Whether you live in the north, south, east or west, you are probably seeing Spring’s bountiful beautiful flowers. Years ago, I wrote lullabies for my sons. One of them started, I pick roses, I pick tulips, I pick chrysanthemums. (Go to my Shop to find my lullabies.) There’s something about flowers that can make us feel better – their smell, their beauty, their power to light up the darkest of days. Have some family fun today with flowers and help your children see the power in their beauty!

We’re often so busy, we don’t notice all the beauty around us. But you can usually find flowers anywhere. Here are some ideas for fun with flowers:

1. make it a scavenger hunt – find yellow ones and blue ones, flowers with rounded petals or pointed petals, or ones with a singular color or multi-color. It really doesn’t matter what you look for – the fun is in the ‘looking.’ This is a great activity for 2-6 year-olds.
2. for older children, find interesting flowers and talk about the different parts. Or find a faded flower and dissect it. You can also talk to them about how flowers bloom, how they are propagated, or how some come in all colors. I know I was enamored over how chrysanthemums came in so many different colors! (Don’t know? Check this out!)
3. if that feels too much like ‘school,’ give your child paper and markers, crayons, pens, pencils – whatever, so they can draw what they see. Or teach them how to make a daisy chain – here’s a short YouTube demonstration.
4. and what about your teenager, you may ask? Ask them how flowers are like people. You may get some interesting insight into what your teen is thinking and feeling . . . and maybe needing. Or give them the chance to help you plan a garden.
5. lastly, if the flowers are in your yard, pick some and bring them inside to enjoy all day! Here’s a how-to for helping kids learn how to arrange flowers: https://rhythmsofplay.com/flower-arranging-montessori-practical-life-activity-for-kids/

Regardless of what you choose, take today to have some fun with flowers. The old adage “stop and smell the roses” is a good one. Happy picking! 🙂

Recently I was going through some old photo albums and before I knew it, an hour had passed. It brought back such fond memories of so many different events! I’m guessing you have photos like that too. For this throwback Thursday, find a photo of you when you were younger and then find a similar picture of your child(ren) at a similar age. Talk about the photos with your kids. Tell them the story about you in your picture and tell them the story of them in their picture, if they don’t remember. Reminiscing like this can really boost a sense of belonging and well-being. Just be sure to choose photos that you think they will enjoy. Ideally, don’t use photos of a time they ended up getting in trouble unless the photo of you is when you got in trouble afterwards. The benefit here is that could lead to a discussion about how all of us make mistakes sometimes but that’s how we learn. However, a ‘fun’ photo will be more powerful and create a boost for the rest of the day!

Hello all – it’s thankful Tuesday! As odd as it sounds, I’m asking you to be thankful for misbehavior. Yes – really. When a child misbehaves, it is their attempt at testing boundaries OR they are trying to communicate something. Either way, it’s a developmental process that is necessary for learning and connecting. That doesn’t mean you treat the misbehavior as something cute, funny, or acceptable. But sometimes simply changing our mindset (i.e., being thankful) about what’s occurring can help us deal with the misbehavior in a more calm, positive way.

Check out my book, E.N.R.I.C.H. Your Relationship With Your Child for other great strategies.

“When dealing with misbehavior, keep in mind these behaviors occur for several reasons – because of your child’s natural developmental process, the environment, and current feelings and emotions.”

(E.N.R.I.C.H. p. 188)