Everybody knows that childhood is the happiest period of life.
Nobody ever questions this axiom - can it be some other way? There are no worries about earning a living, about food and shelter, about family, jobs, and so on...
Wait a second here! Let us think: we always tell our children that it's their job to do well at school.
We sign them up for various activities like arts and crafts, dance, just to give them this opportunity to try different things and grow versatile people.
Certainly, this is important.
So, when do we get to raise our children? Where is our family time? My children are no exception.
I have to drive them to gymnastics, music lessons, dance lessons, to the swimming pool - they cannot get there on their own, not at their age! When we get home, they do homework, (no television on weekdays whatsoever), quickly brush their teeth and go to bed, and everything starts again on the very next day.
At times it seems we do not even have time to talk to each other.
My older son would be especially glad to be distracted from homework and chat on any subject.
Are they happy? Probably, they are.
What will they remember when they grow up? School, homework, endless driving to activities or maybe something else? Most colourful memories of my childhood are those where I am doing something together with my dad or mom.
Like using maple leaves to make wreaths, or a lens to start a fire.
I am lying on a sandy beach or jumping in ice-cold waves on the Baltic Sea.
I may also be finding the Big Dipper or Cassiopeia, which I always do now when I am star-gazing.
Perhaps, what we remember best of all from our childhood years is those moments when our parents became "kids" and our companions in childish and "silly" games.
Apparently, it is very important for children.
Emotional and sensual development precedes intellectual development in early childhood.
A child absorbs sounds, smells, memorizes feelings, and explores the surroundings through play and activities.
Emotionally rich and happy moments stay with us for a long time.
One day in our and our children's lives when we are not in a hurry is an event already.
Why don't we try to enjoy the smell and taste of fresh breakfast, and then go for a walk together and make a wreath with dandelions or create octopuses out of them? We could also throw stones into water and look at the circles or let the leaves and sticks float and watch how far they will get.
If we are out-of-town we may try to catch a frog and let our children pat it - mine were surprised that the frog is wet to the touch.
In the fall walk on the heaps of leaves or draw stuff on the misty window.
In winter play snowballs, build a snow castle or a snowman, make snow angels, compare footprints of different shoes, zip down the hill in a sled together.
We can also just stroll somewhere or sit and chat no matter what about.
It is hard to pinpoint what children get out of these lazy times with parents.
Perhaps the most important thing here is the feeling of unity, comfort, and joy that you are doing something together and enjoy it immensely together as well.
A while ago in the Internet I stumbled upon a list of things that is important to do together with children so that their childhood memories were vivid and happy.
Everything I mentioned here is on that list, along with lots of other ideas.
Here's some of them: use a mirror to make sunbeam reflections; watch the seeds sprout and grow; place coins and leaves under a piece of paper and make their prints with a pencil; draw a cartoon on the notebook's margins; make a house in a big box, dig canals and build dams in them; shake a branch when a child is standing under and create a leaf fall (snow fall, rain fall); watch sun set or sun rise; watch clouds and think what they look like; talk about dreams; dress a child in your clothes.
In fact, nothing major is required.
The idea is just to forget that we are adults and recall what made us happy when we were little.
When I see maple seeds I think right away that I could stick them to the nose.
We enjoy burdock fights and chew grass stems.
We sing in chorus and make campfires, climb trees and fences.
Deep inside we are still boys and girls, aren't we? However some of us have it close to the surface, and some covered it with importance and seriousness.
It is necessary for our children that we go back to the childhood with them hand in hand.
They will remember those days or even hours as the happiest moments in their lives.
Nobody ever questions this axiom - can it be some other way? There are no worries about earning a living, about food and shelter, about family, jobs, and so on...
Wait a second here! Let us think: we always tell our children that it's their job to do well at school.
We sign them up for various activities like arts and crafts, dance, just to give them this opportunity to try different things and grow versatile people.
Certainly, this is important.
So, when do we get to raise our children? Where is our family time? My children are no exception.
I have to drive them to gymnastics, music lessons, dance lessons, to the swimming pool - they cannot get there on their own, not at their age! When we get home, they do homework, (no television on weekdays whatsoever), quickly brush their teeth and go to bed, and everything starts again on the very next day.
At times it seems we do not even have time to talk to each other.
My older son would be especially glad to be distracted from homework and chat on any subject.
Are they happy? Probably, they are.
What will they remember when they grow up? School, homework, endless driving to activities or maybe something else? Most colourful memories of my childhood are those where I am doing something together with my dad or mom.
Like using maple leaves to make wreaths, or a lens to start a fire.
I am lying on a sandy beach or jumping in ice-cold waves on the Baltic Sea.
I may also be finding the Big Dipper or Cassiopeia, which I always do now when I am star-gazing.
Perhaps, what we remember best of all from our childhood years is those moments when our parents became "kids" and our companions in childish and "silly" games.
Apparently, it is very important for children.
Emotional and sensual development precedes intellectual development in early childhood.
A child absorbs sounds, smells, memorizes feelings, and explores the surroundings through play and activities.
Emotionally rich and happy moments stay with us for a long time.
One day in our and our children's lives when we are not in a hurry is an event already.
Why don't we try to enjoy the smell and taste of fresh breakfast, and then go for a walk together and make a wreath with dandelions or create octopuses out of them? We could also throw stones into water and look at the circles or let the leaves and sticks float and watch how far they will get.
If we are out-of-town we may try to catch a frog and let our children pat it - mine were surprised that the frog is wet to the touch.
In the fall walk on the heaps of leaves or draw stuff on the misty window.
In winter play snowballs, build a snow castle or a snowman, make snow angels, compare footprints of different shoes, zip down the hill in a sled together.
We can also just stroll somewhere or sit and chat no matter what about.
It is hard to pinpoint what children get out of these lazy times with parents.
Perhaps the most important thing here is the feeling of unity, comfort, and joy that you are doing something together and enjoy it immensely together as well.
A while ago in the Internet I stumbled upon a list of things that is important to do together with children so that their childhood memories were vivid and happy.
Everything I mentioned here is on that list, along with lots of other ideas.
Here's some of them: use a mirror to make sunbeam reflections; watch the seeds sprout and grow; place coins and leaves under a piece of paper and make their prints with a pencil; draw a cartoon on the notebook's margins; make a house in a big box, dig canals and build dams in them; shake a branch when a child is standing under and create a leaf fall (snow fall, rain fall); watch sun set or sun rise; watch clouds and think what they look like; talk about dreams; dress a child in your clothes.
In fact, nothing major is required.
The idea is just to forget that we are adults and recall what made us happy when we were little.
When I see maple seeds I think right away that I could stick them to the nose.
We enjoy burdock fights and chew grass stems.
We sing in chorus and make campfires, climb trees and fences.
Deep inside we are still boys and girls, aren't we? However some of us have it close to the surface, and some covered it with importance and seriousness.
It is necessary for our children that we go back to the childhood with them hand in hand.
They will remember those days or even hours as the happiest moments in their lives.
Source...