Thursday, March 17, 2011

Busy Kid

While the outside world is in turmoil our inside world (inside the house at least...) is trying to remain the constant.  Today we had a campfire...
complete with original camp songs...

Since the campfire wore out his baby dog the Little Guy decided they should take a nap and asked me to read a book to them... and the big red car...

Tonight we had supper by candlelight.  Obviously it didn't bother the kids!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Kids and Catastrophy

It was a week ago this morning where we felt the first earthquake.  It came while we were at church chatting after Bible Study.  There was another on Thursday and the big one on Friday.  Since then we've been taking it day-by-day as normalcy is restored.
On TV there has been a lot of info about the problems, the suffering and a few happy stories of reunions and rescues.  What I have not seen much of is advice in how to help your kids at a time like this.  Here is what we're been doing:

 - Talking. My son is 3 yrs old yet he can understand much of what is going on if I put it in his terms.  He knows that the ground moved, houses fell and waves washed over towns.  I think since we had just learned about arable which addresses building your house on the rock vs. sand the images on TV were easy for him to comprehend. 
We've also talked about how some people don't have power, heat or water right now so it is our job to be good stewards of those things so that the extra can be shared with people who don't have any. 

 - Schedule.  A s much as possible we are sticking to the normal schedule for the kids.  Doing things just the way they've always been done helps keep the kids stress levels down.  Nap time and bedtime especially should happen in the "normal" way as much as possible.

 - Play together.  Kids need to play every day even if they are to stay inside that day.  The attention is also important.  If the kids are getting clingy or acting out it could be a sign of having feelings that they don't know how to express.  Sometimes those feelings get worked out while playing.

- Listen.  It is amazing how much kids can tell you (or sign) if you give them the chance.

 - Get out toys which haven't been played with in a while.  Even baby toys can be interesting to a toddler.

 - Change rooms every few hours.  The change of place can feel refreshing.

So far this week we've gone camping in the living room, played restaurant, built a few different vehicles, played with trains, and read nearly every Berenstain Bears book that I have here.  (Mom, time to send the rest if there are still some at your house...)  We also had a couple of video chats with G'ma and G'pa.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Quake Update

Hi There,
Just want to let you know that we are ok.  The hard-hit areas are to the north of us.  You can see details on my personal blog here:

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Sweet Dreams

I just had possibly the best bedtime ever.  While Daddy went to tuck in the Little Guy (or perhaps the other way around?) I told this sleeping little miss that it was night-night time.  She kind of looked at me and smiled... hmm... usually that means she's off to play someplace else...
So, I put Glow Worm down on a zabuton (floor pillow) and covered it (?) with an onsen towel and again said & signed "night-night".  The Little Lady came over and pulled the towel off of glow worm and tried to wrap it around herself so I laid down and patted the space next to me and again said/signed "night-night".  Guess what?  She got the hint and came to lay down next to me!
After about 10 minutes of rubbing her back and listening to Glow Worm's music the little sleepy head dozed off.  I wish it could always be so simple!!!
Of course I know have a sleeping baby in the middle of the living room floor so she'll probably wake up at the first noise but hey, she's asleep for now!

Friday, March 4, 2011

JC Play Zone

Ok, so I'm not a huge fan of entertaining kids with electronics yet basic knowledge in computers is good to have.  With that in mind we have a few select pages which the Little Guy is allowed to use on occasion.  Here is one: JCPlayZone http://www.jcplayzone.com/
This site has so much more than just games.  There is a nice selection of Bible-based coloring pages which are free to download, recipe ideas, craft ideas and even music to listen to.