It wouldn’t be spring without making at least one butterfly craft with the kids. These bright, cheery butterflies are a perfect decoration and also a great way to help your children use their imagination. The best thing about these flying friends is you can use whatever you have around the house!

Supplies:

• Clothespin
• Pipe Cleaner
• Scissors
• Glue

Wing Supplies:

• Cupcake liners
• Paper
• Ribbon
• Tulle

Optional Supplies:

• Pom Poms
• Jewels
• Glitter
• Paint
• Markers

Instructions:

• Decorate one side of the clothespin any way you would like (decorative paper, paint, marker, jewels, pom poms, etc.) to create the body of the butterfly.
• Cut pipe cleaners or craft paper to the desired length for antennas. Open up the clothespin and glue to the inside.
• Glue on googly eyes or draw eyes with a maker. Add a smile.
  

Wing Instructions:

• Decide on any variation of wings. Open up the clothespin and glue the wings to the inside (as close to the spring in the clothespin as possible).
• Cupcake liners: Fold in half to the desired width and duplicate for the other wing.
• Ribbon: Make several loops, holding the ends together, and glue the pinched ends so the loops stay intact. Again, duplicate for the second wing.
• Paper: Cut two hearts and glue the points together.
• Popsicle sticks: Cut sticks the desired length, overlap, and glue together.
• Tulle: Measure one piece of tulle so half the length will come out each side of the clothespin. Scrunch together in the center and glue down.
• Decorate the wings by adding jewels, stickers, or any other embellishments your child wishes to use.

Take a minute to think about how much time you spend, daily, using some form of media. More than likely, your cell phone has turned into a fifth appendage. What about our kids? In today’s world, media use is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid, or even limit. Offering a little wiggle room to parents, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated its guidelines on screen time usage in late 2016, recognizing the educational value of high-quality programming (media such as PBS shows, including Sesame Street) for children over 18 months of age. But before you plant your kiddo on the sofa in front of the TV, take note of one important distinction: parents or caretakers should actively participate in viewing and talking about the program with their child.

Confused? Read on as local Pediatrician Dr. Susan Clay-Hufford of Promedica Toledo Pediatrics offers help with deciphering the new guidelines.

Age 2 and under: no screens is best

Babies are most vulnerable to screens– it can impair their brain development. The AAP advises that for children under 2, there are significantly more negative effects from media usage than positive, the exception being video chatting. Dr. Clay-Hufford agrees: “Face-to-face talk and interaction is so important for children’s development of language skills; we are seeing more speech delays because of media overuse. Instead of using television as entertainment while you’re cooking dinner, it’s better to have your child in the kitchen with you hitting a pot and pan with a spoon.”

Most children under 2 do not have the cognitive development to process information, even from purely educational programming. If the TV is droning in the background while you’re feeding baby, she can be overstimulated by the lights and sounds, causing distress. Screen time can also impair quality and amount of sleep.

2-5 year olds: keep it under an hour

In this slightly older age group, screen time should max out at an hour per day, with parents actively engaged with their kids in the process. Reading to or with your child as well as encouraging imaginative play are preferred ways for kids this age to learn. Dr. Clay-Hufford advocates, “Don’t use media as a babysitter or to calm a kid down– it doesn’t enable the child to learn the important life skills they need to cope with difficult situations. Learning to play a game or a puzzle with someone is much more educational than watching 30 minutes of TV.”

Laura Gruneisen, mother to James, 4, and Georgia, 8, has adopted some great habits to keep screen time to a minimum. “My kids love playing with Magnatiles, dolls and trucks, basically anything they can use to create their own imaginary space! To encourage this, I’ll often set out a scene or build something and leave it there in the morning. Sometimes they just need an example to get them excited! We really try to limit screen time, especially when the weather is nice. We try to keep it to an hour each day. It mostly works, though of course, there are days that we fail. Often, if I keep the TV off and the activities out, they naturally gravitate towards their toys instead,” Gruneisen shares.

Develop a family media plan

For children ages 5-18, the AAP recommends establishing a family media plan with clear limits of television, cell phone, computer, and video game usage (two hours total). Online homework or other such uses of media does not count as screen time. Most important, parents should remain aware of what their kids are looking at (use parental controls, have access to your child’s phone, and try not to allow a television in a child’s room).

Some families enforce a technology-free dinner time: no texting, no distractions. Why not try it out tonight? Put down the phones, turn off the TV, and take the time to connect face to face with your family. You just might love it.

It’s a valid question. There’s no doubt that, with the help of social media, some people boast and lie, spread rumors and behave like bullies online. People can behave badly in any setting. For parents, the question is how to raise children who will be a force for good, both on and offline.

Empathy is a good place to start. Being able to imagine things from another ‘s perspective makes it easier to get along with each other, which, has lifelong advantages. “The ability to empathize affects our kid’s future health, wealth, authentic happiness, relationship satisfaction and ability to bounce back from adversity,” writes Dr. Michele Borba in her book Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World. “Empathy is also a positive predictor of children’s reading and math scores and critical thinking skills, prepares kids for the global world and gives them a job market boost.”

Some people worry that online interactions have an adverse effect on empathy because people don’t see the consequences of what they say. Research, however, suggests that things aren’t quite that simple. One study at the University of North Florida found that, under some circumstances, social media may actually “facilitate empathy” because it gives people a glimpse into perspectives other than their own.

Here are a few ways families can engage with online communities actively encouraging positive social values:

 Play. Common Sense Media has compiled a list of simulations that are suited to a variety of ages. Each game immerses children in a situation that stimulates thinking about how things might seem to some with different experiences. (https://bit.ly/2hE6gOC)
 Create. Rock Your World encourages middle and high school students to identify, research and publicize issues that matter to them. The website includes lessons that lead students through the process of developing and sharing films, songs and written materials. (creativevisions.org/rock-your-world/)
 Learn. Ashoka is a learning community built on the premise that children will “thrive in a world of rapid change” only if they master “essential skills of empathy, teamwork, leadership, and changemaking.” Parents will find a wide variety of resources, including a bulletin board with thoughtful articles and videos about how to nurture empathy. (startempathy.org)
 Stand Up. Be Fearless Be Kind is a multifaceted project underwritten by the toy company Hasbro. The website offers a variety of projects and programs that encourage compassion, empathy and the courage to stand up for other people. (befearlessbekind.hasbro.com)
 Act. Doing Good Together is a national nonprofit dedicated to helping families form habits of kindness. Its site features stories about big-hearted kids who have accomplished exceptional things in their communities. (doinggoodtogether.org)
 Connect. Xocial is an alternative social network that invites members to raise their XO score by taking actions that create better communities. One campaign called Families for Good offered “social impact” points for everything from thanking a police officer or working at the local food bank to teaching a game to someone or performing a “secret act of nice.” (xocial.com)

These are just a few of many efforts to use online resources to cultivate empathy. The best way to teach empathy will always be modeling it at home. Be sure to spend a little no-tech time every day talking about what’s happening to your child and how he or she feels about it. Help your children understand how they can stand up for or express what’s important to them without insulting or demeaning other people. Kids who know the benefits of empathy because they’ve experienced them at home are in a much better position to fend off malicious influences online.

Even more important, they are likely to gravitate to communities that will support them in finding the kind of happiness that is rooted in understanding, compassion and generosity.

Running for political office is a big decision. It is a big commitment, and quite an undertaking. So when I announced my run for Toledo City Council, it wasn’t my decision alone. My wife and I had several, meaningful and intentional conversation about what the commitment was going to be like, and how much of a challenge it would be for our family. There would have to be boundaries, limits and hard lines in the sand. Because, even if running for office is a huge commitment, it pales in comparison to raising children. So my wife and I had to talk.

Conversation concerning cost and opportunity

What is the cost? What is the opportunity? How do you decide to pursue something that is going to take so much of your valuable time? Our kids are only small once, which is what makes any time we spend away from them quite costly. It’s a sacrifice.

While that’s true, isn’t is also true that everything worth doing requires sacrifice? It requires collaboration, more hands and more energy coming together. When people I know start a company of some kind, from a restaurant to a private law practice, if they work 85 hours a week,often it receives a much more gracious response than I have heard about running for office. Most people ask me “Why would you want to do that?” Or, less subtly, “Are you crazy?” Now, it would take another column to break down all of the baggage that is being dropped off with those words, but for now I want to talk about a few ways to pursue large commitment while staying true to our primary commitment as parents.When pursuing something with such a large cost there are a couple ideas or even mantras that I try to hold close:

Be Where You Are

If I am working late, I work late. If I’m home with the kids, I’m home with the kids. We live in a world that demands multi-tasking. And yet, as parents we know that our kids aren’t looking for an evening of watching us reply to emails or sitting behind a laptop screen at the dinner table. Our kids need us with them when we are with them. Presence is about the only thing we really have to give our children, so when we are with them we can’t afford to let ourselves be there only in bodily form. Put the phone down, leave it in your car if you have to. Sit on the floor with them. Or just find them in the house when you get home and walk into their environment and join in. Nothing shocks us out of our adult, productivity rhythms like an impromptu tea party or jumping into a kids book.

Bring Them Along

This could mean a few things. First, if you are juggling a busy schedule there are probably opportunities to bring your kids along for the ride. However, throwing them in the car on your way to an event or a meeting is different than really bringing them along. To bring your kids with you requires that we talk with them before, during and after the event. Give them some understanding of what you are going to do. Let them soak it in. And then ask good questions when it’s over. I have been so pleased at how my older girls have responded after they have processing different events we’ve attended. They take in different pieces, and let their tiny little steel-trap memories play it back over the next few days and weeks. All of this adds up and equals a true team-effort.

There is one last thing I should say about our process for deciding to take on such a large task while staying true to our primary task as parents. We both understood two things: it is lopsided, and it is temporary. My wife gets to stay home with our girls, and we are thankful for that. But this decision means even more of a burden on her time and energy. However, the second piece is crucial as well: it is temporary. There will be an election date, and after that, once I’m elected the rhythm will change again.

The rhythm is always changing. But in the midst of the changes if I can be present to my children, and bring them along and share pieces of my life with them at any and every age… I think I will look back with pride on what turned out to be a family endeavor. What an opportunity we have to discover such a blessing.