Parenting made simple - 10 important tips

Do you want to simplify your life as a parent, slow down and enjoy a sense of ease and calm? I am sure all of us would like to do it as parents; this is best done by streamlining your responsibilities so you have quality time to spend with your family. By simplifying our own life, we will also be simplifying our child's and will encourage him/her to value his loved ones.

 Here are 10 important tips to make parenting simple: 

1. Identify what each room is for and stick to it:

Creating a purpose for each room helps; clear homework, art projects and other paper from the dining room and put your kids' backpacks, gym shoes and school textbooks in their rooms. You would then not have to stare at mess and would feel more relaxed.

2. Remove the clutter:

This is very important to get a sense of freedom. You should move all recycling and trash and put things where they actually belong. You could fill boxes with stuff you no longer need and donate them to charity; this would not only give you the pleasure of giving, but would also clear up the space that they were occupying.

3. Create a family routine:

Things move more smoothly this way as kids and other family members know what to expect and what is expected of them. This involves fixing time for meals, when children should go out to classes and sports and when they get up in the morning and go to bed at night.

4. Plan the week’s dinners as a family:

You could simplify the process by creating a rotating daily menu that remains the same week after week; this helps get family time and removes guesswork out of planning meals. Family dinners are a times that act as an anchor for family togetherness.

5.  Analyze and cut down the quantity of toys by 50%:

Work together with your child and analyze the toys he/she plays with and those he/she no longer plays or wants; it would be about 50%. Donate them to charity to teach your child important lessons in being generous.

. Spend time as a family outside:

Spend time outside in nature going out for family hikes, picnics by the lake or in a park or just flying a kite; spending time outside needs no elaborate planning, but creates calm with lots of great rewards. Spending time outside could encourage your child to be active and participate in physical activities.

7. Children need some unscheduled time or playtime: 

   Avoid over-scheduling as children need time to play, get creative with his/her toys, to get imaginative and spend time with parents and siblings. This would not only ease stress, but promote feelings of happiness; our true moments of connection are often in unscheduled down time.

8. Limit screen time to promote human interaction:

Screen time and electronics can be pretty distracting; let TV, computer and video games occupy a small part of the daily schedule.

9. Reduce sensory overload and create a quiet and serene home:

This involves minimizing or avoiding loud music, blaring televisions and bright lights that would distract and interfere with other interactions. Creating a quiet and serene home involves playing soft music and dimming the lights.

10. Do not hover over your kids and leave them alone:

Leave your kids alone by giving them freedom to read a book, play with their toys or do an art project on their own. However let them know that you are there.  

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Child Care Options

Child care is one of the most fun yet tedious types of cares among all other cares. Lack of basic knowledge regarding the various options used in Child Care can lead to complicated situations and can in turn affect the child.

For this reason getting familiar with the various commonly used childcare options is essential. Read on and find out about some of the commonly used Child Care Options … 

Nanny/Babysitter - A nanny or babysitter is employed by the family either on a live-in or live-out basis to perform all the childcare duties. Apart from taking care of the child, nannies usually perform some domestic tasks related to the child’s care.

Mother's Help - Mother’s helper need not have previous childcare experience. They generally assist parents with childcare and in some cases also in the housekeeping duties. 

Child Care Center/Day Care Center - This provides care for children in premises particularly built for child care purposes. They provide developmental programs within their care programs. Daycare centers usually provide meals and snacks for the children.

Family Day Care – This is a type of center that provides care services for other children in their own house. These centers provide care for children under the age group of 3 as well as older children up to 12 years of age.

Before / After School Care – this is a center to provide care and supervise the school age children. They even provide recreational activities for the children. 

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Making your toddler get along with a new baby

Getting a toddler used to his/her younger sibling, a newborn cannot be an easy transition and none of us can promise ourselves that they would be the best of friends.

However there are some tricks that could ease the coming of a second child into their daily lives. I am sure all of you would be able to add more tricks as a comment in my comment section. 

Ways to help a toddler to get along with a new baby:

Get your toddler a baby doll to create a loving sense for babies both before and after the sibling arrives. Let your toddler hold, sway and sing to the doll, include the doll in bedtime story routines and be in charge of his/her baby. He/she could hold his/her baby when you hold yours; this would give the toddler important lessons in loving and nurturing a newborn.  

You need to create special toys that the toddler can play with during quiet times when you have to look after the newborn when he/she cries or is hungry. Your toddler can engage oneself during that time. Create a special bin of toys and books for these times and call it by a funny name; it could help your toddler pull something special out during quiet times.

It is normal and OK for your toddler to want to be a baby again just to attract your attention; he/she may want to drink from a bottle, be held more and be carried all the time. You can eventually get him to talk about how nice it is to be big and do things big kids do like going on swings, skipping, racing, sledding and choosing books. 

 You might just have to accept two babies for a little while.Set aside at least 10 minutes on a daily basis for a one to one time with your toddler. Spend time doing an activity or play he/she likes; this time is best allotted when the newborn is napping or when your spouse or helper is around. Since your toddler has you alone, it will keep him/her from acting out.Give your toddler, the older sibling fun jobs to do to help him/her to feel in control of all the change and attention the new baby is causing. Let your older sibling pick out the baby’s outfit, throwing out the dirty diaper, choosing a book to read or singing him/her to sleep.

Make some adjustments much before the arrival of the baby; if you plan on moving the toddler/elder sibling out of her room or crib, or change from day care to a nanny, or make big changes as potty training; do it as far in advance as possible and prevent association with the arrival of the baby. This would avoid accidents while on errands. I hope all these tricks would help make your toddler get along with the newborn baby.

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How to choose the right Driving Nanny

In today’s stressful professional lifestyle it is tough to take care of your job and handle the daily responsibilities of dropping off your kid at school, picking them up and driving them around to soccer games or tuitions and getting them back home. Even if you have the time, it can be tiring after an entire day at work to drive around in peak hour traffic. This is where a Driving Nanny comes in handy.

Driving Nannies are regular Nannies who are also skilled enough to drive your kids around safely. But for most parents, it is a confusing decision to make! Leaving your kids under a Nanny’s supervision at home is easier but not so with the dangers of the road. Here are a few tips to help you choose the right Driving Nanny for your children,

Check the driving record

It is always good to start by checking the records. Speeding tickets, accidents, reckless driving – these are a few things that shouldn’t be on her rap sheet! Minor infractions can be given a leeway, especially if it was a long time ago maybe when she was learning to drive. Check for a clean sheet in the last few years and hopefully no strikes on her license right now if you plan to keep her as a nanny for long.

Inspect the car

Many families have their own car for Nannies to drive their kids around. A few are not comfortable with that and prefer the Nanny using her car for driving their kids around. If the car used is not yours, inspect the car thoroughly. Look for safety and ensure that there are Isofix seat anchors. Check how safe the car model is and if possible get it serviced at your expense before starting the run.

Insure her and the car!

If the Nanny is driving your car, insure her as well as add the driver profile to your car’s insurance policy without fail. If she is driving around in her car, make sure she has insurance. A small fender bender shouldn’t upset your financial plans for the month.

Discuss terms

Set the rules for gas, maintenance, toll, parking and service costs reimbursement. Will you be covering it in her salary or does she expect you to reimburse it separately? If it is going to be reimbursement, then request for the bills – there is nothing wrong in doing that!

Ensure that you are not taken for a ride but at the same time be a bit considerate. If she loses a toll slip or gets a parking slip because your kid made her wait – reimburse that without nit picking. After all, she is the one who brings your child back home safe and sound.

How to cultivate reading habit in your kid

Cultivating the reading habit in kids can be done early in life; it can be made fun by taking them to a library or bookstore and allowing them to pick up their own books. Do not fuss if they choose the same book every day. Here are some reading activities that would create a love for reading in the early stages.

Ages birth to 1:To encourage the love for reading it is best to have a lot of books around the house; board books, simple stories and touch-and-feel books would be good to capture and maintain a baby’s attention with their simple, repetitive text that includes tactile sensation and bright, bold colors.Snuggle together while reading, so that the baby associates reading with happiness, security and warmth; add more fun by rubbing the soft part on a baby's cheek or touching his/her arm. Pick up books with unique elements like cut-out windows that encourage prediction.Read your books, they could be anything from Shakespeare to Dr. Seuss out aloud; this helps the inflection and the tone of voice of book language to be most appealing to the kids. Reading in a lyrical or expressive way or even sing books to your kids helps encourages the love of language, lyrics and words, which clearly are the fundamentals of reading. It is a good activity to sing nursery rhymes while looking at a book with photos.

Ages 1 to 2: This is the stage when kids are building their vocabulary and interact with books, which shows early comprehension skills. Make reading time exciting by not confining it to bedtime only. Reading could also be done in the bath-tub with a waterproof bathtub book and the child could be asked to mimic the activities in the book; this helps make reading more fun and memorable. Sensory books or touch and feel books like "Does a fish really feel like that? “How about a goat's horns?” are great ways to get kids involved and interested and incite them to give verbal feedback.  

Ages 2 to 3:

Phonological awareness -- rhyming, knowing the alphabet and letter-sound correspondences – are very important at this stage which is a precursor to school success. Dr. Seuss books with their catchy rhymes and alphabet repetitions plus great story lines are great for this age. A very valuable skill at this age is reading comprehension; so after reading the book, ask questions about the beginning, middle and end. Retell the story without the book and ask about feelings like how did that make the mouse feel or was the cat happy or sad and what you would do if the dog sat on your lap. 

Ages 3 to 4:It is right at this age to choose books with repeated phrases; download a few fun interactive picture books on the iPad for building strategies to comprehend text. Kids at this age often memorize their favorite books, so encourage kids to read by lining up his/her stuffed animals for make-believe "story time."

Age 4 to 5: Encourage reading activities like reading grocery lists or instructions for a craft or game in your children of this age. While shopping hand over the list to your kid and let /her collect the items or let teach you a new board game. Also encourage your kid to read leveled books. All said and done do not lay too much emphasis on reading and writing before your kid is really ready; it would be a negative experience. Pull back when your kid is too stressed up and let him/her master a particular level before moving on to the next. 

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Homework tips for babysitters and nannies

Are you a parent, babysitter or nanny struggling to make children do their homework? Is your child finding it difficult with a specific subject and you're working to help them thrive? You can easily tackle these homework challenges with tips and strategies that have been given by professional tutors.

Tips to success in tackling homework:

a. Create a study zone that is easy to focus: Making a comfortable and easy to focus study zone means having comfortable seating with all materials the child requires.  This avoids distractions and sets an environment for the kid to concentrate.

b. Make a game of the homework: This tip requires hiding the homework books; you could hide homework of various subjects like science and math in different areas of the house. Whenever the kid finds it he/she needs to do it. A fun element with studies helps kids focus much better.

c. Help your kid to develop skills to tackle problems: Some kids avoid doing their homework to avoid the pain of struggling through the material. Don't just focus on the kid to develop skills to assignment; but give them the skills to make homework a fun challenge.

d. Give kids a chance to track their progress and take pride in their accomplishments: Homework should be meaningfully aimed at improving a child’s abilities and at giving that child measurable success. Once a kid has a graph of improvement, he/she will become aware of ways to improve their skills.

e. Improve organization by using technology: When you optimize scheduling programs or homework applications to keep track of   specific assignments, teacher's recommendations and resources it would make a big difference in terms of how kids perform.

f. Set up a reasonable schedule with plenty of breaks: It would help tremendously to allow your kids some time to play and decompress after school and before starting homework.  Short breaks for snacks and short walks between assignments also helps.

g. Don't hesitate to ask for help in the form of a tutor or some part-time assistance: They could help kids to focus during homework time; if your kid is really struggling then you could also talk to teachers and know the resources available in school.

h. Break up bigger projects into smaller pieces: Most kids do their homework better when they know what and why the homework is to done; teachers, parents and tutors can help kids break down assignments.

i. Teach kids all about wise time management: Encourage kids to utilize their free time wisely; if he/she finishes an assignment early in class, one should start the homework with the teacher’s permission. They could perhaps get away with doing homework in class.

All this goes to make doing homework less stressful for parents, caretakers, or kids; you will soon pave your way to productive, engaging and stress-free homework sessions.

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5 Things Not To Say To Caregivers

There’s a difference between sympathy and empathy! Care giving is a task indeed, and there are “certain things that shouldn’t be told caregivers”. Without beating around the bush let me nail the 3 things that aren’t to be said to caregivers.

God doesn’t give you more than you could handle

Oh please! You’re suggesting them to quit, when you really intend to encourage them.

The one who gets wrecked everyday knows the purpose better than you.

I wonder how do you do it!

“How come you’re so insane?” this is how your sanity is going to get blasted. At this point, it’s the “most awful thing to be said to a caregiver”.

You need to live a ‘real’ life

Caregivers are witty, and that’s what triggered you to hire them. Care giving is done with the help of one’s soul; it’s not just the paychecks!

So it’s a bad idea to suggest them…

You ‘re completely worn out

It happens with caregivers and they know how important it’s to catch up some sleep.

Everything you say becomes “what not to say” to your caregiver at times!

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