While some mamas started homeschooling right away, I decided to give my kids and myself a reprieve.  But after almost two weeks of being on lockdown, both my kids and I were clamoring for a sense of normalcy.  

Corona quarantine pretty much sent me over the edge.  Maybe it was the moment I felt like I was room service, delivering meals to each of my kids.  Or maybe it was the fact that I just couldn’t get the kids on board with this new “distance learning” concept. What I did know was that I had three perfectly competent kiddos who were perfectly capable of making lunches, cleaning up, and even taking care of the duties at home.  

This wasn’t a hotel.

This wasn’t spring break.

This is not some extended vacation.

My frustration began to brew.   

In an attempt to corral the chaos during Corona quarantine, I had to take drastic measures to give my kids a sense of purpose each day.  I crafted a list of “Corona-cation” action items, addressed as chores contributions.  Chores are unpleasant tasks or small, odd jobs.  Whereas contributions are having a part in something bigger. They had to complete a handful of items each day.  My job was to validate their efforts on behalf of the team.  

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to do the chores, but I somehow went from a working professional to catering to everyone’s needs and taking orders like a short order cook.  I still had a job to do, I was still mom, and I still had the chores piling up.  

I decided to note all the things I was doing in the day, and then, I had an epiphany: Children all should be making contributions to the family – and not just in the face of a global pandemic, but for the good of the whole household.  Chores are unpleasant tasks or small, odd jobs. Whereas contributions are having a part in something. Contributions, not chores. 

I needed my kids to contribute to the success of the family.  They could get along and work together and complete parts that make the family whole.  My husband, holed up in his home office, didn’t have the time to roll out the trash cans.  And I, myself, an educator navigating the world of distance learning, needed time to craft lessons for my class.  The children began to become a vital role in helping the family unit function because of their contributions.  

If I am lucky, when we survive CoVid-19, we just might have some additional helpers making certain the household runs smoothly…and maybe a new definition of quarantine.

Click HERE to print your own copy.

• 
  Things to Stop Saying to your Teenage Daughter (and What to Say Instead)
  Parenting is part wisdom, part experience, and part tissue memory. We’ve all experienced that moment when we open our mouths, and our mother (or grandmother) comes out. We’ve all said… Read more: Things to Stop Saying to your Teenage Daughter (and What to Say Instead)
• 
  11 Ways To Raise A Grateful Child
  “Thank you for making dinner, Momma.” “Thank you for my new toy.” “Thank you for reading to me.” “Little Brother, thanks for the balloon. Thanks for getting my favorite color.”… Read more: 11 Ways To Raise A Grateful Child
• 
  I Had to Stop Yelling
  Last week, I called my husband with tears in my eyes and guilt on my back. “I can’t do this anymore. I quit!” My vision of the perfect summer with my… Read more: I Had to Stop Yelling
• 
  How Can Kids Help During Quarantine?
  When school closed its doors almost three weeks ago due to CoVid-19, none of us knew what to expect.  In my own home, the kids took to their computers watching… Read more: How Can Kids Help During Quarantine?
• 
  Someday, When Our Children Are Grown…
  Someday, when our children are grown, they will look back on their childhood in awe. They are living in a crazy time.

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The post How Can Kids Help During Quarantine? first appeared on BonBon Break.

Interestingly enough, soon after the emails began flowing in, my kids started up with a mean case of the “I wants.” “I want a doll.” “I want more Pokemon cards.” “I want a new bike.” “I want that dress in the window.” “I want all the Lego sets!” I want! I want! I want! We want it on our Christmas Wish Lists!

In the meantime, I was reading about life after the Nepal earthquake and about Syrian refugees. 

This was followed by a trip to Costa Rica. During our travels, we visited children in an orphanage, which has been created an ongoing dialog in our home during birthdays, early morning cuddles, and…yes, wish lists.

It was all just too much, and the vortex of neediness broke me down. We weren’t going to do Christmas the same way this year. We cannot WANT this year; we need to give.

I sat the kids down, and we had a little chat. For my son’s birthday, his sister chose to get him a mini Foosball table, and it was his favorite gift. He didn’t ask for it, she just KNEW it was something he would really like because they had played on one at a friend’s house, and she was right. Last Christmas, my son chose a Little Mermaid Lego set for his sister, and he was so excited to give it to her because he just KNEW she would love it, and he wanted to teach her to build Legos, and he was right. 

Their favorite gifts were the ones that weren’t on their lists; they were the gifts that were chosen for them. A lot of thought went into what the other person liked and  what would be fun for them to engage in together. 

My proposal to them for this holiday season was to create “Giving Lists” instead of wish lists. This week, we are sitting down and writing a list of all of the people we want to give gifts to, and they are allowed to pick one, low-priced item to request from Santa. We discussed that it wouldn’t be fair to all the kids of the world if we asked for something really expensive. Santa has a budget, you know. 

Click here to print

Believe it or not, my kids went for it immediately, and there have been unexpected results. The “I wants” have reduced tremendously. We are exchanging lots of sideways glances with each other and knowing smiles when we hear a family member talking enthusiastically about something. We are really having fun with this. My littlest even brought up the fact that we don’t have to buy something for everyone, “We could make them something special that they would like.” BINGO!

Christmas morning gift opening will be less about which items were received from personal wish lists and more about the excitement of seeing our gifts being opened by our family members. Swoon. 

With the state of the world as it is, we are also going to decide, as a family, on a non-profit to sponsor this holiday season. This is going to be a research project for the kids. I have already introduced them to WaterAid and the incredibly important work they are doing around the world. Bring us your suggestions. It’s time to bring the focus away from our wants and needs and to learn how to acknowledge the needs of others during the Season of Giving.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you think you could swing this with your family? What changes would you make?

READ MORE FROM VAL:

• You’re Grounded and Now It’s Going to Sting {Printable}
• Why Your Kid Doesn’t Deserve an “A”
• 20 Apps You Can Play With Your Kids

READ MORE CHRISTMAS POSTS:

• ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas: Parent Version
• 10 Reasons Why NOT to Do Elf on the Shelf
• Redefining Elf on the Shelf 

READ our theme posts from SIMPLIFY , INSPIRE and CONNECT

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The post Sorry Kids, No Christmas Wish Lists This Year {Printable} first appeared on BonBon Break.

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR THE FREE FRIENDS PLAY DOUGH PRINTABLE:

• Paper and/or card stock
• Laminating pouches and laminator
• Play dough

To prepare the set, print, laminate and cut out the kids. Then you can use play dough as a base to help the kids stay upright for playing.

I’ll be totally honest. My special needs preschooler has no concept of what friendship skills are. In fact, she completely lacks inhibitions when it comes to people, so she firmly believes that every person that she meets loves her and because of that she’s never met a person who didn’t love her. (We have a lot more problems with ‘stranger danger’ than we do with making friends.)

But one thing she struggles with because of her language delay is being able to talk to friends her age. Especially because most 4-year-olds can’t comprehend why she doesn’t talk as well as them. She tends to gravitate towards much younger children who also don’t speak or much older children who can understand and deal with her lack of language skills.

For her, I like to use pretend play to practice her language skills and use it to model how to have a conversation. At four years old, I am still teaching her to say, “My name is Shiloh.” Right now she will say, “My name,” and point to herself. This is an improvement over six months ago when I would say “What is your name?” and she would simply reply, “Name” as if that were her name.

To practice talking to people, we have the play dough friends “meet” each other. She can hear me say, “Hi! My name is…” and she has the opportunity to model that if she chooses.

While we are working on her language skills, we have also worked to teach her ways to show that she is a friend in some fun ways.

• When I introduce her to another child, I will tell them “Shiloh doesn’t talk a lot, but she loves high fives!” (or fist bumps…) Then they can see how excited she is over that interaction and initiate playing with her.
• She can share something with her friend. Such as show a painting that she has made, a tower that she has built, a doll that she would like to play with.
• She can create a name that she can say for her friend. Cathryn becomes Catty, Riley becomes Wiwey, Grandma becomes MeMaw.

No matter your child’s abilities, they can always use practice on how to be a good friend. This free friends play dough printable gives them that opportunity!

DOWNLOAD YOUR

FREE FRIENDS PLAY DOUGH PRINTABLE HERE.

Read more from Kim:

• Preparing a Hands on Preschool at home
• 4 Super Cheap Preschool Math Activities
• How I didn’t potty train my kids

HEAD TO THE PLAYROOM

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This post was syndicated with permission to BonBon Break Media, LLC.

The post Friend Play Dough Printable first appeared on BonBon Break.

Can you believe that Father’s Day is right around the corner?  I swear it sneaks up on me every year.  This year I’m ready though and I’m going to help you out as well.  If you have a father in your life that lives and dies by the grill then you’re going to want this Father’s Day Gift.  Plus, I’ve even created the free Grill Master Printable Gift Tags for you so that all you need to do is download them and print them out.  It’s a cinch!

One of our absolute favorite things to grill are kabobs.  We’ve made everything from Lime Tequila Shrimp Kabobs to BBQ BACON Chicken Kabobs.  Yep, I said BACON!  The only issue that my husband runs into is that I use metal skewers because it’s easier with the clean up and those babies get hot.  He hates using a full oven mitt because it’s hot out and I also think he doesn’t feel very manly in my hot pink polka dot oven mitt.  So when I saw this cute {blue}, short mitt, I knew immediately that I needed to get it for him.   I found a variety pack of bbq sauces that I knew he’d love to experiment with and they also looked as if they were meant to go inside the mitt.  Perfect!

The finishing touch was my Grill Master Printable Gift Tags.  “Dad by Day, Grill Master by Night” made me think I should also make him a cape to wear while he was cooking, but again, not very manly.  So I settled on a chef’s apron which I also have the free printable for so stop on over and grab it {click here}.  Now, what grill loving father wouldn’t love this gift.  Pst…and it’s so easy put together!

ABOUT JENNY: Jenny is a wife, mother and reading specialist in a low income city school district.  She is also the the founder of thenymelrosefamily.com – a lifestyle website sharing crafts, recipes, diy and party planning projects perfect for those looking for something quick and easy.  She is also the editor of the Mom Cave on Bonbon Break.  With two girls under the age of five, Jenny’s projects are toddler friendly and the perfect opportunity to create a special moment with your family.

Follow Jenny via Google+ // Facebook // Pinterest // Twitter // Instagram // Youtube

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