*Laurie Kolp Poetry*: Childhood Wishes

Laurie catches what it means to lose our inner child and how important it is for all of us to hold dear.
*Laurie Kolp Poetry*: Childhood Wishes

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/columnists/ci_23277838/our-me-generation

Trouble with teens and technology? Fear not.
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/columnists/ci_23277838/our-me-generation

Mothers

Mother and child, I mean adult.

Mothers

If you have only taught 

kindness without having baked one

batch of cookies, modeled kindness towards 

others, without even rolling one clay worm,

then the world says

Happy Mother's Day for each time 

you paused to look into the eyes 

of your child, hugged your person 

no matter how big or how small

you listened to your child without 

interrupting, and spoke with
compassion and caring.

If you gave up sleep for the nightmares, the fevers,

and later for the curfews and the term papers,

the the talks and the breakdowns

and the calls from college

at 1 in the morning,

if you always kept your patience as a counter weight
to the temper tantrums, talking back, and the intrepid teens,
let moments of embarrassment wash away with the tide of grace
and kept the flashes of joy as a beacon of light,

if you rolled up your parenting sleeves,
dug in deep
and did the dirty
and sometimes thankless
and selfless work of a mother,

then your children and all they know
will honor you on this day
pay tribute to you for being brave
for keeping foresight your compass
and holding your fearless heart trusted
in the vast wide-open sea of children
waiting to hear, the children
you brought near,

Happy Mother's Day!

Good Luck!! Good Parenting!!     Bon :)

Being Still Sometimes

Being still in nature sometimes is all it takes. Kids love to be outside. Cultivating a love for the beauty which is all around us, from a majestic mountain view to the single dandelion pushing its way up from the crack in the sidewalk is proof that beauty exists everywhere we look.

It starts with stopping.

What do I mean? Sometimes we are so jam-packed with things to do in our daily schedules that our kids, and us for that matter, miss out on those quiet, precious moments in nature which seem to naturally build a connective tissue between us. Why do you think the sunset is such a big deal? And the sunrise? Not only is it peaceful and powerful all at the same time, it also gives us a sense of the world we live in while being close to the ones we love without having to say one word.

So, go out and take a few minutes, stop with your child to watch a budding tree come to full canopy, listen for song birds each morning, smell the lilacs and the rain. Listen to what your child has to say about it. Build some vital connections to the natural world together. We only have one. And we have each other in it.

Good Luck! Good Parenting! :) Bon

Tracking Jill: If You Can't beat It, Eat It

Tracking Jill: If You Can't beat It, Eat It:                                               If You Can't beat It, Eat it Japanese Knotweed  An invasive plant  A pesky weed...

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/columnists/ci_22973719/are-your-kids-pushing-your-buttons

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/columnists/ci_22973719/are-your-kids-pushing-your-buttons

Is Your Child Priceless?

The good stuff is free but it takes work.

Okay, so of course our children are priceless!  We cannot buy our child's respect, attention, time, anything....and a recent blurb in Family Fun has got me going. A mother's idea to pay her kids in quarters every time they said "thank you" is going to lead to trouble later on. My guess is that this Mom is going to have to keep upping the ante as her kids grow because the kids will learn quickly how to make it happen. 

It's called entitlement.

So, my advice  as a parent and a grandparent - is to stay away from monetary and material  bribes and rewards altogether.  If we don't, we run the risk of focusing on what's not important. The intrinsic value is what really counts for life as we learn that doing things right, and working hard, just for the sake of doing things to the best of our ability just because they are good for us and the ones around us. 

This is one of the best lessons in responsibility and respect. That's it. It is really no secret and we don't have to complicate it. Parents might be over-thinking parenting.

A favorite come-back I heard recently from a dad to his young son goes like this:

The Dad requested that his son please behave at the table, while they were out to eat at a local restaurant.

The young son challenged his Dad by asking "What will I get?"

To which his father quickly replied,

"You will get a happy family!"

Well said. I almost stood up and clapped. Instead I thanked the Parenting Gods above and around that there are parents like that father who are doing good work.

Kids will believe what we tell them, but we have to tell them, and we have to show them. We have to believe in ourselves.

Our kids are watching us - our kids want to be like us. Simple.

Good Luck!!! Good Parenting!!! Thanks for reading. Please pass it on.

Bon :)

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/columnists/ci_22910923/were-headed-light-direction

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/columnists/ci_22910923/were-headed-light-direction

Happy Easter

Chaucer Goes Easter


When that April with his showers soote
April's coming with its showers sweet
That drought of March had perc-ed to the root
March's dry roots are under feet
and bathed every vein in swich liquor
waiting for the rain which is bound to  fall
of which vert-u engendered is the flower
bringing springtime flowers large and small.

One of my fondest Easter memories as a child is hunting for eggs with my basket in hand. My dad would hide the Easter eggs, which  we had colored the day before together,  out in our yard and I would race my younger  sisters and little brother to see who could gather up the most eggs. Whether you hide your eggs inside the house or outdoors, kids love to test their "I Spy" skills as they search for the colorful eggs, which have become a traditional symbol of new life in spring and a reward after Lent. Enjoy your day together!


Good Luck!! GoodParenting!! And thank you for reading. :) Bon

Let Kids Cook With You

Kids love to cook...Check out this site: parentforward.blogspot.com
— Parent Forward (@bonniejtoomey) March 18, 2013

Cooking Up Some Learning

Four-year-old Collin grates a lemon with a little help.

Cooking Up Some Learning

So you want to teach some useful skills and some awesome lessons and have fun while you’re at it? 

Open the cook book, and break out the aprons, the mixing bowls, and the measuring spoons and cups.

Kids love to cook and bake. It’s tactile, it’s sensory, it's math, it's language, it’s seeing first hand what work can produce and then enjoying the result together. 

Our lemony zest buttermilk pancakes tasted sooo good. Collin made a triple decker pancake sandwich with whipped cream, syrup, and melted butter on his blueberry pancakes which he helped to make. 

"I can crack the eggs," he said proudly. He had done it before when we made brownies the last time.

So he was asked to tap the egg on the side of the mixing bowl without completely cracking open the egg. This time he learned how to separate the eggs. And the fun part was using the power tools - the mixer to whip up the egg whites to make our pancakes even fluffier - of course he learned first that the mixer must stay down in the bowl at all times and that both of his hands should stay on the handle and that he should keep his eyes focused on the task the whole time, and if he got tired, that it was alright to let an adult help him. 

And he did! It is a good idea to talk about what you are about to do before you do it.

The best part: we got to eat our work and then bundle up to go outside and play. All that cooking gave us lots of energy and a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. Plus it became part of our story. 

What is your story?

Good Luck!! Good Parenting!! And thanks for reading and sharing!

Bon :)

Using the "power tool" as friend, Chris likes to call it.