Here are some options if you’re looking for temporary solutions to decorate a child’s room or playroom. Most of these wall decals are not reusable once removed; however, some are.

Surface Collective - a Vancouver based firm – call their work wall tattoos. Their unique collection includes some children’s designs.

If you’re looking for some designs inspired by nature, check out the offerings at mydigitalprints.ca

Dalidecals has a wide range of colour options that can be applied to cut-out/silhouettes. (A note about getting a 10% discount from Dalidecals.)

For some colourful, bold patterns check out Wallnutz.com’s collection.

For the nature lover who likes floral and nature inspired decals (some of which are repositionable) check out the British collection at Allposters.co.uk

Ferm living is a Danish company whose decals have a clea, woodblock print feel and colours that pop. They also have a children’s collection.

A search for decals on Etsy.com will reveal a wide selection of decals offered at a wide range of prices.

An appealing option for a child’s room is a custom made decal available from Figgy Wink (on Etsy.com)

Dvider.com offers “a mix of hip and playful vinyl wall decals designed for the young, or simply the young at heart. Baby your baby and stick em in the nursery, the playroom, the children’s bedroom…”

If you’re looking for unique, cutting edge, clean and simple lines, check out domestic.fr – a French company. (To progress to the next design company click on a name above the images.)

How to make your own decals

How to apply decals. This is a useful video if you’re ready to take on the “I hope this won’t be a sticky nightmare” wall decal challenge.

As the summer goes by, parents around the world will start to prepare their child for pre-school and kindergarten. Many of these children will be attending an educational programme away from home for the first time. Parents can help make their child’s first experience a success by assessing their own feelings and expectations, and by looking at how they can reinforce skills that the child is required to have at school. Articles about starting pre-school and kindergarten often focus on what parents can communicate to their child as a preparation for starting school. Looking beyond these conversations, there are other ways that parents can prepare themselves and their child for school.

• Parents can consider and discuss amongst themselves what they think the first day and week of school will be like. Do they know the routine that their child will follow? Do they have a plan if their child cries and does not want them to leave during the first few days? Are they feeling emotional about this first day? Will they experience separation anxiety after their child walks through the classroom door? Sometimes these emotions come on suddenly and unexpectedly; however, a parent will often know the answer to these questions well in advance off the first day of school.
• While touring the classroom and school in advance of the first day, parents can consider the classroom, playground, lunchroom and bathrooms facilities. They can imagine their child functioning in these areas. Are there ways in which they can help support their child as she develops skills to look after and change clothes; function in a setting with other children; use a washroom independently; and, eat in a group setting? Has their child spent time away from the parents or a family member? Does their child know how to listen to and follow instructions? Can their child remain focussed on a task for a specific period of time?
• Parents who feel anxious about this new adventure can talk to parents of children who are slightly older than their child. They can ask these experienced parents how their family adjusted to the new routine at school. Once school has started, a parent can make an effort to get to know other parents and socialize on and off the school grounds.
• Parents should pay close attention to the expectations that the school has of their child. Their child will be expected to bring in and care for belongings and items requested by the teacher; complete homework carefully and in a timely fashion; show up and be retrieved on time; be well rested and fed; and bring a nutritional lunch. Parents are expected to fill in forms and even sign up to help for events or to help out. An efficient and thoughtful approach to these requirements will help to create a firm foundation for a child’s education. The interest that a parent takes in their child’s education communicates a message to their child – that the child’s education is a priority for the parents. Recent research findings indicate that a child is well served if the parents focus on the child’s efforts at school rather than beliefs about the child’s level of intelligence. By making a concerted effort to pay attention to the many tasks connected with school life, the parent can set an example of how one can make an effort at school.
• It is not uncommon for parents to relive old and sometimes negative feelings about their school experiences when their eldest child starts school for the first time. If one or both of the parents disliked school or felt uncomfortable in educational settings, these old emotions need to addressed. Attitudes towards teachers, administrators and homework need to be reassessed with a fresh eye so that old patterns that may have affected the parents’ school years do not return to haunt their child.
• Most importantly, once parents have selected a school for their child, they need to put their faith in the teachers and administration. Pre-schools are often privately owned, and in many cities open boundaries allow parents to choose from a number of public kindergarten classes near the family home. In more restrictive school districts, some parents will move to neighbourhoods so that their child can enter a school within a catchment area. Ideally parents will choose an early learning environment that has an educational philosophy well suited to the beliefs and values of the child’s family. Many conflicts between parents and schools could be avoided if a careful matching of school and family took place during the screening process. As an example, if parents want their child to engage in free play in the pre-school and kindergarten years, they would be ill advised to enroll their child in a traditional Montessori programme. At a time when pre-school/kindergartens compete with other educational institutions down the road for students, it is often up to the parent to discern if the marriage of family and school will be a happy one.

Subject: Children (A Perspective Worth Considering)

You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you, For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

Kahlil Gibran (1883 – 1931) Source: The Prophet, 1923, On Children

Image source for K. L. Jones’ artwork.

I used to favour this saying in the 1990s, but now it has become a bit over used. In the context of a country like Canada or the United States, what exactly is a “village”? What do you mean when you speak of a village raising a child? Hillary Clinton speaks about government services. I focus on social and familial connections within a community.

The idea of seeking a village in an urban setting reminds me of Tokyo. Tokyo, in many ways, is a collection of many villages. This is why I like Tokyo so much. I have travelled all over Tokyo on a bicycle and have enjoyed the atmosphere of the different neighbourhoods – villages.

However, life is changing even in these neighbourhoods. It can be a shock to move to newer neighbourhoods in Tokyo, or newer portions in some of the older neighbourhoods, and find that the traditional relationships amongst neighbours are not as you might expect.

Back in North America, where would you find this village to help you raise your child? I read an article in Orion magazine focussed on the aboriginal people of Australia. Evidently it is the responsibility of the whole community to raise the child. This informal social contract frees up the mother to make contributions to society in ways beyond being the mother of that child.

I sometimes say that “back in the day” when my people lived in villages in western and eastern Europe, aunts, uncles and grandparents lived close to the youth in the family. My own grandmother and great-aunt used to run up the hill to their baba’s house in Ukraine when it looked like their mother might be cross with them. They lived in a Chekov-like setting as land owners who – no kidding – owned a cherry orchard and a brick factory. There’s something charming about the image of these young girls running up the hill to take refuge at baba’s. I can imagine that they ran up a steep hill, past old fences and birch trees on the way to seek solace at baba and gido’s house.

Apparently, only about 20 percent of a graduating grade 12 class will actually move away from the area where they were schooled. This means that most people are living and raising their families in regions relatively close to their extended family. The degree to which aunts, uncles and grandparents are involved in the lives of the child in that family vary. While it might be hard to recreate the vilage atmosphere of old Edo (Tokyo) or eastern Europe, the extended family can be at the heart of modern family life.

I hope that the modern equivalent of an urban “village” exists and does have a hand in helping to support the child. Children are moving towards independence from the day they are born. Different perspectives and types of support from varied members of their community can only help to enrich this life path.

Image source(cherry orchard)

Image source (Tokyo)

In 2006, a research team from Saatchi a& Sattachi travelled 50,000 km in China by van, boat and train to discover the lives and motivations of the people. The findings have been published in a book entitled “One in a Billion: An Introduction to the People of China”, by Sandy Thompson.

In this book Thompson writes about the contemporary Chinese mother.

While Chinese mothers always appeared affectionate and attentive with their kids, we began to sense that being a mother was as much a career to these women as the career they paid the rent with. We asked them, “What makes a successful mother in China? How do you know if you are a good mother or not?”. In China, a successful mother was one who succeeded in bringing up a competitive achiever. As one young mother told us, “Being a mother is not about good or bad; it is about success or failure.” Another told us, “If she turns out to be ordinary, I shouldn’t have given birth to her in the first place. Raising a child is like working on a project: you have a goal to achieve.” For Chinese moms, kids aren’t just kids but rather a continuation of their lives – vessels for their hopes and dreams. They are an assurance that whatever they don’t achieve in this life their kids will. There is, however, one universal truth that we witnessed over and over again. All Chinese mothers, regardless of their ambition, love their children completely.