Day 75. Wow, It is hard to believe we've been Sheltering in Place for 75 days. It seems like years have gone by, and it seems like just yesterday we were all together in someone's living room, a church basement or in the redwood forest with our toddlers. It is also hard to believe we've been writing over here at Early Childhood Matters for nearly 75 days. With many preschools opening on Monday, (and 75 being a really nice number) we've decided it may be time to take a little pause on our four tips of the day. Don't worry, we'll still be doing a tip of the day so we're not going away, just slowing down a tiny bit as we move into summer. A big thank you to teachers Evelyn and Alexis for your ideas sprinkled throughout and a huge heartfelt and overwhelming amount of gratitude to Kellam. I definitely could not have done this without out you and your many brilliant ideas and your support, encouragement to keep going, and early morning posting!! And thank you to all of our followers and readers-thank you for reading, liking, posting your comments, sending us photos, and encouraging us to keep writing with your stories. We will still be here for you, and we hope to see you in one of our virtual or live classes or coaching sessions one day soon! Oh and last but not least, thank you to Esme and Patrick for being such joyful models and participants in their parents many indoor and outdoor activities!
Also if you're interested in purchasing a pdf or hard copy of these tips, please let us know and stay tuned! We'd love for you to have these to be able to look through and refer back to whenever you'd like!
SELF LOVE:
Date Night In Take 5: Order some fancy food to enjoy after the kids are in bed! We have almost always eaten dinner as a family, so this never really occurred to me until a second time mom brought this up! Tonight happens to be our 16 year Wedding Anniversary and so I plan on feeding the kids frozen pizza, attempting to put them to bed early and enjoying our dinner from Rich Table. They even deliver cocktails! For those of you local to SF, a huge shout out to chefs and owners Sarah and Evan, our neighbors in the mission nearly a decade ago, who have gracefully carried through this whole saga with two young children of their own!
PARENTING TIP:
Staying Calm Day 4: So we've identified some common triggers, noticed what happens to our bodies when triggered, practiced saying out loud "I am feeling really triggered/angry right now." Then you tried telling your child you were so angry you couldn't even solve this problem, but you were going to come back in a few minutes and come up with a plan/solution to this problem when you were calm. This is a wonderful start to avoiding the "road to shame." Congratulations if you've given even one of these strategies a try! My next piece of advice is this-whatever triggered you yesterday will likely trigger you again. Visualize your child doing this today, and imagine yourself responding in this calm way. Think of the line you'd like to say. Imagine yourself saying it. This is the most powerful tool I've ever found for staying calm when triggered.
INDOOR ACTIVITY:
The Cutting Box: (Fine motor, independent play)This is easy to assemble and leads to (hopefully) lots of independent time. Gather different materials and textures for your child to cut. Paper in different color, shapes, textures. Straws are very satisfying to cut and you can even add pipe cleaners, cardboard and other challenges for older preschoolers. Leave it out where they can come back to it as often as they like, or tuck it away and save for a "rainy" moment or day.
OUTDOOR ACTIVITY:
As outdoor activities ease and time in nature becomes an even more important piece of our resiliency and coping strategy for children and parents alike, we'd like to end with a wrap up of some of our favorite nature spots in our beautiful city of San Francisco.
Golden Gate Park: Strawberry Hill, Aids Memorial Grove, Redwood Grove, Botanical Gardens (Opening June 1) Chain of Lakes (at 41st ave) for the lesser known lake. Presidio: Andy Goldsworhy Spire, Trees behind the playground (west side), Hike in from inspiration point to the redwood grove. Glen Canyon (enter from Christopher Playground for fewer crowds), McClaren Park-a hidden gem on the southern side of SF, Sutro Heights Park, Ocean Beach at Noriega and Fort Funston.