Some may think that preschoolers are too young to understand the story of Christmas. See what these preschool children believe! It is precious, and enlightening as well.

It’s that time of year again, when tombstones and ghouls invade the neighborhood, replacing the cheerful colors of the summer past with death’s darker theme in orange and black. I have not celebrated Halloween for twenty-six years, and I barely endured the holiday before that. When my children were very young, I thought I’d be a good mommy and do the deed. I sewed cute costumes for them. The kindergartner was a rabbit, the four-year-old a lion, and the toddler was a teddy bear. I bought candy for my husband to hand out to the neighborhood, while I trudged through freshly fallen snow with my small troop. My son wouldn’t keep his jacket zippered, though, because lions don’t wear jackets. The next day, all three were sick in bed, and my son wound up with pneumonia.

Personal views aside, just what is Halloween, and what does it teach our children? Is it really a harmless custom, allowing the children to dress up and engage in make-believe? Or could it be more sinister? If I were to write a lesson plan for Halloween, what concepts would the children be learning? Perhaps, my list might include…

Concepts Children May Learn from Halloween

• People die and are buried in the ground.
• We put tombstones on the grave to mark the place.
• We write irreverent poems on the tombstones.
• Ghosts and goblins haunt cemeteries.
• Black cats are a sign something bad is going to happen.
• Some people turn into vampires when they die, and drink blood.
• Witches are ugly and cast spells on us.
• Some witches eat children. (Remember Hansel and Gretel?)
• It’s okay to knock on the doors of strangers and beg.
• It’s okay to take candy from a stranger.

Now, is there anything on that list that you actually want your child to learn?

Research Suggests Halloween is Scarier Than You Think

Dr. Cynthia Dell Clark, Associate and Fellow of the Center for Children and Childhood Studies, conducted a three-year study on the effects of Halloween on young children. She writes that parents underestimate the effect of Halloween horror on young children. While we realize that it is all just make-believe, young children have a harder time differentiating between imaginary and real.

And Halloween is definitely getting scarier! When we were children, costumes were usually home-made. We dressed up like characters in books or cartoons. You might have met Superman, Snow White, and Rin Tin Tin knocking on your door. These days, vampires and zombies far outnumber the more benign beings. That young children even know what vampires or zombies are, is something I find unbelievably tragic.

The CDC reports that children are four times more likely to be hit by a car on Halloween than any other time of the year. Children have also been known to suffer eye injuries from their costumes, or burns from flammable costumes. Some face paints have been found to be toxic, yet masks pose a greater threat by obstructing the child’s vision.

When I taught in public school, children start anticipating Halloween as soon as the costumes and candy went on display – around the middle of September. The school encouraged it, with teaching Halloween songs and poems, writing and reading Halloween stories, and talking about what to be for the party. By the time the last week of October rolled around, the children were so wound up, that very little education actually took place. Finally, we dismissed them on Friday afternoon, so they could spend the weekend on a sugar-high, often with the non-custodial parent.

Then, right away in November, we began the cycle again with Thanksgiving songs and poems, Thanksgiving stories to read or write, and a Thanksgiving party to plan. When December arrived, no one had much enthusiasm or energy left to handle Christmas. Santa Claus got a little attention, Jesus got none, and we all looked forward to January when “life could return to normal”.

So before you do your share to contribute to the shaky economy by purchasing quantities of candy and costumes, just step back and reflect for a few moments. Is this something you really want your child to learn?

Relating Reading Material:

• Who Is Raising Your Child: Battling the Marketeers for Your Child’s Heart and Soul by Laura J. Buddenburg, Kathleen M. McGee
• “Mommy, I’m Scared”: How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do to Protect Them by Joanne Cantor PH.D.
  
• Satan, You Can;t Have My Children: The spiritual warfare guide for every parent by Iris Delgado
  
• The Anxiety Cure for Kids: A Guide for Parents by Elizabeth DuPont Spencer, Robert L. Dupon, Caroline M. DuPont

Photo Credits:
Top: photo by Dkprincess6
Middle: photo by Paul Stumper
Bottom: photo by Andre Chinn

Thumbs are such cute little digits! They are not straight and boney like fingers, or scrawny and wrinkly like toes. Thumbs are nice and plump and rounded, and shaped almost exactly like a pacifier! They just naturally seem to fit in the mouth. Frankly, at times, I’m sorry that I ever gave up thumb-sucking, as it can have such a calming effect. Instead, many adults opt to rely on medication, alcohol or cigarette smoking to deal with life’s stressful bumps.

When do Children Start Thumb-Sucking?

Some babies begin sucking their thumb in the womb. Most infants will suck a thumb of finger between birth and about six months of age. Parents may prefer to encourage the child to suck on a pacifier instead, as they think that it is less likely to cause dental problems, and it will be easier to break the habit one day. After all, you can’t just throw the thumb out, like you can do with the collection of pacifiers.

Why Children Suck Their Thumbs

Babies have a natural urge to suck. It’s part of their survival instinct, along with their instinct to cry. No one has to teach them these behaviors, it just comes naturally. When they cry, a basic need is met. They are fed, or changed, or held, or made more comfortable by adding or removing clothing. When babies suck, they receive nourishment from either a breast or bottle, but they also receive comfort. A parent or caregiver holds the baby (propping the bottle is not a safe or recommended practice) while feeding them, often rocking the child, and maybe singing softly. As the child is fed, the child becomes calm, and may even fall asleep. So some children, when they are anxious, suck a thumb to self-calm themselves. Even though they do not receive nourishment, they still feel comforted.

Is Thumb-Sucking Wrong?

No! There is absolutely nothing wrong with a young child sucking his or her thumb! Doctors and dentists agree that it is best not to try to break the child of the habit before age five. After kindergarten, it may be a good idea to work with the child to help him or her break the habit themselves, but only if the child is willing. Most children quit sucking their thumbs on their own by the time they are seven or eight years old.

Won’t Thumb-Sucking Damage My Child’s Teeth?

Maybe. Not necessarily. The child can generally suck his thumb for four or five years without causing permanent damage. Some children are very aggressive suckers, so much so that they rub blisters on their thumbs and the roof of their mouth. They are more at risk for creating dental problems. Even then, sometimes the dental problem fixes itself as soon as the sucking stops.

Thumb suckers may also develop a lisp when talking, having difficulty pronouncing certain letters, like “T” or “D”. However, lisping also occurs among children who do not suck their thumbs.

Won’t The Other Children Poke Fun of My Child?

Preschool children are still in the learning stage when it comes to behavior. They won’t poke fun of a child for sucking his thumb, unless someone has taught them to do so. It is up to the parent or caregiver to teach the young child to respect the feelings of others. You can talk with your child about his thumb-sucking habit. You can encourage him to suck his thumb only at home, but in the end, you may not always be around him to remind him of the rule. It is at the times when he is away from you – visiting a friend or going to a new Preschool – when he is more likely to need the comfort his thumb provides.

But Thumb-Sucking is Such a Dirty Habit!

If you’ve read my posts before, you know how I feel about dirt. Children need it. They should be allowed to dig in it, roll in it, play in it, maybe even eat a little of it. That is how they learn. I also believe that young children need to be taught how to wash their hands, and when to wash them. If your little thumb-sucker’s dirty thumb bothers you, keep a bottle of handi-wipes around and periodically swab the offending digit.

My Friends and Relatives Keep Telling Me My Child is Too Old to Suck His Thumb

How you raise your child is your affair. Telling friends and family to keep their opinion to themselves can be difficult, but it is better to hurt their feelings than your child’s. They are grown-ups, after all, and will get over it. If they don’t, you might suggest they try sucking their thumb, too.

Photo Credits:
Top: photo by Angie M. Photography
Middle: photo by Dawnzy58
Bottom: photo by Spiritinme

We live in a technological society. A generation ago might have seen a computer in the home, but today’s families may have multiple desktops, laptops, and handheld devices, along with cellphones, iphones, ipads, and ebook readers. Today’s preschool child can even get his picture books on a Nook Color. When is progress no longer a step forward? Could there be a time when we advance too far, that it hampers our natural development?

How Children Learn

All of the great philosophers, educators, psychiatrists and caregivers of young children agree that children learn best by doing. They explore the world through their five senses. They touch, taste, see, smell, and hear everything, to gain understanding. When a child has touched, tasted, smelled, heard, and seen something long enough, then he is no longer interested in it. We adults see that as a “short attention span”. Instead, we should praise the child for having discovered so much so quickly!

How then, do computers fit in the Early Childhood program? A child can touch a computer, certainly. He can see it, although most of the type on the screen is far too small, causing eye strain and potential damage to his young eyes. Some programs have sounds, although few children are listening to symphonies, but rather a series of silly bleeps and bops of whatever simplistic game a developer created who may not have any idea what really appeals to children. Computers don’t taste very good, and if your computer smells, then it might be time to replace it.

Game Developers May Not Be Qualified

Preschool teachers have gone to college. They have a degree, and they have learned something about the young child. They are qualified to prepare lesson plans for your preschooler, that will be educational and beneficial. There is no such regulation for computer software developers. They do not have the qualifications to teach your child. Depending on a computer game to teach your child would be tantamount to hiring a high-school dropout to babysit. The drop-out might do an excellent job, but it is unlikely.

That said, more and more young children are using computers! Public libraries and preschools have computers available for little children. Parents and grandparents are buying laptops and computerized toys. Even gaming systems have latched onto this growing market, creating video games for the younger set. So the question no longer is “Should Young Children Use Computers,” but rather… preschoolers are already using computers, therefore, “What computer and video games are right for them?”

New Games Page Added

I have added a new page to this blog, “Games”. In it, I will list computer games as I find them, play them, and rate them. The top table will list games that are acceptable, and rated on a scale of one to five stars, with three stars being the average. (I have yet to find a five-star game.) The second table lists the game sites that I would not let my granddaughter play, and why. I will continue to add to this page as time permits. If you have a favorite game, please share it in the comments section, and I will review that, as well.

As a final note – keep computer usage to a minimum. Certainly, no more than fifteen minutes a day. Then have your child go outside to play, to relax his eyes, and work his muscles. You will have a healthier child for it.

Related Reading:
Kids and Computers
Backyard Sandbox

Photo Credits:
Top: photo by Oleg1975
Middle: photo by Debora Austin
Bottom: photo by Randen Pederson

The January Blues is a milder form of depression often referred to as “Cabin Fever”. You and your child may begin to feel trapped inside your home – no matter how lovely it is. You dream of summer beaches, picnics, cook-outs, fishing, and spending time with your family. Guess what? You can do all those things in the winter, too! The main cause of January Blues (If you live in the northern hemisphere) is a lack of sunlight.

I always wonder at people who hate the winter but live where it snows. Seems to me they have two choices: Move someplace warmer, or learn to enjoy the snow. To continue to live where you are unhappy should not even be an option! For your own mental health, and that of your family, do something about this today. This article and the next will help you learn ways to break the chains that imprison you.

Get Outside and Enjoy the Weather

The first rule to enjoying winter is to dress warmly. You cannot enjoy yourself if you are shivering. I covered the importance of long underwear and layering in an earlier article, Getting Ready for Winter. Another tip is to try to stay dry. As soon as your clothing gets wet, you can get chilled. So don’t sit directly on the snow. Sit on a plastic sled or tarp, unless your stay outside will be brief.

The second rule is to get a minimum of 20 minutes of sunshine on as much skin as you can bare, daily, which seems to contrast with rule number 1. You do not want to get chilled, but if it’s not windy and you can take off your hat, scarf or mittens for a little bit, do so. Lift your face to the sun. Go outside at noon, when the sun is brightest – which is the opposite of summer warnings, when you need to avoid the sun’s more direct damaging rays. I was very fortunate in one home to have an inner atrium that was completely protected on four sides. It was a small space – about fourteen feet square – that was exposed to the sun but not the wind. I could sit out there in a swimming suit at noon in February! At least, some of the time. I don’t know why more homes aren’t built like that, other than the fact it was terribly inefficient to heat.

Take Your Child Sledding

This is the most basic winter activity. As soon as a child sees the first snowflakes falling, he’s already dreaming of long sled rides, massive snowmen, incredible snowball fights, playing King of the Mound, or making Snow Ice Cream. Rediscover your own inner joy at the change of the seasons! Get yourself a snowsuit. Next time you take your child to the hill, don’t just stand there and watch. Hop on the sled with him and enjoy yourself! Don’t tell me you’re too old. Norman Vaughn is said to have competed in the Iditarod at the age of 100. Min Bahadur Sherchan climbed Mount Everest at 76, and Sue Oldham swam the English Channel at 61. Age is relative. You’re as old as you think you are. Play with your children, and discover your own fountain of youth.

Picnics Are Great in the Winter Too

Take a picnic! You can get fancy, packing charcoal briquettes and grilling hamburgers, or make it easy and pack thermoses of soup and cocoa. Bring a broom to sweep off the picnic table and slides. Roast marshmallows around the glowing coals. (Bring your own hand wipes, because the park bathrooms are usually closed.) Feed the ducks (cracked corn is better than stale white bread). Slides are just as much fun in the winter, and even slippery-er with snowpants on.


Take Up a Winter Sport As a Family

Discuss the possibilities in your area, and chose at least one as a family. There is a lot to chose from, including ice skating, snowboarding, cross-country or downhill skiing, mushing, snow shoeing, ice fishing, and winter camping. If its skating, get everyone skates. Once a week, minimum, head out to the skating rink together and practice. You can read picture books to your youngsters about ice skating. Watch skating movies. Get yourself a cute little skating outfit. Enjoy it!

Continue Your Summer Sports Training with a Club Membership

If you have a summer sport you really enjoy, such as cycling or swimming, you can keep that up, thanks to the spread of indoor gym facilities. We recently joined the YMCA in our city, which is very reasonably priced. They have swimming lessons all winter long, and plenty of open-swim times so we can practice between lessons. There are cycling classes, badminton classes, even family karate classes. The benefit to training all winter long, is that you’ll be in shape to enjoy your summer sport that much more once the snow melts.

Air Out Your Home Frequently

We make our homes air-tight to save on heating costs in the winter, but that can lead to poor indoor air quality. Periodically open a window for a bit to bring in fresh air. Vacuum often, replace furnace filters, wash sheets and bedding at least once a week and use dust mite covers, air out or clean mold-prone areas of the home, and keep plenty of houseplants. Not only will they freshen the air, but they might give you an emotional boost as well with their fresh, spring-like colors. Take a Vacation Someplace Warm If your blues get really bad, or happen every year about the same time, you might consider making a vacation to a sunny beach part of your family tradition. Whether you chose a condo in Miami, or a local motel with a heated swimming pool and water slides, do something warm, wet and wonderful together.

Houseplants Help Improve Indoor Air Quality

Fix Up the Cabin

Finally, if you just have to be stuck inside your “cabin” during the height of cabin fever, then fix it up. Make a change. Paint some walls or rearrange the furniture. Get rid of stuff to create more space. Sew some new curtains. Shampoo the carpets. Hang some new artwork. Anything you can do to spruce up your home will help you to enjoy the time you spend there. And if you’re happy, your entire family will be happier.

Related Reading
Getting Ready for Winter
Ten Snow Day Activities for Children
Ten Rainy Day Activities for Children

Credits:
Sad Boy: photo by Kevin Pack
Sledding: photo by Chris Sampson
Winter Picnic: photo by Timo Newton-Syms
Houseplants: photo by Jennifer Feuchter

If you are like many parents, you look forward to Christmas with a mixture of joy and panic. You just can’t wait to see the happy faces on your little ones as they tear into their presents! You pray you got them something they will really love and enjoy for years to come. You imagine a perfect day worthy of a Hallmark movie, yet past experiences have somehow fallen short of your expectations. Sound familiar?

You can have a wonderful holiday! It just needs a little more planning, realistic expectations, and a good night’s sleep for everyone. Planning? Yes! Perfect moments rarely just happen, but are the result of careful thought and preparation. The age-old axiom holds true: “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” Maybe you’d like to print that out in bold and tape it to your refrigerator. Over the coming year we’ll focus more on setting goals and planning for success – as parents, as spouses, as children, as employees or employers, and even as human beings. But for now, we will focus on planning just one day, so you and yours may truly be blessed with a Merry Christmas!

Step One: Plan the menus.

Don’t just plan the main meal! Whether you will have guests or just the immediate family, they will need three meals, and maybe even two or three snacks. By planning all the meals ahead of time, you will ensure that you don’t run out of bread or milk or a necessary ingredient on a day when most grocery stores will be closed. Your plan doesn’t have to be fancy – just complete. If you are serving a big family meal, then the other two meals can be small and simple.

Here’s a sample menu of what I have done in the past, and will probably do again this year:
Breakfast: simple, help-yourself cinnamon rolls and juice or coffee.
Brunch: Sausage Muffins, Cantaloupe and Strawberries, Hashbrown Potatoes, Hard-Boiled Eggs, Champagne and a box of chocolates.
Dinner: Ham, Pineapple Dressing, Green Beans with Almonds, any left-over fruit from brunch, or the rest of the chocolates.
Snacks: informal – the kids ate whatever they got in their Christmas stockings throughout the day. Juice (slightly watered down) is available, as well as cheese and crackers, for when even the kids had enough sugar.

My kids never got sugary cereals, and we rarely had pop tarts, donuts, or other low-nutrient, high-calorie food. The first time I served a box of chocolates with brunch, the kids all looked at me as though I’d grown extra eyeballs and turned green. They couldn’t believe I’d let them eat something so non-nutritious! It quickly became our Christmas tradition, a celebration of mom’s ability to relax and let the kids be kids.

I serve breakfast and brunch on paper plates. It’s my holiday, too, and I don’t want to spend it all in the kitchen! As soon as my children were old enough, they were helping me with brunch. The sausage muffins can be made weeks ahead of time and frozen. The dinner menu was fairly simple, but I would use our Christmas dishes, setting the table and washing up by myself, so the kids could play. By the end of the day, they’d be pretty worn out and less agreeable, so I expected less from them.

Step two: Plan the Activities

Will you be going to church? Where, and what time? Will you be visiting relatives or friends or shut-ins? What other activities would you like to do during the day? Although you spent weeks selecting gifts and many hours wrapping them, the total time it takes the kids to unwrap them is usually under an hour. They’ve been so looking forward to Christmas for so long, they’re probably quite wound up. Don’t let them experience that let-down, “it’s all over, now what do we do” feeling before the sun has even cleared the eastern horizon!

You don’t need to be fancy. Your activities don’t need to involve more money spent or more driving. Have some variation, some sit-down-quietly type activities and some run-around-outside activities. Maybe you’ll want to play a family game together, then go out and make a snowman. Or make some popcorn and watch the new DVD together, then paint a group picture on the window with soap paint. Find something a bit out of the ordinary, and make it part of your tradition.

Step three: Let the Family In on the Secret

Little children especially do better when they know what to expect. Talk about the holiday with them several times before it arrives. Let them know what they’ll be doing, and when. You can even ask them for their input, see if the games you’ve chosen or activities you’ve considered are something they think they will like. If you are getting them all ice skates for Christmas, then you may want to flood the backyard several nights in a row about a week before, so they’ll be able to try out the new skates. If you’re trying to keep the skates a secret, you’ll need to come up with some excuse for the ice. Depending on their ages, you might try something like, “it’s a new landing pad for the reindeer”, or “a water main sprung a leak and flooded our yard while you were at school”.

My Christmas Traditions

Our day usually went something like this: We would have gone to Midnight Mass the night before, so mom and dad wanted to sleep in. The kids were allowed to get into their Christmas stockings as soon as they awoke, but they could NOT get out of their bedrooms. They could go into each other’s bedrooms, if they wanted to talk or play together, but no one was allowed to wake mom and dad until seven o’clock. When they were younger, we would have breakfast, then the gift exchange. Later, two of us would be attending Mass yet again, as we were needed to provide the music. I play piano, and all four of my children and my husband sing beautifully. While I was at Mass, the remaining three children would prepare the brunch. After brunch came the gift exchange. We take our time to exchange gifts. We drag it out, opening our gifts one at a time, celebrating with one another over each present. When they were preschoolers, though, it was the traditional rip and tear mayhem.

After the gift exchange, all gifts are returned under the tree for now. We pick up the wrappings, and make sure that no little pieces are thrown in the trash. I put the Christmas trash in a separate bag, and place it in a closet instead of the garage, just in case we have to go digging through it for directions to a new game, or some other small piece. The gifts often stayed under the tree until the thank-yous were written or spoken to the relatives, but this was not a hard and fast rule. The children were allowed to play with their new things right away.

Next, they wanted to play. We sometimes played a game together, but not many board games are fun for six players. Monopoly seems to drag on forever with that many people! Usually we would break up into two groups, but played near each other, trading places between games.

We’d snack on chocolate or peanuts or cookies or cheese and crackers throughout the day, and finish off the champagne (mom and dad) and coffee and juice. Later in the afternoon, younger children and mom and dad took naps. Older children preferred to crash in front of the tv with a new movie. Don’t allow your young children to skip naps, thinking that “just this once” won’t harm them. They probably didn’t sleep well the night before Christmas, and they surely were up earlier Christmas morning than normal. They need the rest, or they may behave badly the rest of the day.

After naps we usually went outside to go sledding, or if there was enough snow, to play in it, build a snowman or fort, or stage a major snowball fight. The years we lived down south without snow, it was still important to get out for a bit of fresh air.

After dinner we’d gather around the piano to sing favorite Christmas carols, and then finally sit by the Christmas tree with all the houselights turned off, and just talk. My kids loved Christmas at our house! They have happy memories, and I do, too! This year, although they are all college-age or older, they will be coming home for Christmas yet again. We look forward to sharing the best of our Christmas traditions with my grandchild.

Recipes

Sausage Muffins
(These are also not-good-for-you delicious muffins. They are undoubtedly very high in saturated fats, but we only have them on special holidays.)
1 pound of sausage (we like it hot!)
2 cups shredded cheese
2 cups of baking mix (like Bisquick)

Mix all together. It’s very dry, and works best if you mush it together with your fingers. Little children can help with this, but do not let them taste the raw dough. Roll the mixture into small, one-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. They do not rise or spread, so the balls can be fairly close together. Bake at 325 degrees for half an hour, until done. They should be lightly golden brown, but not crispy. At this point, you can either eat them, or freeze them in air-tight containers for up to a month. Reheat at 325 degrees until thawed and warm through.

Pineapple Dressing
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can crushed pineapple, juice and all
(about 20 ounces, I think)
4 cups bread, cubed

Mix in the order given. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve immediately. The left-overs are also good served cold for breakfast. Can use whole-grain breads. It is not necessary to remove the crusts. Day-old, slightly stale bread is fine, too.

Related Reading:
Building Family Through Tradition
Children in Church

Photo Credits:
Unwrapping the Gifts: by Phil Campbell
Christmas Feast: by Merete Veian
Playing Candyland with Mommy: by Zepfanman
Sledding with Children: by Jeremy McWilliams

Winter is nearly upon us – and some are already shoveling out from the first of many winter storms. Those of us who have always lived in the northern climes may be old hands at preparations, but in this mobile society, there are some who do not really know how to prepare for the cold season ahead. So for them, or as a “refresher checklist” for the rest of us, here are some suggestions:

Wear Long Underwear

Unpack the long johns, or stock up on them if you don’t have any. Also called “long underwear” or “thermal underwear”, these should be standard garb for anyone who doesn’t like to be cold. You can buy them in cotton blends, which is okay if you are mostly going to be wearing them around the house. Cotton isn’t good for outdoor winter sports, though, as cotton absorbs the sweat and holds it next to your skin, which will make you cold. For outdoor sports enthusiasts, invest in either wool (some find it scratchy) or nylon thermal underwear. You can find both at sports stores like Dick’s Sports, Gander Mountain, and Bass Pro shops. The more common cotton long johns can be found at most major department stores, and in a variety of colors and cute prints. I’ll add that the silk ones are very thin, and don’t make you look ten pounds heavier, but they will keep you toasty warm even if your home is drafty or your spouse insists on setting the thermostat lower than you’d like. It is MUCH cheaper to wear long johns than to heat your house to 72 degrees, and another benefit – if you’re wearing long johns, then every time you have to run out to the car, you don’t get as chilled. I love winter, but I hate feeling chilled.

Dress smart – layer clothes.

Over the long johns, wear a turtle neck, flannel or cotton knit long sleeved shirt. Then a vest or pullover sweater, then your coat. Long johns on the legs, then either pants or a skirt, and snow pants if you are going to be outside for any length of time. Boots are best if you get the kind with thick felt inserts. No zippers in boots, as snow gets in the zipper, melts and chills your foot. Also, frozen zippers break.

You must wear a hat, if you don’t want to be cold. We lose a lot of heat through our head. The hat is easy to pull off if you start to feel too warm, or pull on when you feel chilled. Train your children to wear hats. Spoil them with the hats they want, so they’ll wear them. I know it isn’t “cool” to wear hats in high school, but frost bitten ears is so not cool, either.

And finally – mittens! Gloves are okay if you are driving, but your fingers will be warmer if kept all together. Knit mittens are fine for going places, but for outdoor play, you’ll want thicker mittens – leather with liners, or poly-filled nylon. Do not allow yourself to sweat. Remove layers, loosen layers, or button them back up as needed to keep warm without sweating. Be warned! If you plan to do some outdoor camping, that many outdoor clothes are not flame-retardant! The typical nylon ski or snowmobile suit will melt to your skin. Wool is best for camping.

Get a boot dryer.

Unless you have slab heat in your floors, your boots may be wet inside all winter. Boot dryers are cheap and practical. You slip an inverted boot over the the post, which gently circulates warm air to the inside of the boot. Wet boots stink and won’t keep your feet warm.

One -Piece Snowsuits Are Best for Young Children

One-piece snowsuits are better for young children, but harder to find. Most stores now sell snow pants that fit like overalls- coming up over the shoulder, then a separate jacket. That is so the child can wear just the jacket if not going to play outside, but when is that? Schools send children out for recess every day, until the temp is 3 degrees below zero. Then they stay inside. If your child has a one-piece snowsuit, he won’t ever go outside without the pants part.

Wear socks or slippers in your house.

If your feet are warm, you will feel warmer all over. Don’t pad around barefoot like you did in the summer. Winter can be a time to pamper your feet. Slough off the hard callouses, rub in some thick moisturizing cream, and wear slippers. By spring time, your feet will be pretty again.

Putting Clear Plastic Over Your Windows Can Cut Down on Drafts

If your house is drafty (most are), you may want to plastic the windows. This is best done sometime after Halloween and before Thanksgiving in many northern areas. Some plastic goes up on the outside with a staple gun. Some types of plastic go up on the inside with double-stick tape and a hair dryer. The plastic can cut down drastically on drafts, save on your heating costs, and keep you all more comfortable. However, it does cut down somewhat on the light in your house, which affects people with SAD (seasonal adjustment disorder). With the plastic, wearing long johns and slippers, you can be warm inside with the thermostat set somewhere between 65-68 degrees.

Winterize your car.

Check the radiator fluid, the air in the tires, the washer fluid. Cheap washer fluid can ice up and won’t clear your windows once a semi sloshes muddy water on your car. Hardware stores and auto parts stores sell a more expensive washer fluid that won’t freeze. If you can afford it, make sure the undercarriage of your car has been rust-proofed. Road salt chews away at cars in the north. If you can’t afford that, then make sure you wash your car often in the winter. The car wash bays are open except on the coldest days.

You will also want to prepare an emergency kit for your car, in case you become stranded. There are many guides and lists of appropriate items to include, like bottled water, hard sugar candies (for energy), blankets, flash light, first aide kit, and more. Keep this in your car all winter long! And don’t forget the jumper cables. Every car that drives in cold weather should carry a set of jumper cables. You might never need them, but they cost under fifteen dollars at most stores, while a single tow to the garage can run closer to two hundred.

Finally, depending on the type of car you have, you may want to put sand bags in the trunk over the rear axle. You do not do this for front-wheel drive vehicles! But especially in pick-up trucks. The extra weight gives you better traction on slippery roads, and if your tires do become stuck, you can split open the sand bag and sprinkle it under your tires. You can find sand sausages at many garages and auto parts stores for around $7.00 apiece.

Stock Up on Ice-Melt

Get some fertilizer to sprinkle on your front door step to melt the ice. Some homes use salt, which is harmful for the environment. Fertilizer works, too, and won’t damage your lawn. It’s still not great for the environment, but its better than salt. Plain sand works, too, and many people mix sand and fertilizer for ice-melt. You will need a snow shovel and maybe an ice chopper for the sidewalks. If you don’t keep your sidewalk shoveled and ice free, you can get a ticket if you live in town.

Get Outside, Get Involved in Winter Sports

Finally, check the resale stores for used ice skates, snow sleds, snow boots, extra scarves, hats, mittens, etc. If you don’t want to hate winter, and suffer SAD (seasonal adjustment disorder, a type of depression that affects northerners from lack of sun exposure in the winter) then get outside and enjoy the snow! EVERY DAY. If you have little ones, take them to the playground. Slides work just as well in winter, yet the playgrounds are ghost towns once school starts. Snow suits make slides even faster than sweaty summer legs in shorts.

Photo Credits:
Making Snowballs: by Andrew Eick
Shoveling Snow: by Sharon Mollerus

“Hurry up!”
“Let’s go!”
“Stop dawdling!”

How often do our children hear these words, or similar phrases? We live in a busy society. We are often in a rush. We have deadlines- but young children do not understand time. We have responsibilities. The young child is ego-centric, caught up in his own little world with himself at the center. We are bigger, taller, with great long legs. Little children have short legs and little feet that are often quite clumsy. We are focused on our to-do lists. He has almost no attention span. And so, there is conflict.

Sometimes, we need to remember what childhood is all about. Sometimes, we need to slow down and enjoy the moment of discovery as our youngster spots a caterpillar on a leaf, or a rainbow inside a bubble, or any of the thousands of fascinating things that hold their interest when all we really want them to do is hurry up! But there are times when we just cannot afford the time. So, when you really do need your child to move faster, how can you motivate him?

Here are some suggestions:

1. Never repeat yourself. If you do, you are actually teaching your child to ignore you the first time. Give a command and then expect your child to obey. If your child obeys, don’t act too surprised! But you can praise him for being such a good listener. Our children really only want our attention. If you don’t give it to him when he’s being good, he’ll find other ways to get it.

2. Ask if she heard you. Ask if he understood you. This is NOT the same as repeating yourself. By asking him if he understood you, you can discover if he is exhibiting willful disobedience, or a simple misunderstanding is keeping him from doing as he should. Willful disobedience calls for an immediate time-out, or whatever discipline method you use in your family. However, if your child did not understand the order, then you can get down on your knees, gently hold his head in your hands, look him right in the eye, and tell him what you need him to do, clearly. Again, praise him when he listens to you. If your child still fails to obey, then this is not a dawdling issue, but a defiance behavior, and will be dealt with in a separate article.

3. Give your child a deadline.

Use a small, noisy timer. The child can hear it ticking away, and when the bell goes off, he knows time is up. You could use a large egg timer if your child is upset by noises (as some autistic children are). Using a timer is a great way to introduce the concept of time to a preschooler. You can use the timer for many things – from time-outs, to sharing toys.

4. Find a motivation. This can vary greatly from child to child. Some children are motivated by food. For example, “You may not eat breakfast until you have put on your clothes.” However, some children do not wake up hungry and wouldn’t get dressed until closer to lunch time! Some children will work for a penny or a sticker, or even a marble. You can let him collect the marbles or pennies in a clear container until a certain level has been reached – then he can “cash in” all the pennies or marbles (be careful not to let him swallow one!) for an extra-special reward, like a trip to the children’s museum, or the carousel, or a pizza party.

5. Losing a privilege. This is a more negative approach, and should be used only after other methods have failed. But find something the child really enjoys – like playing video games (I hope not!), or going fishing with grampa. If he fails to do the activity you need him to do in the time allotted, then he will lose the privilege.

6. Shaping behavior. This works better with younger children. Instead of expecting perfection right off the bat, you break the ultimate behavior down into smaller steps. Back to our example of getting dressed in the morning, first you might just expect your child to put on his or her own underwear. Tell your child that from now on, since he is such a big boy, and you know he can do it, you want him to take off his pajamas first thing in the morning and put on the clean pair of underwear that you will lay out for him. This is one, simple, easy task. You will reward him greatly for compliance. You ignore non-compliance for a few days, then use motivation and deadlines, etc, until he does come to breakfast dressed in his clean underwear. Then you celebrate! You announce to everyone how PROUD you are of him. That he is SO BIG, that he even put on his own underwear that morning! You kiss him and hug him, and you make SURE that when you reward him with the next small step of getting dressed – pulling on a tee shirt – that he’s going to really try hard to do it! (Just make sure that when he does, you praise him, and don’t make him turn it around when he puts it on backwards.)

7. Use natural consequences. Sometimes this works, sometimes it’s inappropriate. If your child dawdles at breakfast, and it’s time to go, then a natural consequence would be for him to miss the rest of his breakfast. Don’t take it with you for him to eat in the car. Don’t swing through McDonald’s on the way to work and school to get him a quick breakfast sandwich. Let his hunger provide the necessary lesson, and perhaps he will eat a little faster tomorrow. However, if your child dawdles in getting dressed, obviously, you cannot just let him go to school naked!

8. Create more time.

If you are always rushed in the morning, and your young child dawdles, then perhaps you need more time in the morning. The consequence would be that he will need to start going to bed earlier, so you can wake him up earlier. This is not a popular answer, but it may be the one that is most necessary. That would allow you the time to sit and eat breakfast with your child. To cuddle him on your lap while you help him get dressed. To read a picture book before running off to do errands or meet deadlines.

Childhood is precious. Every single moment of it! So when your child is dawdling, sometimes, you need to learn from him. Sit down. Relax. And enjoy the moment with your precious child.

Related Articles:
Reduce or eliminate tantrums
Children and Chores
Teaching Children to Clean

Photo Credits:
Serious Toddler: Benedict Francis
Getting Dressed: Abby Batchelder
Discovery: Woodley Wonderworks