• Curious Kids: Triangular Vacuums

    The neat part about having kids is that they notice the small things, the stuff we take for granted as adults.  A few months ago one of my girls wanted to know “Why does the vacuum leave triangles on the carpet?”  It perplexed them when they were watching me because the vacuum itself is a rectangle yet somehow it manages to spit out triangles onto the carpet when I vacuum the floor.  Although the triangles are not necessary I let them know that seeing the triangles indicates to Mommy that the carpet has recently been cleaned and makes the room look nice.

    They had been learning about patterns at school and this strange occurrence at home captivated their attention one day.  The triangles are created in a pattern by the way I steer the vacuum cleaner over the carpet.  It helps me know that I have cleaned the entire floor and adds an extra reward at the end.   It is the little things that you do that the kids pick up on and want to learn more about.  I don’t know for sure if they will do the same things once they are grown but at least they know why Mommy creates triangles on the floor and how to do it with a rectangle shaped vacuum.  I am thankful for kids who have the desire to learn, explore, and try to figure out how things work.  Their curiosity keeps me on my toes and allows me to continue finding ways to teach them about life.  As a Mom love this day to day education opportunity with my girls.

  • Book: “God Gave Us So Much” by Lisa Tawn Bergren

    I recently read the book treasury “God Gave Us So Much” by Lisa Tawn Bergren to my twin daughters.  “God Gave Us So Much” is a limited-edition treasury of three books.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the depth into creation, love, and heaven the author went into for a children’s book.  The author created a pretty steady stream of “Questions” and “Answers” dialogue between Little Cub, her parents, and grandparents.

    I read the books to my girls in three separate settings.  The first book “God Gave us the World” which was a huge hit with the kids.  One of my daughters is fascinated with earth, planets, traveling and science so she had a lot of wonderful questions about the story.  It was neat hearing Little Cubs questions about all the different types of bears that live around the world and how God made each bear unique.

    The second book was “God Gave Us Love” which I read to the girls on Valentine’s Day.  It was a great reminder of all the people who love us in life and especially that God loves each one of us.  It had practical applications on ways to show love to others.  Ultimately I liked how the book encouraged the kids to know that God loved them.

    “God Gave Us Heaven” was the third book in this treasury and it paints an amazing picture of heaven!  Little Cub asked a series of common questions kids ask regarding heaven and the author did well in answering them.  I especially liked the analogy of Jesus being our “bridge” to our forever home.  She painted a pretty clear picture for children regarding heaven and salvation.

    The books mention God and many of the questions little ones ask regarding God, the world, love and heaven.  I really like how Lisa emphasized on how  our world was designed by God, that he loves us and wants us to live in heaven with him.  The only thing that caught me off guard was there is no mention of “Little Cub’s” gender until the end of books and all three of us assumed by the conversation that Little Cub was male so we were surprised to find out Little Cub was actually a female. These books had a good mixture of adventure and giving credit to God.  Each book peaked the curiosity of my girls enough to allow us the opportunity to continue the conversation for several minutes after reading the book and answer their additional questions about life, love, and heaven.

    Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher through the Waterhouse Multnomah.  The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”