We received a complimentary copy of this book for use in our review. All opinions and experiences are our own.
Quick Summary of Little Things Long Remembered. As digital devices take over family life in subtle and seductive ways, what will happen to child development and family bonding when children spend more time with screens than they do at school or with their parents?
Life swirls at a hectic pace in most families today. That reality places a high premium on finding family time. Little Things Long Remembered: Making Your Children Feel Special Every Day, is updated for today's digitally driven and time-strapped families, offering hundreds of easy ways to create treasured childhood rituals that your children will look back on fondly.
The book hinges on 10 Cardinal Rules designed to help parents let go of work or social obligations and commit to spending time with their children. Rules include:
At home, focus as much as possible on your kids.
Put away electronic devices so you can really ‘be’ with them
Choose activities you like; children can tell when you are not having fun and are ‘faking it.’
Little Things Long Remembered is designed to help maximize parents and children’s available time. Slow down to grab pockets of time—even a few minutes here and there.
Little Things Long Remembered offers simple ideas for reconnecting with our children. As a stay at home mom, I was able to read through a host of suggestions that I had, in fact, done at one point or another with one of our three girls. Even after 20 years of parent experience; however, there were still some ideas that I hadn't tried. Most of the suggestions aren't ground-breaking or extremely innovative--but, there are times that I could use a few simple, quick ideas to help me make the girls feel special when we are caught in our school/home/work/dance rut. Most of the ideas Newman suggests are free or inexpensive--making them perfect for parents or grandparents at any stage of the parenting game.
Little Things Long Remembered offers suggestions based on time and circumstances. Newman breaks the book into chapters of little ideas for creating memories based on time restraints--or for special days like sick days or birthdays.
Establishing Ties (gestures that take seconds or a minute or two to strengthen parent-child bonds)
Five Minutes More or Less
Half and Hour to an Hour or So
Weekend Fun
Special Circumstances — When You Travel
Special Circumstances — Sick Days
Special Days — Happy Holidays
Special Days — Memorable Birthdays
Little Things Long Remembered is packed with simple little gestures that take only minutes to prepare and deliver--but, remain in our memories.
Little Things Long Remembered reminds us that little things really matter most. I think I spent as much time smiling and reminiscing as I read through Newman's book as I did learning new ideas. With each page, I remembered either doing an activity with one of my own children--or remembered them from my own childhood. It really does serve to remind us that even simple, seemingly insignificant gestures really do matter most.
Would I recommend Little Things Long Remembered? I loved the format and the simplicity of this book. It is so easy to simply grab the book, choose an age appropriate idea to fit a certain time frame, and make someone smile. It's the perfect book for new parents and seasoned parents (or grandparents) alike. As adults, we too often take simple gestures and small moments for granted in our rush to perfect the future. While parents (especially those of us who work from home, stay at home or homeschool) may find many of the ideas presented by the author are really common sense ones--sometimes, as we maneuver through a busy blur of a day, it's nice to have a little "cheat sheet" of quick ideas for reconnecting as a family. Little Things Long Remembered would make a wonderful gift for parents, grandparents or even caregivers and teachers.
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Susan Newman, a social psychologist, specializes in child development and family dynamics and has been named one of the 100 Top Psychologists to Follow on Twitter as well as one of 25 Parenting Educators to follow.
She has been blogging for Psychology Today magazine about parenting and issues related to raising children for over six years.
She has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC, and her work has been feature on NPR and major leading newspapers and magazines.
Connect with Susan: Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter
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by Susan Newman
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