I truly enjoy summer vacation. But I have to admit, I love the routine and rhythm the school year brings my family. It always takes a bit of work right at the beginning to find where all the needs and wants are going to fit in that 24 hour pocket we call a day, but the reward is a much smoother day filled with intention.
What Ever Happened to Nap Time?
Recently, a participant in the Parenting with Positive Guidance Ecourse asked for a bit of advice. Her children had suddenly stopped napping and everyone was suffering from the consequences. Tired, grumpy kids. Frazzled, grumpy mom. What do you do?
Treasure Task: A Fun Way to Teach Kids New Jobs
When you’re teaching young children a new set of responsibilities, it can sometimes feel like you’ve suddenly become a task-master, constantly nagging them to hang their coats over here, or get their dishes to the sink, or put their toys away when they’re done. If you’ve told them once, you’ve told them eleventy million times, right?
Smooth Out Daily Transitions for Your Preschoolers
Woodrow Wilson once said, “If you want to make enemies, try to change something.” Transitions are all about change, and that is why they can be so challenging. While asking a child playing with legos to “please put on your shoes” may sound like a simple request to us, from a child’s perspective we are suddenly barging through the door into the comfortable world they’ve created through their play. We are not just asking them to put on their shoes, we are asking them to immediately stop something gratifying, something unfinished, and to reject their own desires and impulses and obediently comply. Not such a simple request anymore, is it?
Routines in the Summer?
Those “lazy days of summer” are finally here, and while summer is often synonymous with the lack of structure, it is actually a great time to evaluate the routines you implement with your children. [Read more…]