Traveling

Okay so I just got back from a week long trip and I have to say I am completly exhauseted! I am so worn out that I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. Unfortunatly this is the real world and I am back at work. Well I got to thinking, as I pitied myself, how much more exhausted would I be if I had kids in tow with me as well. I think my natural response would be to say, " Foget it, we will go on vacation when the kids are out of the house!" I know, what a defeatus attitude! So today's blog is all about traveling with your kids and websites that offer tips on how to keep your sanity and have a good time with your family!

The first site I found was child friendly travel, this site proved to be very accomadating. This site was started by two moms who had either lived in our traveled to numerous countries with their kids over the years. They offered holiday reviews, tips, suggestions of kid friendly places, etc. The down side is that they have you register which I am not sure if that means you are going to get junk mail, but the service is free. They also ask trip specific questions so as to personalize the information they give you. This site seemed to offer a lot of good sound advice.

The second site that I visted was Travel with you kids. This site offered a more generalized look at traveling such as tips for packing, how to pick your seats on the plane, and different city reviews from a family perspective. I also found several others that offered tips on making the trip fun for your kids with different games and such. This is of course the most important thing to remember is that a vacation is supposed to be fun for the whole family not fun for everyone but you!

Websites to check out:

www.childfriendlytravel.com

www.travelwithyourkids.com

www.flyingwithkids.com

www.momsminivan.com

As always if you have any tips you would like to share send them to me and I will post them.

Summer Activities

It's that time again! The weather is getting warmer and plants are begginning to bloom and parent's are saying, " Oh no, my kid is going to be out of school what are they going to do all summer!" Most parents love to expose their kids to different experiences and let’s face it having a planned activity can some times be the energy burn your child needs. If you live in Dallas than you have the resources that a big city can offer, unfortunatly they can just be so expensive! In the summer there are lots of places that offer free activities or ones at a special rates. The public library is a great place to take your kids in the summer. They have daily story times and book clubs for them to join as well as other great activities for your kids. The public zoo also offers camps in the summer time. Regardless of what your child is interested in there are tons of different activities out there for them. So here is a few links to some websites that have different fun things that you can do with your child in Dallas or just at home. If you know of some others and would like to share them send them to me and I will post them.

http://dallaslibrary.org/announce.htm
http://dallas.babyzone.com/parentresources.asp?prid=647
http://www.gocitykids.com/browse/subcat.jsp?area=185&category=157
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/summer/
http://www.hyper-parenting.com/dallasnews4.htm http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/28344/creative_summer_camp_activities_for.html
www.thesavvysource.com

Spritual Formation at Home

There are many parents out there that are a little intimidated when it comes to the spiritual formation of their children. What’s not to be intimidating, it is only one of the greatest tasks that parents are ever given by God! I have met countless parents that think that they are clueless when it comes to this subject. The thing to remember is to keep it simple. One of the most beautiful things about children is the simplicity in which they view life. Children don’t care about doctrine, instruments, or hand clapping. They are much more inspired by Jesus’ miracles or the Ten Plagues. These stories are captivating and engaging for them. But it is more than just telling stories. The most important thing for kids to know is who God is, that he loves them, our sin separates us from God, Jesus is God’s son who he sent to die for us, through Jesus our sins are forgiven and we can be with God. Now obviously this is a lot to get in one lesson. It is also important to not overwhelm them. A two year old is not going to be able to follow any of that. Spiritual formation at that age is simply telling them that God loves them or seeing a puppy and saying who made the puppy? God did! More than likely you are already doing spiritual formation with your child without even knowing it.

Here are some books to check out:
Gather Round the Dinner Fable by Steven James
Spiritual Growth of Children from the Focus on the Family Group
801 Questions Kids Ask About God from the Focus on the Family Group
Transforming Your Children Into Spiritual Champions by George Barna

Here are some web articles to read:
http://www.faith-at-home.com/articles/index.html