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Use This Opportunity Well

Cartoon of a boy and a baby. The boy lectures the baby: "You are the next generation. Don't squander your opportunity like my generation!"
Previously published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine."

I really do think that any deep crisis is an opportunity to make your life extraordinary in some way.

Martha Beck

There is no doubt everyone is experiencing some kind of crisis right now.

  • Some people are quarantined in their own homes
  • Others are out of work as they wait to see if these extraordinary measures will work
  • Some have seen their retirement funds evaporate in a stock market roller coaster ride
  • Some have made a run to the store and are wondering what they will do with a six-month supply of toilet paper
  • Some are nervously washing their hands, disinfecting everything and are suspicious of anyone who isn’t doing the same

We have an opportunity through all of this to be an example. This will all blow over eventually. When we come out on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic, will we be proud of the way we showed kindness, consideration and courage? or will we be ashamed of the way we regressed a selfish, fearful shell of ourselves? The younger generations are watching us. Make the most of this opportunity to show the best of humanity.

Cartoon of a boy and a baby. The boy lectures the baby: "You are the next generation. Don't squander your opportunity like my generation!"
Previously published in “K! Kidzmatter Magazine.”
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Encouragement K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine motivation

The Many Ways We Find Comfort

Cartoon of a little brother and big sister. The boy says, "Why shouldn't I suck my thumb? After all, it's gluten free!"
Published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine"

The last week has been a deluge of Coronavirus craziness. It’s been enough to make a grown man want to suck his thumb. Not that I’ve tried it. At least I didn’t before I washed my hands thoroughly for twenty seconds humming the ABC song so that I properly lathered up and washed away all the nastiness of my extremities!

There are many ways we find comfort during trying times. Here are a few I noticed this week.

We will get through this and come out better for it. In the meantime, we may have several weeks that will test our emotions and resolve. I feel for the parents that have to scramble to find ways to deal with their kids being out of school. And I know what it’s like to be concerned for aging parents since that is the age group that seems most vulnerable.

Acknowledge your feelings and let’s find ways to comfort each other even if we need to do it from a distance. I won’t fault a child or adult if they resort to thumb sucking while we barrel through. After all, a thumb is gluten free.

Cartoon of a little brother and big sister. The boy says, "Why shouldn't I suck my thumb? After all, it's gluten free!"
Published in “K! Kidzmatter Magazine”
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Some Calm During This Crazy Coronavirus Time

Cartoon of a girl and a baby. The girl exclaims, "Bobby's nose is running! Code Green!"
Published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine."

As I write this, The world is coming to grips with the COVID-19 virus. In the United States, professional sports organizations, schools, and businesses are closing until we can get a better handle on the extent and severity of the outbreak. It’s been a crazy week no matter how you look at it. By the way, happy Friday the Thirteenth!

When facing an unknown such as a contagious virus, it can be easy to overreact like the girl in today’s cartoon. How can you not when everyday life is being affected even if you don’t get the virus? Yet, we will get through this. We have endured outbreaks through millennia and we will get through this one as well.

As we go through this pandemic, remember to take precautions, but do so with calm. Panic causes people to do some crazy things like put a daycare on lockdown when a baby has a runny nose. It can make someone buy six months’ worth of bathroom tissue. It can make you want to disinfect your cat. Keep calm and we will get through this!

Cartoon of a girl and a baby. The girl exclaims, "Bobby's nose is running! Code Green!"
Published in “K! Kidzmatter Magazine.”
Categories
K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine motivation

Creativity in Bending the Rules

Cartoon of a teacher observing a boy. He says, “While it’s true you’re not standing on the chair, I don’t want you to do that either.”
Published in “K! KidzMatter Magazine “

I am a firstborn, like my wife. We both grew up believing the world had a set of rules that were meant to be followed. Our poor siblings and kids probably got quite tired at hearing the “rules lecture.” It makes it that much more amazing we’ve both been in creativity careers and children’s ministry.

When I drew this cartoon, I thought of all the creative ways kids demonstrate how to bend the rules. They have taught me you can obey the letter of the law, but not the spirit. Is it any wonder one rule can become a dozen variants in no time!

There are certain rules that need to be obeyed for safety, fairness and justice. Then there are unwritten rules we need to reconsider each day. Are there unwritten rules about our culture that are keeping us from thinking creatively? Is there an unwritten rule in our business that no one really knows why we do it that way, we just do?

At any rate, please be kind to the chairs. They get enough abuse as it is.

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The Hidden Dangers of Adult Coloring Books

Cartoon of a teacher talking to a volunteer while kids run amuck. The Teacher says, "I need our adult volunteers to stop coloring when the kids have stopped."
Published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine."

It can be tough finding the perfect volunteer for a classroom. It needs to be someone who loves to be with children, but works well with the adults too. They need to have childlike qualities without be childish. They need to have fun with the kids without losing focus of the lesson. It can be too easy to veer off course.

When I drew this cartoon, I thought of the adult coloring book craze that began around 2015. Grown-ups were buying and using coloring books with intricate designs as a form of relaxation and meditation. I looked at some of the books and thought this would be too complex for the average child to color.

I could imagine a child going off to do their own thing while a parent stayed mesmerized for hours, working on their coloring page. When they came to, they would wonder where their little one went off to and why was the front door wide open. It could become a dangerous activity indeed!

Before you know it, there would be public service announcements imploring parents and teachers to practice safe coloring book hygiene. Maybe that’s why the adult coloring book craze died off after a couple of years.

If you are a parent, teacher or children’s worker, be aware and don’t let the coloring book trap get you. When the kids stop coloring, you do the same. It will be a much safer world if we follow that simple rule.

Of course, who am I to talk? I’ve been having fun coloring my own artwork for years! My kids survived, but it’s probably caused a few of the classrooms I’ve led to run amuck.

Cartoon of a teacher talking to a volunteer while kids run amuck. The Teacher says, "I need our adult volunteers to stop coloring when the kids have stopped."
Published in “K! Kidzmatter Magazine.”