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Baby Shower for Second Baby
Having a shower for second baby used to be considered greedy and unacceptable. But now it is not only acceptable, but it is actually necessary for some families to have a baby shower for second baby. Though mom-to-be may already have a lot of the...
Baby Shower Gift Ideas 2
Selecting a present for a new mom or dad can be a challenging task. Baby showers are a great way to help support a new mother with her new baby. New mothers can sign up at a gift registry to avoid duplicate gifts and to indicate her gift...
Baby Strollers - Consider Your Budget
Since you got the news, you have begun gather the things your new bundle of joy will be
needing. Decisions for your first baby may seem overwhelming at first. The type of
stroller you will use for your baby is one of the biggest decisions you...
Choosing a Personalized Baby Gift
Have you been invited to a baby shower or asked to be a godparent to a new arrival and have no idea what sort of gift to buy? Recently I was in a dilemma about buying presents for newborn twins. My first instinct was to buy identical gifts, but I...
His Toy, Her Toy
I remember when my daughter was born. Visions of her and I dressed in pinks and purples sitting in her lacy pink room playing dolls danced threw my head. A year later my son was born ;My husbands vision of sports and trucks revved around like mad...
Mommy & Baby: Nursing Questions & Answers
Q. How often should I nurse a newborn infant?
A. No fewer than 8 times per day, depending on how long he gives you at night. If he can go 4 hours, you'll probably see two feedings in between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. If you tank him up right before...
The ABC's of Raising Twins
The ABC’s of Raising Twins As a mother of two sets of fraternal boy/girl twins, I am often asked, “How do you do it?” I do not have an answer. I am just a regular 27 year old who has never known it any other way. Most people come home from the...
The Benefits of Waterbirthing
Considerng a waterbirth? Think about it this way.....Wouldn't a peacful and serene birth, with a relaxed and focused mother be a wonderful way to bring a baby into this world? Having a waterbirth is an option for Mom's who want to give birth...
The Personality Traits of a Pisces Baby
Your Pisces Baby.. February 19 - March 20 Your baby will have the most winning ways of all babies, and will dazzle you with the sweetest of smiles. She will dislike order and routine and will have an amazing imagination. Some Pisces children...
Using Baby Signing To Communicate With Your Young Child
Baby Signing.. Around 20 years ago, two American doctors discovered baby signing and many thousands of mothers are glad they did! There are many reasons why babies cry. You could no doubt come up with a long list of reasons, but frustration is...
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Take Advantage of Your Child's Energy Levels
“Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.”
-Josh Billings
If parents want to be able to make best use of time with their children, then it is crucial for a parent to start becoming alert to the state that their children are in. Tired? Satisfied? Bored? His shoe hurts him? She has a stomachache from the spaghetti? And so on....This applies particularly during the time that children are playing with toys. They want to be happy. And you want them to be happy too..
Here’s one way of looking at it: it’s a bit like dealing with a baby. Your baby cries. So you figure, usually and probably it’s one of four things. One, the baby is hungry. Two, the baby needs a diaper change.Three, the baby is tired. Or four, the baby wants to be held. You would probably test each of these out to see if the baby will stop crying. What’s happening here is a continual process of trying to figure out and be sensitive to the the baby’s needs. Right? So we are dealing with a sensitivity to the child, and a willingness to experiment to find out exactly what the baby needs. Once the thing is done (for example, changed a dirty diaper and put on a clean one) and the baby stops crying, and is now smiling and gurgling, you think: “Bingo! I did the right thing there!”.
So the checklist is a key to a parent’s success, because it provides the parent with the various possibilities of dealing with a baby’s (or child’s) needs.
As babies turn into toddlers who turn into pre-schoolers who turn into kids (and so on), their needs naturally get more sophisticated. In order to keep up with their kids, parents need to increase their checklist. Not only that, but to change the checklist as the kids grow, as some needs get taken off the list and others get put on. So it helps to start off with this idea of a checklist for each of your children. It can be simply a mental checklist. For those who are more organized, they can write it down.
An example of a checklist for a 6 year old can be:
1)Parents
2)Food
3)Friends
4)Clothes
5)Sleep/Fatigue
6)Homework
7)Entertainment
8)Siblings & Family (relationships)
For each of these items you can ask yourself- is my child happy and fulfilled in these areas? What areas does the child need help in?
It would be difficult for them to be having fun playing if they have problems elsewhere.
In dealing with each of these items, here’s an example of dealing with a checklist item: Energy Levels/Fatigue: Let’s take a closer look at this. Children naturally have routines during the day. Wake-up, get dressed, breakfast, school, after-school activities, suppertime, homework, evening snack, bedtime. Yet you cannot expect children to have the same energy level in the afternoon after a long day of school/play as they would have in the morning when they are fresh from a full night of sleep. Many experienced parents know that when children are tired, especially little children, they just do not function as well in being able to do activities, in listening to their parents, or even at times to behave normally (!!). So this is a good item for the checklist: How tired is your child?
“I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.”
John Burroughs
For parents, the same can apply for the time spent with their children! Parents who want to get the most out of being able to build relationships with their children should consider (as difficult as it is) to schedule their day around the times that children have high energy levels.
An example of a good time to be with the children is after supper. Often children are well-fed, and the time spent sitting at the dinner table allows them to recharge their batteries. They are refreshed and well-fed and ready for some evening activity.
The time that is well-spent with children is like depositing a lot of value into a bank account of love and trust with your child. And what could be more valuable than that?
“Life is half spent before we know what it is.”
George Herbert
About the Author
Joseph Browns (http://www.home-educational-toys.com) wants to share his experiences and expertise in how parents can find valuable opportunities for quality time with children to acquire priceless family memories. A total environment approach is taken, dealing with issues like educational toys, parent-child relationships, environmental + interior design, health, communication skills, and child education.
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