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Raising an independent toddler

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Towards independence

Independent children are those who are no longer found holding on to their mother’s skirt. They have moved away from the mother in order to learn about their environment and about themselves. Mothers can make this process less painful for both, themselves and the child, first by taking the initiative to teach the child to be independent, and then learning to manage the child remotely during the period.

In a cartoon on parenthood, the sight of a mother duck, still carrying her overgrown duckling on her back makes her friend remark “For heaven’s sake, Martha, he has to learn to swim some day!” That pretty much sums up the need for mothers to teach their child to be independent.

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A thin line

Mothers need to strike a fine balance between teaching a child how to be independent but still have enough control over the child to be able to supervise and intervene when necessary. The parents have to walk a fine line and make a choice between being overprotective and letting go totally. Being overprotective can hinder a child’s development, while not exercising enough control over the child may result in children hurting themselves or others or damaging property.

 

How to  raise an independent toddler

Here are a few useful tips to help you raise an independent toddler.

  • Take yourself out of the picture: Make your child follow you around the house and then hide yourself in some place. Call out to them from your hiding place before appearing before the child. This helps the child establish the connection between your voice and you. Even if they cannot see you, they know you are around to protect them.
  • Separate baby not the mother: The way to help your baby to develop a healthy sense of self is by making the baby to separate from the mother and not the mother from the baby.

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DIY activities for toddlers- Diwali Paper Lanterns

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Tradesmen are busy people

You have been trying to get your dripping tap for weeks and your plumber has been playing truant, promising you all the time he is almost at your doorstep but some ‘urgent’ work has come up in the meantime. When the sound of the dripping tap and the thought of wasting all that precious water has fairly driven you up the wall, you decide enough is enough.

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Do It Yourself

You turn to, you guessed it, Google, the go-to person for everything from how to fix a dripping tap in 5 easy steps to making a paper lantern for your child for Diwali. A helpful step-by-step procedure and an infographic listing the essential items to learn your new trade of plumbing and you are good to go. After a few trials and lots of errors, you finally manage to fix the leaky pipe. The satisfaction derived from taking on a challenge and doing it well, you realize, is immense.

 

Festival of Lights

Diwali is the most popular of all the festivals in India and signifies the victory of good over evil. It is a time to meet family and friends, exchange gifts and burst firecrackers. During Diwali, every house is lit up with traditional diyas, decorative lights and paper lanterns to signify the move away from darkness and towards light. So what does the concept of DIY have to do with the festival of lights?

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Why you shouldn’t say “Good Job” and other similar things to your child

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Your child manages to complete a particularly difficult task and you applaud her with “Good Job”!

Your toddler shares her snack with her friends and you want to positively reinforce this good behavior so you toss out a “Good Job”!

 

We read plenty of books that warn us against using punishments and spankings to model behavior so we instantly rely on a “Good Job” for positively reinforcing any example of good behavior or accomplishing a worthy task. Seems easy enough, right?

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True Confessions Of A Stay At Home Mother

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Every stay at home mother has a few confessions that she would rather keep to herself. But bring in anonymity and there are some surprising (and funny) revelations! We spoke to some to stay at home mothers to children of varying ages and came up with some gems that will have you smiling, if not rolling with laughter.

So, here goes!

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How to manage a working pregnancy

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How to manage a working pregnancy

Ever heard stories about women who worked till the last day of their pregnancy? Then highly likely you have heard of women who couldn’t even manage to get out of bed most days, leave alone, get ready and work through the day.

Most women, who do not suffer from sickness and nausea can and do work through their pregnancy. If you plan on working through your pregnancy, we have a list that will help you along the way! [Read more…]

Parent Teacher Meetings and How to Get the Most Out Of It

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Many of us look at Parent Teacher Meetings (PTM) as a window into our child’s academic life. There is your chance to understand your child’s strong areas and developmental areas, from the teachers. But if you want, with a little bit of planning, it could be much more rewarding for you and your child.

We put together a checklist for you that will make PTMs more fruitful for you and your child.

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How can you help your toddler to talk

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How can you help your toddler to talk?Remember the time when your baby used to turn its head in the direction of your voice? Not only do babies learn to recognize their mother’s voice right from the time they are in the womb,but they also have a natural interest in human voices. [Read more…]

A Bedtime Story for A New Day

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Bedtime StoryChildren love stories. All of our childhood, we thrived on bed-time stories from The Mahabharata,The Bible, Akbar Birbal and the Panchatantra. Sadly, technology has overtaken story books. Severalkids of today are just interested in thumbing through an I-Pad story by themselves, where visuals arefed into their brains. There is little space for imagination. There is no wonder or excitement of whatis coming next!

Bed-time stories help cultivate a bond with the story teller, it helps form a bed-time routine and nurture a child’s imagination and the capability to follow threads of conversation. Picking out a story is a rather difficult task than one would have imagined. There is violence and wickedness in so many story books we reviewed.

An important point, to bear in mind while choosing bed-time stories for children, is to weed out violence. We need to be more aware of the story books we choose for our children.

Today, many people live in fear. Boys and girls are caught up in this negative way of thinking becausethe stories they hear are filled with violence and terrorism that destroy human relationships. This negativity creeps into even bed-time stories meant for innocent children.

A brand new book, The Rainbow Chronicles: A Bedtime Story for a New Day offers a positive alternative. Dads and sons, moms and daughters can read this book and make the story grow into something beautiful.

The story is based upon a world where old and young people believe in sharing and caring for each other. It sets positive example by portraying adults as role models who inspire young people to live joy-filled, positive lives. In this story, Wilby, the protagonist sets out to find the end of the Rainbow before it is too late. This stories help build faith, prayers, and effort of young people to spread the love of Humanity, like petals of the dark-purple tulips, so that future generations will wake up to a better day.

Each of us is invited to welcome the virtues of love, sweet nature and empathy. No matter what belief system, physical appearance, gender, age, family background, race, or ethnic heritage, whether married or single, I encourage you to make a difference for good in the way you and your
family touch the lives of others through loving actions.

So, what is coming next? More dinosaurs or more flowers? A desert or a garden? In many ways, it’s up to you! Make sure to buy, read and act on this book. May you bring the Rainbow’s End home to yourself, your family, neighbourhood, and community, your place of worship, and yes, to the ends of our earth. May you strive to help others write The Rainbow Chronicles in their lives. May the breath of the Almighty, the Holy Spirit, always whisper love within you and through you.

Is A Hidden Nanny Camera The Right Way To Go?

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Hidden CameraThere are very few reasons why you should not get a hidden nanny camera and tons of reasons why you should get one.

A hidden nanny camera can save the life of your child and for that reason alone I think that it is a very good idea for all parents to consider getting one. Whether they actually have a nanny or if they just hire a babysitter from time to time, it is just as important in either of the cases. Kids are delicate and they need to be treated with utmost care. That means that they need to be treated with respect and they need to be protected form physical and emotional neglect or violence. Sadly, the fact of the
matter is that you don’t know what goes on in your home when you are not there.

Even if your child does not have any cuts or bruises that does not mean that he or she is not being abused. Only a good quality hidden nanny camera is going to show you what the nanny is doing when you are away and it is just the nanny and the baby at home.

Do you know how often your nanny or babysitter yells at your child or children? Probably not. It is not like you can ask him or her; the nanny is obviously not going to tell you that all she does is yell all day long!

And if your child is very young he or she is not going to be any help either, but a hidden nanny camera would be. When you have a hidden nanny camera in your home nothing is going to be a secret any longer, you will know exactly what is happening when you are not there. Either you will finally have your mind put to rest about the quality of care that this nanny is providing or you will find out that she is terrible and fire her immediately. Either way you win, you simply cannot go wrong when you purchase a hidden nanny camera.

There are a few different kinds of hidden nanny camera on the market today. Some are as small as pins and they can be hidden absolutely anywhere and the nanny will never detect it. There was a time when they were all hidden in teddy bears, well that is done, now you can hide them in pictures, fire alarms, in the VCR, absolutely anywhere that will give you a good view of the room is a great
place to put your hidden nanny camera.

And since they are all so tiny now this is beyond simple to do. Having a good hidden nanny camera is the only way to know that your child is safe when you are not home. Safety is the most important thing for your child. So take care of the life and wellbeing of your baby and get a hidden nanny camera.

Help Your Toddler Share

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SharingRaising a toddler can be tough and challenging at times. If you have a toddler, I am sure you have heard the phrase “That’s mine”, quite often. Your toddler is not out of the normal, this is just a part of growing up. Even the most reasonable and well behaved toddlers will not want to share certain things of theirs.

Don’t be embarrassed when your friends come over with their children and your child doesn’t want to share. I am sure they have dealt with the same situation with their children more than once. Don’t blame yourself either for your child’s behavior. Simply take comfort with the fact that this is a part of your toddler’s development and they are on their way to growing up and moving to the next stage of life.

While this might be stressful to you, there are a few tips to help you with the situation:

Use The Distraction Method – With this method, you will distract your child with another toy. Or you can ask your child to come do something with you. You could ask them to help you clean something, play outside, etc., without making a big deal about sharing their toy.

Use The Walk Away Method – If your child is playing with someone else’s toy and refuses to give it up, pick up your child and walk away. This might cause your child to act out, but explain to them that the toy is not theirs. Take your child to a quiet corner and let them calm down. Explain to them that the toy is important to the other child, just like they have things that they don’t like sharing.

Use The Nip It In The Bud Method – When you have toddlers playing together, be sure to keep an eye and an ear out. As soon as you see or hear a bad situation about to happen, get in between them and break it up. Show your child something else they can do or play with to distract them. This will save some tears for your child before it happens. This is also something you will want to do if your child is playing nicely and the other child is picking on your little one. The last thing you want is two upset children.

If your child is playing nicely and another child is trying to take her things then distract that child. Find something similar or a close replacement to what your child has and offer it to them. Tell them how great it is, of course, but don’t overdo it or you’ll have two toddlers fighting over this new toy.
As your toddler grows, it will also grow out of this stage. This is when your child most likely won’t mind sharing and will enjoy the company of another child. Always be up front with your child and let him / her know what is going on. Let your kid know what is right and wrong. Distraction can be a big help when raising a toddler.

Image Source: [google.co.in]