I'm no expert, however, I have indeed 'been there, done that' in regards to parenting younger children. So although I have no 'hacks' -yet- for older kids, I have a few 'clever solutions to tricky problems', (that's the urban definition of 'hack'), for parenting younger children.
So, in no particular order....
1. Use Halloween Candy for Gingerbread Houses, Etc.
This is the advice I gave the mom with the young children. We make gingerbread houses every year & we have never eaten them. We use them as decorations until mid-February and then we enjoy smashing them! Pick out the Halloween candy that would look good on a gingerbread house and is colorful and save it for gingerbread houses.
Each year we would also save the mini m&ms and any other small chocolate-y items for Christmas cookies.
One year we did Science experiments with some of the candy.
We save quality hard candy, like dum-dums, for our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.
We throw out some Halloween candy, we eat a good amount & Halloween also provides an opportunity for self-regulation.
2. Make & Use some Grocery Store Cards
To make grocery shopping easier & more fun for my kids, (keep in mind that we didn't have cell phones & other electronics when my kids were little & even if we had I am doubtful I would have used them for a shopping distraction), I made these super-simple index cards. I cut out pictures of foods we frequently bought, glued them on cards & wrote the item. Then, when I made my shopping list each week I pulled out the cards that corresponded with my list. I would give my kids one card at a time & ask them to find that item for me. For example, when we were in the produce area I might give them a 'grapefruit' card and instruct them to find the grapefruit, get two, and bring them back to me. If the item were tomatoes & I might not want them to actually be picking them up, I would give the tomato card and ask them to find the tomatoes for me so that Mommy could get them.
3. Try lots of new foods!
There was a time when for one school year we had very, very busy Wednesdays. My stepdaughter would go to school in the morning, get picked up after school & go directly to a weekly appointment, get picked up from that appointment & have a small space of time, not long enough to go home, and then go to AWANA until 8:00 p.m. This made for very long days. Wednesdays were also long for my children. We had a little time at home in the morning for school, we then drove 25 miles to our Science classes. We then had music lessons & library book clubs & more schooling done at the library. We would pick up my stepdaughter and, as mentioned, they would then be at AWANA 'til 8:00. I used to call Wednesdays 'Marathon Days'.
I decided early on during that school year that I wanted to do something special each week as we ate dinner in our vehicle. I wanted to avoid buying them sugary treats and I decided that each week we would try a new fruit or veggie. So, SO simple, however it was fun!!
Sometimes we 'cheated' and we had caramel apples. Sometimes I had to prepare the food at home, such as when we tried yuca. Sometimes we didn't like the new fruit or veggies & no eating was required after one bite. We tried dried fruits and tropical fruits & jicama. It became a fun tradition and helped lighten up our 'marathon days'. We still enjoy trying new things and just this week we tried the beautiful dragon fruit for the first time.
4. Keep in Mind the Idea that Life will always get to be MORE, MORE, MORE. Start Simply. It's easy & natural to go from Simple to Complex. It's very hard to go from Complex to Simple.
What do I mean by that? For one year I taught P.E. Even though I played sports in school, teaching P.E. was outside of my comfort zone. Therefore, I did a lot of preparation. I read about how to be a P.E. teacher. I asked questions. One of the ideas/ truths that really stuck out at me was that I needed to establish from the beginning of the year the standards, expectations, practices & routines for my classes. Why? Because the natural course is for 'slippage.' Slippage will occur, so I needed to begin at fairly high level of conduct.
I think this idea applies to many things about parenting. One that comes to mind is Christmas stockings. However I am sure the concept can be applied to presents in general. Stockings will get more expensive and more complex as your children grow up. That's just natural. My suggestion is to start simply. Noelle's first stocking, when she was one or two, contained a pair of socks, a pear, a box of animal crackers & some raisins. After that, the animal crackers & raisins became a tradition for us and they get those in their stockings each year.
Yes, I am aware of the stories of kids getting oranges & pennies & cough drops & deodorant in their stockings. However, I am here to tell you that is no longer the norm. Kids are getting $15 itunes cards as a 'stocking stuffer.' (That would be a gift in our home!) Gone are the days when most kids are receiving essentials and needed items as gifts. A parent needs to be creative if they desire to shield their children from the materialism and self-centeredness that our culture encourages. It is hard when 'everyone else' gets $200 worth of 'stuff' for Christmas. However, if you begin when they are small with simple traditions & teaching contentment, it will pay off.
5. Holiday 'Playing':
I have an idea for a second 'Parenting Hacks' post that will include ideas that are less specific and more about my parenting philosophy. I just asked Noelle & Micah if they could think of anything to add to this post and Noelle came up with this next one. As I have shared in this blog, I 'love me' a good reason to celebrate! I could fill several blogposts on ways that we celebrate & suggestions I have.
This idea is simple. (I sense a theme. Perhaps the best things in life really are the simple ones!?!) Several days before we decorate our Christmas tree, we get out the boxes of ornaments. Each child has their own box. In years past, the children would PLAY for hours with their ornaments!! They would spread out and each would get a space in the living room. Magic happened as each ornament was unwrapped. Thoughts & Feelings associated with the person who gave the ornament or the story behind it or why it was liked. That was stage one! Stage two was actually playing with them, like toys. Cars are moving & horses are galloping & dancers are twirling. People & animals are meeting each other & all things are fitting together in a make-believe Ornament World. (Thanks for that memory, Noelle!)
We used to do something similar with empty, plastic Easter eggs. About a month before Easter I get out the Easter baskets & decorations & books & also the empty eggs. The kids loved playing with the eggs when they were even little, even as toddlers. They carried eggs around in their baskets. ('Container Play' if you are in early childhood education!!!) They transferred the eggs from one basket to another. They hid them and created Easter egg hunts for each other. They sorted them by color and size. This kind of playing primed them for the holiday. It also only came around once a year because once the holiday was over, eggs & ornaments were packed away until next year, making it special when they came out again.
We all have 'hacks' to share.
Marriage hacks. Work hacks. Friendship hacks. Family hacks.
The book of Titus urges the older women to mentor the younger women, in marriage, proper conduct, walking with God, and also in parenting. I have so thoroughly enjoyed parenting my children in these younger years that I'm thrilled to share just a few of my ideas, for what they are worth!
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