The storytelling tradition in my family was handed down by my father, and his father before him. I was blessed with a dad who would get down on his hands and knees to show me an ant scurrying into a crevice of the sidewalk, and then invent the tale of “Antoine the Ant.” Antoine, like [...]
Archive for the ‘Parenting’ Category
Do Dads and Moms Tell Stories Differently? A Shout-Out to Storytelling Dads on Father’s Day
Posted in gender, Parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized on June 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The Littlest Listeners: How to Tell a Story to a Two-Year Old
Posted in Listening, Parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized, tagged sibs on May 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Two-year olds with school-age siblings are accustomed to being tag-alongs. They are dragged from naps and hustled into the car for school pick-ups. Play-dates revolve around their elder siblings. They wait with Mommy or Daddy outside pools and studios, too little for the big-kid classes. Though I try to counteract this tendency with a smattering [...]
“Are We There Yet?” / Story Poems for Holiday Car Trips
Posted in Parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized, tagged car trips on April 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
When I was a child, my dad had the power to turn the ordinary into the fantastical through stories. Raking the lawn became a search for the artifacts of a witch’s campsite. A hike through a park became an opportunity to draw out elusive trolls. My Dad’s creativity seemed bottomless, until we got on the [...]
Domestic Destruction: When Your Kids Treat Your Den Like “The Who” Treats a Hotel Room
Posted in Parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized, values, tagged parenting on April 9, 2011 | 4 Comments »
I recently hosted a play-date. In an effort to stop being a helicopter Mom, I stayed in the kitchen, 20 feet away, seasoning a chicken while two four-year olds and a toddler built a fort in the adjoining den. They kept running through the kitchen, into the playroom to get “supplies.” I smiled as I [...]
Sugar Monsters: Story-play Can Turn Toddler Battles into Collaborations
Posted in Parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized on March 18, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Twenty minutes before my daughter’s school starts every day, the distance between the parent I am and the parent I want to be is uncomfortably wide. My toddler son is in his self-proclaimed “nudie” phase which means he kicks like Bruce Lee every time I try to put a diaper or pants on him. I [...]
Attack of the Princess Zombies: If You Can’t Beat Them, Change Them
Posted in gender, Parenting, Storytelling, values on March 16, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Last night my 4 yr. old daughter tucked her neck demurely into her shoulder, flung her wrist into the air dramatically, and curtseyed. My husband exhaled sharply through his teeth. “What’s the problem?” I asked. The move was weird, unnatural, but so what? He pointed to the floor, where a paper Barbie doll from [...]
Slowing Down to Notice the Snow Melt
Posted in Bruno Bettleheim, Co-telling, Listening, Nature, Parenting, slow parenting, Story Starter, Storytelling, Winter on February 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
One of the great gifts children share with adults is the ability to see simple things with fresh wonder. The space to slow down, step back and NOTICE precedes revolutionary thinking. Though children practice intense observation naturally, parents often rush them past the proverbial “flowers.” For example, while I am frying up grilled cheese, cleaning [...]
New York Times on Play Movement
Posted in Parenting, slow parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized, tagged parenting, play, Story play on January 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
For days, I’ve been hankering to respond to last week’s article in The New York Times about the movement to get kids playing again (“Effort to Restore Children’s Play Gains Momentum,” 1/6, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/garden/06play.html?pagewanted=2 ). Despite a frenzy of pre-school applications, I’ve finally grabbed a moment…. The huge body of research out there on how play [...]
