Month: December 2020

Dear Edmond Strongstart Families,

I’m wishing all of you a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season.

As always, in good times and bad times, in happy and stressful times, being with people you love makes for the best holidays no matter what you are celebrating! This is such a joyous time for children because they cherish every minute, they can spend with you. I am hoping that you are finding ways to create happy memories, share lots of hugs and laughter, get some well deserved rest and strengthen your family bonds.

As some of you are counting the days ’till Christmas, Click Here to join me for Christmas Songs a Rhymes.

Here’s wishing you all the joy of the season. Have a Happy New Year!

I look forward to reconnecting with you all on the first week of January.

Today’s blog was written by Anita Olson.

Many families celebrate traditions during the winter months – Diwali just passed, Bodhi Day, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s (secular) and many other celebrations are to come. Because of Covid, this year has been a significant year of ambiguous grief and loss: loss of freedom, time with family, of financial security, jobs and loss of loved ones, to name a few. It is no doubt that how we previously celebrated our beloved holiday traditions are going to look and feel differently this year as the pandemic lingers on.

Firstly, it is totally okay to feel that it’s not fair we can’t celebrate like we did last year, with parties and family gatherings – it isn’t fair. But we also recognize the importance of keeping our loved ones healthy and safe. We can expect that staying in for the holidays without the neighbours, the in-laws and the funny uncle will feel different, because it is. The family traditions we hold dear and celebrate are like long terms routines – and routines help us feel settled, we know what to expect and look forward to them in anticipation.

This year our family traditions, or routines, are hardly anything we were expecting – and that can cause uneasy feelings. Not knowing what to expect can feel scary. But luckily there are two sides to this unexpected coin. When we don’t have a set routine to fall back on, we are nudged to flex our creative muscles! Not having a set holiday script opens up opportunity to create special new traditions for this time of year. And it may be surprising that by refreshing old traditions, new found appreciations for the holiday season pop up.

There are lots of festive ideas on how to spend this winter holiday while easily following the BC’s health minister’s guidelines – here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing;

· Bake your favourite treats while singing along to your favourite music. Ask others to join virtually and have a bake off!

· Dust off those board games and play a few.

· Have a house hold clean-out – donate old toys, clothing, kitchen gadgets to your local shelter.

· Reflect back as a family on the events you are grateful for, write them down, put them in a gratitude jar and read them out loud on a holiday you celebrate over the winter. For more ideas like this and more, check out The Parenting Place blog.

No matter how you plan to safely spend the winter break, this year will most definitely be a memorable one.

Happy Holidays!

Anita Olson works for Family Services of Greater Vancouver as Burnaby’s Early Childhood Community Consultant. Anita shares information, strategies and practical tools with parents through this free program. Focusing on the parent/caregiver and child relationship, Anita’s work with families aims to create and preserve loving connection and curiosity. Anita holds a current ECE licence, BA and MEd from Simon Fraser University. Contact Anita at aolson@fsgv.ca or (604)-723-9548.

Talking and listening to children does lots of important things: 

• It improves your bond with them 
• Encourages them to listen to you 
• It helps them to form relationships   
• It helps them to build self-esteem. 

Did you know?
Some children need a lot of encouragement and positive feedback to get talking. Others will be desperate to talk to you when you’re busy doing something else. This might mean stopping what you’re doing and listening. 

Ten tips for talking and listening 

• Set aside time for talking and listening to each other. 
• Listen to your children when they want to talk, have strong feelings or have a problem. 
• Be open to talking about all kinds of feelings, including anger, joy, frustration, fear and anxiety.  
• When talking to your child, try to remember how it was when you were a child and how you were generally attracted to those people who really listened to you. After all, children think differently from grown-ups. There are a lot of things they don’t know and a lot of things they don’t have the words to talk about. 

• Let your child finish talking and then respond. When listening, try not to interrupt or put words in your child’s mouth 
• Watch your child’s facial expression and body language. Listening isn’t just about hearing words, but also trying to understand what’s behind those words. 
• To let your child know you’re listening, and make sure you’ve really understood, repeat back what your child has said and make lots of eye contact. 
• Show your interest by saying such things as, “Tell me more about …”, “Really!” and “Go on …”. Ask children what they feel about the things they’re telling you about. 
• Avoid criticism and blame. Work together to solve problems and conflicts. 

• Be honest with each other. 

Did you know?
If you talk and listen to your children from a very young age, you’ll all get into habits that will be very useful once they’re teenagers. A relationship where children feel comfortable talking about what they’ve been doing and with whom, will encourage children to tell you about the details of their life when they’re older. 

Bernard Waber captures a parent-child conversation in his book: Ask Me 

 “Ask me what I like,” a little girl asks her father as they take a stroll through the neighborhood on a cool fall day. And so, he asks, “What do you like?” The child answers, the father sometimes probe for more information, and they continue the dialogue over and over throughout the book. You can feel the child’s energy as she provides list after list of things, she likes each time she sees something different. This is a wonderful story that shows the special parent-child bond between a father and his daughter. 

 This story captures a precious moment in time every parent is bound to recognize. It reminds us of the innocence of childhood and all the wonders in the world they see, even when on a simple walk. 

The illustrations are delightful and colorful. A lovely read aloud and bedtime book. 

You can listen to Ask me by Bernard Waber HERE