Rhyming Prompt: December 14: Love in the Mail
My family lives far away from this place,
And sometimes I wish that wasn’t the case.
I think I shall write them a letter today
To tell them I miss them while I am away.
Do you have some people you’ve been thinking of
Who might want a card that shows them some love?
Perhaps we could write them together and say
We really do wish they were with us today.
Download the prompts for December 13-16 here as a PDF or here as a Microsoft Word Document (you may have already printed these—I’m just re-posting them here for convenience).
A picture of the prompt for December 14. It is printed on cream colored cardstock with a green border, and it is nestled in a lit Christmas tree. It has a purple wax seal on it with an impression of a frog.
Other Materials:
Whatever you want to have around for making cards. We’ll have stickers, cardstock, watercolors, and crayons.
Suggested Pose:
Frantz has a store-bought card, which is not nearly as fun as a card that is homemade! He is holding a fountain pen and preparing to write something in verse, which I strongly advise against in letters. No one likes an unsolicited poem.
Frantz is sitting on my desk, holding a red pen, and preparing to write in a greeting card with an image of a dog on the front. The December 14 prompt is sitting in front of the card.
Activity:
Help your child make and mail a card for someone they won’t be able to see in person this holiday season.
Rationale:
While it is obvious that empathy is an essential ingredient of strong relationships, it may be less so that strong relationships are needed to build empathy. When we have people we care about and stay connected to, we are more likely to relate to their point-of-view and understand why it’s worth attempting to do so. As Frans de Waal notes in his book on the subject, apes are much more likely to exhibit empathetic behaviors with those with whom they are bonded. I have spent a lot of time this year texting, Zooming, and chatting on the phone with the people in my life, but it has been much more difficult for my kids, who have spent the last several months almost entirely isolated. They hate Zoom. They can’t be trusted to give enough space to make socially distanced playdates viable. We are currently homeschooling them, since they are not yet of public school age, and my husband and I are lucky enough to be able to work remotely. Mail has been an essential tool for the kids this year—a way to remember their friends and attempt to strengthen those bonds—despite all the distance. And that, too, is a way to build empathy.
Book Recommendation:
Today’s book is an absolute romp and one of my favorites from childhood: The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters, by Janet & Allan Ahlberg. Our favorite fairy-tale figures mail each other letters and model the intricacies of their relationships. If you celebrate Christmas, there is a Christmas version, too! My kids love both, and I hope you do, too.
An image of the cover of The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters by Janet & Allan Ahlberg.