Helping Children Deal with Stress

It’s no doubt that children are one of life’s miracles but as our offspring we sometimes tend to forget that while they may be all that is good in us, they are not our clones and are certainly not little adults. They are incapable of handling things in the same way that we are – which means they are unable to manage stress like we can. Not to mention, something that we would easily overlook would be a severe stressor to our kids – for example, showing up at school and finding desks rearranged differently than they have been all year or a substitute teacher instead of their regular teacher.

                                                                                                                                              

If your child is having breakdowns frequently, having trouble sleeping or nightmares or being clingy when they weren’t before, are all signs that your child could be experiencing more stress in their lives than they were before.  Trust your instincts if you notice a change in your child’s behavior and try these tips to help them cope with stress more easily:

1. Let them know it’s ok to talk about it – some children have a difficult time expressing themselves or they may be afraid to say what they are feeling. Make it very clear to your child that if they are feeling out of sorts that it’s ok to talk about it. Help them share with you if they are feeling scared or nervous or worried about something.
2. Encourage your children to find positive in what is a stressful situation in their lives – for example, instead of being worried over having a substitute teacher, remind them that they are safe even with the substitute and their regular teacher will be back soon.
3. Teach your children simple stress-relieving techniques like breaking and finding positive even in stressful situations.
4. Establish routines for your children, especially at bedtime. These routines, when coupled with relaxing music will help your child relax after a rough day.
5. Be sure to spend enough quality time with your children each day. This will help them to become more self-confident and assured and if something upsets their normal routine, they are less likely to act out.

Working with your children now to handle stress will help them be better at coping as they grow into adults.

Maintaining a Healthy Diet and Still Allowing the Foods They Love

Every parent has the same battle at some point in their lives – getting your kids to eat healthy but not completely depriving them of the foods they love. It can be a challenge, yes, but it doesn’t mean you need a degree in diet and nutrition to make sure your kids are eating healthy. Here are some “Rules to live by” when it comes to making sure your kids are maintaining a healthy diet:

1. Remember you are the supply line – you control the apron strings so to speak. This simply means that you are the one in charge of buying the food as well as when to serve it. Your kids will no doubt pester you for less healthy options but you will need to stand your ground on how much of those less healthy options are kept on hand at any given time. They will eat what’s in the cupboard or fridge.
2. The clean plate club is over-rated. Let your children stop eating when they feel they’ve had enough. Most of us have grown up as card-carrying members of the clean plate club and as such may be battling with nutrition and healthy eating habits. Let your child have some say about their bodies – if they feel full let them be finished.
3. Start your kids young. Their food preferences tend to develop early so make sure you are providing lots of choices for them. Even as babies they know what they like or don’t like. When offering new foods, offer a few bites if they truly don’t like it, don’t push.
4. Don’t bribe with sweets. Goodies and desserts are fine on occasion but don’t use sweets or dessert as the main reason for eating a meal.
5. Finally – be a role model. If your kids see you eating unhealthy foods on a regular basis they’re going to think its ok for them to do it as well. Choose healthy foods, have at least one meal all together at the table and do your best not to skip meals during the day. 

How to Organize Your Children’s Important Documents

We do everything we can to keep our family safe and well taken care of – from locking the doors at night to making sure our children are kept out of harm’s way. For parents – keeping our family safe is our first priority.

But with all of the things that we have to do on a daily basis – urgent things that keep our families protected, it’s no big surprise when other, less urgent things get pushed to the back burner and saved for a rainy day. One of the tasks we typically put off until the last minute is organizing our family’s important documents. We’re all guilty of it at one time or other but the good news is, even if you’ve neglected this for a long period of time, it doesn’t have to be quite as time-consuming as you think. Here are a few tips to get you on your way:

• Collection: Go through your entire house (don’t forget the “junk” drawers!) and collect all of the papers that need to be kept in one central location: birth certificates, baptism records, social security cards, medical records, vaccination records, passports and insurance information. If you’re unsure about the importance of a document, simply ask yourself what the consequences would be if that paper was lost forever.
• Copycat: Original documents are necessary for things like passports and registering for school, but it’s never a bad idea to make copies of everything. Copies of immunization records can be given directly to the school or to a new pediatrician. Keep your originals tucked in a safe place.
• Store the rest: It’s unlikely you’re going to need baptism records on a regular basis or even passports or birth certificates. Lock these important papers in a safe deposit box. Keep in mind, however, that you’ll be at the mercy of “banker’s hours” when you need the documents so plan accordingly.
• Use technology to your advantage: Scan and back up documents to be easily recovered later on. This can work for important papers and photos alike.
• Share the secret: Be sure to let at least one other person in your family know where you keep all of these important documents should you not be available to access them.

So there you have it – it’s not really that difficult to put your documents in one place and have them easily accessible – you just have to get started!

Toddler Care in a Day Care Setting

It’s been said that children learn more before the age of three than they will over the rest of their lives. We can take that concept one step further and declare that the first five years of a child’s life are the most formative and arguably the most critical.

During these early years, a child needs love and nurturing – both at home and in social settings – in order to thrive and grow. When a child feels loved and cared for, they feel as if they belong and become confident little beings who are encouraged to learn and participate in any situation.

With more families relying on the services of a good day care center, it’s important that the facility they choose can provide that all-important loving and nurturing environment – one that encourages learning and exploration.  The day care environment should provide work, play and learning areas that are stimulating but also meet the developmental needs of each child. And while each child’s specific needs should be met, the learning environment should also encourage and support children who thrive in learning in a group environment as well.

When deciding on the best day care facility for you and your child, it’s well within your rights to ask what kind of environment your child will be in during his or her time there.  You should know who will be taking care of your child and what credentials and experience they have that qualifies them to do so. You should know how many children there will be in your toddler’s age group. And finally you should know what kind of learning/interactivity activities your child will participate in during the day and if they have special needs – how will they be met? Will there be dramatic play? Art activities? Blocks? Reading? Communication?

Day care may be a necessity for your family, but it doesn’t mean you have to settle for the first one that you come to in your search. Shop around and find the best one to enrich your toddler’s experience. 

How to Instill Friendly Competition in Children

Nobody likes to lose – winning is fun, right? Instilling friendly competition into your children is a good way to lead them down the path of being well-rounded individuals. A healthy dose of competition doesn’t only have to apply to being a better player in the sports arena; it can also apply to being a better business owner, a better employee and a better person all around.

Healthy and friendly competition can be the basis of motivating children to exceed expectations – expectations that they may not feel they can beat. Many parents feel that teaching children to be competitive because of the expectations some coaches put on their players.  Many experts disagree, citing that this friendly competition taught at a young age teach them to successfully compete in the world as teenagers and ultimately as adults.

Again, competition doesn’t just apply to sports. When children learn how to compete in a friendly manner, they are learning to try the hardest. These same values will carry over into life when they are competing for a new job or promotion. By learning to compete as children, they are given a leg up on the competition who may not have had that same experience.

Liken teaching your children to compete to the gazelle and the lion: in Africa, when a gazelle awakens each morning it is well aware that if it doesn’t wake up and run it will be eaten by the lion. The lion on the other hand, knows that it must be faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. The moral of the story? It doesn’t matter if you’re the lion or the gazelle – each morning wake up and be ready to run. 

Parents Can Be Good Teachers to Their Children

From a very young age, children are exposed to different people on a regular basis – any of whom can form their thoughts and beliefs. None of the people they are exposed to on a regular basis are more important than their parents. 

Many parents don’t see themselves in a teaching role, but the fact is, as parents we are our children’s first teachers. We teach our children to walk, talk, dress themselves, feed themselves, how to be polite, how to be tolerant and a million other things that shape the people they become – all before they’re every expose to teachers in a classroom setting. 

What parents do forget, especially those who work full-time, is that even when children enter the classroom, they can still be the best teacher that their children will have. While we want to instill good morals and values into our children – these are both valuable to them as functioning members of society – it’s also important that we teach our children to think for themselves and form their own beliefs. While classroom teachers can instruct them and provide them with a sound educational experience, they are unable to reach a child in the same way a parent can. 

While we all have different teachers teaching us different things in our lives, we must remember as parents, we are the best and most important teacher our children will ever know. 

Best Apps for Small Children and Toddlers

Winter is coming and outside play will become less and less possible as the cold winds and even snow start to blow. But that doesn’t mean your small children can’t be entertained and stimulated.

Thanks to the mass quantities of technology that now consumes our lives on a daily basis, it’s no surprise that it’s even becoming a part of everyday life for even toddlers. Educational developers and computer experts are constantly working together to develop literally thousands of games and apps specifically geared toward small children and toddlers in order to keep them stimulated, help with better hand-eye coordination and well-developed fine motor skills.

Here is but a small list of the most popular apps that combine education and fun for your little one:

1. Pat the Bunny is based on a children’s book from the 1940s and is used as an interactive reading tool. While this iPad app doesn’t off the feel of the faux fur that the original book offered its readers, there are still plenty of scenes that your child can explore and interact with. For example, there’s an Easter egg hunt in all of the scenes as well as coloring activities
2. PianoBall allows your child to explore their musical side by using this app to create their own musical scores. The colorful keyboard attracts your child and keeps their attention as they explore the five different modes that allow the music to be heard the way it would sound with different instruments.
3. Potty Time with Elmo approaches potty training in a whole new way. The wildly popular Sesame Street character will help your toddler with the transition from diapers to using the “big kid potty” by using songs, puzzles and even animated stickers.
4. Drawing Pad is another app that helps your child explore and release their inner creativity. With this app they can use realistic crayons, markers and even paint brushes to create a virtually unlimited portfolio of projects.

Again, this is but a small sampling of the apps available to entertain and educate your child. This winter, replace the toy box full of unused or broken toys with apps like this and let your child explore a whole new world.