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10 Tips for Getting Your Child Ready for Kindergarten

10 tips
Given that it back to school time, I’m bringing out these old 10 tips we got from the Y that caregivers and parents should consider to make sure their child or children are ready  for Kindergarten:
  1. Play games that encourage alphabet recognition –  The alphabet go-fish game works as do those letter refrigerator magnets.
  2. Help your child with number recognition by counting items throughout the day, for example. Count out loud the crackers, grapes, or carrots you put out for them to eat for snack, for example.
  3. Help children recognize their colors. As you go about your day,  talk about the colors in their cookies, toys or clothes, for example.
  4. Develop shape recognition and motor skills by getting your child to practice writing, drawing or cutting out (child-safe scissors please) shapes like rectangles, squares or stars.
  5. Talk about sounds that letters make and how they sound so they can begin to recognize words. Overemphasize the first sound in words to help your child learn to recognize individual sounds.
  6. Practice writing and drawing with colored pencils, crayons or markers to help them  improve their motor skills.
  7. Read lots of stories and work up to longer books to help them develop good focus and learn to pay attention.
  8. Give children the opportunity to interact with other children in diverse settings and groups such as preschool, church, social groups, or play dates. Socialization is a big part of kindergarten.
  9. Teach children how to express their feelings. Help your child  learn the best way to behave if she/he doesn’t like something. Role-play different situations she/he might expect.
  10. Teach children to write his/her name. You can make it fun with finger paint, sugar or salt in a pan, shaving cream or frosting.

Good luck!

6 Tips on How to Raise a Polite Child

polite kid

You are at a restaurant seated with your child and you witness the most polite and well behaved child on the planet at the next table.  He sits still, waits until his mom is finished talking and asks for what he wants by saying “may I please have ….”  You wonder how this child, who looks about the same age as yours, is not fidgeting in his chair, screaming and demanding he gets his mac and cheese NOW.  What has that parent done right and why do you feel like you have done it all wrong?

1. Give yourself a break.  If you love your child, want what is best for him, work hard to see that he is well cared for and strive to spend time with him, you are a fantastic parent.  Just breathe and realize that there will be ups and downs, but that the end result is what you are working for, not this moment in time when your child is going nuts.  This will pass and you will survive it.

2. Try not to compare your child’s behaviors to others children. That other child is most likely not always as calm and polite as he appears now.  It is very possible that just 10 minutes earlier he was screaming just as loud as yours.  Children develop the ability to control behaviors at their own pace.  One child might have no problem sitting still in his chair, but be unable to wait his turn, while another child might be fully willing to share and take turns without issue, but seems to be unable to sit still.  Comparing your child with other children is never a good idea.

3. Don’t let your frustration with bad manners come from other people’s judgment.You might find yourself frustrated with your child most often when he does not use the words “please” and “thank you” in public.  This frustration usually stems from your sense that other people are watching and judging you.   Perhaps you then utter the phrase “what do you say” or “you know better than that” in order to show others around you that you ARE teaching manners to your child.  You are probably less concerned about courtesy in your own home when no one is around.  It is when you get in the spotlight of the public eye that those concerns over P’s and Q’s surface.  So, work to ignore those seemly prying eyes and realize that your child is doing the best he can at that moment.  Don’t feel like a bad parent because your child is having a rough time.  Love him and move on.

4. Model good manners for him.  The number one way that a child learns manners is though the example others set for him.  Children are little mirrors.  When you find your child exhibiting a behavior that frustrates you, more frequently than not it is a behavior you have exhibited first.  This is not always the case, because children can pick things up from other adults or children in their lives or even from TV, but it is commonly the case.  So take a good look at the way you talk to your child.  Do you ALWAYS use polite manners when talking with him?  Do you ALWAYS say please, thank you and your welcome and use polite tones when asking for things?  Or do you only say it every now and then in public?  If you use these phrases only spastically, your child is getting mixed signals about their use.  He will see your inconsistency and use as a sign that these words only need to be used when he REALLY wants something.

5. DON’T demand that he use the words “Please” and “Thank you.”  Demanding the use of these words does not help your child understand what they mean, why he should use them or even help him want to use them more.  It only creates a power struggle between you and your child.  As stated before, the tactic to demand their use by questioning “what do you say” is most frequently used in public to demonstrate to others you are teaching good manners.  Even when the requirement of their use is performed in private moments, it is with the hopes that the child will use them in public.  The truth is that it is not necessary for your child to say these particular words every time he asks for something.  The more important value is to make requests in a manner that is respectful.   Focusing on the tone of voice is usually more significant.  To help remind a child of polite words and manners, parents can talk to the child of generosity when someone gives him something.  “That was so thoughtful of Grandma to give you that bear.”  This will help the child really understand what it means to be thankful for something.  When the child wants something and asks with a less than polite way, telling him “I like to be asked with kind words” will help him understand how to ask with courtesy.

6. Praise him when he does use polite manners.  As with any habit you are trying to help your child build, catching the positive moments is the most effective teaching tool.  Find the moments when he does what you are hoping he would and then praise him for those actions.  “I really liked the way you asked your dad for that blanket.”  Even simply saying “you are very welcome” when he says thank you can help reinforce the concept.

There is not a right or wrong way to teach a child to be polite.  It is a lifelong process that will have its ups and downs.  Being polite often has more to do with the child’s mood than anything else, and will become more consistent with time.

RoadTrip MustHave: This App Tells You Where the Nearest Clean Bathroom Is

sit or squat

If you are heading on a road trip this summer, you know the pains of finding a clean bathroom to do a diaper change or take a fidgety toddler who you would need to physically hold over a dirty toilet seat in a public bathroom.

Good thing for technology to rescue modern parents.

Charmin toilet paper sponsors the Sit or Squat free app which determines your current location and gives you an array of options of bathrooms near you. When you click on the location, there is the option to vote for it’s rating and view what others have to say.

During a road trip, you will know whether it would be easy to take your kid in the stall or whether you should make him hold it and find another one.

Similar to Sit or Squat, Whizzer app gives you the location of bathrooms near you. There is a rating system showing overall cleanliness scores as well as the amenities that the facility offers (such as changing tables and if there is a fee to use a particular restroom). I think that app has tanked tho since it launched a couple years ago.

Nice. Download Sit or Squat HERE on iTunes or Google Play!

CBS did a report last year about another app that tells you when is the best time in any movie to run to the bathroom. It’s great for parents too who may not want to miss the best or most important parts of a film.

READ:

If you’re heading to the movies this weekend, an app could help with the one thing you might not be thinking about until it’s too late to ignore, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann.

For audiences torn between leaving a great movie and the pain of a needed bathroom break, the RunPee app comes to the rescue.

RunPee is the brainchild of Dan Florio, a former software engineer in Asheville, North Carolina. The 48-year-old was inspired to design it in 2008 after he saw “King Kong” in theaters — a three-hour epic.

Ninety minutes in, it was that time.

“By the end of the movie I couldn’t enjoy it. All I wanted was for King Kong — for his heart to stop so the movie would be over and I could run to the restroom,” Florio said. “Out of that pain came the RunPee app.”

Florio watches movies differently than most. We want the high drama, the big laugh or the memorable one-liner, while he’s looking for any three-to-four-minute stretch viewers can live without seeing.

“You don’t want to come back into the theater and someone to be like, ‘Hey Darth Vader is Luke’s father,'” Florio said.

The app gives audiences several opportunities to go every movie and a quick summary of what they missed.

When it’s time to think about going, the user’s phone vibrates with an alert. The app now has 1 million downloads, and 450,000 active users with active bladders and occasional complaints.

continue reading.

I also love the names of these apps and their liberal use of colloquial and slang terms for everyday things. ha!

 

This Desktop App Drives the Cost & Stress of Divorce Way Down



Divorce can be nasty, belabored and costly but what if the couple divorcing were cool with each other and didn’t have too many squabbles during their formal separation? Could the divorce process be easier?

Given there is an app and website for everything nowadays, why not the divorce process?

That is where Wevorce comes in. The site, which launched in 2013, is “a web-based service that’s empowering couples to reach a divorce agreement without a vicious courtroom battle.”

Wevorce removes pain, time and expense from divorce so families can begin again. It starts with the separating couple discovering their Divorce Archetype™ and includes the creation of Parenting and Financial plans.

And it is less costly.

The average divorce cost in the United States is $27,000 but the average Wevorce costs $5500. And the kicker…prices start at $749. Well, hello!

Wevorce is also less time-consuming and has a high settlement rate. On average, Wevorces take 88 days, and it has a 98 percent settlement rate… on track to do 3500 divorces in 2016.

Co-Founder Michelle Crosby, a product of divorce herself credits the platform’s success to the company’s approach to divorce.

Instead of pitting the spouses against each other – with the help of a lawyer – Wevorce is all about encouraging them to work together to outline financial plans, parenting plans and an overall foundation for a couple’s divorce process, she told PEOPLE.

There are two ways to get through the divorce using Wevorce.

A DIY method requires the two spouses to use a divorce log on the program after an initial consult. They go through the steps, which includes foundation building, financial planning and parenting planning, before obtaining their paperwork and preparing to officially file.

Throughout the program, there’s a link to connect with a professional to help a couple through a particularly difficult decision or conversation

For those who need more hand-holding, the site assigns one attorney to walk thru the process, amicably.

And the company is holistic and empowering.

Throughout it all, the focus is on minimizing stress and keeping the couple from going at each other’s throats. During parenting planning, spouses are able view pictures of their children onscreen to remind them of what’s important, and motivational quotes are also provided to keep the couple grounded and focused on the future.

“We don’t treat it like a problem and a fight,” Crosby says. “It’s decision making.”

Good stuff! If you are going through a divorce that isn’t too messy, give Wevorce a look.

Sun-Safe Pokémon Go Hunting Tips for Parents

guest post

safe hunting

As a parenting expert, I face many questions from moms about what products are best for their kids in order to maintain healthy hair, skin and what they can do to make sure their children know the rules of the busy roads, especially when the summer heat becomes too overwhelming. As many kids are out utilizing their time trying to hunt their favorite Pokemon with the new, wildly famous game Pokemon Go, it’s very important to teach your children the fundamental basics of street safety.

Also, whether your kids face troubles with their hair and skin before or after they play outside, learning what to use to combat harmful UV Rays will essentially benefit them in the long run.  After years of trial and error, advice from other moms, and help from tried and true products and tools – I am here to offer some of the best tips and tricks I’ve found to make Pokemon hunting fun and safe as your kids spend their day outside catching ‘em all!

Look both ways before crossing, always.

  • It doesn’t matter if there are 10 cars or 1 car passing by, instill the importance of stopping and looking both ways into your kid’s head. Some cars are quieter than others and there could be blind spots in the road, so train them to use their eyes and ears before crossing the street.

Keep your hair in check.

  • It’s a challenge controlling children’s hair, especially in the hot summer heat. A curl refreshing spray can make sunny days easier because it will revitalize and hydrate curls and tame unwanted frizz that usually surfaces from the heat. Spray the refresher in their hair and throw it up in a ponytail – doing this will minimize distractions as it will keep their hair out of their faces and more aware of their surroundings! I recommend Design Essentials Coconut & Monoi Curl Refresher, which I can conveniently pick up from my local CVS and is kid-approved!

Know the signs.

  • It’s important to teach your children the meanings of traffic signals and signs at a young age, so it becomes second nature to them later. Take time to explain tricky signage so children know when they are approaching heavy traffic areas, highways or non-local roads, and animal crossing information.

One word: hydrate.

  • Staying hydrated is key to surviving the beaming summer sun, and catching Pokemon encourages a ton of kid-friendly fun in the great outdoors. It’s harder for your kid to pay attention if they’re suffering from dehydration and it can often result in dangerous situations that are best to be avoided at all times. Make sure your kids have a full water bottle in hand!

Sunblock saves the day.

  • There will be plenty of times where your kid will try to argue that “they don’t need to put on sunscreen.” While it can be a tedious task to slather on sunblock before going outside, coming home with tomato red skin can be a bit more annoying than not catching Pikachu.

Sidewalk to crosswalk

  • Even though taking shortcuts to cross the street seem more tempting than walking all the way to the pedestrian crossing, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Take the sidewalk to the crosswalk to ensure a safe passageway to you next Pokemon capture.

Pucker Up.

  • While we don’t think of it as often as hair and skin, your kids lips also deserve the utmost care while they’re out playing in the heat. Their lips are just as exposed as the rest of their body, so if they’re not SPF protected, heat blisters can pop up. Any lip balm is super easy to pack away in your kid’s pocket when they go out!

Listen, don’t just look.

  • Hearing vehicles coming is just as important as seeing them. Playing loud music is extremely distracting and mutes out any sign of a car coming towards you, so let your children know to keep their headphones out of sight at busy intersections.

If you can’t see the driver’s face, they can’t see you.

  • It’s equally as important to make sure the driver is paying as much attention as the person crossing the street. Assure that the driver has noted your child’s presence before they step on the gas.

Making sure your kids are sun-safe while playing outside can prove to be a challenge, and being a worried parent only comes with the territory. Implementing these tips and tricks into your children’s daily routine – especially before they prepare for a full day’s worth of Pokemon hunting – will help you and your kids as much as it has helped me and my daughter!

Tammy Gold
About Tammy Gold:

Tammy Gold, LCSW, MSW, CEC, is a Licensed Therapist, Certified Parent Coach, Author, and Founder of Gold Parent Coaching. As a nationally recognized parenting expert, Gold appears regularly on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Fox and CBS News. She is one of the first therapists to bring traditional psychotherapy tools to the process of finding and enhancing the quality of childcare, basing her Gold Standard hiring process on Dr. John Bowlby’s attachment theory, Erik Erikson’s stages of child development, and Mary Ainsworth’s secure base. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her graduate degree in Social Work from Columbia University. Learn more at www.TammyGold.com or follow Tammy @TammyGoldCoach.

The Mason Jar Salad Guide for Busy Moms

salad in jar

I am about to embark on a journey to lose some weight before my birthday next month. I  already pretty much adopt the Mediterranean Diet lifestyle as I am a vegetarian who eats fish occasionally. I will severely limit the carbs and will rely heavily on eating salads. It can get boring relying on salads for lunch and dinner to get through the day but I think variety will help me keep it interesting and not get too bored.

Naturally, I gravitated to Pinterest and found tons of great boards with salad recipes and that is when I also discovered this wonderful Salads in a mason jar trend like here and here and here and here.

It’s great for busy moms on the go! You pick up some large mason jars with lids, about 5 to 7, enough to last the work week. Then you pre-load and make your salads the night before so in the morning, you just grab  your jar and head out to work. Store them in the office fridge or an insulated lunch kit.

For stay-at-home and work-at-home moms like myself, we can just whip them out during the day and don’t have to worry about the stress of deciding what to eat.

I also found a wonderful blog, Everyday Eyecandy that has a marvelous post with everything you need to know about salads in a jar!

Here are the initial tips:

TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL SALAD IN A JAR

  1. THE most important thing to remember about a salad in a jar: DRESSING ON THE BOTTOM.  You want to make sure that your greens are as far away from your dressing as you can get them. It keeps your greens fresh and crisp.
  2. Jam pack your jars. Not only does it make a good salad, but it keeps everything from moving around. The less air between your layers, the longer your salad will last.
  3. If you are making a side salad( like you are taking a soup and salad or a salad and a sandwich), use the  pint-sized mason jars.  If you are going to make your salad a full meal, use the quart sized jars.
  4. The longest I’ve ever saved a salad in the jar in the fridge was 8 days. The veggies on the bottom were marinated in the dressing, but they were delicious.
  5. Be sure to add a protein. You want it to last.

There is plenty more recipes and advice! Check out the entire post here!  There are also great recipes at the Back to Her Roots blog! Enjoy!

photo: courtesy Brit&Co

Parent Switcheroo: Healthy Snacks You Can Disguise as Junk Food



Getting the children to eat healthy is a challenge. A lot of kids would prefer to eat junk food versus good healthy food.



However, there are ways to weave healthy ingredients into foods that children associate with yummy junk food.



With a little research online you can come up with some wonderful creations.



Baked sweet potato chips,banana and peanut butter sandwiches, baked potato chips, yogurt pops and strawberry wraps are among the different types of foods you can dress up as yummy but good for them snacks.



Find out 20 healthy snacks that look like junk food and their recipes here!

Eco Friday: How to Make Your Own Baby Food

how to make your own baby food

As concerns about genetically modified produce and dangerous farming practices escalate, and controversy surrounding Monsanto become more common, the number of parents committed to – or at least considering the practice of – making their own baby food is also on the rise. There are also parents who would love to provide their baby with organically grown, preservative- and additive-free foods, but are under the misconception that the process is a long and laborious one. In fact, making baby food from locally or organically grown fruits and vegetables is surprisingly simple.

The Price Factor

Any parent who’s seen the expensive systems advertised for making and storing baby food at home could easily be fooled into thinking that the process is not only a difficult or time-consuming one, but also an incredibly pricey option. The truth is, those systems are only more convenient than the tools you already have in your kitchen, if that, and they are by no means necessary to create fresh, nutritious food of verifiable origins for your bundle of joy. With nothing more than a pot, a knife, a cutting board, fresh produce, and a blender, you can be on the path to becoming an in-demand chef for the smaller set. Because saving money by making healthful food for your baby rather than paying more for processed jarred food is one of the many selling points of taking on the task, spending a small fortune on an entire system with all the bells and whistles is unnecessary.

Storage

Buying a fully-stocked homemade baby food system brings a set of storage containers to the party, but there are several storage options at your disposal that will work just as well in conjunction with the blender you already have. Rather than purchasing a space-hogging, pricey system, take advantage of the variety of storage solutions available to you for a fraction of the cost.

For frozen foods, simply prepare an item in accordance with your chosen recipe, and allow it to cool. Spoon the pureed food into ice cube trays and freeze them until they’re solid, then pop the cubes out and into carefully labeled freezer bags. Foods can then be defrosted in just the amount you need, eliminating waste and allowing you to make food in large batches when you have free time, rather than scrambling to make baby food every day. Small storage bowls are widely and readily available in the market today, and are also suitable for baby food storage. Just be sure that any plastic containers you purchase are BPA free in order to avoid any potential health risks.

Tips for Making the Most Out of Your Blender

Because small batches of food tend to be pushed to the sides of a blender carafe and missed by the blades, your blender is most effective as a method of pureeing baby food when you’re working with a fairly substantial amount of food. This small drawback is eliminated, however, by setting aside an afternoon to make and freeze enough food for a few weeks. Properly stored in airtight freezer containers, your baby food will have a shelf life of up to three months.

Blenders are also great at liquefying solid foods, which means that it’s important to keep a close eye on food that’s being pureed in a blender, lest it become a very thin soup. Always use the pulse button for maximum control over the texture and consistency of the food; using even a low continuous setting could turn your perfectly prepared produce into something more akin to a juice if you’re distracted from the running blender for a moment. With children in the house, there’s constant potential for distraction, so use the pulse button and watch carefully. Remember to scrape down the sides of the blender carafe regularly as well to ensure a uniform texture with few lumps.

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Best Baby Book Ever: Dad Does 32 Sec. Time Lapse Video of Daughter and Son from Birth to Teen

time lapse

And you thought updating your kid’s baby book was cumbersome. Master time lapse photographer Frans Hofmeester captured a few moments of his children’s lives each week from birth to age 16 and 13, respectively, and assembled the finished product in an amazing video that he unveiled to much fan fair.

I mean one edit of the videos was shown in the Spanish National Reina Sofia museum in Madrid, Spain in 2013.

Each day, the Dutch photographer took out his video camera and snapped Lotte, now 16, and Vince, now 13. He first shared the video he did of Lotte capturing her life in a 4 1/2 minute video and then when Vince was born, he continued the tradition. His initial finished capture of his son was 3 1/2 minutes long.

“Sometimes they did not feel like it,” writes Hofmeester of the weekly filming sessions. “Then I said ‘Just one minute. Tell me about your ball game, did you win?’ That way I stalled them so I could complete the shot.”

Then to make it more awesome, he put together a side-by-side of the two in a 32 second video! Wow! Check out the final product here!

Back to School Hairstyle Ideas for Long Hair (8 LINKS)

back to school

Finding the perfect and easy-to-pull-off  hair for school can be a challenge especially if you have a child that has extremely long hair! Thank goodness for our friends from Aupair.net for culling this wonderful list of 24 websites where you can go to nab fab, cute and age-appropriate hairstyle for your tot to teen. Reposting this for Back To School prep.

 Here are 8 links dedicated to long hair
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