Parenting Children

Making baby food may take a little more effort then just buying cans at the grocery store but more and more parents are doing it. Although it is not for everyone, making your own baby food can be simple and is great for your baby. You have control over the ingredients, it won’t have preservatives and the texture can be just what your baby likes.

Are you ready to make baby food? OK here it goes, remember when using fruits and vegetables, always wash and remove the skin. use organic whenever possible. Steam or boil food until it is soft and mushy, you do not need any seasonings or salt. If you are making this for the whole family, put aside and flavor some for the older members of your family.

You can mash the food in a blender, food processor or baby food mill and play with the texture to see what your baby likes and dislikes. Start with pureed food when you introduce your baby to solid foods (after 4 months or when your pediatrician tells you) and slowly move towards mashed or small pieces of food when baby learns to chew food. You can make these ahead of time and freeze them!
Make as much as you would like, then place into sanitized ice-cube trays to freeze. Once the food is frozen, pop them out and store in freezer containers and label. These will last for up to three months frozen!

Tell me, do you make your own baby food? If you buy jarred baby food which brand do you prefer?

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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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One things that all parents have to do when they have a baby is baby proof their home. Whether it is taking kick knacks down from the coffee table or nailing everything down in the entire house, baby proofing is very important. Some people start baby proofing the minute the baby is born, others wait until they become mobile. There are now even companies who will come to your house and tell you what you need to baby proof and even help you do it.

Do you need someone come out and tell you what and how to baby proof? No, but if you are a busy couple or know nothing about babies and what they are capable of getting into, this might be the route for you. Some companies charge nothing for a household consultation and others can cost a few hundred dollars. If you are interested in hiring a company to come out and evaluate your home, go to iafcs.com for a list of baby proofers across the country. Make sure you ask for references.

If you want to do it yourself there are a few things that every house hold can do to make their house safer for baby.
Make sure all outlets are covered.
Make sure sharp edges of tables, counters or doorways are covered.
Don’t leave knick knacks or sharp objects on tables or low counter tops.
Use baby gates everywhere there are stairs including outside.
Get a gate or fence installed around your pool and never leave standing water where a baby can reach it even outside in a bucket. Get locks for all the doors in your home, especially the bathroom.

For more tips on how and what to baby proof check out these sites.

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There are so many things to think about and discuss with your spouse when you are pregant and once the baby comes home. One of the easiest things for E and I to agree on was the twin’s eating. We knew we would offer the best foods possible to the babies and plenty of variety! We didn’t want chicken nugget and french fry kids, you know they type, that is their only order no matter where they are eating.
I read that food preferences are established early and that eating is a learning process, if kids are given mainly sweets that will be their taste preference instead of trying new things. It seems to be true in this house my kids will want fruit over french fries any day and they prefer guacamole and hummus to chicken nuggets and hamburgers.

The stats are scary too, 25-30 percent of kids 9 too 24 months did not eat any fruit and 20-25 percent did not eat any vegetables. The most common vegetable eaten by toddlers? French fries.
That shouldn’t be so shocking considering the childhood obesity epidemic.
What can you do to build your child’s healthy eating habits? Here are some tips:

Give the baby grains at six months. Sure he may be weirded out by the texture at first, but I bet he will grow to like it.
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Is it really on February? This winter is going as slow as any I can remember and being almost nine months pregnant doesn’t help matters. It is all I can do to keep my poor five year old twins entertained in this house all day. Plus we haven’t even had the fun of snow to play in all winter long! Here are some ideas of fun indoor things you can do to keep your kids bodies and minds moving:

Hullabaloo My kids love this game. Think of it as a more motion filled Simon Says game. Players move from one colorful shape to another and use their bodies to perform the many Hullabaloo move, when you hear “Freeze!” the player on the lucky pad wins! I love this because even one child can play by themselves. 1-6 players, ages 4 and up.

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Wondering what else you can do to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your family or make it more special for your children. You can make it more then just a Hallmark holiday. Here are some ideas for some mid week Valentine’s fun for everyone:

-Wear all red or pink. Dress everyone in head to toe in the colors of love.

-Eat only red foods! Spaghetti and sauce, tomatoes, red velvet cake, apples, pomegranates, red peppers with dip, shirley temples and champagne with grenadine, etc

-Write love notes on napkins. Write little notes about how much you love your child or your spouse and send them off to school or work with them, or put them around the dinner table.

-Eat by candlelight. You can have a nice special dinner with your whole family not just your husband.

-Eat only finger foods. Tea sandwiches, crudite, mini quiche, shrimp cocktail or mini burgers. Melt some chocolate for dessert and have everyone dip in their favorite fruits like strawberries, pineapple or grapes, marshmallows, graham crackers or even their fingers in!

-Make rice krispie treats for your kids but use strawberry marshmallows instead of plain ones, so they will be pink!

-Give everyone Valentines tattoos.

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!

By far the hardest part of parenting so far has been potty training my twins. It would have gone a lot easier if I trained them one at a time instead of together. Potty training will go a lot easier if your child is ready and you can see if your child is ready with the readiness quiz I have below.

If you feel like your child is ready, begin incorporating potty training into your child’s daily life. Bring your child with you as you use the toilet, and explain what you are doing, narrating the process. Encourage her to do things on her own like put on her own clothes, pick out her coat etc. Go to the library and read potty books and take out potty movies. Watch them together and explain what he is seeing.
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There are only so many toys I will allow in this house. There are some things I think my kids can never have enough of one of them is books and the other one is games. I love games and now so do my kids. When I had the chance to review the new Cranium Bloom kids games designed just for preschoolers, I couldn’t wait for them to arrive. I love Cranium games and I knew my kids would too.

The first one we played was the Let’s Go To The Zoo Seek and Find Play Puzzle. It is a large size 24-piece puzzle of a zoo and everything you would see in it. My kids love puzzles so this was great alone. Then you each draw cards to find something. There are beginner cards that would ask you to find something red or find three dolphins, and advanced cards which would ask you to find something that starts with the letter “K”. You circle your finds on the puzzle with an erasable marker. My kids loved this game. It is for ages three and up and even one person can play.

The next game we tried was Cranium Bloom’s Let’s Play Count and Cook Game. I knew this one would be a hit because both of my kids love to cook and bake with me. This is a game complete with a “recipe book” and you have to take turns moving around a board and collecting the ingredient cards you need for one of the recipes in your cookbook. It actually comes with some real recipes to make with your kids and kitchen tips. This game is for ages three and up and is for up to four players.

These games are educational, fun and inexpensive. I loved them as much as my kids and I will buy Cranium games for all ages as gifts for upcoming birthdays this year. You can find all the entire line of Cranium Bloom games at Target.

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Kids can have all the toys in the world and still get bored. Have you found that already even though Christmas was just a few weeks ago? Being a stay at home mom may give me a little less patience on this issue then most. Are you tired of them complaining they have nothing to do, especially now that winter is here to stay?

Make a bored jar.
Use a cotton ball container or an old jar and place cards with things to do on them. Make up games, have an arts & craft idea or even a recipe for something simple but will keep them occupied.
Whenever someone cries “bored� take out the jar and have them pick something.

If you don’t want to make a “bored” jar then buy one. Land of nod has an amazing arts and crafts jar filled with great things for kids eight and up. It comes with googly eyes, pom-poms, pipe cleaners, glue pens, construction paper, wavy craft scissors, wooden buttons, spools, beads, craft sticks and more. All you need is $29.00 and your own imagination.

If you are looking for learning activities for your child see if there is a Lakeshore Learning Center by you, or order online. This store is amazing resource for parents or teachers. You can find something for your baby up until eleven years old. Sign up for their free catalog.

If they are still “bored” after all of these ideas, just tell them to get a job.

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It seems like everyone I know is sick. If my friends are not sick then their kids are. Colds and viruses are so common this time of year, but it is hard to know what is just a cold and what is more and needs medical attention. Today we will talk about everything you need to know about colds and sniffles.

About 100 different viruses cause infections that lead to the common cold. Colds usually come on gradually, starting with a runny nose or a scratchy throat. Most kids do fine with a common cold but require a little more TLC. Remind them to wash their hands often, keep them hydrated (if they don’t want to drink, try ice pops, juice or soup) and use the nasal aspirator if necessary. Having a humidifier and/or a vaporizer in a child’s room is great for winter too.
If your child has a fever, Call the doctor.

The Flu season is usually from October to April. The main difference between the flu and a cold is a high fever. Babies and kids with the flu are very irritable can have diarrhea and usually don’t want anything to eat. I would treat the flu the same as if your child has a cold but call the pediatrician if your has has a high fever, has asthma or they have any problems breathing.

Croup usually appears in winter and spring. It usually comes on suddenly and the croup’s signature barking cough (like a seal’s bark) is very scary for new parents. Use a humidifier in your child’s room every day and night. Steam will help the cough and sitting with the child while the shower runs very hot will help her cough. Also bundling the baby and going outside in the cold is been known to help. if the cough seems to last for more then a couple of days or your child has a fever call the doctor.

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I think January and February is the worst time of year in New Jersey for having kids. There is not much to do with them outside because the weather is cold (but not a sign of snow here yet!) enough to force you to stay inside but cabin fever is rampant. My kids are bored and I don’t blame them. We try and go to indoor play places and do outdoor things as much as we can but it is hard this time of year and expensive. Here are some great games to combat cabin fever and some you can do when you are in a restaurant or waiting room.

I Spy- take turns looking around the space you are in and pick one thing. Give the other people clues and let them guess what you picked.

Memory- everyone looks at the same room/space/area for 30 seconds and try to memorize everything you see, the color of the pictures, the shoes/dirt etc. Then everyone writes down what they remember, the person with the longest accurate list wins!

Scavenger Hunt- give your kids some index cards and ask them to write or draw pictures of some things they might see on an upcoming car trip. During a car ride give them the cards and then they can match what they see with the cards. The person with the most matches win.

Feather Keep it Up- Each person has to keep the feather over their head by blowing it. Whoever keeps it up the longest wins. You can do this with a balloon too.

Obstacle Course- Make your own! Jump over pillows, have to put a small puzzle together, have to recite a list of cousins names, crab crawl through the kitchen, carry a plastic egg on a spoon, the possibilities are endless.

Keep Outdoor Toys In- When my kids were 2 they received scooters as a gift. I let them keep it inside the house until the following summer. they scooted around the house all day every day and the wheels were rubber so no tearing up my floors. Do this with other ride ons.

Card Games- There are so many. Teach your kids new ones or go for old favorites like memory, old maid, crazy 8s or go fish. This is also great for when a storm knocks the power out.

What are your favorite things to do with kids to beat the boredom?

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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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I have had many emails asking me how can parents know if their child’s toys are safe, so I decided to write some tips you can look for when you are buying toys. Chances are if you have older kids, their hand-me-down toys are not all safe. Since babies and young children put everything in their mouths, you may want to replace your toys. You can check on the manufacturer’s web site to see if they were recalled. This web site also has a list of recently recalled toys you can check out.

The paint on your child’s toys probably have volatile organic compounds (VOC). Check for toys that have water-based paint with low VOC or ones with no VOC paints. They will say so on the box!
Cheap plastic toys are cheap for a reason, they are almost always made with PVC (polyvinyl chloride). Sippy cups, teethers and baby dolls are almost always made with this material. PVC contains phthalates which has been linked to cancer and hormonal problems. Look for PVC free toys.

Try wooden toys. Not only are blocks and building systems fun for kids of all ages, if you buy non treated wood, it is safe for your children to put in their mouth (watch out for splinters!). These toys can be more expensive but try buying them on Ebay or craiglist, or find a relative or friend that has older kids and would be willing to give you their old toys.

You can always check out this website for more information on being green in your home.

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