Tricks of the Trade. 2.

Clearly, after my questions post yesterday, it is evident that I am still treading water most days in the parenting realm.

But, like any profession, there are a few bits and pieces I’ve picked up here and there that seem to be working – at the moment.

And those are the types of morsels I’m sharing in this Tricks of the Trade posts.

Here it is . . . .

Consider carefully what posters/art/decorations you hang around the bed of your sweet child.

It’s subtle – but those wall hangings will probably be etched on their brains and as familiar to them as the sound of their own nickname when they think about their childhood.

Kevin still vividly recalls the posters on his bedroom walls growing up.  Of course, one of them was of Alyssa Milano of Who’s the Boss? fame.  But – that supports my theory anyway, right?  (I don’t really want my boy remembering a TeenBeat magazine star if I can help it.)

I’ve not mastered this entirely in every bedroom of our house, but I think Hawkeye’s room is a good beginning.

He loves birds.  He buys bird identification books with his own saved birthday money.  He has our family’s copy of Birds of the Carolinas practically memorized.  He walks around literally saying phrases like, “If you want to make friends with a bird, sit still in one place for a while.”

So – this one was easy.

We’re at three posters right now.

Wonderful posters from this lovely website – Imagine Childhood.  Posters worth framing.  (Which I did.  One – because it looks better and I like that.  Two – because Berg’s sometimes (all the time) dirty hands are constantly touching and studying the posters and I wanted them to last.)

At night we lie in his bed (on top of one old family quilt and underneath another old family quilt) and talk about which birds we like.

I truly believe that even when that kid is not a kid he will be able to close his eyes and conjure up an image of those beautifully drawn birds.  I think they’ll almost be a part of him.

Just by placing them directly in his line of vision, occasionally engaging him in discussions about them and often listening to his vast knowledge of bird facts.

And it really is as simple as that.

Learning through pleasure.

My favorite style of education.

And a little bitty trick of the trade.