Ready to Learn Mom

Parent Teacher Conferences are essential opportunities to find out how your child is doing in school.  It’s a time to ask questions and your opportunity to get to know your child’s teacher one-on-one.  Remember, as the parent, you are your child’s first and foremost teacher.  So if you have a question, ask it.  Find out how you can help and don’t be afraid of asking simply:  How can I help? 

Build a network of other parents within your child’s class and volunteer.  The easiest way to be involved is to just show up and make it fun.    Kudos to the Pigeon River Green Gang in Sheboygan, WI.  This group of parents, teachers and kids have been meeting for six years; every month and doing improvements to their school.  They have created walking paths, prairie settings and pizza gardens by planting the basil, oregano, tomatoes, peppers and later having a pizza party or a salsa party for their school to eat the fruits of their labor.  WOW, and that was some yummy salsa they made!!! 

I was recently at Harvard, IL’s four-year-old Kindergarten to talk to parents, via an interpreter about how they can help their children be successful in school.  I told them that just by showing up and asking questions, they are showing their kids that they care.  I also talked about the importance of going through the backpack and folder every night, reading with their kids for 15 minutes and playing a repetitive game for 15 minutes, like jumping jacks and counting out loud as they go.  Stop, drop and listen to your child daily and ask open ended questions to help your child learn to communicate and be involved in school activities and functions and build a network of parents to make it a fun social experience as well.  It’s all about making it fun for the entire family!  If it’s not fun, you need to make some changes to make it fun.  Find new people that are fun and start networking!

Got some neat ideas to make it fun?  We’d all love to hear them!  Don’t stop with us. Share them with teachers, other parents and your local PTA/PTO too!  We’re all in this together!

I loved staying at home with my kids.  I gave notice the same day I dropped my baby off for her first day at a sitter’s home.  She was 5 months old and I cried the entire day.  I had called my husband crying several times that morning and we agreed to meet at noon in a parking lot not far from his office.  We were both in tears.  I told him that I could not let someone else take care of our child; I wanted it to be me.   So we both decided that I would give up my job and I would stay at home. 

I was already working from home, my boss was 3,000 miles away and I would have a conference call with the home office once a week.  The only downfall was the weekly overnight travel schedule.  I was still nursing with not much success pumping.  My heart was not in my existing job; my new passion became our new baby. So I gave notice that day.  My company allowed me to work out my notice around my child’s schedule and our family started to make some changes to our lifestyle for me to be a full-time mommy.  Here are some things that worked for our family:

1. Crunch the numbers.  In our situation, we were in a higher tax bracket with two salaries, so without my salary, we dropped down to a lesser tax bracket and found most of my salary was going to Uncle Sam rather than in our pocket anyway.
2. Make sure both of you are on the same page for one of you to stay at home.  Set the ground rules with responsibilities on both sides:  not because one goes to work all day, the other has to do everything else.  That is never a fair arrangement!
3. Trust your gut.  Being a 24/7 at home parent is hard work.  It’s not for everyone.  Be honest with each other to determine if it is the right decision for your family.  If you decide that working gives you a release and makes you happier, for goodness sakes, don’t let guilt get in the way.  Instead embrace your outside opportunities with the positives and stay focused on the benefits!
4. Run your household like a corporation: upper management needs to have meetings to discuss human resources, operations, engineering, delegation, maintenance and scheduling. 
5. Set a schedule.  Plan exercise time, snack time, reading time, playtime, nap/quiet time and clean-up time and act accordingly.  When it’s nap/quiet time you can be starting dinner, folding laundry, reading a book or mediating.  Exercise time means everyone needs to get up and burn calories, walking around the yard, dancing to a favorite tune, doing jumping jacks or hopping on one foot.  Moving is exercise!
6. Have fun!  They grow up so fast, before you know it they don’t want to take naps cuddled together on the sofa, play puzzles with you or help set the table for dinner. 
7. Make it a point to have your children get into the habit of welcoming home both parents from work or shopping.  Everyone likes a welcoming committee complete with the sound of running feet after a quick trip to the grocery store or when Daddy comes in from a day at work.
8. Make your own special rituals.  If my children are awake when Daddy leaves for work, we do group hugs.  My husband and I each put a child in our arms and we all hug together.   A family that hugs together stays together!

Copyright 2007-2009.  Stacey Kannenberg, Cedar Valley Publishing, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade! 

Are you considering becoming a Stay at Home Mom (SAHM)?  If you’re on the fence, get out the paper and pencil and get busy.  Make a list of pros and cons, crunch the household numbers, and most importantly consider what is really right for both you and your family. 

Do you get up every day eager to start the day?  Do you love what you do?   Do feel as if you are following your passion?  Does your existing life have meaning? If you answered yes to all of the above—bravo!  I mean BRAVO!  You make up a small percentage of the world.  You need to share your success with others!

If you are still searching for your passion, it might be right around the corner or right in front of your face.  Keep looking!   My “aha moment” came just before turning 40 when I was trying to get my own children ready for school.  I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for so I decided to write, self-publish and distribute a line of children’s educational books.   That’s the pat answer for the media, but really it was more like a brick hit me in the face and I just knew what I was meant to do!

In my case, it started with a series of Oprah shows; first it was the walking buddy show where I started walking with a neighbor to get in shape.  She was telling me what her daughter just learned in Kindergarten.  I was amazed as I did not realize how advanced the Kindergarten curriculum had become.  So I set out to find a book to help my 3 and 1-year-old girls prepare for their first day of school.    I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted.  I did not want a storybook on Kindergarten or a workbook.  I wanted a simple book that I could put my children in my lap that we could read and learn the Kindergarten curriculum.  I wanted something engaging and fun, yet simple enough that I could teach simply by reading it to them. 

One summer day in 2003, I was walking with my walking buddy. I mentioned that Oprah was having something called The Big Dream Contest and I mumbled that I wish I had an idea for Oprah’s Big Dream Contest.  My friends answer, changed my life.  She said,  “How about that Kindergarten book you can’t find, one book for every grade that helps parents, kids and teachers.”  The minute she said it, I knew it was what I was meant to do.  It was my defining moment, the brick finally hit me in the face and “aha” I knew it was what I was suppose to do.  So I started to make it happen with writing and working with educators and curriculum specialists, parents and kids.  I did not submit the idea to Oprah’s Contest at the time, it was just too good of an idea that I was simply meant to do. So I did.

How did I do it?  Ironically, Oprah seemed to answer my questions at every step along the way.  She even had a show on self-publishing when I was at the point when I was deciding how to publish, so it was like a message directly to me complete with the tools to publish it myself.  So that’s what I did.  Oprah had a show on successful Mommy Companies as if to reinforce my decision and a show on her trip to Africa, which inspired me to make my books available with global characters, available in many languages <still working on that>, and durable to withstand the huts in Africa.   

I fell into my passion and have been stumbling and bumbling along the way and still listen to Oprah and watch for other signs to point me in another direction or give me the tools to jump the next hurdle along the way.  Obviously Oprah was a huge influence on my life and this is what I know for sure, if I ever meet her I will do the ugly cry and pray that I can actually get the words “thank you” out of my mouth.  She has had that affect on millions of other people too.  I find it amazing that someone I have never met or spoke too had the power to show me the way.  If this can happen to me, it can happen to you!

Look around and listen.  Are you passing by your signs?  Do you ignore your gut?  Does something keep coming up time and time again?  Listen with an open mind and heart and see what comes your way.  It could be someone you have never met, someone standing in the line at the grocery store that may tell you something that could be life-changing.  Listen and trust your gut.  In my case, it was people I did not know, or those that I did not know very well who became the key to my success.     

Passion has given my life so much meaning.  So now I am on a mission to try to help others find or create passion in their lives.   Might your passion be something that you currently are doing as a hobby or something that you did in the past?   Perhaps, you can try writing down things that make you happy and see if something jumps out at you? 

In my husband’s case, his passion is his hobby — hunting and fishing.  He is most happy sitting in the woods or in a boat.  I encourage him to take hunting and fishing trips because I now understand what joy I get from following my passion, so I know how happy he is when he comes home from a day spent living out his dreams. 

Copyright 2007, Stacey Kannenberg, Cedar Valley Publishing, Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

Are you ready to find your passion in life?  Might you ask yourself some questions to unlock your passion?  What do you truly enjoy?  We can’t wait to hear about your “Aha Moment” when it occurs for you.  It will be a memorable experience!