Parent, Young Parent, Childhood, Pregnancy, Love, Bed Time Stories

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Parents as Educators

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Educating your child on matters behavioral is most certainly your job, and it really shouldn’t be delegated to anyone else. Sadly, because we are given so little training on how to be parents, this necessary activity can often be very badly done. Let’s investigate it now in the light of recent research about how the brain works.

There are ways to control or even change the behavior of your child, but there’s one way that is sure to fail – retelling your child not to do something. After that sinks in, you need to think back and calculate how many times in the past month you have said to your child, perhaps with your voice raised: “Don’t do that”.

What is a Parent?

The fairy stories that you had read to you as a kid, and later maybe read for yourself, almost always ended with the words – “and they got married and lived happily ever after”.family_parenting_issues

Since you have been married, you may be wondering what on earth the fairy story writers were talking about!

How many people do you know – including yourselves – who live happily ever after?

But let’s not be cynical. One of the reasons we get married is to have children, right? But even that does not necessarily lead to living happily ever after, does it? In fact, it is likely that if you are a ‘normal parent’ living a ‘normal life’ – mortgage, medical bills, school fees, having to deliver and collect children from school, tuition classes, sports etc, etc, – and trying to hold down a job – overtime, home late, missing birthday parties, etc etc – you may begin to wonder whether it is all worth it. Problems with time, problems with money, sex life not being like it was… … You know the feeling I am sure.

A Balanced Diet For Your Baby

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Here are some other suggestions to help you avoid over-feeding your baby during her first year of life:FeNut_WhWea_1_Art200803020210

Don’t automatically give her more. Resist the temptation to keep feeding her until she refuses to take any more. Remind yourself that she doesn’t have to be “full” all the time.

There is a difference between having enough to eat and being full. She doesn’t have to be so stuffed she cannot swallow another drop.

When To Read For Your Baby?

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InfantReadBook-main_FullBefore a nap, after lunch, after bath, and before bedtime are all good reading times. The basic idea is to capitalize on periods when baby is receptive. Do not force your child to sit still when he wants to practice walking or when he is too tired or hungry. This will only frustrate him and make the reading experience unpleasant.

Erika recommends reading to baby regularly, twice a day, every day. Start with a short span of five to six minutes for each reading session and as your baby’s attention span increases, lengthen the reading time.

Letter For My Father

father's day letter 1What a day! You have taught me, guided me and instilled wisdom in me my entire life. You have been a wonderful father and I sincerely hope that I can be a good father as well to my kids. I hope that when my kids need me, I’m there for them as you have been for me all these years. I hope that when my kids have doubts that I’m there to squash them. Happy Father’s Day.

How Princess and Prince Expresses Themselves?

Your baby‘s inability to speak doesn’t stop her from expressing herself to you. Instead of words, she uses body language to april-2008-005-3communicate her feelings, thoughts and desires.

Look for language in her physical movements. Your baby tells you she has a tummy ache by drawing her knees tightly up to her stomach. You can tell she is relaxed when she lies flat on her back, gazing wide-eyed at the musical mobile.

Facial expressions are her way of communicating emotions. Psychologists have identified seven basic facial expressions that adults are capable of generating- unhappiness, joy, surprise, interest, disgust, terror and rage. Your baby too has enough control over her facial muscles to create all of these facial expressions herself.

Is A Different Life After Pregnant (Part 2)

Reality Checking Your Lifestyle

pregnant womanYour new baby will also alter your social life. “I hardly go out with my friends anymore, because I have to express my milk every three to four hours daily. Even when I do, I’m often too tired to enjoy the night out. A simple trip to the shops gets tiring when I have to bring along tons of my pumping equipment,” shares Bonny.

And even if you do venture out, your expeditions would most likely be limited to baby-friendly shopping centers with nursing rooms. Karen, 26, a mother of a eight-month-old baby, who even had to change her circle of friends as not everyone fou venues, such as nd “poo” comparisons and diaper brand debates stimulating.

New Baby Carriers For You

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Aprica Zuccobed Easy TouchAprica Eazy Touch

Carry baby in four ways! Newborns can be carried while they lie down as the stiff pouch provides all the necessary support. When baby is older and able to support her neck, carry her facing you or facing front. Toddlers can be carried on your back like a backpack. The side buckles are very secure as they require a (simple) two- step procedure to lock in place. The beige straps are made of a soft cotton material which are soft against the skin but expect them to dirty pretty fast. The biggest drawback is that the instructions are in Japanese so unless you know the language, you’ll be fumbling and making guesswork out of the illustrations.

Ergo Baby Carrier

Ergo Baby CarrierA breeze to put on with minimal buckling and tugging at straps. Can be worn in front, back and hip position (baby sitting on your hips). A padded seat you secure around your waist supports the baby’s weight through the upper thigh rather than weighing down the spine. as baby is in a seated position. It takes a maximum weight of 18kg so it can accommodate the child from birth through toddler-hood. A sleeping hood keeps the child’s head from flopping about when in slumber.

Is That A Guilt of Mother?

As the birth of my third child approaches, breastfeeding anxiety is setting in. It’s not that I had problems feeding my two boys. On the mothercontrary, my milk supply was ample and both of them were sucking away in no time.

What’s haunting me is the latter part of the love-hate relationship I have with nursing: leaking breasts the size of watermelons; feeling like I belong on a meadow among the cows; constantly smelling of breast milk; horrible cotton pads stuffed into bras that look like something from Grandma’s underwear drawer; and being the only one who can feed the baby in the middle of the night.

Is A Different Life After Pregnant (Part 1)

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Reality Checking Your Body

checkingThe first shocking realization comes when new mothers realize that they still look six months pregnant after being wheeled out of the delivery room! I remained quite plump for the first two months, and only started to regain my figure in the seventh month.

According to doctor research explains that the amount a mother loses immediately after delivery would depend on the weight of the baby (usually 3 to 3.2kg), placenta (1/7th of the baby’s weight) and amniotic fluid (1 to 1.54); on average, 7kg in all.

“How long she takes to lose all the weight from pregnancy will depend on how much she has gained. So, don’t put on too much weight; 10 to 12kg is just perfect,” says doctor, who recommends total breastfeeding, dieting and exercise after the first six weeks of birth as good ways to regain your svelte pre-birth figure.

Brave New World

Although slightly bored, the thought of being unfaithful never once crossed our minds, and we knew that the “ooh…ooh..” factor secretcould be taken up a notch, it was just a matter of how. Being a somewhat shy person, my husband was against any form of couple’s therapy, as he found it extremely discomforting, to say the least. I thus proceeded to go through my list of brilliant (or not so) suggestions, which included handcuffs, whipped cream and other overused ideas.

“So cliché, you obviously read too many magazines!” scoffed my bemused hubby.

“Well, do you have any better suggestions then,  Mr Computer Nerd?” I challenged him haughtily.

“I’m glad you asked, because as a matter of fact, I do have some ideas that I would like to run by you,” said my husband rather enthusiastically.

Young Pole Dancer

Who has never heard of pole dancing! Unfortunately, the impressions we have are tarnished by all the sleaze that is associated with pole_dancing_lead_narrowweb__300x351,0it, but take away the sleaze and what you have is a very acrobatic, athletic art form. It is this attitude to pole dancing that we want to focus on.

If you can’t imagine good, clean pole dancing, picture a gymnast on the balance beam, then take away the beam and replace it with a vertical pole. There you have it!

In our kids’ pole dancing class, we focus on teaching the tricks and the technique and since it can get quite technical, we try to incorporate dance moves into the program as well, it is a more holistic approach this way.

No Love = Divorce ?

Stephanie could not imagine that the life I had dream of was about to become a nightmare. The first few months in Australia were just divorce_cake 2bliss. Tennis while the children were at school, weekly lunch with new friends, and a tidy home to go back to.

Donny, on the other hand, had something else in mind. Despite his apparently happy family life, he divorced his wife at the end of their first year in Australia. He claimed to have found “the love of his life.”

Stephanie, a former office clerk who gave up her career to support her husband’s work, simply couldn’t believe her ears. “I thought we had a great marriage. He had just recently mentioned that we should go to the Maldives for our tenth anniversary. We were best friends,” she says. Stephanie and Donny were together for fifteen years and were married for over nine of those.

Sunburn (Outdoor Activities)

sunburn-main_FullDespite all your care sunburn can sneak up on your child. When you spot even a slight redness of the skin or if your child starts feeling sick move your child indoors immediately and give him a cool bath. An application of pure Aloe Vera gel will reduce the burning sensation. Give your child an over the counter pain medicine and then apply a moisturizing cream regularly to hydrate the skin and reduce swelling. Make sure your child does not scratch or peel that burned skin that starts falling off after a week. Some doctors / expert will insist that parents do not apply any petroleum-based products as they prevent excess heat and sweat from escaping. Do rush your child to the doctor if your child has a fever, if the skin looks infected, your child complains of nausea, diarrhea or has trouble looking at the light.

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