Cinema Sundays: My Picks of Great Flicks: PLAYING THE GAME

Posted on March 20, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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Last night, my husband and I watched “PLAYING THE GAME”, a 2009 romantic comedy starring Andy Griffith as an 80+ year-old grandpa who has recently lost his beloved wife and is now living in an assisted-living facility. Paul Campbell plays his concerned grandson, a player of women who wants his grandfather to start enjoying life again. When Paul meets Maria Sokoloff, his player days are numbered and when Andy meets Doris Roberts (of Everybody Loves Raymond fame), a resident of his senior home and grandmother of Maria, he finds a new reason to live again.

Some people may be offended by the sexual scenes (you never really “see” anything) and by the blatant sexual desires of some of the “older” folks (and some may be sad to see Andy Griffith, icon of morality in the Mayberry RFD series, taking Viagra and enjoying the sexual favors of one of the older women at the home for seniors)…but I think it was a realistic depiction of how life is for some elderly people…defined in their youth by sexuality, they feel if they can’t “perform”, then life is not worth living.

Andy Griffith does provide some wonderful advice to his grandson…advice we might all benefit from:

Defining a “real” companion, he says, “You’ll know when you meet her and you’ll know when you lose her.”
Asking his grandson about his relationship with his love interest, he says, “Are you a player or were you just playing.”
Telling his grandson to stop his step-by-step procedure that gets women to fall for him, he says, “To win the game of love, you have to stop playing games with women.”

If you are looking for a light-hearted romantic comedy and won’t be turned off by seeing some elderly people looking forward to sexual pursuits, PLAYING THE GAME is for you.

The movie also highlighted how we need to pursue our dreams and goals and not get sidetracked by just “working for the money”. The grandson had put aside his dream of working in the health-care field and was earning a LOT of money, selling cars in his father’s dealership…but he was very unhappy and hated what he was doing. When he becomes involved with Maria, he realizes that he needs to quit his job and go back to helping people. How many of us put our dreams aside because of money…either because we don’t think we have enough for our needs or we just think we need more?

This past Thursday, I met with two 4^th grade students who wanted to “job shadow” an author…the advice I gave them was to follow their dream and never give up on what they believed in…hard work and persistence do translate into success! During my years as a teacher, daycare provider and mom, I accumulated lots of ideas and experience…and I was able to use those when I finally wrote my book last year for parents and teachers of preschoolers. If you are interested in picking up a copy of this unique resource of picture book suggestions and easy fun-filled educational activities, please visit my website at www.positiveparentalparticipation.com where you can take advantage of the half-price sale and enter to win a GREAT PRIZE for your preschooler.

I hope you’ll stop by tomorrow for Make-A-Meal Monday. Based on today’s movie pick, our theme for the week is Companionship.

Follow-Me-Fridays: Where’s Miss Vivian?

Posted on March 18, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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St. Patrick’s Day was yesterday…and the luck of the Irish was definitely with me.

I had the most wonderful day!

Early morning found me at Taylor School again, visiting with the kindergarten children in back-to-back story presentations.

We read Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready For Bed?

When I walked into the first kindergarten room, I did a double-take! The children were dressed in pajamas! At first, I thought that the teacher had requested this because the picture book story is about a little pig who is getting ready for bed…and putting on his pajamas is one of his tasks.

It turns out that Thursday was Pancakes and Pajamas Day…and all of the kindergarten children were dressed in their favorite PJ’s. Some even had robes and slippers…I was definitely jealous…they looked so comfy.

So it was really the perfect setting to read a story about getting ready for bed…and the children did not disappoint…they were eager to discuss the story and knew right away how silly Cornelius was when he fed the gold fish his chocolate chip cookies. 🙂

After reading and discussing the story, the children were ready to move to their tables to construct a No Tick-Tock Clock with movable hands. I was impressed with their ability to write all of the numbers of the construction paper clock face and I know they will enjoy taking the clocks home and using them to help them get to bed “on-time”.

The second presentation differed a little because we ran out of time and were not able to do the craft project. The teacher found a wonderful alternative…she handed out small resin-board clocks to groups of three students each…and then drew a digital clock on the board. Each child had an opportunity to read the digital time and then use the numeral clock with movable hands to show the correct time.

Telling time is an important skill for young children to learn…and especially today, with digital clocks in most places, parents and teachers need to make sure that children know how to tell time “the old-fashioned” way.

Leaving Taylor School, I headed over to Columbia School, where I had an appointment to be interviewed by two students who had a job shadow assignment. As each of them aspires to be an author, they wanted to talk to someone who had published a book so that they could find out what was involved. I had brought the rough drafts of my SHOW ME HOW! book and also the original mock-up of one of the picture books I’ve written. That mock-up was written over 30 years ago…so it was interesting for them to see it and then to see the finished product with illustrations by my talented daughter-in-law.

The 4^th-graders had LOTS of questions…when did I know I wanted to be a writer…and what inspired me to write? What do I do in a normal day and do I use paper and pen or the computer? How did I contact a publisher? Does the author hire the illustrator or does the publisher handle that.

My advice to them was to follow their dream and never give up. It takes a lot of patience and hard work and perseverance to succeed at ANYTHING…and writing is no different. I encouraged them to have confidence in themselves and in what they hope to accomplish.

SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SELF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING is all about instilling a sense of competence and confidence in your young children. Children with a positive self-image are more likely to take on new tasks and accept new challenges. Isn’t that what we want for our children?

Please visit my website to take advantage of the 50% OFF SALE PRICE on each copy. You can also enter to win a FREE Crafty Easter Basket which will be awarded on April 10^th. All you have to do is fill out the contact form.

What’s In Your Child’s Bookcase Wordy Wednesday: HOOT AND HOLLER

Posted on March 16, 2011 by viviankirkfield

A sketch titled "Owls of the Yosemite Reg...

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Friendship…something human beings cannot live without.

Today’s story recommendation is about friends who learn the importance of voicing their feelings about each other.

HOOT AND HOLLER

Written by Alan Brown

Illustrated by Rimantas Rolia

Holler, a big owl, and Hoot, a little owl, played together every night in the woods. They were both shy, and neither friend spoke of how he felt about the other. A storm separated the two owls and each worried that he would never find his best friend. A wise old owl advised Holler to call out loudly for Hoot. Although Holler was very shy and had never been able to raise his voice, he found the courage to call very loudly…and Hoot heard him! They found each other and were overjoyed and were finally able to express their feelings of love.

How difficult it is to express one’s feelings sometimes! We can help our children by being good role models…don’t wait for a special occasion to tell your child that you love him. Children need to know they are loved every day of their lives. And, although the verbal confirmation of your love is important, you need to show your child as well…with Positive Parental Participation!

Yesterday’s Quotable Timeless Tuesday’s post was all about friendship…but I saved one for today because it fit so perfectly with the story of Hoot and Holler and not telling our friends how we feel about them.

“Do not save your loving speeches,

For your friends till they are dead.

Do not write them on their tombstones,

Speak them rather now instead.” – Anna Cummins

In the same way, please don’t save your praise and loving words for your children…speak them every day. The tragic events in Japan give voice to our awareness that each day is precious and tomorrow is not guaranteed.

For more gentle parenting tips and 99 other picture book recommendations, please visit my website where you can pick up a copy of SHOW ME HOW! at half-price AND enter to win a FREE Crafty Easter Basket filled with craft supplies for your preschooler.

Please stop by tomorrow for Healthy Habit Thursdays.