The Magic in the Ordinary for St. Patrick's Fun

The Center’s recent Parenting Forum inspired me to look at my favorite parenting books. The one that jumped off the shelf to me was 10 Principles for Spiritual Parenting by Mimi Doe. The book is well loved with water damage, coffee stains and dog-eared pages. Somehow in the hustle and bustle of the past 3 or 4 years, I forgot about this book. It called to me. I thumbed through the pages and landed on the chapter, The Magic in the Ordinary, which, to me, seems perfect for the month of March when our belief in magical leprechauns is ignited.

In the chapter Doe reminds parents that “By inviting her (the child) to see the magic in the ordinary, you strengthen her spirituality so that it lives forever in her life. When she reaches adulthood, your child will have no need to search outside herself for something to make her happy.”

 

This week ignite the magic with these activities:

• Make a fairy home in the garden using recycled materials, rocks, shells and sticks.

• Lie on the grass and daydream with your child as the clouds float past.

• Brainstorm and make a leprechaun trap out of recycled materials (cereal boxes, yogurt cups, strawberry baskets) with your child. You can even paint rocks gold to use as bait.

• Buy green food coloring with plans to turn milk and toilet bowl water green (I always put the food coloring in the tank so when the children flush in the morning the toilet bowl water is green) while the children sleep on March 16. When they wake up on St. Patrick’s Day let them discover the leprechauns’ mischief.

• Find a patch of clover (or buy some at the garden center and plant it in a pot) and search together for a four-leafed one. Talk about other lucky charms or special items children can carry with them in their pocket or backpack.

Above all, we know that magic happens when we connect and, really, taking time to make the week special is all about connecting as a family.

Join us with your child at the Center this Sunday. The children will explore Faith with me and the Youth Church team. We will be discussing how the Law always works using natural laws as examples. 

Written by Juli Isola