Me, My Kids, and Aging Cheese
"You are the artist in your own life. Make it beautiful." I don't know who made that statement, but it's great advice.
If you are a parent I'm sure you have done your best to deal with the trials and tribulations associated with the steady aging among your kids. In my case I would compare it to watching the progression of Bilbo in The Hobbit Movie Trilogy. Not the full set of movies, just the out takes where he (Martin Freeman) is progressively discovering new and different ways to flip off the camera. Much like aging cheese, raising kids can seem more complicated at times than it has to be.
I'm no expert - I learn something new every day. What I do have is 12 years of experience, 10 with more than one child. So I have one simple recommendation for any parent that is struggling to make good out of a bad attitude, or an over emotional child. Read to them. Sit down after dinner, kill the WiFi, hide your Phone, turn off the Television, remove tablets, get a cup of joe and READ to your kids. All of them - ages be damned.
I'm not going to lie to you and say that this process will start easy or that it will fix every micro issue in your household. In our case, it brings us together - it shuts down and reboots everyone. It allows imaginations to thrive if only for a half hour a night.
Suggested Reading List (I do not avoid spoilers - because you can not spoil a great story):
This is a short list to get started - in my view these books provide the best opportunity for a parent to HOOK their kids on the idea of listening to a story. In no particular order...
1. Hatchet (Gary Paulson): A teenage city boy named Brian crashes in the middle of the Canadian wilderness while flying in a bush plane. The pilot dies, and the boy lives. All alone in the wilderness, Brian must learn how to survive in the wild for 54 days with nothing but a hatchet.
2. Where the Red Fern Grows (Wilson Rawls): Not only is it a delightful and beautiful story, it is quite possibly the perfect book for a tweenage boy. Girls have enjoyed this book for decades and will continue to do so, but Where the Red Fern Grows is a coming of age story about a boy – a boy named Billy Coleman, and his dogs. Disclaimer: This is one of my favorite books - but beware and have tissues ready because the "sweetness" of this story will reduce listeners to tears.
3. The Hobbit (J. R. R. Tolkien): Our Hero Bilbo goes from a dull life filled with routine and cleanliness to an emotional adventure filled with everything you could possibly want; adventure, intrigue, deception, battle, and bonds of friendship. I remember reading it with my Mom when I was around 9 years old and the end (Thorin’s demise) had me bawling like my best friend had been taken from me. I mean how could Thorin go so far, pouring his heart and soul into the quest, only to be struck down in battle? It was a life lesson moment for me, one of bitterness, exasperation and sadness that I will never forget.
4. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White): It's a beautifully crafted book. The characters are vivid and easy for children to connect to. It's a wonderful combination of reality and fantasy. It does a "terrific" job of explaining friendship. Charlotte dies at the end. There's no way to get around that fact or sugarcoat it. You can explain to your children that death is part of the natural cycle of things and that Charlotte's children live on. No matter what you say, though, I guarantee your kids will be sad at the end of the book.
I have found reading to my children to be a great way to dis-spell angst at the end of a day and end on a note that sufficiently ties their collective impressions of life and me into a neat little bow.
That is after all the goal as we mold the tiny mutant copies of ourselves into productive members of society - "to not suck at it". Which is a task - because parenting can be hard, and so often whether or not you feel as though you "sucked at it" at the end of the day is based on the last impression you both have (parent and child) when they lay down to sleep. This life is beautiful. It's beautiful because we do not take ugly for an answer and like the hunchback of Notre Dame - we should all aspire to have the lead role in cartoon movie.
I'm an avid comic book reader, and as such I've become a reader of many things and have found very few things are more rewarding than sitting down after dinner and having your child bring you a book to read to them. They aren't asking to play a video game or watch a T.V. show - they want to read their comic book or they want you to finish that great story you started because they have to know if Billy saved enough money to buy his dogs or if Thorin made it through battle or if Brian made it home.
A little goes a long way. The simple act of reading as a FAMILY bonds a family. Ultimately if want to help your child see the beauty of life - you have to show it to them - read it so they can imagine the possibilities and you will sleep well knowing you didn't "suck at it".
**If you have not read any of my other blog posts please check them out - like / comment below and share. I am a traditionalist - in that I read hard cover comics, books, and refuse to go digital but if you are a digitized person check out our tablet / laptop skins linked below. Thanks in advance for your patronage at the blog and site.
http://bit.ly/2o8Hbvc
If you are a parent I'm sure you have done your best to deal with the trials and tribulations associated with the steady aging among your kids. In my case I would compare it to watching the progression of Bilbo in The Hobbit Movie Trilogy. Not the full set of movies, just the out takes where he (Martin Freeman) is progressively discovering new and different ways to flip off the camera. Much like aging cheese, raising kids can seem more complicated at times than it has to be.
I'm no expert - I learn something new every day. What I do have is 12 years of experience, 10 with more than one child. So I have one simple recommendation for any parent that is struggling to make good out of a bad attitude, or an over emotional child. Read to them. Sit down after dinner, kill the WiFi, hide your Phone, turn off the Television, remove tablets, get a cup of joe and READ to your kids. All of them - ages be damned.
I'm not going to lie to you and say that this process will start easy or that it will fix every micro issue in your household. In our case, it brings us together - it shuts down and reboots everyone. It allows imaginations to thrive if only for a half hour a night.
Suggested Reading List (I do not avoid spoilers - because you can not spoil a great story):
This is a short list to get started - in my view these books provide the best opportunity for a parent to HOOK their kids on the idea of listening to a story. In no particular order...
1. Hatchet (Gary Paulson): A teenage city boy named Brian crashes in the middle of the Canadian wilderness while flying in a bush plane. The pilot dies, and the boy lives. All alone in the wilderness, Brian must learn how to survive in the wild for 54 days with nothing but a hatchet.
2. Where the Red Fern Grows (Wilson Rawls): Not only is it a delightful and beautiful story, it is quite possibly the perfect book for a tweenage boy. Girls have enjoyed this book for decades and will continue to do so, but Where the Red Fern Grows is a coming of age story about a boy – a boy named Billy Coleman, and his dogs. Disclaimer: This is one of my favorite books - but beware and have tissues ready because the "sweetness" of this story will reduce listeners to tears.
3. The Hobbit (J. R. R. Tolkien): Our Hero Bilbo goes from a dull life filled with routine and cleanliness to an emotional adventure filled with everything you could possibly want; adventure, intrigue, deception, battle, and bonds of friendship. I remember reading it with my Mom when I was around 9 years old and the end (Thorin’s demise) had me bawling like my best friend had been taken from me. I mean how could Thorin go so far, pouring his heart and soul into the quest, only to be struck down in battle? It was a life lesson moment for me, one of bitterness, exasperation and sadness that I will never forget.
4. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White): It's a beautifully crafted book. The characters are vivid and easy for children to connect to. It's a wonderful combination of reality and fantasy. It does a "terrific" job of explaining friendship. Charlotte dies at the end. There's no way to get around that fact or sugarcoat it. You can explain to your children that death is part of the natural cycle of things and that Charlotte's children live on. No matter what you say, though, I guarantee your kids will be sad at the end of the book.
I have found reading to my children to be a great way to dis-spell angst at the end of a day and end on a note that sufficiently ties their collective impressions of life and me into a neat little bow.
That is after all the goal as we mold the tiny mutant copies of ourselves into productive members of society - "to not suck at it". Which is a task - because parenting can be hard, and so often whether or not you feel as though you "sucked at it" at the end of the day is based on the last impression you both have (parent and child) when they lay down to sleep. This life is beautiful. It's beautiful because we do not take ugly for an answer and like the hunchback of Notre Dame - we should all aspire to have the lead role in cartoon movie.
I'm an avid comic book reader, and as such I've become a reader of many things and have found very few things are more rewarding than sitting down after dinner and having your child bring you a book to read to them. They aren't asking to play a video game or watch a T.V. show - they want to read their comic book or they want you to finish that great story you started because they have to know if Billy saved enough money to buy his dogs or if Thorin made it through battle or if Brian made it home.
A little goes a long way. The simple act of reading as a FAMILY bonds a family. Ultimately if want to help your child see the beauty of life - you have to show it to them - read it so they can imagine the possibilities and you will sleep well knowing you didn't "suck at it".
**If you have not read any of my other blog posts please check them out - like / comment below and share. I am a traditionalist - in that I read hard cover comics, books, and refuse to go digital but if you are a digitized person check out our tablet / laptop skins linked below. Thanks in advance for your patronage at the blog and site.
http://bit.ly/2o8Hbvc
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