Posts Tagged ‘Add new tag’
A Teaching Tool
Being a former teacher and grandmother, it is only natural to think of things as ways to teach. Tiny tots can learn to pick up toys. Children a little older can learn to fold washcloths and small towels. Older children can learn to vacuum and dust. Teenagers can learn to do laundry. Many things come to mind that children can learn just by living in their home and observing. It usually takes an incentive to learn to do things that are not fun in and of themselves. However, these things are necessary to a neat and tidy home.
Thinking of an incentive, brings to mind some wooden birdhouses
that we have had. One stays in the house and is used as a decoration from time to time. Another was built as a tool to help a teenager learn to use a hammer and saw. Wooden birdhouses can be both decorative and useful. Our decorative birdhouse has been home to at least two different birds. The house holds up better than those pretend birds. The outside birdhouse was actually used by some real birds. It is interesting to see them choose and use something you have put out for their comfort and safety. Additional learning was obtained by realizing that birds need food and you can help provide it by putting it on their “porch” while they are gone. It was also a learning tool that birds make messes and that they do not clean them up themselves. That can be done, but is not as much fun as putting out the food and watching the birds. Anyway, using daily life as a learning tool is something we need to do. Using wooden birdhouses that can go inside or outside is one way to do it.
Storms
This time of year we seem to have quite a few storms across the country. The winds blow, the rain falls, there is thunder, lightening, snow, and the electricity goes out. Then we go to look for the candles or the flashlights. That is when we are glad we have that candle lamp
we bought a short time ago. When we light the candle in its beautiful holder, it helps take away the feeling of being caught in a storm. If we have used a scented candle, there is something else to enjoy while we are using the lamp.
In the place where you put your candles for emergency lighting, be sure to keep the type you want in your candle lamp. Using it helps to take away the feeling of being in a storm. When a storm comes, even before the electricity goes off, it may be that lighting your candle lamp will take away that “stormy feeling” and make the time a time of enjoyment whether or not the electricity toes off. Happy times!
Decorate or Not Decorate
This time of year we think a lot about decorations. Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November, and Christmas in December. Other times of year there are New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, the Fourth of July, and others that are not coming to mind right now. To decorate or not to decorate - that is the question. For most families, some decorations are usually displayed on all of these occasions. For others, no one ever puts up decorations. For some each holiday is an excuse to get out those special items that commemorate the day.
If you are the type of person who likes to decorate, you probably enjoy looking for those decorations all year - even when the season is not here. Who doesn’t enjoy driving around at Christmas and find a house that is so decorated that you can hardly see the house? The owner surely did not find all of those things during one trip to the mall! The seasonal decor changes from season to season or holiday to holiday. One way to enjoy a shopping trip when you did not really want to go, is to look for a seasonal item on sale. One way to enjoy a part of a day is to computer-shop for seasonal items. That is all for now. I just remembered some cute Pilgrim decorations that we put out every year. Now I think those are in the hall closet……..
Holiday Preparations
It is that time of year. The discomfort of the cold is offset by the looking forward to the holidays and the joy they bring. When shopping, I see the children excitedly dashing from one costume to another. Then there are the discussions in the candy aisle as to which bag or bags of candy would be best to keep from running out of candy before they run out of trick-or-treaters.
There are more seasonal items in other aisles. There are already aisles in the grocery stores with items to use in making pumpkin, pecan and other pies. The turkeys and corn stalks are waiting, less observed, to be ready when the time for the masks and ghosts to disappear. Yes, believe it or not, Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. The students are already planning what they are going to do during their vacation.
Soon we will be singing carols and writing Christmas cards. If you do not have your list made out yet, it is probably in the back of your mind. One of my daughters was telling me their gift plans already. I was dreading the cold this time of year and it is already here. It came sooner than usual and it is not so bad after all. Anyway, “Beware,” “Don’t eat too much,” or ”Merry Christmas,” whichever is appropriate when you read this.