I want to raise kids who help others feel like they have value, something that’s in short supply in their selfie generation. That won’t happen on its own, so it’s up to me—and you other parents—to teach them and raise kids who are counter-culturally kind!
Dan Scott
No one in my house plays Fortnite and yet I seem to know a lot about it! How does that happen? Well, obviously it shows that the game is having a big impact on our culture. Perhaps this blog post will be helpful to families engaged in Fortnite, or even those of us who aren’t!
The Family Battle Royale
And just for fun – I don’t play Fortnite but I did try to play Roblox which Makayla is obsessed with playing – this is pretty much what happened:
Download your copy of the 2018 Advent Calendar here!
Sesame Street was right, Cooperation makes it happen! Chaos reigns when no one is getting along and everyone is trying to do their own thing. On the flip side, when everyone focuses their energy and cooperates so much more can be achieved. Here are a few practical tips for parents to help their kids start combining forces to do great things together:
Make it Happen!
Holidays are meant to be a break, a time when work and school go on the back burner, teams and clubs have a lull in the schedule (sometimes), families relax and enjoy extra time with the ones they love most. But we all know that holidays more often turn into stress-filled days trying to make everyone happy and counting down the minutes until you can go back to your normal 9 to 5.
This Thanksgiving, make sure you have at least one meaningful (and enjoyable!) moment with your kids. Block out a few hours or a whole day to enjoy age-old family traditions or make new ones with some of our favorite (and simple!)Thanksgiving ideas:
THANKSGIVING SCRAPBOOK. Have your kid pick their favorite family photo from this past year. Paste it to the middle of a scrapbook page and have each family member write what they are most thankful for around the photo. Continue the tradition next year (and the next) by adding one page/photo a year!
THANKSGIVING PUMPKIN. On November 1, place a pumpkin and a Sharpie® marker in the middle of your dinner table. Throughout the month, encourage your
family members to write the things they are most thankful for on the pumpkin.
THANKSGIVING TRIAL-RUN. If your last Thursday of November will be a hectic gathering of second cousins and great aunts, plan a mini-feast with just your immediate family on the first Thursday of the month! Have your kid(s) help out in the kitchen as you make smaller portions of your favorite Thanksgiving foods. Don’t forget the pie!
BRANCH OUT. If you are too far from your extended family to celebrate the big day together, make your Thanksgiving extra special by inviting others to join you. Local college students, an elderly neighbor, or even another family you know who is far from extended family are all people who might be needing a big feast.
TURKEY TROT. Many communities have a local fun run on Thanksgiving morning. It’s a great way to get outside and active during a time of year you might usually be confined indoors. If you don’t have a local Turkey Trot, organize one in your neighborhood. Don’t forget to bundle up and stretch!
How To Get Your Kids To Do What You Want
When I saw the title of the article I was so excited! Finally the answer I had been waiting for! Finally my kids were going to listen to me! I clicked on it and well…here’s a snippet of the post:
If we want our kids to pick up after themselves, they need to see us doing that.
If we want our kids to be responsible on social media, they need to see us posting responsibly.
If we want our kids to have a day of rest, then they need to see us resting.
If we want our kids to read more, then we need to read more and let them catch us doing it.
If we want our kids to eat healthier, exercise more, speak politely, have healthy boundaries with technology, not get angry, or have a practical faith—then we need to model these things.
Because your children will follow your example, not just your opinion.
I wasn’t as excited to see that I had some work to do! But it was a great article and gave me a lot of food for thought. Read the whole thing here
Training your brain to get off the detour down Discontentment Drive and redirecting it up Appreciation Avenue is going to take you to the Land of Contentment where you’re happy with what you’ve got because you realize you’ve got a lot to be happy about.
Read more at parentcue.org
My two year old takes a nap at about 4pm. He is awake until about midnight. I need a better routine! If you are like me, check out this article from NBC News.
12 Tips to master your kids’ morning routine and eliminate stress
As we talk about being content this month, perhaps it’s a good time to engage your kids in fun and educational games that teach them the basics of money management.
Get ready to continue the conversation about family values regarding money as you have fun together!
There are three kits – one for preschool, elementary and middle/high school: Click here to download the kits.
COMPARISON IS THE THIEF OF CONTENTMENT
By Liz Hansen
“Gracie gets super excited when her big brother comes into the room and calls out ‘bubba!’ Plus she says ‘doggy’ and ‘book’ and ‘ball’ and ‘milk.’ She’s just so bright and never stops chattering!”
My Facebook friend was enthusing about her 9-month-old.
My 15-month-old son was currently stuck on “dada” for everything. Even “mama,” which had shown up for awhile, had dropped out of the rotation.
I gritted my teeth and scrolled down past another friend’s professional family photo shoot in a sunset meadow.
We may have a gazillion photos of my son—but only a scant few iPhone snapshots of the three of us together. My husband, a filmmaker, hates being in front of the camera.
It didn’t help when yet another post in the feed showed actual modeling shots of an out-of-state friend’s toddler.
My kid is seriously cute. But his cry face (which rivals Claire Danes’ on Homeland) isn’t going to be selling overpriced fruit and quinoa puree pouches any time soon.
I finally did what I should have done ten minutes before. I closed Facebook, took a deep breath, and tried to assess the unsettled knot tumbling around inside me.
Envy.
Worry.
Discontent.
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”
“Comparison is the thief of contentment,” is equally true.
Before becoming a parent, I was continually tempted to compare myself to others: My writing, my run times, my interior decorating (or lack thereof), my homemade pizza. I could always find a quick shortcut to discontentment.
Now, as a parent, I face a whole new set of temptations to engage in comparison.
Child Development
MILESTONES: those stony, immovable pillars of speech and motor skills and pretend play. Stop eating those wood chips, kid. Don’t you see the other toddlers climbing the slide on their own? I mean, you’re deep-sixing a full-ride scholarship to college right now. And that’s bad news based on the state of your college fund.
Musical Talent
If you’re going to be a musical prodigy, you should be able to pick out tunes on the piano by now. Your cousin was singing do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do at 18 months. And please, you have to sit at the piano, don’t stand on the keys!
Self-confidence
This is the church toddler room, not Alcatraz. See all the fun toys? And look at the other babies. They’re all happy and smiling because they love Jesus. They want to play nicely until their mommas come back. They aren’t howling and clinging to anyone’s leg.
My son starts pre-school in a few months. (How is that even possible?) While I know it’s important for him to spend time learning to get along with other kids, I’m painfully aware it will open up many new avenues for comparison.
What if he doesn’t behave as well as the other kids?
What if my room snacks aren’t Pinterest enough? (Not to mention his lunches…)
What if I don’t look as good as all those moms in the drop-off line who are ten years younger than me?
Comparison is the moving sidewalk you wander onto, the one that whisks you 50 yards away to a bad place before you take a step. It’s always right there, just one tiny thought away, ready to slide you silently, deeply into a mire of discontent.
Contentment, simply speaking, is choosing to be happy with what you’ve got. It’s relying on God to give you the power to control your thoughts. To recognize comparison when it creeps in and to rip it up by the roots before it can grow. It’s learning to live in a state of gratitude for even the smallest things.
I still want my son to be an early and avid reader, a musical prodigy, an enthusiastic young hiker, an independent spirit. But aside from teaching him to love God and love others, the greatest gift I can give him is to model contentment. If he can learn to see and find joy in even the smallest, simplest things God has given him, he’s found something of far more value than performing a cello recital by age three.
And when I see him fully absorbed in a dandelion or mesmerized by a trail of ants… I think he may already be further along that path than I am.
About the Author:
Elizabeth Hansen has worked as a script writer and story developer for Orange since 2011. She holds an MFA in screenwriting from Regent University and writes for Feature Presentation, Get Reel, FX, and more. Elizabeth and her husband, David, write and produce films through their company, Arclight Studios. They have one son and live in Canton, Georgia.