He calls me “Grandma Boom” because we always pound on drums, ding chimes and ring bells. At 2 ½ years old, my grandson, Grayson, is a little fireball. Hyperactive and hypersmart, he’s always on the go. One day last week as he was interacting with me and didn’t get his
Read MoreABRACADABRA PRESTO! Please. Thank you. Excuse me. Achoo… Bless you. These words coming out of a toddler’s mouth melt hearts, create communion between the toddler and caring adult(s) and other children, also open minds to what can be possible with the magic of words. It is a level of child
Read MoreIf you are around young children for whatever reason, you are being watched. Constantly! There is a video recorder turned on in children’s minds. You don’t have to SAY anything. Just be. Just do. And they have it recorded. It’s their job! They’re trying to figure out how to operate
Read MoreImagine you are three years old. You are short and on the floor. All the big people are sitting in big chairs. They are talking, laughing. No one sees you. B-O-R-I-N-G! You squirm, make noises, throw a toy. No one cares. Finally, you join them by climbing up on the
Read MoreCalming techniques for kids and parents can come in creative packages. Deep breathing and relaxing muscle tension is fantastic for calm self-control. And there are other factors that can bring calming when children and stress seem to geyser up from nowhere in the simplest of situations gone complicated. While working
Read MoreKids outgrow parents in stages, not just when they are eleven going on eighteen. It’s the kind of thing that creeps up little bits at a time. Evidence permeates daily family life. Parenting young children has built-in growth spurts for kids and adults. My hand was on automatic pilot, reaching
Read MoreIsn’t it wonderful each of us can express ourselves as an individual in any circumstance! Learning to understand and respect expressions that are different than our own is an essential step in maturation and emotional intelligence. Most young children have a freedom that we as adults forget is a natural
Read MoreI’ve long said that I don’t care whose joy it is, I just like sharing in it. Joy is joy. Period. It doesn’t have to be my personal joy. To feel someone else’s joy is tuning into the joy channel. Once there, the joy effervescence bubbles up to bring undeniable
Read MoreWe are image making creatures. Look around you and then describe the scene to someone. Pictures will be prevalent in that communication, just as they are prevalent in the minds of preschoolers. When parenting young children, or grandparenting young ones, it is quite the thrill to help them begin to
Read MoreI was 10 years old, playing hardball in the pasture with neighborhood boys. I hit a home run which the pitcher, Billy, did NOT like. My skinny little legs flew past third base, heading into the home plate. Billy threw the ball as hard as he could. Bull’s eye in
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