.png){kind=logo}
Check out this stellar photo records of 'Small Steps Are Giant Leaps' Project which is about reminding parents that to our kids this is a new and exciting world just waiting to be explored.
Motherhood is a balancing act, but you don’t have to do it alone.
Those itchy, red eyes may be a common childhood ailment.
Tips for Parent-Educators: These are the top things I wish someone had said to me as I offered my first born to his first school.
1. Be a parent, first and foremost. That's what your kid needs most from you.
2. Proactively build a relationship with your child's teacher at the beginning of the year. Don't wait until there's a problem to sit down with them.
3. If a teacher doesn't ask about your child's strengths and interests, share those.
4. Also share anything you think the teacher should know about your kid that would help them be effective, such as that your kid is an introvert and won't often participate in whole-class discussions. (Again, hopefully they ask this question, but if not, share it.)
5. If your child complains about being bored, class being too hard, not being treated well by peers or adults, listen to your child. Don't hope it'll get better. Go to school and talk to people. Observe classes.
6. Don't be afraid of talking to the principal. Don't be afraid of making requests. You can do this kindly and thoughtfully, but your job, again, is to advocate for your kid.
It is useful to understand why children prefer to sleep with you and will fight so hard to stay with you, night after night. The solution isn’t easy, but it’s doable.
Head people placed a greater importance on autonomy, and heart people valued belonging to social groups. Not to over-simplify, but apparently the world is made up of two types of people, and you’re only going to want to hang out with one of them.
These are so lusciously creamy, sinfully rich-tasting – the kind of thing you put in your mouth and kind of can’t believe what’s happening. Vegan, almost raw, and full of whole food ingredients, they are also downright filling!
5-Ingredient Vegan Magical Fudgesicles
Makes 4 cups / 1 Liter / 10 fudgesicles
Ingredients:
1) ½ cup / 75g unroasted, unsalted cashews
2) 1 14-oz can / 400ml full-fat coconut milk
3) 1 large, ripe avocado
4) 1 cup / 250g pitted, packed soft dates
5) ½ cup / 55g raw cacao powder (cocoa powder will also work)
Optional add-ins:
1) a few pinches sea salt
2) vanilla (seeds from 1 pod, powder, or extract)
3) a few drops of food-grade essential oils (peppermint, orange, almond etc.)
4) finely diced fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mango etc.)
5) a pinch of cayenne pepper
6) espresso powder
7) finely chopped toasted nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios etc.)
Optional toppings:
1) melted raw chocolate (recipe here) or melted dark chocolate
2) cacao nibs
3) finely chopped toasted nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios etc.)
4) dried fruit (I used raspberry on the ones pictured)
5) citrus zest (lemon, orange, lime)
Directions:
1. Place cashews in lightly salted water and let soak for 4-8 hours (overnight is fine).
2. Drain the cashews and rinse well. Add to a blender (a high-speed blender is highly recommended) with the remaining ingredients (and any flavourings, if using) and blend on high until as smooth as possible. Add water only if necessary – you want to mixture to remain quite thick.
3. Spoon mixture in popsicle molds. Firmly knock the molds on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Insert a popsicle stick into each mold and place in the freezer until set – at least 6 hours. To remove popsicles, run the mold under hot water until you can easily pull a fudgesicle out.
4. If you want to decorate your fudgesicles, dip or drizzle them with melted chocolate and sprinkle with desired toppings. Eat immediately, or place back in the freezer to set until ready to enjoy.
A single mother's determination to ensure her son didn't feel left out during a father-son breakfast at his school has caught the attention of the Internet.
It’s hard for parents to understand how a toddler can go from eating everything to barely touching his or her meals. It’s even more difficult for them to understand why kids are so reluctant to try new foods. And without a big picture understanding of why kids eat the way they do, parents are left frustrated and are more likely to make feeding mistakes.
When he heard the kid screaming in the middle of a scene he knew exactly what was going on…
The Centers for Disease Control tells us that in recent years there has been a jump in the percentage of young people diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly known as ADHD. Experts are suggesting one reason why more children are being diagnosed with ADHD & whether or not they really have it is the amount of time kids are forced to sit while they are in school
Among the signs: feeling sad or withdrawn for two weeks or more may indicate depression, and intense fears or worries that get in the way of daily activities may indicate an anxiety disorder.
One question we’ve always struggled with is what time we should get our little ones to bed. Go to bed too early, and they goof off, get hyper and never get to sleep. Go to bed too late, and we’ve got grumpy tired kids who can barely make it through the day...
Leaving the baby stage is bittersweet. Gone are the newborn snuggles, the new baby smell, the squishy baby cheeks, the itsy bitsy outfits and the adorable milestones. But as you leave this precious stage behind, you also enter a new one – and boy, it is a doozy!
The only way we are going to change the world is to change it one man and one boy at a time.
While each app might not be a big investment, no one wants to waste money or spend kids' limited screen time on low-quality content. To make good choices about the apps you download for your preschooler, use these criteria before you buy, and check out our list of preschool apps worth the money for more recommendations.
Pope Francis warned that sitting on a sofa gives illusion of safety from pain, fear or worries, allowing the sitter to kick back and lose themselves for hours in the latest television show or their smartphones.
Raising a strong-willed child can be a challenge when he or she is young. They might seem overly difficult, stubborn and opinionated. But strong-willed children are also spirited, fun and courageous. They simply want to learn things for themselves instead of accepting what others tell them. They may have a habit of testing boundaries and limits, but it’s because they are strong, passionate and they live life to the fullest. So how can a parent raise a strong-willed child without discouraging the child’s high energy, persistence and spunk? Here are ten tips for parenting a strong-willed, free-spirited child:
At any given time you’ll find four or more parenting books on my Amazon wish list, a few by my nightstand, and an email box chock full of insightful parenting theories and approaches.
Granted, child development is my career, but I speak with plenty of parents in my practice who find themselves in similar circumstances. With information around every corner and our culture projecting constant messages (many times contradictory) regarding how we should raise our kids, feeling like a confident and intentional parent can seem out of reach many days.
Even preschoolers nowadays are being sucked in the media revolution and this is keeping them from communicating with their parents while using media, a new study from the University of Michigan has revealed.
Their photo series “Pucker,” is what happens when life gave these kids lemons.
I was sitting in a church meeting listening to a father of five discuss parenting with a group of fellow dads. He had children ranging in age from 7 to 21. He covered a few topics, but what really hit me was when he said, “Guys, when you get home you need to just put down your bag and let the kids climb on you. I can’t tell you how important that is.”
This is the best and easiest way to dye rice for sensory play, taking just minutes to prepare and using no vinegar or alcohol hand gel! This method creates the most vibrant and amazingly coloured rice that will last for years when stored correctly. Let’s make it!
Daughter: What's love daddy?
Dad: You are.
A new study is sure to make some parents giddy as it reveals a simple solution to treat kids with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There is no more need for prescribed medication, just a change of lifestyle would be able to solve the child's behavioral and attention problems.
More than 3 million people in America are affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), with prevalence on the rise in recent years. While the symptoms of this group of brain development disorders vary, these are signs that a person may be on the autism spectrum.
You don’t find school reformers talking much about how we need to train more teachers in the arts, given the current obsession with science, math, technology and engineering (STEM), but here’s a list of skills that young people learn from studying the arts. They serve as a reminder that the arts — while important to study for their intrinsic value — also promote skills seen as important in academic and life success...
Now that I have kids of my own and work really hard to create a positive home with honest communication, I am hopeful that will never feel the need to lie, at least not any worse than I had. Why do we want our children
to be honest and understand the value of truthfulness?
Silence in kids often arouses worries to the parents. But don't. Their reservation appears not because they are incapable of what other kids do, but because they communicate with the world differently. Here are a few things you might want to know:
If someone asked you to spell the word 'eleemosynary', do you think you'd be able to? Honestly, I had never even heard of this tongue-twister before. But Rhea, a child wonder aged 10, not only spelled it correctly but also clinched the title of 'Child Genius 2016' in the UK. She is now officially the brightest kid in the kingdom.
- The researchers looked at 105 healthy children younger than 3 who had surgery to repair an inguinal hernia, a common operation of early childhood.
- Between the ages of 8 and 15, researchers assessed the children's IQ, language, behavior and mental functions, including memory, learning, attention and thinking speed.
-The children were no different than siblings who were not exposed to general anesthesia at a young age, the study found.
It doesn't help. Here's what to say instead.
Today’s kids are more worried than any kids in recent history. According to some long-term surveys of mental health literature, the average kid today is more anxious than people who were hospitalized for anxiety in the 1950s.
After the birth of my daughter, FaceTime conversations with my mother or my mother-in-law usually consist of a lot of cooing. “How’s my little princess doing today?” one of them will ask my five-month-old. “She looks like such a beautiful doll today,” the other will say. After ending a recent call, my husband came up to me and asked if we could please tell the grandmothers to stop referring to our daughter as a princess or a doll. “All dolls and princesses have to do is sit and look pretty,” he said. “Is that the kind of message you want her to grow up with?”
The interior ministry of Saudi Arabia has released a list of 50 such names, including ones that are affiliated with notions of royalty. Saudi Arabia certainly isn't the only country to ban "given" names, and plenty of other countries around the world limit the names parents can give to their children for any number of reasons.
Every parent or parent to-be has heard of the 'terrible two' phase but as someone who has been there four times, I can tell you that the twos are nothing compared to the age of three! At two they can be whiny and a bit defiant, but at three they can actually talk a bit more and it seems their attitude is beginning to fully develop!It seems that experts are now agreeing that while those two year old's are getting a bad rap, it's really the 'threenager' that parents need to be wary of!
This article gives a fresh list of things that today's parents should seriously think about and succinctly explains why it can be bad. Don't make the list judge what you do but be aware of what can happen if you push your child too much in certain directions.
Flu and the common cold are different illnesses, although they may share some symptoms. You tend to feel much worse with flu, often being confined to bed for several days, whereas a cold will usually just make you feel under the weather.
Every parent dreads that moment. It begins the second you set foot inside the daycare or preschool centre and find yourself with a clingy, teary child who won’t let go of your leg.
Leaving your children in the care of others – whether it’s for the first time or the hundredth time – is never easy, but when children are happy to run inside without fuss, it’s easier to push away those feelings or admit that we’ll miss them.
Essential oils in natural remedies are commonly used to help manage symptoms of different health conditions. However, a poison center in Tennessee reports that the number of kids experiencing accidental poisoning from essential oils is increasing.
Hacks – they are a truly beautiful thing. They are those small tweaks that can make your life a whole lot easier. They are those things you see on Pinterest that make you say – “Why didn’t I ever think of that?”
Think your home is baby-proofed? Watch this short video for a look at common safety hazards many parents overlook.
Here are some dangers involved in hair pins on babies -- choking, stragulation, allergic reaction, hear loss, etc. It may sound terrifying, but this does not mean you need to take away all the lovely pins from your child. Just be aware where the potential (no matter how unlikely it is) dangers can arise so that you don't get caught off guard if anything happens.
What is it like to raise a child who's different from you in some fundamental way (like a prodigy, or a differently abled kid, or a criminal)? In this quietly moving talk, writer Andrew Solomon shares what he learned from talking to dozens of parents — asking them: What's the line between unconditional love and unconditional acceptance?
Is clutter taking over your space? You can’t always take the “throw it out” approach to your belongings, but you can stash your stuff out of the way. We’ve found plenty of inspiration to motivate you to get organized (or at least appear that way). Check out these 17 ways to hide clutter in your home.
The June school holidays are here and, for some primary school pupils, that could mean schedules packed with academic revision, remedial lessons and tuition. But there is also value in giving children free time and space to initiate their own activities, which can complement their learning in school, say educators.
The year Sam started kindergarten, he turned 6 in October. He was one of the oldest children in his class, and he didn’t know how to read. When he started first grade he was almost 7, and he still didn’t know how to read. Fortunately for Sam, he entered first grade in 1999. And his teachers, Mrs. Gantt and Mrs. Floyd, didn’t panic if a child didn’t learn to read in kindergarten. In fact, they expected that most children would learn to read in first grade. (They also supported and encouraged children who learned to read easily in kindergarten, like Sam’s brother Ben.)
Of the products EWG reviewed, they had “serious concerns” about 750 of them. That’s way more than a CVS aisle-worth.