Caiden’s Hope Executive Director Wayne Keller announced today that Caiden’s Hope is partnering with hospitals in San Antonio and Houston, to provide assistance to families with a child in the NICU for an extended period of time.
Caiden’s Hope was founded following the very real experiences of Jennifer Call and her son Caiden. Seven months into a normal healthy pregnancy, Ms. Call of Ventura, California started to feel ill and was taken to the hospital. Her mother Terry said ?We were all excited to see the baby soon, but then the doctors told us something was wrong.? Three days later her daughter Jennifer delivered son Caiden two months early.
We’ve known for a number of years that laughter is good for us. When we laugh, serotonin is released in our brains. When we laugh, we fell less stressed and more relaxed, and our immune systems are strengthened, allowing us to fight diseases better. Laughter also connects us with others and makes us feel more comfortable and a part of the group. And you might have noticed that laughter seems to be contagious – when we’re around others who are laughing, we’re apt to laugh too.
You can get the contagious laughter started in your family by reading funny books and singing funny songs. Dr. Seuss was a master at writing funny books. Shel Silverstein perfected funny, laugh-out-loud poems in A Light in the Attic and other books. Common songs such as “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” help everyone lighten up. Ask your child’s teacher to share the songs, finger plays and poems he/she is learning in class.
In addition to funny books, jokes and riddles, funny movies, cartoons and comedians, friends and family members, and pets can make you laugh. Take the quiz below to determine your family’s fun quotient:
Family Fun Quiz
Is there a comic strip in the newspaper that makes you think of your family?
Do you remember a time when you couldn’t stop laughing?
What’s your favorite rough and tumble game?
Do you use humor to make tense moments less stressful?
Are birthdays and other family celebrations fun?
What’s your favorite funny pet story?
Have you played the game, “I love you more than…..”?
Do you take time to ask “Who’s there?” to knock-knock jokes?
Have you created a special hug, handshake, or sign of affection?
When have you seen a funny movie together?
Can you tell a funny story about each family member?
Is a little slapstick a frequent occurrence?
Do you read humorous books or the comics together?
Do you know at least two riddles or jokes that bring on smiles and giggles?
Source: Creme – The Scoop: Winter 2010 Volume 8 Number 1
As adults, we are concerned with the outcomes or the product of our efforts. We want the report to look nice, the cookies to taste great, or the hedges to be perfectly straight. We participate in few activities just for the fun of doing them. This is due in part to the fact that we are not still learning most of these activities.
If you remember when you first learned to play tennis or use a computer you needed a little time to play with it and explore what happens if you did it this way or that way. It is the same for your child. He is learning new things all the time and needs the freedom to try things out without worrying about the product.
Luckily, young children naturally are more involved with the process or the doing than they are with the end product or results. That’s why your child might draw all day long and not be able to tell you what he drew or pour sand back and forth between containers for hours in the sandbox and not get bored. He may stack blocks and knock them down and stack them over and over again. Your child is learning about beginning writing skills, cause and effect, textures, and trying to master a skill. He is finding out that doing for oneself is very satisfying and that builds confidence.
The daily notes that you receive each day from your child’s preschool should highlight the activities that your child participated in that day. Sometimes there will be an end product and sometimes the outcome will be that he learned to pedal a tricycle, made sandcastles outside or learned a new song in music. Be sure and ask your child to tell you about the activities that he enjoyed that day. So be patient and allow your child time to grow and learn through various types of processes that are a part of the task. This is truly learning through play.
Source: Crème: The Scoop, Fall 2010, Volume 8 Number 4
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