Positive attention strategies (part 2)

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Another installment of how we intentionally pay attention to our little wonders in unique ways throughout each month/season…..

Monthly Birthday 1-on-1’s (inspired by this blog post)
Each month, on their birthDAY (4th and 20th), each kiddo gets to stay up late with both parents for special 1-on-1 time. They get to pick the activity (one rule: NO screen involved). WG will often ask for spa night (nails and essential oils) and WB loves to bike ride or scooter around at night. While one gets attention, the other wonder is pretending practicing being happy for someone ELSE being celebrated and getting attention in a positive way.

“Speed Dating” game
We love using intentional eye contact as a way to bond with our little wonders. Sometimes we just make eye contact to “test” how long it takes one of us to look away. We did a 1-minute affirmation challenge (I called it “speed affirming” like speed dating) where family member pairs made eye contact for one minute. I tried really hard to find another title besides speed dating, but it was so close to that, I just stuck with it! One person gets to talk for 1 minute straight affirming all of the wonderful things about their partner. We started with parent to kiddo partners but also included husband-wife and kid-kid affirmations (adorable to listen to). This was another good activity to do right before bed to promote a positive transition to bedtime.

Sunset Reading Marathon
Our kiddos aren’t always super willing to drop everything and read. We try to be good role models in them being able to see us reading for enjoyment and learning from time to time but they can still be hesitant and stubborn around being forced to read. We also like to reward them choosing to read with a few extra minutes to stay up past bedtimes. So a few times a month, we let them choose books and as long as they STAY reading, they can stay up as long as they want. During the summer, we hosted these marathons in the back of our truck as the sun went down just a few streets away in our neighborhood. What a fun and cozy way to fall in love with our books and share the beauty of nature at the same time!
backup sept 2015 1773 backup sept 2015 1776Interested in part 1? Click here!