A favorite thing around our house when the weather turns cool, we drink hot chocolate together. The cool weather is here, time for the hot chocolate to come out and for a little relaxing at the end of the day. When the weather starts to turn cool, my children start asking, “Is it time for hot chocolate?” Every foster child that was been in our home and experienced a cup of hot chocolate love it. I love to watch a foster child’s face when she has not experienced hot chocolate before.

It is great to have everyone sit around in the evening talking about school, our plans for the next day or just share our thoughts. With my little ones this is great bonding time. Cuddling up with mom and a sippy cup of hot chocolate is a wonderful way to get some one on one time. What better way to bond than over chocolate? We have even got my 70 plus year old dad hooked on hot chocolate.

I cannot remember one foster child that had hot chocolate before coming to my home. Something as simple as this they delight in and thoroughly love it. We also use hot chocolate as a positive reinforcement when we are working on behaviors. This works real well with some foster children and is better than always using negative consequences. For special occasions, we break out the cool whip and different flavors. It’s funny how we take the small simple things in life for granted.

At Christmas time Santa brings special flavored hot chocolate in the stockings for everyone. It is a hoot watching them compare who got what flavor and how many. It goes to prove you do not have to overspend during the holidays to make your children happy.

This is something that my children and entire family love and enjoy sharing this time together. It is the small every day things that make lasting memories.

More reading:

Foster Children without Childhoods

Autumn and the Effects on Foster Care

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