If I had a dime…

If someone gave me a dime for every time I’ve said the words “Didn’t I tell you not to do that?” I think I’d be pretty well to do by now. It doesn’t seem to matter what time of day it is, where we are, who I’m with. My kids are bound and determined to get in trouble. Last night, for example, I tell my 8 year old (again) that she can’t take drinks to her room. So she decides to sneak a cup of water in there from the bathroom sink. What happens? Naturally, she spills it INTO her computer. Lucky for her that’s one heck of a computer and it survived, but the monitor didn’t. I made her wait for a full 24 hours before I’d hook our back-up monitor into her computer. Some might say that 24 hours isn’t long enough, but for this kid it was.

Sometimes I wonder if they do it on purpose. I’ll tell the girls to stop rough housing, and the next thing you know we have a black eye or boo boo, scratch or bruise. Its all fun and games until someone loses an eye, I’ve told them a million times. They’re so focused on doing the opposite of what I say, I am almost afraid to tell them not to do anything! Maybe next time I’ll egg them on, and rather than encouraging them, it will make them finally listen and obey. At least they try to be sneaky about it and don’t just flat out disobey right in front of me, as if they weren’t scared of me. I know some parents with kids like that and it always drives me nutty.

The God Parents

Choosing God parents for you child can e a daunting job. You want to choose the best people for the job, the ones you can count on when you need a helping hand. At the same time you do not want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Yes it is very daunting indeed. Still your kids are the biggest priority so choosing God parents is not to be taken lightly. These two people are likely the two who will have to take responsibility for your children in the unfortunate case that something should happen to you or your spouse. The best recourse is to sit down and plan carefully. Choose your top five pairs and then go through the pros and cons of having them as God parents. Take your time. Real friends won’t mind how long it takes. After you’ve narrowed it down do consult your candidates to see if this is something that they are interested in being. It is a great honor, but not everyone is up for the huge responsibility. Once you are confident that you have made the right choice be sure to let everyone know so that there is no confusion. Send the new God parents a note thanking them for being there for you and your family. Invite them to the christening and into the lives of you and your children. If you have chosen the right people you will now have a strong support system for your growing family. Congratulations.

Parents Just Don’t Understand

Parents just don’t understand. The Fresh Prince himself uttered those words and I am sure plenty of parents once felt the same way. Now as parents they are making their kids feel the same way. It is a cycle no doubt, but does it have to be a never ending one? I don’t think so. It seems that so many things get lost in translation in today’s culture, but we can change all of that. The key is communication. Tell your kids a much as you can about when you were there age. Tell them about some of the mistakes you made back then. They need to hear it. Not only will they learn from them but they will respect you all the more for being human instead of just a super mom or dad. That’s what we all need. To be human to each other. To seem like you are above what they could ever be will only hurt your child in the long run. Level with them, be honest with hen and respect them. After all you do expect the same from them. You have to give in order to receive. Isn’t that a golden rule? Well it is about time we live by it and change every thing in the process.

Foster Parenting

Foster parenting is a very rewarding thing to do First of all and most importantly it gives a unfortunate child somewhere to go. That however is just the beginning. The benefits are endless for both the foster parent and the child. Even your own children if you have any can benefit. The children, just like any others, need love, kindness and attention. They’ve most likely been through a lot, but thankfully you have stepped up to the plate.
As a foster parent your duties are to take care of and protect the child until he or she is returned to their original home or a permanent adoptive home. This can take any where from a few months to a few years Along the way you will come to know and love each child that enters your home. The feeling most times will be mutual.
Remember, these kids have been through a lot so they need all the patience you have. If you do not have a lot of patience this is not a good idea. Take your time and think it through. If you have what it takes that’s great, you can change a child’s life and yours too in the process.

summer bonding with the kids

summer vacations are great for bonding and touching base with your kids. before you complain non-stop about the scorching summer heat, think of what would the coming rainy days be like when it comes – boring indoors, computer games and not to mention that it would be back to school for many kids. soon as summer ends, there will be less time for you and your kids to enjoy the outdoor and other physical activities. so while it’s hot, go out and do some fun time with your kids.

one great suggestion is to take the kids and the family out on an outing. water splashing and playing is a great exercise which your little ones will surely enjoy. the beach is really inviting but if its too far, you can find a pool where you can take your family on an excursion.

summertime is also a great time to visit themeparks such as ocean adventure and ocean park. the kids can learn a lot from these places and enjoy watching different sorts of marine life. after this adventure you can grab yummy cold treats that are just perfect for the hot weather.

mom’s can also prepare home made cold treats for their kids and family to enjoy while they hole up and watch old family videos or play kid games.

Getting Ready for the Holidays with Kids

The holidays can either be extremely enjoyable or equally stressful. Having kids in the house can be quite a good thing, in fact, since that means you’ll have extra pairs of hands to help you out. The trick of being able to get the house ready for the holidays with kids is to know what things to delegate and which ones to do yourself. Also, praise works wonders. So, do praise tasks done well or fully and refrain from being critical and interfering. Once you’ve assigned a responsibility to a child, let him or her take care of it. So long as he is not getting hurt or hurting someone else, leave him be.

 Have children help with decorating the house, the tree and the table for holiday meals. Do read Easy Holiday Organization, Simple Table Decorating Ideas and Best Entertaining Tips for more information and tips on getting the home ready for the holidays. The whole idea of celebrating Christmas or Thanksgiving is to be with family and friends. So use this time to bond and come closer. Ask kids for suggestions, work in teams and before you know it the house will be ready and beautiful for the celebrations to begin.

Picking A Pediatrician

Picking a Pediatrician Before Baby Arrives

Your new baby will be seen by a pediatrician in the hospital, and will need to be seen again a couple of days after birth, too, so you should line up someone before you deliver.

Is it important to you that the same doctor see your baby from day one?

If you don’t give it some thought beforehand, you’ll wind up with the pediatrician who’s on duty when you deliver for that first check-up. But if you’ve got a doctor lined up in advance, he may be able to see your baby in the hospital, too. Check to see if he has visiting privileges where you’ll be delivering.

Otherwise, you can see the attending pediatrician when you give birth and then switch to your regular doc for the first post-hospital baby visit.

Either way, you need to know who you’re going to be taking your baby to. Talk to other new moms in your neighborhood to get some names of local pediatricians, and schedule an appointment for an interview (ask when you call if the doctor charges for his time.)

Some things to discuss when you sit down with him:

– Practice philosophy with respect to feedings, vaccinations, sleep, etc.

– Insurance accepted

– Office and on call hours — how easy is it to reach/get in to see them, during the week and on weekends?

– Newborn care — for visits in those first couple of months, do they make any special effort to get new babies in more quickly? Is there less office waiting time, or a separate place (away from older, sick or snuffly kids) where you can feed your baby while you wait?

Kids and Pets – The Perfect Way to Grow Up

Pets are nonjudgmental and kids love to snuggle up to them and make their first efforts to show off their new skills like reading. Apart from that, children learn a lot about nurturing and caring for animals if they have a pet at home. A child, who is a slow learner or developmentally challenged gets benefited tremendously from the company of a loving pet.

How long can you play with your child? Not every time, he or she wants you to. But a pet is always ready to play and loves it. Pets provide great companionship to children, especially to a single child. Their comforting friendship is a great stress buster to all kids. Dogs and cats especially provide endless hours of fun and entertainment to children of all ages, and also to grownups. Have you ever watch a cat play with a ball? It can’t get more amusing than that! Or the way kids just love to snuggle up with dogs or just watch him chase his tail around the living room.

world yummy treats for the picky eaters

One thing that frustrates mom and parents are their kid’s picky-eating habits. At one age, these kids would take an attachment for a single food and stay on it for weeks or months to come, eating nothing else. Once the kids develop their attachment to certain tastes – they would stay away from the foods that are not palatable or have a bad taste for them.

It is sometimes a daunting task to find yummy, yet healthy food that our kids would love. This is the time that mom’s creativeness and resourcefulness should work on.

For great snacking and munching ideas, moms should look out for the unusual yet tasty pieces that would tickle their kids’ tastes. The internet abounds with ideas, suggestions and recommendations when it comes to kids’ healthy eating.

Moms can also look at Thai, German, Australian, Mexican, Asian or Italian cuisine to entice their picky-eaters. For instance, the German treat of pretzels dunked in mustard may be substituted with honey-mustard dipped to sweeten up a usual spicy treat for you little liebche. Another is the Nutella, which is a famous Italian chocolate-hazelnut spread can give your kids one healthy slathering with more than 50 antioxidant packed hazelnut per jar.

There are in fact boundless ideas mom can get from checking out other countries cuisine and trying it out for their little ones.

Kids love puppies

Recently, our pet dog gave birth to four lovely puppies but one died after three days. It was the smallest one and already weak when it was born. After three weeks, the puppies have grown and they are all over the place.
My one and a half year old daughter is very fond of them. She always like to cuddle the puppies. I would brought her to them in the morning when she wakes up and she would play with them for hours. The interaction between kids and puppies is worth observing because both are babies that barely came out of this world. Their awkward movements are fun to watch and their innocence of the world is almost the same.
Exposing kids to animals is one way of instilling into them that all life on earth is precious and must be taken care of. We are all god’s creature, big or smalll so we are entitled to be respected and be given our space in this magnificent world.

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