Category Archives: Positive Parental Participation

Sunday Post: Black & White…or Do We Parent in Shades of Gray?

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

 

I always love to connect the Sunday Post theme to an aspect of parenting.

As parents, we have many choices to make.

Should we be strict or lenient?

Do we move to the city or the suburbs.

Will our children go to public or private schools…or should we homeschool?

But there are some things about parenting that are BLACK AND WHITE:

Parenting requires organizational skills…kids need routines.

Parenting requires communication skills….kids need you to listen to them.

Parenting requires compassion…kids need your love.

Parenting requires consistency…kids need rules that are enforced.

But setting rules does not means that everything is black and white.

Is stealing wrong?  What if your children were starving?

Is killing wrong?  What if someone is trying to kill you or your child?

Perhaps parenting is a journey in “Shades of Gray”.

Parenting requires participation…kids need your time.

Practice Positive Parental Participation and your child will have a head-start to a happy and successful life.

Spending quality time with your young children now will have a positive impact on their school performance.  It also helps them build stronger relationships later in life. 

To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you need to be in their lives today.  Show Me How is the book that makes it easy and fun! 

Giving back is important to me.  Part of the proceeds of each copy sold is donated to several children’s organizations.

Schools are opening all over the country and we’d like to give a free copy of Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking to your favorite school or classroom.  Nominate your child’s school or other childcare facility in the Show Me How School Initiative by leaving a comment and telling us why you’d like them to have this book.  If you don’t have young children, but know people who do, please tell them about the free book their child’s school can receive!  At the end of September, we will be awarding a dozen books to the winning schools.

Last, but certainly not least, I just came back from a local SCBWI meeting…one of the members, children’s author Marty Banks, has a new book out on the market.  The Adventures of Tempest & Serena is a wonderful chapter book for readers ages 7 and up.  I’ll be reviewing the book here in a couple of days, but I wanted to give everyone a heads-up about the free download that is coming up next weekend.  I’ll post the correct URL when I do the review.  I think this is a book parents and grandparents will want to buy for holiday gifting!

Want more information about Jake’s Sunday Post?

 http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com/ 

And here are some other bloggers who are doing Jake’s Sunday Post…click on a link and travel around the world:

http://bodhisattvaintraining.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/sunday-post-black-white/

http://blueberriejournal.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/bw/

http://cyclingrandma.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/leonard-pitts-jr-s-freeman/

http://drieskewrites.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/black-white/

http://mariadesuede.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/une-competition-en-noir-et-blanc/

http://jullianeford.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/sunday-post-black-white/

http://shaanthz.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/sunday-post-black-white/

http://cobbies69.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/sunday-post-black-and-white/

http://jobryantnz.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/sunday-post-black-white/

http://nprimopiano.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/bw-stairs/

http://p0nky.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/sunday-post-black-white/

http://truthaboveallreligions.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/sunday-post-black-and-white/

http://imagesoftheheart.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/sunday-post-black-and-white/

http://imexcited.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/sunday-post-black-and-white/

http://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/sunday-post-black-and-white/

http://francineinretirement.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/sunday-post-black-and-white/

http://connieemeraldeyes.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/sunday-post-black-white/

http://cassiemeetsworld.com/photography/sunday-post-black-white/

http://pollysspace.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/sunday-post-black-and-white/

http://davidrwetzelphotography.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/sunday-post-black-and-white/

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Sunday Post: Road: Which One Will You Follow?

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

 

  The Road Not Taken  (1916) 
by Robert Frost		  
 

“The Road Not Taken Robert Frost

1916

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

Children need a parent’s guidance as they embark on the road of life.

As parents, we also need to make a choice as to which road or parenting approach we will take as we raise our children.  Here are five simple tips:

  • Be consistent with your children…set guidelines and stick to them.
  • Be compassionate with your children…show them love and respect.
  • Teach consequences…children need to learn that for every action there is a reaction.
  • Communicate with your children…a two-way street of talking AND listening.
  • Connect with your children…participate together in all types of activities.

Speaking about participating in activities, have you ever tried creative writing with your children?  It’s lots of fun and will help strengthen their literacy skills and exercise their creativity.  I’m taking part in a little creative writing over at Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog.  It’s called Summer Short and Sweets.

This is week four of Susanna’s challenge…if you click on the link above, you’ll see that this challenge was to take a letter of the alphabet, possibly the first letter of your name, and think of as many words (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc.) that begin with that letter and then write a 50 – 100 word story.  You are not supposed to peek at the detailed instructions until you choose your letter.  I picked “V” since that is the first letter of my name (had I peeked, I might have chosen an easier letter)…and here is my submission:

Viscountess Vanessa Versailles, a virginal Venezuelan virtuoso with varicose veins, vigilantly clutched the valuable Venetian violin in the velvet valise and vaulted over vipers and violent voles, her out-of-gas veneered van parked in the valley behind her. Her view blurred by a veil of venomous vapors, Vanessa valiantly raced onward, vowing to validate her promise to the vacationers who were even now vacating their seats for the violinist’s Valentine’s Day performance. Is she racing in vain?

Why not give it a try…just visit Susanna’s blog and hop aboard the Summer Short and Sweets train…it will be a fun ride.  Then you can adjust the challenges for your children, depending on their ages.  Young kids can draw pictures to tell their story and have a parent or older sibling write the words.

What else can you do with your kids this summer?  For the price of a large pizza, some breadsticks and a liter of soda (that will only last a few minutes), you can have quick and easy activities that will keep kids busy and happy and learning till school starts…and beyond!  Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking is the book I wish I had when my kids were growing up.  Suzanne Williams, author of over 27 children’s books says, “I wish Show Me How! had existed when my own children were young.”  Clinical psychologist, Jodi Harap adds, “Ms. Kirkfield presents concrete examples and helpful recommendations that are sure to give parents a newfound sense of competence and confidence in their own abilities as well.”

I want to remind everyone that the book is now available for shipment to Canadian residents…please visit my website and click on the special PayPal buttons for Canadian shipment!  I’ve already mailed out two copies of the book to Canada last week…one to Bowmanville, Ontario and one to Regina, Saskatchewan.

Want 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://cyclingrandma.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/gps-or-maps-depends-on-the-trip/

http://imexcited.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/sunday-post-road/

http://inspirationimport.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/sunday-post-road-wisdom/

http://shaanthz.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/sunday-post-road/

http://p0nky.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/sunday-post-road/

http://carolloethen.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/sunday-post-road/

http://northernnarratives.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/sunday-post-road/

http://tacts21.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/sunday-post-road/

http://francineinretirement.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/sunday-post-road/

http://jullianeford.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/sunday-post-road/

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Project 365 Challenge: Tips to Make Blood Draws Easier for Kids

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January is National Blood Donor Month.

Blood needed for medical purposes is always in short supply and many blogs had posts related to this important activity. 

Got Blood?

Donate Blood This Month

Give a Pint

Many people are hesitant to donate blood…the idea of having a needle stuck in your arm is bad enough…then the thought of blood being withdrawn from your body adds to the anxiety.

And if having blood drawn is unpleasant for most adults, imagine how little children feel about it.

But sometimes it is necessary for kids to have this procedure done to them.  Earlier this year, I shared some simple tips to help parents whose children need to have blood drawn.  I thought since it is National Blood Donor Month, it might be helpful to repost those tips.  Who knows, they might help adults make the decision to donate blood this month!

1.     Your attitude is contagious!  If you are tense, your child will get tense as well.

  • Be positive!
  • Be honest with your child that it might hurt!
  • Talk about where or what you are going to be doing when you leave!

2.     Your child could sit on your lap during the blood draw.

3.     You could stand behind him or her and give a shoulder rub during the draw.

4.     You could hold his or her other hand.

5.     You could tell his or her favorite story.

6.     You could leave the room…sometimes older kids would prefer this…it makes them feel grown up.

7.     When it is all over, tell your child that you are proud of him or her…no matter how he or she acted during the draw.

8.     Things NOT to say:

  • Don’t say it won’t hurt!
  • Don’t say just think of something else!
  • Don’t say just act like a big boy or girl!

As a parent, I appreciate how hard it is to see your child being stuck with a needle.  If you have a child who needs to have blood drawn just once in a while for a particular test or on a regular basis because of some ongoing health problems, I hope these suggestions will be helpful.