DiddleDots on The News

Click Below to check out Susie Garlick on Channel 12 , Arizona Midday...

Susie Garlick on Arizona Midday

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

If someone said to me, “You can do whatever you want today.” There is no doubt in my mind that I would find myself at a crafting store buying all sorts of materials to create all day long. So imagine my excitement when I registered for school this session and got to take Expressive Arts Therapy! Not only was I going to create, I was going to learn how to help others in the process.

While I have always loved art, I now realize that art is a form of communication. It is much easier to share your feelings on paper than it is through conversation, especially when something is difficult. Often times, children don’t know how to share their feelings with their parents and the reverse is true as well. Art can open the door to better communication.

Pass out some paper and markers and have some fun with your family. Without having anyone share their answer with the group, have everyone complete the sentence, “My family____________.” or a sentence starter you would like them to answer. Next, everyone will draw a picture to match their statement. Once everyone is finished, go around the table and share. You will be amazed at what you see and the conversation that can come out of a simple picture. You might not like what they have to say or it might be the most endearing thing they have ever shared. Either way, remember it is how each individual feels. Good or bad, you are teaching your family how to share their feelings while learning things that you might never have known.

Be Bored

Many kids today do not know how to BE BORED. They are so over-programmed and over-stimulated that when there is nothing to do, they don’t know what to do. Most kids turn to their phone, turn on the TV or head to the computer. This simply masks boredom and over-stimulates the brain.

It is important to teach children how to be bored. Boredom is downtime for the brain and downtime for the brain fosters creativity. It is during these moments that our brain re-boots and allows our creativity to shine through. Teach your kids to accept boredom and to use it as a time to quietly think about what they love to do, what they would love to create and what their dreams are. Once they have had this quiet time they are fresh to try something new.

The idea behind this DOT came from the book Bright from the Start. I was lucky to listen to the author, Dr. Jill Stamm, speak. Her knowledge of babies and their brains is phenomenal. I highly recommend this book for soon-to-be moms and moms of babies. Click on the link below to read an excerpt.

Circle Time

The dinner table is one of the most important spots in your home. It is a place of comfort, laughter and memories. It is a great way to learn about everyone’s day, but if my husband or I are the ones asking all the questions, everyone gets bored very quickly.

To mix it up, play Circle Time. One person starts. He asks a question to the person on his right. After the question is answered, that person asks a question to the person to his right. This can go on and on and on! Sit back and enjoy your family and see where the conversation takes you. I can guarantee it will be more fun than simply bombarding your children with your own questions.

Mixed Messages

How many times have you been in a really bad mood and it had nothing to do with your children? How many times have your kids asked, "Mom, what's the matter?" and you reply coldly, "Nothing!" I know I have. The problem is that little Joey has no idea you got into a heated fight with your husband earlier in the day and now little Joey internalizes that maybe he did something wrong.

In the book Your Child's Self-Esteem, the author Dorothy Briggs discusses how to avoid mixed messages with your child. She states, "Whenever words are at odds with body language, a child is put in a mixed-message trap." Mixed messages cause inner turmoil in a child, which teaches distrust. Distrust, coming from mixed messages, equals unhappy children.

So what can we do? Do we need to be completely honest and share everything with our child? Absolutely not, but by being aware of the messages we send to our children, we can make simple statements that take the worry away. For example, when little Joey asked, "What's wrong mom?" You could simply say, "I am dealing with a grown-up problem and am upset right now." This takes any confusion away from your child and allows him to learn about true feelings.

I highly recommend the book Your Child's Self-Esteem. Click on the link below and check it out on Amazon.

Technology Overload

I am OBSESSED with technology. I have been trying to figure out where the hours in my days go and then I realized I was graciously giving all my time to my email accounts, my iphone, my text messages, Facebook and now Pinterest. I carry my phone around as if at any moment I will find the most important piece of information, only to usually find…NOTHING. In the process of looking for NOTHING I have wasted my precious time and have stopped living in the moment.

So what would happen if I STOPPED? Not completely, technology is an important part of my business as well as running my home, but checking it at nauseam is unacceptable. So like everything else in my life, I am making a plan. Starting today I will…

1. Check all my email accounts only twice a day.
2. I WILL NO LONGER USE MY PHONE AS A COMPUTER! I will use my phone as a phone.
3. I will turn my phone off in the car.
4. I will turn all technology off by 9:00pm every night.
5. I will allow myself 1 half hour each day to look at anything I want on the Internet.

Technology is important to our daily lives, but I am afraid it has become an “acceptable” addiction. Are you addicted? Set your boundaries, try it out and see what you have been missing in your life.

The New DiddleDots!

Since my DiddleDots book came out last month, many people have been telling me that in order to sell DiddleDots it was a must that I start up the blog again. I found myself smiling and saying, “I know, I am working on it.” In reality I was not working on it at all! There is this blogging mentality that in order to have a good blog you MUST blog everyday. This was ultimately why I stopped DiddleDots back in 2009. I did not have the time to post a DOT everyday and I didn’t want to post just to post. I was definitely not of the blogging mentality. But then it hit me, for the most part, people blog to get as many subscribers as they can; The more subscribers, the more advertisers, the more money made. I simply wanted to learn more about parenting and share it with other moms. It was that simple.

So, as I start up the DiddleDots website (again) I can't guarantee a DOT a day, but I can guarantee that when I do share a DOT it will be because I have learned it, lived it and want to share it with you, not because I want to grab one more subscriber. So, welcome to the new DiddleDots. I don’t know where it’s headed, but I look forward to the ride!