Blog for your kids.

Tags

children, grand children

When I was thinking about writing my “Safety Button” post, which was a story about when my son was young with some hopefully helpful advice, I got to thinking that my children, when they are grown, could read my blog posts to their kids.

How wonderful would that be to read a story to your child that their grandmother had written about when you were a child. Such stories would bring parents and children closer together. My mom was a kid once just like me. My Grandma was a Mom once.

My grand children could even read it to their grand children. Living history.

So my recommendation to you today is start a blog and fill it with wonderful stories of your kids and even of your childhood.

I plan on printing all my blog posts and putting them in a three-ring binder. Just so I can have a copy in my hands to see my progress and be proud once it starts to feel like a book.

You can also blog with your kids. It doesn’t have to be something you promote others reading. Your children will get beneficial practice writing and be able to see their progress.

I read the Derrick Storm Graphic Novels

Tags

Deadly Storm, Graphic Novels, Richard Castle, Storm Season

Over the past 4 days I read the Derrick Storm Graphic Novels

1. Richard Castle’s Deadly Storm
2. Richard Castle’s Storm Season
3. Richard Castle’s A Calm Before Storm

I really enjoyed these. I feel like I want to watch a spy movie now. I have never really been one for graphic novels. I would rather read a book. Sometimes I have a hard time following the panels, especially when they span 2 pages. I am starting to see the appeal of comics.

In the third novel Storm’s dad is watching TV and “Palace” is on. The promo is exactly like “Castle” which was really funny.

It is nice to read for fun once in a while.

 

Safety Button

Tags

creativity, Safety Button

A simple idea that may help your child feel safe: The “Safety Button” a lid from a jar.

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Yesterday evening I went to PTA Parent Workshop Night. We got to sit in on different presentations.

In one of the presentations the presenter was telling a story of her 6-year-old son. Over spring break a 10-year-old buddy was telling ghost stories and her son was just eating it up. He couldn’t get enough. Now that they were home, her once independent son has become her shadow.

I was reminded of a similar situation when my son was about 5-years-old. I think he has seen some sort of crime report on the news. He then told me “I don’t like it here. There are bad people here.”

I told him “There are bad people everywhere.” It was just an off-hand comment. Meaning anywhere we moved there would be bad people.

We had moved from Idaho to Indiana the previous year and we had recently moved to a new town-house apartment when I separated from his father.

After that he would not go upstairs to alone. He wanted me to come to the bathroom with him and check his bedroom.

I didn’t understand why, so I asked him, “Why do you need me to check your room?” This had never been a problem before.

He told me, “You said there are bad people everywhere.”

He had taken my statement literally. Everywhere included his room.

I tried to explain to him that was not what I meant. It didn’t help.

Eventually however, I did have an inspiration.

I took the lid to a baby food jar and told him it was his “safety button.” It was even printed clearly on it.

You know how you can press the middle and it makes the pop sound.

I told him he could press that button any time he didn’t feel safe and it would keep him safe.

It was small enough he could keep in it his pocket.

He would go upstairs and I could hear him popping that button. There were times when I had to replace it. I had to wash a new baby food jar. Eventually he felt safe again and forgot about the “safety button”.

I believe in the power of believing and sometimes you can come up with some pretty creative strategies to help your children believe what they need to believe. Like they are safe at home. Sometimes you are not safe at home but I don’t want my children to live with a fear that incapacitates them.

 

A different way of thinking about dieting; Don’t beat yourself up.

Tags

Healthy Weight Management, Professor Roberta H. Anding

I have been making my way through  the TTC course “Nutrition Made Clear” by Professor Roberta H. Anding. Yesterday I was watching Lecture 21: Healthy Weight Management. I would like to share something with you that I thought was profound.

What happens when you go on a diet? If you are like most people you will fall off the diet wagon. You will also mentally beat your self up. Why can’t I follow this? Why did I give in to hunger and eat …?

Okay think of it this way. Instead of I want to be thin, how about I want to be more productive. I have it I am only going to sleep 2 hours a night, imagine all the things I can get done. Well what happens when you fall asleep at your computer? Are you going to beat yourself up? Why couldn’t I follow my plan? Why did I give in and go to sleep? No you are not. Your plan was unrealistic and you can see that when it is put this way.

This is something to think about.

Oops I was in a hurry to get something posted and I forgot the picture of the course.

“Gifted”, “Profoundly Gifted”, and “Genius”

Katie is probably “gifted” by today’s standards. She has not been officially tested yet. Katie has a large vocabulary. Even our pediatrician remarked on her vocabulary. I was like, you didn’t know Luna at that age so up to that point I didn’t really think of Katie as being that advanced. She is tall for her age and the pre-school teachers mistook her for a year older when she first started.

• Gifted is 1 standard of deviation (SD) above the mean, about 1 in 10,000 children meet this qualification.
• Profoundly Gifted (PG) is 2 SDs above the mean, about 1 in 100,000 children meet this qualification.
• Genius is 3 SDs above the mean, less than 1 in 1,000,000 in the same age group given the same test meet this qualification.

When Luna was tested at Galileo School for Gifted Learning when she was 5 years old they told me she was more than 3 SDs above the mean. She was off the chart in the mathematical, non-verbal, analytically, logical section. She was only PG in the verbal section. Still qualifying for the Gifted EP but this score was much lower than the math score.

I think a lot of parents think their children are gifted. More than the 1 in 10,000 that would actually be considered according to the definition.

I think that part of the reason many parents think their children are gifted is because children are learning more than we did at their age.

My oldest son learned to type when he was in the 2nd grade. The reason he learned to type at 7 years old is because I read an article in the local news paper reviewing typing software for children. I realized that my son would be better off learning to type at an early age. So I went to Best Buy and looked at what software they had and I let my son pick one.

Jump Start Typing is the one he chose. He learned to type by playing games having to hit the right keys to avoid obstacles in games. By the time he was 11 he was typing 35-40 words a minute. When I graduated college I only typed 35 words a minute. At that time after working at a job that required me to be on a computer all the time my speed had improved to 45 wpm. I just tested myself and I scored 49 wpm.

Our children are all gifted to us and even if they don’t meet the standards for the definitions there are still many things we can do to give them every advantage.

 

The Virtues of Audio Books

Tags

audio books

I talked before about rewarding the behavior you want, you also have to display the behavior you want. Lead by example.

If you want to grow a reader, you have to read. Listen to audio books for yourself. Listen to audio books with your children.

A lot of people have an aversion to audio books. I can’t say enough good things about audio books. I don’t quite understand the aversion. I think some of it is pride maybe, “I can read I am an intelligent adult. I don’t need someone to read to me.” Get over yourself, you are missing out.

I listened to one of Paul Reiser’s audio books about 15 years ago and in the introduction he said he was surprised to find out how many people listened to audio books that it wasn’t just the blind. He said it was mostly people who didn’t have time to read, who would listen in their car. Also mom’s with small children made up a large demographic.

(Forgive me if you have just read all his books or go out and read them if this was not his exact sentiment this is what stuck with me after listening to it 15 years ago. I think if Paul himself reads this: You should be happy you said something that stuck with me and I am passing on even though it is not exact. I don’t have the time to look it up. 🙂 )

For me it was not that I didn’t have the time to read. I still read. I just try to make use of NET time (No Extra Time courtesy of Anthony Robbins.) I fit it in when I am doing something else. Also, audio books are a wonderful experience. Some narrators are so great you are missing out if you only read the book.

“The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd was one such book. I read it long before they made a movie.

Top people in their field refer to “Automobile University” they are learning as much as they can in their commute. In my Primerica training book it said “A tape a day keeps poverty away.”  If you want to earn more you have to keep improving yourself and your skill set. Jim Rohn calls them “Vitamins for the Mind.”

There are so many different ways to listen to audio books, I am sure you can find one that will work for you.

I listen to CD’s in my car. Joe installed a new radio in the Durango. I can hook up my phone. I even have two different types of audio books on my phone: MP3s, and Overdrive Media. That radio also has the capacity to plug in a flash drive. I can also plug both of these things into the bikes and treadmills at the YMCA.

I have an old tape player I still use. I can listen to books on my laptop at night before bed with my  headphones or during the day doing housework with Joe’s big speaker set.

Once my library is complete, I mean book shelves and furnishings (a library can never be complete), I want an area where my kids and I can sit and listen to audio books and follow along.

Listening to audio books and having the kids follow along in the book is an important way to increase your child’s vocabulary and reading ability. They learn how enjoyable books can be. They don’t have to struggle to figure out words and they keep the flow of the story going. If they follow along and they see the word that is being pronounced it sticks in their brain effortlessly. They saw that word before and they know how to say it.

I am currently listening to “So You Want to be a Wizard” by Diane Duane with the girls in the car. Luna has the hard copy to follow along. I think this book would currently be a little daunting for her to read by herself. I know she is capable of it. She is reading those “Rainbow Magic Fairy” books. She reads one almost every night before bed. Sometimes she even reads 3 of them before bed. The only time she doesn’t read before bed is if we are out late in the evening and she doesn’t have time. She is very happy to go to her room 30 – 60 min before lights out to read.

Enabling creativity

Tags

Anthony Robbins, creativity, The Great Courses, The Teaching Company, Tony Robbins, ttc

“Yes, but …” stifles creativity while “Yes, and …” enables creativity.

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http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=5955

TTC The Creative Thinker’s Toolkit

Lecture 1 is The Creative Person—Practice and Passion

The example Professor Gerard Puccio gives is: Have you ever been on a long car trip and had a fly flying around in the car? You know how annoying that is. Well, someone comes up with the idea, “What if you put fly paper in the back of the car?” Then you say “Yes, but it will stick to people.” That stifles creativity right there. If you say, “Yes, and what if there is a way you can make it without it sticking to people?” That will enable creativity.

In the first case you are discouraging any ideas. In the second case you are asking for creative solutions to the problem and they will come. You are getting the ball rolling, starting a brain storming session for unlimited creativity.

I was reminded of Anthony Robbins “Unleash the Power Within”

In this he says your brain wants to make you right. He tells a story of when someone asks you go to the kitchen and find the salt and you say to yourself, “I don’t know where the salt is. I don’t know why I have to go find it.” Your brain does everything in its power to make you right. You will not see the salt right in front of you. The person who asked for the salt walks in and picks it right up. You swear it was not there when you looked.

Anthony Robbins says you have to ask yourself a better quality of question. Use your “yes, and” for this purpose.

You can use “yes, and” with your children, helping them to figure out creative solutions. You can use it with co-workers in meetings, and you can even use it on yourself.

For example:

I want to lose weight. Yeah but, I hate to exercise  and how can I find a way to have fun while getting some exercise? I know I can …

I want to write a blog  but, no one will read it  and how can I find ways to get people to read it? Hmm, If I post it to FaceBook and people like it they could share it.

Your brain (and the brains of those you work with) will come up with answers and creative solutions you only have to ask the questions.

I want to hear your “yes, and” questions, and the answers you (or whoever you used them on) came up with. So, please leave them in the comment section below.

Life Right Now

Best advice of today’s post.

You have to reward the behavior you want and make sure there is no reward for the behavior you don’t want.

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I have completed reading or listening to 3 books since my last post. I fully intend to write about them here this is just a little harder than I expected.

Katie had another nose bleed, not nearly as bad as the last one. She came into my room and said “my nose.”

After the bleeding stopped and I cleaned up her pillow and clothes, I let her sleep in between Joe and I. After she was asleep she kept sneezing. Every time I would shine the phone screen light on her face to see if it started bleeding again.

The following night she came into my room and said, “I can’t sleep in my bed because my nose is not bleeding.” Which, as you can tell, is not true or doesn’t make sense.

I told her “That is not true. You always sleep in your bed when your nose is not bleeding. It is okay to tell me you are sad or scared and want to sleep with me.”

I feel like I have gotten myself in a little conundrum here. I do not want her to pick her nose and make it bleed just so she can sleep with me, and I don’t want her to become a permanent fixture in my bed, and I am still worried about her. She is little and has a medical problem.

You have to reward the behavior you want and make sure there is no reward for the behavior you don’t want. So I am attempting to let her know that it is okay to ask to sleep with me so she doesn’t see sleeping with me as a reward for a bleeding nose.

So I am  not sleeping well. I am interrupted and it is usually a panic state. Is there blood? Do I need to take action?

I have like 6 draft posts started, a dozen more things I want to write about, like 6 books to review, a vlog compliment to get done, I am still working on my 360° shingle, and trying to figure out how to make WordPress do what I want it to. I also have my wonderful friend Bonnie asking me for advice and saying now you need to put that on your blog.

So stay tuned. I am still plugging away.

TTC and ttc–The Teaching Company and Trying To Concieve

I was searching for blog posts that mentioned TTC or tagged TTC and I did not find anything related to what I was expecting. If you go to The Pirate Bay or Pirate Proxy and search for TTC you will get a plethora of torrents for courses from The Teaching Company. Not that I am endorsing the use of torrents but that is what is out there.

These educational lectures from TTC are called The Great Courses but you won’t find many searching for TGC. I don’t know why they are listed under the company name acronym but that is how to find them.

If you are familiar with TTC probably are familiar with TMS which is The Modern Scholar. They are similar and I am a fan of both. You can find them both in many libraries.

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/

https://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=scholar.home

I was searching to see if anyone else was reviewing or summarizing these works. I plan on doing just this and I wanted to see what other people were saying.

Every blog post I looked at was someone who was trying to get pregnant. I thought it was odd, what did TTC have to do with trying to get pregnant, I wondered. I also currently happen to be trying to get pregnant, kinda, my feelings are mixed about that right now.

I commented on a post and I asked the blogger what she meant by TTC and she explained “trying to conceive”. Okay it all makes sense now. It wasn’t necessarily the universe telling me maybe I should be more concerned with conceiving. Or maybe it is I ended up here creating this post.

I have given birth to 4 children Adrian 17, Luna 6, Katie 3 and William would have been 1 now.

My oldest son, Adrian, has been living with his dad just over 1,000 miles away since he was almost 13.

My family is made up of my husband and I and our girls. By looking at my family, you wouldn’t know my 2 boys were missing.

Knowing about William explains the mixed feelings, he was born just over a year ago the week before Christmas. I was 28 weeks pregnant when I delivered.

If I could pick up from that 7th month of pregnancy or it would give him a new healthy body and a chance at life I would do it, but the thought of starting all over again and having the same worries waiting for tests is hard.

William had Down’s Syndrome and an Atrial/Ventricle Canal Defect. It was unbalanced at the time of the fetal echocardiogram. The doctor said a heart with that condition “is not compatible with life” but there was a good chance it would grow and become balanced and the surgery that would be required had a high success rate. We were hopeful and we were ready to take care of him.

When I came home from the hospital, without a baby, I had baby fever. I was supposed to have a baby. At that time, my husband was devastated and he didn’t want to go through that again. I wanted to wait a year to make sure my body was in the best shape to try again.

Now that my husband is ready I am not so sure anymore. So if you are looking for TTC trying to conceive. I have been there and I might be there now. My blog is still of interest to you. Since you are working so hard to have a baby, you want the best for that baby and my experiences with my children, emphasis on education, will be helpful to you.

I keep revising this post. I am trying to make it clear and interesting, but this is an emotional subject.

Follow

I just figured out how at add the Follow button.

It is presently on the sidebar. I need 30 followers to join booklookbloggers.com

Book Look Bloggers will give free books to review.

For any other new bloggers who want to know how to add the follow button the information is here

http://en.support.wordpress.com/widgets/follow-blog-widget/