Operation World World Tour Vacation at Home

This entry is a part of a series from July 29-August 13. Join me in taking your family on a World Tour Vacation at Home using the Operation World prayer guide.
 
Intro to the Kids
So we told the kids about our trip last night as we had chocolate surprise (which is our version of dessert). I guess it was a marginally positive response.
“We need to tell you about something we’re going to do this week,” Jon starts.

“Oh, no. This is about school isn’t it?” Tomboy-girl, 12.999, (a few weeks from 13) says looking at us through the tops of her eyes.
“No. We are going to take a world tour vacation at home,” I put in.

“We’re going around the world?” Boy, 10, asks.
“Yes, but in our minds.” I say mysteriously pointing to my temple.

Laughter deteriorates into Sponge Bob references. “Imagination,” Tomboy-girl, 12.999, quotes making a rainbow arm motion over the head, and the giggling continues for some time.
When order comes back to the sugar-laden group, we start to explain the idea. We are going to visit different countries using the Operation World prayer guide, we explain. Each day we will learn about a different part of the world.

Tomboy Girl, 12.999, said that she would like it if we did some sort of cool art from each part of the world. Boy, 10, was still fixated on reliving the Sponge Bob episode referenced earlier and Girl, 7 remained her quiet and observant self, not revealing her thoughts. Maybe she will break her silence sometime during our trip in the next two weeks.
So, we’ll see how things go tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Good intentions
I always have good intentions. Some become reality; others float off into the ideasphere, hopefully to come to rest in someone else’s grey matter who can do justice with the thought. So, in the hopes of being a generous mind, here is what has been floating around in my head as things I might implement over the week given the kids’ state of mind, my energy level and the weight of the calendar.
  • Mark the book with little tabs for the days and countries we will be visiting
  • Read the entry ahead of time for each day
  • Google each country for visuals and to orient myself to each country
  • Locate a large world map in the house so we can find and mark each country on the map as we go
  • Make the time special somehow. Perhaps with a snack, candle at the table and/or special music to set the mood

For the little ones
Ok, so the only reason I can write now is because my children have somehow slipped past the preschool ages and I have just a bit more energy and clarity of thought than I did several years ago. I am not the super-mom type—just a low-energy, high emotion person raising three munchkins who are now 12.999, 10 and seven. I realize that my trip will not look the same as those of you who have smaller kids, so I will attempt to think back a few years and consider how I may have done this endeavor differently when my kids pronounced “cereal” as “eeahck” and “mommy” as “mahddy.”
Some thoughts so far:
  • Use a blow up globe to explain what the world is like
  • Color as you talk about each country to keep their little hands busy
  • Have a special snack laid out on the table to make this time something to look forward to each day

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