Tuesday's Tip

admittedly, this is not the most exciting of tips, but i'm hoping it's a bit more intriguing than sink cleaning.

if you have children, you've probably at some point made the decision to not tell your child of an upcoming event because you know that all you'll here from then til the "big day" is, "how many more days til ______?" that is why we use chains!

the idea came from my teaching years. i don't know of any teacher who hasn't used a construction-paper chain for something. it's a classic classroom christmas decoration, but i loved using them as countdowns, removing a link each day as we anticipated a big event (usually a break or summer vacation!). my kids now love them for the same reason.

this is tucker's birthday chain.

i usually make the chain about two weeks before the event (although christmas's chain goes up a bit earlier). each morning, the child wakes up and takes off a link - watching his chain get smaller and smaller as his birthday nears. this helps to cut out the inevitable, tireless barrage of questions: "how many days til my birthday?" it's also a great visual reminder for the rest of us that something is coming.

with four children and annual events like christmas, first day of school, last day of school, vacations, etc, these chains come in handy all year long. we're hoping to make our christmas chain tonight!