Archive for June, 2009
As a friend of a new mother, it’s not always easy to set yourself apart from the gift-giving crowd. By the time a baby shower rolls around, a mother has likely received enough sets of baby clothes, candles and soaps to last a lifetime. To select the appropriate gift, a thoughtful guest should try to think like a proud mother.
The best gifts remain relevant years after they are received, and their physical presence should conjure up warm images. Memory bears, or teddy bears made from the fabric of a baby’s receiving blanket, create a lasting reminder that can be brought out time and again. These gifts demonstrate a lot of careful planning, because they require complicity from the husband or someone else with access to the receiving blanket. The unabashed glee on a new mother’s face makes the extra effort worthwhile.
Many parents are concerned about how much television their children watch on a daily basis, because they are afraid that it is a large chunk of their day where they aren’t using their imagination or having any significant thought at all. For that reason, if you are concerned about this issue, let your kids know that you’ll be taking the TV out of its cherished spot in the living room one day a week. Remove it to the garage or some other location, and with that gaping hole, create something imaginative like a show with hand puppets.
This, of course, works best with young children. But if you have young children in the house, you’d be surprised at how engaged they’ll become with this real life “TV show.” Have them help make sets for the puppet shows or even hats or other accessories for the puppets themselves. And if you throw your time and energy into these shows, you might even hear your kids clambering for you to haul the TV out of the living room on more than one night a week.