HIDE AND SEEK SCRIPTURES: Book Cover Sneak Peek...and Incorporating Siblings in Child Rearing12/18/2021 BOOK COVER SNEAK PEEK: So excited to share with you a sneak peek of my book cover. I am excited about this last phase before print, especially since Hide and Seek Scriptures Book One has taken a lot longer to publish than I anticipated. This is in no way the fault of my self publisher, Christian Faith Publishing, My project supervisor, Nicole, has been helpful, timely, and professional. It has actually been my novice understanding of the process that has slowed things down. In Book Two, I will do much more planning and editing before the process starts, which is a lesson you can only learn with experience. We are, nonetheless, making progress, and the book should be moving on to printing in about 6-8 weeks! I WILL CERTAINLY KEEP YOU POSTED! INCORPORATING CHILDREN IN CHILD REARING I remember meeting a family when we lived in India who had a whopping total of 9 children. What a lovely family? Their home ran like a well oiled machine. They home schooled with excellence, had their children involved in sports and music, they were involved in church and community, and they made time for socialization with others. Their children were not 'backwards', as some think about large, homeschooling families. Their children were and still are lovely inside and out! One of their wise tricks to managing such a large family was that when one child was born an elder sibling was given sibling responsibilities over the new baby. They changed their diapers, helped the baby to learn to roll over, crawl, eat finger foods, walk, talk, potty train, read, write, cook and bake, etc. These older siblings were invested in 'their' child's development, of course with much effort on the parents side as well. Wow, was it impressive to watch this process! There was genuine love and excitement when a new milestone was accomplished by their little charges. Of course Dad and Mom were there helping and encouraging, but these older siblings received much confidence and wisdom throughout this process. You may not have 9 kids, but even moms like my daughter, who are extremely busy, can use any help they can get to raise their little ones. I think Ollie and Clark are up for the job!! Since we recently received the surprising and exciting news that our eldest daughter, Shelby, is having our first granddaughter, I have been thinking about how my two grandsons, Ollie and Clark, will be such a big help to this little cutie. Ollie is now 6 and Clarky is 4, so they are old enough to take on some responsibilities to ease some of the work load for their mama. Shelby, who we call SUPER MOM, amazingly juggles the roles of wife, mother of 2, photography business owner and marketing director for a fitness company. Sounds unbelievable, right? To add to the never ending list of things she has to do, soon she will be the mother of 3. This blog on incorporating siblings into your child rearing may just benefit her, and hopefully some of you as well. **Please only delegate responsibilities that are age appropriate (e.g. A six year old should not be bathing a slippery infant, children should not be carrying babies down steps, etc.). I recently met the eldest child of a family of 7. She is now a young mother at age 21. I was amazed when I found out her age AFTER I had watched her mother with excellence. I asked her how she parented with such confidence at such a young age. Sure enough her family had a similar plan as this family we met in India. She had a little brother that she practically raised. She is now so very thankful for that unique opportunity her mother had given her. It was not a burden but a delight! Below are some ideas you can implement is training your older siblings to help in the development of their younger siblings: **Make a YouTube recommendation list to prepare them for this new 'project': 'How to change diapers quickly and easily', 'Tips on teaching little ones their colors', 'How to bathe infants' (THIS ONE'S A JOKE BUT HILARIOUS!), etc. **Lead by example: have them sit with you while you change a diaper, bake cookies, prepare dinner, teach another child to read, etc. They more they see you do it, the more they will feel ready to do it themselves when the time comes. **Provide a basket of learning tools that teach all the basics: colors, shapes, textiles, letters, letter sounds, etc. Encourage the older siblings to grab this basket once a day with a goal to teach 'their' little one something new. **Celebrate when a new milestone is achieved: have a bell to ring, turn on some music and do a fun family dance, clap and jump up and down, run around outside in the yard laughing and shouting like fools, have a cookie party, etc. **Have them read to the baby: This helps the older sibling with their reading skills, provides hours of baby entertainment and provides a 'print rich' home, which has proven to help develop prolific reading later in life. **Reward them when new skills are learned by 'their baby': this could be a fun way for them to save up for an item that you didn't plan to buy them. You could also take them on a 'date', so they get some needed one-on-one time with Dad and/or Mom. Be as simple or creative as you like, but the goal is to teach them that hard work pays off in some way. **Incorporate exercise to benefit the older sibling while entertaining the baby: have them take the baby for a walk or encourage floor time (e.g. they can lay on their back and life the baby to strengthen their arms, lay down and sit up with baby in their arms to strengthen their core, etc.). **Take them to historical sites: before you head out, have the older sibling study and learn about the site and explain it to the younger sibling(s). The picture above is my son, Cole, taking his nephew, Ollie, to a Veteran's Memorial cemetery in Rhode Island on Memorial Day. He was explaining to Ollie about the sacrifice these soldiers made on behalf of the freedom of all Americans. **Another huge benefit of this training is that we are teaching our children to be SERVANT HEARTED. Check out this YouTube video below to see how it can go in the wrong direction if it is the little one serving the bigger siblings ;) LORD, HELP US TO TRAIN OUR OLDER CHILDREN TO DEVELOP IN RESPONSIBILITY AND SERVANTHOOD WITH A HEART FOR THE GROWTH OF THEIR LITTLEST SIBLINGS. MAY WE SEE YOUR HAND AS WE ENDEAVOR TO INCLUDE, ENCOURAGE AND TRAIN OUR OLDER CHILDREN, EVEN AS THEY THEMSELVES ARE STILL GROWING.
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Carolyn Markham
1/20/2022 09:06:27 am
Laura
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