DECEMBER 2018
Hill Country
Backpack Connection
Students Honor Brave Veterans
BIKE RODEO!
Holiday Traditions to Try
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CONTENTS
DECEMBER
Distributed into the Backpacks of 6000 Boerne / Leon Springs Area Students
Fabra • Kendall • Curington • Fair Oaks • Cibolo Creek • Aue • Leon Springs • McAndrew • Ellison Van Raub Elementary Schools Art Direction Susie Fluckiger Sales Audra Miller Publisher BP PUBLISHING LLC
ENTER WHICH WICH CONTEST
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BOERNE AND NORTHSIDE NEWS
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HOLIDAY TRADITIONS TO TRY AND TREASURE by Lisa Logan
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Content for the Elementary School pages contributed by each school. Backpack Connection magazines are published every six weeks during the school year by BP Publishing LLC. The advertisements in this magazine are paid for by the advertisers, which allows this magazine to be distributed free to the families of the elementary students. Unless specifically noted, no advertisers, products or services are endorsed by the publisher, BISD, or NISD, or any districts employees. The publishers (BP PUBLISHING LLC) are not responsible for omissions, errors or misinformation within this publication. All real estate advertised within this publication are subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which make it illegally to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings adverting are available on an equal opportunity basis. Reproductions of this magazine in whole or part without written permission is prohibited.
SIFTING THROUGH PARENTING INFORMATION by Megan Wilson
16 Encouraging, Supporting and Loving the Children We Share...
ADVERTISING AND GENERAL INFORMATION BP Publishing LLC 209 Walnut Grove Rd. Boerne, TX 78006 (210) 367-3048
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ENTER OUR CONTEST! Count the Which Wich logos for a chance to win $20 Gift Card
Count the Which Wich logos in this issue (including this one!). Submit to: contest@backpackconnection.com by January 8 for a chance to win a $20 gift card to Which Wich. Include name, email, and phone number so we can contact the winner! Correct answers will be placed in a drawing to win. Only one winner will be chosen.
LAST ISSUE’S WINNERS Congratulations to twins Brea and Aubrey Moehrig from Cibolo Creek Elementary for submitting the correct number of logos! They won the Which Wich $10 gift card in the drawing of all correct submissions. Congratulations and enjoy your gift card!
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Go From “I Can’t” To “I Can!”
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Holiday Traditions to Try and Treasure by Lisa Logan
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hildren, particularly in their middle years, thrive on routine. They like knowing what to expect as their day unfolds (not that they’ll always admit this!) or when a holiday approaches. Holidays offer a unique opportunity to indulge this desire, with traditions they can look forward to year after year—perhaps taking them off into their adulthoods. Observing traditions expands seasonal merriment beyond the actual holidays themselves, and provides an outlet for the anticipatory energy which can threaten to burst the seams of excited youngsters. Some can also offer valuable lessons in the true meaning of holiday spirit as well. Here are some unique traditions for your family to try and treasure. Each can be altered to fit into whichever holiday your family celebrates during the season:
Holiday Lights Contest Take an evening to drive around town to see the holiday displays. Earlier in the day, ask the kids to make awards from construction paper or colored note cards and decorate them with stickers, glitter, and markers. On each, have them write something to the effect of, “We Voted Your House as One of the Best Decorated in Town! Thanks! —The Smith Family.” Make several of these “prizes” and take them along on the drive. Everyone votes on
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the displays deserving of your awards, which can then be placed on or near mailboxes or on the front doorstep. (A grownup should do this part.) Making the awards and voting the winners are a fun way to embellish on the light tour many of us take, plus recipients will appreciate the effort.
Secret Pals To increase the holiday spirit of giving, start a Secret Pal season for a home with multiple children. Hold this between Thanksgiving and Christmas or New Year’s (or a day you will have time to do the end ceremony described below). Every child old enough to participate (around 5+) has their name placed in a basket. Everyone draws a name, but does not tell anyone else who they got. They are now that person’s “Secret Pal.” (If there are an odd number of children, mom or dad should join in to even things out.) Each Pal spends the season secretly doing nice things for his/her selected person. This can include tidying up their things, doing chores for them, leaving them little notes of encouragement or gifts, and doing their best to be “nice” to each other in their dealings face to face. Encourage gifts to come from the imagination rather than the wallet. It can be tough to remain anonymous, but Mom or Dad can help Pals by typing notes or write them so the writing isn’t recognized, delivering tokens, etc. On the last day, hold a Secret Pal ceremony. First, ask everyone
to talk about the nice things his/her Pal did for them. Then it’s time to let the cats out of the bag! Don’t be surprised if the kids have so much fun that they ask to do this at other times of the year.
Advent Calendar with a Twist Change the traditional advent calendar around. Have the “calendar” start out empty and place a basket next to it with slips of paper with various acts of kindness and good will written on them. Each day, a slip of paper is drawn and clipped to the calendar (or, one slip for each child if you prefer) that becomes the day‘s holiday assignment. For instance, one day’s slip may prompt the donation of canned goods to charity; another may ask your child to give someone an unexpected compliment. Continue daily until you have a month’s worth of holiday-inspired good deeds to reflect on. On the Eve of the holiday, review the slips together and replace each with a small token of good will from Mom and Dad, such as a coupon good for “One Night Of No Chores” or “Late Bedtime.”
Treasure Hunt This alternative to handing out presents works well
for any gift-giving occasion, or can be used in lieu of stocking stuffers. To begin, give each recipient an envelope containing a clue to the location of a gift hidden ahead of time. They must then find their gift! The older the child, the harder the clue...though some help may be necessary! Along with the hidden gift will be another envelope containing a clue to the next gift, and so on. (For Chanukah, the found envelope remains sealed until the next evening.) For much older children, adults, or to prolong excitement when there are few gifts to find, have the first clue lead to a second, then third before the gift is actually found. Don’t be afraid to experiment with ideas for new traditions, and cast away those that aren’t successful. Some may have lost their enjoyment, or involve too much stress to arrange to make it worthwhile. Replace those with new ones! Some may simply need to be postponed until your young child is older. Try something new each year; some may become faithful traditions, or at least a fun experiment for a season. Some may become faithful traditions, while the others provide a neat experience for that season. Either way, such activities bring families together— the most important tradition of all.
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Sifting Through Parenting Information By Megan Wilson
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recently came across an article titled “8 Things Kids Need To Do By Themselves Before They’re 13.” As a mom of young kids, I was curious about what this article would suggest. Upon further reading, I was surprised that this mother insisted that she should never have to deliver forgotten items to her children at school, help them with their school work, make their breakfast, or pack their lunches. I was even more surprised that she encouraged other parents to stop doing these things for their own kids before they entered middle school. She even stated that our kids couldn’t become competent or capable adults when their parents continue to do such things for them. There were many reasons I didn’t agree with this article, but the main reason was that I was lucky enough to have a mom that did all of these things for me and my siblings. So far, we have all turned out to be perfectly competent and capable. I don’t believe there’s a “parenting style” out there that will work for each and every child. There’s a few things we should remember when trying to figure out how we will parent each individual child.
No Two Children Are Alike I’m constantly amazed at how two children that are born into the same home and circumstances can be so completely different. It’s important to remember that what worked for someone else’s child, or even one of our own children, will not necessarily work for another. Not every kid will potty train right when they turn two, read before kindergarten, easily develop social skills, or successfully complete all their homework on their own. (Wouldn’t that be nice though?) We must be flexible and develop different parenting techniques as needed.
Things Change In elementary school, I was a successful student and a pretty good kid. Around the fourth grade, I started struggling with my school work, especially with paying attention and remembering. My mom could have written things on my forehead, and I still would have forgotten them! Finally, I was tested and we discovered that I had Attention Deficit Disorder. We learned that many children develop this and other learning disabilities around the 4th to 6th
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grade. This is something I struggled with all throughout high school, and even now. My mom often found herself bringing me forgotten forms, gym clothes, and lunches. I sometimes missed homework or project deadlines. I remember being very frustrated because I hated to forget these things, and didn’t want to be in trouble with my teachers, but I just couldn’t help it. I know it took much effort on my mom’s part, but with her help I adapted and developed new skills to help me be more aware and less forgetful. Our kids are constantly changing, which means the way we parent them must change as well.
Just Keep Trying With my two-year-old, I am quickly learning that parenting requires trial and error. Some days we will feel like we failed as a parent. Sometimes we won’t have immediate answers or solutions. What’s important is that we just keep trying. We are lucky to have so many resources available to us, but sometimes all that information is useless. You have to figure out what works for you and your children. All we can do is keep giving it our best, and I promise, our kids will turn out just fine. They won’t be our little kids forever, so enjoy this time in their lives, even if that means dropping everything to occasionally deliver forgotten homework.
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