Parenting Children

To all the mothers, grandmothers, godmothers and every other mother out there, Happy Mother’s Day!

I hope you have someone else to watch the kids, clean the hosue and make dinner, because that is all we really want.

forgot mother’s day, mothers, day, moms

This week in New Jersey, a two and a half year old girl was killed when a 27 inch television fell on her head. I just remember hearing a similar story late last year out of New York.

Sadly this happens every year in this country. There are no national numbers for fatalities from falling televisions, but in 2005, U.S. emergency-room doctors treated 2,600 children younger than 5 injured by falling televisions, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

With televisions getting bigger and placed in reach of children, the dangers also grow. The majority of the weight of a television is in the front and if placed on an unstable surface or not secured, there is a potential for disaster.

The right thing to do is never leave your child unattended in a room. the mother in the case in NJ, left the child to go to an adjacent room to change a diaper. Also, go around your house and make sure everything is child proofed.
Hold your kids close tonight.

television dangers, toddlers, kids, children, baby proofing, baby proof your house, safety, parenting, family, moms, dads

Anticipating the arrival of your new baby is one of the best times in your life. You set up the baby’s room, wash and fold all the little clothes and buy all the things you think your baby will need. You envision how great it will be when you come home with your new baby, but when some women come home with their baby they are afraid, anxious and depressed.

Up to 20 percent of new mothers suffer from postpartum depression (PPD) and the number is way higher for women who experience the “baby blues”.
Unfortunately, many new moms are not prepared for the feelings of anxiety or depression they experience and even feel guilty for having the feelings at all.
There is shame and a stigma attached to PPD and that environment makes many women not willing to come forward and get help. They feel that they can handle it themselves or that if they just wait it out it will go away.

It is important for new mothers and their families to recognize the warning signs of PPD:
disconnected from her baby
obsessively worrying about herself or her baby
may seem anxious, panicky
can’t sleep even when the baby sleeps

Women at major risk for PPD are women who have had a history of depression prior to pregnancy. One-half of women with PPD have onset of symptoms before and during their pregnancies.
Other risk factors can be:

Marital conflicts
Lack of social support
Financial pressure
Unplanned pregnancy
Family psychotic history
History of bipolar disorder

There are many resources available to Moms who suffer from PPD, a very real medical condition. Talk to your spouse or family, your OB/GYN or GP. Call a help line 800-328-3838 or visit this web site http://www.ppdhope.com/

There is hope and there are people who can help.

PPD, postpartum depression, baby blues, new moms, pregnancy, moms, depression,

Do you have a ton of pictures on your computer of your family, like I have? I think all parents do and we are all looking for new things to do with them. Sending emails with pictures in them, printing them out and sending them to family and friends, been there done that.
Now there is a something new to do with all the pictures taking up space on that computer of yours.

Greetingflix is a new web site that allows you to take your pictures and make them into a little movie or slide show complete with music. Great for a new baby announcement, Mother’s Day or just to say “I am thinking of you”.
I have tried this out and sent some flix to my mother and my husband and at least one of those people admitting to crying when they watched the movie. It was also very easy to do.

They also have pro memberships which have even more templates for your movie to chose from, AND 1 Gigabyte storage for your pictures. Now you can even add your flix to your myspace page. How great is that?

Because I think this site is new and different, the nice people at greetingflix are giving me five free pro memberships to give away to you guys, my faithful readers.

Here is what you can do to win a year of pro membership to greetingflix:

-On your blog, post your favorite picture. It could be your favorite picture of your child, a silly picture from the 80s, a picture of your home renovations, what ever picture you really love.

-in the post link back to this web site and greetingflix.com

-finally comment here and let me know you have entered. I want to be able to visit all of your site’s and see the great pictures you guys are putting up.

Good luck!

contest, photos, greetingflix, pictures, parents, parenting, photo contest

I agree with many parents when I say, some of the music that is made for children makes me want to beat my head against the wall. My parents didn’t like children’s music when my sister and I were growing up so I listened to what my parents did, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, Carly Simon, Fleetwood Mac and many (many!) others. I feel the same way, and when my kids and I first saw Dan Zanes singing about a “House Party” on Noggin, I thought we may have found the answer to our music dilemma in this house. Who was this crazy haired, bright suit wearing man?

I had the amazing opportunity to speak with Dan and ask him a few questions I, along with some other parents, would like to know about him.

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Your baby is not a tiny infant anymore. (S)he has started to interact with you and is on her way to becoming a real person.
During this time your baby will approximately gain 1 to 1.5 pounds per month. How much she gains is not as important as the fact that she climbing steadily on the growth curve.

By now your baby should be able to bring objects to his mouth. He won’t be able to pick them up with agility just yet, but when placed in his hands will bring them to his mouth. He should also be trying to pick up objects by using a rake motion with his fingers.
He will also experiment with transferring objects from hand to hand. His coordination will improve and now may be able to not only find his feet but grab them.
He will also be able to sit up much better, but still place him in the boppy or surround him with pillows.
She should also be rolling from front to back and at least experimenting with rolling back to front.

By four months your baby’s vision increases to several feet. You will see him tracking objects or people and staring at toys very intently. Mirrors are great for babies this age, especially for tummy time.

My favorite part of this age is the babbling. Babies will let you know if they are unhappy or happy by making sounds now. Babies love when you sing to them now and may even try to chime in.
Peek a boo is a great game and by the age of six months they should be able to find partially hidden objects. Try hiding a favorite toy partially under a blanket.

Some appropriate toys for babies this age are: toys with finger holds, mirrors, easy to hold balls, vinyl baby books, textured toys that make sounds and mobiles.

*As always, every baby is different and develop at different ages. If you think your baby has not hit many of these milestones, talk to your pediatrician and let them know of your concerns.

milestones, three to six month old development, babies, infants, moms, parents, parenting, kids

Here is a funny kid complilation to make you smile this weekend.

kids babies, children, funny kids, parents,

Remember making fans in class when it was hot inside your classroom? I do and I can’t wait to teach my kids.

Take a piece of colored construction paper and let your kids draw on both side of the paper. Then on the longer end, fold the paper back and forth in one inch folds.

A variation of the fan is made with paint sample cards.

You will need :
paint sample cards from a home improvement store
hole punch
yarn or string
paper fastener

-Punch a hole in the center of the bottom on the cards and at the top
-Place the paper fastener at the bottom of the cards
-Lace the yarn or string through the top of the cards to form a fan.

crafts, make a fan, preschoolers, toddlers, kids, moms, rainy day fun, indoor crafts

R: “Mommy is my nail polish dry yet?”

Me: “Yes, I think it is”

R: “so I can pick my nose now?”

kid funnies, preschoolers, kids, moms, parenting, families

When I was nine months pregnant E was transferred and we moved 90 miles away from all of our friends and family. E’s family is scattered throughout the United States and we do not see them that often. That was as tough for us as it was for the new Aunts and Grandparents.

The one thing that was hardest with newborn twins is keeping everyone informed about how they are doing, what milestones they are reaching, how they are changing and how big they seem to get from week to week!

I wish they had babyblogs back then! Babyblog is a adorable site that lets you easily keep up with your baby’s milestones and easily share with friends and family. You go onto www.babyblogs.com and in three easy steps you have your own web site. First choose one of their adorable templates, then upload your information and pictures, finally hit publish!
It couldn’t be easier.

One you have finished your babyblog, they will publish it with your own url and you can share it with all of your friends and family. They have over 15 templates for you to chose from for your daughter, son, holiday or vacation.
It is a fun way to keep track of your child’s first years of life.

babyblog, newborn, pregnancy, moms, blogs for babies, parenting

Men, listen up I am going to give you great ideas for your wife or mother for Mother’s Day.
I am going to save you from the walk of shame when you are asked what you got your wife for mothers day and your reply is “Nothing, she is not my mother.”

By the way, that response will get you in bigger trouble then any gift can get you out of.

Here are some suggestions for every type of Mom* on your list:
For the hip, cool mom.

For the chocolate lover

For the romantic.

For the Mom who works outside the home

For the new mom

For the Mom of an artist

For the mom who lunches with friends.

For a grandma

For the tea lover

For the foodie

For the nature lover

For the mom who needs a break. Badly.

For the mommyblogger

I can’t stress this enough, DO NOT underestimate a nice, thoughtful card, a day off from cooking, cleaning and watching kids and anything that comes in a little blue box.

*If anyone is interested, I would love anything on this list.

shefinds, mother’s day gifts, mother’s day gift ideas, mother’s day, gifts, husbands, fathers, gift ideas for mom, moms, SAHM, mother’s day presents, new mothers, foodies, tea lovers, mom rocks

5 minutes for mom, is a great web site for all mothers and now they just got better.

They are having a mother’s day contest with an ipod nano and choclates as the prize! Can you get better then that for Mother’s Day? I don’t think so!

5 minutes for mom, mother’s day, gifts for mom, gifts, ipod nano, chocolates, giveaways

Asthma is the most common chronic illness in children. Over 9 million children suffer from asthma in the United States. Just ask me, I was diagnosed with asthma when I was seven years old.
If not properly diagnosed and treated asthma can me life threatening.

An asthma episode is a series of events that results in narrowed airways and there are various things that trigger an asthma attack and each child reacts differently to the factors that may trigger asthma, including:
illnesses, exercise, stress
allergic reactions to allergens such as feathers, pollen, mold spores, animal dander, dust,and cockroaches
cigarette smoke (second hand smoke)
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