"...a good story EVERY night, and to ALWAYS eat at table with their parents."
Cro at Magnon's Meanderings
is celebrating Rupert The Bear's 90th birthday.
Cro offers the above piece of advice to all those who love and care for children.
Their needs are simple...your attention is all that is required, and no better way to express it than by the ritual of the bedtime story, which, by the way, does not have to be told at bedtime.
Parents, don't worry about play-dates, or extra-curricular activities, the latest technology or clothing labels, concern yourselves no longer with the right school, or the right friends, gather that precious being in your arms, put them on your lap and tell them a story.
It can be Rupert, Aesop's, Dickens, or whatever comes to mind.
And yes, end each day...oh, I know your are busy and life is hard...but end each day at the table with food between you to share, restore and connect.
Life is simple...Love is simple.
Don't make it complicated...for the sake of the child.
Such a timely post. I've been thinking about this issue a lot since an article was published this week stating that 1:4 new Aussie mothers are reporting severe PND. I think too many new Mum's are looking at their new baby as another corporate assignment. With deadlines to meet, perfection the aim, performance appraisals & reviews by other yummy mummy's at every turn - all mixed up with the usual sleep deprivation. Not sure how we as a community can turn this around, but gosh it needs to happen & fast.
ReplyDeleteMillie ^_^
J, it is the simple things that mean the most. Kids don;t need all the things we have them do. They need our time. I miss so much reading to my children, an activity I will take over with my grand children when I have them. My mother read all the time to my kids.
ReplyDeleteMy father, except on special occasions would never eat at the table with us, always taking his food on his lap in the living room. As I grew older, I hated this, and vowed that my family would eat together each and every night when possible and we did. Without being melodramatic, I wonder if we would have been different if he had eaten with us.
oh.....and who is that adorable face with the auburn hair???
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ReplyDeleteI started to write a missive on how far off track so many parents and families have become but once again realized that with as much knowledge and information out there on how important it is to nurture, to feed properly, etc..I now know that these same people just plain don't care. The ones who do, they do the right thing.....Unfortunately we have jumped the track, and jumped the shark, and I don't know if we will ever get back....
My 20 something kids talk all the time about whether they "should" have children in today's world. How sad is that? My friend tells them they are JUST the types who should because they would do what is right..for the sake of the child.
J, we keep trying, but I worry that it falls on so many deaf ears, or maybe I'm just feeling negative because I watched a Mom in Target this evening smack a toddler while screaming "stop hitting your sister." sigh....
xxx
z
Perhaps this is a lapse of memory, but I don't remember ever being read to as a child...
ReplyDeleteThere must be truth to your memory J., because I don't remember either Mum or Dad reading to any of us...but the thing is this...whether they did or didn't they instilled in us a great love of books and reading...and we both know that we loved to read to our children every day. I can remember many times when reading to my children they had either fallen asleep or had jumped off the couch and I was still reading on and on and on! Love those children's books...especially the illustrations.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Rupert!
...ok J., just had a 'memory'...when Dad was home sick, spending many days in bed, we used to climb in bed with him and he used to read to us, I think they were comics, (but for the life of me can't remember that we used to read comics) but he used to make up the story and not really read it, we used to laugh, and laugh...see he made reading FUN for us!
ReplyDeleteisn't he gorgeous Chania...wish I could say he was mine!
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