Supporting Your Child and Fostering their Passions

Ultimately our role as parents is to guide and nurture the very best in our children. It's so easy in today's society to become distracted and gravitate to the world of comparisons and/or what is within our comfort zone as a parent.

Every child is different.  Every - child - is - different. 

Keep saying that to yourself.  

Each child has different strengths and challenges than their sibling(s).  

Each child has a different strengths and challenges than their neighbour, classmate, friend, cousin, etc.

Ultimately, what is important in raising our children?...  In my opinion, it is that they:

• are respectful
• have confidence
• are happy and healthy
• can care for themselves and the world around them.

I have two children: one, a natural athlete (this is my comfort zone) and performer - and the second, an artist. My oldest, the artist, has discovered a passion for You Tube videos. This is was a completely foreign world/interest for me. I didn't quite grow up in the pre-television generation but definitely "BC" as my parents always say, "before computers". And, before cable tv in our household... so, the concept of You Tube: video production, editing and the intricacies of You Tube is completely overwhelming for this parent.

My son takes great pride in the story; the creativity; the sharing and; the engagement and interaction within a You Tube channel.  In our case, engaging in You Tube specifically, but regardless of the specific interest/passion, ANY area of interest foreign to a child's parent is a HUGE commitment. The reality of this commitment can be overwhelming but, the investment in time to support and foster YOUR CHILD'S intrinsic passion is rewarded so tremendously. I am writing this to show you just that - and to ask for your help :). Take a few minutes to look at the evolution in his confidence and his development by viewing the videos below and please note:

• For any child who may be shy, reserved and have developmental delays, I hope these video can show parents some hope and how the efforts made in investing in your child's passion can be so rewarded.
• You Tube is a beast. It's is amazing and incredible and a remarkable community in itself but --- building a channel and gaining some traction takes a tremendous amount of time, effort and a steep, steep learning curve.  By clicking on a video and/or giving a video a thumbs up and/or leaving a pleasant comment, you can honestly make someone's day. My son is THRILLED to have hit a new milestone in subscribers and seeing this response, knowing he may have made someone else smile, helps to motivate him (and his Momma, too :) )... when you are looking to support your child's passion, having both internal and this sort of external motivation has a remarkable impact. For the latter, I turn to you and am truly grateful for your support.

See the "results" from an investment in a child's passion that is completely foreign to his parents right here...

From this:

to this (over a few - relatively - short months):

Maybe I am bias? I encourage you to share your perspective in the comments on this blog and/or on his videos; what stands out to you?

The reality in letting our children take the lead in inspiring their passions can instill a level of fear in parents. Reflect on this honest statement:

it's human to fear what may be beyond our control and to allow our children's choices, taking such a lead.... letting go of these precious human beings in this capacity and diving into a world of potentially complete unfamiliarity... say WHAT?!?! (This article has some interesting perspectives on this subject that I encourage you to also read.)

Again though, I circle back to my initial statement and reason for this post:

• A child's passion can foster and nurture critical aspects of a child's development.
• The impact when you support and foster your child's passion beyond your comfort level can have a significant, positive, impact on their development.
• My son inspires me every day. He faces what some may see as an uphill battle every day (we have not yet shared, fully, the adversity he faces in this cyber world but that will come - with time) and I firmly believe he has been blessed with a gift to inspire and connect with others. Thanks to technology, this is a platform to do just that. 

With that, until next time... have a wonderful day! xo

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Interested in learning more about our family? Now you know how some of the evolution of our You Tube channel but watch the video below to hear about the first spark that ignited our You Tube journey. Stay tuned for updates and join us on our adventure! 

Again, if you are interested in really helping out this small You Tuber gain a little traction, please let our playlist run and enjoy a few laughs along the way! Thanks so much!

What Street in Heaven does Oma live on?

Children make profound statements. They enlighten us with their honesty. They keep us thinking. They catch us off guard:

"What street in heaven does Oma live on?"

This was my 4 year old. Calmly. Confidently. Sincerely. He was asking a great question.

We recently had to say goodbye to our family dog and 10 days later, my husband's Oma passed away; he had to fly half way around the world to be with his family. So, in a short period of time, my kids lose their dog, learn a family member has died, and suddenly their dad is on a plane to be away for a unknown amount of time. Change. Life. Transparent life.

We hid nothing from our children and are doing everything we can to support them through these changes. It's a lot for anyone to take in. It's a lot for parents, too. Combine your need to grieve with supporting your children as they grieve and being present, really - really present, to answer their questions... it can be draining. It is draining.

Through this, I feel like our children are experiencing a great gift: coping with grief. Holding memories. Talking openly. These are such critical life skills for them to develop. As a parent, when a sequence of difficult events are occurring -- I hold onto that: what a blessing it is for our children to develop these skills so young. What a gift it is for us to be trusted to lead them through this journey. What a privilege. They don't know this yet but these life changing last few weeks are carving a new chapter in the story they are writing.... that of life and that of resiliency. Messages which will be forever woven into every coming chapter they write.

Their resilience inspires me. Their honesty humbles me. They make me so grateful.

"There are no streets in heaven. It's where a great people we love gather when they pass to watch over us. We carry our memories and their good values in our hearts; how amazing is that? (Pause) Actually, there are streets in heaven: people we love are in heaven and the street runs from watching over us and goes right into our hearts."

"That makes sense, Mommy."

Until next time.... have a wonderful day. xo

Be a part of our journey, click here, to follow us on You Tube. 

 

 

Breathe, Mommas. Just, breathe.

I recently tweeted, "I aspire for that 'someone' to be my children." --- in reference to this quote:

This is one of my life mantras. I am a very centred person. Someone who has a strong faith; strong values and lives with integrity and morality. I am grounded by looking and feeling the "good" in the world...

When your day starts with your 3 year old giving you a HUGE hug and saying, "I love you VERYYYYY much." you can - and should - take a moment to step back and proudly acknowledge to yourself, "I am doing something right." Do you, though? Or --- do you let those moments pass you by?

I encourage you to pause. To breathe. To take in that moment. Stop all that you are doing and just.... breathe. Allow yourself to smile and feel your heart warm. Let that moment empower you. Hang onto that moment if even just for a few seconds.... I assure you, you'll be back to picking up spilled milk before you know it. "It" is just spilled milk. "That" moment... "That" hug was more that "just" a moment. That was a list of compliments you should be proud of:

• You're doing awesome!
• I am proud of you!
• I really do care for you more than anything!
• I thank you.

Now, aren't those moments worth appreciating?! Your child is appreciating you. Hold onto that and acknowledge that.

"That someone".... That someone is definitely you. ((((Hugs)))

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Please follow us on You Tube. We invite you to be a part of our life's adventures!

How does your child inspire you?

"Education begins the moment we see children as innately wise and capable beings. Only then can we play along in their world."

How does your child inspire you? Their innocence? Their drive and determination? Perseverance? Integrity? Passion?... I encourage you to take a moment and relate your child's behaviours to personality attributes. Here's an example:

• Our 3 year old snuck into the kitchen at 3am, moved one of the dining room chairs so that he could reach the top shelf, took a bag of mini-marshmellows and a bottle of multivitamins in a child-proof container, and went back in his room...

Sure, there are many things "wrong" with this behaviour and his actions were certainly less than desirable but, through this we can recognize:

• determination
• witt
• intelligence
• strength - physical and mental
•  ....

What POSITIVE personality attributes do you see in such actions? I challenge you to think about your child's perhaps less than desirable behaviour or action and be inspired but what their actions highlight about their personality....something to think about. Comment below with your stories. 

In reflecting on our child's behaviour and actions in that moment describes above, we can also take a moment to appreciate, the kid has moves.... for a laugh, watch this clip of his dance moves --- he calls it the "step and jiggle". Have a great day!

Day 6: He did it. The gift of running.

My six year old ran his first cross country race. We really were not sure whether or not he would start. We thought there would be tears. But, we also thought it was possible to be an activity he would enjoy. And, he did... eventually.

There were hundreds of kids participating; an overwhelming scene. He happily played with his friends before-hand and seemed eager to participate. This was very much to my surprise. I anticipated him becoming overwhelmed early on but he handled this part of the event with ease. To see the excitement in his eyes gave us hope he may have found an activity that "clicked" for him. He loves to run and, of course, it's such a great activity for his well-being but the potential stress surrounding the events left much uncertainly. His 3 year old brother was all too eager though, so I took him from the start/finish area to cheer from the mid-way point.

Dad stayed with our six year old and as it was time to start, the crowd gathered closer and as I am told, the hesitation rapidly set in. There was a sea of people and it was not something a parent could talk him into. We were so fortunate that his teacher was also the cross country coach. They have an amazing relationship and as my husband said, "She knew just what to say. Just how to approach and encourage him. She just knows him so well." It is truly remarkable to have a person like that in our son's life. If one cannot bring him out of his "shell". He shuts down. Completely shuts down. He is the child who will scream, hide and either frantically moving or freeze completely. In this state, there is no communication to be had. He has to experience his emotions and after an hour if we are lucky, then talk about his feelings. When he speaks about his feelings, he then usually triggers another response as he seems to feel heavily guilty for his "inappropriate" behaviour.... and the cycle continues. When he was younger these "episodes" could last six hours, easily. Rather than frantic, pacing movement thought he'd flail his body..... he is learning. We are all learning.

I need to pause as a I write this. If anyone stumbles across this and has a child who has some anxiety and more emotionally sensitive.... with patience, tremendous patience, your child can learn to cope. We are going on four years now and I may go as far as to say he is thriving. Our version of thriving. Just last week I still had someone say to me, "oh gawddddd, I could never deal with THAT." They stood up and walked away shaking there head. This was their reaction to my son's behaviour in a particular situation. He was transitioning to a new activity within the scope of the day, and he was needing a little extra support to do so. He had started to stress and swatted his hand at me which then followed tears and repetitive, "I am sorry!!  I am sorry! I am sorry, Mommy!  I didn't mean to hit you. I shouldn't do that! I am sorry!!" --- followed by massive tears. So, with this response --- why would we even "expose" our son to a new activity in a crowd of people? Quite frankly, how else will learn to cope? And, our son asked to participate. We will support and encourage him in anything he chooses --- within reason. ;)

Back to the race....His age group had about 200 kids. After words of encouragement from his teacher, he started with the crew. At the half-way mark, closer to the finish line I guess, we saw the first runner... the first hundred runners.... more and more runners..... and then, we saw this:

Our guy is in the foreground with the hat. He was running. He didn't look happy but he didn't look miserable. We'll take it. He lined up to receive his participant and placing ribbon, 184th. You couldn't see he was sad. When he finally opened up about his feelings, "I didn't get first." It was that "simple" of a statement. The little guy that shuts down has a fiesty, competitive nature in him. My response, "No. But, you did your best and that makes Mommy happy. Did you have fun?" The conversation continued, "I pushed people, Mommy. Other people were pushing. There wasn't room for everyone. I pushed some red guys. Some blue guys. And some green guys. But, not some yellow guys. Those are my team." ---- and, that left me speechless.

Running has brought something out of him - and that is a tremendous gift.

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy!!

Big news in our house!!! Our 6 year old lost his first tooth. Well, second technically and second according to him but that was only because he had to be pulled. I talk more about some of his health adversity here and here.  So....

Photos cannot be used in any form without written consent of the author of this blog.


What is the "going rate" for the tooth fairy? Comment below.

Now, because I didn't know this and it completely grossed me out --- apparently it is totally common for the teeth as they fall out to turn greyish/black! I can handle blood, and broken bones (I used to be a lifeguard and had to assist where a person missed the pool on back inwards dive - no issue there), but seeing my son continually play with this little tooth as it was barely attached and turned grey - nasty!!! So, that's it for this post -- you get to be grossed out if you read this far and, if you didn't, you got to see some pics of a darn cute kid (not that I am bias). WIN! ;)

My 3 Year Old Teacher

Important lessons learned this week alongside a 3 year old:

1. If you let your 3 year old walk the dog down a hill on a cement sidewalk, be prepared for tears. If you don't allow them to do so, tears and.... if you do, well....

2. Doing so will very likely result in crying - those painful screaming cries - and two "broken legs"... aka, scraped knees.

3. "Broken legs" can be healed with popcorn and a children's favourite tv show.

4. When a 3 year old is angry, take the time to listen. Really, really listen. They are likely angry because they have not been heard. In all seriousness we ran into quite an issue this week with our child hitting and spitting at his teacher. Yes - you read that right and yes - I just posted that publicly.  And, approximately two weeks ago there was an issue where he deliberately tripped every child in the class. Yes - I just admitted that and posted it publicly, too.

While obviously we need to address these behaviours, in each case we learned - from listening - that he was standing up for himself and that is a characteristic and attribute we want to continue to encourage. So, how does one encourage the behaviour, recognize the strengths in the child's character and squash the perceived undesirable behaviour?...

Now, am I becoming THAT parent? The one that you want to avoid because if my child hurts you on the playground I am going to standby and support them.... reality check! Of course I am going to standby and support them BUT, I won't standby and support the behaviour. Those are two critically different "elements".

And with that, I am going to step away from the computer to make breakfast and lunch for my 3 year to ensure they are fully fueled to add some new karate chop actions to his seemingly aggressive moves... ;)

This is the face of a child who may hit, spit, kick... but, is also filled with a lot of love!

Meet My Dinosaurs - and My Brother

We have two boys. Two boys who are completely opposite in absolutely every way you could possibility imagine: sleeping habits, eating habits, one is very much introverted and the other --- well, he is best described as a "cartoon character". We mean the latter as a term of endearment, we promise. Neither child can greet you without making you smile but for completely opposing reasons. The oldest is an old soul who melts your heart and the youngest will have you curled in a ball of laughter grinning ear-to-ear. Being around a child that makes you laugh like that, melts your heart in a new way. We are blessed. We probably sound like any proud parents but, seriously, take a moment to pause and reflect on your child or children's personality and those little pieces that make them unique - and, you are sure to find some peace and something new to smile about.

Through this, our boys - the brothers - are best, best friends. We think you can see this through their play. They can go hours works collaboratively - complimentary - on special projects. And, here is a quick shot of that. In this video our oldest introduces you, proudly, to his younger brother. Enjoy!

A Wish from Santa

In July, our 3 year old spontaneously told us that he was going to ask Santa for a pirate ship. Sure enough, over the next 6 months, this wish continued. On December 25th, watch to see what was received.

Why We Joined You Tube

After months (nearly 10 of them) of our 5 year old continuously expressing interest in making his own videos and posting them to You Tube, in December 2015 we opted in. In doing so, we stumbled onto some remarkable benefits -  most significantly - supporting our child's speech development. In watching the video you may hear him repeat a phrase when he realizes he is being very quiet and/or not enunciating his words (aka opening his mouths when he speaks). Creating the videos allows him to listen back and see if he thinks others are understanding him. The support through him seeing comments and "thumbs up" reminds him of the importance of clarity and annunciation. 

Watch/LISTEN here for his first video... even just for a few seconds:

And, watch/LISTEN here just a few weeks later:

His confidence and speech development astounds us!  Do you notice a difference?

Creating the videos has also become something for us to do as a family with both children having tremendous fun creating and watching! When life gets so chaotic, it can be difficult to find time to pause and connect as a unit. Making a video has become just that. Whether it is capturing a moment to share with family and friends or for us to be able to look back on years down the road - the public community and support of the "You Tube community" enables some accountability and excitably in this new endeavor.

Thanks for checking out our blog and taking the time to read about the first chapter of our You Tube story. Please subscribe to our channel and see how the story unfolds!

*** 6 MONTH UPDATE: Here is a video in May that he did entirely on his own. The progress continues:

Best regards,

Kids' Fun - a channel connecting and celebrating family as our children lay the foundation. xo

New Toys Join in on the Fun

See who this young child introduces you to today!...

 

Meet My Paw Patrol Friends

New friends join the adventure, who will they be?

PAW PATROL Nickelodeon Playtime

What adventure will the Paw Patrol go on with their friend this week?

Child's FIRST You Tube video. Enjoy!