I’ll never forget when my son attended a birthday party and spent quite a bit of time in an arcade where he amassed what seemed like THOUSANDS of tickets. With all those tickets one would assume he’d be able to afford a down-payment on a car– but what he wanted most was a set of fake fingers. And he actually spent years playing with those fake fingers ( and still does!) Those simple silly plastic must be a penny fake fingers. As a parent – his love of those fake fingers taught me a valuable lesson- that as a parents we need to help our kids recognize that they are responsible for their own happiness and that happiness is an inside job. I am also truly trying to underscore to them that one of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy and one of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself. Which leads me to 20 Things Our Children Need Most (NONE OF WHICH IS AN iPHONE)
According to Dr. Gregg Steinberg, author of Flying Lessons: 122 Strategies to Teach Your Child to Soar into Life with Competence and Confidence, teaching your child to savor life’s sweet moments are a surefire way to raise their happiness quotient. Here are a few of his tips to help families find their happy place.
Live in the moment
Get a Starburst and unwrap it. Close your eyes and begin to chew; the flavor will be intensified and much sweeter. After this exercise, parents can remind their children that moments of happiness are like that, they become much sweeter when we are paying attention to them.
Have an early morning happy hour
To help your child start the day in a happy mood, try this simple exercise: When your child wakes up in the morning, have her focus on three aspects she is thankful for in her life. It could be her health, her friends, her pet, her family and so forth. She will find that when she chooses to focus on these simple thoughts, her morning will be that much brighter. It is an early morning happy hour.
Trash your mistakes
To help your child forget his mistakes more quickly and be happier, teach him how to trash his mistakes. Tell him to write down negative thoughts he’s had recently such as, “I flubbed that answer on the test.” Then crumple up the paper, and throw it into the trash can. Then, encourage him to say, “In the trash can!” whenever that thought creeps back into his mind. Such a technique will help kick all those negative thoughts and past mistakes out of his mind-leading to greater happiness in the moment.
And keep reading for 20 Things Our Children Need Most (NONE OF WHICH IS AN iPHONE) It’s all in the simple stuff!
20 Things Our Children Need Most (NONE OF WHICH IS AN iPHONE)
#1 love.
#2 respect.
#3 to play.
#4 to have fun
#5 to be seen.
#6 to be listened to.
#7 your presence.
#8 a hero.
#9 a fostered sense of wonder.
#10 lots of hugs.
#11 to play.
#12 the chance to make mistakes.
#13 encouragement to try again.
#14 room to grow.
#15 dreams.
#16 to be told yes.
#17 to be trusted yes.
#18 affection.
#19 guidance.
#20 to play and CREATE!
Which leads me this Weight Watchers Faux Ice Cream Sandwich Recipe – Just 3 Smart Points and Kids will Go Gaga for it Too
Ingredients:
2 Graham cracker squares (2 sp)
2 tbsp cool whip whipped topping, fat free (1sp)
Directions:
Break the sheet in half so you have two squares.
Spread the cool whip between the crackers.
Poof you have a Weight Watchers Faux Ice Cream Sandwich Recipe – Just 3 Smart Points per sandwich.
They are super easy, and a delicious, light snack. You can store them in the freezer too!
I agree with all your ideas to help children become better person. They watch us and learn so we need to be doing all these things as well and giving service to others.
I think you are absolutely right on the mark! Kids need more attention than staring at a screen. I think it is more fun to go out and do stuff or hang out his family then staring at a screen. We do have iPads and computers but I try to keep it down to a minimum. Some days are better than others.
I absolutely ADORE the morning happy hour idea!!! I totally want to adopt that into our family’s life, when our kid is old enough!
I love the list you compiled and I agree with everything on it and I can’t wait to try the Ice Cream Sandwiches as they will fit into my diet. Especially with me trying to decide to start Weight Watchers or not.
Great post! This recipe looks so yummy, I can’t wait to make it for the family… Children having guidance and a strong foundation is so important.
“To be Seen” “To be listened to” – I think this one is grazed over a bit sometimes when life gets so busy with schedules. I have to remember this with my son, especially since he is so quiet and shy naturally.
What a great list. Helping our kids determine wants vs. needs is challenging at times but we try to help them make the best decision. Love that Starburst idea. Never really thought about that but yep it’s true. Sweeter over time.
So true! My kids do have phones, but I make sure we do things as a family and have fun! There’s more to life than screens.
This post is a great reminder for all of us as parents. I like the idea of trashing your mistakes. I think I need to practice that as an adult too.
I love this list and believe every one of them to be so true! Parents can be too hard on themselves sometimes and none of us are perfect.
Yes to all of this. I totally agree and love this list. We waited until our daughter was older to get her a smart phone and even then I felt it was too soon. Thankfully she is not a kid that wants to use it often and is kinda frustrated by her friends that do use their phones a lot instead of living in the moment.
When I was little, I wanted a journal from the mall SO bad- so my mom made me a deal. She would buy it for me- but only if every night I wrote 3 things I was grateful for that day in it. The tip you shared about the early morning happy hour reminded me of that and I think I’m going to go back to doing that- and get my kids to do it too!
I couldn’t agree more with what the kids need! It’s really important that we show them the same level of respect that we ask from them. It’s good to listen, understand, be supportive, show love, and all that. As a parent it’s our duty to give them these things and more.
This is such an eye opening post. Children need so much from us but a lot of times we are so busy we rely way too heavily on technology.
What a great list! Technology is ruining our health and our minds! Kids need to get real, play outside and use their imaginations like we did when we were little.
I couldn’t agree more on your list. Definitely not just a kid must have but all of us. Nowadays, we are very equipped with gadgets and almost forgot what is the best things in life. This is a great reminder for everyone.
YES! I love this so much. This is such great info, I need to share all over. We took all our kids phones away for the summer and I am loving the decision.
YES to all of these!! I think we get so caught up in matters things that sometimes we forget what we really need…love. And time with family and friends!!