Wheeew! I am a person that lives for purpose. I am not sure if it’s just how I was born, if it’s because of my faith or because I have seen those close to me make bad choices that in turn affect those around them. Whatever the reason is, I decided long ago, to live every day to the fullest. I am certain that no “reason for living” or “purpose” is better than another, all I know is that we have individual, unique and beautiful giftings to share with our circle of influence. Sometimes I do get off track, and I wonder, “should I be doing THIS thing like THAT person?” Then a voice inside me reminds me that all I have to be is what I was made to be.
Greta: “Positive Discipline for Young Children” was information that applies right to my current position. I constantly struggle with encouraging and teaching the boys in the difficult moments, such as 3 boys getting loud at once. It is hard for me to think quickly on the spot and respond to the individual needs of each boy. Our instructor, Susan Lehman, gave us practical strategies – 52 tool cards packaged for reference, like a deck of cards! This week I have used humor with one of my boys when he shouts “NO” to my requests. My silliness gets him laughing and he forget his effort to control. Yes!
Heather: The workshop that I feel I got the most out of was Brooke Millers talk, “Working with Families in Stress”, on how to pay attention to children and their stress. It really helped me to see how we can take the time and figure out how we can help the children in our lives as stress free as possible.
Molly: I enjoyed all of the workshops that I attended during conference. I felt that I benefited most from the “Positive Discipline for Young Children” and the “Lesson Plans” workshops. The hardest part of the positive discipline idea is to provide children with what they can do instead of telling them what they can’t do. This week I have really noticed how often I say “don’t” during the day. A big take home point for me from that session was that it takes a full 20 minutes for the brain to “come back” after having a tantrum. I have been trying to remember this when B has a tantrum. Another important point that was made during this workshop was “never do for a child what he can do for himself.” This is a hard one because sometimes it is easier to just do it for the child instead of letting him figure it out on his own. The Lesson Plans workshop helped me to take a lot of the things I knew and ideas I had and helped to polish them. It gave me the tools I needed to put my ideas into action.
Lindsey: The workshop on “Positive Discipline for Young Children” impacted me the most. It’s something I have always believed in and have tried to filter into my methods at work. I was immediately immersed in everything Susan said. She mentioned scenarios and solution ideas I was familiar with already as well as showing me that positive discipline can be applied to nearly any situation. I learned so much! I learned the difference between praise (all about you) and encouragement (all about the child). I learned how confusing words like “no” and “don’t” can be to children. Now I know to tell children what to do rather than what not to do. All they need is direction.
It was great meeting CincyNanny crew! I hope you each bring atleast one more nanny to conference next year 🙂
Heather, I wrote a post on Thefinancialnanny.com on using smartypig and saving for conferences. I will be updating it soon for 2011.
Greta: I am blessed to have met you in 2009 at the INA conference and become friends and now a INA board member with you. So much was born last year at that conference for me as well. I look forward to having you as our Nanny of the Year and your words that will be heard among many in the nanny industry and others.
Molly, Lindsey and Heather so glad that you made the choice to come to this conference and that you all took in so much of it. This is what makes nanny conferences so wonderful. The networking and information you can take away.
See you on the East Coast next year!