The Fourth Lesson of Nanny McPhee: BE BRAVE!

Posted on February 5, 2011 by viviankirkfield

A grandfather teaches his granddaughter to use...

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The dictionary defines bravery as:

“Courage in the face of danger, difficulty or pain…a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger, difficulty or pain without showing fear.”

We often think that brave people are without fear…but this is not what bravery is all about. In fact, in interviews with soldiers who have won medals for bravery, they often admit to having been afraid during their action of courage.

And perhaps that is the true meaning of bravery…when we proceed and follow through danger, pain or difficulties, even though WE ARE AFRAID. There are brave people all around us, dealing with all sorts of problems, but continuing on.

Nanny McPhee’s fourth lesson to the children is to BE BRAVE.

Why, you may ask, do young children need to be brave. Aren’t we there to protect them and watch out for them…and most of the time all they do is play, right? 🙂

Honestly, I think sometimes young children are the bravest of us all…so many new situations and experiences, so much to learn in order to navigate their way through those early years.

In addition, many young children have fears about a number of things which they need to acknowledge and overcome. Some of the most common are:

Fear of the dark
Fear of new experiences and new situations
Fear of illness and death
Fear of monsters (the monster may not be real, but your child’s fear is)

Children need to be brave about other things as well. Picture this: You are five years old and your entire family is crazy about sports….Mom and Dad play on an adult volleyball team and all your older and younger brothers and sisters love football, baseball and hockey. You, however, love music and want to learn to play the violin or the piano.

It takes a lot of courage for a young child to follow his own muse if it differs from that of his family or peers!

There are many children’s picture books that address this issue. One of my favorite stories is OLIVER BUTTON IS A SISSY by Tomie de Paola. In the story, Oliver Button wants to be a dancer and even though Oliver’s father would rather have him playing football with the other boys, he lets Oliver attend dance classes. Oliver stays true to his goal, even though his classmates tease him. When there is a talent show, everyone is impressed with Oliver’s great dancing, and his father and classmates are very proud of him.

In my my new parenting book, you will find a simple eco-friendly craft project and an easy child-friendly healthful cooking activity to help you extend the learning experience after you read OLIVER BUTTON with your child.

On that note, I want to let everyone know about an EXCITING PRE-VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL on my website.

It’s called SHARE THE LOVE

and it will go from 12:01am SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5^th TO MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7th AT 11:59pm.

If you buy one copy of SHOW ME HOW! at the regular cover price of $44.95, you will get a second copy for FREE!

If you have been thinking about getting a copy for yourself, but were hesitating at the $35.00 website sale price, NOW IS THE TIME TO GRAB YOUR COPY AND HAVE A COPY TO GIVE TO:

YOUR BFF OR ANYONE ELSE YOU LOVE WHO DESERVES IT AND NEEDS IT.
YOUR CHILD’S DAYCARE PROVIDER OR PRESCHOOL TEACHER.
A FRIEND OR RELATIVE WHO IS HAVING A BABY SOON.
A GRANDPARENT WHO TAKES CARE OF YOUR PRESCHOOLER AND WOULD APPRECIATE THIS SHORTCUT TO STORY RECOMMENDATIONS AND EDUCATIONAL FUN-FILLED ACTIVITIES THAT BUILD SELF-ESTEEM.

At the BOGO price, you are paying $22.50 for a BRAND-NEW FRESH-OUT-OF-THE-BOX SIGNED-BY-THE-AUTHOR COPY (some sellers on Amazon and Alibris are charging over $40 for a USED copy).

I’m posting the sale now so you will be able to order it in time for Valentine’s Day. The SHARE THE LOVE BOGO EVENT will only be available, ON MY WEBSITE, by clicking on the PayPal button. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Nanny McPhee lessons…stop by tomorrow for the last lesson: HAVE FAITH!

Nanny McPhee’s Third Lesson: Work Together!

Posted on February 4, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Workers used harnesses attached to steel cable...

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Nanny McPhee’s Third Lesson: Work Together!

Have you been to the great cathedrals in Europe?

Have you seen the Hoover Dam or Mount Rushmore?

Are you amazed at all the medical and technological breakthroughs that are announced on an almost daily basis?

What do all of these have in common?

They were all produced by TEAMWORK!

In the movie, Nanny McPhee tells the children that they must work together.

When people work together, we can build bridges and great cathedrals. When people work together we can develop new breakthroughs in technology and medicine.

But can we implement Nanny McPhee’s third lesson in our daily parenting routine? YES WE CAN!

I know that sometimes it seems that every member in the family is going in a different direction. 🙂 How can we get everyone going in the same direction?

Maybe you can have a weekly family pow-wow where everyone is welcome to contribute their ideas and concerns. Many stores used to have a suggestion box where customers could drop in comments of praise or recommendations for improvement. Perhaps you can have a box where everyone can deposit suggestions for future dinner menus or vacation ideas or issues they would like to talk about at the family meeting. Younger children can tell mom or dad to write their words for them. Keep a pad of paper and a pen or pencil next to the box.

Of course, parents need to be available to their children every day…but you could also set aside a special “talk” time where the family can discuss how to WORK TOGETHER to solve problems or plan thngs.

Even very young children are capable of helping with household chores by:

Separating darks and lights when you are doing the wash…great lesson in categorizing.
Folding towels when the wash is dry…great lesson in geometry (halves, quarters, etc.)
Dusting while you straighten up each room…put on some happy music and you can all dance while you clean.
Helping in the kitchen as you prepare meals…pouring and mixing ingredients.

When you encourage young children to take on responsibilities, you are helping them develop a positive self-image…we all need to feel useful, valued and valuable. Your family will get stronger as you work together. And if you listen with respect to the opinions of your children, they will be more likely to listen with respect to yours.

Stop by tomorrow for a look at Nanny McPhee’s Fourth Lesson: Be Brave!

Nanny McPhee’s Second Lesson: Learn to Share!

Posted on February 3, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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Picture this…a world where no one is in need because their neighbors (or even strangers) will reach out and provide by sharing what they have.

Hmmmmm…..sounds like Utopia.

But is a goal we should strive towards on a global level? I think so.

And, is it a goal we can reach within our own family units? I know it is!

In the movie, Nanny McPhee was able to “convince” the children to share with each other by having them share their beds with various farm animals. As I look carefully, it seems that putting in place three of components of balance and harmony: DISCIPLINE, MANNERS AND ACCEPTING THE CONSEQUENCES OF ONE’S ACTIONS, is what insured the success of reaching the goal of learning to share.

Is sharing a problem in our home?

How do you handle it?

You all know how passionate I am about using picture books to help children deal with the challenges they encounter in their early years. Reading picture books to young child engages them in the world between the pages, encourages them to observe what is happening to the characters in the story and allows them to relate those events to their own experiences.

Check out the following books that address the issue of sharing:

IT’S MINE by Leo Lionni

SHARING IS FUN by Joanne Cole

MINE! By Kevin Luthardt