By Diana Dworin
Pass the faith DESIGN PICS
teacher and a helper.” Parents can include their older children in the spiritual experience of a newborn’s arrival when they: • Share a prayer. Help cultivate a relationship between siblings before the baby’s birth. During bedtime rou- tines, encourage your child to add the baby to his or her nightly prayers, or together trace a sign of the cross on mom’s bulging belly as a special blessing. • Pass the faith. Talk to your children about how they’ll be part of sharing your family’s faith traditions with the baby. If your older child was baptized as an infant, break out pictures of the special day and find the outfit your child wore. Consider wrapping the outfit as a gift for big brother or sister to present to the baby in advance of the newborn’s baptism day. • Explore the stories. Pregnancy or an impending adop- tion provide ideal opportunities to delve into some of the Bible’s baby stories, such as the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1- 20) and Moses (Exodus 2:1-10). Parents and kids can tap into the poetry of God’s connection with us by explor- ing Psalm 139 and the description of God who “knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Hello baby! W
Tried
Parents can help older children welcome a new sibling to the family
hen a new baby is on the way, it’s an exciting time for parents. There’s a nursery to decorate, diapers to buy and an infant seat to install in the
car. But older siblings awaiting the arrival of a brother or sister don’t always share their parents’ enthusiasm. Kids sometimes feel a sense of displacement when attention turns to the new member of the family. By including children in the preparations to welcome
the baby, parents can help ease this time of transition and grow together in faith as a family, said Karen Free- man, who directs 60 preschoolers at San Marcos [Calif.] Lutheran Church Children’s Center, a play-based morn- ing program.
“Older siblings can be a special part of sharing God’s unconditional love and acceptance with the new baby,” said Freeman, who was named Early Childhood Director of the Year in 2011 by the Evangelical Lutheran Educa- tion Association. “When a new baby comes into the world, parents can help encourage an older child to be a
& true Waiting for Baby
Illustrator Rachel
Fuller’s board book, Waiting for Baby (Child’s Play International Ltd., 2009), helps toddlers gain a better understanding of what’s ahead in this time of transition. Through colorful drawings, this word-free book gives par- ents and kids freedom to craft their own stories and explore their emotions as they turn each page. The book includes images that take children
through some of the milestones of waiting for a baby: mom’s visit to the doctor’s office, shop- ping for baby items and preparing for a trip to the maternity ward.
Lutheran mom
Dworin, 42, is a mother of three and a former parenting magazine editor. Contact her at diana@
passthefaith.org.
November 2012 63
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