I was in first grade when my very best friend invited me to come to her cottage with her and her family for one weekend. It was, without question, one of my fondest childhood memories. I loved her family and I loved going to a lake and riding all the different kinds of boats they owned. One boat that the two of us were allowed to go out on by ourselves was the paddle boat. While the paddle boat was not nearly as exciting as the speedboat, it was an adventure at our young age to be trusted alone on any kind of boat. That night her father was "tucking us in" and he stood at the door and asked us a question: "What do you do if you are in a paddle boat and it tips over?" What a question! My little mind had no idea, but the thought that it could happen had never occurred to me until then either. We discussed what would be best to do in that situation, and I felt better having had the answer that he would want me to have.
The other night I was tucking my sweet little two year old into bed for the night. He likes to have us read him stories, but even more than that he likes to hear stories that we make up. I usually tell stories about "Panda" and her adventures that always reflect something he had done that day. This particular night, though, I changed things up. He asked for a story about Panda, and I told him I was going to tell him a story about a cat named Callie. I told him that once upon a time Callie was playing outside, and she saw another cat across the street. Callie wanted to play with the other kitty and she got really excited. She wanted to cross the street to get to her new friend. She started to go toward the road and her owner said "NO CALLIE! There is a car coming!" So Callie stopped right away. Callie's owner then proceeds to tell Callie how to cross the street, and so goes the story, ending with Callie happily running around a tree with her new friend. It dawned on me that night that I ought to be sharing stories like this with my son every night. Stories that prepare him for things that could come up in his day. Here are some ideas I have for evening story time:
Sharing toys, and what to do when a friend doesn't share a toy
Needing to go potty but not wanting to stop playing :)
Finding candy (yummy candy, of course) on the ground at a playground
What to do if lost in the store
Praying when scared
etc, etc.
Your turn now. Do you have any creative ways that you teach your children what your unwritten "rules" are? Also, Do you have any suggestions of bedtime story topics that most moms could share with their children?
Comments (2)
What a great idea!! I like to tell true stories of my childhood and the wise and unwise choices I made as a child. My boys always love to hear the details. (if I cannot remember the details, I have been known to exaggerate a little)
On another note, I tend to teach some of the written rules to the kids...out of the bible. If I tell Parker the ten commandments in a passionate way...he craves to hear more and asks questions that lead to teaching. He is at a great age, he is five and he gets it. Turner, on the other hand, we are still working on the body parts....eye, eye, eye, ...that is all he said today!
Posted by Courtney McClellan | October 2, 2008 4:21 PM
Posted on October 2, 2008 16:21
I agree . . . kids love a good story and sometimes it's a much more effective way to convey a good teaching lesson. Cassidy learned about salvation via a story shared by her children's pastor. Once the story had been told, the pastor then compared it to the actual process of accepting Christ. Cassidy was young at the time, but she got the gist of it. I don't know that she would have grasped it as well had it been presented differently to that age group. I clearly remember that group of preschoolers hanging onto EVERY word during the story, though. That pastor truly had their complete attention.
Great post, Alisha!
Posted by Kari | October 3, 2008 7:12 PM
Posted on October 3, 2008 19:12