Looking back at 2011 and looking forward to 2012

I hope you had a lovely holiday with your little ones this year. Through the magic of video conferencing, we were able to see our grandchildren. It is, as you may guess, it is not nearly as good as being right there with them, but knowing that they are healthy, happy, and can connect with us has its own rewards.

Now, at the end of the year, I scan through my clippings from Bringing up Baby, looking at the topics I covered and whether the information was written well and conveyed the messages I value. I think about the topics I may choose to cover in 2012. 

In 2011 we covered the topic about the difference in boy thinking and girl thinking, oral health with a talkline conversation with Dr. Nilesh Thakker of the Marshfield Dental Center, math skills, literacy, a parenting talkline conversation with Dr. Harry Ireton, principles of good discipline, picking up trash, and sharing our values with our young children. These are all important topics to revisit every year, but I wonder what readers in 2012 may be interested in that I may have not talked about? I hope you call or email with your ideas on bringing up babies so we can have a great conversation in 2012.

For all of you who have new sleds or skis or snowsuits, here is a song to end our snowless December.

Song

Oh Mr. Cloud, Cloud, Mr. Fluffy Cloud

Please snow down on me

Oh Mr. Cloud, Cloud, Mr. Fluffy Cloud

Snow is what I want to see

These little children are asking you

To send some snow, Oh Please won’t you?

Oh Mr. Cloud, Cloud, Mr. Fluffy Cloud

Please snow down on

Please snow down on

Please snow down on me!

(tune:  Oh Mr. Sun)

What is truly important

In these last few days before Christmas, let’s look at what is truly important in gift giving for young children. What do we want our young children to value? Let’s think for a moment about what they learn by watching us. If they see us buying gifts simply to assuage our guilt at not spending quality time, they learn that material things are most important; taking time to be with loved ones is not.

The richest people I know do not necessarily have a lot of money. They have the kind of wealth that comes from knowing that they are loved and have love to give. The only way this happens for young children is when we place the highest value on spending time with our children and our parents.

It is not the toy, quickly unwrapped and almost as quickly discarded that shows our children how much we love them. It is the time we spend playing with them, the guidance we give through consistent discipline, and the time we take to listen carefully to what our children have to say when they are speaking.

May you and your family have wonderful holiday times together this Christmas.

Song

Where was Baby Jesus born?

He was born in Bethlehem.

Where did Baby Jesus Sleep?

In the manger near the sheep.

What did Baby Jesus wear?

He was wrapped in cloth with care.

Tune: Twinkle Little Star

It is nice to have sturdy figurines from a manger scene available for young children to handle.

Play Dough for Christmas

Here is another idea for an inexpensive Christmas gift for preschoolers that will be enjoyed until it has been used up—homemade play dough. There are many variations on homemade play dough. They all have either flour or cornstarch, baking soda or salt, and water. Some recipes call for oil. Alum or cream of tartar is often added to help prevent mold. Food color can be added to any of the recipes. One recipe that I have tried has kool-aide for color and smell and another uses flavored gelatin. Most of the play dough recipes I have liked best are cooked. Here is one example. It takes less than 10 minutes to make

2 cups of plain flour


1 cup of salt

1 teaspoon cream of tartar


2 cups of colored water


1 tablespoon oil

Place dry ingredients in a medium size pan and combine. Add the 2 cups of colored water and oil. Stir and cook slowly on medium-high until the playdough thickens. After it cools enough to handle, knead until smooth. It keeps best in your refrigerator in plastic containers or a plastic bag. I’ve kept it out of the refrigerator for a few weeks.

To find other variations that I mentioned you can look on the web, playdoughrecipe.com

Song

Christmas cookies

Christmas cookies

Mom just baked

Mom just baked

A star, a bell, a tree

A star, a bell, a tree

I’ll eat all three

I’ll eat all three

tune of Frerer Jacques

Stocking Stuffers

Last week I wrote about books, blocks, and puzzles, my favorite choices as gifts for young children (as opposed to gifts that are marketed to children based upon the latest television show or movie). Sometimes larger gifts seem in order and other times we need ideas for small, low cost, stocking stuffers.

Many of us remember the smell and feel of new crayons, or the power of having our own pair of scissors, or the joy of spreading the wet pastels of watercolors over a sheet of blank paper. These are also great choices for the three to five year old child in your life. They are wonderful gifts because they allow children to enjoy the creativity and problem solving of making something.

Simple card games like Go Fish and Slap Jack are easy games for the four to six year old. They foster playing together and for most of us, they evoke fond memories. They are also gifts that do not break a budget.

Gifts for new infants are sometimes helping gifts for new parents. If you can cut and sew, you can make a cuddly baby blanket or some bibs. If you enjoy baking and cooking, you will be able to make something yummy for the new family to eat. These are lovely ways of giving something of yourself. Isn’t that what Christmas is truly about?

Song

Smells like Christmas,

Smells like Christmas

Mmmm so good!  Mmmm so good!

I can smell the pine tree.

I can smell the cookies.

Mmmm so good!  Mmmm so good!

Peppermint and Gingerbread

Peppermint and Gingerbread

Chocolate and Cranberries

Chocolate and Cranberries

tune of Frere Jacques