Fun-Filled Parenting , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Silvana Clark

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112 pages

English

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Today's busy families often race from one activity to the next with meals, homework, chores, and discipline somehow fitting between the cracks. For families wanting to inject some fun back into their daily routines, Silvana Clark comes to the rescue. Although she can't promise parents a good night's sleep or extra hours in the day, she can give them all the tools they need to help foster a feeling of family fun and togetherness based on solid biblical teaching. Parents will welcome Clark's humorous stories of family life, as well as practical suggestions on discipline, bedtime, and homework. Fun-Filled Parenting takes the stress out of parenting by offering a myriad of ideas for spending time with children in a positive, fun way. This amazing book is for all parents who want to see their children develop into self-confident, positive adults with a strong sense of their spiritual roots.

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	13 mai 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441224743
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0374€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Praise for
Fun-Filled Parenting

I have read Silvana Clark’s books for the past 10 years and have enjoyed each one. Fun-Filled Parenting is at the top of my list because it is the heart of her message! Silvana is always current, relevant and exceptional at getting to the real issues of family and children.
Justin Mitchell, MPAv
Deputy Garrison Commander Schweinfurt, Germany
Fun-Filled Parenting is a one-stop manual to help parents put the joy back in parenting. Parents will discover creative ways to get their children to do their homework or chores with minimal complaints. Use this book to get ideas for family fun that will create positive, long-lasting memories.
Bob Starnes
Vice President, Licensing and Consumer Products Big Idea, Inc., Franklin, Tennessee
Looking for ways to reduce the stress in your home? Try some of Silvana’s creative parenting ideas. You’ll discover ways to take the drudgery out of homework, chores and bedtime battles. The tips in this book will help create a family in which relationships are built on love, respect and plenty of fun.
Dr. Keith Olson
Marriage and Family Therapist Author of the Gold Medallion book Counseling Teenagers
Kids thrive when they receive affectionate and appropriate attention from parents. Silvana Clark offers easy and practical activities that parents and kids can do together that will give kids what they need while creating a safe, positive home life. Through mutual play, chores, humor or silliness, parents ultimately teach their kids to cope with life stresses, develop social skills and gain self-esteem.
Brenda Nixon, M.A.
Speaker and Author of Parenting Power in the Early Years www.brendanixon.com
Fun-Filled Parenting will make you smile. Don’t give up on the fun-factor—it’s magical! You and your kids will be storing up fun, clever and silly memories for life. Believe me, Silvana lives her words and makes life a fun adventure for her family.
Dr. Barb Brock
Author of Living Outside the Box

2010 Silvana Clark
Published by Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.revellbooks.com
Revell edition published 2014
ISBN 978-1-4412-2474-3
Previously published by Regal Books
Ebook edition originally created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the English Standard Version , Copyright © 2001. The ESV and English Standard Version are trademarks of Good News Publishers.
Other version used: THE MESSAGE , copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson, 1993, 1994, 1995. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Published in association with the literary agency of Janet Kobobel Grant, Books & Such Inc., 52 Mission Circle, Suite 122, PMB 170, Santa Rosa, CA 95409-0537.
Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Let’s Get Silly with Our Kids
2. Down with Dull Devotions
3. Taming Television Time
4. Family Fitness for Nonfitness Fanatics
5. Avoiding Discipline Disasters
6. Cheerful Chores?
7. Crafts for the Un-Crafty
8. Creating a Creative Family
9. Homework Hostess Reduces Homework Hassles
10. Make It Fun, Make It Simple
11. Celebrating the Great Outdoors
12. Meals Are More Than Food
13. Recipes You’ll Never Want to Eat
14. Volunteering: A Family Activity
15. Creating Family Traditions
16. Celebrating Wild and Wacky Holidays
17. Travel Is Terrific!
A Final Word
About the Author
Acknowledgments

Without my husband, Allan, our family would be pretty boring. He’s the one who comes up with all the creative and off-the-wall ideas that make our family fun.
Thanks also to my two amazing daughters, Trina and Sondra, who cheerfully go along with all of Allan’s wild ideas. What a team!
A special thanks to my editor, Kim Bangs, who understood my idea for a book that showed the lighter side of parenting. Now, Kim, we just have to get you to New York to experience those Broadway shows!
Introduction

But the fruit of the Spirit is love , joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness . . .
G ALATIANS 5:22 ( EMPHASIS ADDED )
It looked like the typical scene taking place in airports across the country.
“But I don’t want you to leave, Mommy!” wailed my four-year-old daughter Sondra. I reassured her (to no avail) that I would only be gone on my business trip for two days. “Please, please don’t go!” she continued, clutching my leg for extra theatrical effect.
As I tried shaking her off my leg, Allan, my husband, said, “Sondra, come here so I can tell you a secret plan about what we’ll do when Mom is gone.” She hesitantly went to him as he made a grandiose show of whispering to her. Within seconds the tears disappeared as she clapped her hands and jumped up and down, yelling, “That’s a great idea, Dad! It’s a fantastic idea!” She skipped off with Allan, not even bothering to say goodbye.
Two days later, I walked off the plane into the waiting area, looking for Allan and Sondra to take me home. Instead of seeing my husband and daughter, I was greeted by Dorothy and the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz . Allan’s “secret plan” was to use the time I was gone to make costumes to wear when they picked me up. Allan, in bare feet, overalls and a straw hat, kissed me, as “Dorothy” clicked her sparkly red shoes while clutching a stuffed Toto.
“We made costumes,” she explained. Yes, indeed. I could tell instantly that they had spray-painted her shoes red, then dumped glitter over the damp paint. Allan’s costume included straw poking out around his neck and from the sleeves of his plaid shirt. Later on he explained, “Sondra and I have a new tradition. We’re going to make different costumes every time we pick you up from the airport.” He went on to say he wanted her to learn creativity in problem solving. Sondra missed me when I traveled, but the solution was to use the time apart for designing costumes and teaching her to have a joyful spirit.
For the next two years, Sondra never cried when I left. In turn, I was greeted by a host of characters at the airport. There was Christine and the Phantom of the Opera (complete with half a mask covering Allan’s face), and Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Another time I arrived to see two characters straight out of Grease : Sondra looked adorable in her ponytail and poodle skirt while Allan was every bit the thug with slicked back hair and a tight white T-shirt.
We’ve come to call those airport experiences the beginning of Fun-Filled Parenting .
Most of us receive training at work for how to create a spreadsheet or set up a window display. As adults, we need additional training when it comes to being a parent. Have any of us ever held our first tiny newborn baby and said, “Oh, this will be a breeze. I know everything there is to know about raising children”? More likely, most of us hold that tiny baby and feel overwhelmed at what to do in the next 30 seconds when the baby cries.
Consider this book your parenting training guide, your handbook for learning what joyful adults do to raise happy children.
Perhaps you’re skeptical about reading yet another book on “how to” parent. Maybe you think parents who dress in costumes at the airport need to be sent to traditional parenting classes. But trust me—parenting can be fun, and you don’t want to miss out on anything. So keep an open mind and read on.
Consider one mom who found herself getting in yelling matches with her headstrong daughter. She decided to take a community parenting class, and that decision to get some guidance made all the difference. “That instructor gave one tip that changed my life,” she said. “I learned that I needed to use adult behavior when dealing with my daughter instead of acting like another preteen. The instructor suggested we pick an adult we really admire and when things get heated, talk to our children the way our role model would. I have always admired Katherine Hepburn for her strength and composure. Now, when my daughter starts getting upset with me, I simply pretend I’m Katherine Hepburn and talk to my daughter in a calm yet powerful voice. It works! I no longer get into petty arguments with my daughter—and I think I’m due an Academy Award for my amazing dramatic skills.”
So what’s the Fun-Filled Parenting philosophy anyway? To parent effectively and to have fun while you’re doing it . Sometimes that means acting like Katherine Hepburn and sometimes it means playing Beach Boys music while folding laundry with your children.
Instead of posting a list of household rules with appropriate punishments on the refrigerator, make a list of low-cost, easy-to-do activities that can be done in 10 minutes or less. Just having uninterrupted fun with your children for a few minutes after school can result in less stress the rest of the night. Why not celebrate National Twinkie Day, go on a spontaneous car trip, or mix up a batch of homemade play dough? You’re almost certain to have a home in which family relationships are strong and everyone feels comfortable laughing together.
Where do you get that list of activities? Simply glance through this book and you’ll see hundreds of practical ideas. Pick and choose what seems to work best for your family. Don’t be afraid to experiment. If your family has never volunteered together, offer to walk dogs at the local Humane Society. Not very crafty? Spend 10 minutes making paper sculptures that even a three-year-old can do well. The idea is to get beyond watching TV together while calling it “Quality Family Time.”
And lucky for you, you don’t have to pay a high-priced professional to giv