Entries Tagged 'Parenting' ↓

Disciplining a child is one of the most important, yet difficult, roles of being a parent.  Effective discipline teaches a child to be self-disciplined later in life.  It helps your child grow up to be happy and well-adjusted. Effective and positive discipline teaches and guides children, and helps them to feel safe, secure, and valued.  

Discipline should be based on a child’s age, development and temperament. A parent’s goals by disciplining their child is to protect them from danger, to help them learn self-control and self-discipline and to develop a sense of responsibility. 
Children should be respectful of their parent’s authority. If they’re disciplined harshly or unfairly, especially if it includes shouting or humiliating, will make it difficult if not impossible for a child to respect and trust their parent.

Parents must be consistent in their discipline. Discipline that’s not consistent is confusing to children, no matter how old they are. If parents are inconsistent in the way they discipline their children, children may find it hard to respect them. It can also indirectly encourage misbehaving and result in confusion and frustration for the child.

Discipline must also be fair.  Parents must make sure that the punishment fits the crime and doesn’t punish too severely or is too lax. The consequences of their actions should be related to their behavior.

In order to discourage bad behavior, give your child choices about what to do. He will appreciate the chance to make decisions. Make sure rules that protect the safety, health and well-being of your child are given top priority.  If your child is irritable, tired or upset, be understanding and try to help calm them. It’s important to keep in mind that bad behavior can sometimes be circumstantial. 

Encourage positive behavior in your child by spending quality time alone with your child each day. Give your child hugs, cuddles or a gentle pat on the back, and give praise when praise is due.  If your child is angry or sad, try to understand why.  Teach your child good behavior by setting a good example and behaving properly and appropriately yourself. 

It has been shown many times over in research studies that a parent who is involved in their child’s education has a positive impact. It’s reflected in improved grades and test scores, strong attendance, a higher rate of homework completion, higher graduation rates, improved attitudes and behaviors in the child, as well as the child being more likely to become involved in positive extra-curricular activities. Send out the message early in your child’s education that your home is an involved and active supporter of their learning.

Probably the most important element of a positive learning environment at home is structure. But what is too little or too much?  If we’re too lenient or expect too little, your child may become disorganized or unmotivated.  If we’re too rigid and strict, it can cause undue pressure or cause your child to feel unable to deliver on your expectations. 
So what’s the best way to meet in the middle and create a positive learning environment for your child at home? 

Help your child develop a work area where they can study and focus without being interrupted. Children usually do better when they have a private study area away from interruption. If your child prefers doing their work at the kitchen table, make sure other family members understand the kitchen is off-limits during study time.  Make sure your child has plenty of supplies and reference materials available and that the area has plenty of light.  Regardless of its location, ensure the area is quiet and that your child can study and work uninterrupted.

Agree on a regular time for studying. To help your child make homework a habit, schedule a set time each day for homework. Perhaps breaking study time up into smaller increments would work better for your child than one solid period. Work with your child to find out what works best for them. In addition, be sure your child has a sufficient break between the time they arrive home from school before they sit down to work in order to ‘decompress’ from their school day.

Help your child develop a method of keeping track of homework assignments. This can be a difficult chore for some students. Developing a successful way of keeping track of assignments then scratching them off as completed helps them develop a productive method for accomplishing tasks later in life.

Develop a positive line of communication with your child’s teacher.  Teachers are usually very willing and excited to work with an involved parent to help the child’s overall success in school.  Whether it’s notes sent back and forth in your child’s backpack or an e-mail correspondence, make sure your teacher knows your open for suggestions as how to better assist them in the homework and study process at home. 

Baby showers are a lot of fun, especially for pregnant mom-to-be. Not only is this something for the baby, but now she doesn‘t have to go out and buy. Before you throw a baby shower for someone there are a few things you should do to prepare. The first thing is figure out if this will be a surprise shower or not. There are benefits to both, the first one being if she knows she can help  you with a list of people that she would like to be there. However, if it is a surprise she’ll be touched that you cared enough to throw her a baby shower, but be careful you don’t want to give her too much of surprise and put her in labor.

Making the Guest List
When it comes to making the guest list things can get a little tricky. Find out if there is anyone that would be upset if they weren’t invited. Never leave out close family or friends, at least give them the option of showing up.  

Games
Planning games for a shower can be a bit difficult when you have so many fun games and have a few gifts to pass out as prizes.  Baby shower games are a lot of fun, here is a quick list.

Mommy’s belly- The mom-to-be  stand in the center of the room and each guests get to decide how big her belly is using a string or a toilet paper sheets. Find out who guessed the closest.

Guess the nursery rhyme-  Give each guest a sheet of nursery rhymes and have them guess the nursery rhyme or finish it. This will help everyone remember them and see who reads those bedtime stories.

Did you say Baby Game?- Each guest is giving small clothespins to wear around their neck on a necklace or on their shirt. Every time someone says “Baby” if someone catches them they get to take one pin. At the end of the party the guest with the most pins wins a prize.

Memory- Using a plastic tin of some sort place a bunch of baby items in it such as, bib, thermometer, baby spoon, diaper rash crème, etc. Anything you’d use on a baby. Let each guest get a chance to look in the bin for a few seconds and take it away. Once everyone is finished have them write down everything that was in the box. The person with the most correct answers wins.

Baby Food Tasting - Have a variety of baby food in jars, take off the outside wrapper and place a number at the bottom of the jar, on a separate piece of paper write the name of each jar. Each guest is dished out a spoonful of baby food to try. Have them write down what they think each one is. The one with the most correct answers wins a prize.

Have a great baby shower and don’t forget to bring a gift.

Many cultures have used massage as part of baby care for centuries, and research shows it can have many benefits. Not only does massage enable you to learn about and respond to your baby’s body language. But it is also a wonderful way to make your baby feel safe and secure by showing that he or she is loved and cared for. There are no hard and fast rules for baby massage, other than to ensure you are doing it safely. Your baby and you will discover together what works best for you both. Please bear in mind that massage is something you do with your infant, not to your infant.  It is strongly suggested you seek guidance and education on massage techniques from a qualified baby massage therapist, midwife, or other healthcare professional to ensure you are doing it safely. A ten minute massage, two or three times a week assists in strengthening the parent-infant relationship, babies love it and it can assist in alleviating baby ailments too. In today’s society, parents have heavy workloads and both their jobs and at home which can directly affect quality time spent with children.  Infant massage, an age old tradition, is simple, free, can be administered almost anywhere and has a host of emotional and physical benefits for both parents and baby. A child with a strong sense of attachment is more likely to grow up confident, assured and happy. The parent-infant attachment is rooted in the very early months of life, so by its very definition infant massage has a deep effect on the emotional well-being of the infant and can be used to attain a sense of security for the growing child. The emotional benefits of infant massage, such as quality, one-to-one loving touch, can also be experienced by fathers.