Set up the tent!
Pro-tip#1 Do you have a camping tent? If you set it up in the yard or the house, put a special toy inside(keep it simple) just legos, just drawing supplies, just beads and string....this will give your child a different environment to retreat to while you get some work done. If you don't have a tent, build a fabulous fort. Allow your child to feel that the tent is just for them. It's important not to combine this tent with parent boundaries, like time outs, clean up or napping. If they feel it's their special space just for them, they will enjoy it longer. Pro-tip#2 Give yourself permission to do what you can, which is not everything and then tell yourself..."I'm doing enough"And remember to laugh at yourself and tell jokes in unexpected times, especially to other adults. Just remember - you are never really completely useless, you can always serve as a bad example. just kidding :) If you need any specific survival tips, feel free to email us, we got your back!
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The Did You Know Project
Posted by Erin Boehme Did you know that every day there is something to wonder about? It’s true! What can you discover about the birds, beasts and plants that live around you? What do your children have to share about their relationship to nature? You can start a “Did you know?” board in your home.
Say “huh?” instead of “no”. Become comfortable with not knowing. Allow your children to lead the discovery. The answer is less important than the journey. Honor the relationship that is being built between the human and nature. We promise it will be magical and much more fun than seeking facts adult style…borrrring. Hold the answer, you can do it. Allow imaginative, creative and playful facts and stories to thread through your board. My daughter was the Antelope when she was 5 and her “Did you know?” stated: “Did you know that antelopes have 5 legs, that is why they run so fast.” True, the Pronghorn Antelope is the fastest land mammal in North America. Children know things: There’s no need to make corrections of their "facts" Children also grow up and they can iron out the details later. What’s important is that children get to keep the connection now. The Beginner's Mind: If you are a seasoned naturalist, use the beginner’s mind when you practice collecting “Did you knows?” with your children. If you are truly a beginner or truly in beginner’s mind, celebrate! You are about to embark on an exciting journey. Add drawings to your board: some things need to be expressed in pictures. Not you friends: Google and scientific/environmental studies are not the right resources for this project. Your friends: Keen observation(even out the window while you wash dishes) long walks, curiosity, field guides, stories and phone calls to grandparents and friends. Pssst, secret...grandparents like to be asked lots of questions about nature, they’ve been around a long time). This is not a homework assignment: Please do not treat this like an assignment, get a couple started, model by being curious, put up "Did you knows?" when they happen, this is an authentic wonder moment, enjoy! Caution: Once you start this project could go on your whole life! BEDTIME(A poem for the end of the day)
The evening is coming, The sun sinks to rest; Straight home to the nest. "Caw!" says the rook, as he flies overhead; "It's time little people were going to bed!" The flowers are closing; The daisy's asleep; The primrose is buried In slumber so deep. Shut up for the night is the pimpernel red; It's time little people were going to bed! The butterfly, drowsy, Has folded its wing; The bees are returning, No more the birds sing. Their labour is over, their nestlings are fed; It's time little people were going to bed! ~Thomas Hood Childhood Memories and Thoughts on Parenting in a Difficult Time
By Anne McCarthy Lately, I find myself pondering what memories my daughters will have of their childhood when these days of magic and play have become past. What will they remember of their Dad, of me, their grandparents, of family and friends we hold dear, of places we spend our time? Or more specifically and in the spirit of the time: What will they remember of this strange episode we’re living through, where things fluctuate between feelings of paradise on the one hand—long wanders through the hills, family togetherness, morning to evening play outside— to a subtle but pervasive anxiety on the other. All this raises yet other questions for me: Am I doing a good job at this parenting thing? Am I shouldering the burden for my children in a way that allows them to stay light and (relatively) worry-free in a time of crisis and isolation? To ground myself, I think back to my own childhood—to my favorite memories of a time where someone else carried the weight of the world for me. For me the best way in are olfactory memories, those linked to very specific smells. Many of these memory triggers I know and seek, others are unexpected memory gifts, that instantly and out of nowhere transport me to a different time and place. Growing up in Europe, where food is tradition, food is family and love, many of my triggers are of course food related: onion frying in butter is the quintessential “dinner is cooking” smell that conjures up feelings of comfort and memories of a family gathered to talk and eat (now add mushrooms to that, and we’re going places); bone broth simmering on my stove puts me right into my Oma’s kitchen where good food was always just a spoon away, served up with stories and laughter. Okay now I’m getting hungry… Nature smells are of course the next big memory train ticket: apple blossoms, lilac, hay meadows, sweet grass and wet leaves, to only name a few of my very, very favorites. These scents I hold dear, they are my keys to a treasure chest of memories locked deep inside, waiting to be opened when I most need it: At times like now, that feel so surreal and strange, when grounding is needed to preserve my sanity. Undoubtedly my kids will have other smells to guide them back: maybe rain and sage, woodsmoke, dusty juniper? Their bone broth scent memory will perhaps remind them of how I make them smell the pot and say “It smells just like Uroma’s kitchen” … who knows? After going on that journey I feel much better. It seems as long as there is good food, ample time outdoors and love my kids will be just fine—filling their treasure chests not with a perfect parent or a perfect world, but instead with a deep sense of belonging: belonging to family, to community, to nature, to this Earth. Now I’m off to my kitchen to cook up some memories and breathing much easier. What smells trigger your favorite childhood memories? What do you remember of times spend outdoors growing up? Have you ever climbed a tree? Picked berries? Waded a creek? Buried yourself in a pile of leaves? Remember what that smelled like? hmmm.... Did you know there is a moth in Madagascar
that drinks the tears of sleeping birds? This moth is called, Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica Parent Survival Kit Resources, Links and Stuff to Support Parent Survival "We Got This!"
Cherish Bedtime... Pro-tip#1 It's been said that being at home with the young ones can make days feel like years and years feel like days. At bedtime, make an agreement with yourself to cherish what sometimes feels like a daunting chore...bedtime. Tell yourself, It's not forever, it's just for now. If you are calm, instead of preparing for a power struggle, you might find peace in the process (I know, easier said then done, but give it a try). Heather Boyd, OT is a wonderful resource for parenting and sleep. Here's her link: https://www.heatherboyd.org/blog Check her out on facebook as well. Want to create ritual at bedtime? Pro-tip #2 - Use "The Rose and the Thorn" practice of sharing what was the best part of your day and what was the hardest(not to be confused with the worst). Light a little candle with your child, allow each person to share the rose and the thorn of the day, then have the child blow out the candle and crawl into bed. ZZZzzzz.... Pro-tip#3 Use the personal bedtime story written above ;) or the Bedtime poem read out loud once young ones are tucked in. If you need any specific survival tips, feel free to email us, we got your back! Your Child’s Personal Bedtime Story
By Heather Young As a bedtime story for your child, recollect the activities of his/her day in a story format. Begin the story with descriptions of your child, the main character. “Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved to collect rocks and climb trees. She lived with her mama, her daddy, and her baby sister in a little blue house with a big oak tree in the front yard….etc.” Continue with a retelling of the story of your child’s day, including as many details big and small about what happened that day as you can recall. Amplify the goodness that the day held. Your child will have fun adding what she remembers and correcting you when your re-telling does not match her recollection. End the story with what is happening now, e.g., the child is safe and warm and is getting tucked into bed with snuggles and hugs by her mama/daddy who loves her more than anything in the whole wide world. Children love to be the main character of a story. It makes them feel seen and heard. In fact, no matter our age, ordering the events of the day by recalling them at bedtime and feeling the fact that we are here, at the end of our day, safe and warm in bed, with all that we need in this moment, is a soothing way to end the day. |
AuthorWild Roots staff authors include Erin Boehme, Lia Grippo, CJ Cintas, Anne McCarthy, Tyler Starbard, Jenn Sepulveda, Heather Young, Amalia Smith Hale, Natalia Pareja... Archives
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