I always enjoy watching my tween interact with other kids.  I find it interesting  how easy it is for my tween to bond with ANYONE who likes to play sports.  It is like an automatic friendship if they want to toss the football with him.  What about him having fun with tweens who would prefer not to play sports all day?  I recently learned a good lesson about this.

Lincoln has a darling neighbor friend we spend a lot of time with playing in the backyard.  These two have always been friends, but playing sports is not the center of their friendship.

For Christmas, we got Lincoln a few Transformers. He has always loved Transformers but isn’t the best about playing by himself.  This cute neighbor friend of his, LOVES Transformers.  All of a sudden, we found these two playing Transformers together non-stop!!  They had found the thing they loved to do together!  It was like watching magic…instead of playing separately, they were so into playing with their Transformers and hours of play passed by!!

As a parent, that was a really fun thing to watch.  Different people bring out different sides of who we are.  Lincoln isn’t the best at imaginary play, but add a great little neighbor friend and he is in another little imaginary world!!

Thank you sweet neighbor boy for teaching Lincoln another aspect of fun!!  Thank you Transformers for creating such fun toys and imaginary play for our kids!!

What are some activities your child has started to like because of a friend?

I’m pretty sure I have blogged about this before, but it is a topic that is dear to my heart!  My friendships are something I deeply treasurer in my life!  Over the years, I have “collected” an amazing group of friends and sisters!!  I spend a lot of time fostering those friendships.

In turn, I feel the same way about my children.  More then anything (besides their family) I want them to have wonderful friends.  Friends who are kind, share common interests, have high morals and are a positive influence in the life of my kids.

Each of my children have been lucky enough to find this here in Jacksonville.  It has taken some time, but they have found their kindred spirits.

Unfortunately, since school has started this year, finding the time to get them together is quite difficult.  Between the longs hours of school, extracurricular activities and family there isn’t much time OR energy.

So, we make every minute count during the school year.  We have enjoyed getting the kids together over Christmas break now that there is a little extra time.  As the old saying goes, it is QUALITY not QUANTITY.  The summer will be here again.  Unfortunately, this year we will be moving and having to say goodbye to these friendships.  Those days at the beach and pool will be over, but the friendships and memories will never die.

I hope and pray that my children will always be lucky enough to find kindred spirits wherever they may go.

This year I was lucky enough to be in charge of the Christmas party for my tween’s second grade class.  I am not the room Mom because I have to be careful of not over scheduling myself (I am good at that).  A couple parties a year is something that I CAN handle.

I loved having lots of Christmas fun with my tween’s class.  It was great to meet all the kids and see his awesome teacher in action.

Here is the agenda of what we did.

- I had the children decorate small white paper bags for someone to whome they wanted to give a gift.  After decorating the bag, they filled the bag with green and white stuffing.

- After the bags were decorated, we gave each of the children one of those glass ball Christmas ornaments.  We took the top off the ornament and squirted red and green paint inside.  The kids had fun watching the paint make beautiful colors and designs inside their ball.  It was the perfect craft for seven and eight year olds.

- Next, we had a mock snow ball fight.  I brought in loads of white tissue paper and plain white paper.  I divided the class into two teams and had them fill a large basket with “snowballs”.  We then took the “snowballs” outside and the kids had a blast getting in a non-snow snowball fight.

- We played another game with a small bell.  It was a lot like the hot and cold game…they loved it!

- We finished the party with cupcake decorating and a Christmas movie.  The kids loved it, my tween was beaming with happiness having me there in his classroom and I was EXHAUSTED!!!  My respect and admiration DOUBLED for teachers that day; that is not an easy job!!!!

What are some ideas you have used for school Christmas parties?

Around our home, Christmas magic is in full swing!  Life was busy last week wrapping school up and having all sorts of Christmas parties.  It was a very fun week for my tween.

Now, my tween is home from school and we are filling our days with friends, family and lots of Christmas memories.  My kids are excited and enjoying the anticipation of Christmas day.

Today we are getting our Christmas baking done.  I had the kids make their list of the people they want to deliver treats to.  We enjoyed a nice fire this morning, Josh Groban floating through the air and a new Christmas movie.

Christmas is such a magical time of year.  It can also be very stressful for MOM!  I spent the entire evening last night doing the grocery shopping for this week.  The list was carefully and thoughtfully constructed and planned, the grocery store run was long and tiring and then….the groceries were put away!  That is just a small part of all the work that goes into making Christmas special for children.  It is so much work!!

Then, the true magic of Christmas comes alive!!  I walk in on moments like this.  My sweet children who love each other, but often argue, snuggled up in the chair in our room in Santa hats….”with visions of sugar plums dancing through their heads”.

That my friends makes it all worth it.  All the hours of wrapping, cooking, cleaning, preparing crafts and activities for them to enjoy…..that is the true magic of Christmas!!

What are some of your favorite Christmas moments this year?

This picture  is of my favorite little Nativity set.  It is 100% for the kids to play with.  I love hearing voices in the den pretending to be Mary and Joseph, the donkey or the angel.  There isn’t a happier sound to me!

I have been thinking about the upcoming Christmas break my tween will be having.  We will not be traveling this year, so I am looking forward to filling that Christmas break with fun activities for my tween.

Here are a few of my ideas….

- A visit to our local Mike’s Farm for a hayride and beautiful Christmas lights.

- Lots of Christmas cookie making for my tween to do on his own.

- Transform Dad into a decorated Christmas tree in this hilarious after-dinner activity. Supply your tween with green and red crepe paper, aluminum foil, and masking tape. When they’re done, gather ’round the tree and take a photo to add to your family album or send as next year’s holiday card.

- Go to the library to check out some fun Christmas books for my tween to read each day.

- Make a paper snowman and use it as a fun game during the day.  Stick the snowman on a family members back, when that person realizes the snowman is on them, they stick it on someone else’s back. Don’t worry about the snowman staying on just one back for hours — giggling kids are sure to give the person a clue before too long. Try to have the snowman visit every one’s back by the end of the day.

Those are just a few fun things we will be doing to fill our days with Christmas fun during the school break!

What are some things you will be doing with your tween over Christmas break?