Help Me Help Y’all
Posted: June 25, 2013 Filed under: Miss Cheryl, Tales, Tips | Tags: car wash, children and accountability, chores, Doc, gas station, helping children learn responsibility, raising responsible children, teaching responsibility Leave a commentRespons-ability!
Many times when I’m with the kiddos, my primary concern is caring for them, doing things for them, keeping them distracted and happy. In my frantic frenzy to meet all of their needs, I can sometimes overstep and do too much for them. Most times it’s unintentional, but at times it is deliberate, as I know that I can clear the table/ pick up the living room/ or pick out the day’s outfit much more quickly and efficiently than the kiddos can. However, this doesn’t do the kiddos, their folks, or myself any favors in the long run. The old adage, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime,” holds true for kiddos as well. It is monumentally important for caregivers to pass on knowledge in the form of responsibility to young ones. Read the rest of this entry »
I Think We’re Alone Now
Posted: June 18, 2013 Filed under: Miss Cheryl, Tales, Tips | Tags: alone time, Boss lady, captain awesome, date night, date nights, Doc, individual, middle child, middle children, nanny and children, one-on-one time, parents and children, princess, quality time with children, quality time with each child, Rebel 3 CommentsAs much of a blessing as siblings are, there are times when children crave individual attention. I remember as a little girl I loved Tuesday and Thursday afternoons the years I was in PreK and Kindergarten. These days were much beloved because my mama would pick me up from school at 11:30 and we would have the afternoon alone, together. (My sister, Laurel was still in school, and my brother, Buddy was at Mother’s Day Out.) We’d go to lunch, then maybe a store or two, whatever I felt like. I loved having my mama all to myself just to talk to her (she is such a good listener), and to have special time that was just for us. Similarly I couldn’t wait for the annual Take Your Daughter To Work Day when I would get the whole day with my dad to myself, asking him questions, helping him with work, and of course lunching out in style, both dressed in our office clothes. I loved hearing about his job as a petroleum geologist. He is so smart and was very good at explaining things to me. Plus, before seismic computers, he filled in the geological maps by hand, shading the various layers in with map pencils, and would let me color some. (When Laurel was asked in a school questionnaire what our father did for a living, she answered, “He colors all day.” When I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up on one such quiz I answered “geologist,” mostly because I really liked to color.) I loved the alone time with both of my folks. As the middle child it was a rare and wonderful opportunity to have each of them to myself. Read the rest of this entry »
Dear Dad
Posted: June 16, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentHappy Father’s Day to all the good dads out there and especially the best one…mine!!!!!!
As a nod to Father’s Day, I was, of course, inspired to write about my dad. It’s hard to put into one post all the memories and meaning he has brought to my life, but I’ll sure try. For me, having such an incredibly happy and blessed childhood, was contingent on having him as my father, and my happiness since childhood, I owe to him as well. Our father-daughter relationship has had its ups and downs, but has only evolved, and become stronger, day after day, year after year.
View original post 905 more words
Disney Dos and Don’ts II: Solidarity Sisters!
Posted: June 11, 2013 Filed under: Miss Cheryl, Tales | Tags: alice, alice in wonderland, animal pals, Ariel, briar rose, Cinderella, Disney, disney dos and don'ts, disney films, evil queen, grandmother willow, hormonal, huntsman, maleficent, mean girls, pervasive themes, pocahontas, princess aurora, queen of hearts, sleeping beauty, Snow White, snow white and the seven dwarves, solidarity sisters, stepmother, stepmothers, stepsisters, the little mermaid, tina fey, ursula Leave a commentDisney is caught in my good-natured crosshairs once again! Disney movies are rooted in entertainment yes, but also about bringing the family together for movie time, fun escapism, and the development of imagination. Why then, with all this purported purpose of unity and lightness (featured in some of the Disney films), are there so many pervasive themes of pitting people, particularly women, against each other? It seems that in a large number of our beloved Disney stories, it seems to reach climactic crescendos of Womano a Womano. I quote Tina Fey in the ultra-quotable classic Mean Girls when I say, “There’s been some girl-on-girl crime here.”
Just Breathe
Posted: June 4, 2013 Filed under: Miss Cheryl, Tales, Tips | Tags: airline announcement, Doc, good sleep, light sleeper, miss cheryl, nannies, overnights, oxygen mask, parenting advice, Rebel, safety first, take time 2 CommentsThis next post includes nannying/parenting advice from a rather unlikely place (airline announcements), delivered however from a not unlikely source, but from a dear pal of mine, Happy, who, for a time was a nanny herself (In fact she cared for Doc and Rebel before they became my charges). Read the rest of this entry »
Y'all Behave! 