Clorox has teamed up with Heidi Murkhoff, author of the What to Expect book series, to provide a guide for families entitled What To Expect Guide To A Healthy Home.  It gives practical advice on keeping your home clean and healthy.  And, it is provided free of charge from clorox.com.  To order your own copy, go to www.clorox.com and follow the link.

As always, visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website for additional details and more recalls.  You can subscribe to the CSPC’s site, and they will email you with recalls as they are released. 

1. Metal Jewelry Sold by Family Dollar Stores Recalled Due to Risk of Lead Exposure to Children 2. Discount School Supply Recalls Paint Brushes Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard 3. Pure Allure Recalls Metal Jewelry Sold at Michaels Stores Due to Risk of Lead Exposure to Children4. La Femme NY Inc. Recalls Children’s Necklace and Earring Sets Due to Risk of Lead Exposure

A few weeks ago, my son’s school had a “Parent Training Night”. The entire idea of it got me chuckling, but it ended up being a great resource for helping me and my fellow kindergarten parents how to supplement our child’s education at home. They covered a broad range of topics, but the one that I found most interesting was an overview of the Spalding method. Now I understand why my son looked at me awhile back, obviously very proud of himself, and said “Ahh, Ay, Aah” while moving his hand around!

If you aren’t familiar with the Spalding method, it’s a system for teaching language arts to children. It involves phonograms, or word sounds, often taught with flash cards, CDs, or other materials. Each sound has a related hand motion. For instance, the “p” sound is demonstrated by holding your hand up, balled into a fist, then quickly opening it in a “pow” kind of action.

After moving through the phonograms for each of the individual letters, children move on to blends, such as “th” and “sp”.

For more on the Spalding method, see the article at Wikipedia or visit the official site.

This time of year always makes me nostalgic for my childhood; building snowmen (okay, one year we got to build snowmen around Christmas – I live in Texas…it is a rarity), getting together with family, doing little things with my mom and dad, making lists, shopping, wrapping gifts, and on and on.  Holidays of any kind tend to do that to us – they bring us back in touch with our past, and we should use that nudge as more than simply a nudge.  Consider it a shove.

If you have children – of any age – there is no better time than the present to create memories and traditions of your own.  Years from now, your children will reflect upon the corniness, the hilarity and most likely the sentimentality of it all and realize that moments such as these are what bind us together.

So, in light of this, here are my family’s traditions.  Not my family that includes my parents and my brother, but my family NOW – the kids and my husband.  Here’s what we do to create that feeling of togetherness and routine every December.

1. You Can’t Count Down Without A Countdown Chain!  This is, quite possibly, my son’s favorite activity.  We take red and green construction paper and cut it into 1.5 inch strips.  We then staple each strip into an interlocking ring with another, creating a paper chain.  We put enough links on it to count down until December 25th (but you could do this with other holidays and events in December as well), then each day we pull off a link from the chain.  He loves to create patterns with the colors in the chain, and this year, we’re adding a phrase or activity to each link, which will help us focus on our family a little more each day.
2. Let There Be Light(s) – And More Lights!  Our neighborhood is exceptionally well-decorated this time of year with lights, deer, scenes and designs.  We usually choose a couple of nights to walk around the neighborhood, taking in everyone’s decorations.  It is great exercise, the kids get a chance to burn off some energy, and our pace is such that we can truly appreciate each display.  On chilly nights, though, we pack into the car and make our way around.  Bring hot cocoa and a few cookies along for the ride to really set the mood!
3. Fa La La La La…along with our light-looking, we enjoy stopping at neighbor’s homes and treating them to a few songs.  Sometimes, we get our next-door neighbor’s kids to join us and make it a little choir.  The older residents of our street LOVE to see our kids come around, and it is a wonderful way to reach out and contact those who live near you.  We also like to pair this activity up with the next one…
4. Cookies And Candy And Cake – Oh My!  The kids help me choose about five or six of our favorite holiday recipes, and we spend a few days putting them together.  Then, we bundle them in colorful bags, pretty plates or holiday boxes and deliver them to the neighbors.  It is a gift from the heart and our kitchen, and each year is a bit different, depending on the choices the kids make!  Stay tuned for holiday recipes to be posted in the near future!
5. Tis The Season To Be Giving.  The main lesson we drive home in our children during this time of year is to share with those less fortunate than us.  We do this in several ways.  We typically give food to our local food bank via our church, but during December, the boys and I make a special purchase of food for the food bank, and then they help make the delivery with me to see where the food goes.  It is an eye-opening experience for them and is a lesson that they carry for a good long while.  We also participate in Toys For Tots, Salvation Army Angel Tree or Blue Santa.  We allow each child to choose an angel or Santa from the tree that is about the same age as they are.  Then the children shop for the child.  It means a lot to our boys to give back, especially when it is someone like them.  Another activity we do is to sit down as a family and create cards for nursing home residents.  Then, on a Sunday afternoon, we make a trip to the local nursing home and deliver our cards.  To watch the faces of the residents light up is enough to put me in the spirit any time of year!
6. And Speaking Of Cards…another favorite tradition of ours is to take our old Christmas cards from the prior year and turn them into placemats!  I cut posterboard down to placemat size, then the boys have a ball digging through old cards to make a collage of holiday cheer on their placemat.  When the pictures are all glued down, I cover the mat in contact paper to protect it, and our table is ready for the holidays.

What are your favorite holiday traditions?  Leave a comment and let us know!

We’ve got Goodnight Moon  memorized.  I can recite Go Dog Go  from the front seat while waiting in the carpool line.  And, there’s only so much of Put Me In The Zoo that I can take, you know?  So, I’ve been honing my skills as a story inventor and I’m hear to tell you, it isn’t all that difficult!

Creating your own stories opens up a whole new world of learning.  Children are able to use their imagination to picture the story you are telling in their heads, and it enhances their ability to think creatively as well.  With the exposure to verbal language, a child’s own verbal vocabulary grows.  And, it is a great activity for adults and children to share, making for stronger family bonds.  The best perk, though, is storytelling requires NO batteries, NO electrical plugs, and NO TV/video screens to entertain your child.

The best stories we tell in our home are the ones of my husband’s and my childhoods.  My boys love to hear about the time I threw rocks at a wasp nest, yet it was my brother that was stung.  They patiently wait for the part about my mohter’s loving reaction and how that simple moment changed my relationship with my brother for the better.  They equally enjoy my husband’s tales of racing his big wheel down the sidewalk with the neighborhood kids and the stories of Star Wars figures and Adventure People games.  I think that by sharing bits of our past, we’re opening the door for our children to do the same with us. 

Making up stories is just as important.  We have an ongoing story of a little brown rabbit that lives in our flower beds in the front yard.  Our little rabbit tells tales of his day, intermingled with activities that we’ve done.  The stories become so real for them that they actually look for the little rabbit from time to time in the front yard.  And now, my older son is taking part in the stories, weaving our little brown rabbit tales into descriptions of his day.  At times, when things don’t go quite right for him, a little brown rabbit tale is the easiest way for him to tell us what is going on.

So, how do you come up with stories to tell children when you think you’ve got nothing to tell?  Here are a few ideas: 

• Ask yourself: What if?  What if we could fly?  What if we got on a train today?  What if the sun shone all the time?  Asking a “what if” question is a great way to start a story.
• Retell a story you already know.  Take Goodnight Moon and make it Good Morning Sun.  You’d be surprised at how much fun it is to change the ending or create a different character.  And, kids love to get in on the action!
• Try an autobiography – pick fun or silly moments to start with, or choose something from a time when you were the same age as your audience.

The most important part of storytelling is the talking part.  It opens up commication between you and your child that will pay off ten-fold in years to come.