“Love, Laughter and the Lord.”
I just watched the most amazing video on youtube! A couple in their nineties giving a piano duet at Mayo Clinic! They were fantastic, adorable, energetic, and wonderful role models.

When I think of being ninety, I’m not usually so enthusiastic. I think of myself being old, infirm, and maybe a burden to others. I picture the forgotten generation drooling away in nursing homes wearing disposable underwear. It’s not a bright future at all. But then along comes someone – two someones – a couple who have been married for more than six decades, to show me that my future has not yet been written! It will be whatever I make of it.

Marlow and Frances Cowan believe that the secret to their longevity is love, laughter and the Lord. I encourage you to watch their performance. It won’t take long. And I bet you won’t be able to keep from smiling! By embedding this darling video to my webpage, I’ll be able to watch it again, whenever I feel the need of a happy-gram.

Find what makes you happy. Share all your love. Live every day as if it might be your last. Then when you are old, you will have no regrets… only wonderful memories.
Lorelei

1/2 pound bacon
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Cook bacon until crisp and drain, then break into 1/2-inch pieces. Set aside. Beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg. Combine flour and soda and stir into butter mixture. Stir in bacon, rolled oats and raisins. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. Place them 2 inches apart. Bake 350° for 15-18 minutes. Cool 1 minute and remove from sheets.

I was watching some television show a while back, and the father said to his grade-school age son, “Time to do your chores.” The smart-alecky kid replied, “Chores? What are we, Amish!” It was meant to be funny, I’m sure, although I don’t find kids being bratty on television particularly amusing. Is it a sad reflection on our culture that children are no longer expected to help out around the house? Or is this “progress”, that we are financially able to provide everything for our children?

My parents didn’t want us to work after school or in the summers. They felt that our school work was our job. I don’t think now, in hind-sight, that was a good idea. First off, my parents managed to do all three – chores at home, part-time jobs, and finish school. There were some basic job skills and financial management skills that I was severely lacking, and it took years (my husband might add “if ever!”) for me to learn them.

My son got his first paper route when he was eleven years old. He enjoyed it, and two of his sisters were a little envious that he was getting paid real money - espescially when he went out and bought himself a new bike. He took on a second route, then, and subcontracted the work with them, dividing up the two routes into three. His eight-year-old younger sister took the shortest route that was closest to home - delivering just to the homes on our block.

I can still see them now, sitting in the front hallway (the walls were painted white, dumb color for a home with children). The papers would come about 2 pm, signalling the end of our school day. Then they'd work together rollign the newspapers and sticking a rubber band around them, stuffing them in the big, green canvas newspaper bags. The soy-based ink would rub off on their hands and faces, and leave inky smudges on the walls. As soon as the last paper was rolled, they'd hop on their bikes and go out the door - and I'd have a half an hour of private time with the youngest, before they returned.

I worried a little - hey, I'm a mom! I worried about careless drivers backing out of their garage, not looking for a kid on a bike. I worried about the grouchy customers who snapped at kids if they threw the paper in the wrong place. Some customers want the paper on their front porch, some want it by the garage door, some actually want it ON the grass - and they expect a ten year old to remember one hundred different preferences?

Washing Toy Dishes at Three is Good Practice. One Day She'll Be Washing Your Dishes.

Christmas Day there was a paper to deliver! That shocked me, but the kids didn’t mind. They decided to deliver it after the midnight Mass the night before. A light snow was falling (we lived in Oklahoma at the time, so snow was rare). I drove the pickup truck, and they rode in the back (okay, I’m confessing to doing something that is now illegal, too). And they flung the papers from the back of the pickup, while singing Christmas Carols at the top of their lungs. It is a happy memory, for me as well as for them.

Then they started getting the Christmas Cards. Satisfied customers sent them nice little notes inside, sometimes with a dollar or two for a tip. That was the best Christmas for them, ever. Not just because they had some spending money, but because of the pride they took in their work, and that their customers appreciated them.

Later, when we moved to North Carolina, they had to retire. It is illegal in the state of North Carolina for a child under the age of EIGHTEEN to have a paper route. Children in that state cannot cut grass for the neighbors! Even McDonald’s is not allowed to hire kids under the age of sixteen. And at least in the area where we lived, there was a high rate of juvenile crime. Some kids broke into the school computer lab and trashed it. Even the sheriff claimed it was just because they were bored.

Well, my rambling thoughts are going to draw to a close sometime soon.

The point of this post is, that children can do chores. Whether they should or not is a matter of personal preference. As for me, I wouldn’t have robbed my children of those experiences for anything.

I found several blogs that posted very detailed information on this subject, so rather than “re-invent the wheel” I thought I’d just share those links.

The first is Emomsblog, written by an online friend of mine. Her children are older, ages 10 and 12, so her information may be a little beyond the scope of this blog, where I focus on preschoolers ages 2 – 6. But she wrote an excellent article on summer planning, complete with calendars and chore charts, that I thought you might be able to adapt to your own needs.

Next is More4kids, a blog I don’t really know anything about. But there was a great article that listed a number of jobs very young children could do.

And finally, you might want to read Paying Children to do Chores . This blog seems to be more about saving money than parenting, but I thought this article was well written and thoughtful.

So, I invite all of you to comment below, and share with us what chores your children do. What would you like them to do? Do you pay them or give them an allowance? Thanks for reading! Until next time-

Photo Credits
Top: photo by J. Danvers
Middle: photo by Jennifer Schwalm
Bottom: photo by author

Some time ago I read about a mother who had lots of experience moving.  Her husband was in the military, and she had a system down pat, from boxing up the dishes to getting the kids settled in the new home.  One thing she wrote was that as soon as the bare minimum was unpacked, she took a day off to take all the kids to a pool.  She felt that kids were just more sociable when wet.

That stuck with me.  My family moved quite a bit, although my dear husband was not in the military.   Many of our homes came with swimming pools in the back yard, and it must have been helpful for usually the children did make friends.  Our last address was sans pool, and sans friends as well.  Guess what’s going back on the priority list for our next home?

But this blog post isn’t about how to move as much as the importance of water play. Children love to play in the water!    When I was working in the public schools, never a day went by that some child – usually two or three – wasn’t caught splashing water from the water cooler.  In day care centers, if there is a water play table, it is one of the most popular areas.  And any community that has a public pool knows how crowded it can get in the summer. Is all this play important?  Or a waste of time and resources?

The Importance of Water Play

If you’ve read some of my earlier posts, especially Child’s Play and Sand Play , then you can probably guess what I’m going to say. Water play helps the child develop socially, emotionally, physically and spiritually.

Water Play Helps the Child Develop Socially

Look at kids in a pool.  How many scowls do you see?  Usually, not many.  Total strangers become best buddies rather quickly.  Splashing and dunking can be emotional outlets.  Tossing frisbees and balls to a friend requires cooperation.  A raft is more fun when you can push someone off, and play “king of the hill”.  Falling is more fun in the water, because it doesn’t hurt.  Kicking water is much healthier than kicking the wall.

Water Play Helps the Child Develop Physically

Physically, children develop coordination.  At a water play table they may develop eye-hand coordination as they scoup, measure, pour, mix and stir water.  In a swimming pool they may develop large muscles as they learn to swim, dive, kick, splash and jump off the edge of the pool into a parent’s arms.

Children Learn Math Concepts Through Water Play

Children learn pre-math concepts of size, full, empty, volume, measurement, and weight. They can learn science concepts like condensation, evaporation, gravity, sink-float, reflection, refraction, and magnification.  Don’t things look different under water?  Ever lay on the bottom of the pool and look up?  What about sticking a spoon in a glass of water, and watching how the handle appears to bend at the water line?

Discovering The Properties of Water is Preschool Science

Water play, like everything you do with your child,can be used to teach vocabulary.  How does the water feel?  Use words like wet, slippery, cool (or warm), see-through, transparent, clear.  Does it have a smell or taste?  Not usually!  Tell me what you are doing?  How does that feel?  What happens if… if you add some liquid soap to the water and splash?  What would happen if you add some oil to the water?  Try this – shake some pepper on the surface of a bowl of water, then dip a finger in liquid soap and just touch it to the surface of the water.  Watch the pepper run away (disperse)!  Why do you think it does that?  (soap breaks the surface tension of the water).  Try explaining that to a three year old!  He may not fully understand the concept, but he’ll remember the lesson.

Bath time is great for many water play activities, but it is not enough.  Fill a child’s splash pool this summer, and invite another child to come over.  Take your family to a swimming pool often.  Or better yet, to the beach!  Combine water and sand play for a thoroughly enjoyable, educational afternoon!  Just don’t forget basic safety guidelines.  A child can drown in an inch of water.  Don’t take your eyes off your child for an instant.  Bathroom floors become slippery when wet.  Kindly and firmly help your child learn not to splash water on the floor.  Empty the splash pool when not in use.  For more on water safety, check this out.

You Can Begin to Teach Your Child About Your Faith Through Water Play

Spiritual growth is a little fuzzier. Water is the symbol of cleanliness. If your child will witness a baptism soon, you can try to explain that the water of baptism washes the soul clean, just like a bath washes your body. When you go camping, you and your child can observe how a light rain nourishes the earth. While gardening, show how water brings new life to wilting plants. Preschoolers are a little young to understand these concepts, but not to be exposed to them.

Related Reading:
Sand Play
Bath Tub Play
Child’s Play

Photo Credits:
Top: photo by Valentina Powers
Middle: photo by Bev Sykes
Bottom: photo by Tiffany Washko

“What beautiful dogs!” An older gentleman waves at me as he drives by.

I smile and wave back, rather proud of my Siberian Huskies as well. They are beautiful dogs. Pumpkin has the traditional black and white pattern and incredible blue eyes. Misha has brown eyes, but an unusual gray and white husky pattern, making her look more wolfish. Both are females, a little on the small side, and well-trained. They are striking dogs, by they are just dogs. It gets a little annoying sometimes that everywhere I go, I get dozens of comments like that. Would people still say that if I were walking Golden Retrievers, or German Shepherds?

“Aren’t they silly, Kaylee?” I kneel beside the stroller, checking to see that my granddaughter is still bundled up against the chilly wind of early spring. The daffodils are in full bloom, but four inches of fresh snow blankets the ground.

“Ah doggy! Ah doggy!” she exclaims. Yeah, no help there. She’s as dog-crazy as the rest of them.

Pumpkin obliges by licking her chin. Misha isn’t as friendly towards the energetic two-year-old. But then, Misha is seven years old and not that impressed by anything. Mushing season is over now. No more six mile runs along the snow-packed trails in Fort Custer Recreational Park. We all miss that. And with the slush still lining the streets, I’m not brave enough to start running the dogs along side the bicycle. Huskies require a lot of exercise. Somehow walking beside a baby stroller at Grandma’s pace just doesn’t cut it.

We see a woman in her front yard, removing the protective mulch from some rose bushes. She gasps as she notices my dogs. “Oh, my! What beautiful dogs! Do you breed them?”

I stop to visit. “I do. But I’m not planning for any pups until late summer.” It would be too hard to raise a litter in our second floor, one bedroom apartment. Besides the fact it isn’t allowed.

“You must give me your phone number!  My son has been wanting a husky for years.”

Kaylee is restless.  Riding in a stroller is not at the top of her list of favorite activities.  She only endures it as it sometimes brings her to the park with the swings.  When she realizes that we aren’t going anywhere, she wants out.  I release the seatbelt and help her to climb down. 

The woman talks on about her son.  I’m only partially listening, as I keep one eye on my granddaughter.

“Huskies aren’t the right dog if you value your landscape,” I caution her.  I’ve never had a problem selling puppies.  I don’t breed often, only when I want to keep some of the puppies myself.  I have had as many as thirteen dogs at a time – a very small kennel for a musher.  I’ve lost a few to old age, and one Alaskan husky to illness.  I don’t run dogs to win races – I just run for fun. But somewhere between age seven and ten most huskies are ready to retire.  I only have three dogs under seven now.  Time for another litter.

She seems surprised that I would discourage a sale.  “What do you mean?”

“Huskies are big diggers.  They will dig up your garden.  I run electric wire fencing a few inches above the ground on the inside of my dog yard to keep them from digging under the fence, and another electric wire along the top of the fence so they don’t jump over. ”

She isn’t deterred.  That’s good.  I don’t mind sellling a puppy to someone as long as they know what they’re getting in to.  I always offer a money-back guarantee, no questions asked.  I’d rather take the puppy  back than risk it winding up in a shelter.  “Just let me get a piece of paper, and I’ll write down your phone number,” she says, taking a step back and tripping over my granddaughter.

Kaylee cries, but she isn’t hurt.  I kiss her owies, and comfort her.

The woman is startled.  “I didn’t even see her!  I didn’t notice you had a baby with you.”

Apparently she missed the large beige Jeep jogger-stroller as well. 

We exchange phone numbers.  I help Kaylee back into her stroller and continue on towards the swings at the corner park.  I wipe the slushy snowfall off one baby swing  before helping Kaylee into it.  She adores swings, perhaps even more than dogs.  She laughs, kicking her feet with exhuberance.  I love her enthusiasm.  She isn’t thinking about naptime, or what to have for snack, or whether her braids are straight.  Every ounce of her being is concentrated right here, right now, on this baby swing. 

Not me.  I’m thinking about what I might blog about next.  I’m recalling things like search engine optimizations, key words, and social media.  I’m wondering if my blog will achieve a massive following, and what will I do if it does.  I’m also wondering what to defrost for dinner, and do I have to go anywhere tonight, which will mean having dinner ready early.  My mind is divided, only partially enjoying the moment with my precious granddaughter.  I pull out my cell phone and snap a picture of her big grin, then send it to my daughter. 

Why do so many people admire my dogs, and not my granddaughter? She really is adorable, with her French braids that curl down around her shoulders.  Kaylee was born with more hair than any of my kids had by the time they were two.  She has big blue eyes, and round, pink cheeks.  She’s a little on the small side, but then, so am I.  I’m not even five feet tall anymore, having shrunk 1/4 of an inch since my last doctor visit.

I’m afraid that the reason why so many people admire my dogs, taking the time to tell me how beautiful they are, yet ignore my absolutely adorable granddaughter is because people do not value children any more.  We’ve come to see them as burdens and financial liabilities.  I heard one mom snap at her husband during a bitter divorce, “You get the boy.  I’ll take the girl!”  Her children didn’t even warrent a name, as though hoisting their son off on her soon-to-be ex was a sort of punishment.  And it’s criminal the way someone who abuses animals may serve more time in prison than someone who abuses a child.

Without children, there can be no future.  So many small towns and cities are bemoaning the loss of their public schools, as they’ve been forced to close their doors and merge with other school districts.  It’s not just that families are moving away from their area, but that the families who do stay are having fewer children, or none at all. 

I wish that there was a way to turn this around.  To restore children to their rightful place of honor in our hearts and in our society.   Children should not have to earn our respect by collecting soccer trophies or beauty pageant ribbons.  We need to show respect for childhood by giving them the gift – no, the right - to a long, and happy childhood.

Easter is fast approaching. The stores are bursting with brightly colored baskets, synthetic grasses and plastic eggs filled with high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, gelatin and preservatives. It bears a striking resemblance to the Christmas hoopla of only a few months ago. For many homes, Easter has become a second Christmas with egg-decorated trees and presents underneath.

Building family traditions is very important for a healthy, happy family, as I posted earlier here. I am not suggesting that we desecrate the Easter Bunny, only that we take a moment to consider the origins of certain customs and make a conscious decision whether to assimilate these into our lives rather than merely allowing Wal-Mart to dictate our holidays.

Why You Celebrate Easter

Easter is the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ. It occurs at the same time as the Jewish festival of the Passover. The word, “easter”, however, does not occur anywhere in the Bible. It may come from the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring “Eostre”. In non-English speaking cultures, the word for “Easter” comes from “pasch”, for the Passover.

The rabbit is also from the Anglo-Saxon pagan customs. The rabbit has always been seen as a symbol of new life and fertility. We still unkindly say of couples who have a lot of children that they “breed like rabbits”. According to legend, the goddess Eostre became angry with her consort, the rabbit, and threw him into the heavens where he became the constellation Lepus the Hare, at the foot of Orion. Interestingly enough, the word “east” and “estrus” also come from the word eostre. The goddess granted Lepus the gift of laying eggs once a year, which is why we have a rabbit delivering eggs.

Easter Eggs are Pagan in Origin

Easter eggs are also pagan in origin. Many ancient cultures worshiped the sun, as it warmed the earth and was the source of life. Birds were often honored as only they could go near the sun god, so eggs were believed to have special powers. In the long, dreary days of winter in the Ukraine, eggs were intricately decorated, then given to family members and respected outsiders as a symbol of new life – which is why the egg must remain whole. The Early Christian Church incorporated the egg into their tradition, not as a symbol of nature’s rebirth, but of man’s.

Giving chocolate rabbits is a fairly new, and consumerist tradition. Jelly beans are also only loosely related to Easter, as they have no new life within and cannot symbolize anything other than the sugar high our children get from consuming them. That said, we did celebrate Easter with hunting for eggs in my home!

Community Easter Egg Hunts

One year I decided to take my youngest child to the community Easter Egg hunt. She was maybe three years old, and not overly addicted to sugar. (She used to hold the sucker part and chew on the stick!). We arrived at the site on a sunny Saturday morning in April all of thirty seconds late, and the hunt was over! The community grossly underestimated the number of children who would show up. There were plastic eggs discarded everywhere, with empty paper candy wrappers blowing in the wind, and the crowd was already dispersing.

My youngster cried big, silent tears, feeling she had missed out on something, and my older children were outraged. A kind city volunteer scooped up some empty eggs and gave them to me. She said I could take them and refill them myself. I thanked her, ran to Wal-Mart, and a new family tradition was born.

Now every Easter I fill plastic eggs with jelly beans and chocolate to hide around our house or yard – inside if there is still snow on the ground (we live up north!) or outside if the weather cooperates. It is my husband’s job to hide the eggs while I prepare a large Sunday brunch – a weekly tradition in our house, but the Christmas and Easter brunch menus are much fancier. We have Sausage muffins, hard-boiled Easter eggs, a fruit bowl with melon and whatever is available, champagne (my kids are older, but the grandbaby gets juice), and of course, chocolate! We would have gone to church first, so by brunch time we have quite an appetite.

We never talked about an Easter bunny. My kids never really believed in Santa Claus, either. We don’t celebrate Halloween at all, nor do we send Valentines. I wasn’t lazy, I just didn’t feel that these were important elements for our family traditions. But my kids love Easter Sunday, and even as young adults, they still want to look for their eggs.

If you decide to include Easter eggs, jelly beans and plastic grass into your family traditions, that’s fine. Just think about what you want your children to learn from the holiday, and include some sort of explanation that fits with your family beliefs.

For more information:
Importance of Easter Customs .
Easter: History, Meaning and Observance .
And for pretty Easter eggs to color, try Pysanky Coloring Book Pages

Photo credits:
Easter Tree by krisdecurtis
Traditional eggs by Scilit
Easter Egg Hunt by dplanet

I’ve been following the singing family face-off a little bit – I didn’t catch all of the performances, but the two semi-finalist groups are really very talented! Personally, I’d love to see the Peay Brothers win the recording contract, but I’d love to see the J4s get a television show. These kids are just that cute! Since this is a blog about creativity and children, I thought I’d share this very talented family with you. Enjoy!

Watch CBS Videos Online

Autism seems to be everywhere these days.  Nearly everyone can say that they know someone, or know of someone who has been diagnosed with this pervasive developmental disorder.  That just wasn’t the case forty years ago!  Is it because there really are more cases of autism, or simply more cases that are diagnosed?  Perhaps a bit of both? 

Vaccines May Be Linked to Autism

Many believe that the thimerosal preservative in some childhood vaccines was the culprit.  To this day, the CDC denies this, although thimerosal has been removed from most vaccines and now there is a decrease in new cases being reported.  They claim the decrease is too slight to have been a factor. 

Some claim that the rise in children diagnosed with autism is inflated, because schools now get federal funding for teaching austistic children.  Also, the criteria for this disorder have been altered, to include children who are just “a little bit autistic” as well as those whose symptoms are far more severe.

Symptoms of Austism in Young Children

There are three core symptoms that all autistic children share to varying degrees.  They must have problems with 1) social interactions and relationships, 2) verbal and nonverbal communication, and 3) limited interested in activities or play.  Basically, autistic children don’t relate well with others or the world around them.

One of my pet peeves is the baby carrier.  We’ve all seen them.  Many of us may have even used them.  You know what I’m talking about – the hard plastic seat with a handle.  Some are part of a car seat and stroller ensemble.  Some are just to carry your baby around in, to “make it easier” to carry your baby.  If autistic children don’t relate well to others, just maybe, could not touching your baby enough be at least partially responsible?

My heart goes out to parents with autistic children, and I truly do not mean to point fingers or place the blame on them.  Leo Kanner coined the term “refrigerator mother”, and claimed that although cold and indifferent mothering did not cause autism, it was certainly a factor in it.  His theory held for thirty years or so, and caused untold heartache and grief to unnumerable families.  Perhaps because autism seems to be partially genetic, the cold mothers Dr. Kanner referred to were themselves autistic? 

Researchers Agree Causes of Autism are At Least Partially Environmental

The controvertial discussion on the causes of autism agree that this disorder is part genetic and part environmental.  The risk that a child may be born with autism is higher for families with one child already diagnosed than for the general population.  But because some families with no history of autism can still have an autistic child, there must be other factors.  Could it be vaccines, food allergies, or environmental toxins? 

There are more questions than answers, and more research needs to be done.  There is a massive study going on right now, at the U.C. Davis M.I.N.D. institute.  Hopefully, once they discover the cause, they can also find a cure.  But until then, we are left wondering in the dark.

Back to my pet peeve.  Baby carriers.  I’ve seen parents hauling their infant around in those things all the time.  I’ve seen some babies with very oddly shaped, flat heads and wonder if extensive use of the baby carrier might be the culprit.   I see babies being taken out of the car in the carrier, brought into church, and they stay in the carrier all through the service.  If the baby fusses, a bottle or pacifier is stuck into his or her mouth.  They are not lifted and cuddled.  They are not held close to a parent’s chest, to feel the rhythmic beating of their heart.  If babies do not receive any eye contact from the parent, or form any special bond with the parent, how can they possibly develop normally?

Babies were meant to be held!   Mother chimpanzees and mother cats and mother dogs all carry their young.  They touch them.  They nurture them.  Parenting is more than paying the bills and scheduling dental visits.  We need to get back to the basics, and remember that it doesn’t matter if our child goes to the best preschool or makes it on the T-ball team.  The most important memory we can give our child is that he remembers being loved.

Photo Credits:
Top: photo by Pink Sherbet Photography
Middle: photo by Just Taken Pics