'love from the heart"

dont throw out your childrens drawings of christmas or their artwork. keep it and if your lucky to have  a fireplace display it on the mantel next to the tree if not put the artwork around the tree. teach your children that handmade things are precious and by displaying their work in this manner you show them how proud you are of their work. my sons are now 27 and 24 and i have kept all their artwork over the years to do with christmas.  i also have kept their handmade christmas cards . over the years they have accumilated but they take pride and joy on my tree. the most popular ones are where my children have drawn the four of us in the cards. i have wavy hair and its very amusing seeing my sons drawings of my "boofy hair" it makes me feel special. it also makes me see myself in the eyes of my children.  i have even kept the journal that they wrote as a school excercise. one of my favourites is when we used to play nintendo and we would play mario brothers. i never did clock it although i got close. but my son has even recorded the scores mum (me) of course had the lower score and dad had the second lowest. it brings precious memories to the family and its a tradition i hope my boys will continue in generations to come. I also started another tradition where we have a small sponge cake (we find the cheapest ones taste the best) for each of our birthdays. we place candles and sing happy birthday on the day. just the four of us. regardless of whether we have a birthday party on the weekend with friends and relatives. this year my husband was working away in the country and it was our son's 27 th birthday we still sang happy birthday via mobile phone. hubby was on speaker (technology today is wonderful) . even in 2005 when my husband and i were overseas we missed our son's 25th birthday. my husband and i stopped in a cake shop in kalamata (pelopponese region of greece) and had a slice of cake and coffee to celebrate. one year when i was rushed off my feet and tired from work i was going to skip the cake but one of my son's insisted and went out to buy it for me. we do it in style with candles and we sing happy birthday. we even clap to the amount of years the birthday person is.   also  on fathers day  i cook breakfast with the boys bacon and eggs  and toast and hubby gets it in bed and mothers day hubby cooks breakfast with the boys bacon and eggs and toast and i also get it in bed. one of the rare occasions we eat bacon and eggs and becomes very special. not only do children learn how to cook a well filling breakfast but they are learning family and responsibility and closeness. this principle can apply to a lot of things in life. noone is too young to learn. the main thing to remember is not to raise the bar too high. each year the child will achieve more and understand more. the main thing also to remember is not to make it into a task but  a fun thing. dont make it into a boring everydown routine thing but keep things in perspective for very special occasions eg bacon and eggs  twice a year mothers day fathers day even if you dont eat breakfast. as a rule my husband hardly eats breakfast but he looks so forward to his bacon and eggs and it becomes very special. i have only given a few examples but the point is that even if you are strapped for money there are a lot of things you can achieve out there that are from the heart and is full of love that your children will love and cherish when they are older. be very proactive in your childrens lives no matter how tired you are because years down the track you wont remember the trivial things but those special moments you had with the children. when you are overwhelmed and tired take a few deep breaths and smell the roses. if you dont have roses take the children for a walk and smell someone elses.             cheers annie