December 27, 2025 • 29 mins
In this episode replay, we're sharing fun activities we can build into our holidays to strengthen family bonds and teach children about culture. We'll explore various family time ideas and fun family activities to create quality time together. Our goal is to help you in building strong family relationships through engaging and memorable experiences.
Flenaugh promotes her books, "The R.E.W.R.I.T.E. Method" and "The R.E.W.R.I.T.E. Method Workbook," to help children improve their writing skills.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
TD Flenaugh (00:01):
Hello. Okay, so this is like take two, so
welcome to the falling forlearning podcast. Today is
episode 75 so today we're goingto talk about fun activities we
could build into our holidays aswe are in right now, and to make
sure that we're building familybonds and teaching kids about
(00:22):
the culture and all of that goodstuff. So stay tuned. Here we
go. Hi. Thank you so much forjoining the following for
learning podcast. We have thispodcast to help parents and
caregivers with having theresources, strategies and tools
needed to make sure that theirchildren are on track for
learning and to stay on trackfor success.
(00:49):
Okay, here we are, our episode75 I'm very excited. Just let me
say it has been a fun holiday. Iget a link off, so I'm always
feeling very blessed during thistime, but also have spent some
good times with family, youknow. So I traveled a little
bit, not really, but intoLancaster, because I live in LA
(01:13):
so and still getting morecomfortable with my grades. They
are growing in because I'm notdying them anymore, because I
guess I'm a really grayingperson. Anyway, let's move on so
fun family activities that wecan do with the kids. So this is
how you build in that thosebonds and the family time. And
(01:36):
I'm really making sure Ihighlight this because we are in
a new era, right? Because ourkids may be just in front of a
screen, depending on you knowwhat things are already going on
with our family members. Theymay be okay with having their
kids, or their very young babiesand toddlers just on a screen,
so that they're not beingbothered with them, and not
(01:59):
knowing, like, how manyopportunities we're missing to
build our family bonds and allof that together. So this
holiday, so for Thanksgiving,one of the things that we did is
we played spades. So that'ssomething maybe your family has
done for a long time, and wehave done that depending on what
holiday or event was, but wehaven't done in a while. So it
(02:21):
was just me, my husband, mydaughter and my mother. We were
playing spades and really havinga good time. And of course, I
beat everyone handily, becausethat's what I do. I win, right?
I win no. So, you know, teachingeach other the you know, going
over the rules, helping it. Youknow, kids navigate. Think about
(02:41):
that strategy, all of that. SoI'm going to be talking about
activities that are away fromthe screen. So because it's just
so easy to grab the screen, it'sso easy to occupy kids with
that, but kids are literallygetting addicted to the screens,
and this is a perfect time, aperfect excuse to get your kid
away from the screen and intoactivities with you and the
(03:05):
family. Okay? And so playing acard game such as spades is one
of them. Now, I don't know ifyou could hear my dog barking or
whatever, but she's out therebarking. So that's what she's
doing. I hope you are, you know,have a dog that barks for you
sometimes, you know, I don'tknow, anyway, we're moving on.
(03:25):
You probably can't even hear it,because my sure microphone is
probably, you know, cancelingall that out and all of this I'm
talking about doesn't even,there's no reason for it. But
here we go, anyways. So spades.
Also that brings to mind, for mehow you could teach kids
Domino's, which is alsosomething very fun. You could
(03:46):
sit around again, helping themto learn the strategy, learn the
rules and just it's a funactivity. It distracts people,
again, from being on theirphones, and helps kids to just
get involved with the family.
Okay? Another thing that I wasthinking about, like with
(04:07):
Domino's is, like, you know,you're adding, you're
subtracting, right? You aregiving, you know, someone's
keeping points. And the samething with spades. So all that
is so, you know, like, it's justbuilt in learning and it's fun.
And so if we could think aboutways to do that. Now, obviously
I'm giving you some ideas, soyou can copy and paste, like
(04:27):
just use these exact ideas, butalso it may spark an idea of
something else that you used todo in your family, that you can
bring out, rejuvenate, revive inyour family. So that's funny. So
also something, I was at afriend's house and they had
like, um, nuts in a shell,right? Like, walnuts, different
(04:51):
things like that. And they hadlike, The Nutcracker, which also
is, like, brings up holidayseason. So like, people's
families during the holidayswould have. Nuts with shells and
crack the nuts, sit around, talkto each other and everything.
And do you know a lot of kids,you'll be surprised they don't
know where things come from.
Sometimes, if, especially ifyou're in a household where you
(05:12):
have a lot of processed foods,you'll be surprised that some
kids don't know that fries comefrom potatoes, right? Like, even
though, like, maybe we justthink that's common knowledge.
But if kids have not seen youpeeling those cutting up those
potatoes and all that kind ofstuff, and you're just getting
it, like, out of a bag, likefrozen fries, or getting it out
(05:33):
of McDonald's or something likethat, they may not know that
they come from potatoes. Andsometimes, when we don't spend
time with our kids, like, getthem off of the screens, and
really spending time with uscooking, with us sitting around,
cracking nuts, right? Because wehave a bag of nuts that we get
that are un that are shelled,right? No shells on it. And so
be very easy for young kids inthe family not to know, like,
(05:58):
Okay, this is what a walnutlooks like in its shell. This is
what an almond looks like in itsshell. And you know, just new
information, maybe they justdidn't have. And you just maybe
assume that they knew, but theydon't know, because they always
come processed in a bag, shelledsome salt on it, all this good
stuff, right? Instead ofknowing, like, Okay, here's a
(06:20):
nutcracker you could actuallycut, you know, or break open
this this nut and share it withthe family, or eat it together,
or whatever. And it's kind oflike a pastime. You could just
talk about stuff, you know,reminisce, tell them about
things you used to do when youwere a kid, how much this family
member looks like or acts likeanother family member, tell
(06:40):
funny stories. So all thosethings come out in the family
when you're not on a screen, butwhen you're just with the
screens or someone, the kids areover there, listening to their
own music, doing their ownthing, then it is less family
time, like we're around eachother. But are you the kids
learning from you, learning yourtraditions, your values? Are
(07:00):
they picking up traditions andvalues from people online that
they're learning from and theysee all the time? Very
important. So these are somedays that we're kind of like
thinking about, what are ourkids know, or what should they
know? Or what what do we do? Weused to do that we're not doing
now. We could bring back andhave some fan fun family time.
(07:21):
So this is so important for youto think about, you know,
talking about your brothers andyour sisters, your cousins,
whoever it is that you spenttime growing up with, and those
family traditions that you canrevive, and at the same time,
have fun with your kids andteach them a lot, right? Because
they don't know about some ofthe things that you know about,
(07:44):
and when you start talking aboutit, new things will come to
light, and you will have taughtthem some history, maybe told
them about way, the waytechnology has changed, or
traditions. So you're teachingthem a lot, and they're really
going to have fun doing it andgetting to know each other
better, and not just be aroundthem, because we're around them,
(08:05):
but we're on our phone orwhatever, but really get to know
each other, very important,which takes me on to cleaning
together. So that's a big thingabout the holidays. When people
come over your house, if you'rethe person who's hosting. I know
I drive myself crazy because,again, I'm a recovering
perfectionist, right? Drivemyself crazy trying to make sure
(08:27):
the house is super clean andeverything's organized, and I'm
not embarrassed, so just somuch. But that is something that
we could do together. Sosomething that a lot of people
talk about is when their parentshave them clean up. When they
were a kid, that they play thismusic and they start cleaning
but I was talking to my friendsthe other day and thinking about
(08:48):
how some of that is lost,because everyone has their own
screen, right? Everyone hastheir own screen. So your kid
can have their air pods inlistening to their music. You
know, the little kid could havethis little iPad listening to
their own music or whatever. Youknow, you know you as a parent,
could have your own air pod orwhatever, or even if you are
(09:09):
kind of blasting music, your kidcould just drown out that music.
But if you make cleanup time andnon screen time, and you're
cleaning up together, andeveryone's listening to the your
music, you could kind ofintroduce them some of that old
stuff, like some of the songsthat I've been listening to
lately, is bad boy by bad boyslash having a party by Luther
Vandross, of course, Luther isbefore my time, but, you know, I
(09:33):
learned that listen to my mom'smusic, right? So I really
cherish Luther, because that'swhat I grew up listening to,
like your kids and you hear it,some of the new rappers are
like, I don't listen to this oldrapper. I don't listen to them
because of maybe that experiencewhere we are very much listening
to whatever we want to listento. Our algorithm steers us to a
(09:56):
particular type. Music orwhatever. But are we?
Are we sharing our culture withour kids in a way that they're
listening to our music, learningto appreciate our music, because
you're not giving them their ownscreen or their own headphones
(10:17):
at that time, but they're ableto clean up with you and
listening to that musictogether, right? And not just
being driven by their ownalgorithm, their own interest,
and again, like an echo chamber,right? Because our algorithms do
become an echo chamber. Welisten to what we want to hear.
We hear the messages that wealready agree with, and things
(10:41):
that are kind of different oroutside of our comfort zone are
less and less familiar, becausewe are all driven by the
algorithms of Facebook andInstagram and YouTube and
Spotify or whatever. So it'svery, very important that we're
thinking about how to introduceour kids two aspects of our
(11:01):
culture, and culture, I'm sayingspecific to your household. Like
at this household, we listen toLuther Vandross when we listen,
you know, when we clean up orwhatever, whatever that
tradition is that you arespreading to your child, right?
What is that that you're sharingwith them? So think about those
opportunities, and of course,give them time to listen to
(11:23):
their own echo chamber, theirown algorithm. But then
sometimes you're have sacredtime. So we're just having fun
together, listening to musictogether, having a little dance
party together, as we'recleaning up and listening, you
know, so and again, you can,like, listen to some of their
songs, do some of their Tiktokdances, whatever, learn it, but
(11:45):
also give them the opportunityto listen to what you're
listening to. So sometimes youguys are listening together.
Now, of course, back in the day,I did not get to, like, really
input myself into the playlist.
And actually, just to be honest,it didn't even come into my
mind, because that's just nothow things were done. And I
didn't have my own source ofmusic back then, right? You
(12:06):
know, we had one radio. We arelistening to that radio, or if
we're cleaning up, you know,this is what the house music is
going to be, the stereos, orthroughout the house, whatever.
So, again, new things. But howcan you change it up? Your
change up could be like, Okay,this time we're going to listen
to your music while we'replaying, right? And even if your
(12:27):
kids listen to some raunchymusic, and you're not 100% with
that, you could find the cleanversion of those songs. And
again, you could listen toraunchy music, because just
keeping it 100 I do listen tosome music that is really
inappropriate for children, butI also know how to find some kid
bops that are similar, or justdo a clean version, you know,
(12:52):
where they bleep out, or songsor whatever. So that's very hard
to do, but again, make it a partof the family tradition where
you guys are sharing your musictogether. Okay, so very
important. So cleaning uptogether. And of course, the
holiday is all about the food,especially Thanksgiving. So what
can we do? We could, of course,have the kids cook together with
(13:13):
us. And when we think aboutThanksgiving, we think about
that big meal, but it could alsobe like a brunch like, you know,
my cousin has come. She's donelike, two different brunches
now, you know, and invited us soshe get out for these holidays.
We've also eaten several mealstogether, had lunch together. So
there are a lot of things thatyou can do beyond just cooking
(13:34):
that Thanksgiving dinner. But ofcourse, it could be, you know,
this one of the things I taughtmy daughter like to cook mac and
cheese, how to make, uh, sweetpotato pies, things like that.
Now, I just want to be clear.
I'm not a cook, like the cook myhusband's like the one that is
the chef. He's the one that becooking it up, right? But I'll
(13:56):
be doing my sweet stuff, youknow, because I'm very sweet.
I'm very sweet. No, not really.
I'm just straightforward person.
I mean, I guess some people callme sweet. I get I don't know.
Anyway, that's not the importantthing. The important thing is
that you're going to be spendingthe time together cooking. So if
it's not, if you're not ready tolet them in the Thanksgiving
(14:18):
kitchen, let them in on thatbrunch kitchen. Let them in on
the breakfast kitchen. Okay,give them something to do.
Follow a recipe. Again, that isa way, again, having fun and
making it a safe for them. Okay,let me just tell you make it
safe, because I definitely havebeen in a situation where I was
(14:40):
not that safe when I was doingsomething. I didn't know how to
even butter bread really good.
And you know, when you have,like, that hard bread, and you
roll up the bread when you're,you know, make it safe. Don't
make them feel bad. Just belike, okay. You're new at this.
You're good. I started off doingthat too, and you're learning.
And let them know. It's fun.
(15:01):
Whatever it is, have fun. I justwant to emphasize that, of
course, we can get real seriouswith the cleaning, but have fun.
And then just say, Okay, let'spause for a second. Let me tell
you this area that really needsto get clean, and this is how
you get it the cleanest, or thisis a part you need to pay
attention to. Okay, let's getback to the fun, right? So, so
mix it up. Don't make it allhard work. Like, this is rough,
(15:25):
tough time, hard time. This isfun time. And then say, okay,
but we do need to make sure weget it cleaned up. And then you
could just make a little joke,because yes, and when I see
people have, like, dirt in thecorners, I'm clowning them, you
know, or whatever. Just to say,like, let's pay attention to
detail. So just try to make itfun and make it a safe space
when they're making mistakes,because they are going to make
(15:46):
mistakes. They haven't beenhelping you with this before. So
help them, because eventuallyyou want it to be with their
cooking and you're able to sitback and relax as you're gonna
get old parents. I mean, youknow, just feeling my age aging
process. Sorry. Anyway, allright, so moving on. So, of
(16:11):
course, another tradition of theholidays. We're in America, so
it's all about the shopping. Weare consumers, right? Or if
you're on the other side, whereyou have a business and you have
your Black Friday deal out, helpthem, you know, help the kids
with helping you. And I did havemy little Black Friday sales,
like rolling around on YouTubeor whatever, but, um, I haven't
(16:34):
posted that much on socialmedia, but I did have, I haven't
taken a break, right? But thepodcast don't take no breaks. We
every week, so just know that.
But the social media, prettymuch it was a break on the
social media. Okay, that's justwhat it is. Okay. So let me just
pause for the break, because itis time. Yes, and this is, you
know, always selling my book,always, always. Here we go all
(17:00):
over the United States, 75% ofchildren don't know how to
write. Well, add that to thefact that so many people out
there are trying to silence thevoices of those who have been
oppressed and trying to preventthem from telling their story.
Who's going to tell your story,if your child doesn't know how
(17:20):
to write. Well, I have two booksto address this issue, the
rewrite method and the rewritemethod workbook. We tend to make
sure that parents know what todo, that educators know what to
do to get their children towrite better and just not write
better, but love to write. Makesure that your next generation
could tell their story, and theywon't be silenced. Go to falling
(17:43):
for learning.com today topurchase your set.
I'm back. Okay. Anyway, so thatyou know, get that rewrite
method, the rewrite methodworkbook. Okay, so back to how
could we have fun with ourchildren? Okay, so Black Friday
(18:06):
with the sales, either you orhelp the kids are helping you
with making the sales right, oryou're out there shopping and
being consumer, because we'reboth. We should be both. Some of
us are just consumers, buthopefully that's something that
you're working on. Help you tohave some of your own income
streams coming in, because, youknow, I'm all about that
multiple income streams, streamsof income anyway, so again, part
(18:32):
of the fun and learning likehelping them look online for
sales, helping them look in thenewspaper or The Sales papers
that come through in the mailactually going to a mall or,
like the small businessSaturdays, right? So those are
really important to like thatagain, helps you with the
reading, helps you with thewriting, helps you with the
(18:53):
math, right? We're going to savemoney if we go shopping today or
or whatever. So helping the kidsfind things that they're
interested in. And this isagain, showing helping your kid
with showing gratitude, right?
This is a time you tell peoplehow grateful you are for them,
thankful you are for them, andyou give them things. And we're
shopping. We heard grandma saywe heard Auntie say she needs
(19:15):
and you're thinking about thatperson and trying to contribute
to them, even if you're going toput in a little bit of money or,
you know, just find out wherethe best price to get this thing
is. That's what you do forsomeone that you love. So you
show them that you're going tobe giving gifts, but also help
them with the gift giving.
(19:37):
Right? Let's what can we get forthis person? Somebody look up
where we could get the best dealon a sweater for grandma, for
auntie, or whoever it is. Sothink about that. Because,
again, that includes thereading, the writing, all of
that, and then negotiating,talking together is very
(19:57):
important. So those. Are somethings even calling around to
the store, because sometimesthey're like, it's not at this
store. So have them cause,ma'am, do you have it at this
store? Do you have one of these?
And all of that is like, youknow, so resourceful, teaching
them how to, like, advocate forthemselves, ask questions. Find
the best deals. You know, seehow much money off this is all
(20:19):
of those amazing things aresomething that you can do for
your kids, and it's soimportant, go ahead and make
sure you incorporate them intothe shopping process. Okay? So
we are talking about cookingwith your kids, cleaning with
your kids, sharing your music,all of that fun stuff, right?
Also, you may be thinking aboutget, you know, actually creating
(20:44):
something for a kid so oranother kid, or grandma or
whoever, because sometimes we'rejust making something. Maybe
you're helping them, you know,to crochet or to knit, because
that's maybe part of yourculture that you have learned
how to do. Maybe you're helpingthem sew. It could be just paper
and pencil crafts that you'redoing with your kids and helping
(21:05):
them have fun crafting a messageto someone that they love, that
they appreciate, and they wantto make sure they give them a
gift, right? So it could be agift of words. Is something that
they are artistically making forthem. So think about doing that
with the kids, because thatagain, helps you to get away
from the screen and get intosharing time with each other and
(21:29):
enjoying one another that is soimportant. A lot of people don't
understand that, that that we'remissing those opportunities, the
more we kind of relegate ourchildren to screens and, you
know, surfing the internet andYouTube and all of that that we
are forgetting theseopportunities of helping them to
learn how to craft things andmake things for people, write
(21:52):
things out for people, andreally, you know, our holiday
time is about family time,taking time to pause, reflect on
the year, to really think aboutwho they appreciate, who got
them through when it was hard,who got them through with the
fun times, right? And reallygiving people their flowers,
(22:13):
because I've had a year thisyear where we've had some sudden
deaths, some deaths of olderfamily members, you know, just
people that we're not going tohave, that we have this holiday
without them the first time. Andit really makes you think about
the way things were in the past,and you don't want to miss your
(22:33):
opportunities. Make sure you usethis family time to actually get
to know each other. Spend timetogether, teach your children
things, pass on your traditions.
Pass on those food traditions,those music traditions,
remember, I was even sayingthose dancing traditions. If
you're gonna go ahead and dolike a little dance with your
(22:55):
kids, or whatever, like, like,make it happen for each other.
Okay? And so, you know, givingpeople their flowers, right?
Really letting them know howmuch you appreciate them, and
letting them know throughcrafting or writing out
something to them, giving them atribute, helping them with you
(23:15):
and your kids, negotiating andtalking about what you're going
to write to this person. Whatare those things that they did
for you? What are that specific,those specific acts or moments
together that you're going torecall and you're going to write
a tribute to them? Like, how areyou going to do that? Like, that
is something that is soimportant to show them how to
(23:36):
give thanks to those people whohave been a part of their
growing up and and and raisingthem and making sure that they
have a happy, productive lifeagain, and we're teaching them
right to show appreciation. Andit's the reading and the
writing, listening and speaking,all of that together, having fun
with your kids. It's soimportant you can't get this
(23:58):
time back right? And whateverthis holiday is, if it's on the
wonderful side, it's in the midside, it's on like, kind of like
a sad holiday time for you all,this holiday is not going to
come back and you're going tolook back and be able to relish
in those moments that you had,no matter what, right so you
(24:22):
could do some camping together.
So we're gonna move on to, like,you know, those extended times.
So like, are we gonna camp out,put, like, a little camp out on
the living room floor orsomething? I recently just want
to tell you had a time with afamily member, an extended
family member. You know, we weredoing a celebration of life, and
(24:43):
I decided, you know, to be cheapand not to stay in a hotel room.
I stayed with a family member.
And it was just so many of us,dozens of us in the house. But
it was just some of the nicesttime. You know, everybody just
was together. Spending timetogether, laughing at each
other, laughing together, eatingtogether. I mean, it was just
(25:06):
some of the best time, eventhough it was like a sad
occasion, you know, it was also,you know, a time where people
were gathering together who hadmaybe not gathered together
before, maybe won't even gathertogether again. We don't know
what the future holds, but, youknow, think about how you could
put that camping inside orglamping. It could be inside
(25:30):
camping. It'd be outsidecamping, you know. So this could
be something that you do lateron in the year or during the
summer. But think about ifthere's some camping experiences
that you could have, and itcould just be on the on the
floor, but you could also, youknow, put a, you know, the
flashlight. You could have somespecial snacks out. You could
tell some stories. There'sdifferent things you could do to
(25:54):
bring it up a notch, to make itmore fun and exciting. And then
if you're going to do itoutdoors, of course, it's a lot
of learning that goes into thatas well. But so just think
about, you know, how you couldcreate moments. It doesn't
require a lot of money or timeor or anything, just taking the
time just to be there for eachother and just put in those
(26:15):
special little moments, right?
Some people making s'mores orsomething, you could do it with,
you know, if you have afireplace or whatever, you could
do it that way. You could do itoutside, just different ways.
Just think about what you arethinking like, what did we used
to do when you were kids, andhow you can recreate some of
that. How could you put your ownmodern spin to it and share it
(26:36):
with your kids? Right? And Ijust left my cousin, she at her
and another group of familymembers had rented out, like a
mansion, and they had, like aholiday in this, like Airbnb,
like mansion, six or sevenbedrooms or whatever. And it was
(27:00):
just a really fun time. And Ijust had a, you know, brunch
there, and it was very nice. Andthey just went all out, all
kinds of foods, shrimp andgrits, and, oh, there was
pancakes, there was Frenchtoast, there were potatoes. It
was so good. So just think aboutwhat you could do to bring you,
(27:25):
know, love and light to yourfamily and really teach your
child what it means to to spendtime together and to give them a
balance where they could maybedo their own thing with their
own devices. But there'ssometimes that where it's just
us. We don't need a device.
We're going to talk together.
We're going to listen to musictogether. We're going to dance
(27:45):
together.
We don't need to be on ourseparate devices. We're all
going to listen to the samemusic. We're all going to take
this video together, or picturetogether, or play this game
together. And you know, justthink about it. What are you
going to bring forth that youhaven't done in the past? It's a
little bit of old school. Iremember we were doing Twister
(28:07):
back in that like there's justso many things you could bring
back. And you are teaching yourchild and making sure that you
build those bonds. Okay. Well, Ihope you have a wonderful rest
of your holiday, theThanksgiving, and you really
enjoy yourself, and you're doingsomething today that your future
(28:29):
children will thank you for Iappreciate you. Have a great
rest of your weekend, and wegoing to be out of here. Thanks.
Again for supporting the fallingfor learning podcast. New
Episodes go live every Saturdayat 5pm you can watch us on
(28:53):
youtube.com at falling forlearning or listen on all major
podcast platforms such as Apple,Google, Audible, Spotify and
much more for more resources,visit falling in love with
learning.com we reallyappreciate you. Have a wonderful
(29:13):
week. You.
Hello. Okay, so this is like take two, so
welcome to the falling forlearning podcast. Today is
episode 75 so today we're goingto talk about fun activities we
could build into our holidays aswe are in right now, and to make
sure that we're building familybonds and teaching kids about
(00:22):
the culture and all of that goodstuff. So stay tuned. Here we
go. Hi. Thank you so much forjoining the following for
learning podcast. We have thispodcast to help parents and
caregivers with having theresources, strategies and tools
needed to make sure that theirchildren are on track for
learning and to stay on trackfor success.
(00:49):
Okay, here we are, our episode75 I'm very excited. Just let me
say it has been a fun holiday. Iget a link off, so I'm always
feeling very blessed during thistime, but also have spent some
good times with family, youknow. So I traveled a little
bit, not really, but intoLancaster, because I live in LA
(01:13):
so and still getting morecomfortable with my grades. They
are growing in because I'm notdying them anymore, because I
guess I'm a really grayingperson. Anyway, let's move on so
fun family activities that wecan do with the kids. So this is
how you build in that thosebonds and the family time. And
(01:36):
I'm really making sure Ihighlight this because we are in
a new era, right? Because ourkids may be just in front of a
screen, depending on you knowwhat things are already going on
with our family members. Theymay be okay with having their
kids, or their very young babiesand toddlers just on a screen,
so that they're not beingbothered with them, and not
(01:59):
knowing, like, how manyopportunities we're missing to
build our family bonds and allof that together. So this
holiday, so for Thanksgiving,one of the things that we did is
we played spades. So that'ssomething maybe your family has
done for a long time, and wehave done that depending on what
holiday or event was, but wehaven't done in a while. So it
(02:21):
was just me, my husband, mydaughter and my mother. We were
playing spades and really havinga good time. And of course, I
beat everyone handily, becausethat's what I do. I win, right?
I win no. So, you know, teachingeach other the you know, going
over the rules, helping it. Youknow, kids navigate. Think about
(02:41):
that strategy, all of that. SoI'm going to be talking about
activities that are away fromthe screen. So because it's just
so easy to grab the screen, it'sso easy to occupy kids with
that, but kids are literallygetting addicted to the screens,
and this is a perfect time, aperfect excuse to get your kid
away from the screen and intoactivities with you and the
(03:05):
family. Okay? And so playing acard game such as spades is one
of them. Now, I don't know ifyou could hear my dog barking or
whatever, but she's out therebarking. So that's what she's
doing. I hope you are, you know,have a dog that barks for you
sometimes, you know, I don'tknow, anyway, we're moving on.
(03:25):
You probably can't even hear it,because my sure microphone is
probably, you know, cancelingall that out and all of this I'm
talking about doesn't even,there's no reason for it. But
here we go, anyways. So spades.
Also that brings to mind, for mehow you could teach kids
Domino's, which is alsosomething very fun. You could
(03:46):
sit around again, helping themto learn the strategy, learn the
rules and just it's a funactivity. It distracts people,
again, from being on theirphones, and helps kids to just
get involved with the family.
Okay? Another thing that I wasthinking about, like with
(04:07):
Domino's is, like, you know,you're adding, you're
subtracting, right? You aregiving, you know, someone's
keeping points. And the samething with spades. So all that
is so, you know, like, it's justbuilt in learning and it's fun.
And so if we could think aboutways to do that. Now, obviously
I'm giving you some ideas, soyou can copy and paste, like
(04:27):
just use these exact ideas, butalso it may spark an idea of
something else that you used todo in your family, that you can
bring out, rejuvenate, revive inyour family. So that's funny. So
also something, I was at afriend's house and they had
like, um, nuts in a shell,right? Like, walnuts, different
(04:51):
things like that. And they hadlike, The Nutcracker, which also
is, like, brings up holidayseason. So like, people's
families during the holidayswould have. Nuts with shells and
crack the nuts, sit around, talkto each other and everything.
And do you know a lot of kids,you'll be surprised they don't
know where things come from.
Sometimes, if, especially ifyou're in a household where you
(05:12):
have a lot of processed foods,you'll be surprised that some
kids don't know that fries comefrom potatoes, right? Like, even
though, like, maybe we justthink that's common knowledge.
But if kids have not seen youpeeling those cutting up those
potatoes and all that kind ofstuff, and you're just getting
it, like, out of a bag, likefrozen fries, or getting it out
(05:33):
of McDonald's or something likethat, they may not know that
they come from potatoes. Andsometimes, when we don't spend
time with our kids, like, getthem off of the screens, and
really spending time with uscooking, with us sitting around,
cracking nuts, right? Because wehave a bag of nuts that we get
that are un that are shelled,right? No shells on it. And so
be very easy for young kids inthe family not to know, like,
(05:58):
Okay, this is what a walnutlooks like in its shell. This is
what an almond looks like in itsshell. And you know, just new
information, maybe they justdidn't have. And you just maybe
assume that they knew, but theydon't know, because they always
come processed in a bag, shelledsome salt on it, all this good
stuff, right? Instead ofknowing, like, Okay, here's a
(06:20):
nutcracker you could actuallycut, you know, or break open
this this nut and share it withthe family, or eat it together,
or whatever. And it's kind oflike a pastime. You could just
talk about stuff, you know,reminisce, tell them about
things you used to do when youwere a kid, how much this family
member looks like or acts likeanother family member, tell
(06:40):
funny stories. So all thosethings come out in the family
when you're not on a screen, butwhen you're just with the
screens or someone, the kids areover there, listening to their
own music, doing their ownthing, then it is less family
time, like we're around eachother. But are you the kids
learning from you, learning yourtraditions, your values? Are
(07:00):
they picking up traditions andvalues from people online that
they're learning from and theysee all the time? Very
important. So these are somedays that we're kind of like
thinking about, what are ourkids know, or what should they
know? Or what what do we do? Weused to do that we're not doing
now. We could bring back andhave some fan fun family time.
(07:21):
So this is so important for youto think about, you know,
talking about your brothers andyour sisters, your cousins,
whoever it is that you spenttime growing up with, and those
family traditions that you canrevive, and at the same time,
have fun with your kids andteach them a lot, right? Because
they don't know about some ofthe things that you know about,
(07:44):
and when you start talking aboutit, new things will come to
light, and you will have taughtthem some history, maybe told
them about way, the waytechnology has changed, or
traditions. So you're teachingthem a lot, and they're really
going to have fun doing it andgetting to know each other
better, and not just be aroundthem, because we're around them,
(08:05):
but we're on our phone orwhatever, but really get to know
each other, very important,which takes me on to cleaning
together. So that's a big thingabout the holidays. When people
come over your house, if you'rethe person who's hosting. I know
I drive myself crazy because,again, I'm a recovering
perfectionist, right? Drivemyself crazy trying to make sure
(08:27):
the house is super clean andeverything's organized, and I'm
not embarrassed, so just somuch. But that is something that
we could do together. Sosomething that a lot of people
talk about is when their parentshave them clean up. When they
were a kid, that they play thismusic and they start cleaning
but I was talking to my friendsthe other day and thinking about
(08:48):
how some of that is lost,because everyone has their own
screen, right? Everyone hastheir own screen. So your kid
can have their air pods inlistening to their music. You
know, the little kid could havethis little iPad listening to
their own music or whatever. Youknow, you know you as a parent,
could have your own air pod orwhatever, or even if you are
(09:09):
kind of blasting music, your kidcould just drown out that music.
But if you make cleanup time andnon screen time, and you're
cleaning up together, andeveryone's listening to the your
music, you could kind ofintroduce them some of that old
stuff, like some of the songsthat I've been listening to
lately, is bad boy by bad boyslash having a party by Luther
Vandross, of course, Luther isbefore my time, but, you know, I
(09:33):
learned that listen to my mom'smusic, right? So I really
cherish Luther, because that'swhat I grew up listening to,
like your kids and you hear it,some of the new rappers are
like, I don't listen to this oldrapper. I don't listen to them
because of maybe that experiencewhere we are very much listening
to whatever we want to listento. Our algorithm steers us to a
(09:56):
particular type. Music orwhatever. But are we?
Are we sharing our culture withour kids in a way that they're
listening to our music, learningto appreciate our music, because
you're not giving them their ownscreen or their own headphones
(10:17):
at that time, but they're ableto clean up with you and
listening to that musictogether, right? And not just
being driven by their ownalgorithm, their own interest,
and again, like an echo chamber,right? Because our algorithms do
become an echo chamber. Welisten to what we want to hear.
We hear the messages that wealready agree with, and things
(10:41):
that are kind of different oroutside of our comfort zone are
less and less familiar, becausewe are all driven by the
algorithms of Facebook andInstagram and YouTube and
Spotify or whatever. So it'svery, very important that we're
thinking about how to introduceour kids two aspects of our
(11:01):
culture, and culture, I'm sayingspecific to your household. Like
at this household, we listen toLuther Vandross when we listen,
you know, when we clean up orwhatever, whatever that
tradition is that you arespreading to your child, right?
What is that that you're sharingwith them? So think about those
opportunities, and of course,give them time to listen to
(11:23):
their own echo chamber, theirown algorithm. But then
sometimes you're have sacredtime. So we're just having fun
together, listening to musictogether, having a little dance
party together, as we'recleaning up and listening, you
know, so and again, you can,like, listen to some of their
songs, do some of their Tiktokdances, whatever, learn it, but
(11:45):
also give them the opportunityto listen to what you're
listening to. So sometimes youguys are listening together.
Now, of course, back in the day,I did not get to, like, really
input myself into the playlist.
And actually, just to be honest,it didn't even come into my
mind, because that's just nothow things were done. And I
didn't have my own source ofmusic back then, right? You
(12:06):
know, we had one radio. We arelistening to that radio, or if
we're cleaning up, you know,this is what the house music is
going to be, the stereos, orthroughout the house, whatever.
So, again, new things. But howcan you change it up? Your
change up could be like, Okay,this time we're going to listen
to your music while we'replaying, right? And even if your
(12:27):
kids listen to some raunchymusic, and you're not 100% with
that, you could find the cleanversion of those songs. And
again, you could listen toraunchy music, because just
keeping it 100 I do listen tosome music that is really
inappropriate for children, butI also know how to find some kid
bops that are similar, or justdo a clean version, you know,
(12:52):
where they bleep out, or songsor whatever. So that's very hard
to do, but again, make it a partof the family tradition where
you guys are sharing your musictogether. Okay, so very
important. So cleaning uptogether. And of course, the
holiday is all about the food,especially Thanksgiving. So what
can we do? We could, of course,have the kids cook together with
(13:13):
us. And when we think aboutThanksgiving, we think about
that big meal, but it could alsobe like a brunch like, you know,
my cousin has come. She's donelike, two different brunches
now, you know, and invited us soshe get out for these holidays.
We've also eaten several mealstogether, had lunch together. So
there are a lot of things thatyou can do beyond just cooking
(13:34):
that Thanksgiving dinner. But ofcourse, it could be, you know,
this one of the things I taughtmy daughter like to cook mac and
cheese, how to make, uh, sweetpotato pies, things like that.
Now, I just want to be clear.
I'm not a cook, like the cook myhusband's like the one that is
the chef. He's the one that becooking it up, right? But I'll
(13:56):
be doing my sweet stuff, youknow, because I'm very sweet.
I'm very sweet. No, not really.
I'm just straightforward person.
I mean, I guess some people callme sweet. I get I don't know.
Anyway, that's not the importantthing. The important thing is
that you're going to be spendingthe time together cooking. So if
it's not, if you're not ready tolet them in the Thanksgiving
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kitchen, let them in on thatbrunch kitchen. Let them in on
the breakfast kitchen. Okay,give them something to do.
Follow a recipe. Again, that isa way, again, having fun and
making it a safe for them. Okay,let me just tell you make it
safe, because I definitely havebeen in a situation where I was
(14:40):
not that safe when I was doingsomething. I didn't know how to
even butter bread really good.
And you know, when you have,like, that hard bread, and you
roll up the bread when you're,you know, make it safe. Don't
make them feel bad. Just belike, okay. You're new at this.
You're good. I started off doingthat too, and you're learning.
And let them know. It's fun.
(15:01):
Whatever it is, have fun. I justwant to emphasize that, of
course, we can get real seriouswith the cleaning, but have fun.
And then just say, Okay, let'spause for a second. Let me tell
you this area that really needsto get clean, and this is how
you get it the cleanest, or thisis a part you need to pay
attention to. Okay, let's getback to the fun, right? So, so
mix it up. Don't make it allhard work. Like, this is rough,
(15:25):
tough time, hard time. This isfun time. And then say, okay,
but we do need to make sure weget it cleaned up. And then you
could just make a little joke,because yes, and when I see
people have, like, dirt in thecorners, I'm clowning them, you
know, or whatever. Just to say,like, let's pay attention to
detail. So just try to make itfun and make it a safe space
when they're making mistakes,because they are going to make
(15:46):
mistakes. They haven't beenhelping you with this before. So
help them, because eventuallyyou want it to be with their
cooking and you're able to sitback and relax as you're gonna
get old parents. I mean, youknow, just feeling my age aging
process. Sorry. Anyway, allright, so moving on. So, of
(16:11):
course, another tradition of theholidays. We're in America, so
it's all about the shopping. Weare consumers, right? Or if
you're on the other side, whereyou have a business and you have
your Black Friday deal out, helpthem, you know, help the kids
with helping you. And I did havemy little Black Friday sales,
like rolling around on YouTubeor whatever, but, um, I haven't
(16:34):
posted that much on socialmedia, but I did have, I haven't
taken a break, right? But thepodcast don't take no breaks. We
every week, so just know that.
But the social media, prettymuch it was a break on the
social media. Okay, that's justwhat it is. Okay. So let me just
pause for the break, because itis time. Yes, and this is, you
know, always selling my book,always, always. Here we go all
(17:00):
over the United States, 75% ofchildren don't know how to
write. Well, add that to thefact that so many people out
there are trying to silence thevoices of those who have been
oppressed and trying to preventthem from telling their story.
Who's going to tell your story,if your child doesn't know how
(17:20):
to write. Well, I have two booksto address this issue, the
rewrite method and the rewritemethod workbook. We tend to make
sure that parents know what todo, that educators know what to
do to get their children towrite better and just not write
better, but love to write. Makesure that your next generation
could tell their story, and theywon't be silenced. Go to falling
(17:43):
for learning.com today topurchase your set.
I'm back. Okay. Anyway, so thatyou know, get that rewrite
method, the rewrite methodworkbook. Okay, so back to how
could we have fun with ourchildren? Okay, so Black Friday
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with the sales, either you orhelp the kids are helping you
with making the sales right, oryou're out there shopping and
being consumer, because we'reboth. We should be both. Some of
us are just consumers, buthopefully that's something that
you're working on. Help you tohave some of your own income
streams coming in, because, youknow, I'm all about that
multiple income streams, streamsof income anyway, so again, part
(18:32):
of the fun and learning likehelping them look online for
sales, helping them look in thenewspaper or The Sales papers
that come through in the mailactually going to a mall or,
like the small businessSaturdays, right? So those are
really important to like thatagain, helps you with the
reading, helps you with thewriting, helps you with the
(18:53):
math, right? We're going to savemoney if we go shopping today or
or whatever. So helping the kidsfind things that they're
interested in. And this isagain, showing helping your kid
with showing gratitude, right?
This is a time you tell peoplehow grateful you are for them,
thankful you are for them, andyou give them things. And we're
shopping. We heard grandma saywe heard Auntie say she needs
(19:15):
and you're thinking about thatperson and trying to contribute
to them, even if you're going toput in a little bit of money or,
you know, just find out wherethe best price to get this thing
is. That's what you do forsomeone that you love. So you
show them that you're going tobe giving gifts, but also help
them with the gift giving.
(19:37):
Right? Let's what can we get forthis person? Somebody look up
where we could get the best dealon a sweater for grandma, for
auntie, or whoever it is. Sothink about that. Because,
again, that includes thereading, the writing, all of
that, and then negotiating,talking together is very
(19:57):
important. So those. Are somethings even calling around to
the store, because sometimesthey're like, it's not at this
store. So have them cause,ma'am, do you have it at this
store? Do you have one of these?
And all of that is like, youknow, so resourceful, teaching
them how to, like, advocate forthemselves, ask questions. Find
the best deals. You know, seehow much money off this is all
(20:19):
of those amazing things aresomething that you can do for
your kids, and it's soimportant, go ahead and make
sure you incorporate them intothe shopping process. Okay? So
we are talking about cookingwith your kids, cleaning with
your kids, sharing your music,all of that fun stuff, right?
Also, you may be thinking aboutget, you know, actually creating
(20:44):
something for a kid so oranother kid, or grandma or
whoever, because sometimes we'rejust making something. Maybe
you're helping them, you know,to crochet or to knit, because
that's maybe part of yourculture that you have learned
how to do. Maybe you're helpingthem sew. It could be just paper
and pencil crafts that you'redoing with your kids and helping
(21:05):
them have fun crafting a messageto someone that they love, that
they appreciate, and they wantto make sure they give them a
gift, right? So it could be agift of words. Is something that
they are artistically making forthem. So think about doing that
with the kids, because thatagain, helps you to get away
from the screen and get intosharing time with each other and
(21:29):
enjoying one another that is soimportant. A lot of people don't
understand that, that that we'remissing those opportunities, the
more we kind of relegate ourchildren to screens and, you
know, surfing the internet andYouTube and all of that that we
are forgetting theseopportunities of helping them to
learn how to craft things andmake things for people, write
(21:52):
things out for people, andreally, you know, our holiday
time is about family time,taking time to pause, reflect on
the year, to really think aboutwho they appreciate, who got
them through when it was hard,who got them through with the
fun times, right? And reallygiving people their flowers,
(22:13):
because I've had a year thisyear where we've had some sudden
deaths, some deaths of olderfamily members, you know, just
people that we're not going tohave, that we have this holiday
without them the first time. Andit really makes you think about
the way things were in the past,and you don't want to miss your
(22:33):
opportunities. Make sure you usethis family time to actually get
to know each other. Spend timetogether, teach your children
things, pass on your traditions.
Pass on those food traditions,those music traditions,
remember, I was even sayingthose dancing traditions. If
you're gonna go ahead and dolike a little dance with your
(22:55):
kids, or whatever, like, like,make it happen for each other.
Okay? And so, you know, givingpeople their flowers, right?
Really letting them know howmuch you appreciate them, and
letting them know throughcrafting or writing out
something to them, giving them atribute, helping them with you
(23:15):
and your kids, negotiating andtalking about what you're going
to write to this person. Whatare those things that they did
for you? What are that specific,those specific acts or moments
together that you're going torecall and you're going to write
a tribute to them? Like, how areyou going to do that? Like, that
is something that is soimportant to show them how to
(23:36):
give thanks to those people whohave been a part of their
growing up and and and raisingthem and making sure that they
have a happy, productive lifeagain, and we're teaching them
right to show appreciation. Andit's the reading and the
writing, listening and speaking,all of that together, having fun
with your kids. It's soimportant you can't get this
(23:58):
time back right? And whateverthis holiday is, if it's on the
wonderful side, it's in the midside, it's on like, kind of like
a sad holiday time for you all,this holiday is not going to
come back and you're going tolook back and be able to relish
in those moments that you had,no matter what, right so you
(24:22):
could do some camping together.
So we're gonna move on to, like,you know, those extended times.
So like, are we gonna camp out,put, like, a little camp out on
the living room floor orsomething? I recently just want
to tell you had a time with afamily member, an extended
family member. You know, we weredoing a celebration of life, and
(24:43):
I decided, you know, to be cheapand not to stay in a hotel room.
I stayed with a family member.
And it was just so many of us,dozens of us in the house. But
it was just some of the nicesttime. You know, everybody just
was together. Spending timetogether, laughing at each
other, laughing together, eatingtogether. I mean, it was just
(25:06):
some of the best time, eventhough it was like a sad
occasion, you know, it was also,you know, a time where people
were gathering together who hadmaybe not gathered together
before, maybe won't even gathertogether again. We don't know
what the future holds, but, youknow, think about how you could
put that camping inside orglamping. It could be inside
(25:30):
camping. It'd be outsidecamping, you know. So this could
be something that you do lateron in the year or during the
summer. But think about ifthere's some camping experiences
that you could have, and itcould just be on the on the
floor, but you could also, youknow, put a, you know, the
flashlight. You could have somespecial snacks out. You could
tell some stories. There'sdifferent things you could do to
(25:54):
bring it up a notch, to make itmore fun and exciting. And then
if you're going to do itoutdoors, of course, it's a lot
of learning that goes into thatas well. But so just think
about, you know, how you couldcreate moments. It doesn't
require a lot of money or timeor or anything, just taking the
time just to be there for eachother and just put in those
(26:15):
special little moments, right?
Some people making s'mores orsomething, you could do it with,
you know, if you have afireplace or whatever, you could
do it that way. You could do itoutside, just different ways.
Just think about what you arethinking like, what did we used
to do when you were kids, andhow you can recreate some of
that. How could you put your ownmodern spin to it and share it
(26:36):
with your kids? Right? And Ijust left my cousin, she at her
and another group of familymembers had rented out, like a
mansion, and they had, like aholiday in this, like Airbnb,
like mansion, six or sevenbedrooms or whatever. And it was
(27:00):
just a really fun time. And Ijust had a, you know, brunch
there, and it was very nice. Andthey just went all out, all
kinds of foods, shrimp andgrits, and, oh, there was
pancakes, there was Frenchtoast, there were potatoes. It
was so good. So just think aboutwhat you could do to bring you,
(27:25):
know, love and light to yourfamily and really teach your
child what it means to to spendtime together and to give them a
balance where they could maybedo their own thing with their
own devices. But there'ssometimes that where it's just
us. We don't need a device.
We're going to talk together.
We're going to listen to musictogether. We're going to dance
(27:45):
together.
We don't need to be on ourseparate devices. We're all
going to listen to the samemusic. We're all going to take
this video together, or picturetogether, or play this game
together. And you know, justthink about it. What are you
going to bring forth that youhaven't done in the past? It's a
little bit of old school. Iremember we were doing Twister
(28:07):
back in that like there's justso many things you could bring
back. And you are teaching yourchild and making sure that you
build those bonds. Okay. Well, Ihope you have a wonderful rest
of your holiday, theThanksgiving, and you really
enjoy yourself, and you're doingsomething today that your future
(28:29):
children will thank you for Iappreciate you. Have a great
rest of your weekend, and wegoing to be out of here. Thanks.
Again for supporting the fallingfor learning podcast. New
Episodes go live every Saturdayat 5pm you can watch us on
(28:53):
youtube.com at falling forlearning or listen on all major
podcast platforms such as Apple,Google, Audible, Spotify and
much more for more resources,visit falling in love with
learning.com we reallyappreciate you. Have a wonderful
(29:13):
week. You.
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