Julie Andrews' Tips for Making Special Memories With Your Kids
They grow up too fast! We've all heard it, but it doesn't sink in until you actually see your little babies morphing into big kids (gulp!) before your eyes. Of course, you can't stop them from growing up, but you can make special memories you'll all remember forever. Actress, mom and grandmother Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins herself!) and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton—co-authors of The Very Fairy Princess series—shared four tips for moms that'll strengthen your family ties.
Read to your kids! Julie: My parents instilled in me a great love of books and I think I passed that along to my children and their children. I pull my grandchildren on my lap all the time and read to them. It doesn't matter if it's Vogue magazine or a children's story, it's an opportunity to connect and get them engaged. It's a moment you share and that makes it special.
Get creative with your kids! Julie: We play a lot of games with our children. One is the 3-Minute Game—all you need is a pencil and piece of paper. You write down a bunch of subjects, roll them up and each child gets to write about the subject they pick for 3 minutes. We end up with a lot of pages that are funny and sweet, and it makes children aware that writing things down creates wonderful memories.
Take time to learn from your kids! Emma: In one of our books Thanks to You: Wisdom from Mother & Child, the theme is children learn from parents, but parents learn from children, too. So take a moment and see not just from your point of view, but your child's, too.
Turn your life into art! Julie: Our family writes poems to each other as gifts for holidays and special occasions. It means so much more than a bought gift.
Emma: And the great thing is my mom kept all of our writing in bound books so it's a lovely keepsake of growing up. My 7-year-old daughter just wrote a six-page story—it was absolutely heavenly so we saved it in a notebook and she's so proud of it. Putting all of your kid's writing and art in one place makes it special.
Get creative with your kids! Julie: We play a lot of games with our children. One is the 3-Minute Game—all you need is a pencil and piece of paper. You write down a bunch of subjects, roll them up and each child gets to write about the subject they pick for 3 minutes. We end up with a lot of pages that are funny and sweet, and it makes children aware that writing things down creates wonderful memories.
Take time to learn from your kids! Emma: In one of our books Thanks to You: Wisdom from Mother & Child, the theme is children learn from parents, but parents learn from children, too. So take a moment and see not just from your point of view, but your child's, too.
Turn your life into art! Julie: Our family writes poems to each other as gifts for holidays and special occasions. It means so much more than a bought gift.
Emma: And the great thing is my mom kept all of our writing in bound books so it's a lovely keepsake of growing up. My 7-year-old daughter just wrote a six-page story—it was absolutely heavenly so we saved it in a notebook and she's so proud of it. Putting all of your kid's writing and art in one place makes it special.
For more about Julie and Emma's children's books, visit The Julie Andrews Collection.
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