Sands Hetherington's Blog, page 8
March 23, 2017
What’s On My Bookshelf?
Over the last year, I’ve recommended dozens of children’s books for you and your children to enjoy. But I realized I haven’t shared too many of the books I read on my own! If you want to stay updated regularly, be sure to check out my Goodreads page. But for today’s post, I thought I’d share a few of my favorites.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon.
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What truly stunned me about this story was the way the author gets into the mind of a boy with autism, and explains an emotional tale from his emotionless point-of-view. It’s an easy but remarkably written read that I’d recommend to anyone. Especially those who know or are the family members of an autistic individual.
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens.
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This is a classic you can’t help but come back to. The characters are pricelessly eclectic and always interesting, and the writing is as sincere as it is beautiful. If this is your introduction to Dickens, you’ll have chosen a good place to start!
In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larson.
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This is a fascinating story about a character named William Dodd, who becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history. It goes through the exciting beginning of the Third Reich, and shows how easily people became enamored with Hitler’s Germany—until it was too late to turn back. This is a book you won’t want to put down.
Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck.
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You can’t pick this book up expecting a whirlwind of a plot, but once you get past its unusual literary style, you’ll fall in love. The story is a picture of a town, the cannery district of Monterey, CA, and all the people within it. Told through a series of vignettes, it is a masterpiece of literature that not enough people have read!
Have you read any of these? Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments!
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March 16, 2017
4 Things To Do When Your Kids Are Bored On Spring Break
It’s that itchy-eyed, sunny day time of year again! Chances are, your kids will soon have an entire week away from school and are counting on having some fun in its place. But how do you keep them excited and having a fun-filled time for seven days straight—especially when your family doesn’t have vacation plans? Read on for my top tips and activities!
Get outside. Even if all you do is take a family trip to the park, or go on a twenty-minute hike in a nearby state park, getting out of the house always turns a day into an adventure. You can pack a picnic, bring some bubbles and a soccer ball, and let your kids play in the sun when they’d usually be stuck in a classroom. It’s cheap, easy, and a total blast!
Visit your local craft store. Give your kids a budget of five or ten dollars (or whatever you feel comfortable affording) and have them pick out a project they want to make for the week. It’ll be extra fun if you have a judging contest at the end of the week to see who made the best craft! Winner gets to pick their favorite flavor of ice cream to share.
Go on a day trip. If you don’t have week-long vacation planned, try to get away for at least a day somewhere nearby. Do you live close enough to the beach? To a tourist town, or a fun museum? Go somewhere you normally wouldn’t, and enjoy a day away together as a family.
Go crazy at the library! You can never have too many books, and now’s a time when your kids have plenty of free time to read. Let them pick out a stack, and if you feel like getting competitive, challenge each other to see who can read the most books by the end of the week. Here’s a good one to keep them entertained, and also give them some ideas for what to do with the rest of their free time!
Spring Break, by Johanna Hurwitz
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She was supposed to be on a trip to Washington DC, but instead Zoe is stuck at home with a broken ankle and no friends in town. She’s going to have to get creative to find a way to have the best spring break ever, right in her own home!
Do you have any spring break plans? Let me know in the comments what they are!
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March 2, 2017
Book Recommendation Time!: Parenting Edition
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This past Valentine’s Day, a book titled, The Toddler Brain: Nurture the Skills Today That Will Shape Your Child’s Tomorrow, hit bookstore shelves and took over the parenting world. According to its description on Amazon, the book “helps parents recognize the connection that exists between their own parenting behaviors and their child’s ability to acquire valuable twenty-first-century skills.” I don’t know about you, but in that one sentence this book comes across as the answer to the root of every parenting question I hear—how do I raise my child to be a success?
As parents, the world we are raising our children in is vastly different than the one we were raised in. With how quickly our technology advances, the world is even different than the one we lived in five years ago! It makes it hard to know exactly what skills and behaviors we need our children to be equipped with, because we don’t know what the world will look like when they become adults. This is where author Laura Jana steps in.
According to her book, which is grounded in “studies and stories from pediatrics, neuroscience, social science, and childcare, as well as the world of business and innovation,” Jana believes there are an essential seven skills that we can prepare our children with within their first five years of life.
Even though this book is filled with scientific research, it is also very accessible to readers, and offers practical tips for parents of every kind. You’ll finish it feeling empowered, excited, and prepared to raise smart, adaptable, and equipped children. This is definitely a parenting book worth checking out!
Have you read any great parenting books? Let me know your recommendations in the comments!
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February 23, 2017
Tips to Make You a Storytime Hero!
Sharing bedtime stories with your child is an important night-time ritual for many parents. In fact, research has shown that children of parents who have bedtime stories show increased brain activity, particularly vocabulary and logic skills. Those skills will serve as the foundation for a better reader for the rest of their life. Bedtime stories also deepen your relationship with your kids and help to establish a bedtime routine (something every parent needs for their child). It’s also a time for both parents and children to wind down for the day.
Having said that, coming up with a bedtime story for your child EVERY night can be a little overwhelming. So what do you do when your child asks for a story and your mind goes blank? Here are some of my tips to get your creativity flowing!
1. Put your child in the story. Whether it’s princesses or superheroes (or superhero princesses), allowing your child the opportunity to be a part of the story you tell stretches their imagination and enhances their linguistic skills.
2. If you are reading a book, ask them, “What do you think happens next?” A plus for you, your child gives you a kick-start for coming up with the next part of your story—and a plus for them, they get to listen to the kind of story they want to hear!
3. Put your child in the storyteller’s seat by asking them to tell you their favorite story. Asking your child to retell a story back to you gives you (the master storyteller) a break. But it also allows them a chance to practice another important skill, memorization. Because children remember what they believe is important, allowing your child to tell the story they love gives you a front row seat into your child’s brain, and allows you to see what he or she values.
4. Take an old story and add a unique spin to it. This is the oldest trick in the book for storytellers of all kinds. Take an old story that everyone knows, like “Red Riding Hood,” and re-imagine it. What if Red Riding Hood could fly? Or what if she and the wolf became friends, instead of enemies?
The point of these suggestions is to make storytelling fun and interactive. Storytime should not be a tired old routine that you do because you have to. Storytime should be an important time for your child to relax and develop the skills that will serve them in their lifetime.
Do you tell your children bedtime stories? Let us hear them in the comments below!
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February 16, 2017
Want Your Children to Form Healthy Habits? It Starts With You
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I can’t tell you the number of times I hear parents complaining to one another about their children’s habits. “They won’t eat anything other than junk food,” “they won’t play outside,” “they’re always on their phone,” are among some of the most popular. But what’s interesting to note is that these habits they don’t want their children to have often starts at home—they aren’t being the example they want their kids to follow.
An article on Huffington Post called “Parenting in the Digital Age,” came out the other day, and it noted this exact phenomenon. It’s new territory for parents raising children in this age, because these are the first generations being raised with smart technology. However, what the writer of this article notes is that as parents, we know what it was like to live without this technology, and if we don’t want our children to be consumed by it, we have to not let ourselves be consumed by it either.
Basically, if you want your children to spend more time outside without a smartphone in their hands, you have to go outside and leave the phone at home too.
This same concept applies to eating habits, exercising, reading—you name it! Children learn from their parents, and everything you do becomes normalized to them. If you eat McDonald’s regularly, they will think that is normal and healthy behavior. But if you eat greens and cook nourishing food you love, they’ll love it too. If you end your days by sitting down with a book instead of your iPad, they’ll think that’s normal too, and most likely follow in your footsteps.
The next time you feel down and want to complain with your friends about what your child just isn’t doing, stop yourself to ask this question: “Are they learning that from me?”
What healthy habits do you model for your kids? Let me know in the comments!
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February 9, 2017
Say No to Cyber Bullies: What You Need to Know
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By now, cyberbullying is something every parent needs to be aware of. A study by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids investigated how often children (6- to 11-year-olds) and teens (12- to 17-year-olds) had been cyberbullied—and the results were astonishing. One-third of the teens and one-sixth of the children reported that someone said threatening or embarrassing things about them online.
Sometimes as parents, it is easy to feel helpless to stop this bullying trend, whether your child is being bullied or is the bully himself. But there are measures you can take to minimize the risk of cyberbullying taking over your child’s life.
Limit the hours your child is allowed to spend on their devices/social media. Yes, every kid has their own phone these days. Yes, it is likely they will need to be on the Internet for homework, and for socialization in general. Not allowing them to have a device (cellphone/tablet) at all may actually hurt their social lives and make them more susceptible to bullying, but limiting the hours they are allowed to use them will keep them from making their lives revolve around cyberspace. Tip: Don’t let them take their phones with them to bed at night; this will save them from losing sleep over what someone has said about them on the Internet.
Monitor you child’s online presence. You have a right as a parent to look at your child’s text messages, their Facebook, their Insatgram, etc. Don’t allow them to block you from anything, and you will have a better understanding of what they are dealing with. If you see any harmful comments, document them and delete them from your child’s eyes. If they’ve already seen it, a dialogue will be opened to you to have with your child about cyberbullying and how they should best handle themselves in their situation. An ignorant parent is not going to be able to help their child through this rough time.
Emphasize the importance of living offline. If you are constantly on your phone, tablet, or laptop, that will encourage your child to do the same. If you stress to them that what is online isn’t real life, and spend more time going outside, seeing friends, and spending one-on-one time, phoneless, with your child, they will do the same. When their entire life does not reside online, the effects of cyberbullying will not be as harmful to them, because they can see that what is on a screen is not real life.
Love them. No matter how much you work to help your child avoid cyberbullying, the fact is that everyone is made to feel worthless at some point in their lives. But loving your child unconditionally, and in a way that makes them feel secure, will help them to know that they are not worthless, no matter what anybody behind a screen says.
Has your child ever dealt with cyberbullying? How did you help them through it? Let me know in the comments!
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February 2, 2017
What Science Has to Say About Raising Sons
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This week, an article went up on The Stir called, “Our Baby Boys May Need a Totally Different Kind of Parenting.” In it, the author discussed a study that was published in the Infant Mental Health Journal which suggested that because boys brains mature at a slower rate, they may actually be more sensitive and slower at developing emotion than girls. She notes how this goes against what society has been telling us for years—boys can “tough it out” but girls need to be emotionally supported as children.
The author suggested that the findings of this study can open the board for completely changing the way we parent our sons, and that got me thinking. If boys are more sensitive than we thought, and would benefit from a more loving and supportive parenting style, what ways can we actually implement that?
Aside from giving our baby boys extra cuddles and skin-to-skin contact, as the article suggests, I think turning our sons into readers as they get older would be an excellent way to help their emotional development.
Reading teaches empathy. In the past, boys might have been told to “man up” and stand up to a kid who was bullying them, but reading can help them see the world from the bully’s shoes. Boys might have been told that their feelings weren’t valid, or should be kept to themselves, but in a book they can experience all the emotions of the protagonist and know they aren’t alone. Boys who had been raised in emotionally stunting environments, without their parents even being aware of doing so, could understand how to handle emotional situations in their own lives and with others just by reading.
Articles like this one remind me why it is so important to get our boys reading. You might think it will only improve their English grades and vocabularies, but it can actually help them emotionally, and socially.
What do you think about the findings of this study? Be sure to let me know in the comments!
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January 26, 2017
Best Children’s Books to Teach About Diversity
Following the global Women’s March, where kids of all ages marched alongside their parents in the name of equality and respect, you may be wondering how to talk to your own kids about what inclusiveness and acceptance of diversity really mean. And the good news is, the more you talk to them about diversity and accepting one another’s differences, the better equipped they will be to stand up to bullies at school.
I’ve always been an avid believer in the power of books, and I think there is no better resource to turn to in a conversation about diversity than books your children will be able to relate to. These are my top recommendations!
It’s Okay To Be Different, by Todd Parr. This is a book for very young readers, and combines a powerful message of acceptance with bright, engaging colors and illustrations. It’s never too young to introduce your kids to the idea of acceptance, love, and confidence in one’s differences!
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The Sneetches, and Other Stories, by Dr. Seuss. The great Dr. Seuss can never lead you astray, and this is one of his best and most underrated collections of stories. The Sneetches in particular is a great story to demonstrate how arbitrary and silly it is to divide the world by their physical features. Highly recommended reading!
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How My Parents Learned to Eat, by Ina R. Friedman. This book is one for those with a slightly higher reading level, and I think can make one of the biggest differences in a kid’s daily life. It tells the story of an American soldier and a Japanese woman who fall in love, and try, in secret, to learn about the others way of eating. It speaks so prevalently about accepting the differences in culture, and the level of respect we can show to those differences just by learning about them.
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Whoever You Are, by Mem Fox. “Joys are the same, / and love is the same. / Pain is the same, / and blood is the same.” If those lines aren’t enough reason to pick up this book, the beautiful paintings and joyful spirit behind every word should be. This is a must-have picture book for your little one.
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Do you have your own recommendation? Leave it in the comments below!
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January 19, 2017
4 Tips to Help You Read More in 2017
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Now that we’re midway through January, your New Year’s resolutions should be in full swing! Behind getting fit and healthy eating, a New Year’s resolution I often hear friends and family make is to put down their phones and turn off Netflix more often in order to get back into reading. For some, it brings them back to their childhood days when they had ample time to read and smartphones didn’t exist yet, while others simply want to learn new things and be better informed. Whatever your reason, here are some tips I’ve found help me in the pursuit to making reading part of your daily routine!
Read books you enjoy. I don’t know where the idea came from that we have to read serious literature, or read whatever is on the bestselling lists, but the only way you’re going to make it through an entire book is if you enjoy what you’ve chosen to read. If you’re not into classics, you don’t have to read them, and if you’re not into mystery novels, don’t pick one up. There’s always something to be said for trying new things, but if you know you won’t make time to read when you’re not enjoying the story, stick with what you love!
Carry a book or Kindle with you at all times. We don’t all have the luxury of setting aside an hour or two every day to get our reading in, but we most likely have random portions of the day when we aren’t doing anything and pull out our phones. Next time you’re in a waiting room or you are in between meetings, pull out your book instead! You might only get five minutes here and there, but the minutes stack up. Before you know it, you’ll realize you’ve finished another book!
Go to the library, used book stores, or trade books with friends and family. Don’t let a financial block keep you from developing a reading habit—there are plenty of ways to find cheap or free books. I know, the price tags in your local Barnes and Noble seem steep, so save those buys for when you’re dying to read something you can’t find anywhere else!
Schedule reading time into your nightly routine. So many of us stare at our phones or tablets before falling asleep at night, but studies have proven how this interrupts regular sleep patterns. Instead, make reading before bed part of your routine, and see your sleep improve tenfold while you achieve you resolution to read more!
How do you incorporate reading time into your day? Let me know in the comments below!
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January 12, 2017
Tips On Welcoming a New Pet Into Your Home
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As many of the regular readers on this blog know, I am a huge lover of St. Bernards. Most recently I had two littermates—Dudley and Maggie—who I raised with my son John, and who were just like members of my family. You can read all about my journey as a breeder and self-proclaimed “dog-dad” in this post.
Seeing as they were littermates who grew up together, Maggie and Dudley were very close. So when Dudley died of epilepsy three years ago, Maggie took it badly. I knew we were going to need to find her another companion, but when we looked for another St. Bernard, none were available within even 300 miles!
Then, about a year ago, one of my St. Bernard breeder friends told me about some boxers that were available locally. I’d never owned a boxer before, but figured there wouldn’t be any harm in going to check them out. Long story short, we took Maggie to see the boxers, and ended up walking away with Reuben. They took to each other immediately! Reuben was a Grand Champion and one-time national champion, but one of his ears no longer stood up and the breeder just wanted a good home for him—a home we were more than happy to provide.
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Being a Grand Champion is a really big deal. You have to win 15 or 20 dog shows, and three of these have to be “majors” (which means there are many competitors). Reuben won about 35 dog shows before he was even five years old. He’s a real specimen. Seventy-seven pounds and 25” at the shoulder. Six and a half years old, so he’s not too much of a puppy to bother our old Maggie.
However, since he was such a dog show star, nobody ever bothered to teach Reuben some manners—he really likes to jump up on people. But overall he may be the nicest, most affectionate dog I’ve ever had. (And that’s including around 25 dogs since WWII.) He uses 110-pound Maggie for a pillow and licks her all the time…which is exactly what we got him for.
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He’s a great little dog who has changed all of our lives. He’s forever cheerful and happy; even when he lost an eye just before Christmas (herniated ulcer), he hit the ground running the next day.
If you’re looking for the next four-legged addition to your family, I couldn’t recommend either St. Bernards or Boxers enough. But the truly important thing to look for is a dog that fits into your home, loves your family, and has exactly the personality-type you love. Your local pet stores and animal shelters will have plenty of information available to you as well for figuring out which dog will fit your family the best! And if you need a smile, or more proof that big dogs and children were made for each other, check out this website.
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Is your family a dog family? Tell us about your four-legged loved ones in the comments below!
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