Fruit is One of the Best Things About Summer

My personal favorites are:

Logan loves blueberries.  I have an aunt prefers green apricots.  Topher isn't much of a fruit guy.  He likes the corn on the cob. 

What are your favorites?

Delayed Gratification

If I had to choose one thing that symbolizes society and culture in the United States in 2008, I would choose a microwave.  

As a society, we are obsessed with instant gratification.  We want whatever our appetites tell us we want without having to work or wait.  We live on credit, eat fast food, and avoid hard work.  This trend is particularly evident in classrooms across the country.  Children want to be entertained instead of playing creatively.  They want McDonalds and Lunchables instead of a sandwich on homemade bread.  They want to watch movies and play video games instead of reading books.  As I have watched this plague spread among the children and families I work with as an educator, I am concerned for my son.  I hope he doesn't grow up to feel entitled.  I hope he is frugal, unselfish, and hard-working.  These are truly becoming rare qualities.

S'more Solution

The big problem with s'mores is that the chocolate never melts. The marshmallow just doesn't stay hot long enough to melt a hershey bar. I've been dealing with this disappointing fact every summer since my early childhood. Over the years I've experimented with many mediocre solutions.  Among them:

1. Keebler fudge dipped cookies (poor chocolate to mallow ratio)

2. Chocolate chips (hard to keep on the graham)

3. Place the graham and the chocolate near the fire to melt (uneven melting and burned fingers)

4. Balance the graham and the chocolate with roasting sticks over the coals (bottom of graham gets burned)

5. Microwave chocolate and graham (oh wait... no microwave... attention all people who have a microwave on camping trips: You aren't really camping!)

Finally in my 26th summer camping, through a stroke of genius, I found the ultimate s'more solution:

I recommend everyone heads up to the canyon this weekend to give it a try.  Let me know how is goes.  

A Favorite Spot

Logan and I like to visit my grandparents at their cabin in Midway.  People like them make places like the cabin special.

Who wouldn't want to visit grandparents who are this much fun?

Or cousins who are that much fun?

The popsicles are always worth the drive.

So are the visits.

Different Dynamics

We just returned from my husband's family reunion.  It is always a spectacular event complete with talent showcases, gender specific activities, and action-packed days that are planned weeks (sometimes months) in advance.  I need a long nap today to cover from all of the excitement.

Doll Party (notice the special made aprons and chef's hats)

Trading Post (boys and dads)

Preparing for the river run

Next weekend we are going to my family reunion.  I guess you could call it that.  I'm getting together with my extended and immediate family for a camping trip in Yellowstone.  Whoever can come does.  We plan as we go.  We roast hot dogs and hike.  We go on drives looking for wild life.  We visit.  The kids run around in the woods and get dirty.  I come home relaxed.

Both families are trying to accomplish the same goal.  They want a bond of love to grow among family members, and they want to create positive lasting memories.  I guess there is more than one way to accomplish that purpose.  

What are you doing to bond with your families?

Stuff in My Purse

 I've listed a few things I keep in my oversized purse/diaper bag:

1.  Pretzels

2.  Dum Dum suckers (I only use these in emergencies... they have saved my life more than once.)

3.  Lip gloss

4.  Diapers and wipes

5.  Hand sanitizer

6.  Sippie cup

7.  A board book

8.  A small calendar (many pages have been colored on)

9.  A plastic squeaky frog

10. Wallet

11. Eye drops (for Topher who occasionally gets dry eyes)

12. Keys

13. Phone

14. A monkey and a giraffe finger puppet

15. Tic tacs (I never eat these, I just let Logan shake the neat little container)

16. Children's Motirn

17.  Pens

18.  Dental floss (I don't know why that is in there)

19.  Hair elastic

20.  Sunglasses

What are you lugging around?

Burned Cookies and Disorganized Purses

When I was younger, I used to wonder why my mom burned cookies.  Why can't you just set a timer and get them out after 11 minutes?  I also was baffled at how she could lose her keys in her purse.  We would be in a rush to get somewhere, and and she wouldn't be able to find her keys.  She would send John and me running through the house searching for them until she finally hollered inside to tell us that she found them in her purse.  Why couldn't she just keep her purse organized? 

Hi Mom.  I'm sorry for criticizing.  Now I understand.

Positive identity Formation

More interesting findings and reflections from my reading:

The formation of a positive individual identity is complex, and factors in many things.  Among them:

1.  The ability to set goals, organize, and reach them (actual achievement)

2.  Appropriate understanding of important social roles (e.g. spouse, parent, friend, etc.)

3.  Self-regulation and self-awareness

4.  Capacity for fun and enjoyment

Interestingly, many parents try to help their children develop a positive identity by telling them how wonderful they are.  I find myself doing it.  If children are actually doing wonderful things, there certainly is a place for praise and positive reinforcement, but this is not the key to a child's personal feelings of worth and positive self-esteem.  Those internal feelings of worth can be achieved through successfully applying the principles in the list above.

Application:

I am trying to use praise for exceptional behavior, and express gratitude for expected behavior. When applicable, I help Logan learn principles from the list above.  For a one-year-old, that includes things like:

1.  Understanding the parent child relationship. 

2.  Not being indulged in whatever he wants, whenever he wants it.  Delayed gratification is an important skill for little people.  I don't want him to grow up and feel entitled.

3.  Find happiness and fun in relationships, new adventures, and daily activities.

4.  Learning to work with me and be helpful.  My mom always reminds me that children learn to feel capable when they are two and three year olds. 

Does anyone see any other practical applications? 

Moral Developmet

I like to read a text book by Lynn Scorsby called "Understanding Child Development".  I learned something interesting this week.

He suggests that when we are teaching our children to be moral, we often focus on obedience and compliance to rules and requests.  Instead, he recommended that parents and teachers focus on teaching children that moral behavior helps people, and immoral behavior hurts people.  It is easy for children to understand, and provides them with a strong moral center.

Illustration:  Imagine a group of middle school students who do not like their Spanish teacher.  One day they leave the building and notice their teacher's car in the parking lot.  One of the boys suggests that they let the air out of the tires.  A child who has been trained to be compliant to rules might be willing to participate in this unkind task.  There usually aren't posted rules prohibiting such behavior.  A child who has been taught to evaluate how their behavior will help or hurt others will be able to experience empathy (a highly developed moral character trait), and will likely choose not to let the air out of the tires.

I'm going to try to be more aware of this principle with Logan.  I want him to grow up to be a good boy more than I want him to be smart or strong or financially successful.  I hope he is principled and kind.

No Wonder Kids Have Attention Problems

Logan has been playing on a Leap Frog Learning Table recently.  It has lots of buttons to push, balls to spin, and things to poke and pull.  Each one makes a different sound or sings a different song.  When you push one button, it starts singing until you push a different button.  One year olds don't know to wait until one song finishes before they push another button.  The result is little blurps of songs which are quickly interrupted by half-played sounds, half-spoken words, and partially completed sentences.  

What, I wonder, is this Learning Table teaching?  He happily stands in the corner and makes noise, but he certainly isn't learning his colors, numbers, letters, shapes, and musical chords.  I'm teaching him those things from our books, walks, nursery rhymes, and picnics.  Are Leap Frog Learning Tables really intended to help kids learn, or just to pacify them so they leave their caretakers alone?  Perhaps they are more beneficial for older children?  I don't know.  I would appreciate your opinions on the subject.  

Toys are great.  Kids need independent time to play.  Let's see toys for what they are though, and not market them as the fountain of knowledge.  There isn't a substitute for a human teacher for children.