Most children especially if they are in school will be excited about St. Patrick’s Day. There is talk about luck, shamrocks, and being pinched if you do not wear green. Did you know Saint Patrick introduced Christianity to the people of Ireland around the fifth century? He used a three-leaf shamrock to explain that God has three parts—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Enjoy this holiday with your family and remember to tell them the story of how St. Patrick’s Day began. I have listed a couple of games to play together as a family and then given you 5 Promises God has for kids. Consider telling your children that “the luck of the Irish” is not always reliable, but the promises of God will never fail!

Family Games

Drop the Green

Give each family member a small cup of green candies such as green M&M’s. Place a wide mouth jar on the floor. Each person will take turns standing up straight and dropping the candy off the tip of their nose into the jar. The one who gets the most candy in the jar is the winner.

 

Leprechauns

For this game you will need Leprechauns and throwers. The Leprechauns will put a shaving cream beard on their face and sit on one side of the table. Their partner sits on the other side of the table trying to throw as many Cheetos as possible to stick in the Leprechauns beard. The winner is the Leprechaun with the best orange Cheetos beard.

 

No Luck, Just Promises! 5 Promises God has for Kids

1. God will love you forever!

“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever.” Psalm 1:1

2. God will comfort you!

“The Lord will comfort his people. He will show his tender love to those who are suffering.” Isaiah 49:13

3. God will never leave you!

“Never will I leave you. I will never desert you.” Hebrews 13:5

4. God will keep you safe!

“The Lord is good. When people are in trouble they can go to him for safety.” Nahum 1:7

5. God keeps his promises!

“… the Lord your God is God. He is the faithful God. He keeps his covenant for all the time to come.” Deuteronomy 7:9

Growing up in the “old days” it seemed my parents wanted me to learn about my creativity, how to win and lose, to fail without getting hurt or hurting others. I learned some things the hard way but always under the watchful eye of my parents.

Today’s generation, seems to want to prevent these things or at least soften the blows of these life lessons. It brings me to the question, what do we want/don’t want for our children? 

Philippians 1:9-11 “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

What I don’t want for my children/grandchildren is to go through life pursuing what the world says to pursue.

“Get all you can.”  “Eat, Drink, be Happy.”  “Be all that you can be.”  “Have it YOUR way.” “You have to be the BEST.”  “Everyone has to be a winner.”  “He who has the most toys, wins!”

I was never a parent who wanted my kid to get a trophy for last place; I didn’t tell my kids they always have to have the best of everything, the newest of everything and to value things above people. I never wanted my kids to think the world revolved around them.

Now I have four granddaughters and although I have to watch myself from shielding them too much, I really want my granddaughter’s Love to abound, to have knowledge and depth of insight, to discern what is best, so they can live pure and blameless before God.  To be filled with fruit of God’s righteousness, so that all who see and know them will give glory to God!

 

One in 13 kids is now affected by a food allergy—a 100 percent jump from just 15 years ago—meaning that one or two of the kids in any given setting is allergic. While some have had only mild reactions, such as an itchy mouth, hives, or an upset stomach, 40 percent of allergic kids have had a severe reaction, including life-threatening anaphylaxis, which usually involves symptoms such as a rash, hives, swelling of the lips or tongue, vomiting, abnormal heartbeat, and trouble breathing.

These are things children might do or say if they are experiencing anaphylaxis—which should warrant an injection of epinephrine, if available, and a call to 911—according to experts at the nonprofit Food Allergy Research & Education.

CHILDREN AGE 2 AND UNDER MIGHT…

• Put their hands in their mouth

• Pull or scratch their tongue

• Make a hoarse or squeaky noise

• Scratch their ears (or behind them)

OLDER KIDS MAY SAY…

• “My mouth feels funny.”

• “There’s something stuck in my throat.”

• “My lips feel tight.”

• “My tongue is hot (or burning).”

• “My mouth (or tongue) itches.”

• “It feels like there’s hair on my tongue.”

• “It feels like there are bugs in my ears.”

Awareness is the best defense!

Adapted from Parents Magazine, September 2014.

 

You taught your child to look both ways before she crosses the street. You strap her bike helmet on securely every time she goes for a ride, and you buckle her seatbelt before you take off in the car.

And that’s exactly why you should never let her venture into the world of the Internet without taking proper safety measures. Follow these do’s and don’ts for the computer, cell phone, and tablet use to help make the web a safe environment for your child.

Do

Surf together. When you spend time with your child online, you can oversee her activities and talk with her when a potentially dangerous situation arises. Make sure the devices she uses are in a common area of your home so they are in your view.

Keep personal information private. Teach your child never to share her name, address, phone number, or any passwords or photos online.

Communicate. Make sure your child knows to tell a parent or a teacher if she feels uncomfortable about anything she sees online.

Don’t

Trust blindly. Educational programs and apps are not necessarily risk-free. Test them out before you let your child use them. Is there advertising? Can she click a button and accidentally make a purchase? Use parental controls and pay close attention to the apps she uses.

Use public chat rooms. Teach your child that, just as in real life, it’s not safe to talk to or “friend” strangers. Keep her online chatting to friends and family members you know.

Bend the rules. Your child should not make purchases or download apps without your permission. Make sure she knows the rule is that Mom or Dad has to be the one clicking “buy,” “download,” or “install.”

Do you take time to enjoy the amazing parts of life? Children can keep your focus on what is important. As school begins and schedules get hectic, take time to be amazed by the gift of your child.

 

 

 

 

 

Be amazed at how quick they learn. Be patient enough to invest the time teaching them something new. Even if it takes them weeks to learn to ride their bike, that’s still pretty remarkable.

Be amazed at how quickly they recover from pain. It’s crazy how fast our kids can move past painful moments. All kids process things differently, but they all process much faster than adults do.

Be amazed at how easy they forgive. They live with a willingness to forgive those that hurt them, and that’s amazing.

Be amazed by their laughs. I love the things that make kids laugh. I love to hear them laugh when they make themselves laugh. Believe me; their laughter will be missed in your home one day!

Be amazed by their faith. Like all of us, children want to believe in something greater than themselves. The trusting faith of a child is even something Jesus talked about.

*And by the way, both my children are grown with kids of their own and they STILL amaze me every day!