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March 2004 ETC Corner
Fanciful Fiction
By Rachel Olsen
Christin Ditchfield, author of A Family Guide to Narnia: Biblical Truths in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, is frequently asked by Narnia fans for recommendations of other Christian fantasy literature. "The truth is," she laments, "good Christian fantasy is hard to find!" However, Ditchfield has these recommendations for imaginative reading:
Imaginative fiction for the young and young at heart:
Winnie the Pooh (series) by A.A. Milne (a classic for every age)
The Rescuers (series) by Margery Sharp (ages 9-12 or read aloud)
The Borrowers (series) by Mary Norton (9-12 or read aloud)
The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett (9-12 or read aloud)
The Princess and The Goblin (series) by George MacDonald -- C.S.Lewis's inspiration (9-12)
Anne Of Green Gables (series) by L.M. Montgomery (12-14 or read aloud)
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (9-12 or read aloud)
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (read aloud)
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (read aloud)
A few more fiction favorites especially for women:
Persuasion (and just about any other book) by Jane Austen
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Christy by Catherine Marshall
Julie by Catherine Marshall
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
The Honor Girl by Grace Livingston Hill
Marcia Schuyler by Grace Livingston Hill
While many of these titles may be familiar, Ditchfiled assures, "If you've only ever seen the movies, you're in for a wonderful surprise!" As always, parents should preview or approve everything their young ones read. Fluff up the pillows and settle in with a good book while you await the emergence of spring.
For more guides to great reading check out these titles published by Zondervan:
1. Honey For A Child's Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life by Gladys Hunt
2. Honey for a Teen's Heart: Using Books to Communicate With Teens by Gladys Hunt and Barbara Hampton
3. Honey for a Woman's Heart: Growing Your World Through Reading Great Books by Gladys Hunt
Home Management Tips for Hot Food & Clean Clothes
By Rachel Olsen
Very few people I know enjoy doing laundry. It's rather dull and repetitive work that others rarely notice or thank you for. How many times have you been complimented you on your laundry prowess? However, ensuring clean clothing for the family is one of the tasks of the successful home manager. Here are two tips to help:
1) Start by beautifying your laundry area. Get rid of any miscellaneous clutter in your laundry space and leave only the things necessary to get the laundry done from start to finish. Then try placing an area rug, painting the walls, adding some potpourri or perhaps installing a radio to listen to while folding. Make the space clean and inviting to work in.
2) Do less laundry, more frequently. Facing overflowing dirty clothes baskets and mountains of clean clothes to fold can overwhelm your psyche and your schedule. Avoid it building to that point by gathering dirty clothes from everyone's hamper and combining into one load every day or so. Single, smaller loads take less time to dry and fold, and your favorite outfits will always be clean!
Providing tasty, nutritious meals is another highly important task of the home manager. How many times have we stood staring into the pantry or fridge at a quarter 'til 5:00 wondering, "What can I fix for dinner?!" This is a task the successful home manager will seek to stay on top of. She will even elevate dinner from a task, to a satisfying family ritual. Here are two tips to help:
1) Determine your dinner in the morning, or better yet the day or week before. Then you can ensure you have a plan and all necessary ingredients on hand. Early in the day I like to set on the counter my dry ingredients for dinner - such as jars of spaghetti sauce and a box of angel hair pasta. I often even place the needed empty pots on the cold stove burners. Crock pots are also a wonderful way to take care of dinner in advance. Each time I enter my kitchen, I see or smell my coming meal and am comforted knowing I won't be in the 5:00-quandry over what to fix. Its amazing how planning a nutritious dinner in advance can bring you such peace of mind!
2) Your family has to eat dinner each day anyway, so why not put in a little extra effort to make it an anticipated event. Set a pretty table in advance and include some cloth napkins or fresh flowers as a centerpiece. Turn on off the TV and turn on some instrumental music. Direct dinner conversation off of boring or touchy "family business" topics and talk about things like favorite vacations. Try eating by candle light occasionally. These all take small amounts of effort, but communicate in a big way to your family that you treasure them. Bon appetite!
Anger Management
By Rachel Olsen
Anger is an intense and often negative emotion we all experience from time to time. As parents we frequently find ourselves angered or frustrated by our children's behavior. It is important that we work to manage this anger in healthy ways. Here are five tips for doing so:
1) Take a "parental time out" to cool down and think things over.
2) Calmly verbalize your feelings. For example, "Mommy is feeling frustrated with the way you acted and I need a few minutes to calm down. Then we'll talk."
3) Realize that anger is a secondary emotion and try to isolate the primary stressor - perhaps fear, sadness or fatigue.
4) Stay in the present avoiding statements such as "You always do this to me," "How many times do I have to tell you?!" or "When will you ever learn?"
5) Make household rules and their consequences clear, consistent, and well known to all. This can go a long way in preventing misbehavior and dealing with it effectively when it does occur.
If you do lose your cool with your kids, be sure to acknowledge your mistake and ask their forgiveness. Then discuss together ways each of you could behave better, under similar circumstances, in the future
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