This is a FREE public service from EDU DESIGNS, the non profit that creates media for children’s Character Development.
Take advantage of it!
It worked with MY kids!
Ruth Elliott-Hilsdon
Founder of EDU DESIGNS
Creator: GoMommyGO®
EDU DESIGNS is BUILDING BRAINS AND HEARTS
THROUGH THE ARTS
Since we are an all volunteer organization, we get no salary. 100% of your donation is Tax Deductible, and is used to create media for children’s character. Please help! When you do, you’ll receive a free download of Ruth’s Art Textbook for Kids!
SUGAR, SUGAR, EVERYWHERE, and not a drop (of WATER) to drink…
What’s a Mother and Father to do when they have no plan for their children Halloween night? LOOK OUT!
When the excitement of costumes and candy wears off and the sugar rush is over – then come the TEARS, the WHINING, the FIGHTING over who got MORE CANDY, and NO SLEEP for the WEARY (kids or parents).
Don’t ‘croak’! Mistakes can be a good teacher… of what NOT to do next time. Like that saying, “Experience is what you get – just AFTER you needed it!”
I had lots of experience in this, because when my kids were little I did it the wrong way many times, until I figured out a PLAN!
I finally figured out some rules that worked for me. Adjust them to suit your needs. Here they are:
SET UP RULES BEFORE TRICK-OR-TREATING. MAKE SURE EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY KNOWS WHAT TO EXPECT BEFOREYOU LEAVE THE HOUSE.
1: There will be NO eating of candy while Trick-or-Treating without asking mom or dad (or whomever is in charge with you), first. (This is to make sure they are not eating something bad for them, as well as too much.)
3: Whoever is in charge WILL inspect ALL CANDY upon returning to the home to remove whatever they feel is not safe to eat and will have the last word as to how much is eaten at that time. (For my own kids, I would only allow the equivalent of one candy bar at night, knowing the sugar highs and subsequent lows would cause mayhem for hours.)
4: Whoever is in charge will oversee when and how to dole out candies after inspecting them. At first this may seem MEAN and CRUEL, but assure them you will be fair.
If you make the rules strict at first, and let the kids know YOU ARE IN CHARGE, then you can bend the rules a bit as needed, and show how merciful and ‘sweet’ you can be when you allow for any adjustments after that!
When done Trick-or-Treating, give everyone a BONUS GOOD MARK on their Behavior Chart for following the rules!
Incidentally! SOME GREAT IDEAS for those with children on the AUTISM SPECTRUM – SOME GREAT TIPS HERE: https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2015/10/27/halloween-tips-and-projects-our-children-autism-enjoy?
DON’T FORGET TO HAVE FUN!
Ruth Elliott-Hilsdon
Founder of EDU DESIGNS
Creator: GoMommyGO®
BUILDING BRAINS AND HEARTS THROUGH THE ARTS
Please HELP! You’ll get a free copy of my ART TEXTBOOK for KIDS, with 120 pages, with a donation of any size:
Since we are an all volunteer organization, we get no salary. 100% of your donation is Tax Deductible, and is used to create media for children’s character. Please help!
I felt a creative ache inside of me for years. I wanted to write a children’s book. I had an idea, I had the talent. But with seven kids, and laundry my constant companion, I felt constantly discouraged.
“When will Iever get a chance to write?”
Then came the year my 11 year old daughter Lisa had to choose an author to research for 6th grade. She picked Harriet Beecher Stowe*. And what a lot I learned from Lisa’s report.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, like me, had seven children. Unlike me, she had NO running water, and NO washing machine! And yet, she still managed to write over 30 books, including ‘UNCLE TOM’S CABIN’. Without a typewriter or computer.
Then it hit me.
“What’s MY excuse? If she can write a book, I can too!”
And that’s when I started work on my first children’s book:
THE RICHEST KID IN THE POOR HOUSE. In the story, a boy is disappointed with his family until he gets a hamster who doesn’t appreciate him. By the end of the story he learns a lesson that changes his attitude from Greed to Gratitude.
Read more by clicking on the picture of the book.
There are only a few copies left, so if you’d like one, order it before they’re gone.
Stories can inspire us to overcome our obstacles.
Maybe someone needs to hear YOUR story.
Thank you for struggling,
Ruth Elliott-Hilsdon
Founder of EDU DESIGNS
Creator: GoMommyGO®
BUILDING BRAINS AND HEARTS THROUGH THE ARTS
Since we are an all volunteer organization, we get no salary. 100% of your donation is Tax Deductible, and is used to create media for children’s character. Please help! When you do, you’ll receive a free download of Ruth’s Art Textbook for Kids!
I suffered panic attacks when my mother-in-law came to visit.
She was a perfect housekeeper and I wasn’t. Of course she had only had ONE child, and I had seven.
I’d always put my kid’s emotional needs first. The house could wait. But she never quite understood that, and I could always feel her judging me for it.
One day, in a moment of inspiration, this came to me:
Around Halloween that year I gave a talk to a Middle School youth group.
I told them about my predicament and showed them the joke.
I asked, “I wonder if we died today, what people would remember aboutus?”
I showed several cardboard tombstone ‘cutouts’ with sayings on them:
“He was Good at Video Games “
“She had lots of friends”
“She was Pretty”
“He was Tough”
Then I showed them a photo of a beautiful young lady and asked if they knew her. They all said they didn’t know.
“Actually you do know her,” and I revealed it was Wilda, the elderly receptionist in the front office.
They were shocked.
One girl said,
“I LOVE WILDA! But I never knew she was so pretty once!”
So I asked. “Why do you like Wilda so much?”
“Because she’s so nice.”
The other kids agreed.
Next, holding up a blank tombstone, I said,
“Maybe it’s a good idea to think of the end from the beginning.
What do you want people to remember about YOU after you are gone?”
They all got the message – that externals don’t last.
But that’s not the most important part.
The kids appreciated Wilda a lot more the next time they went to the office.
A few years later she went home to be with her Lord.
But she left a mark on all who knew her:
She showed us that LIFE IS PRECIOUS.
WHY? Because she made us feel we were.
You never know when we will be ushered into eternity.
“The way you feel about yourself is both your punishment and your reward. YOUR job is to become the kind of person YOU can love.”
I’m doing the best I can before I ‘croak!’
PS – Incidentally – if you know someone who loves art – there’s still time to get a complimentary copy of “SEE WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING AT!” my Art Textbook for Children. Just fill out the form on this page: http://www.edudesigns.org/blog/artbook/
EDU DESIGNS promotes the Arts and Music. When Ray Davies (of the KINKS) signed his name to an Ibanez guitar backstage at the Canyon Club in Agoura, CA, 2010, it was to help us further this goal. We’re very grateful to Ray for helping us on our mission.
In a recent search for a deserving individual, we found Joel Solis, an honor student from California Polytechnic University, Pomona.
As a great songwriter with 4 quarters on the Dean’s List, the Ella Fitzgerald Memorial Scholarship, the Music Industries Studies Scholarship, the Jazz Band Scholarship, Joel was the perfect recipient.
After 11 years in the Marine Corps, Joel returned to college to pursue music, his first love. Before he was done, though, he also assisted in creating a suicide prevention program for the University Veteran’s Resource Center. Considering these great honors and accomplishments, we are very happy to present this fine instrument to Mr. Solis. Our congratulations to Joel.