Gratitude Shmatitude

we are quickly approaching turkey day. a day of giving THANKS. in preparation for your family's holiday dinner, why not sit around the kitchen table for 30 minutes (more or less depending on you child's interest and attention span) and make a GRATITUDE ALBUM. let's not just TALK about being thankful, but pull out the craft box and DO!

ask your child to write on each page something for which they are thankful, draw and picture and move on to the next page. this can be in a journal, notebook or just papers you can later staple together. make this a new tradition at your thanksgiving dinner to share these books with the table.

this will give your kids time to sit and think of just the things for which they are grateful. you can even phrase it as "what are you happy about, what makes you feel good" or other basic ways for them to start categorizing their life.

the lesson: we often think about things we DON'T have or things we are frustrated about. it is not often we get to think only of the positive. 

***added bonus: not having to hear the whining about eating cranberry sauce, but rather hearing just the joy about the buttery mashed potatoes!

Acme Library - God's Dream

the great thing about this book is that is has zero religion and would work for every family. the God reference doesn't specify ANYTHING, other than some magical higher power who wants us all to be kind to each other.

perfect for the holidays - no matter which ones you celebrate.

to buy this book, see ACME LIBRARY on the right

(this only works if you are on the acme sharing website)

Acme Holiday - Veteran's Day

tuesday, november 11th, marks veteran's day. most schools are closed in observance, so here's how to spend the day with your kids...

locate a veteran's hospital near you:

this is the directory

chose one of the following, or make up your own:

bring flowers.

bake and drop off yummies.

bring a deck of cards and play GO FISH with a vet.

prepare a joke or song.

just go and meet some heroic people, shake their hand and thank 'em.

the lesson: teaching appreciation and acknowledgement of others makes a real difference in the type of people we are raising.

doll hairs and sense

we are on our way to change (yay!), but the financial crisis still looms - kids and money go together like peanut butter and jelly.

time to start teaching our kids about the mighty dollar. 

there are so many different ways that people look at allowance (chores vs. no chores), when to start giving it (i say first grade), but the simple fact is that kids can't learn about money if they don't have any.

a great rule of thumb is that whatever you decide to give them should be divided into 3 equal parts for spending, saving and sharing. (the sharing is for DONATING, in case you didn't get that) and as far as i'm concerned, the saving is for them to decide and when they don't save and they wish they had, they'll figure it out pretty fast.

here is a great article on the basics at CEOMOM.com

the lesson: it's all in their hands. doling out responsibilities will give them a chance to rise to the occasion. 

***added bonus: no longer feeling like a bottomless pit (wallet).

Vote For Hope

regardless of how you will be voting on tuesday, i am sure we can agree that our children deserve a future (and a present) filled with hope, prosperity and freedom.

if your family is excited about change, you can boogie down to this video.