Parenting Children

Dinner time or meal time can be hectic for any family. Getting kids to eat, getting everyone to sit down together and keeping children from fooling around are all hard tasks for my family. Today I am going to share with you some great tips for keeping mealtime sane and fun.

Make a placemat out of old mats. Cut them to size and cover with clear contact paper. This is great to get kids learning about our country or our world while waiting for dinner.

If your child has a friend over have them play “restaurant” and let them make their own snack. One of them can place their order and the other can “cook”. Little sandwiches or fruit skewers would be great.

Introduce new foods with ones your kids already like and call them “extras”. Make sure they try one new food a week.

At dinner ask everyone for their “news”. Go around and tell your favorite part of the day or if something exciting happened that day. Make sure you listen to your children’s day. Make sure they listen to you also, listening to each other is an important skill to learn.

Be creative. Let your children chose what they want in their burrito, salad or sandwich, even if it does not sound good to you.

Teach manners at the table by using them. Tell them why it is important to say “please” and “thank you”.

What tips or tricks do you have for dinner time with your family?

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According to the National Center for Health Statistics as many as 1 in 100 females between the ages of 12 and 18 have anorexia and by their first year of college, 4.5 to 18 percent of women have a history of bulimia. Eating disorders begin at a very young age mostly by age 13. These illnesses are most common in girls but boys can suffer as well.

Anorexia Nervosa is an irrational fear of being fat and thinking you are fat when you are thin. People who are anorexic starve themselves existing on little to no food. Anorexia may be a single episode with large weight loss within a few months followed by recovery, or it may develop gradually and persist for years. The illness may go between getting better and getting worse, or it can steadily get more severe. Symptoms include: refusing to eat, excessive exercise, dry brittle hair, weakness, having no menstrual period, obsession with calories.
Bulimia is characterized by binge eating and then vomiting. This can happen as much as a few times a day to a couple of times a week. People with bulimia can usually maintain a nearly normal weight, so it may be hard to realize your child could have a problem. Symptoms include: using laxatives or enemas, using the bathroom after eating, eating in private, excessive exercise.

Both types of eating disorders are commonly found in children who have low self esteem, and are hard on themselves, they expect perfection. If you suspect your child has an eating disorder seek medical help immediately. Focus on healthy eating and habits.
For more information visit this web site.

[tag] healthy kids, parenting, parenting teens, bulimia, anorexia, eating disorders, eating disorder in kids, healthy eating [/tags]

In honor of Earth Day we are trying to become more environmentally friendly in our home every day and we are stepping it up a notch today. We do what we can in this house and every month we are trying to do a little more. Educating our kids on Earth Day is one of the things we are doing. Here are some ideas for what you can do with your kids today:

When they are brushing their teeth, teach them to turn off the water while they are brushing. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Water Sense program, Americans use an average of 170 gallons of water per day. Saving water will help your pocketbook too.

Plant a tree today. Teach your children to respect and preserve the wilderness and wildlife. Buy a bird feeder and bird bath, plant flowers that butterflies like and plant some organic vegetables or fruit. Don’t use pesticides on your lawn or garden.

Visit your local farm or recycling center and teach your kids where their food comes from and where their garbage goes. Make sure you recycle in your home and let your kids help you.

Learn online, check out www.localharvest.org, ams.usda.gov., epa.gov or fishandwildlife.org.
Also check out this website for Earth Day coloring pages.

Finally, get outdoors! Go hiking, camping or to a park. The best motivations for protecting the planet is to enjoy it. What is a better time than Earth Day?

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We are always searching for family things to do. We luckily live in an area of NJ where there are a ton of family friendly events but they are scarce in the winter. A great resource for families are museums. Your children will appreciate them in different ways as they grow and they are perfect for families with kids of varying age differences.

Natural history museums are the best to check out dinosaurs and most kids love dinosaurs. Some great museums are the American Museum of Natural History NY, NY (they have the only intact velociraptor skull!), Museum of L.A. County in California and the National Museum of Natural History Washington, D.C.
Art museums usually have great programs for kids to spark their interest in art. Check your local museum for children’s programs. Let them create their own art when you get home. If you hate the mess, (like I do) then let them paint outside or paint in your husband’s old t shirts. Have them recreate some of their favorite pieces of art they have just seen.

Our favorites are our local children’s museums. My kids never tire of visiting! They can pretend they are a news anchor, learn about electricity and animals and dance on a stage.
Some of the other museums that are cool are the Matchbox Museum in Newfield, NJ, Ripley’s Believe it Or Not Museum Orlando, FL and the World’s Largest Toy Museum Branson, MO.

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As I said in my previous post, I forgot so much from when my twins were newborns. I find myself rushing to their baby books to see when they lost their umbilical cord or how much they weighed at their first checkup. I also find myself asking my sister, who has an older son, when my kids should start activities. Here are some guidelines for when to start activities with your child.

Swimming lessons-You should sign up for swim lessons or mom & baby swim classes when you feel comfortable. Let your baby or child get used to splashing around in the water. At age four children usually have the cognitive ability to realize they are in trouble in the water and can do something about it or call for help.

Horseback riding- usually at age five children can have lessons.

Skateboarding and skating-ages seven to eight is good for these skills and they really should be supervised until maybe age 10, especially when in the street. Most “wheeled” injuries occur in children ages ten to fourteen.

Soccer- is the safest sport. Age six is a great age to start soccer although I know they offer it in my town for five year olds, and my kids will play when they are five and a half.

Dancing- I think you are never too young to start dancing and dance class for toddlers will only help with coordination and making friends. A mom and tot dance class is a great way for mom to burn off some calories while bonding with her child!

Sometimes I just get bored with sandwiches. Sometimes I just don’t have deli meats or bread in the house. (Hey, cut me some slack I just had a baby!) My kids get bored with sandwiches every day too, so I try to be creative and unique with lunches, or dinners for that matter, and give my kids variety and it gives them an opportunity to try new foods too! Here are some of our favorite ideas:

Veggies and dip. Put string beans in a hallowed out pepper, bake some pita to make your own pita “chips” and if your kids hate raw veggies cook and cool them first.
DIP
1 greek plain yogurt (7oz)
1 garlic clove, pressed
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2C mayo
1 tablespoon dill and mint chopped
1/2 cucumber
1 teaspoon lemon juice

To make:
Grate the peeled and seeded cucumber and squeeze dry in paper towel and add to bowl
Add the rest of the ingredients and combine
Serve with veggies

Try chicken salad or egg salad in a lettuce leaf instead of bread
Try hummus or guacamole (two of my kids favorites) instead of dips
Go pick your own at a local farm, your kids will be more likely to eat the veggies if they see where they are grown and pick them themselves!
Don’t forget about edamame, kids love these and you can even buy them chelled in teh frozen section of your grocery store

What are your favorite substitutes for sandwiches or traditional lunches?

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I realize I am still in the beginner phase of parenting with my kids only being five years old. On some days I don’t know how I will survive parenting teens never mind the five year olds I have that act like teens sometimes. Statistics like the ones that have come out this week just make me doubt my future parenting even more. A new study finds that one out of every four teen girls has a sexually transmitted disease.

Twenty five percent of teenage girls! Only half of the girls admitted to having sex that were questioned for this federal based study. Out of the girls who did admit to having intercourse forty percent had an STD. This is a shocking statistic. Of course some teens define sex as intercourse only but acts like oral sex can spread STDs as well.
Disease rates were significantly higher among black girls, nearly half had at least one STD, versus 20 percent among both whites and Mexican-Americans.

Obviously teaching abstinence and the health classes at schools are not working. Especially because in last year the government reported that the teen birth rate rose between 2005 and 2006, the first increase in 15 years. Talking to our children about the truths about sex at home seems the way to go. We don’t want our teens or “tween” to get misinformation about STDs and sex from their friends. Of course it is an uncomfortable subject, but one that has to be brought up for the sake of our children. Many STDs have no symptoms and can cause infertility, cancer and some are not curable at all.

What do you think of these startling new statistics?

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This year we are dyeing eggs early because I can go into labor at any time and if I do not, I have a c-section scheduled for March 18th. I want to participate with them so we will do it this weekend. I always try to stay away from too much candy and junk for Easter. This year will be no different and we are trying to keep our Easter “green”. Here are some alternatives to candy and junk and some tips to be more Earth friendly for your Easter.

Say no to plastic grass. Grow your own. This is easy and looks great in a basket or for a table centerpiece. I have seen edible grass in Target that you can use as an alternative. Have your kids color or paint some paper and shred it for their baskets.

Use natural dyes for eggs. Boil your eggs in water with vinegar and one of these ingredients below, then let simmer for at least 15 minutes:

Purple grape juice (for lavender)
Red cabbage (for blue)
Spinach (for green)
Carrot tops, orange peels or lemon peels (for yellow)
Yellow onion skins (for orange)
Beets or cranberries (for pink)
Red onion skins (for red)

Skip the candy. If you have to use plastic eggs (we use the same ones every year) fill them with coins, almonds or raisins. Or you can just hide the dyed eggs.

Skip the toys. Instead maybe buy books, puzzles, outdoor chalk, phthalate free bath toys (bunnies or ducks are perfect) or bubbles (you can even make the bubbles yourself).

Here are some more ideas for Easter and Easter craft ideas. What do you give your children in their Easter baskets?

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Now that my kids are older and they receive money as gifts, it is not as easy as just putting it into their banks. Now they would like to spend it. I can understand that, so sometimes we let them take 40% of their money and use it to buy whatever they want. Sometimes it is a fruit and cheese platter from Starbucks and sometimes it is a small toy. We are figuring out how to let them manage money as they get older. Here are some tips we like that you may want to use with your kids.

Gift Cards- Kids can learn to buy exactly what they want when they get a gift card. They can save them up to make a bigger purchase and my kids feel like a big deal with their “credit cards”.

Fun Money- When kids are older then give them fun money. This is a budget with say $20, to do what they want to with their friends or with you on a weekend. The $20 has to pay for their activity, food, arcade whatever. Then kids will learn how much a movie and popcorn really costs.

Earn it- Let them ear their money buy giving them an allowance. Give them chores to do every day or buy the weeks end and pay them a fair wage. Either let them do whatever they want with that money (but they have to save all of their birthday and holiday money) or make them save some and save some.

Get a new piggy bank- This one has four chambers, one for each of the four money management choices a child should be taught. They are SAVE, SPEND, DONATE, and INVEST.

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I have so many favorite things to share with you today, the last day of February. I love looking all over the web and in stores for the cutest and coolest things for moms, and children. I also love supporting mom owned businesses and try to promote my favorites whenever I can.
Here are some great things that have caught my eye in the past few weeks:

I love everything sock monkey. Target has had a lot of sock monkey products lately from slippers to sheets. If you want to make your own, here is a good rainy day activity for you and your kids, make your own sock monkey kit.

I have always loved anything with my name on it, but who doesn’t? This site is closed for maternity leave right now, but it has everything personalized for baby from diaper covers to bibs and headbands. I can’t wait for her to get back because I need to get my daughter a personalized headband of her own!

Practice Spanish with these cute dominoes. These are English/Spanish dominoes and for $6.50 are a steal because they are well made and so cute!

Every little one needs a pair of converse sneakers!

Check out my latest reviews on the ultimate receiving blanket

Eco-friendly baby gear

A blanket that is easy to carry and so soft you will want your own!

Great burp cloths and

This amazing pregnancy planner I cannot live without!

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There is one thing about children I didn’t learn from a book, parenting class or from family, I had to learn it on my own: children are all strange. Not strange, look there is a tony person in out house that depends on us for everything, but strange with idiosyncrasies. They start out as cute little things, then turn into full habits. Whether it is what or how they eat or dress or play, every parent has a story to share about their children.

When my daughter was about 18 months old she needed to have a something in her hand at all times. First it was a small plastic care bear doll, then it turned into a stick of some sort. It could be a spatula, a rain stick, anything like that and she carried it around wherever she went. Around the same time my son would make a disgusted face every first bite of food he took. Not the second bite, not just new foods, every first bite of anything would get “the face”.

My son started being “strange” about clothes when he was 3. He wouldn’t wear striped shirts (he had 30 of them) he wouldn’t wear anything with the bear logo of The Gap on it, and he wouldn’t wear any collared shirts. That left us with his 4 ugly t shirts with trucks or spiderman on it. So boring. Thank goodness he grew out of that but it did take a good year.

So tell me, what weird or wacky things do your kids do?

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Looking for some ways to decorate your house for valentine’s Day? Maybe you are just interested in some arts and crafts or snowy day activities to do indoors with your children. Either way, I have great ideas for you.
Here are some ideas for Valentine’s day or any day to keep the boredom at bay.

Decorate Branches
What you need:
branches
colored paper
crayons or markers
colored yarn or string
scissors

-Gather some branches in your yard
-cut out some heart or cupid shapes
-color them or decorate with glitter or what ever you have around the house
-cut out a hole in the top and string yarn through
-place on your branches and put in a vase!

Lollipop Hearts
What you need:
colored construction paper
scissors
lollipops
glue

-Fold a 12-by-3 1/2-inch piece of construction paper in half vertically, and trace four half-hearts along the fold and cut out hearts
-stack hearts and punch a hole 1/4 inch up from bottom
-position petals to form a flower, making sure holes line up. Secure by applying glue around holes then let dry.
-insert lollipop
-then you can write classmates names on them and give them out or display in a small vase!

Love Coupons
what you need:
construction paper
scissors
markers or crayons

-Cut out “coupons”
-write what they are for (massage, hug, extra story at bedtime, favorite dessert etc)
-color and decorate

Then hand them out to family & friends. Perfect for kids who want to give something to their loved ones!

I hope you like these ideas and check back on Wednesday for more Valentines day fun ideas!

My twins will be five next month, just old enough to have definite ideas about what they want for Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, they have always had “favorite” items on their lists like a Little Einstein movie they had seen or a Dora doll. This year they have been preparing their lists for weeks. I introduced them to all the great Christmas movies from my childhood, Rudolph, the Grinch and Frosty. All of which were on regular television, which they are not used to watching. Anything they watch I Tivo and it is from Noggin or Nick Jr where there are no commercials. With these classic movies came the introduction to commercials for everything they don’t need but have to have.

Two weeks ago my daughter started asking for High School Musical 2 DVD. I have no idea what this movie is about, I have only heard of it in passing. I told my daughter this movie was for older kids and that she could get it when she was older.
That was not the answer she wanted to hear.

So for days now, she tells me “I know I am going to get High School Musical!” and ” I know Santa is bringing me High School Musical”. So what do I do? My fear is she will open all of her gifts and wonder where this one DVD is, the one thing she wanted. On the other hand is this movie for older kids and if so should I stick to my guns and not get it for her?

What happens when your child really wants a gun and you do not approve of them? What about when your daughter wants a Bratz doll or makeup and you think those are not great gifts for children?
What do you do when your kids ask for gifts that are not age appropriate?

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This week New Jersey government voted on a bill to require all children to be vaccinated with the flu vaccine. The bill was approved by the Public Health Council but still needs to be approved by the State Health Commissioner. NJ would be the first state to make this vaccine mandatory. What makes this bill so infuriating to me is that these vaccines contain formaldehyde and 25 micrograms of thimersol (mercury) per dose! The vaccinating of even this small amount of mercury repeatedly year after year from multiple vaccines can cause brain damage.
What happens when there is a flu vaccine “shortage” like they have every year and you can’t get the vaccine for your children? Do they not get enrolled into school?

Now Merck has voluntarily recalled about 1.2 million doses of its Hib (Haemophilus influenzae Type B) vaccines because they may not have been fully sterilized. During testing, Merck found certain bacteria in their vaccine manufacturing equipment, but not in the vaccine themselves. The Hib vaccine is recommended for all children under 5 and is usually given in a three-shot series, starting at 2 months old.

Here is a quote from Dr. Furhman, from the Eat to Live book on these mandatory vaccines that are popping up:
“It seems that lawmakers do not understand that freedom should include freedom from forced medications for ourselves and our children. The fact that we grant religions the right to do anything, but if not under a religious umbrella, those with strong science-based, philosophical-based or strong-personal belief get no such rights, I think this is unconscionable”

Even if you support all vaccines for children, you have to be concerned about the amount of vaccines that are to be administered to children. I would love to hear from you, what do you think about the safety and amount of vaccines required for our children?

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My kids are just getting into playing games on the computer. They loved the Thanksgiving and Halloween printouts and games I found for them. It surprised even me, how may things there are for them to do online, since they are only four. Here are some things I have found that I know my kids love, we love and I know you will love too.

Go check out the Northpole for fun stories and activites. While you are there send a letter to Santa.

Whether you are baking Christmas cookies, putting up the tree or doing your homework play some Christmas music. This site has a ton of free streaming Christmas music stations.

This web site has all the answers to question you may have about Christmas traditions. It has Christmas tree facts, the history of mistletoe and Mrs. Claus or find out about Christmas traditions around the world.

If you are looking for some Christmas games to keep your kids occupied while you wrap gifts, try this site or this one.

Go elf yourself! Turn yourself and up to three other people into elves that sing and dance and is truly addicting. Call in and get your voice elfed too! This is so funny, we did our whole family and sent it to all of our family.

Lastly, get some Christmas jokes for your parties this year, track where Santa is on Christmas Eve, get the real lyrics to the carols you have been singing and do some crafts with your kids.

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