While watching a travel show about Japan the other night (to sooth my travel itch, even if it is only by watching a TV show), I was so impressed by how Japanese students learn to clean up their classrooms and schools every day, starting from a really young age! I think this could be good inspiration for parents from other parts of the world who want to teach their children the important life-skill of cleaning.
Spring is a new beginning
The weather is going to get warmer, so Spring Cleaning involving your kids could be a good way to start! When they are really small, just the idea of being part of the annual family cleaning activity can leave a deep impression in their little minds. Then they progress to being responsible for putting away their own toys every day, and then to help with light house chores when they grow a bit older.
There are so many benefits of teaching children to clean or tidy up their surroundings, according to this article from a blog on education, children can develop a self confidence from successfully cleaning up after themselves or helping others to do so. The sense of accomplishment encourages them to continue the good job and move on to becoming more independent on daily tasks. But the benefit I find most important for children in this article is the social skills that cleaning up can teach them: to be considerate and aware of the effect their actions have on others around them by tidying up after themselves.
Do it Yourself
So how should we start involving a toddler in the big Spring Cleaning task? Many wise and experienced parents have great suggestions on getting the little princes and princesses to get off their precious little butts and start tidying up! Asking the little ones start by sorting and putting away their own toys in their designated play areas is great to give them a sense of responsibility. Next time they are looking for that lost toy truck they might have an idea where it could be because they put it away themselves!
Cool Tools
For older kids, it’s time they start to learn how to use some simple household tools to help them clean a bit better! After all, this is a basic life-skill all of them will need to have when they grow up, so might as well start learning how to use the right tool for each task! Handheld vacuum cleaner and small dustpan with brush are great tools that are both easy to handle for them and at the same time make them feel like they are “old enough” to use something the adults at home normally use.
With manageable tasks and the cool tools to help them, I am sure the kids are all excited about helping you spruce up your home in time to welcome Spring!
Stay Sparky!
Closing the Gap
It’s time to celebrate Earth Day again on April 22, a perfect occasion to remind ourselves and our little ones how precious the limited resources on Earth are. Compared to the time when we were growing up, our kids are taught about environmental issues from a much younger age. However, our daily life is still heavily surrounded by disposable plastics, excessive packaging, and unsustainable fast fashion. So, much effort is necessary for us to consciously close this gap between what we know we should do and our actual actions. This could be something the entire family can work towards together.
A little bit goes a long way
I always believe in the strategy of starting small. For those of us who live in the heart of a city, observing Earth Day by planting a tree somewhere might not be an option. But fun family activities such as combining a picnic with park or beach clean-up could be a good alternative. I also really like the idea of making compost with household organic waste or growing plants from jars to brighten up the windowsill.
Know the rules of the game
Having lived in several cities before settling down with the family, I noticed that different recycling rules apply depending on the country you live in. So, teaching the kids about recycling might not be so straightforward after all! A great way to teach the children about recycling is to give them the responsibility to sort out the recyclable garbage at home and prepping them before putting them into the recycling bins. Nothing beats the efficiency of learning on the job, right? 😉
Less is more
Sometimes, recycling might not be the only way to sustainability because a lot of energy and resources need to go into the recycling process which also is not so environmentally friendly. But if we can use an item longer and pass it on to others to continue to use, we are also consuming less by prolonging the useful life of the product. This is also our belief here at Bombol, to make durable products so that they can be passed on from baby to sibling to cousin to friends! I love receiving emails from our customers telling us how the Bamboo bouncer is still being used by their 3rd child 10 years on!
No matter which ways we choose to teach our children about sustainability, it takes a conscious collective effort to make a difference fast enough to slow down the damages we are doing to our planet, so let’s start now!
Stay Sparky!
Our Computers and Laptops Become Our Tour Guides!
To go, and where to go…is the question
The current pandemic crisis makes international travels basically impossible this summer, forcing us all to stay put in our own countries for at least the next few months, if not more. Unfortunately, this also means our kids are missing out on the precious opportunity of experiencing the sights and sounds of new cultures while enjoying new delicacies abroad.
So, how can we scratch that travel-itch and not deprive our kids of the luxury of travel from the comfort of our home? One of the more obvious activities could be virtual tours, that’s probably the closest option we have from the real deal! Actually, some of these tours offer such adventurous destinations that we would normally not be able to bring our kids there! There are virtual reality tours that take you to the Everest, underwater worlds, and even Space! For the artists in us, many famous museums around the world also have virtual tours so our kids won’t miss out on admiring their amazing collections. Last but not least, to satisfy the kid in all of us, we can’t miss out on the theme park and zoo tours!
Hang On to your Booster and Buckle Up for a Sparky Food Adventure!
Would you like some hot chocolate with your crêpe, Monsieur?
OK, that took care of the wonder-lust, how about our curiosity on different cuisines from all over the world? What would we eat after taking a virtual tour in the Museum of Modern Art in New York? Or how to pair a meal for a toddler with a visit to The Louvre? Have you ever wondered what do babies eat in France, Japan, China, or India? For smaller babies, you might be able to get some good ideas from the cookbook by Leena Saini called “Around the World in 80 Purees”, that would get your baby to a good start in tasting different flavours around the globe! For the more “experienced” eater in the family, and with food that Mom & Dad can also enjoy, check out this link that has great kids-friendly international recipes. Lastly, we have created a series of recipe cards on Bombol’s Pinterest Board, “Baby Food Recipes”, to give you more ideas. Here’s a sneak peek:
Bon Voyage, Bon Appétit, and Stay Sparky!
Show the the money
Parents around the world face the constant challenge of providing for their families, be it emotionally or financially. We need to carefully plan for the future of our family and make sure we have enough savings for daily living, health care, tuition, retirement, and rainy days. No matter what kind of career path you chose after your studies, the skills of budgeting and money management become imperative once you have established a little nest of your own! To make sure our kids are going to be well prepared for what’s coming, we need to start introducing to them the concepts of money at a young age.
Baby Steps
So how should we introduce this relatively complex idea of money and savings to our 3-year-old? Apparently, according to this article, there is a right age for learning certain concepts about money starting from the idea of saving. I grew up owning piggy banks of various sizes and forms, but the idea and benefit of having a transparent one never occurred to me until now. Indeed, it could help our little ones to understand better the effect of saving money when they can see the piggy bank is filled up in time, or the money level would go down after they spent some of their savings.
Want vs Need
When the kids get a bit older, apart from getting some money at their birthdays or holiday seasons, they might also get to earn some from helping you with little jobs around the house. This might also be the time when they start discussing with their friends about wanting the most popular toy that everyone is obsessed about that summer, giving us the best occasion to teach them about thinking about what they would like to spend their hard-saved money on. On many occasions, the kids need to be able to tell “needs” from “wants” and make their decision accordingly.
Budget it in
The last but most important thing for the children to learn is budgeting, this skill is super important as they grow older and need to start learning about managing their finances before they venture out into the real world on their own. Our older daughter is going to present a budget to us for her university tuition and living expenses as part of her high school project. Good occasion to me to take a “refresher” course on budgeting too!
Stay Sparky!!
Time is of essence
It just dawned on me recently that being a parent does not allow me the luxury of procrastination, there is simply no time for that! Diapers need to be changed, meals prepared, homework followed up, or a splinter needs to be plucked ASAP from that little finger if not the tears won’t stop flowing! Converting the nursery into a toddler room is another great example when your baby is outgrowing their crib at such lightning speed that their feet threaten to burst through the panel at the foot end tomorrow. No matter how much you still love the neutral and mellowed soft colors you have chosen for the nursery not long ago, it’s time to say goodbye and embrace the change. Now let your child’s personality shine through by getting them involved in redecorating their room with you.
The Designer vs The Client
One of the biggest hurdles we went through when we converted our girls’ nursery into their big kid’s room was the “clash of taste” in terms of color choice and furniture style! My husband and I tend to lean towards neutral tones such as greys and beiges, as well as minimal and clean lines for furniture. But our “princesses” were obsessed with fuchsia pinks and bright purples that can blind you from a mile away! Rightly so, it is their room after all, and they should be happy to sleep and play in it. So, we went on a quest to design their room together that can make both parents and children happy. In the end, the kids chose a bunk bed that looks like a little cottage in white and grey, this would provide them with a blank canvas where they can decorate with their favorite artworks, crafts, and other “princess” ornaments! Their favorite princess heroine might change with time and color preferences too, so the neutral furniture is perfect for adapting to their ever-changing taste.
The Happy Place
Another important thing we both agreed on was a small table for them to play and draw to their hearts’ content, plus a little nook where they can read their favorite books in their bouncer with an easy-to-access bookshelf. Since they need to share a room in two, sometimes they would need some alone time from the other sibling. So, this room should also be a little haven from the rest of the family for a bit of “kiddie me-time”. No matter how the toddler room turns out, if it is decorated together with them, the kids would always love it and find peace in their cozy little place.
Have fun decorating together! Stay Sparky!
Learning science for the fun of it
Growing up, my least favorite subject at school was science and I gladly gave that up in favor of other subjects in high school as soon as the school curriculum permitted. But in hindsight, I regret my hasty decision and wish I have stuck with it a bit longer. I realized that through the years I have become more inquisitive about everything around me and that I would love to know more about the technologies involved that make our daily lives better, or how our bodies react to different allergens in the environment. Now that I have children, I would love them to embrace science more readily than I was and to learn more about it in a fun way.
Take advantage of the second nature
With the profuse use of the internet and computers in their daily lives, children are already much more tech-savvy than our generation when we were their age. Your 5-year-old might know his way around the tablet computer more than you do! So they are already a step closer to learning more about their second nature, the trick is how to spark their interest in various aspects of science?
Trial and error is the way to go
First and foremost, I think we need to encourage curiosity in our kids. This desire to find out how things work is a great motivation to get them started with being interested in science. In a very meaningful podcast interview, Emily Calandrelli, a successful host of a kids’ science TV show, who is also a scientist and a mother talked about how important it is to teach our children to look at failure in a positive light because science is all about trial and error and that’s how all- discoveries were made. Even if our kids don’t become scientists when they grow up, training up their resilience and persistence always help them to become better people all the same.
Science is for all ages
So how can we practically get the kids interested in science? There are so many nice science-themed blogs available for kids they can check out. There is also this website that provides all kinds of informative videos on various science-related subject that is great for all ages, even I go check it out regularly because the videos are so interesting! Lastly, I believe we learn and retain the most knowledge through our experience in our everyday life. So, we can propose a topic that we find around us and research it together with the kids, almost like a parent-child research project that we can easily do. For example, because of the pandemic, we are hyper-aware of cleanliness and sanitization. So together with the kids, we can look up what is the most efficient and environmentally friendly way to sanitize. The topics and possibilities for us to learn about science are countless!
Stay Curious and Stay Sparky!
A Different Approach
Every time I sat down to write a new blog post, I was determined NOT to mention the pandemic anymore! I want to focus on something positive and fun while putting behind the negative thoughts that COVID-19 provokes in my mind. Yet, here I am, writing about it again!! BUT, I would like to take a different approach to the topic this time and talk about finding laughter in this not so funny situation.
Don’t scream, just laugh!
The popular words going around these days are “pandemic fatigue” or “pandemic burnout”, especially among parents with young children. Many of us are getting so stressed that we find ourselves with a constant frown on our faces, or the corners of our mouths turn down whenever we are not talking. By now self-care attempts such as taking a long bath or having a quiet morning coffee alone might no longer be enough. We need something more drastic, more potent such as screaming our heads off into the night like there’s no tomorrow! Or, we can try something just as powerful but much more positive (and easier on the throat) – laughter!
Get your daily dose of laughter
We have all heard of how laughter can heal and that it is an effective stress-management tactic, but when we are so stressed all the time laughing is really the last thing we have in mind. But, studies say that laughter can not only boost our morale, but can also improve our physical well-being by suppressing stress-related hormones that can lower our immune system. Having a better immune system is exactly what we need to stay healthy during the pandemic or help us recover faster if we unfortunately caught the virus!
Laughing doesn’t hurt, give it a go!
So, the key is to find laughter wherever possible to jumpstart those feel-good hormones so we can stay healthy to fight another day, or longer! Instead of releasing your stress through screaming, maybe we can consider releasing it through Laughter Yoga. The idea might sound a bit forced at first, but apparently there is a lot of research and knowledge behind this form of yoga. It never hurts to give it a try!
Pandemic Humour
Another easy way is to watch some light-hearted entertainment when the kids are finally in bed. Nothing beats a stand-up comedian finding humour in all the situations you can totally relate to, especially during the pandemic! Here at Bombol, since we are all parents and are only too familiar with the “funny” anecdotes of everyday parenthood, we produced a series of short videos about it a few years ago. We think now is the perfect moment to dedicate them to all fellow parents who are hanging on to their last thread of sanity during the pandemic: you got this, you can find humour in every sticky situation (literally)!
Hang in there and Stay Sparky!
Be my Valentine
There are so many occasions in the year to say, “I love you!” or show someone you really care about them, but my favourite one is definitely Valentine’s Day! I love it not only because it is a perfect reminder of the love and support I get from my significant other, I also love to see the children put so much effort in making this occasion a special one for us parents. They create fun and super sweet crafts from school and write lovely messages on them to express how much they love us. These precious mementos that come straight from their hearts are the fuel that keeps me going and to work hard on maintaining a stable and warm environment for them to grow up in.
Photo Credit: @koryssa.anne
Where does Valentine’s Day come from
For those curious children who are looking at Valentine’s Day beyond the chocolates and Valentine messages, this video is a great way to teach them about the origin of Valentine’s Day and some fun facts around this “unofficial” festival. It could also be a perfect bonding moment to read a story or two on Valentine’s Day together before bed time, teaching them how we can share love among friends and care about those around us.
Show them your love
Nothing beats showing your love through food! How nice it would be to make a family Valentine’s Day dinner and feature yummy desserts created by the little ones with love. There are so many easy recipes for kids to follow to make on this special occasion.
We are living in the age of video calls, text messages, and emails, it feels like no one ever receives physical cards from anyone anymore. But I think it would mean so much more for grandparents or little cousins to receive a handmade Valentine’s Day card from the kids expressing their love for them. So let the creative juice flow and create something heart-warming cards with your kids this Valentine’s Day!
Stay Sparky!
We got this!
After finishing my last blogpost of starting 2022 with small steps we can take to start the new year with calm and a positive mind, I came across a recent viral social media post by Dr. Mona Amin, a pediatrician and a mother, where she gave great advice on parenting during the pandemic. She basically identified all the doubts, dilemmas, and frustration us parents have during the past 2 years. It is already challenging enough to be as good a parent as we set off to be, but we also face the extra burden of navigating our families through a pandemic. The main message in her advice is to cut ourselves some slack and that we are already doing a great job! Prep talk like this coming from a fellow mom and a professional who helps families every day is most encouraging, no wonder her post went viral!
Looking at the bright side
Dr. Amin’s post gave me strength and got me even more determined to face this new year with positivity instead of dwelling in the negative experiences that COVID-19 brought. If we look deeper, it has also made some positive long-term impact on many families. Some parents noticed that by spending more time with their kids due to social-distancing measures, they got to do so many things together and they got to learn a lot more about their children, be it their personality or their talents. Family values are once again taking on a more central role and the dynamics within the household are evolving in ways that normally would be difficult in pre-pandemic times.
Music to our ears
Apart from working on our inner peace, what else can we do to help to keep a positive vibe going throughout the year? This article suggests that music could be the answer. It provides refuge to both adults and children alike in times of stress and isolation, encourages imagination and is a great outlet for kids to explore their creativity. Learning a new instrument could uncover some talents you never knew you or your child had. Our daughter picked up the Ukulele two years ago when the pandemic started, and it has been one of her best companions ever since. Why not create a family playlist from everyone’s all-time favorite songs to lighten the mood on weekends and family evenings? Small doses of positivity go a long way, so let the music flow!
Stay Sparky!
Happy New Year from Bombol!
Happy 2022!! Hope you had a nice Christmas celebration and that you managed to do some of the family relaxation activities from your bucket list? With the arrival of a new year, there is always this voice at the back of my head telling me to make some new year resolutions. But having gone through a seriously hectic year and realized that I have abandoned my small and more realistic resolutions for 2021 somewhere between April and May (maybe even earlier?), maybe I need a different game plan!
Self-care comes first
So this year, I think I am going to try a more “holistic” approach to my overall well-being instead of setting specific goals I would like to achieve. Starting with something small on myself, such as drinking more water or trying to get more sleep, could just be the answer! Feeling more refreshed from getting enough sleep, and properly hydrated therefore have better skin sounds motivating enough already! And it is something I can start doing right away, don’t need to wait for the new year!
Be a happy parent
Then I can expand my “well-being circle” to those in my family, especially my husband and the kids. When we are so absorbed with our daily tasks, I will try to just take a moment and “smell the flowers”, to simply enjoy the company of our other half and the kiddos! Being a happy parent can change the dynamics at home and the children will for sure sense it.
Pleasure as motivation
Holiday season is always the best time to catch up with close friends and extended family. But there seems to be never enough time during the year to spend more time with them. Sometimes even a phone call seems to evade us when there are a thousand things going on in our mind. Work before pleasure has always been my habit and I tend to feel guilty if I do something pleasant when I know I still have “unfinished business” to complete. But after reading this article, I might want to change this mentality. Relatives, friends, and little indulgences can come first. The thought of a friend or a relative might pop into mind when I am working, so instead of waiting till the end of the day and therefore might forget to do so, I will try to send that text to just to say hi or pick up the phone for a short hello. Or taking a longer coffee break whenever I feel overwhelmed should be guilt-free. I think this can actually help me to be more productive and more resistant to burn-outs in the long run.
A new year will no doubt come with new challenges, and let’s face them with a calm mind and good health – a little bit of everything goes a long way!
