Montessori Moms: Planting the Seeds of Growth

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Well Christmas morning may be but the lead up to it can be quite overwhelming for young children.  We expect children to be "good" because Santa or the Elf is watching, but we are filling their days with baking, decorating, lights, trees, late nights, shopping, presents etc. and we want them to "behave". Kids thrive on structure and knowing what to expect. The Christmas chaos throws that out the window for sure.  As adults we get so wrapped up in the perfect Christmas we sometimes miss the simple things that will create the memories we are seeking.  Here are a few tips I have learned (it took me a while) through my own kids and observing many families over the years. 1.   Make sure you stick to bed times!  There are so many activities happening around this time of year.  Shopping, concerts, parties etc.  Try your best to make sure your child has enough rest! 2.   Behavioral expectations need to be appropriate and re

As adults we make choices everyday.  We have had practice.  We choose what to wear, what to have for breakfast, what to eat for lunch, where to go on vacation, weather or not to do the laundry, when to go to bed, etc.  We have also had to make the important decisions like getting married, giving in to peer pressure, buying a house.  As my children grow older I realize the many "big" decisions they make everyday and I am happy that they have had the opportunity to make choices and learn through them throughout their lives.   Making choices does not come naturally to all children.  In the classroom some children wait for the teachers to choose for them.  As their guides we direct them and help them develop comfort in their decision making skills.  We focus on the natural consequences of poor choices and the joys of good choices.           If we and not the children choose the task, then they t hink about us instead of the task             ~How Children Fail - John Holt  

It is hard to believe but September is just around the corner.  I love the beginning of the school year but my children would stay in summer vacation mode for eternity, (although they start to crave structure about this time of year, they just don't realize it yet!)  Summer vacation, in our house, is pretty relaxed.  Everyone has daily jobs and expectations, but it's pretty loose as far as scheduling and structure.  We do some camps in July, but mostly my kids are free to get together with friends, play games poolside, visit family etc. Then August 1st comes around and I go into back to school mode, craving routine and structure once again, and they do too! Don't get me wrong, I love leisurely drinking my coffee in the morning, sitting on the porch ( I am right now) working, spending time with my children, going on day trips, but we all function much better with a routine and September brings that much needed change.   Most of you reading this will have younger children a

Don't sweat the small stuff.  I know easier said than done!  In a day when social media is bombarding us with "perfect family photos", praises of a child's test scores and accomplishments, Pinterest projects gone wild etc. it is so easy to feel as though you are not making the cut as a mom/dad.  Trust me you will not look back on your child's early years and remember the clean house, the healthy balanced meals made from scratch every day or the perfectly matching clothes etc.  You will remember the fun, the laughs and the quality time you spent together.  That is not to say that the above mentioned are not important, they just should not be how you judge yourself as a parent. To quote a good friend who has an adult child, "All the times I was so worried about making everyone happy and looking like a good mom....Making sure my house was clean, the cupboards were perfect, my child looked perfect... to be honest I don't remember any of those times.  I rememb