Parenting Children

The official start of summer is here for us and I know how hard it is to keep kids entertained all summer long. I found that making a list on my calendar helped me pick a fun thing to do every day. Here are 45 cheap or better yet free, great ideas for summer fun for you and the kids:

Catch fireflies

Decorate t-shirts outside with paint or dye

Have a tea party outside

Make a birdhouse

Make your own ice pops

Bake a pie or cookies

Feed the ducks

Go swimming

Plant a garden or a herb garden

Play with water balloons

Play with water guns

Go on a scavenger hunt in your neighborhood

Play hide and go seek in the dark

Find a new playground

Have a picnic

Make S’mores

Learn how to knit and teach your kids, maybe even take a class

Visit the zoo

Visit a museum or children’s museum

Let your children play outside in the rain

Make a theme day, like a “red day” wear red eat only red foods (tomato, apples, strawberries, polish your nails red) or “dinosaur day” (read about dinosaurs, color dinosaur pictures, eat only veggies that day)

Write a letter to a grandparent or friend

Have a lemonade stand

Pick fruits or veggies at your local farms

Make an indoor sand or (Rice!) box
Find free movies in your town

Play hopscotch

Draw with sidewalk chalk

Make a tent indoors with blankets

Play with bubbles, have a biggest bubble contest

Race some bug you find on the ground

Join a reading club for grades 1-6

Have a “day of beauty” paint nails, have masks, give your kids a massage

Go to a free reading time

Buy a hammock and take a nap together

Play with a remote controlled RV or boat

Visit a day fair or carnival

Go for a hike

Can berries for the winter

Grab your sleeping bags and sleep on the floor together

Do some arts & crafts

Grow butterflies (My kids LOVE this!)

Visit a neighbor

Make a bubble pool in your backyard

Make ice cream

Check out free classes at Lowes or Home Depot

Make a trip to a board walk

Bowling!

Have movie day at home complete with popcorn and candy

What are your favorite family summer fun ideas?

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People are not born knowing how to share. It is a learned skill, and it is a skill. Many adults have still not mastered sharing and I am sure you know some of them. In the Pre-operational stage (Toddler and Early Childhood) egocentric thinking predominates, meaning your child does not know anyone else has needs or wants besides them.
You need to help your child learn to share.

Demonstrate sharing yourself. If you have a snack and your child wants some, let her have some and tell her “Oh, you would like some of my snack, okay I will share with you”. This lets your child hear and see that you are sharing.
Go off and play with one of their toys, they will come over and want to play with you, say “Let’s play together and share the toys”.
This is especially important if you have an only child, you have to be a peer and share for them to learn to do the same.

When they do share, praise them. Say “good job letting your friend have some crackers, that is good sharing”. Give them positive attention and you will get positive behaviors.
They will see that sharing gets a positive reaction and make them feel good.
Of course children will not always want to share all of the time and that is normal and okay. If you see your child doesn’t want to share or is having a hard time with sharing redirect their attention to something else and try again later.

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I am just culling my kids’ books from our move. Some of their books are baby-ish and others don’t hold their interest anymore, so I put them aside for baby K. Then I came across our big old stash of Wild Animal Baby magazines from the National Wildlife Federation that my children got as a gift from their Grandmother. My kids were wild about this magazine and I know baby K will love them too.

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The best sound a parent can ever hear is their child’s first word. Many times after that first work speech problems can occur. It is hard to determine if your child needs extra help with his or her problem or if it is just a blip in their development.

Stuttering. Children who are 2 or 3 and start to stutter are at a higher risk of developing permanent speech issues if not helped. There are many things parents and caregivers can do. Try not and correct or “finish” a child’s sentence or word. Let him have a chance to think about what he wants to say and value what he has to say.

Lisps. Ommisions, addition and distortions (lisps) are either articulation disorders or phonological disorders. It is common for children ro leave sounds out of words, and having slight distortions when they are learning to speak, but by three years most sounds and words should be mastered.

A basic milestone are that children should be able to say one word at about 1, two-word combinations at 18 months to 2 years, and three-word sentences before turning 3.
Here is what to look for:

At 1 year: He isn’t babbling or speaking in mock sentences at all. He doesn’t seem to understand or respond when you talk.
At 18 months: He hasn’t said at least one word.
At 2 years: He says only a few words and communicates mostly through grunting and pointing, or he’s losing language skills — either his vocabulary has shrunk or he no longer talks very much.
At 2 1/2 years: He’s still speaking in single syllables, drops final consonants, or doesn’t have a vocabulary of 50 words.
At 3 years: Strangers can’t understand his pronunciation, or he speaks using only simple two-word phrases.

If you think your child has a speech delay or speech problem you can always check with your pediatrician to rule out hearing problems and get a referrel, if needed, for speech therapy.

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I did sleep train my baby at 10 weeks old. We got the hang of it and did great. Now that he is thirteen months old we have to start all over again. He is dealing with extreme separation anxiety and is very clingy and hard to put to sleep. I don’t want to make the mistake of having him depend on us to fall asleep. I know too many parents that still have to rock, nurse or drive their children around in cars so they will fall asleep. But the question is “how do you sleep train a child?”

The goal is to have your child fall asleep by herself in her crib, but how you get to that point is up to you. You can start out by putting your child to bed and checking on them every once in awhile. Better yet, you can use your baby monitor to watch your baby. If your baby cries go in a reassure him that you are there, but don’t pick him up. Rub his back, comfort without holding and rocking him to sleep. Reassure them and leave again. I know it is hard and you just want the crying to stop, but I promise you are comforting and teaching them to soothe themselves at the same time. Within three to five nights, you’re bound to see a dramatic improvement in the bedtime routine.

OR you can go an alternative route: for three nights, you can sit next to the crib until your baby falls asleep, then three nights across the room, then in the doorway, and then in the hallway.

When you check on your baby, it’s better do it consistently, rather than waiting until they really start crying. If the baby cries in the night, respond to it. In two weeks you will have a baby that can fall asleep on their own.

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The winter has finally gone and spring is here. With spring comes a new set of problems, ones that I will take any day, like where do I go with my kids every day to entertain them. Like every parent does, I turn to the good ‘ole playgrounds and parks. Now that I am in a new state, I have to learn where all the great parks are.
Enter KaBoom!, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding and creating play spaces within walking distance for every child!

KaBOOM! is a wonderful tool for every parent. You can seach for playgrounds, parks, and other play areas near you by city, state, or postal/zip code! Not only that but you can see the ratings of these playgrounds and read the reviews. Perfect for someone like me, who doesn’t know the area very well, or for summer travel!

KaBOOM! has embarked on a nationwide mission to help communities build playspaces. This proves critical for those many children living in neighborhoods without playgrounds or playspaces, or unable to use existing ones because of rundown conditions or dangerous neighborhoods. Mom Central has teamed up with KaBOOM! to help map online 100,000 playspaces in 100 days. Wondering what counts as a playspace? Any playground, field, a skate park, roller hockey rink, lake, dog park, community center, basketball court or ice rink - anywhere kids can just be kids!
For every play space entered into the KaBOOM! database on behalf of the Mom Central team, $1 will be donated to Jumpstart, a non-profit that brings at-risk preschool children and caring adults together to improve literacy.

KaBOOM! cares about the lack of places kids can just be kids and learn to share and have fun. They are an amazing, caring organization and a huge help for parents everywhere.

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Having a baby in the house has been wonderful. Now that he is going to be 1 next week, his personality is really coming out. I love to see what interests him, what he loves and how different he is from his brother and sister at that age. Simple things make every baby happy and they are all free!

Tickles- Baby K loves it when I tickle him under all of his chins. He laughs and pulls my finger away and then puts it back under his chin for more. Laughing together is a bonding experience for baby and parent.

Pets- K LOVES our cats and “kitty cat” was one of his first words. He loves his cousins dog or “da” and can watch them play for hours.

His Siblings- The only thing better than the cats is his sister and brother. He loves to play with the kids and loves watching them run, jump and play even more. He loves to explore their rooms for lots of cool, colorful things!

Any Remote- I swear you can buy your kids every toy in the store, but they will still want the plain black and silver remote! I don’t know whether they love it because it is plain looking or because it is forbidden!

Mirrors- I can get a good face and hair washing because the bathroom has so many big mirrors in it. Babies all love to look at themselves in mirrors even as infants. It is not until they are well over 12 months before they realize they are looking at themselves.

What amuses your baby these days?

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When children are stuffy Vicks Vaborub is a long time, quick go to for parents. A new study out now says that Vicks VapoRub may cause airway inflammation that can restrict breathing in infants and toddlers!

The study was conducted after doctors treated an 18-month-old girl who had developed severe respiratory distress after the rub had been put directly under her nose to relieve her cold symptoms. When they stopped the medicine the child got much better.

To test whether Vicks VapoRub could cause respiratory distress, the researchers conducted experiments with ferrets. The animals were chosen because they have airways similar to human airways. The researchers found that Vicks VapoRub increased mucus production by up to 59 percent; the ability to clear mucus was reduced by 36 percent.

Dr. James A. L. Mathers Jr., president of the American College of Chest Physicians, said in an association news release: “Parents should consult with a physician before administering any over-the-counter medicine to infants and young children. Furthermore, the American College of Chest Physicians and several other health-care organizations have concluded that over-the-counter cough and cold medicines can be harmful for infants and young children and are, therefore, not recommended.”

Dr. Daniel Craven, a pediatric pulmonologist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, said parents shouldn’t use Vicks VapoRub, because it has no medicinal value and may even be dangerous.

The makers of Vicks say that the rub should never be used under the nose and never given to a child under the age of two. What do you think of this latest warning on over the counter medicine for children?

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If you have one child with food allergies, will your other children have them too? Is there a way to prevent children from having food allergies? The answer is: no, there is no definite way to prevent food allergies in children, but you can lessen your odds.

Right now about 5% of kids have food allergies in the United States. If a parent has food allergies themselves, then a child’s chance of having them is about 25%. Breastfeeding for at least the first four months of using a hydrolyzed formula can reduce the risk of a child having food allergies and asthma.

Do you have food allergies that you are concerned about passing on to your children? Does your child(ren) have food allergies?

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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 many things there are for them to do online, since they are only just beginners on the computer. 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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I have found through my travels on the internets something that is fascinating to me:
Some people don’t wrap the gifts for their kids that are from “santa”. Those are left under the tree unwrapped and the gifts from friends and family are wrapped.

I know, I had no idea either.

This is so interesting to me, because growing up all of our gifts were wrapped and some tags said from “santa” and some said “mom & dad”. All of them were wrapped though.

I will continue to wrap all the gifts for my kids because I think unwrapping gifts one at at time is all the fun of Christmas.

So tell me, does Santa wrap your child’s gifts?

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My kids are like most, if you ask them what they would like for Christmas they will have no problem rattling off two- or twenty things they would like. As they get older there are more things they can play with, more games they can learn and toys they can play with. Now though, they ask for gifts that we don’t like, or want them to have. I ask you parents, how do you handle your kids asking for a toy you don’t want them to have?

Last Christmas my daughter was almost five years old. Her number one must have was High School Musical 2 DVD. I thought she was waaayyy to young for High School Musical, but at the last minute I relented and let my sister buy it for her. I am glad I did because every gift she opened Christmas morning she said ” I KNOW this is High School Musical!” Needless to say that DVD was her favorite gift.

This year she is asking for a Bratz hair style. I have no idea what that is, but she saw it last year on television and has never forgotten it. We have a “no bratz” rule in this house, I don’t like those toys and will not buy them.
Will she get over it after she gets other gifts that she will love as much if not better? Sure, but you always want to give your kids the things they truly want.

How do you deal with your kids asking for something you don’t want them to have or is not age appropriate? Do you give in thinking about how you never got what you wanted as a child or do you hold firm?

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While it is no longer uncommon for any child in this country to be developmentally delayed, nobody wants it for their own child. Everyone wants a happy and healthy baby. Since the spectrum or “delays’ is so large, many children fall under this category and receive some form of early intervention. Most children who receive early intervention services catch up to their peers in their area of difficulty and no one will every be the wiser.

If your child does have a diagnosis that is going to cause him to have special needs in school or early intervention have no fear, there are many parents that are in your situation.

Lets explore what exactly is Early Intervention. Early Intervention was started in 1986 to provide services for infants and toddlers under the age of 3 who have a developmental delay of any kind or a disability.
Early Intervention can provide service such as physical therapy for children with gross motor delays (late to walk, sit, crawl etc.) or speech therapy (two of my nephews have had this with great success) for children who are late to speak or occupational therapy for fine motor delays, feeding difficulty, cognitive delay, or a delay in social or emotional skills.
Most will come to your house for your therapy session and how many you will receive depends on what side of the spectrum your child falls in to.

Other services early intervention provides: family education and counseling, audiology testing, nursing, nutritional information, psychological services, and even vision evaluation.

If you have an older child who you think is in need of special services, contact your public school system.
If you think your child has a delay of any type, call your pediatrician to have him or her evaluated. You can also contact your state’s Early Intervention Services directly.

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Getting baby to lie down, stay still and get her diaper changed can be a challenge, especially when she starts to crawl or walk. My twins acted like they are much too busy for a 1 minute change and now the baby won’t sty still either.
Here are some ideas to keep baby in place so you can do your business and change their business:

Put a sticker on the back of baby’s hand. By the time she can get the sticker off you are done with the diaper change. Works every time!

Buy a balloon. A $3.oo mylar balloon fastened to the end of the changing table will give your baby something to focus on or play with. Just never leave baby unattended with balloon, or let baby put it in his mouth.

Spoon. You can stash one in the diaper bag and one in the changing table. let baby play with the spoon and voila! you will be done in no time.

So tell me, how do you get baby to stay in one place long enough to change a diaper?

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These days money is tight all around. Many moms I know are going back to work because they cannot afford not to. If you need to go back to work then you know how hard it is to find a quality day care center.
What do you look for in a good day care center?

Many moms dread day care because they hear about how the kids at day care are sick all of the time. That may be a good thing, because it is building up his immune system being exposed to many more bugs than if he stayed at home. Day care is a great way especially for only children to make some friends. It will teach him about sharing, playing and making friends.
It also stimulates them, there are so many great day cares now with curriculum. They will get lots of play time but will also learn colors, shapes, letters and explore arts and crafts.

When looking for a great center, try and look for one teacher for every three or four babies and a teacher for every 7 toddlers. Make sure the staff is government certified and licensed. Plus, use your mom-tuition. Is the center clean? Can you drop by unannounced? Are the cribs and equipment newer and in good condition?

What problems did you face trying to find a great day care center for your child?

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