The Five Lessons of Nanny McPhee: Are They Valid for our Children Today?

Posted on February 1, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Have you seen the movie, “Nanny McPhee”?

Nanny_mcphee Photo courtesy: By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3187092 – Universal Pictures

My husband and I recently watched the sequel, “Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang”. The original movie came out in 2005 and took place in 19^th century England. A widower is unable to raise his seven children on his own and the children have systematically gotten rid of seventeen nannies before Nanny McPhee appears and saves the day. The sequel debuted last year and takes place in the English countryside during World War II, We are introduced to the harried mother whose husband is off defending the country and whose three rambunctious young children never seem to listen to her and are constantly fighting with each other. (Let me know if this sounds familiar.) 🙂

Into the picture comes Nanny McPhee, a no-nonsense woman who has unseen powers and a gift for bringing calm and order to a situation filled with upheaval and chaos. (Nanny McPhee, where are you?)

What struck me, though, were the FIVE LESSONS the children had to learn while under Nanny McPhee’s care. I truly believe that these are FIVE LESSONS THAT EVERY KID SHOULD LEARN and use, whether at home, in school or ANYWHERE.

1. NO FIGHTING

2. SHARE

3. WORK TOGETHER

4. BE BRAVE

5. HAVE FAITH

Don’t you think it would be a wonderful thing if every man, woman and child on the face of the earth could learn these lessons?

After doing some research, I learned that back in August, Twitter Moms (now Social Moms) had posed the following question on Facebook, “What are the 5 lessons every kid should learn?” I’m sure they had a ton of responses.

But I’m going to stick with my original plan and, for the next five days, I’ll examine each of Nanny McPhee’s lessons to see how we can apply them as parents today. If you look carefully, you will see that behind the actual lessons are three crucial components of a life lived in balance and harmony: DISCIPLINE, MANNERS, and ACCEPTING THE CONSEQUENCES OF ONE’S ACTIONS.

Your comments will add value to the post…are these the lessons you have taught your children?

Stop by tomorrow for a closer look at Lesson #1: NO FIGHTING

Restful Sleep…Crucial Factor in the Fight Against Obesity

Posted on January 26, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

I know I feel out-of-sorts when I haven’t had a good night’s sleep. And I had heard (thought it was a rumor) that lack of sleep could cause weight gain.

Tonight, one of our local TV stations ran a special report on kids who get too little sleep being at risk for obesity and diabetes.

So I did a little research and found that studies have shown that “insufficient nighttime sleep among infants and preschool-aged children appears to be a lasting risk factor for subsequent obesity.” (WebMD Health News) http://children.webmd.com/news/20100907/sleep-linked-to-childhood-obesity

I’m always blaming fast food, super-sized meals and lack of exercise on the increase our country is seeing in childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes. But, now it seems that we can add another villain to the mix.

And that is one more reason to set up those bedtime routines for your children…and STICK to them. One of the pediatricians on the TV report had several suggestions:

Bedtime should be the SAME time EVERY night for your child.
Wind down 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime.
Children should be getting 9 to 10 hours of sleep every night.
If you are missing an hour or two of sleep for the week, you can catch up on some sleep on the weekends.

You can refer back to yesterday’s post about bedtime routines for more tips. https://viviankirkfield.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/bedtime-routines-rituals-and-can-i-have-one-more-glass-of-water-please/

In that post, I suggested you read CORNELIUS P. MUD, ARE YOU READY FOR BED? with your child and I provided a recipe for Overnight Cookies. Bedtime is a very special time for young children, but without routines and limits, many try to delay going to bed as much as possible. I promised to give you a simple craft project that may encourage good bedtime routines. With your help, your child can “set” his clock to the particular time when he will need to be ready for his bedtime story. Then he can check that time against the real clocks in the house and will know when he has to complete his toy cleanup in order to be ready for that special treat…the bedtime story.

NO TICK-TOCK CLOCK

You will need: A piece of cardboard (from a cereal box would be fine), metal paper fastener, construction paper, marker and scissors.

Cut a large circle (the clock face) from the cardboard.
Cut two “hands” (one longer and narrower than the other) from the construction paper.
Attach the hands to the center of the clock with the paper fastener.
Draw the numbers in the correct order on the clock face.

Parents…keep in mind that if you’ve been trying to lose a few pounds yourselves (as I have been), perhaps getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis may do as much for you as cutting back on calories and exercising. In fact, if you treat all three elements…restful sleep, nutrition (not diet) and exercise with respect, you may be rewarded with better health than you ever had before. Believe me, I know how difficult it is to call it quits for the night…there always seems to be something else that MUST be done…laundry folded, dishes put away, lunches made for the next day, bills to pay and checkbook to balance…the list goes on and on. This is another reason that making lists of short and long-term goals as well as a daily to-do will help organize and prioritize what needs to be done.

P.S. This post somehow got put in drafts and didn’t get posted on Tuesday…sorry. 🙂

Stop by tomorrow for a look at a very special lady…my grandmother…she was a role model for Positive Parental Participation in an era before spending quality time with your children was a catch-phrase.

BALANCE: How Do I Find It?

Posted on January 22, 2011 by viviankirkfield

A precision balance scale for weighing silver ...

Image via Wikipedia

“Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.” – Robert Fulghum

We all need balance in our lives. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy – this old saying definitely holds true today.

But what is balance?

The dictionary defines balance as harmony, a state in which nothing is out of proportion or unduly emphasized at the expense of the rest.

There is no standard “one size fits all” spreadsheet for balance because we are all unique individuals with different needs and different situations. However, to optimize the quality of our lives, we can take a look at how we spend our days (and nights). Are you working too many hours? Do you tend to let certain activities slide due to lack of time? How much TV is watched in your home? Please don’t get me wrong…I enjoy watching TV…but I also realize that if we don’t put the TV on in the evening, I get so much done. And when I look at my watch, it is only 9PM. But I do have to admit that my time spent on the computer these days often occupies an unbalanced proportion of my day…so much so that it becomes the wee hours of the morning when I finally feel I am done. SO NOT GOOD! This weekend I plan to sit down to evaluate how I am utilizing that time and hopefully I can produce a more BALANCED schedule that will be better for me AND my family.

I guess we can go back to the dictionary definition of balance: a state in which nothing is out of proportion or unduly emphasized at the expense of the rest. So, if your family enjoys watching a show on TV, that is great…but perhaps when the show is over, you can participate in other activities…maybe a read-aloud story-time. If there are older children, perhaps they can take turns with the adults reading to the younger children, although studies show that older children really enjoy being read to. Or maybe have a family board game night?

According to Catherine Pulsifer in “We Never Seem to Have Enough Time”,

“We need to maintain a proper balance in our life by allocating the time we have.”

So here are a few simple ways to keep track of how you are allocating your time.

1. Use a notebook to list your long-term and short-term goals.

2. Make a to-do list each night for the next day…you will sleep better each night and you won’t realize late in the next day that you’ve forgotten to do something important. For me, writing down what I need to do gives me peace of mind.

3. Set up a daily routine or schedule, especially if you have children. Life can get really chaotic if you don’t have a plan in place.

Do you have a daily routine or schedule in place? Stop by tomorrow for a look at the successful routine I used with my daycare group and my own family when my children were small.