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

IT’S MY BIRTHDAY by Pat Hutchins

THE LITTLE RED HEN AND THE EAR OF WHEAT by Mary Finch

ONE FOR ME, ONE FOR YOU: A BOOK ABOUT SHARING by Sarah Albee

Nanny McPhee’s next lesson is about WORKING TOGETHER. I hope you’ll stop by tomorrow.

Lesson #1 of Nanny McPhee: NO FIGHTING

Posted on February 2, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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Do you have siblings? Do you remember fighting with them when you were children?

I can remember back when my older sister and I were growing up. Because she was older, she had “more stylish” clothes…and I was JEALOUS. So, after she had gone to school, I would wear one of her sweater sets. Of course, it didn’t fit me the way it fit her…I was younger and a little chubby and so I stretched out the knitted fabric. How angry at me she was when she got home…and deservedly so! We would get into a fight…she would yell and push me…I would strike back…grabbing her hand and bending her finger back. OUCH!!!! Then she would hit me and I would cry and our mother would come in to see what was going on. My sister would be scolded and sometimes spanked and I would run to my bed and cry. When my mom would come to ask me why I was crying, I would tell her that I didn’t want my sister to be punished….and I really didn’t. I just wanted to be able to wear the nicer clothing. 🙂

It seems to be the “natural order” of things…TO FIGHT FOR ATTENTION, TO FIGHT TO GET WHAT WE WANT, TO FIGHT TO KEEP WHAT IS OURS.

If we look around the world, we see that there is fighting going on some level in almost every corner of the world…and this has been going on since forever.

What is it about mankind? Are we made this way? Can we not help ourselves? Is there no alternative?

I am not going to debate this issue on a global level. There are enough people doing that already. So I will stick to relating it to parenting.

Can parents issue a NO FIGHTING rule at home and expect to see it carried out?

I believe so.

Perhaps the success of this rule will hinge on putting into place three components of a balanced and harmonious life which is what Nanny McPhee did and, even without magic, we can do it to:

1. DISCIPLINE

2. MANNERS

3. ACCEPTING THE CONSEQUENCES OF ONE’S ACTIONS

It’s definitely easier to start when children are VERY young, but IT’S NEVER TOO LATE!

You’ll be glad you did! And amazingly, so will your children!

How do you handle fighting between siblings? Or between your children and their friends?

Stop by tomorrow for a look at Nanny McPhee’s Lesson #2: SHARE WITH OTHERS.