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.
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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