We are such creatures of routine!  Over and over again, we sing Bum-Bum as we clean up our instruments or put away the eggs or sticks or scarves or bells.  Over and over I say "don't tell the children to do it, SHOW THEM!"  When we make it a directive, they know we are up to something!!  When we simply go about our business and sing Bum-Bum as we put our things away, they see us singing our way through life and join us by their own choice.  The other day a mom in class said "We tried the Bum-Bum's but they didn't work."  I said "how many times?" she said "Once."  

Kids are so smart!  They know if we believe in something and will commit to it when we do.  In class and at home; those little ones are watching us and when we are half-hearted about singing, dancing, picking up, cooking, playing, whatever we are doing  THEY KNOW!  I can see their little minds thinking "If my mom doesn't think this is fun, why would I?" or "If this makes my dad uncomfortable, I'm not going to try it!"  They look to us for cues about life.  

We spend so much time trying to instruct our children to do what we want.  "Teaching" them to do things.  While formal instruction is appropriate at certain ages and for certain tasks, there are so many things our children can learn better and more cooperatively by watching our example and then choosing to try it out.  When my kids were little and I didn't expect them to be helpful with things like dusting etc... They would follow me around with their own cloth and "help."  While they were marginally effective, they were so involved and proud and committed.  Flash forward to now; I never really nurtured that natural desire to help so they got bored and now when I want help I have to formally instruct.  SO NOT FUN!

Now I'm not saying that informally instructing is magic for everything, but I'm curious to know if the more we simply live the way we want our children to live and do the things we want them to do, will they learn the same lessons we are working so hard to "teach" them.  

If you want your children to sing, sing; if you want them to dance, dance; if you want them to be caring, care for others; if you want them to clean up after themselves, do it yourself, with a joyful BUM BUM!  At the very least we'll have a good time!