I Don't Feel Guilty for Having a Favorite Child
I wondered often if my heart would possibly be able to expand and find room to love another child as much as I loved my daughter.
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I wondered often if my heart would possibly be able to expand and find room to love another child as much as I loved my daughter.
There”s nothing more adorable than the sight of a toddler happily immersed in an afternoon of play. Wee hands stack blocks and peals of excited laughter escape from his tiny body as playtime ensues. But when two toddlers come face to face during playtime, they’re ready for a showdown, and their battle cry in a playground full of toys rings: It’s mine!
Parents with preschoolers are often on the search for activities that can help prepare their children for the basic or fundamental skills they need for school, usually termed as “the three R’s,” namely reading, writing and `rithmetic (arithmetic).
What some parents don’t know though is that laying the foundation for their skills need not entail enrolling their kids in school as early as 1 or 2 years old. There are actually a lot of activities that young kids can do in the comfort of their own homes – whether under the supervision of Mommy (or Daddy).
A Silicon Valley nerd offers an insight into when to introduce phone to your kids, what are the benefits, which apps to install/avoid, and what rules you need to put in agreement.
Because it’s a paradox, isn’t it? In teaching our girls to take steps to prevent men from raping them, we are admitting on some level, that men view women as property, as sexual objects that they have a right to.
If you’re like most parents, you’re proudly documenting your child’s firsts: smile, steps, words. But today’s photo albums are filling up with other firsts as well: electronic toy, iPod, computer. These are digital milestones, but you won’t find them in the parenting book on your nightstand.
How can you tell if your child is being bullied? If my child comes to me and tells me he is being bullied, what is the best thing to do? So, what can I do to stop the bullying?
Think your home is baby-proofed? Watch this short video for a look at common safety hazards many parents overlook.
You may have read or heard about the study debunking the five-second rule. It said that no matter how fast you pick up food that falls on the floor, you will pick up bacteria with it.
When he heard the kid screaming in the middle of a scene he knew exactly what was going on…
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.
Fourth generation craftsman Masaaki Hiroi, 80, loves making traditional spinning tops and other wooden toys. This is his story, in his own words.
As the environmental exposures and chemical burden on our bodies has risen, so have rates of diseases, particularly those that impact kids, including asthma, childhood cancers, autism, and ADHD. The questions arise: What are the toxins? Where can we find them? How dangerous are they? Most importantly, how can we reduce, if not remove, them?
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...
Any good parent wants their kids to stay out of trouble, do well in school, and go on to do awesome things as adults. And while there isn't a set recipe for raising successful children, psychology research has pointed to a handful of factors that predict success.
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Unsurprisingly, much of it comes down to the parents. Here's what parents of successful kids have in common:
"See babies as people in their own right, naturally deserving of our respect. See babies not as helpless beings but as active, phenomenal learners with an innate urge to explore their world and the people in it, from birth. When we see babies in this way, our practice will naturally change for the better." - Lisa Sunbury Gerber
It’s not just educational videos and gadgets.
Talking about anything and everything under the sun with the kids may be pleasant for most parents. Though constant communication and positive criticism may be advised to keep a strong parent-child bond, a study revealed that there is one topic that should be OFF LIMITS! It was mentioned that talking / criticizing young children about their weight can do more harm than good.
There’s nothing better than a spotless house. But, to tell the truth, for many of us cleaning our house is not on our list of our favorite ways to spend time. Today, we would like to share some ingenious tricks to help you make your living area sparkling clean. You’ll be amazed at how many household items double as cleaning products and home improvement tools.
About 100 pre-schoolers spent their Saturday afternoon at the weekend colouring at Suntec City Convention Centre in celebration of World Kids Colouring Day. The event, organised in Singapore for the ninth year by writing products manufacturer Staedtler, saw the children colouring pictures on the theme of "funny animals".
Read more about the AAP's new guidelines on babies and toddlers' screen time
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...
Getting information about the school day from a child who's attention is most likely focused on a snack, a little homework and, if the gods and their parents are kind, an hour or so of Mario Maker, often feels like an exercise in futility and espionage.
New games that will make acquiring programming skills as simple as playing Lego for kids!
Dr. O’Neill then explained the typical symptoms of childhood depression: Lack of joy, abandoning play, self-isolation, saying things are not fun, negative talk (I am stupid, no one likes me, I can’t do things anymore), lack of energy, inability to enjoy their favorite activities, inability to stay focused or participate in child-oriented activities, crying easily, being inconsolable.
Dr. O’Neill then explained the typical symptoms of childhood depression: Lack of joy, abandoning play, self-isolation, saying things are not fun, negative talk (I am stupid, no one likes me, I can’t do things anymore), lack of energy, inability to enjoy their favorite activities, inability to stay focused or participate in child-oriented activities, crying easily, being inconsolable.
It never fails: You take just a two-minute bathroom break, and by the time you’re done your toddler has emptied his toy box across the living-room floor, ripped your magazines to shreds, and somehow gotten into the crisper drawer of the fridge. “Toddlers learn by exploring their environment with all five senses,” says Alexis Clyde, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. Kids this age are particularly fascinated by how an object works and what happens when they bend, drop, or throw it. While your child’s inquiries are normal, it’s no fun having your house constantly look like a wreck. We’ll help you contain the chaos by controlling his behavior without suppressing his inquisitiveness.
Cooking with kid is a time-efficient strategy -- by playing with kids, you get your dinner ready. And these recipes are amazing as they allow you and your kids a roomful of space for freedom and creativity.
The story chronicles Potter's struggle 19 years after defeating the insidious Lord Voldemort. The now-adult wizard works for the Ministry of Magic and is struggling to reconcile with his past and raise three children of his own. Rowling is credited with the idea for the play.
Let’s face it – no matter how “angelic” you think your children are, there will be times in your life as a parent when you’ll find yourself dealing with your kids’ annoying behavior; attempting to calm them down when you won’t buy what they want; and feeling helpless when they start “acting out” or throwing tantrums.
Although there are several tried-and-tested ways on how to deal with such episodes, parents may also want to know how to teach their children to “channel” or refocus their negative emotions, so that they can avoid the dreaded tantrums in the first place.
This article has highlighted some of the major milestones your pediatrician will be tracking during the first visit. You can watch for these, too, so you know how your baby is growing and changing -- and tell your doc if you have any concerns.
You can use these 4 steps to gently wean your baby or toddler away from co-sleeping, and towards sleeping in his or her own bed (and hopefully sleeping through the night!)...
From the moment you step on the physical and emotional roller coaster known as parenthood, your needs often must come second to the needs of your children. Exercising, as a parent, becomes a much more difficult task...
My kids have this really annoying habit of popping out of their rooms 15 times after they’re tucked in. They also have this uncanny ability to know exactly when I need some personal space, because that’s when they choose to be extra cuddly and clingy. They bicker with each other, and change their minds about what they want for lunch after I’ve made the previously requested meal. In other words, they are kids and they do a lot of those things kids do that drive parents absolutely bonkers.
It isn't uncommon for a baby to be born with a few wisps of hair, but that requires little maintenance. So, what do you do when your newborn enters the world with a full head of hair? Why, you embrace it, of course - like these proud parents did!
No matter the age of your little Picasso, these creative compositions are simple yet elegant, making for a stunning wall of kid art. And each activity boosts your child's budding fine motor skills and imagination with basic materials you can pick up at your local craft store.
A common impairment with lifelong consequences turns out to be highly contagious between parent and child, a new study shows. The impairment? Math anxiety.
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Means of transmission? Homework help.
Ask any parent about ear infections, and you will most likely hear one horror story after another. Ear infection, or Otitis Media, is the most common reason for visits to the paediatrician’s office. It is estimated that over 30 million visits are made every year in an attempt to deal with this problem.
When our kids get fussy with food, our go-to is a PB & J. And if desperate times call for desperate measures, maybe we’ll cut them into star shapes to spare us all the headache of a mealtime tantrum. But one mom who is putting our sandies to shame is Laleh Mohmedi.
Parenting has changed a lot since we were kids. For instance, parents and teachers are now very careful about meting out punishment and criticizing children. On the other hand, there appears to be a shift towards fostering the child’s independence and self-esteem. Moreover, the traditional family model has changed – from a stay-at-home mom (and dad as breadwinner) to dual-income families; in some countries, even single-parent or same-sex parents’ families are acceptable. Technology has also changed the activities that a child engages in, as well as familial interactions.
A few days ago, my husband and I were stocking up on summer shoes. In an attempt to foster independence in our toddler, we let him pick out his new sneakers. He went straight for the red-and-blue-Spider-Man pair, a curious choice given the fact that (a) my son has never seen a Spider Man movie or cartoon and (b) doesn’t know how to tie shoelaces.
In honor of Father’s Day, Huffington Post asked the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers for photos that capture the important emotional and physical support dads-to-be provide their partners, as well as the utter magic of fathers meeting their babies for the first time. Here are 35 of them, with captions from the photographers.
Meet 10-month-old Landon Lee, a baby Instagram star with nearly 42,000 followers.
Sure, people bothered me. I’d been in arguments and even a few physical altercations, but even then I never truly lost my shit. Then I had children, and my dormant crazy bitch came bubbling to the surface.
We have a video baby monitor because I’m a crazy nut job who has to know if my kids are really sleeping or if they’re just laying their quietly waiting me out to see if I’ll come in and check on them. They’re crafty children. After I lay them down, I check the monitor every 5-10 minutes or so just to see what they’re up to.
Sometimes they’re talking or laughing. Sometimes they’re screaming or playing nicely in their cribs.That’s not super interesting. It’s kind of cute, but I see them laugh and play and scream all day.
As spellers from across the country and around the globe gather to take part in the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, let’s try to settle a basic question: Where does the bee in “spelling bee” come from?
Today we are going to talk about raising internally motivated children. Wouldn’t it be incredibly awesome if kids did everything without being asked? Everyone knows that is not possible simply because kids are not necessarily wired that way.