Do’s and Don’ts: Shopping With Preschoolers

Posted on February 18, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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Although we’d all probably like to leave our children at home when we go shopping, this is not always possible. So what can we do to make sure our shopping trips with preschoolers go as smoothly and safely as possible. Many of the following tips are from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. I posted this back in November…but I see so many lost children, children climbing on shopping carts, etc. when I am at the store, I thought I should bring the article back again. 🙂

DO’S FOR SHOPPING WITH PRESCHOOLERS

Do keep children with you at all times.
Do accompany and supervise children in public restrooms.
Do have a plan in case you become separated…just like a fire safety plan which should be discussed at home and practiced routinely.
Do teach your child to look for people who can help…a uniformed security officer, salesperson with a name badge or another mother with children.
Do remind children to remain in the area where they became separated…there is a wonderful picture book story that addresses this issue…DON’T WORRY, I’LL FIND YOU by Anna Grossnickle Hines. When Sarah and her mother go the mall to buy Sarah some clothes, Sarah insists on taking her doll. When Sarah realizes she has left her doll at one of the stores, she runs to find it. Now, however, she doesn’t know where her mother is. Sarah remembers her mother’s instructions to “stay put” and so she remains at the toy store and soon mother and child are reunited. Read this story with your preschooler before your shopping trip and discuss the plan of action in case you become separated.

DON’TS FOR SHOPPING WITH PRESCHOOLERS

Don’t dress children in clothing that displays their first or last name…this may give strangers an opportunity to start a conversation with your child.
Don’t leave children in the toy area of a store expecting store personnel to supervise your child while you shop in another area of the store.
Don’t allow young children to shop on their own to purchase gifts for friends or family members.
Don’t shop with your child if you feel you will be distracted. Try to make other childcare arrangements…perhaps you and a friend who also has young children can take turns watching the children while the other goes shopping for a morning or afternoon.
Don’t allow children to push the shopping cart if there is a younger sibling in it…and don’t allow children to hang on the cart, even if it is empty…too many accidents occur when shopping carts tip over.

Important tip: Make sure you wipe off the cart with a sanitizer (many stores provide them near the carts now) and clean your child’s hands when you leave the store. Tawna at Random Thoughts, Advice, Gripes, etc. http://btrbb.blogspot.com/2011/02/prefenz-botanicals-alcohol-free.html is offering a giveaway of a great hand santizer product. Head on over and enter…just a few more days!

For busy parents, online shopping can be wonderful option. You can do it in the evening when the children are sleeping and avoid the crowds and parking hassles. If you do go out shopping with your children, keep these tips in mind. You’ll be glad you did! If you need a gift for a parent, grandparent, teacher or babysitter of a preschooler, I’d like to suggest my new book, SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SLEF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING. This great resource pinpoints 100 picture books every young child should hear and provides a story summary, gentle parenting tip, eco-friendly craft project and child-friendly healthful cooking activity for each recommended title. Hop over to my website: www.positiveparentalparticipation.com for a half-price special!

MAKE-A-MEAL MONDAYS

Posted on February 7, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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Do you notice how lots of people who blog have catchy titles for different days.

Mailbox Monday

Wordless Wednesday

Follow Me Fridays

So, from now on, I’m going to be doing Make-A-Meal Mondays.

Every Monday, I’ll post a recipe that is a favorite of ours…and one that your child can help you prepare…I’m a big fan of kids in the kitchen! Encouraging your child to participate with meal planning and preparation is important because:

Children master skills and tasks when helping in the kitchen…which builds their self-esteem.
Fussy eaters are more likely to eat meals they have helped prepare.
Children learn about where food comes from when they help shop for ingredients and use those ingredients in making the final product.
The time you spend participating positively with your child helps create a life-long parent-child bond.
You can utilize the shopping experience to develop pre-literacy skills…make the list with your child and draw a picture of each item next to each word…then let your child hold the list and check off each item as he or she helps you put it in the shopping cart.

The last few weeks, most of the country has been hit with severe weather…icy rains, blizzards and freezing cold temperatures. I think a cup of hot soup would be a welcome addition to any meal this week, so here is a favorite of ours and one of the recipes that appears in SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SELF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING.

The soup commercial on television says it all…eager smiling children sitting around the table in the cozy kitchen, mother wearing an apron, stirring a big pot on the stove. The only thing missing is the delicious aroma of homemade soup. With this recipe, you and your child can make that happen in your home.

ALPHABET CHICKEN VEGETABLE SOUP

You will need: 1 quart chicken broth, 2 Tb diced onion, ¼ cup dry alphabet noodles, 1 cup diced cooked chicken, ½ cup sliced carrots, ½ cup cut green beans, ¼ cup corn kernels, parsley (optional), and a large pot with a cover.

1. In a large pot, mix the broth, onions and noodles and bring to a boil.

2. Lower heat to simmer and add chicken, carrots, beans and corn.

3. Simmer on low with the cover on for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Garnish each serving with parsley, if desired.

5. Makes about 4-5 cups of soup. You can refrigerate or freeze the leftovers.

6. TIP: You can substitute other vegetables if you like…peas, lima beans, zucchini…use your imagination…or whatever you have available. J

7. You can season with salt and pepper if you wish…but go easy…as a nation, we tend to use too much salt which has been shown to create all kinds of health problems.

And just to remind you…this is the last day of the SHARE THE LOVE BOOK BOGO EVENT going on right now on my website

You can grab a copy of the book that contains 100 EASY CHILD-FRIENDLY HEALTHFUL COOKING ACTIVITIES AND 100 SIMPLE ECO-FRIENDLY CRAFT PROJECTS at the regular cover price and you will RECEIVE ANOTHER COPY FREE!

Head on over to my website to get all the details…but please hurry…this SHARE THE LOVE BOGO BOOK EVENT goes away at 11:59pm on Monday night.

Please stop by tomorrow for TIMELESS TUESDAYS…I’ll be sharing some of my favorite quotations.

Just Leave Me Alone…I’m Reading!

Posted on January 20, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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I held my mother’s hand as we approached the impressive façade of the eight-story building, my older sister excitedly chattering about the dress she was going to buy to wear at her junior high school graduation. Located in downtown Brooklyn, Abraham &Strauss was a well-known department store with floors and floors of the finest merchandise.

Taking the elevator to the eighth floor, we entered a paradise for book lovers! Wall-to-wall books…and in between…tables and tables of books. Admonishing me to stay there and find something to read, my mother and sister left for the dress department.

I know you are probably shocked and horrified that any mother would leave a nine-year old girl alone in a department store in New York City. Looking back on the experience, I’m also surprised that she did…but it was another time…over 50 years ago…and people felt a lot safer, even though perhaps they weren’t.

So I wandered around, happy as a clam (are clams happy?), picking up this book and that book and just reveling in the ecstasy of having so many books at my disposal. I finally choose LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott, one of my favorites. I sat down on the floor and proceeded to read the entire book from cover to cover. When I am engrossed in a book, the world outside of the book ceases to exist for me. Is it that way for you? I had no watch…time stood still for me until I finished the last page and closed the book. And crawled out of my quiet little cubbyhole under one of the tables.

THERE SHE IS!!!! I saw my mother and sister running towards me. Several policemen, uniformed store security guards and sales clerks were with them. Later, my mother explained that after several hours of shopping for my sister’s dress, they returned to the book department, but couldn’t find me (I am very petite and at age nine, I was pretty small…I had found a little cubbyhole under one of the tables). Store personnel and the police were called in to help search throughout the entire store because they believed I had walked away from the book department. Walk away from a book department? It’s obvious they didn’t know the real Vivian!

I’m sure my mother never did that again…but at no time during the experience was I frightened or concerned. I didn’t think I was lost in the store…I was lost in the world of the book…and I was very happy there. And, although I wasn’t afraid that day, the fear of getting lost or being separated from a loved one is one of the most common concerns of young children. Here’s another great children’s picture book that you can read with your child that will help open a discussion about this issue.

DON’T WORRY, I’LL FIND YOU written and illustrated by Anna Grossnickle Hines

Sarah and her mother go to the mall to buy Sarah some new clothes. The little girl insists on taking her doll, Abigail. After a long and tiring morning of visiting lots of stores and trying on lots of clothing, Sarah puts Abigail on a chair while she tries on shoes and forgets to take her doll when she and her mother leave the store. Passing a toy store, Sarah remembers that she has left her doll behind and she hurries back to the shoe store without telling her mother. Although she finds Abigail right away, she soon realizes that she has lost her mother. Remembering her mother’s instructions to “stay put”, Sarah goes back to the toy store and waits there. Meanwhile, Sarah’s mother has been checking all the stores and soon mother and child are reunited.

I’m sure Sarah’s mother was tempted to scold her daughter, not only for walking away on her own, but also for bringing the doll, even though she had been advised by her mother to leave the doll at home. Instead, she chose to commend her daughter for obeying her instructions to stay where she was in case she got lost. In the future, Sarah will be more likely to follow other rules she is given and, even though she was frightened, she was able to keep some amount of control in the situation by following her mother’s instructions.