TINY GREEN THUMBS

Written by Arleen M. Kaptur


Gardening is considered one of America's greatest pastimes. People enjoy going out and communing with nature. They likerepparttar feel ofrepparttar 111619 earth between their fingers andrepparttar 111620 excitement of seeing tiny sprouts and plants opening up to drink inrepparttar 111621 sunshine andrepparttar 111622 warmth. It just makes you feel good inside.

How about letting your child experiencerepparttar 111623 joys of gardening? No matter where you live, you can introduce gardening andrepparttar 111624 miracle of plant life to your child. They will thrill to see their seeds sprout and grow. That very first strawberry, pickle, or parsley leaf will bring true delight and amazement to them. You would be instilling in your child a love of nature, an appreciation for life, andrepparttar 111625 knowledge that with a little work and care, you can grow food, flowers, and other things of beauty.

Begin with small, fast-growing plants. A child's attention span is still limited so long, slow growth may lose its appeal. Strawberry plants are a perfect way to introduce your child torepparttar 111626 wonder of how that ruby-red berry in his/her cereal grew. A small patch of ground that will allowrepparttar 111627 plant to grow and spread its "fingers" will amaze your child with each day's accomplishments. Then when that first flower appears,repparttar 111628 prospect of a strawberry grows, and then finally that first berry becomes a reality. Aw,repparttar 111629 taste ofrepparttar 111630 first berry you ever grew contains untold feelings of victory.

TABLE TALES

Written by Arleen M. Kaptur


Settingrepparttar table used to mean placingrepparttar 111618 forks, knives, and spoons inrepparttar 111619 exact same place where your grandmother and your grandmother’s grandmother placed theirs. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with tradition, does settingrepparttar 111620 table today carryrepparttar 111621 same meaning as it did in past generations?

When your children are small, you preparerepparttar 111622 family meal, and then use place mats, your eating utensils and assorted bowls and platters. Kids don’t seem to mind if there are no flowers onrepparttar 111623 table or crystal water glasses. They seem to enjoy their food with these amenities or without them.

On special occasions, when your in-laws visit,repparttar 111624 preacher comes visiting, or your child’s favorite teacher comes for brunch, you try different ways to present a table that is not only laden withrepparttar 111625 best in culinary delights, but also your very best china, silverware and linen.

In allrepparttar 111626 different phases of life (single, newlywed, bringing up family, empty nest, retired, or living alone once again) people go throughrepparttar 111627 simple, very elaborate, kind of trendy, and then back to very simple. Of course, time, money, and family ideas and needs are all different, except for one. People eat better when they are treated with charm, dignity, and special little details designed for their comfort and enjoyment. When eating alone, why bother settingrepparttar 111628 table? You are setting it for a very special guest - you. Your thoughts and ideas are paramount torepparttar 111629 conversation, and your mealtime needs to be stress-free and well-appointed. You will feel better for it, your digestion will thank you, and you will leaverepparttar 111630 table feeling good about yourself .

Small children - they learn from our example more than they learn from our words. If we treat family meals as special times, they will learn to feelrepparttar 111631 same way about sitting down with everyone sharing, caring, and being attentive to each other. Of course, this would berepparttar 111632 ideal situation. Family squabbles, fighting, spilling, and other added features will occur during mealtime when you have various ages gathered atrepparttar 111633 table. Welcome these annoyances, deal with them appropriately and carefully, becauserepparttar 111634 message you convey carries a lot of baggage. It imprints on a childrepparttar 111635 fear of being careless, and a bother, or it will boost self-image and creativity. How - your child will see that you deal with disruptions in an orderly way, clearingrepparttar 111636 mess as cheerfully as circumstances permit. They, in turn and maybe not right away, but they will deal with their peers and their elders in mimic of you. How would you like their imitation of you to be projected?

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