by BlondieWrites on July 13, 2008
With so many children and teens using the internet today, using parental control software is a *must* for parents who want to control what their kids see and don’t see on the web. The internet leaves little for the imagination and it can be easy not only to find but get addicted to porn. Never think it can’t happen to your kids.. it can!
One of the best defenses against your children and teens visiting web sites that contain objectionable material is to have parental control software installed on the computer your child uses. There are several software programs available that offer parental controls. One of these is Optenet PC Parental Control Software.
Optenet PC Parental Control Software offers a fully featured 14 day free trial of their parental control software. Try it out before purchasing it. Try don’t even ask for a credit card to get the free trial. It’s totally risk free.
Popularity: 43% [?]
by BlondieWrites on July 10, 2008
by BlondieWrites on July 5, 2008
Toddlers and young children can be fussy eaters who refuss to try new foods at least half of the time. Approximately half of all toddlers fit this description, so it is no wonder that healthy eating and food issues are often a source of stress for parents.
Establishing healthy eating patterns is important to avoid problems such as obesity and eating disorders later in life. Various strategies can help your child accept a wider range of foods. It may be necessary to offer a food to your child as many as ten different times before they choose to eat it. The problem is, many parents get frustrated and give up before the fourth or fifth try.
Try to make foods fun. Colorful foods like carrot sticks, raisins, apples, grapes, cheese sticks and crackers can all be fun and healthy choices for your growing toddler. Explain to them that eating good food is important so they’ll grow big and strong, and how it will help them run faster and play longer.
One of the newer more popular ways of making sure your child eats healthy food and meals is to grind up or puree foods into dishes such as stew, soup, pasta sauce, etc. Using a blender or the Magic Bullet, puree healthy foods such as spinach, carrots, or any other healthy food. Once added to another favorite dish, odds are the child will never notice the additions and munch on a good and healthy meal.
Children learn behaviors from their parents. If you restrict yourself to a narrow range of foods, your child will take notice and mimic your actions. Don’t limit your child’s food variety to only those foods you prefer. It may be that your child’s tastes are different to yours, and perhaps you are simply serving them foods they don’t happen to like. Try to set a good example and try a variety of foods in front of your child.
If your child seems healthy and energetic, then they are eating enough. If you are still concerned, keep an eye on how much food they actually eat over the day. Children tend to graze constantly, rather than restrict their eating to three meals per day like adults. You may be surprised how those little handfuls and snacks add up. For further reassurance, check your child’s growth and weight charts, or check with your child’s pediatrician.
Try not to worry, and remember, that unless a child is ill, they will eat. Children are very good at judging their hunger and fullness signals. Try to stay relaxed about mealtime and offer your child a wide variety of foods, and most importantly, remember to set a good example by trying a wide variety of foods yourself. You may discover you and your toddler share a new found favorite food!
Popularity: 54% [?]
by BlondieWrites on July 5, 2008
Your child’s self esteem is their mental foundation. A self-assured child is confident, secure, happy, well-adjusted and successful. They can solve problems that come their way, and it thrives under a loving parent’s nurturing care.
What are some good ways to built self esteem in your child?
Most importantly, accept your child for who they are, and help them do the same. Teach your child that nobody is perfect, and that everyone makes mistakes. Show them how to learn and grow from their mistakes, and let them know that you also make mistakes. Children with high self esteem are able to take lessons from mistakes and apply them down the road. A child with low self esteem become frustrated and resort to self-depreciating behavior, such as calling themselves names.
Help your child discover their abilities and talents, and encourage outlets for them to build on and improve them. Praise a child not only for improvements in abilities and skills, but also for the traits they naturally possess.
Encourage your child to make positive choices. Open an honest dialog with your child and discuss the possibilities with them. Children who learn skills for making positive choices when they are younger are well-prepared for the tougher choices they have to make when they are older.
Ensure that you spend lots of quality time with your child, at least once a week. Whether you are shooting baskets or going out to grab a hamburger, take time to talk and keep in touch. If you find it difficult to squeeze in quality time during a hectic week, take the time to talk about things during the drive to school or while they are helping you put the groceries away.
Popularity: 24% [?]
by BlondieWrites on July 5, 2008
Just like a snowflake or a fingerprint, every child is unique in their own special way. Every child has a unique way of feeling, thinking, and interacting with others. Some children are shy, while others are outgoing. Some are active, while others are calm. Some are fretful, while others are easy going. As a loving and nurturing parent, it’s our job to encourage them to embrace their uniqueness and celebrate their individual qualities.
Allow your child to express themselves through their interests. They may find a creative outlet in theater, dancing or art, or they may be exceptionally talented in the sciences. Encourage them to embrace what they like to do, what interests them, and what makes them happy. Help them realize that they don’t need to worry about being ‘like everyone else’.
Teach your child to make positive choices, and praise them for good deeds, behaviors and positive traits they possess. Encourage them to become actively involved in their community, and introduce them to activities that promote a sense of cooperation and accomplishment. Be firm yet fair when handing down discipline for misdeeds or misbehaviors, and make certain the rules and consequences for breaking the rules are clearly defined. Show a cooperative, loving and united front with your spouse when it comes to discipline.
Accept and celebrate your child’s uniqueness. Remember that your child is an individual. Allow your child to have his or her own personal preferences and feelings, which may be different from your own.
And finally, encourage your child to be true to themselves by doing the same. Show your child how to make positive choices with the choices you make, and that nobody is perfect and you too make mistakes. Show your child that mistakes can be a great learning experience, and that they should not be ashamed or embarrassed about making them.
Popularity: 27% [?]
by BlondieWrites on July 5, 2008
Are you a mother who is also a career-oriented woman? If you are, you may have number of different issues tugging at your heart. In today’s society, many mothers are fearful of putting their family first, especially in certain circumstances, in fear of losing their jobs. With that in mind, there are many mothers who are fearful that their children will grow up resenting them due to the amount of time they spent focused on work.
While being a mother and a career-oriented woman, all at the same time, may seem like an impossible task, it is a task that you can more than perform. What you need to remember, although difficult as it may be, is that you should be a mom first. However, that doesn’t mean that you should just toss your workload to the side and not care. There are a number of different ways that you can go about being a good parent, while still brining home an income. One of those ways involves spending quality time with your child or children when you are not working.
One of the best ways for you to go about spending quality time with your child or children is by creating a schedule for yourself. This schedule can be used to outline any important events that you and your child or children have planned. Although your schedule does not need to be followed right down to the letter, it is important to have one. Mothers who create schedules for themselves are more likely to follow through with their plans.
Speaking of your plans, you may be wondering what you should do to spend quality time with your child or children. Of course, it is important to keep your child’s age in mind. A child who is three years old will prefer different activities than one who is nine or ten years old. With that in mind, there are a number of different activities that many children, including those of all ages, love. A few of those activities are outlined below for your convenience.
One activity that you may want to think about doing with your child or children is taking them to the zoo. Regardless of where you live, you should have a zoo within a reasonable driving distance to your home. Zoo trips are fun and exciting, as they often last all day. What is nice about zoo trips is that they are fun and educational all at the same time. This means that your quality time can benefit your child or children in more ways than one.
Another activity that you may want to think about doing is taking your child or children to the movies. Whether your child is three years old or fifteen years old, there should be a movie playing that would likely interest them. Going to the movies is nice, as many children view it as a treat. For more affordable movie tickets, you may want to think about going to see a movie with your family during the daytime.
Additional activities that many children enjoy are those of park visits, museum visits, and sporting events. In all honestly, it really doesn’t matter what you do. To your child or children, how matter what their age, they will likely just appreciate the fact that you took some time away from work to have fun with them, no matter what the activity.
Popularity: 21% [?]
by BlondieWrites on July 5, 2008
Are you looking for the perfect gift for the new baby of a friend or family member? Gift baskets for babies are adorable and thoughtful gifts, allowing you to give a more personal gift to the mom for her new baby.
There are many ideas for themed gift baskets for the baby. Ideas can range from the simple and frugal gift basket to a sophisticated and expensive gift basket. How little or how much you choose to include is one of the joys of making and giving gift baskets as a gift. There are also many commercially prepared gift baskets, already stuffed with delightful goodies for the new baby.
To make your own gift basket for a baby, you first want to decide on a basket or container to hold the gifts. The container can be something other than an actual basket. Containers could be a small wicker cradle, a metal tub, a baby bathtub, and even a diaper pail bucket.
Now comes the fun part. There are so many things a new mom needs for a baby, so there is a wide range of items you can put into the gift basket. If the baby hasn’t been born yet, you might want to choose neutral colors such as greens and yellows.
Cloth diapers have finally come back around as the choice of diapering for the baby. Many moms prefer cloth diapers to the disposable ones. The regular unfolded cloth diapers can also serve as burping cloths. Prefolded shaped cloth diapers with velcro closings are very popular, and are available in various prints and designs. Fuzzi Bunz, Kissaluvs, Wickeez and Bumkins are just four companies that put out these types of prefolded cloth diapers.
Items for the nursery make thoughtful items for the gift basket. Some ideas are changing pads for the nursery changing table, crib blankets and baby quilts, a diaper stacker that hangs on the crib, and baby mobiles.
Other items to consider are baby spoons, bottles and bottle liners, bibs and teething rings, baby wash and baby bath, baby oil and lotion, diaper rash ointments, petroleum jelly, rattlers, pacifiers, receiving blankets, baby wash clothes, hooded towels for baby, brush set, a baby memory book, one piece outfits, socks, sleepers, piggy banks, soft toys, board books, diaper bags, baby wipes, a baby bath tub, bath toys, etc.
Once you have all of the items that you want to include in the gift basket for the baby, place them in the container. If the container is a basket or like a basket, you will want to put some type of shredding in the bottom of it. You can leave the shredding out and use cloth diapers placed in the bottom instead, or a receiving blanket. Sticky glue dots applied to the items help to hold the gifts in place to make the gift basket look nice and maintain that look. Glue dots can be found in the craft section of Wal-Mart.
You will want to wrap the basket in some transparent plastic wrap. Gift basket wrap can be found in the craft section of Wal-Mart. Or you can use transparent gift wrap paper found in the greeting card section of Wal-Mart. Wrap the basket in the plastic, bringing the open ends to the top of the basket. Hold the wrapping closed by tying it with ribbon or a metallic twist tie. You can also add a large bow to the container to add a creative touch to it.
There are many ideas for gift baskets for a baby. Adding your own touch to a gift basket and giving it as a gift is what makes gift baskets so unique and thoughtful.
Popularity: 24% [?]
by BlondieWrites on July 5, 2008
We all know that as parents discussing and negotiating the rules with our children is never easy. Children are all very different, and what might need to be a rule for one, may not even be an issue for another. That being said, there are many parameters that we set as parents that are the hard and fast rules, those with no ‘wiggle room.’ Those are the rules set forth to protect our child’s health, safety and well being. These rules and their consequences should be very clearly defined and it should be understood by all involved that they are there for a very important reason and that they are ‘all or nothing.’
Rules that keep our children safe are of the utmost importance. These could include everything from teaching youngsters not to touch the hot stove to teaching your school aged child the importance of obeying the laws while riding their bicycle. Children need to understand these rules are to be followed to the letter and there is no room for negotiation here.
For adolescents and teenagers, such rules should include expectations about drinking, the use of illegal drugs, or safe defensive driving. These rules are also imperative to a child’s health, well being and safety. There should be no room for experimentation or relaxing the rules in specific social situations.
There are rules that can be fairly and equitably negotiated with your children as well. Rules regarding how many hours per week can be spent on video game playing, what time a child is expected home for dinner, what time each night homework is to be completed, or how late a teenager is allowed to stay out on weekend nights are all rules that can be discussed openly and honestly between you and your child.
These should also be consistent, however. Don’t allow 11 p.m. one weekend night and then tell your teenager 9:30 the following weekend night when going out with the same group of friends. If your teenager broke the 11 p.m. curfew the weekend before, the consequence of losing the privilege of going out that weekend should be strictly enforced. Don’t bend the rule just because your teenager seems genuinely sorry and promises never to do it again. Consequences should be consistent, fair, and always followed through.
Popularity: 24% [?]
