Doctor G and the Delightful Disney

13 Apr Doctor G and the Delightful Disney

Do you remember the R’s I wrote about?

Well our fantastic photobook from Momento arrived a few weeks ago (the one I did the beta testing for their new DISNEY software which by the way is now live and available to the public.  I highly recommend you check it out.) Well it is here and the kids ADORE IT!

We have been ‘reading’ it every night since it arrived and I having been quietly patting myself on the back and remembering Doctor G’s thoughts on respect, responsibility and resilience.

I thought you would be interested in a few examples from the book and my thoughts on the stories and learnings they are demonstrating. I have definitely being ‘telling’ the stories using different words than I would have before hearing Doc G’s presentation.

  Aunty Julie & Aunty Jenny with Gabi

Gabi with Grandma

The photos on these two pages show the kids how important our family is to us and how we respect them.

Jacob blowing bubbles

C is for CAMPING!

Y is for YUK (and yum)

Bubbles, Camping and Yuk:  These three page layouts are a great demonstration of some firsts!  Remembering that the best way to learn resilience is to try something new (and to keep on trying).

Like most kids when they first try the art of blowing a bubble they find it is quite a difficult thing to do. You need to master the pressure of your blowing to ensure the bubble works. Pictured here is one of the first times Jacob was able to consistently blow bubbles! I was proud of him for his persistence and remind him of that fact when we look through this book.  I say things like ” remember how frustrated you used to get trying to blow bubbles, but then you figured it out and now you are a great bubble blower, I love that you kept on trying!”

The other ‘first’ of notable mention pictured here was our first family camping trip with all it’s associated firsts (tent building, air mattress sleeping, amenities block showering etc) ….dare I say it helped them to develop into happy little campers (sorry, did you cringe?  You know I love a good pun)

The last ‘first’ is on the Y page and as you can see it features photos that tell the story of both YUK and YUM.  I couldn’t have asked for a better resilience building opportunity with this.  In this particular photo Gabi is spitting out a VitaWheet cracker when trying it for the first time.  Now she loves this lunch box treat so she can make vegemite worms!  I love being able to remind them that sometimes when they first try food they don’t like it, other times they do and other times they grow to love it.  I am especially fond of asking “but what if you had never tried chocolate for the first time?”

Young Jacob in the Hospital

N is for Naughty (a rather unfortunate glitter experience)

A RAINED out holiday

Hospital, Naughty and Rain:   The stories these photos are telling are of some of our family’s low times, by showing not only the high happy times we are teaching our kids it is ok to be sad or scared and reminds us that the sun will come out tomorrow (apologies again I cant help it, I am a musical theatre person after all).  During this holiday pictured we had one months worth of rainfall in 3 days and experienced cyclonic conditions not conducive to a beach side holiday BUT we still had a fantastic time and I was able to remind the kids of that fun and of how resilient they were (obviously I use different words with the kids but they still get that all important message).

Our pets Dyson and Buster

Puppies (pets):  This is one that no doubt you would all be aware of.  Having pets has long been proven to help teach children responsibility. Dyson and Buster being part of our family teaches the kids to be responsible for their everyday needs. From early days when they were very young it also taught them to respect their space and be gentle and kind.

F is for Football

Football:  These photos show a family of NRL Dragon’s supporters.  These photos give me the opportunity to tell kids stories of their GREAT grandparents and Grandparents (on both sides) involvement with the club and ourfamily supporter traditions.  The stories we talk about when looking at these pages are about the respect we have for our family traditions and would be most beneficial for the kids to answer ‘ Do You Know Questions’ (click to read more) and as such be great for their emotional happiness.

Gabi helping to pack up our old house

Packing:  These photos remind us of a busy busy time packing up our old house.  When we look at these pages we talk about how sad we were to leave old neighbours and the emotional journey it was for me to leave our first family home.  We also talk about the wonderful new community and friends we have made in our new home and suburb.  This one can be a tough sell because they miss the pool but it is an exercise in teaching resilience none the less.

Paul and I dressed in our finery attending some weddings

Weddings:  Last but not least these photos of us out without the kids attending weddings, helps me to teach them about the respect we have for each other and for marriage itself.  They also show them the value we place on spending one on one with your partner.

Who would have thought that a photobook could be such a fantastically useful parenting tool?  Do you have photos that could be put to similar use?  Can you find them? When was the last time you looked at them with your kids?

Have a magical day

Mara