Simple Solutions

One of the things I think it's important to teach kids is to solve their own problems and go for simple solutions. 

Take this conversation I had with my daughter the other day, just 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave for school:

Her: Mom, I can't find any pants I like to wear.

Me: Wear pants you don't like. We have to go to school!

Two good things come from this conversation. One, I've shown her a simple solution. And two, given the face she made when I gave her the answer, I'm guessing she won't be coming to me for pants solutions in the future. She'll learn to become her own problem solver, because I'm sure she'll come up with a more satisfying solution herself (even it's the same solution as mine; it's always more satisfying when you'r responsible for the idea).

That's it for today. Take care.

Research Wednesday: Gratitude Makes for Happier Kids!

I recently came across some research from California State University that made me think about ways to make my kids more grateful.

The fascinating 4-year study found that teens who were grateful were less likely to be depressed or delinquent. The study started when the kids were 10 and went through age 14.  Kids didn't have to start off grateful. They just had to become grateful over the course of the
study to recognize benefits.

“They experienced many of the same improvements in well-being. Moreover, they showed slight reductions overall in delinquency, such as alcohol and drug use, cheating on exams, skipping school, detention and administrative discipline,” said Giacomo Bono, a CSU psychology professor and lead author of the study. “For instance, the top 10 percent of those who developed the most gratitude showed 9 percent less delinquency than the bottom 10 percent in gratitude growth.”

The study found that children who were grateful were15 percent more satisfied with their life overall (at home, at school, with their neighborhood, with their friends and with themselves); and 17 percent more happy and more hopeful about their lives.

To me, this is great news. I just have to figure out how to instill gratefulness in my children, because that is the one area where I feel they struggle. They seem to just expect things to happen and not be that happy for them. I'd like them to be more grateful. I hope it starts with setting a more grateful example, which I am definitely going to strive to do.

The study author, Bono, added: "These findings suggest that gratitude may be strongly linked with life-skills such as cooperation, purpose, creativity and persistence and, as such, gratitude is vital resource that parents, teachers and others who work with young people should help youth build up as they grow up. More gratitude may be precisely what our society needs to raise a generation that is ready to make a difference in the world.”

I totally agree.  More details of the study are online here:
http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2012/08/health-benefits.aspx

Anyone out there got tips for raising grateful kids?

Book Tuesday: Foxy & Egg

My daughter found this little gem at the library a couple of weeks ago.

It's a darling picture book that helps kids learn that we can't always assume things.

The book follows "conniving" Foxy (a fox), who finds a spotted egg on her doorstep. Foxy invites Egg in for a bite to eat and plots to fatten Egg up and eat him for breakfast. Egg is polite and seemingly clueless, as he eats Foxy's food, does some exercise to get in shape and even agrees to stay the night and join Foxy for breakfast.

Foxy dreams of eating the egg, debating whether to boil,  fry or poach it. When she awakens, Foxy checks on Egg and finds he's grown enormous overnight. All that fattening up, apparently worked, Foxy deduces eggcitedly. Just then, the egg cracks open and reveals -- an alligator! Yes, boys and girls, alligators lay eggs, too. And Mr. Gator has some plans for breakfast, Foxy plans, if you get my drift.

It's a really fun book because of it's surprising ending. And it gives you an opportunity to talk with your kids about all the different types of animals that lay eggs: chickens, ducks, platypuses, alligators, spiders. I would definitely recommend. It's written and illustrated by Alex T. Smith.

That's it for today.

-Hyattsville Mom

Happy Labor Day!

Enjoy this day that celebrates labor by resting!

Mini-Golf, Festivals highlight Labor Day Weekend Fun!

A Mini Golf hole at the Building Museum

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

There's lots of fun stuff on tap for this weekend.

First up is the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival. Go on carnival rides, eat wonderful carnival food like funnel cakes, and watch local talent at this annual festival. If you hurry, you can still get a half-priced voucher for the all-you-can-ride wrist ban. The vouchers are sold through noon today. The festival admission is FREE.

This weekend is the last chance to catch a couple of Building Museum Exhibits.  Both the Indoor Mini-Golf and Lego Architecture exhibits are at the museum only through Labor Day.  Each exhibit has an entrance fee.

There will be a FREE TASTING of West African food at Chima Restaurant Monday at 11 am. The tasting is just down the road from the Labor Day festival, at 10631 Greenbelt Rd.

Also, the Maryland Renaissance Festival is Going on this weekend. This annual event features folks dressed up in costumes from long ago. See jousting, taste authentic Renaissance Food and enjoy plays. The festival is in Annapolis and will be going on weekends through October.

That's it for me.  Have a good one.

-Hyattsville Mom

Avoidance Parenting

Run for the hills! It's a tough question.

I know we as parents our kids expect us to know things. And generally, society expects us  to raise them without messing them up too badly (everyone needs a little therapy, right?).

And I try, but I must admit, I am in the total avoidance parenting mode. Avoid at all costs the things I have no interest  in explaining to a 5 and an 8 year old. The most recent example, we were listening to the radio and along came an ad for a play at a local theater. I hear the announcer say, THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS, so, of course, I immediately turn the station and hope nobody heard it. I really have no interest in explaining to my children what a whorehouse is. Because of course, that's the question they'll ask if they hear
it.

My husband also suffers from this. Last year, there was a widely publicized case of a transvestite being attacked in a restaurant. We were listening to a news station that mentioned it, and my son, probably 6 at the time, asks, "what's a transvestite."  My husband doesn't miss a beat. He says, "I don't know." So, my son, of course asks me. And if Daddy doesn't want to deal with it, I sure don't. So, I say, "I don't know." My husband then goes. "They have a lot of new fangled words that pop up. I'm sure we'll look it up at some point." 

Parenting by avoidance. And he didn't ask again. While I know we could've sat down and figured out age appropriate ways to answer these questions, I didn't want to. I have enough on my plate without dealing with things little kids really don't need to know about. All I can say, is I'm glad I was not a parent during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Oral Sex, the blue dress. It would've been hard to get by with avoidance parenting then.

And even still, you can't always do it. We were listening to WTOP in the car, and they did a story about a man who stapled another man's mouth shut, and my daughter goes, "Mommy, I don't want my mouth stapled shut." Well, neither do I.  So, that one we had to discuss. I probably ought to invest in a Barney CD or something, huh?

Sadly, I know it will have to end sometime. We can't let kids face middle school and teen years and all the choices they'll have to make uninformed about things. But, for right now, I must say, I enjoy turning the station and getting  lucky so I don't have to explain what
a whore house is?

So, any topics you're avoiding with the young'uns?

-Hyattsville Mom

Half-Price Ride vouchers & Free Museums

A Smithsonian Museum

Happy Hump Day!  I hope you don't have those middle-of-the-week blues. The weekend is just a couple of days away, and you need to be prepared! 

My kids have been back in school for a week and a half now, but it still doesn't feel like we've built a routine. We've had all sorts of little things pop up that are not going to be on our schedule for the rest of the semester. 

So, in the spirit of helping you prepare for the weekend. Just a reminder that the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival is coming up this weekend. If you--or your children--want to do the carnival rides for half price, be sure to stop by the Greenbelt Coop to pick up a $12 voucher for an all-you-can-ride wrist ban valid on Saturday or Sunday. Vouchers are on sale until Noon Friday. Don't wait, because wrist bans cost $25 once the festival starts. The Coop is located at 121 Center Way Dr. in Greenbelt.

Also, you can get free tickets to local museums on Sept. 29 through Museum Day!, a program of the Smithsonian.  To sign up for free tickets, go to the website: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/.  Tickets need to be ordered in advance. Participating museums include favorites like the Newseum, National Building Museum and Chesapeake Children's Museum. A complete list is on the website. You get 2 tickets per e-mail address, so families will need a few house members to pitch in and get enough tickets.

That's it for me, today.

-Hyattsville Mom