The “Mute” Elf on the Shelf!
Wordless Wednesday!
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Category Archives: Family
“Naughty Nana”…A Beautiful Kid’s Book for the Holidays
Naughty Nana
Guest Blog
By Saralyn Richard, Author of Naughty Nana
Naughty Nana is available from the website: https://www.palmcirclepress.com.
NAUGHTY NANA is a children’s book based on the real-life interactions of our grandchildren with Nana, our Old English sheepdog. Writing it was a truly joyful experience.
Observing childhood through a grandmother’s lens has given me fresh insights, as I watched my grandchildren’s willingness to connect fully with animals.
Now, I realize how vital it is for children to experience positive messages while forming relationships, which are trusting and supportive with both people and pets.
Nana, the puppy, speaks for herself.
Her exasperating antics are not as amusing to Grammy and Papa as they are to Jason and Gaby, who recognize that Nana is child-like in her desire to “just have fun”. The children’s visit with their grandparents and with Nana creates a dynamic in which everyone learns and grows.
Naughty Nana is available from the website: https://www.palmcirclepress.com.
“Playing” or “Fighting” with Baby…
This video shows a dad “fighting” with his baby. To me this borders on child abuse. I know that dad is trying to be funny but at the baby’s expense…therefore …NOT FUNNY.
Just like teasing this kind of “baby rough housing” seems over the top especially when you make a video of it and you are able to see the baby’s facial and physical reactions to the actions of his dad.
What do you think?
To me, making a You-tube video, “Fighting with Baby“, actually encourages other parents to rough house with the babies in their lives.
This is just not funny…
Babies are learning trust especially in their caregivers; here we see the baby’s father literally throwing him onto the bed…twisting him around his arm and tickling him silly. The baby then tries to defend himself by “hitting” dad in the face only to be thwarted in his self-defending efforts.
I love social media and baby/kid videos but this video makes me sick as I watch it. I would like to see it taken down and a statement from the dad apologizing for using his son to publicize his own career. I would also like him to say that this activity could be emotionally and physically harmful.
Some people think that baby’s are “things” and have very few needs since they seem to just eat, sleep and cry. This is simply not so.
Babies are developing emotionally and physically at a very fast rate during their first year of life…parents and caregivers have a major role in this development. “Fighting” with baby is something we should not ever consider during this time.
At the very least: This video should come with a disclaimer.
Wordless Wednesday
Take time to give thanks for just being…
Do Homework Before Holiday Shopping for Kids
Thanksgiving is tomorrow so I have been hearing and reading a lot about Black Friday and shopping for kids.
When it comes to our children and grandchildren careful thought will go into Holiday gift choices.
I know that screens for kids are somewhat controversial. Let’s face it, eventually your kids will be exposed to the iPad and various other tablets both adult and child friendly. It seems important to know about the various available tablets.
So here is the link to Consumer Reports’ info on tablets specifically for children.
The market for kids’ tablets is growing dramatically. Just two years ago, only 8 percent of children had access to a tablet at home. Today, it’s 40 percent!
Consumer Reports tested six tablets especially designed for children costing between 70 and 230.
You never expect toys to harm your child or grandchild but we know they can… so here is a list of toys that you might want to avoid as they pose a safety hazard to some children.
November 26, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — As the holiday shopping season begins, the Illinois Public Interest Research Group is out with its annual list of dangerous toys that parents should avoid.
Illinois PIRG: Trouble in Toyland Report
Shoppers hitting the stores this holiday season should look out for toys that can be harmful to children.
Children with special needs and parents get help with toy choices from aToys R Us website. Thank you Toys R Us.
Toys R Us toy guide for differently-abled kids makes it easier to find the right toys for a child with a disability. The prices range from $5 – $100.
The toy guide is available at all Toys R Us stores and can also be found online:
http://www.toysrus.com/differentlyabled
Help for Holiday Photography
This is a sponsored post by LightScoop. I was given a Lightscoop for my personal use.
It is holiday time.
Thanksgiving is here and most of us will be taking photographs indoors which require the use of flash.
When you introduce flash the quality of your photos can be affected and not in a positive way.
Enter Lightscoop, which will change the quality of your indoor photographs with you DSLR camera.
Click on the Lightscoop link on flickr to see the quality of the Lightscoop photos. http://www.flickr.com/groups/lightscoop_user/pool/
Lightscoop® is a smart low-tech device that creates soft, flattering light by redirecting your camera’s built-in flash to a ceiling or wall.
Don’t let your convenient little built-in flash flash ruin your photos with evil red eye, ugly shadows, hot spots, bleached out faces, underexposed colors, and blurry movement that exist only in your photographs, not in the real world.
Slip a Lightscoop® on your camera and never miss out on another fabulous picture! Lightscoop creates soft, natural light and lets you capture the scene the way you see it.
I cannot wait to use my Lightscoop at Thanksgiving and will post my photos afterwards.
In the meantime, take a look at Lightscoop’s website and get one for your holiday and everyday indoor photos.
What saying NO really means to kids.
Gingerbread Fun!
Interesting findings here with only 30+ children observed.
Kids gravitate to the things we as parents say NO to.
Now most of us realize this even though it may be on a subconscious level. The NO word only increases the risk that our kids and grandkids with go for the forbidden.
The important finding here is that if we say NO to certain foods our kids will only want those foods more…so in order to keep them away from non-nutritious foods we should decrease the opportunities where we have to say NO. Example being …not to have candy laying around the house and therefore we won’t have to say, “No, that is not good for you.”
Now good luck with the Holiday Season that is upon us…when we all have lots of treats around our homes. Now is a good time to begin to keep them at a minimum not just for our kids’ sake but our own as well.
For those of you who are familiar with the evidence base on parental feeding patterns it won’t come as a surprise to you that just saying “No” (restriction) isn’t a wise plan – yet there are many who feel that the ability of parents to “just say no” is a viable defense against our current food environment.
Kiss Goodbye to Holiday Stress
Kids and the Stress of the Holidays…
I know, what stress is it when you are a kid and looking forward to gifts and toys and all kinds of stuff that comes along with Christmas and Hanukah and other gift giving holidays?
The best way I think we can go about figuring out what might bother our particular children is to look at what bothers us and look back at what we “hated” about the holidays when we were their age.
Looking back with empathy…
Here are some of my memories…
- I hated leaving my own house on Christmas Day to visit relatives…Christmas Eve was okay but leave me alone with my gifts and my grandmother’s, who lived with us food on Christmas.
- Now my parents were divorced so it was somewhat contentious when I did not want to go visiting on Christmas. I was made to feel guilty for not wanting to dress up and go to my father’s family.
- I hated some of the awful presents that I received year after year from relatives who will remain nameless. Usually they were “regifts” like gloves that were too big and other awful stuff.
- I also hated having to kiss and hug various relatives that I hardly ever saw except for the Holidays.
Now granted I am a grandmother and I imposed some of my family rituals on my own kids but not many …we always had Christmas at home.
However, Christmas Eve was another story…we spent many Christmas Eves with a family that has adopted us since our own family is across the country.
Here are some holiday simplifying suggestions from our Montessori school, for you and your children…the kids may actually thank-you with their good behavior.
- Keep your television off as much as possible- your house will be quieter and the advertising will be less. Hopefully it will decrease how much you here these words…”I want…”
- Try to simplfy your own holiday expectations which might lighten your mood which is a wonderful gift to yourself and your family.
- Consider saying the word “No” more often when it comes to traveling…going to other homes for Christmas Day…no, to too many parties, decorations, too much food, too many presents. If there is something that you don’t like…try saying, “NO”.
- Consider being more “Green” when it comes to wrapping paper, cards and food. It is a good thing to teach your children and it is a way to limit some of the “stuff” that is just not important and that may just be driving you crazy.
- Gifts take on a life of their own during the Holidays…try asking for gifts to your children’s college fund instead of a gift that your child does not really need.
- Family traditions…you might want to begin some of your own traditions…you do not have repeat the traditions that you grew up with and those that your partner grew up with…how crazy does that get? Develop some of your own traditions that can combine what you both like best and that your kids like.
- Now about those holiday hugs and kisses…your child should not have to hug and kiss all relatives and friends that he does not even know or remember. What is this telling him…it is telling him this, when he is uncomfortable with certain people touching him…it is okay for him to just say hello and nothing else. Consider the message that we are teaching our kids and then leave the hugging and kissing up to them.
Puke Fest, Photography, Play
Puke Fest, I think all of us have experienced this but not to the extent of this mom. She has developed and shared a strategy for dealing with the flu in her family of six children.
Get some tips to be ready if “puke fest” comes to your home.
If you like taking photos of your family when they are not sick…this is a wonderful site that will take your photography to new level without even leaving your home. You will need a real camera…not just your phone. Have fun and enjoy the view.
Welcome! I am so excited that you are here and eager to learn more about photography! I want to share with you everything I have learned over the past couple of years and help you along your journey! Whether you just got your first DSLR or you have been shooting for years, we have something for everyone.
Play is one of the most important things our kids do that add positively to their growth and development. Here are six gifts that will encourage your child to direct their own play.
Learning to be a responsive play observer takes thoughtfulness, restraint and practice, but once we get this down, we’ll discover more delightful moments of joy, humor and surprise than we ever thought possible. And we need these daily parenting “bonuses” to balance the more difficult moments and break up the monotony. We’ll also get more guilt-free breaks from parenting because we’ve encouraged our children to hone their independent play skills in our presence (but that’s another post).
Fifty Years…Hard to Believe
JFK…Fifty Years
Marymount Academy, Tarrytown, New York
english class 1963…”the President has been shot”.
in Dallas Texas…
“Let’s say a prayer for him”…
an entire school utters a prayer…then…
“The President has died”
in Dallas Texas.
prayers unanswered…dreams shattered…a road less traveled…
not traveled at all…
flags at half staff…a nation mourning…
black and white television…a funeral…
a widow, a little daughter…
a son…saluting his Dad.
a riderless horse…
Taps…
an eternal flame.
senior class trip to Washington, D.C.
Arlington Cemetery …a white picket fence
flowers, a flame burning
all that is left of Camelot.
fifty years later…
Camelot has never returned…
only a daughter is left…along with
the memories of those of us
who remember…
where we were on November 22, 1963
when we heard the words
“President Kennedy has been shot!”