Bedtime Cards: Affirming the Awesome Little Person in Your Life
On their website, the creators of Little Stars Bedtime Cards share a quote from Barbara Coloroso’s A Pocket Guide to Kids are Worth It. “Bedtime is a special time, a time of transition. It is an opportunity for closure to one day and a preparation for the next. It is a small turning point in the natural rhythm that gives structure and meaning to life. With care and patience and awareness of our children’s needs, each bedtime can be its own celebration of love and life.”
As parents, we all wish for bedtime to be a positive time, but all too often it’s filled with whining, demands & less than stellar patience levels on the part of both parent and child. Canadian moms Shannon McQuillan & Linda Komori created Little Stars Bedtime Cards to help parents make bedtime the affirming and positive experience that it has the potential to be. They’re not designed to teach new concepts, but to ‘affirm positive qualities that already exist in your child.’
The Little Stars, Sparky, Blaxe & Shiner help parents ask “big questions for little people.” There are some great reasons for using questions as opposed to statements. According to the site, “when we have a specific lesson or message that we need to communicate, teaching or telling our child is very effective. However, when the goal is to connect and deepen our understanding of our child, questions about thoughts and feelings can be incredibly effective for the following kinds of reasons:
~It becomes a two way conversation
~It feels good when someone takes and interest you (even if you don’t have a lot to say)! The very nature of asking questions is an expression of the desire to learn about the other person
~There are no right or wrong answers when you are talking about thoughts and feelings
~Your child will feel loved knowing that you care enough to ask the question and to listen to their response (again even if they don’t have a lot to say)
~You see the world through your child’s lens and may end up talking about things you wouldn’t otherwise (you may be surprised to learn just how opinionated and observant your three year old really is!)
~It keeps your attention focused on your child and children love to have a parents undivided attention even for just a short while
~Children are naturally curious and while they love to answer questions, they may start to ask questions themselves which is lots of fun too.”
Any one of those reasons would have been enough for me to try these cards. I’ve seen them in action with my own little guy and I think they’re every but as awesome as they sound. The cards sell for $15 and ship for just $3. They’d make a great gift for your child who is transitioning to a big kid bed, don’t you think?
Win it! We’ve got a set of Bedtime Cards to give away to a randomly selected reader. To enter, leave a comment on this post before noon mst on February 27, 2009.
CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED
February 23rd, 2009 at 2:24 am
Lovely idea and I know it would make any child feel special.
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:22 am
These seem interesting. I’d love to win a copy!
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:02 am
I’d love to win!
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:53 am
awww what a sweet idea!
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 am
My little one isn’t to the point where she asks for ‘one more story’ yet, but we’ll be there soon, so I think that picking a card and talking about it instead of re-reading a story again would be fantastic. thanks!
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:02 am
I’m a subscriber, thanks again!
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:37 am
What a nice product. A great way to end the day!
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:26 am
I’d love to win this giveaway. It looks really great!
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:34 am
hope this one is for me
February 23rd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
enter me !
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:11 pm
please enter me!
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:11 pm
would love to be entered.
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Looks great, please count me in!
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Bedtime Cards,what a great idea.Send your child to bed with positve and affirming thoughts in their heads.I am a subscriber.
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:46 pm
What a great idea!
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:23 pm
I would love to use these with my son. Thanks for the chance.
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:23 pm
I’m a subscriber.
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
I love this idea
gkstratos@yahoo.com
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Seems like a great product! My daughter would love this one! Thanks
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Interesting! Would love to be entered! Thanks
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:31 pm
A great way to have a conversation with your child.
February 24th, 2009 at 12:34 am
Sounds amazing! We are always looking for ways to smooth out bedtime.
February 24th, 2009 at 1:44 am
These would be great for the kids.
February 24th, 2009 at 7:41 am
I would love to have these to use with my son.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:25 am
With 4 kids now I always worry about not giving each of them enough individual attention, this would be helpful with that.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:26 am
great for my grandson.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:48 am
What a great way to try to get my little guy to stay in bed at night.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:55 am
This looks neat – enter me please!
February 24th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Great bonding idea!
February 24th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I subscribe!
February 24th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
enter me
February 24th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
this would be good for my older son
February 24th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Please, count me in!
February 24th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Cool idea, please count me in.
Michelle S.
February 24th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Neat Product. Enter me.
February 25th, 2009 at 5:51 am
Please enter me. My son loves his Brainy Baby cards, but some variety would make both of us happy.
Thanks
February 25th, 2009 at 9:21 am
As a Grandmother of two and mother of two – believe me there is nothing as important as having ongoing meaningful conversations with your children. Building relationships where you value each other and care for each other is huge. Bedtime is a perfect time to chat and I found it a great time for both of us to share ideas and thoughts – these cards will help to focus the conversations on topics that really matter.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:20 am
My daughter loves bedtime chats, please enter me.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:42 am
My daughter usually has more than enough to talk about at bedtime (!) but these might be a nice change of pace.
February 25th, 2009 at 11:14 am
These seem like a really good idea. Thanks for the giveaway.
February 25th, 2009 at 11:14 am
I am a subscriber.
February 25th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
These sound so cute and I think my daughter would love them. Thanks for the chance to win.
February 25th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
This would be great for my daughter. Thanks.
February 25th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
I would love to win these cards for my two kids. Sounds like something that could be really fun.
February 25th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
These look great. Bedtime is something else here lately.
February 25th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
My new baby girl would love for me to read these to her.
February 25th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
What a fantastic way to transition to slumber.
February 26th, 2009 at 7:54 am
A wonderful idea! Thank you for the giveaway.
February 26th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Cute idea. Would be a nice change to the bedtime story routine.
February 26th, 2009 at 9:52 am
A wonderful and timely idea! My son just turned three.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Aw!
These are great!
Such a good idea!
February 26th, 2009 at 10:38 am
these look awesome! My kids would love them!
February 26th, 2009 at 11:19 am
What a great idea…I think my son would love it!
February 26th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
These are really neat. My son is tricky to get to bed.
February 26th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
My daughter would love this!
February 26th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
These are so cute! Thanks for the giveaway!
February 27th, 2009 at 12:47 am
These look l;ike a really great idea. I would like to win a set of Bedtime Cards. Thank you for having this giveaway.
February 27th, 2009 at 1:53 am
What a brilliant way to create magic in a child’s life! : )))
Thanks so much for this fabulous give~away! : )))
leahita[at]gmail[dot]com
February 27th, 2009 at 8:09 am
nice to see a great family product
February 27th, 2009 at 9:02 am
I’d love to try this. It’d be neat to have a 3 way bedtime conversation between my two youngest daughters and I.
February 27th, 2009 at 9:20 am
PLEASE COUNT ME IN ON THIS AWESOME GIVEAWAY
February 27th, 2009 at 9:24 am
My daughter would love this! Thanks so much
kylie8cake@gmail.com
February 27th, 2009 at 9:54 am
This would make a great addition to our bedtime routine. Thanks so much!
February 27th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Please enter me into the contest. Thanks!
February 27th, 2009 at 10:04 am
My kids would like these
February 27th, 2009 at 11:14 am
this is a great idea, I would love to win a copy.
February 27th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Great idea,kids will be looking foward to bedtime.
Thanks
February 27th, 2009 at 11:47 am
I love the sound of these, how perfect for my son!
February 27th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Im a subscriber!
February 27th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
This is a great idea!
February 27th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
have not seen these before, they look neat