Giveaway-revisited

Sorry folks, I received some feedback that the comments section of the blog is not working. So I will try to get that up and running and then do the giveaway again! I'm not that familiar with the blogging world but I will do my best to figure it out. Thanks for your patience!!

Quotable Kids

I repeatedly hear parents sharing funny quotes their kids have said, and I see them posted on facebook many times as well. What great memories you don't want to lose! Here's what I propose-write them down. You can keep notes on your smartphone, create a document, keep a journal, etc. But whatever you do, don't lose those precious words! Just recently I bought a book for each of my boys that's basically a journal to record quotes. It's called My Quotable Kid: A Parents' Journal of Unforgettable Quotes and each page includes speech bubbles to record funny or interesting things your kids say. My latest entry was for my youngest, Luke. My husband called him "Son" the other evening, and apparently he doesn't use that word much because Luke's response was "I'm not the sun, the sun is outside in the sky. I'm Luke!" Great one for the quote book.


And just to encourage you to find a way to write down these memories for future enjoyment, I'm going to give away 3 copies of My Quotable Kid. Leave a comment sharing something cute/interesting/funny your child has said or done and you will be entered in a drawing to receive a book!

Winners will be selected and announced on Saturday afternoon, so start sharing those memories!

kidSPACE Preschool

Twenty-five: that is the typical number of preschoolers (ages 2-5) that fill our downstairs each and every Sunday morning during Millersville's kidSPACE. For a church our size, that is a very significant number! The preschool age is such a wonderful time of exploration and discovery. You may have heard it said before that kids of these ages are sponges, and it is so true. They soak in everything you tell them, and in case you haven't noticed, things you don't tell them as well! Which is why what kids are taught, and how they're taught, is so critical. 

Dana and Sami Cook!

In kidSPACE we have three preschool classrooms: age 2, age 3, and ages 4,5. They all follow the same monthly theme but the activities they do are geared specifically towards their developmental abilities. Dana Cook is our preschool coordinator and does an amazing job leading a team of very dedicated preschool teachers and helpers. There are 6 leaders involved with our preschoolers each week, which results in around 24 different adults each month. We are humbled by their commitment to this very important age group. If you have a child in one of these classes, make sure to thank or do something special for your child's teachers this month!

Each Sunday the kids start out doing some introductory activities of the theme/lesson for the day. It's usually a high interest activity that gets them locked into the theme for the morning. To give you an example, this past Sunday kids played animal memory to introduce the theme for the day, which was God made animals. This is typically followed by the bible story for the morning and practice on their monthly bible verse. The morning concludes with hands-on application activities that help to "stick" lessons in the minds of the kids. So this past Sunday kids did activities like listening to animal sounds on a cd and guessing the animal, making animal puppets or fingerprint animals, or moving like animals. Teachers have a list of activities they get to choose from to close out the morning.



The 4,5 year olds wait to play a game.

On the first Sunday of each month parents receive a take home paper called Small Talk that outlines the monthly theme and weekly bible stories. If you are a preschool parent and miss that first Sunday there are extra copies of this paper hanging on the bulletin board in the preschool hallway. Feel free to pick one up! They also contain fun activities you can do at home to reinforce the bible stories and concepts kids learn each month.

         

Decorating Bear Cookies





The 3 year olds go fishing!



 



Ryan joins in the penguin race!











How to Lose (and Gain) Influence as a Parent

I wanted to share a great post written by another blogger, Carey Nieuwhof, a pastor in Canada. There's some great insight in here on building influence and trust with your kids-which is essential for establishing a positive relationship with them as they grow.

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Every parent wants influence, and while a parent is the greatest influence in a child’s life, that influence can wax and wane with the seasons.  In fact, a lot of parents I know feel like they’re losing influence.

Influence is something to pay attention to no matter what stage of parenting you’re at, because ultimately every parent is on a journey from control to influence.  We start out with almost complete control of a child’s life, but by the time our sons and daughters are 18 and ready to face life on their own, all we have left is influence.
This raises an important question: How exactly does influence work?  It works like this:
We listen most to the people we love the most.
Our kids inevitably do what you and I do: they listen most to the people they love the most. This means that as a parent, you need to establish an authentic, healthy relationship with your son or daughter if you hope be an influence in their lives.
Influence is easy to lose but takes time to build up.  Here are five easy ways to lose influence as a parent:

1. Threaten consequences, but never carry them out. Then your kids will know to never take you seriously.

2. Shame, guilt, and frustrate your children. Eventually they’ll want to get as far away from you as they can.

3. Try to be their best friend. Your kids need a parent more than they need another buddy. (As my friend Jeff Brodie says,  he’s never met a 15 year old looking for a 45 year old best friend.)

4. Treat your spouse poorly. Your kids will lose respect for you rapidly.

5. Be inconsistent.  If your kids never know where you stand, they’ll lose trust in you.

Influence can be lost quickly.  But how do you gain it?  How do you cultivate influence?  How do you create a healthy relationship that lasts?
While this isn’t an exhaustive list, here are five ways to increase the influence you have with kids:

1. Do what you said you were going to do when you said you were going to do it. It cultivates trust, confidence and even respect.

2. Enforce limits. Don’t think you’re helping your kids by letting them off the hook with commitments, boundaries and responsibilities.  One day, they’ll thank you for it.

3. Treat one anoher with kindness.  Treat the people closest to you with more kindness than anyone else (it’s natural, by the way, to do the opposite).

4. Don’t overindulge your kids. Let rewards be rewards. As a rule, you shouldn’t give your kids rewards for nothing, or for simply doing what’s expected of them.

5. Work on your own character.  When your kids see you developing your faith and character, you will have a greater impact on their lives.

If you think about it, the people who are gaining influence with you are probably exhibiting some of the characteristics just listed.  You love and respect them because they are responsible, kind, considerate people who stand for something and have a deep integrity.  The people who are losing influence in your life are people who are inconsistent and emotionally unhealthy.
While it takes discipline to develop your character and stick to sensible limits as a parent, over time, it will help you gain and keep influence with your kids.  And eventually, influence is all we have left with our kids in any event.