 range. With this in mind, I lingered over conversations
at several playgrounds and preschools this month, conversing
with as many parents of young children as possible, in an
effort to glean new and creative parenting ideas from the
real “experts!” Here’s what Nevada
County parents had to say:
It’s a “Perspective” I know you’ll
enjoy...
The Trembley Family: “I keep a daily
journal for each of my children (Jake–3 and Hallie–2).
I’ve done this since their births. Each day I write
down one memory on the calendar. These have ranged from
“big” events (such as first words, steps, etc.)
to simple everyday occurrences (had fun finger painting,
helped daddy make pancakes, blew bubbles, talked to grandpa
on the phone). Taken over time, each calendar gives a “snapshot”
of Jake and Hallie’s growth and development, and helps
us, as a family, appreciate simple pleasures. Sometimes
we’ll “read” through our calendars and
talk about our memories. It’s a wonderful way of sharing
our family history”.
The Strawser Family: “I recently
created a fun home made “Concentration” game
for our children (Lindsay–4 and Weston–8). I
took photos of family members (uncles, cousins, grandparents,
etc.). I had double prints made, laminated them and cut
them into equal sized squares. The matching game is fun
to play and helps my children remember faces and names of
those relatives that they don’t get to see very often.
I also put together a similar concentration game using simple
Spanish words and illustrations to help teach our children
Spanish at home. Another variation on this idea is to make
the concentration game with photos from a vacation. I put
one together and gave it as a thank you gift for our family
vacation to a friend’s home in San Diego.”
The Renclair Family: “My two children
are now grown, however I do remember creating a wonderful
holiday tradition called the “Thanksgiving Tree”.
Our “tree” was a Manzanita branch attached to
a small piece of wood. With cut-out leaves, the tree would
sit on the family table from November 1st and each day we
would write something on a leaf that we were grateful for.
By Thanksgiving the tree would be filled and we would take
the leaves and read them that day.”
The Edwards Family: “To help with
spring cleaning, while having some fun too, I give my two
children (Mario–6 and Vic–3) thick paintbrushes
and big buckets of soapy water. They love to spend hours
“painting” clean their bikes, plastic toys,
and even the patio furniture!
One of our favorite family traditions takes place at birthday
time when my husband climbs onto the roof of the house (hidden
from the children!) and tosses out peanuts in the shell
or wrapped candy. The kids love it when the sky “rains”
goodies at their birthday party.
The Naramore Family: “We have a
creek that separates our property from our older retired
neighbor’s, whose grandchildren live far away. As
a fun idea for my children, Jessie and Lila, they took some
pebbles out of the creek and spray painted them shiny gold.
Then our neighbors invited the children to go “gold
panning” with them down at the creek. The kids loved
it!”
The Vieaux Family: “Celebrate Half
Birthdays: Get half a cake (take one layer, cut it in half,
then frost) sing half a song, make half a card… a
fun way to make a family member special another day a year.
No presents, party or the like, just a nice way to say “hey
you’re special today!” We started this tradition
with Sam, whose birthday was in December. But when Grace
came along, she wanted in on the fun, too! So we made it
a tradition for the entire family.”
Polite Bite: “When trying to get our kids to try
new foods or encourage them to be adventurous, we serve
them what Mom and Dad are having for dinner (along with
what the kids would eat willingly) and they must take “Two
Polite Bites” to not only try the food, but to help
practice better manners for when they are served unfamiliar
foods at a friend’s house.”
Advent Calendar: “The kids have a wooden Advent calendar
with small drawers that are usually filled with treats during
December. Now that small token toys are not too exciting
for our kids as they get older, we fill the drawers with
fun activities or good deeds to do during the month of December.
Some of the activities help reinforce giving and helping
others less fortunate (donating old toys and books, baking
cookies for a neighbor, etc.) and others are fun things
to do together as a family (go see a holiday movie matinee,
go to the library and check out holiday books to read together
in front of the fire with hot cocoa, etc.)”
Popsicle Sticks: “A great way to help children manage
media time such as TV, Gameboys, Playstation, etc. is to
use the Popsicle Stick Method. Decide how much media time
is appropriate for your children. Then, at the beginning
of the week hand out the given number of popsicle sticks
(with each stick representing a certain amount of time-
say 30 minutes). The child can then choose how to “spend”
his sticks throughout the week.”
The Hunter Family: Invisible Heart Strings:
“I help my daughters (Sarah–6 and Lila–3)
get through separation anxiety by giving them a heart to
heart touch each time we part. We press the palm of our
hands to each other’s hearts to remind us that we
are always connected by the heart even though we are apart.”
The Aguilar Family: Be Specific! “When
I want my children Patrick and Annie to complete a task
(getting ready for school, cleaning their rooms) I have
found that it helps to be specific about what I want. For
instance, “put away all the clothes first, then put
away the stuffed animals.” When I break down big tasks
they don’t seem as overwhelming”.
Get Moving!: “When the kids have a big report or
project to work on, the rule of thumb is to work 20-30 minutes
and play for 10 minutes. If they can be outside running
around moving their bodies, their focus is enhanced and
they don’t dread hours of sitting.”
The Stein Family: “Gardening with
my children helps connect them with nature and the cycle
of life. When Ella (age 6) was born in March, we began to
call her our “Daffodil Girl”. And later when
Georgia (age 4) was born in April we called her our “Tulip
Girl”. Every year when their “own” flowers
bloom we have a perfect opportunity to remind ourselves
and them of just how special and miraculous they are.”
The Bley Family: “To avoid having
to constantly nag our children at the dinner table about
good manners, we sometimes “break the rules”
as a family by establishing an occasional “Bad Manners”
night. At the specified meal everyone is allowed to eat
with their fingers, blow bubbles in their milk, chew with
their mouth open and burp freely. It gives the kids a sense
of control over their own behavior…. And we all laugh
a lot! At least they know what they’re NOT supposed
to do the rest of the time!”
Thanks Parents! If you have any creative parenting ideas
you would like to contribute to the Family Post, please
e-mail them to me at carrara@jps.net.
There were many more wonderful suggestions that I wasn’t
able to utilize due to space limitations and would like
to include in future issues. Also, I’d love to hear
from grandparents, teachers, day care providers, dads, and
even kids!
“Remember, this present moment is the only one we
can live in, laugh in and change.”
