Tag Archives: Craft

Holiday Stress and How to Renew, Relax and Rejuvenate

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'Windows Into the World', United States, New Y...

Image by WanderingtheWorld (www.LostManProject.com) via Flickr

Life can be very stressful, especially for parents.

Juggling work, home and family responsibilities can rob us of our peace of mind.

Add to that the upcoming gift-giving holidays and you increase the stress level exponentially.  Our expectations of what the holidays should be often conflict with our finances and our available time and energy and we are doomed to disappointment.  Letting go of the past can definitely help.  For more information and great tips from Deepak Chopra, read a recent post from a great blogger, Nancy at Spirit Lights the Way.

Stress is a factor in many health-related conditions…and parents who are under a lot of stress can over-react when their children misbehave…for some of these parents, a crying baby or a toddler who wets his training pants can elicit rage and inappropriate punishment resulting in physical or emotional harm to the child.

How can we relieve stress in our lives?

  • Recognize that you are feeling stressed.
  • Make a list of the stress factors in your life.
  • Find solutions to each of these problems…when my children were younger and didn’t have much money to buy gifts for me, I told them to write a love letter or draw a picture…those letters and pictures are still dear to me and I treasured them more than the sweater or scarf they couldn’t buy.  Want to have a family get-together but can’t afford to buy all the food and trimmings?  Have a family pot-luck, with every member of the family bringing a casserole, side-dish or dessert!  No time to make those “from scratch” holiday cookies or don’t like to bake?  It’s true I encourage parents to spend time in the kitchen with their children, making nutritious meals and snacks…and my book, Show Me How!, provides 100 healthful, child-friendly recipes…but you can buy the refrigerated cookie dough rolls and just slice them, bake them and decorate with edible gel.  Maybe you have a friend who LOVES to bake holiday cookies…how about offering to watch her children while she bakes.  Perhaps you love to shop and she doesn’t…be her personal shopper in exchange for several dozen cookies.  There are always options for every situation.
  • Ask for help…if you have a friend or two who are in the same situation, plan to watch their children while they have a free morning, afternoon or evening to relax or shop or cook or bake or clean together without kids tagging along…and then rotate so that each parent gets a chance to have this special time.
  • Carve out some time for yourself every day…while your children are in school or napping, take a bubble bath, read a chapter in a good book, dance to your favorite music, exercise to a great DVD, walk in a park and listen to the birds.  I love watching a classic movie in the evening and munching on a bowl of air-popped popcorn…each person has to find what works for them to relieve the stress that is part of life.
  • Check out online shopping deals…this can save you time and money…and you won’t have to drag the kids along.  Many bloggers have holiday gift guides this year…a really nice one is from Jenny at MyLittleMe.
  • Start some simple family traditions…your children will remember them even when they are grown and on their own.  For a wonderful list of fun and frugal holiday possibilities, please go to  this post by Prerna, The Mom Writes.

Wondering what to get the young children on your list?  How about picture books and arts and crafts supplies?  Reading with young children and participating positively with them in arts and crafts activities builds self-esteem, develops pre-literacy skills and strengthens the parent-child connection.  Visit your local library…you can borrow the books for FREE and many libraries have an area where they sell discarded library books or donated books VERY CHEAPLY…sometimes for only 10 cents a book!

If you are looking for some guidance as to which books to choose, Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking is the answer.  Please visit my website for an online special that can’t be beat…only $19.95 per copy!  This ultimate resource of picture book suggestions, EASY eco-friendly craft projects and QUICK child-friendly healthful recipes is also the perfect gift for any parents, grandparents, preschool and kindergarten teachers, daycare providers, babysitters or nannies on your gift list!

 

“THIS IS A MUST-HAVE FOR ALL PARENTS AND CARETAKERS OF YOUNG CHILDREN!”  – Lori Calabrese, Children’s Book Examiner

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Photo of Christmas on Fifth Avenue: WanderingtheWorld

Small Investment = Big Rewards

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I just finished reading a classic in self-help literature – One Minute for Myself – by Dr. Spencer Johnson. 

The book was published in 1985, but the simple underlying truths put forth are as relevant today as they were then.

According to Dr. Johnson, the one minute you spend taking care of yourself is a small investment with a big reward.

In the same way, the 15 minutes a day you spend participating positively with your child is also a small investment with very big rewards.

THE INVESTMENT

  • Read a picture book story with your child.
  • Do an arts and crafts project with your child.
  • Prepare a recipe together.

THE REWARDS

  • Build your child’s self-esteem.
  • Develop your child’s pre-literacy skills.
  • Improve your child’s school readiness.
  • Create a life-long parent-child bond.

 

Do you feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of parenthood?

Take a minute (or a few minutes) for yourself – refresh, rejuvenate, relax.

And then spend 15 minutes with your child – reading, crafting or cooking.

Visit my website to find out more about Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking.  Buying a copy of this award-winning book is a very small investment with a very big reward.  If you have a Kindle, you can make an even smaller investment…just $9.99 at Amazon’s Kindle Store.

Just 15 minutes is enough time to read a classic picture book story.

Just 15 minutes is enough time to make one of the easy craft projects.

Just 15 minutes is enough time to prepare one of the simple recipes together.

Looking for something to do with your young children on Saturday, August 6th?

If you are local to Colorado Springs, please stop by the Family Christian Store at 7560 N. Academy.  I’ll be there from 11am to 1:30pm and there will be two identical presentations for parents and children.  From 11:30 to 12 and from 12:30 to 1pm, I’ll be reading a picture book story that will help young children deal with school anxieties.  Then we will be doing a simple craft that each child will be able to take home.  There will also be a free hand-out for parents on Five Steps to a Smoother School Year.  Parents will also have the opportunity to fill out an entry form to win a craft kit for their preschoolers.

We all want our children to have the best school year ever…whether they are in daycare, nursery or preschool, kindergarten or first grade.  This will be a fun-filled experience for all!  Please spread the word!!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – Colorado Springs PBS Kids Fun Fest at Acacia Park

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Hundreds of happy children and their parents turned out for the Southern Colorado Rocky Mountain PBS Kids Fun Fest on Saturday, June 11th at Acacia Park in downtown Colorado Springs. 

With music and entertainment on the bandstand and Clifford the Big Red Dog and Curious George in costume, Acacia Park came alive.  It was also the official opening of the Uncle Wilbur Fountain that many children enjoy during the hot summer days.

I was thrilled to be partnering with PBS and even before the event got underway, early visitors stopped by to check out the SHOW ME HOW table.  Almost 70 parents filled out an entry for the free craft supply kit…and the winner is…Dawn!!!  I’ll be emailing her today to let her know she is the lucky winner!

Many of the participants at the Fun Fest offered activities for the children…at the Show Me How! table, we were crafting Curious George paper plate faces and Clifford the Big Red Dog headbands with doggy ears.  Easy enough for a very young child to do and so much fun…using inexpensive materials that parents already have around the house…paper, crayons or markers, a paper plate, scissors and glue.  Hundreds of happy children walked away proudly wearing their Clifford headbands and waving their Curious George paper plate faces.

It was amazing to see how much the children enjoyed these simple art activities.  Even though my book is geared for children ages 2 to 5, many of the older children sat down and eagerly began decorating their headbands or paper plate faces.  Just because the headband was for Clifford the Big Red Dog didn’t mean that the children had to color it red.  In fact, there were many rainbow headbands and others with detailed designs.  One child decided that his Curious George paper plate face needed to be a frog instead of a monkey and so he used green markers to color it in.  Hurray for the uniqueness of every child!!!!

I was so happy to see the parents participating with their children because that’s what Show Me How!  Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking is all about!  The book is a road map for parents and teachers…open it to any page and you will find a picture book suggestion with summary and a simple craft project and an easy recipe.

Are you overwhelmed and tired at the end of the day?  I know I was when my children were small.  I would have loved to have a resource like Show Me How!  In fact, that’s why I wrote the book, because I realized that many parents have so much on their plate these days, they often don’t have the time or the energy to plan fun-filled educational self-esteem-building activities for their little ones.

Please head over to my website where you can purchase a copy of this amazing award-winning book for only $22.50…that’s a 50% saving off the cover price!  You can’t get much for under $25 these days when it comes to gifts and Father’s Day is right around the corner.   Chris Singer @bookdads is doing a tribute to fathers and I did a guest post  on his blog.  You’ll have fresh ideas for the whole summer and beyond!  And here’s a BONUS:  if you purchase a copy from my website during the next 14 days, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a free craft supply kit for your preschooler…safety scissors, glue stick, construction paper, and more!

I’d also like to remind anyone who is local to the Colorado Springs/Monument Colorado area that next Saturday, June 18th from 11am to 2pm there will be a town-wide festival for children called the Summer Soul-Stice.  I’ll be at the Covered Treasures Bookstore, crafting with children.  There was an announcement in the Denver Post and other local papers about it…so I’m hoping there will be a big turnout!  Please stop by and say hello.