Parental Serving With A Twist
By: Nancy S
Crystal School Council
A Tasteful Serving of Turning Negative to Positive for Parents Is This On Your Menu? Forgetfulness Children want the topping. They need the topping. They also forget the topping. Some lessons must be learned with extra topping. “I forgot” or “I forgot it” are two common phrases used by children. They forget notes from teachers, books, homework and clothing. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a disaster. Forgetfulness can be overcome with a Twist. You may need a little extra drizzle so it becomes a tasty treat. “Where is it?” Here’s a simple and effective Twist I call “Wear is It.”
Mornings can be very hectic. Getting ready to head out the door, you notice that April is frantically looking for her sandals. Chaos erupts when April can’t find them. Quickly you find her back unpair and all is good. Then she forgets where she put them repeatedly and your mornings appear mirrored. Ready for the twist? April will learn not to forget where she left her sandals if they are a constant reminder. Have her wear them for 24 hours. Sound like a tough serving? April might think so however, by providing the distraction, her attention is diverted to this constant reminder. Just remember...Drizzles taste better if they’re served with love and in moderation. *Each ice cream shop has a variety of flavors. Whether it’s sandals, gloves, or a winter jacket when the cherry on top is served with love every morsel will be yummy.
Wants and Needs Are your afternoons accompanied by excitement, clamor and requests? Children want speedy delivery. What they don’t know is that you have already seen the menu. In their eyes an “I want” or “I need” is never a small portion. “I want” and “I need” are often delivered with a whine instead of whipped cream. We know the calorie count in all requests. Heres a simple yet effective Twist I call “Hums the Word” It’s a tasty twist with a cherry on top. Simon, Gabrielle and April have just come home. They are accompanied
by excitement, clamor and requests. April wants a new pair of shoes, just like Brooke’s. Gabrielle needs a special folder for a science project and Simon wants to join the soccer team. Is this on your menu? Multiple ingredients can shake things up. Here’s the Twist! It’s very entertaining and effective. Either way, you can always double dip this tasty treat. April is given an empty dish. Ask her to “sing her request” in a catchy tune. Over time, by diverting April to use creativity, this enables her to weigh her requests moment by moment. Miming the request can also be effective. It’s all about turning a negative into a positive. Every scoop is different as well as every serving size. The cherry on top will be the flavor you savor, even if the ice cream shop is crowded. Serve in Moderation
Shopping “Hands in the Pockets” Ice cream shops with add on candy toppings can introduce an overload of sweetness. Children get very excited at the opportunity to add on crunchy goodness to sugary adventures. Shopping with children is full of distractions in all sizes. A trip to the toy store is more like a “child in a candy store.” From tiny toppings to triple banana splits. Aisle to aisle can be a difficult journey with wandering eyes and toes during this time. Hearing the”I wants” and “Can I have’s” are common.
Even if it’s not time to enjoy all the extra sugar. Here’s a simple yet effective Twist I call “Hands in the Pockets” ...and it begins with a pre-agreement Mom and April are preparing to go shopping. April’s eyes light up when Mom mentions that they will be stopping by a toy store. Mom knows April will be trying to fill her shopping cart with gadgets or toys she wants as well. Before Mom and April leave for the store, she sits April down to have a pre-shopping talk. Mom has a choice to use a pad of paper and a pen or allow April to take pictures so she can make a wish list. April, in return, must either hold then side of the shopping cart in each aisle and only take her hands off to write or take a picture. Or, she can walk next to the shopping cart with her hands in her pockets. She may only take them out of her pockets or let go of the cart to write or photograph for her wish list. She must remain directly next to Mom in the aisles. During this, April must write down every price of her selection or make sure the price is in the photo. When Mom and April return home, they go over the list and add it up. April learns that her wants have overloaded the ice cream and made it too heavy to lift. Mom and April decide to dive and conquer by making two lists of the top five choices. While Mom kept April safely by her side in the toy store, April was diverted to meeting her wants and learned a valuable lesson about the cost of a long list of ice cream toppings. Mom also gets a secret wish list
she can use later for April. Everyone gets their candy topping when mutual agreements are made prior to a visit to the ice cream shop. The ice cream shop will now have a special pricing guide by weight in front of the candy toppings. Its sugar free and zero calories. This can be served everyday and in all ice cream shops.
Blurting “Use the Spoon” Children don’t always taste the flavor being served. The ice cream cone is enjoyed too fast and causes a brain freeze. Some lessons must be learned one lick at a time. Children are easily excited and don’t understand that they need to listen to all of a sentence before blurting out the answer. They interrupt in class causing disruption just as they might do at home. Here’s a simple yet effective Twist I call “Use the Spoon.”
Mom and April are sitting at the table having a conversation about caramel. Mom begins explaining what ingredients are used and right in the middle of listing the ingredients, April impatiently blurts out “ Vanilla!” April has the same habit in class. When Mrs. Grand is giving instructions to the class, April interrupts the teacher causing a delay and usually a repeat of the instructions. This might cause April to do the assignment wrong because she isn’t listening or full instructions will have to be repeated and could become puzzling to the remainder of the class. Ready for the Twist? April needs to learn not to interrupt, be patient and a small physical reminder so her ice cream cone can be enjoyed without the brain freeze. April will need to know about “important participation” and a good serving at home will help to lick the cone in class. Have a conversation with April at the kitchen table While she’s listening to your contribution, have her smile and practice good posture with folded hands in her lap. When she has the urge to be impulsive she can unfold her hands and rest them at her sides until the urge disappears or it is appropriate for her to participate in the conversation. If April is standing, have her quickly smile and practice good posture with her arms rested at her sides. Neither of these are a tough serving. Both will cause a quick distraction and her attention will be quickly regained with open body language. The bottom of the cone won’t be eaten until the understanding of patience is established. The ice cream will now have a new “Special of the Day” and will read “Open Body Language Served Here.” Tasting with a lick at a time makes the ice cream taste better Serve in moderation