Moms and Dads, we all want our little monkeys to blossom, right? We teach them and model for them as much as we can, but every busy parent needs a break once in a while.

And you deserve that break!

That’s why I am so excited to announce that we are going to be taking Monkey Blossom in a new direction with a series of videos called Miss Blossom’s Class!

The idea for Miss Blossom’s Class came from wanting to be a creator on YouTube, but wanting to do some good with that. Sure there are plenty of unboxing and play videos out there. (God knows, I put my child in front of them when I need to get the dishwasher loaded or her little brother to sleep!) But I feel a little of that mom-guilt creep in when one video turns into 5. And she walks away singing The Family Finger song on a loop or asking for the latest toy or Kinder Egg – not really gaining anything valuable in the process. So, I decided to take the idea of videos for kids, that kids want to watch, and include something that we can all get behind as parents…

Empathy. Listening. Kindness.

These skills are SO difficult to teach and yet so very important. Especially today where we spend so much of our days behind screens and lacking that face-to-face, human interaction that helps us nurture those important social skills.

In Miss Blossom’s Class we will be focusing on story-telling and fun, and we’ll be including lessons on empathy, cooperation, and kindness. I’ve started writing some stories based on the lessons in Learning to Listen, Learning to Care: A Workbook to Help Kids Learn Self-Control and Empathy, by Lawrence E. Shapiro, Ph.D. This book includes worksheets and activities for parents to use when working with difficult children. I’ve adapted them so that we can use them even for our “easy” kids. (Surely we don’t have difficult children! Har har.) I’ll also be including references to the specific activities I’m adapting and other materials of interest in this blog, so you can use them as a guide when showing the videos to your kids.

We will still be doing some unboxing and some crafts – after all, that’s what kids want to watch. And this little ruse of ours won’t work unless we can keep our kids interested in the videos, amirite?

I want to do this right, because it’s important to me. And I know as good moms and dads it’s important to you, too. So please let me know what you think so I can continue to improve. I want this to be a two-way conversation.

Here’s to us. Here’s to our kiddos. Here’s to the madness of our lives. And here’s to a bright and happy future.

xo,
MB

To purchase the workbook Learning to Listen, Learning to Care: A Workbook to Help Kids Learn Self-Control and Empathy, click here:

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