Last Sunday, in between church services, I hopped into the Expo Mom 2010 Bazaar in Rockwell to take a peek at their ongoing campaigns. I specifically went to listen to the talks of Mommy Jen Tan of MomEx and the actress Mommy Dimples Romana on time management – It’s Time to Unlock the Secret to Your Child’s Success.
Time management is something that I am still trying to earn expertise on after 5 years of being a mother myself. It is a totally different page when motherhood steps in. And that is putting it lightly. Jen Tan’s first few lines came as a challenge for me. She asked for a show of hands for those parents who are saving up for their children’s future. An essential even as we try to impart the value of time management to our kids. The absolute truth remains that we cannot give what we do not have. As parents, we should also have a timetable set for that – to prepare for our kid’s education and future, amongst an array of other things.
Jen Tan expounded on the studies done by Dr. Edward Banfield, who is a noted Harvard sociologist and The American Journal of Health Studies. Jen Tan talked about how certain skills, such as planning for the future and the discipline to do what is important right away, helped children grow up to be financially and socially stable, successful adults. Interestingly, Dr. Banfield’s study proved that those who were able to plan their lives in five, ten or even 20 years into the future were able to map out their lives for success. His study also showed that factors such as education, intelligence, family background, race and occupation were not as crucial as time management.
Young mommy Dimples Romana shared her experiences as mother to Cal, the activities they do and make use of to teach her child the most important aspects of time management through fun and enjoyable activities. Reward boards and family calendars are exciting tools and activities that can help children find out how they manage their own time–from plotting how much time is spent on schoolwork to how much time is spent on play. This can then help your kids map out their week and devote more time for more important tasks and activities. You will also learn how get your kids to use fun watches such as Kids Watch Central time pieces to keep track of goal accomplishments and activities needed to finish their goals.
Makes me go back to how my husband and I nurture our son when it comes to time management. Our being intentional parents make us choose to walk the talk more than anything and then teach him the significance of time. This started off way before he knew how to tell time. Like for example, we’d say play time is up and it’s time to get himself ready for bath when the long hand on the clock is on a certain number. It also allows for him to anticipate what’s next and psyches him up to switch mindsets- that his play time will soon be over. This definitely takes tantrums out of the equation. At least for us. Now that he can now tell time, it’s way easier to have him do what he needs to do at a set time. This will definitely be foundational to his value of time management which will pretty much make for a successful future that we all parents want for our kids. Above is a picture of our little guy with his Action Man Kids Central Watch.
Kids Watch Central is located inside the Children’s Accessories area in leading department stores such as SM, The Landmark, and Rustan’s.
