Ages 5-6 Years | Mommy Points

May 25, 2008

Making A Book

Filed under: Ages 5-6 years, Humor Keeps Me Sane, Just For Fun — Chris @ 9:00 am

The other day I saw my daughter sitting at the table with her markers. She told me that she was making a book.

In case you can’t read it clearly, the page says: BEARS, RACCOONS, MICE, RATS, BULLS, BUMBLEBEES. Complete with thumbnail drawings. I suppose to help you recognize these things, though all the drawings look oddly similar.

What you never noticed the striking resemblance between a bear and a bumblebee? I especially love the horn on the bull, which really looks like an antenna.

And what could the title of this book possibly be?

ANIMALS YOU SHOULD NOT TOUCH

Sounds like pretty good advice to me.

Comments (8)

March 12, 2008

Co-operation

Filed under: Ages 2-4 years, Ages 5-6 years, Ages 7 -9 years, Children, Chores, Instilling Values, Making It Work — Chris @ 9:02 pm

Sometimes it is just the little things.

Instilling the helper mentality while they are little is so much easier than trying to fix it later when they are older. Even though sometimes it might not seem like help, let them do it anyway.

Comments (3)

July 30, 2007

Little Helpers

Filed under: Ages 2-4 years, Ages 5-6 years, Children, Ideas, Work Ethic, parenting — Chris @ 11:18 pm

Sometimes we forget that our youngest children can be good helpers. I really hate shucking corn. It is just so messy.

But guess what? My little kids love to do it. For them it is like unwrapping a present. My 2 yr old always seems surprised that there is corn inside, as if it is just pure luck. Each one he holds up and exclaims, “CORN!”

And so the job gets done quickly. They feel like they had an important part in contributing to dinner. And they don’t even complain about helping to clean up all the corn debris on the floor.

It is win win for all of us.

Comments (4)

July 3, 2007

Why Didn’t I Ever Know About This?

Filed under: Ages 10-12 years, Ages 2-4 years, Ages 5-6 years, Ages 7 -9 years, Children, Just For Fun, Teen years — Chris @ 12:18 pm

Did you know that during the summer select movie theaters offer free admission for a children’s movie, or two, per week? You probably did.

I, however, have been nice and comfortable here under my rock.

AMC Theatres offer a free movie on Wednesday mornings all summer long.

Regal Entertainment Group Theatres offer selected G & PG movies start at 10AM each Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. First-come, first-served seating is limited to theatre capacity. This group of theatres offers two movies simultaneously.

I wish one of these was close enough to make it worthwhile for me to bring my children on a regular basis. Such is the curse of living in the middle of nowhere.

I think things like this are especially appealing to those of us with children who might not be quite old enough to go to the movie theater. My 2.5 yr old might sit through an entire movie without leaving his seat. But he is also might be just as likely to get up and try to run up and down the aisle. At these free showings there is a lot of young children, no one is expecting complete silence, and if it gets so bad you have to leave the theater, well you haven’t lost any money.

Remember to check out your local theaters too. It is always possible that they are doing something similar to lure you in their doors where you will buy the overpriced concessions.

Comments (10)

June 25, 2007

Rediscovering a Bedtime Ritual

Filed under: Ages 2-4 years, Ages 5-6 years, Ideas — Chris @ 2:32 am

When my oldest children were small, we had a definite bedtime routine. It was something that we all looked forward to, including me. And not just because it meant they were all going to bed and I could finally relax before going to bed myself and beginning the madness that is a several children who can not do a single thing for themselves.

It was a time to reconnect and let everything that had happened during the day slip away. It is hard to be exasperated by a toddler in jammies, whose head smells like baby shampoo. It is actually more difficult not to take a bite out of their adorable freshly scrubbed cheeks. Somehow all the tantrums, coloring on the walls, food throwing, or what have you seemed unimportant in those minutes before bed.

We would all snuggle into into one of their beds and I would read stories. Sometimes one or two, sometimes several, depending on the evening. I have fond memories of working my way through a Mother Goose nursery rhyme book with my oldest two. I would do different voices depending on the rhyme. They still laugh when they recite :

Fee Fi Fo Fum
I smell the blood of an Englishman
be he alive
or be he dead
I’ll crush his bones
To make me bread.

Ah yes, those loving and nurturing nursery rhymes. I am not sure why, but this particular nursery rhyme requires that you talk in a low grovely voice with an English accent. You know those English are known for being cannibals.

Thankfully most of the nursery rhymes were a bit less disturbing. If one can call locking one’s wife inside of a pumpkin shell or whipping your children soundly before bed not disturbing.

As time passed though, and our lives got more hectic, we moved away from the bedtime routine. Evenings became a stressful time of juggling the often conflicting needs of different aged children.

Recently I decided to reinstate the bedtime stories with my youngest two children, ages 2 and 4. With several older siblings I have found they seldom have time geared just for them. And when they do, they eat it up. I told the older children that I would be doing bedtime stories with the two youngest. Surprisingly on any given night quite a few of them will wander into my room to listen. Even if they are pretending they are not listening and it was just happenstance they came by my bedroom at that specific time.

The older ones will reminisce about hearing the bedtime stories when they were little, like it was eons ago. I can’t believe how quickly time has flown by. To me it was just yesterday my eleven and twelve year olds were the toddlers snuggled with me, as cliche as that might sound.

In the process, I have rediscovered some of my favorite bedtime stories. These have been on heavy rotation the past couple of weeks.

This is a board book, which is perfect for toddler hands. My two year old loves this book. It might have something to do with the fact that I allow him to jump on the bed while I read it.

This is another board book with rhyming text that any parent will have committed to memory after a few readings. This one has been a hit in our house this past week after we spotted a brown bear of our very own in our yard. YIKES! We have also had fun with this book by adlibbing our own text.

I love this story and not just because I have seven children. It is one of those books that appeals to the harried mother in all of us. The illustrations are perfect and the children find new things in each page that capture their attention.

My four year old daughter is at the age where she is obsessed with princesses. I find it painful, to put it mildly. Even though for her it is all about the costumes and accessories, the message behind some of the stories bothers me. This story is the perfect antidote to all the ones of princess who need to be rescued.

What about you? Do you have any bedtime stories that are being read over and over again at your house?

Comments (8)

June 19, 2007

Pulled From the Comments, a Question About Allowance

Filed under: Ages 2-4 years, Ages 5-6 years, Allowance, Children, Ideas, Saving — Chris @ 9:21 am

Jodi left this comment in this post and I thought it was worthy of pulling out for a post of it’s own.

Do your younger children understand the concept of the “bankstatement”? We are doing handipoints with 5 and 6 year old boys and I don’t know if they will understand the concept of the paper being tied to a sum of money. We too have decided that half of their age is perfect, but have “strongly encouraged” that a certain amount be saved and a certain amount be for charity. What age do you start allowance…just curious…as we have a 2 year old son also:)

Jodi

All of my children get an allowance.

Yes, even the two year old. Though for him it is just about being part of the group. I talk about his allowance and he see his “statement” but I am sure he is clueless. Happy, but essentially clueless.

My 4, 6 and 8 yr olds do understand. We explained to them that it is just like the bank mommy and daddy use. The paper tells them how many dollars they have saved. We meticulously track it all on their statements.

I think this is one of the ways that handipoints excels, frankly. For children who are young, you might want to decide on a percentage for them to spend on rewards or allocate handipoints in addition to the allowance money. I don’t have my children contribute a portion of their allowance to charity. I prefer to have them do service oriented charity works, where they can see the direct results of their hard work. But that is just me.

With young children it is important to have smaller goals for them to achieve so they don’t get discouraged. My 11 yr old is perfectly happy and capable to save his money for months on end to make a large purchase. He is also capable of deciding to make smaller purchases along the way, knowing exactly how that will impact his account total. I still have to give final approval for all purchases, though I find at this age I rarely have to say no.

Think of the younger years as working towards this goal. You want them to be responsible. But in order to learn responsibility you need to allow them some freedom. If you turn down every item they want to purchase, they will not believe you that there really is money but more importantly they will never have that feeling of post purchase anxiety. You know the one where you realize you just wasted your money on something you really don’t want afterall.

For example, for younger children you might decide that having a family movie night every Friday night would be fun for your family. Everyone can stay up an hour late, watch a movie in the tv room with popcorn. This could cost 7 handipoints, a handipoint a day that is earned for doing daily chores. (This is just an example, you can use whatever feels right for your family… a family hike, a day at the beach, making huge ice cream sundaes and eating them for dinner. Try to do something fun and inexpensive (or better yet, free!) and don’t forget to add some variety so it doesn’t become expected but instead is anticipated.)

By using handipoints they can track their progress toward some of the non monetary goals.

I’ll admit that I frequently ask my children to help with an extra project to get a reward like one of these pictured above. I might say something like, “Hey, if you all help me with washing windows, I would be all caught up on Spring Cleaning and I think we could have extra time to go to the museum on Friday.” I have yet to have someone turn me down.

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June 11, 2007

Conversation With A Four Year Old

Filed under: Ages 2-4 years, Ages 5-6 years, Humor Keeps Me Sane — Chris @ 11:53 pm

“Mom, I think it is kind of scary growing up.”

“You do? Why?”

“Well what if you make a really really bad mistake.”

“What kind of mistake are you worried about?”

“Well, what if I am a grown up and I am driving in my car and I push a button by mistake and run somebody over. Then I’d be in trouble even though it was a mistake and I’d have to go to jail.”

“You really worry about this?”

“Yes. I don’t want to go to run anybody over.”

“Well, when you get old enough you can take driving lessons and learn how to drive. The you will know what all the buttons do.”

“Okay. That is great!”

A few moments of silence pass.

“Do you know what else I am scared about?”

“I couldn’t even imagine”

“I am scared that I won’t be able to do fun things when I get old.”

“What kind of fun things?”

“I don’t like that I can’t climb trees when I am a grown up.”

“You can climb trees when you are a grown up.”

“Well, not old like you and Dad.”

“Dad and I can climb trees.”

“The why don’t you?”

“Because we don’t want to.”

“That makes me very sad that one day I won’t want to climb a tree. I mean, why would I not want to climb a tree?”

Guess what I did this afternoon.

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May 23, 2007

Deciding On An Allowance

Filed under: Ages 10-12 years, Ages 5-6 years, Ages 7 -9 years, Allowance, Children — Chris @ 10:52 pm

One of the biggest questions surrounding an allowance, aside from the should I or shouldn’t I give one, is the amount of money children should receive.

Questions to consider while making this decision:

1) What will they be responsible for with the money?

2) Will it be given in cash form or something else?

In our family allowance is fun money. My children are not required to buy anything they need with it. Lunches, drinks, clothing, shoes, various lessons, sports gear (within reason) are all provided for them. Having an allowance gives them the opportunity to save and purchase things that I would probably say no to. Because does anyone really need another Lego Bionicle set? I think no, but my sons strongly disagree.

This attitude is reflected in the amount of money that my children receive for an allowance. Some might call it a paltry sum of money. But I am a firm believer that it is better to give your children absolute control over a small amount of money. This way they can learn by making small mistakes. No one wants to learn their first money lesson as a semi-adult by blowing $10,000. And even more so, no parent wants to witness it. Small money = small mistakes, Big money= big mistakes.

My children get half their age as their allowance. So my 12 year old gets $6 a week, my 11 year old gets $5.50, etc.

They also do not get actual cash money handed to them for their allowance. Their money is deposited in the Bank of Mom and Dad. I think we all can relate to the experience of having cash fly out of our hands. Spending a little bit here, a little bit there, and never being able to save up for the big things. And yet having no record of where the money was spent.

At the end of each week, we print out a bank statement that looks very official. One for each of them. It lists their beginning balance, their deposits (usually just their allowance, but sometimes birthday money, or money earned from doing extra projects), any withdrawals that they have made, and then their ending balance.

Watching their money grow in their bank accounts has been a good learning experience for them. They are able to see that each little bit DOES add up over time and it encourages them to save and not spend it all every week.

Comments (12)

May 18, 2007

Work, Earning, and Saving

Filed under: Ages 10-12 years, Ages 5-6 years, Ages 7 -9 years, Children, Chores, Instilling Values, Saving, Teen years, Work Ethic — Chris @ 10:49 pm

This week my 11 year old son bought a new mountain bike, with money he had saved from his allowance and birthday gifts. The maturity he showed he in the store, looking at various bikes and the features the bikes had, as well as the price, was something he would not have done had we walked into the store bearing only my credit card. If I were paying for his bike, he would have no reason to want anything less than the very best bike in the place.

Over the past week he and I have had numerous discussions about his impending purchases. He wanted a new bike, a video iPod, and a digital camcorder. He does not have the money saved top buy all of those things. So our conversations went round and round, weighing the pros and cons of each purchase. Him lamenting the fact that he can’t buy everything, because he wants everything.

We have had some enlightening conversations.

“Well, you buy everything you want.” he said to me at one point.

“Do I? Like what?” I had asked.

“I don’t know, but you are always going to the store.” he had replied.

“Yes, it is my greatest desire to buy a 12 pack of toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and food for my family to eat.” He had laughed and I continued on, “I think you are confusing things we need with things we want. I want lots of things, but I don’t buy them. At least I don’t buy them without careful consideration. And usually in the end I decide that I don’t want most of them after all.”

It is a tough lesson. But one that is important for children to learn. If you, as a parent, are the one holding the purse strings the responsibility falls on you to say yes or no to your children’s wants and purchases. They have no reason to really think deeply about what they want. And if they can’t have something, well then it is your fault. You are the one who is blocking them from the very thing that they have decided will give them the ultimate amount of happiness, at least that day.

As parents we want to give our children everything. We want them to be happy. But being parents really is more than that. It is giving them the skills to succeed later in life.

I don’t want my children growing up with a sense of entitlement that I see so many of their peers afflicted with. I want them to understand budgeting and assessing their wants. I want them to have the joy that can only come from purchasing a long desired item with money they earned through their own hard work. I want them to have the pride of ownership that can only come from getting something all on their own.

I remember the thrill of going to the store with my purse full of cash I had saved. I remember my first large purchase. I want that memory for my children.

Comments (7)

May 8, 2007

So They Need To Do Chores: Elementary School Years

Filed under: Ages 10-12 years, Ages 5-6 years, Ages 7 -9 years, Chores — Chris @ 10:30 pm

Remember the mantra: It’s a learning experience.

Sometimes good enough is perfectly okay.

6, 7, and 8 yr olds:

This is the making your life a little bit easier age. They are not able to do most of the chores to the standard that you would do them yourself, but it is important to remember that a) they are learning, and b) better to have to deep clean a bathroom once a week that has been lightly cleaned all week long than a bathroom that has just been let go.

They can do any of the chores mentioned for the younger children, plus any of these.

move all chairs out from kitchen table and sweep underneath it
light vacuuming (mine usually do the area rug in the family room)
sweep staircases inside of house
light bathroom cleaning using clorox type wipes , damp mop bathroom floor, (this is our light daily cleaning. I wet the mop and hand it one of them and they will do the half bath floor with it)
sweep front porch, to include shaking off the welcome mat
making sure all outdoor toys are put away nightly
empty wastebaskets into main trash bin

9, 10,11 yr olds:

At this age they are ready to take on simple chores independently and do them effectively.

They can do any of the chores mentioned for the younger children, plus any of these.

preparing simple foods themselves, (they can handle knives and the stove at this age, just make sure you have taught them the proper way to use these items– making salad, garlic bread, grilled cheese)
being responsible for getting all their dirty laundry to the laundry room on a given day and then putting it all away where it belongs
seasonal outdoor chores: raking leaves including using a small hand held leafblower, shoveling walkways, weeding
Vacuuming thoroughly
Deep cleaning bathrooms
Using windex to wash windows
Clean the inside of the car (vacuuming, using window cleaner, bring any errant toys or clothes into the house)
rinse dinner dishes and load into dishwasher, turn dishwasher on
Feed pets, or be responsible for outdoor bird feeders

12yrs old and up:

Yessss!

At this age most children are capable of handling most household chores after a little bit of instruction.

They can do any of the chores mentioned for the younger children, plus any of these.

Keeping their rooms clean, organized, and tidy– completely on their own
Following recipes and cooking simple meals on their own ( probably not a rib roast and several side dishes, but things like macaroni and cheese, cookies, brownies, pancakes are some examples)
Seasonal outdoor chores: mowing the lawn, using the leaf blower, using the snow blower (I have found that children this age love to use motorized things like these. It makes them feel older and responsible.)
Some people might allow their children to actually use the washer and dryer at this and be responsible for their own clothes. I happen to be too much of a control freak about stains to hand this over.
Babysitting younger siblings. I am not sure if this counts as a chore per se, but I feel as though it is something that should be recognized and rewarded.

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