Handy Dandy Calendar Ideas (for Gifts for Your Family and Others)

What's family got to do with Calendars, especially more than one years worth at a time? Well, people grow a year older and do things related to ages whether starting homeschooling or childcare programs (even helping each other care for children,which ideally all new parents could get in touch with some little ones at story hours, daycares --especially ones their child/ren may attend, school groups and parent groups linked to any programs well before they need to use them.

That is part of the wisdom that comes from being a parent or even grandparent or other relative or helper who may want to tune into a child's world. It's ideal to do so before one has a child so one has time to reflect and make inquiries, friendships for alliances in support for practical needs and advice or sharing about other matters as well. That's how small networks grow, over time, with care and sharing.

Some programs are more helpful in promoting these things than others. Some places actually make it rather challenging to known 'who's who and how to interact' especially if one is not the parent or caregiver. In NYC for instance for 'practical reasons' no one without a child in their care is supposed to go on a playground to meet the parents or caregivers. That may work in the cities, but in smaller towns, many people are trying to help parents so whether they meet in public or the playground may not be of much significance.

There is actually a lot of thinking to do about how to recruit more volunteers to mentor both parents and children. Some have a policy of very limited contact in terms of reading or interacting with student at school and not allowing further contact even with the parent's permission (which likely they need to agree to give as well.) Some mentors help students, even the same ones, over many years and keep to that protocol.

There are safety and liability concerns likely being addressed. We also have room for growth of options  however, since again in smaller communities, there usually are limited resources and the idea of building networks can do a lot of good for all parties involved. Likely more could be clarified. but the overall idea would be to have resource groups of adults for other  adults and then more resource people to assist in supervising minors in appropriate public and group settings with some planned activities and accountability for the time spent together.

That's where sports, music and many clubs fill the bill for youth after a certain age, whether  9, 12, 15 or older when youth can be left unsupervised at a library, public swimming area or other venue. Sometimes playgrounds may allow youth there but will not be able to prevent them from leaving, so another bit of networking could likely be implemented from parents themselves agreeing to watch a group of youth to keep them from leaving in addition to whatever service is offered.

When volunteering for a school or agency, often a person must agree to not work for pay for the people they serve  in another capacity such as doing child care, giving rides or other lessons. Still, the reality of life may be that more people  who can fill in the gaps, whether with short-term rides, childcare for someone who gets sick and so on could be developed. Substitute teachers in some states need a high school diploma and others require a college degree.

Then they are often entrusted with a class or the whole studend body if teaching art, music or gym or even watching a large group of youth during recess alone. I offer this as a reference for the kinds of situations common to the American public. There are growing safety networks and practices for buildings and policies since 'mass or school shootings' have made headlines in recent years. Maybe we can 'never go back' to  the kind of carefree, trusting society many people over 50 grew up and many people even in their 30s were reared in. With all that introductory thought, the idea to list a set of years with each persons age is what I would like to present (at long last) along with other more practical ideas. I did one post and deleted it by mistake, so started this one.

Thanks for bearing with me as I try to recall the newer ideas that came to mind after starting off with the Simple Idea of having a Calendar which listed the Month at the Top of the Page then Numbers 1-31 on the far left, with a column free to write in the Days of the Week when one decided What Year one wanted to designate the calendar for. Without adding the Year initially, one could make Copies for All in the Family or in a Group. Also even though the full 31 days are not used, those could be crossed out with a simple line or covered up with a sticker on the months they were not needed. The rest of the page would be for notes and other  quotes or helpful info etc could be on another page it one puts this in an 8x11notebook or for a long calendar use a legal pad or cover up an old calendar's listing with drawing paper.

When writing the days of the week, use what you like whether the words Monday, Tuesday, or Mon, Tue, or Mo, Tu or M1, T2, W3, Th4, F5, Sa6 or Su7 or other such designation. Yes, I know that Sunday is the first official day of the week, but in terms of teaching kids about going back to school or people  heading back to the typical M-F work week, try thinking of Monday as One Day, Tuesday as Two Day (or The Two Day), Wednesday as Three Day, Thursday as Four Day, Friday as  Five Day, Saturday as Six Day and Sunday as Seven Day (or use the numbers such as the 1day, the 2 day, the 3 day, the 4 day and the 5 day then the 6 day and the 7day. )

This really could make Sunday more of a rest day, or Saturday for that matter at least psychologically. Many people fill up one or both days, each candidates for the Sabbath or a Day of Rest with many activities. Some say what could help is to take One Day at any time during the week to R-E-S-T (which  I cover in other  posts). While all of this seems so basic, Slowing Down is an Art! Remember we may be planning for one's life as well. Write out how old each of your children are (and teachers could do this for their classes and hand out to parents and be forever sainted or at least thought -provoking.)

Write down what grade your child is in (or your class) then extend that out for the next 5 and 10 years. Go ahead and 'fill in the past' noting what month and year they were born (and consider whether they were premature and perhaps factor that in if they have not yet attended public school or certain programs they may need some more developmental time to enjoy fully). Only four states in the country allow 4 year olds to attend kindergarten whether half or full day. Consider options carefully after research and again, talk with other  parents. more later..but enjoy for now