Sunday Post: Culture…What Do Children Really Need?

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Today is Easter Sunday.  It is also the second day of Passover.   Just as with Christmas and Hanukah, these Christian and Jewish holidays are usually celebrated around the same time.  It’s not by chance, of course. 

If you trace most major religious holidays back to their beginnings, you will find they have the same roots and seem to be based on pagan festivals that were held thousands of years before.

Jake at Time after Time has a Sunday Post Challenge and every week he provides a theme…this week’s theme is CULTURE.

The word ‘culture’ has many definitions.  Because of the holidays that are upon us, I’ll use this one: the set of shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, practices and social behaviors of a particular nation or group.

And it seems that no matter what the holiday or which religious or ethnic group is celebrating…presents are involved, especially for the children.  Easter baskets filled with candy and stuffed animals, Christmas trees surrounded with gaily wrapped gifts, eight days of presents during Hanukah, gifts given as ransom for returning the afikomen (piece of matzoh) during Passover get-togethers. 

 

Children love presents…but the most important gift we can give them is our time and attention.  This is another similarity that is cross-cultural.  Children need to be treasured no matter whether their parents are Christian or Jewish, Muslim or Hindu, American or French, Canadian or Spanish, rich or poor, highly educated or unable to read. artistic or sports-minded.  If we look at cultures all over the world, we see that this is true…in most societies, parents, and often the entire community, strive to cherish the children.  Of course, in war-ravaged areas or when epidemics of famine rage, it is often the children who suffer the most.

If we want to be in our children’s memories tomorrow, we need to be in their lives today.  Read with your child.  Talk with your child.  Walk with your child.  Play with your child.  Cook with your child.  Paint with your child.  The bond you form now will last a lifetime.

Today is also the first day of National Library Week.  Why not go to your local library with your child this week.  Help your child pick out some books and read at least one every day. Studies show that children who are read to on a daily basis are more likely to succeed in school. 

 

Don’t forget to nominate your favorite library in the comment section!  Twenty-five libraries across the US and around the world can receive a free copy of Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking.  Nominations close the last day of the month…don’t let your library lose out on the chance of getting this award-winning resource for parents and teachers.

 

If you’d like more information about Jake’s Sunday Post:

 http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com/ 

And here are some other bloggers who are doing Jake’s Sunday Post:

http://imagesoftheheart.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/sunday-post-culture/

http://wp.me/p2iujW-2J


 

 

I will try to add more as they are posted.

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40 thoughts on “Sunday Post: Culture…What Do Children Really Need?”

  2. I definitely agree on the best gift we can ever give to out children is our time and attention. At this age and time where both have to work, it can be challenging to find more time to spend with our little ones. But we do need to make the most out of the time we can spend with them. Engaging in different fun activities with them is one way to do this.

    Spanish Pinay

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    • Yes, Marilou…you are so right! Everyone is so busy…especially when both parents work or it is a single parent household. But these formative years pass by so quickly…and once they are gone, we have lost this priceless opportunity impact our children’s lives in a positive manner. 🙂

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    • Thanks for stopping by, Sandy! I’m happy I have this “platform” to speak about my passion: encourage parents to interact positively with their children…kids are so much fun…I think sometimes parents get so busy and overwhelmed, they forget this. 🙂

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  5. My kids do love presents but it has more to do with the novelty of them than the amount of money I spent of them. And yes, kids will pick time and attention over anything else. I used to work full-time until a year and a half ago when I was laid off and decided to work freelance. Financially it can be tough but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love all the bonding opportunities while they’re still little.

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    • It’s a hard decision to make, Milka…and it definitely means giving up some “stuff”…but as you say, the opportunities for bonding are unbelievable…it’s all about choices and priorities. 🙂

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      • If I hadn’t been laid off, I’d probably still be working full-time out of the home. I would have no idea of what I’d be missing with my kids, and I wouldn’t take the time to evaluate my career and how little I enjoy my work. Someone else had to make that decision for me by laying me off but it’s given me the opportunity to now work on projects I actually enjoy and see my kids grow up in front of my eyes.

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  6. Turning off the television, computers and other gadgets that rob Time and Attention from our precious gifts we call children. Thank you Vivian for another great reminder! 🙂

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      • Do you know if there is a link to underdeveloped speech patterns and excessive/ too early television viewing in young children? You may have posted on this topic but lately in my church Sunday nursery class, many of the children who should be speaking and clearly articulating basic words but all that drops out from their mouths are streams of garbled sounds! When I ask the parents about television viewing at home, many say yes, kids are always watching something on the tv. Hmm. Just wondering . . .

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  7. Pingback: Culture and the Open Market « Simply Charming

    • Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving such a beautiful comment. 🙂 I’m flying to New Hampshire tomorrow morning to spend a week with my 3 year old grandson!!! I’m so very excited…but may not be able to attend to emails and blog comments as I usually do. 🙂

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  9. This is a beautifully written and inspirational read, Vivian, with with I wholeheartedly agree. I look back on my childhood with great sadness that I can think of so few moments of togetherness, they are timeless and priceless!

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    • Yes, Joanna, so many people look back on their childhoods with sadness or bitterness. Just like the little poem I wrote for Marilyn Warner’s Things I Want to Tell My Mother, our childhood can invade our adult life…the fears, the resentment, the unhappiness we experienced.
      That’s why I am constantly trying to remind parents (and teachers) that we have to give young children our time and attention. 🙂

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  11. Beautiful post, Vivian . . . and I love your grandson’s Easter basket. I’ve never seen one shaped like a baseball before.

    Great message: Time and attention outweigh material gifts.

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    • Thanks for the kind words, Nancy!
      Wasn’t that Easter basket a hoot!
      Maybe my next book should be titled: You had them…now pay attention to them! Don’t know how that would go over…but it might get people’s “attention”. 🙂

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      • Thank you for nominating Maple Library to win a copy of Show Me How! If your library is one of the 25 lucky winners, will you (or they) be able to contribute towards the postage? As stated in my original post about the contest, I would love to open up nominations globally…but the cost of postage may be more than I can manage.

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    • Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting! Sad, but true…I always wonder why parenting is the only “job” that doesn’t require licensing or training of any kind.

      I just saw a new Pepsi commercial on TV here in the US…The parents are so very excited about this new type of Pepsi soda (Pepsi Next) and go on and on, exclaiming about how utterly fantastic it is…they have NEVER seen such an unbelievable soda. Meanwhile, in the background, we see their little child, doing back flips, walking on his hands, etc…they are totally unaware of what he is doing…more interested in the soda.

      I know it is just a commercial…but it is sending such a negative and totally incorrect message to parents.
      Don’t mind me…I am just so passionate about uplifting little ones and giving them our respectful attention. 🙂

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      • I Praise you for it!

        You know what is even more troubling with the New Pepsi is the flavour enhancers…

        “Pepsi is funding the research and development, and paying royalties to Senomyx, which uses HEK-293 (human embryonic kidney cells) to produce flavor enhancers for Pepsi beverages.

        “Using isolated human taste receptors we created proprietary taste receptor-based assay systems that provide a biochemical or electronic readout when a flavor ingredient interacts with the receptor,” says the Senomyx website.

        “What they do not tell the public is that they are using HEK 293 – human embryonic kidney cells taken from an electively aborted baby to produce those receptors,” stated Debi Vinnedge, President for CGL, the watch dog group that has been monitoring the use of aborted fetal material in medical products and cosmetics for years.

        The aborted fetal cells are not in the product itself. However, “there are many options PepsiCo could be using instead of aborted fetal cells…”

        THAT I find more disturbing about Pepsi.

        You can look into it. I did, because I could not believe it…and you know, until both Pepsi or Senomyx come clean, you can’t help but wonder.

        Please do continue to Promote the well being of Children ♥

        It is so badly needed ♥

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    • Thank you so much, Diane, for nominating Gulf Gate Library to win one of the copies of SMH!
      I went to your website…LOVE what you are all about…will pass the word along…much needed, especially these days!

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  14. My children need no encouragement to go to the library – nor to read. From young they have enjoyed weekly trips to the library to browse and find books that they would love to learn from.

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  15. Pingback: Free Copies of Show Me How! Nominate Your Library to Receive One! « Positive Parental Participation

  16. “Children love presents…but the most important gift we can give them is our time and attention. ” Indeed it is. No amount of gifts can compensate for a parent’s actual presence. Love comes from nurturing our love ones. It takes time and effort. You’re an inspiration to us. Belated happy Easter. Beautiful post and pictures.

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    • Oh my…thank you so much for your kind words. 🙂 It does take time and effort…you are 100% correct…and parents are often overwhelmed with all of their responsiblities and tired from work and chores. I know it is difficult to give young children our time and attention…but the rewards will repay us 1000 times over. 🙂

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  17. Pingback: Sunday Post : Blossom | imexcited

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