We were so happy to receive a parents choice award for our new CD – happy that we put our name in. We hope that this CD will help as many children as our original – we’d love to hear what you think!
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24
Feb
2012
New CD
So I got a very sweet quote from a little girl Eden today about Dream Child I wanted to share “I love the Judy CD because of all of the characters. The flowers are so happy and thankful for the sun and Mama Teddy Bear is so snuggly!” You can feel Eden’s personality in the way she speaks – makes me want to meet her!
I too think one of the best parts is that snuggly feeling from Mama Teddy Bear and it is fun to hear how they relate to the characters.
17
Oct
2011
Can Halloween Have a Deeper Meaning?
One tradition we have created is based on the original meaning of Halloween. It is considered the day that marked the time of year when the seasons were changing from the golden fall to the winter season, a time when we have the opportunity to connect in a deeper way with ourselves. With this change of the seasons, the celtics felt the veil between our departed and our world is the thinnest. Rather than experience that as a scary time, it was celebrated as an opportunity to remember our ancestors and accord them respect.
draw the family tree as a visual
So with that theme, my daughter Faith and I go through our family three on my side and my husband’s side. I use that time to tell her stories about my grandparents and also my husband’s father who died much too early and she never got to meet him. We talk about what traits may have been passed down from them to her and we give thanks as each generation paves the way for the next generation.
set up the idea that they have ‘gifts’ from the family that they can build on
In the car yesterday, Faith out of the blue said, ‘Isn’t everything amazing – I mean we can drive in cars, how do they get that part on the end of matches that makes a fire?’ All of the ease we experience in life is invention after invention building upon each other. And each generation builds upon each other so Halloween is a time when we remember to honour and celebrate our departed loved ones.
26
May
2011
My Child is a Pleasure
What a wonderful name for a book. And for me, having this child has definitely been my deepest pleasure – the touch of her skin, her exuberance, her wonder, her authenticity – I could go on and I am sure you could too.
This is a book by Diane Gossen on the process of restitution as a parenting approach. The concept is all about understanding your child’s needs and helping your child understand their needs – and are they going to meet their needs cheaply or deeply.
I feel inspired by this kind of parenting approach. It is not about controlling a child but more about connecting with our child. And the more connected we are, the less parenting issues and the more joy we experience.
For me, parenting is a continual journey of learning about myself and how to be a guide/support to my child.
I’d love to hear your favourite book.
24
May
2011
How to Easily Enroll Your Child
Children LOVE hearing stories, particularly children under 9 (but even those over 9 tend to still like stories). So whatever it is that you want to enroll your child to do, all you need to do is create a make believe story modeling what you want.
For example, if you want your child to be polite to guests when they visit your house. You can tell a simple story about the bear family – mama bear, father bear and their 2 cubs. Each cub can have an interesting personality to make the story more exciting. Your story can include one cub being rude to all the guests and some of the natural consequences of that (parents not being very keen to have that cub over for playdates with their cubs perhaps). Then how the cub learns to be kind and welcoming to guests and some natural consequences of that and how everyone felt when it all worked out.
Whenever I am stuck and trying to figure out how to teach something, I find this method helps my child learn in a way that is fun for them. From a science perspective, until age 9, a child’s cognitive brain is not well developed yet, so stories is a way they can retain the information more effectively. Also it creates a lovely connection time between us parents and our child…and forces us to use some creativity in our day….I find I even have fun with it and am sometimes surprised where the stories take us.
Why not try telling a story out and see what happens….it makes car rides much more fun.
20
May
2011
Seeing Your Child’s Gifts
Even when our children start getting older, they still adore the reassurance they have always taken for granted about how much they are loved. And what an important role we can play in seeing their gifts by reflecting to them what we are experiencing in their company.
I remember my mother telling me I could do anything I wanted to do. I shrugged her off, but I have to admit, that is one of the key voices in my head ‘I can do anything I want to do.’ We are creating voices in our children’s subconscious so we may as well make them positive ones.
Taking the time to watch our children and reflect what we see is the best kind of reinforcement as it is very specific so the child can tell it is true. For example, I noticed you put your plate into the dishwasher last night and tonight, you are such a great contributor to our household. Thank you. Or I loved the funny story you told at dinner, I love to laugh. You have a wonderful sense of humour. Catching them being thoughtful, kind, sharing is wonderful – just watch your child glow as you reflect back to them what you see.
12
May
2011
New Ways to Do Lullabies
The last thing my daughter wants to hear at bedtime is lullabies as she has no desire to go to sleep. That is why we created a CD that started out with faster energy and an appealing story and slows it down by the end on the CD. It is designed to match the children’s energy level and then guide them to sleep. Helping children sleep is our goal and we feel so happy hearing when it works.
11
May
2011
Creating baby music
Although we have many families enjoying our wonderful CD each night, the best music to a child’s ears are his parents voices. Singing your child a song before bed is the best for them. They are completely connected to you and so hearing their parent sing is a the best baby music. Also as you sing, it relaxes you and as the child is so connected to you, as you relax, they relax.
So tonight, turn off the computer and just sing to your child.
