Although it’s still the month of November, I feel that it’s Christmas time already. Thankfully, I’m done with the general cleaning last Sunday, so I already bring out the Christmas tree. My third child helps me assemble it since she too loves this season. But, we realize our ornaments can use a lot of update. They are old enough to be tossed and changed. For that matter the tree is still empty in terms of decorations.

I end up sitting in front of the computer looking at the different Christmas ornaments of Personal Creations. I love the colors of their decorations and wondered who might be behind it. Then, I find myself at personal creations linkedin page. At least now I know who are behind their brilliant product ideas. But, I’m more interested in buying the ornaments to liven my Christmas tree. The only difference now, I can decorate my tree with personalized Christmas ornaments that are customized with engraving, clay handprints, photographs, family characters drawings & more. I feel this would be very fun.

Simple body-care tasks such as brushing teeth, combing hair, eating healthy food and bathing are important skills for children to learn. Many are resistant to caring for their own bodies, however, because it takes away from playtime and other fun activities. To encourage your child to take care of her body, it’s important to make body care fun and easy, in addition to explaining its importance, according to pediatrician Dr. William Sears.

Basic body care doesn’t have to be a boring, monotonous task that takes children away from fun activities. Parents should make body care fun and interesting. Provide your child with a brightly colored toothbrush and try putting food coloring in water to encourage her to drink it. Children often master a task most quickly when they’re rewarded for trying, the authors of the book “Child Psychology” write. Try instituting a star chart system. For every day that your child completes basic tasks such as brushing her teeth, drinking water and choosing healthy snacks, give her a gold star to place on her chart. When the chart is full, reward her with a special toy or outing.

Toddlers should begin learning about the importance of washing their hands and brushing their teeth as soon as they can talk. Children at this age love doing things for themselves, so encourage your child to brush his own teeth and wash his own hands with supervision. Preschoolers can help you pick snacks and foods. Give them choices of two or three healthy items. School-aged children can begin choosing their own foods. Reward them for healthy choices. Encourage children to move, run and play and help them understand the important role exercise plays in health. (more…)

Though it is impossible to draw up a list of list of hard and fast rules and methods for parenting, simply because not all family situations are alike, and not all children respond to parenting methods in the same way. If this is so, does that make any talk of ‘learning’ about parenting useless? Absolutely not! While methods may have differing effects, and every situation calls for a different set of rules, the things that should remain constant are the basic concepts each parent must learn. These concepts will help guide parents in their constant effort to be better parents.

Unconditional Love – Unconditional love is one of the concepts that should permeate every action and every interaction between parent and child. It is also one of the most misunderstood concepts. How a parent expresses this to the child may very well determine how the child views himself, and his/her worth.

Many children grow up with a low sense of self-esteem as a result of many different factors. They may feel that the love they are shown depends on their accomplishments. Or, they may feel unwanted, or unloved.  All parents should, early on, be certain to show their children how important they are, no matter what, so that they can grow-up loving in the same way. This concept is very important in building self-worth.

Responsibility – Children should grow up with a sense of responsibility for their actions, and the things around them. Far too many children grow up to be irresponsible parents, friends, and family, not caring or not knowing how to care, and to accept their own responsibilities.

Children who grow without a sense of responsibility too often find themselves blaming other people for things they should be dealing with themselves. Alternately, lack of responsibility training could cause children to blame themselves for things that they have no control over. This is an opposite, but equally undesirable problem. Responsible children learn to care for and properly manage their time and resources – and ultimately your time and resources as a parent as well! (more…)

Christmas is soon coming. If you may not know it, I love this occasion a lot because it’s the celebration of the birth of Christ. It’s a really festive occasion where everybody becomes giving to one another. The streets are lighted with colourful Christmas lights that create good mood. In most homes, Christmas trees can be seen with presents underneath to be shared on the day.

For this year, I want to purchase one of those Bluray players as my Christmas present for hubby. I don’t really give him anything on Christmas before because of tight financial budget. But, I’m a little relaxed after my third child graduated from college. So, I have spare money for other things. I thought this player is perfect since he continually talks and have been keeping an eye on it. Well, let’s just see if I really end up giving him this or I might discover other stuff for him.

Decrease the amount of laundry you do by creating new standards of “dirty”. If you wear a pair of jeans for two hours then put on your shorts, are the jeans dirty? Not in my house. Pajamas put on a clean body at night after a bath and worn once aren’t dirty either. Ditto for a towel that blots a freshly scrubbed body. Teach your kids that dirty mean it has food or obvious dirt marks on it. The exception? Underwear of course!

Minimize sorting by putting a hamper in each bedroom that has 3 slots. One for whites, one for darks, and one for mixed colors. For kids that are very young, try cutting out a large circle from construction paper for each category. Tape these on the wall above the hamper to show where to put each color. Alternately, you could buy inexpensive colored bins that match laundry colors.

Train your kids to bring you their dirty laundry at the beginning of each day or at some other time you choose. Don’t turn socks right side out for laundering. Show your family members how to take off their socks without bunching them into an inside out ball. If they don’t choose to listen to your sock lessons, let them turn their own socks right side out.

You may be able to minimize sorting even more by washing more clothes together. Many times light colors can go into the wash with mixed colors if you use cold water and the items aren’t brand new. Typically only cheap clothing fades anyway so buy your kid’s clothing from the nicer stores. It will last longer and wash well. (more…)

If using a blanket, it is best to place your infant with his or her feet nearly touching one end of the crib, and then tuck the blanket in at the foot and the sides allowing it to cover no farther than your baby’s chest. Using a sleeper instead of a blanket may further reduce any risk of danger. Your child should sleep on his or her back in a crib with a firm, tightly fitting mattress. This is to prevent your child from becoming trapped between the sides of the crib and the mattress. Do not put pillows, comforters, quilts, bumper pads or stuffed toys in the crib with your child. Only use fitted sheets that are made for cribs and fit the mattress properly.

Be sure there are no loose or poorly installed brackets, screws or other hardware on the crib or mattress support. The corner posts should not be taller than 1/16th of an inch high to prevent the infant’s clothing from getting caught and there should not be any cutouts on the headboard or footboard where your child’s head might become trapped. The slats of the crib should be no more than 2 1/4 inches apart so that the baby cannot squeeze through. Never use a crib with missing or damaged slats.

If you plan to use a crib with mesh sides, don’t use anything with mesh larger than 1/4 inch because the buttons from your infant’s clothing could get caught. If the crib or playpen was manufactured using staples, just be sure none of them are missing, loose or sticking out. Check the tops and bottoms on all sides to be certain the mesh is securely attached and make sure there are no rips or holes in the rail cover along the top especially. Always check for damaged mesh and do not use the crib or playpen if there are holes or loose threads. (more…)