Turn the Witching Hour into a Fairytale
Many parents call the hour or so before dinner “the witching hour”. You know what I’m talking about…between the hours of 4:00 – 6:00 pm when you are trying to fix dinner and your children are whiney, erratic and inconsolable. Sound familiar?
I once read a good article that advised parents to reserve a specific activity for children to do during that time. For example, if you allow your children to watch a limited amount of television, let them watch a couple of short programs. Or play a computer game. Or paint. Or play with a specific toy. The key is to only let your children perform that specific activity during that exclusive timeframe so that it seems special.
We started this strategy with our daughter when she was 2 and it worked. As long as we stuck to the routine, the witching hour became less haunting (and daunting). She was happier and so were we. An additional word of advice, however, is to change the activity every month or so. Currently popular in our house is a Dress Up Princess website that I found. It is great for girls 4+ who are somewhat savvy with a computer mouse (they need to know how to use the mouse to click on and hold the clothing as they move it to the doll). The site has a lot of dress up collections and is relatively ad-free. If you have a little princess in your house, give it try!
And if you are looking for ways to introduce your toddlers to computers, please check out Imagine Tomorrow and look for classes in your neck of the enchanted forest.
Tags: computer classes for kids, computer games, dolls, dress up, Imagine Tomorrow, kids, princesses, toddlers, witching hour
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