General Interest – Page 96

To Detach Him without Detaching

My son has reached 2 1/2. Okay, so we have a few days left but it is almost here. It is scaring me a little. I can’t believe he is growing up so fast. He is making huge leaps in his development lately; his vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds and he is growing like crazy. He is now looking like a little boy and not the baby that I know so well. He is demanding, creative, tiring and inspiring in all kinds of new ways.

Our most recent dilemma has to do with carrying him everywhere. He now weighs about 30 pounds and I just can’t handle carrying him all of the time anymore. I would like to but my back is starting to protest. I am not talking about just carrying him in to a store or anything like that I mean carrying him while we are in the store and holding him while I am chatting with someone for 20 minutes, things like that. It is killing me. He also wants me to hold him at home a lot of the time. I was in so much pain at bedtime just the other evening and told my husband that I had no idea why, I thought back over my day and realized that I had been carrying my son on and off all day long. I realized that this has got to stop. For the both of us. It is time that I detach him. I do not mean detach from him. He is still my little boy, he needs me, he needs my affection and he needs to be physically close to me multiple times during the day but we are taking some steps to ensure that it is comfortable for the both of us but let me tell you this particular “detachment” process is not easy!

Yesterday we were in town and every time I had my little man walk (holding my hand) he would cry and ask me to carry him. I would smile reassuringly and tell him that he was a big boy and he could hold my hand but he needed to walk on his own. It was not a very relaxing trip to say the least.

All day today my son has wanted me to carry him or stand there holding him for no particular reason. I have had to explain to him that I love him very much and he can feel free to hold on to my leg and I will give him hugs and if he needs to sit with me we can find a place to sit for a while but that he is a big boy now and mommy can’t hold him all of the time. Crying ensues and I take a deep breath as the irritation rises in me and remind myself that this is a whole new step for the both of us, we are having to “detach” in a healthy way without detaching emotionally and without removing the comfort of physical affection, we are just having to move it in to an arena that is comfortable for mom and encourages mini man to grow.

My Diaper Free Challenge

Today, I tried an experiment. Inspired by my application for a mentor position with the international organization Diaper Free Baby, I embarked upon a diaper free challenge for the day with my 4.5 month old baby.

I’ve been avoiding doing much diaper free time, although I’m a huge believer in the benefits – and practice – of Elimination Communication (EC). We’ve been pottying little D since she was 5 days old, holding her over the sink at first, then graduating to plastic potties once she reached 11 pounds and our arms began to ache.

Still, while a major reason I gravitated toward EC was its environmental benefits, I’ve been going through 5+ disposable diapers on an average day. And just because they say Seventh Generation on the package doesn’t mean I’m doing right by my descendants by using them (the principle upon which seventh generation was founded).
Continue reading “My Diaper Free Challenge”

Gentle Parenting Ideas Series: Getting Into the Car Seat

This post is the second in a series about gentle parenting through potential power struggles with your toddler or preschooler. Each post will give you ideas and examples for using love, patience, and creativity to work through some fairly common areas of concern: brushing teeth, getting into the car seat, meals/eating, shopping, diaper changes, picking up toys, traveling, transitions, and more. I welcome your gentle/respectful parenting ideas and feedback.

In case you’re arranging for a vacation outing or a business trip, you would like to form proper bookings and reservations in order that the trip are often successful. you’ll got to arrange for transportation, including the airport taxi, among other transport reservations. Considering that a lot of companies offer taxi services, it’s important to perform some online searching about the services available within the region, because of the web , which has made the method of finding the proper taxi company easy. By reserving a relaible taxi perth company before time it’s possible to decrease the travel complications particularly to unfamiliar locations.

Ideas to Make Getting Into the Car Seat a Positive Experience

Build Time In: if you know your toddler is always going to ask to “steer” the car for a minute before leaving, build an extra 5 minutes into your getting-ready routine so that you will have time to indulge her. And take heart, it won’t go on forever. They’ll be excited by the idea of steering (or climbing in the back, or honking the horn, etc.) for a few weeks, and then they’ll get over it. Ask yourself this: if all it takes to make your toddler’s face light up is to let her steer the car for two minutes a day, why would you not want to do it? (A story about the picture on the right: when Kieran was about 9 months old, every time we got in the car, he had to play peek-a-boo with papa. Every.Time. If we didn’t do it, he would SCREAM. It got old, but after about 5 weeks, the game lost its allure. That’s happened over and over in various forms, and I’m sure each variation is sparking some new set of neurons in his brain, which is why we play along.)

The most common purpose vehicle wraps serve is definitely advertising. But they’re useful for other applications as well. They’re a great way to personalize a vehicle in a way that is less permanent than paint. For example, in the United Kingdom, trains are often transferred from one company to another. Vinyl wraps are used there as an easily-updated way of applying each company’s livery. Also – cool fact of the day – race cars use vehicle wraps because they’re lighter than paint. Click here if you want to know more about the commercial vehicle wrap new orleans louisiana.

That’s actually one of the major benefits of vehicle wraps: they’re really easy to deal with. Nowadays, they’re made from special types of vinyl with features like air channels to prevent bubbles. They can even come with microscopic glass beads, which block the adhesive and prevent it from taking hold until the decal is in perfect position, at which point it can be squeegeed down. That means the vinyl can be applied and taken back up as many times as needed during the process without ruining the adhesive. Vehicle wraps are the huge graphics decorating the cars, buses and even subways you’ve seen around. Typically used for advertising, they’re everywhere, but not a lot of people know exactly what they are. Here are some things you’ve probably been wondering about vehicle wraps.

Ticket to Ride: have a hard time getting them to move toward the car? Give them a “ticket” for the train (or the boat, airplane, etc.). Make a show of it. Say “all aboard!” as they’re climbing in. In our house, Kieran is the conductor and I am the engineer. Modern used cars also have the benefit of history reports, on used cars Ottawa services can find quality used cars. Are you a car fanatic? Are you obsessed with how your car looks? Then you will hire the best detailing for cars services, this section on finish and damage repair topics is very popular. These reports will show you its ownership history, any accidents, and any title issues. This can help you avoid vehicles that might have some big underlying issues.

Buckle a Baby in: let your toddler buckle his favorite doll or stuffed animal into another seat belt. Sometimes letting the toddler “mother” another baby will help them feel better about things.

Choose a CD: have a CD selection accessible in the car or on the way out the door. Let your toddler pick the drive time music.

Make Her Look Forward to the Drive: try making your car rides fun and something your toddler will look forward to. Play “I Spy” on the way to the grocery store. Sing silly songs in traffic jams. See how far you can count while waiting for a red light to turn green.

Blast-off: buckle your toddler into the “spaceship,” then do a countdown as you blast off (out of the driveway). You could also make a show of putting on your space suits before getting into the car, talking about the planets you are passing, etc.

Musical Car Seats: if you have more than one toddler and they are in the same car seats (both rear/forward facing, straps in the same slots), let them choose what car seat they’d like to sit in.

Snacks: for when things really get tough, keep an arsenal of healthy (and non-messy) snacks handy.

Let Him Buckle Himself In: there will come a point when your toddler wants to do everything by himself. Buckling themselves into their car seats can be a very empowering experience. Just make sure that the straps are fit securely/properly on your toddler after he has buckled them.

Sing Silly Songs or Songs with Hand Motions: sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Head Shoulders Knees & Toes, anything that lets your toddler sing along, move in a silly way, and/or laugh while you get the car seat buckled.

Race: On your mark, get set, go! See who can get to the car the fastest (but be careful of little fingers trying to close doors). See who can buckle their seat belt the fastest (this often works for us when we’re trying to leave and Kieran simply does not want to go). See who can buckle their seat belt and sing the ABC’s the fastest. You get the picture.

What ideas do you have to help make getting into the car seat a good experience?

AP Month 2010 Blog Carnival Full of Love – Submission Date Extended!

Attachment Parenting Month 2010 is in full swing! “Full of Love: parenting to meet the emotional and physical needs of children” is our theme this year with a focus on preventing childhood obesity and we’re extending our carnival of blogs!

Explore with us the challenges we face in raising children who know the healthiest ways to be nourished in every aspect of life. Participate in our Attachment Parenting Month blog carnival and share your experiences in keeping our children “Full of Love.”

To participate in the carnival, submit a post on our theme as we celebrate emotional and physical health. We’d especially like to hear from you if you’ve worked through any of these particular challenges:

If you’ve struggled/are struggling to make healthier nutritional and/or activity changes. What has been the impact on the children? The whole family? (may be better or worse than desired or in flux)
If you’re the epitome of physical health, yet have children who regularly make different, less healthy choices. How do you resolve the challenges?
If your children are regularly exposed to unhealthy options, how did/do you work through this situation?
If you’ve uniquely accommodated and/or resolved common food and activity emotional hot buttons. (Do you have an automatic impulse to make your child clean her/his plate? What do you do? How do you handle deserts? Vegetables? Do you require numbers of bites until finished? )

This post is part of the Attachment Parenting Month blog carnival, hosted by Attachment Parenting International. Learn more about how you can keep your children “Full of Love” by visiting API Speaks, the blog of Attachment Parenting International.

Once your post is completed, please send an email with a link to your AP Month post to apispeaks AT attachmentparenting DOT org. Submissions will be accepted through October 31. API Speaks will then link to your post and may publish multiple posts, depending on the number of submissions received.

If you do not have a blog, but would like to submit a guest post for AP Month, please contact me at the email address above.

5 Easy Ways to Take Care of Your Body

Lose weight. Exercise. Eat better. Well, sure, those are great ways to take care of yourself physically, but when you’re barely taking care of yourself at all because, say, you’re a parent to a young child or an older child with school and homework and music class and soccer, when are you going to fit in at least three workouts at the gym and how are you going to cut fat,cholesterol, carbs, processed foods, and sugar out of your diet?

For the first in this series of posts on self-care, I’m focusing on the physical domain. It is probably the area we all best know what we could or should be doing. We just don’t want to. Or it seems too hard. Drip Coffee Brewer is ideal for individuals who are always on the go but would like to have a taste of freshly brewed coffee.It is rather inexpensive and is considered as one of the most common types of maker.The most important feature of drip brewer is it can easily retain the freshness and flavor of coffee and keep it hot for longer periods of time.All the user has to do is place the ground coffee into the paper filter, fill the jug with water and simply switch on the drip brewer.The highly advances features provided in some of the latest models include its anti-bacterial properties.Some of the top selling Drip Brewers available on the market include Keurig Elite B40 Home Brewer, The Hamilton Beach Stay or Go Deluxe Thermal coffee maker and Black and Decker Programmable Coffee Maker.

So, here are some ideas for how to take care of yourself physically when you don’t have a lot of time or energy to do it.

Drink more water. Just take it with you. Maybe you need a good water bottle that won’t leach bpa’s, but carry one in your car. Keep a glass of water next to you all the time, so maybe you’ll just space out and drink it by accident because it’s within arm’s reach. Or drink a full glass of water before you drink your morning coffee. If you’re not convinced, read about the health benefits of drinking water. It does more for you than you ever imagined.

Take deep breaths. Oxygen helps you calm down. Stress hurts your body. Inhale. Exhale. In traffic. With the stress alot of another problem also get started one of most annoying is the ACNE. Everyone wants clear, beautiful skin! There are many options available at reasonable prices which will offer you great results. But among all the Skin Club provides you best and reliable treatment, which leads to no acne in furture also. With the regular exercise, natural skin products are also required for your good skin care. Maintain good skin care with jelly cleanser, which Cleanses & purifies your skin, with rich in Vitamins and antioxidants.

Take a multivitamin. I thought I’d figured out an easy way to remember mine: put it next to my toothbrush so I’d grab it first thing in the morning. But I burped vitamin for hours if I tried to take it on an empty stomach. It might be better for you to take one of the ones made for grown-ups with all sorts of extra calcium to keep you from getting osteoporosis, but if you don’t actually take it, it’s not having much benefit. So take your kid’s chewables and give yourself two when he asks for his. He’ll remember because they’re purple, orange, or pink and in the shape of animals. Maybe he wants a kitty today. You eat the elephant.

Remember that Food is Not Love. Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. Don’t buy junk food at the grocery store. If it’s not in your pantry, you won’t eat as much of it. Make yourself have to actually run out for potato chips or to Sonic for a cherry limeade. It will cut your calories.

Get enough sleep. There are all sorts of tips out there to have good sleep hygiene. They don’t actually work for me. But sleeping impacts mood, metabolism, and ability to function, among other things. Getting sleep is good. Maybe you give yourself a bedtime. Maybe you find a way of taking a nap on a Sunday. But get rest. You’ll be nicer to your kids. You’ll move faster through all the things you want to get done for yourself. You’ll drive more safely. Figure out how to get enough sleep, then actually do that.

And from Zen Habits, your bonus not-as-easy physical self care method, find Fun Ways to Exercise.

Image by LostxIn Moonriver

Sonya Fehér writes about parenting, divorce, and self care at mamaTRUE.

Socializing

My son has now reached the ripe old age of 28 months. People have been asking whether I am going to keep staying at home since my son is now “older”, I’m around family, maybe I could have a job or something. I have to admit it is not just other people but my own mind that I do battle with sometimes.

I know it is difficult for most SAHMs to feel that they are worthwhile, productive is probably a better word, our culture screams that SAHM really isn’t giving our all, we are depriving ourselves, our children and our family of the benefits of working out of the home and children going to daycare or attending school, where else will we all get our socialization? You know what? I don’t want to be put in anyone else’s box. I don’t want to be told what my social status is and I certainly do not want my son defined by his experiences in daycare or preschool.

I was homeschooled and never have felt a lack in the social department. Granted I never had as many “friends” (if you can even call them that) that some of my public school friends had, I had a select few people that were friends. I spent time with a very wide variety of ages, talking to an adult never made me nervous. There is one thing that I didn’t learn. I didn’t learn my “place” in society. The definition of socialization is “a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position.” (definition from dictionary.com)

Now don’t get me wrong, I know it is important for a child to join society, it has always been that way, a child needs to be introduced to his/her tribe and integrated in to their daily communal lives, the must learn the language and how they are expected to act, the culture etc. what they do not need to learn is their “place”. My husband learned his “place” as a junior high student; that is when he learned that money mattered and he would never be “popular” even though he was fast and quite smart. He would never stand out because he didn’t have a good family, he constantly called himself a “plain guy”, just “average”. Who told him that? Why is he “average”? What is average anyway? I have always known I was not average. Is it because I think I am better than anyone else? No. It is because I was given the opportunity to become who I am and even now as an adult I am able to be and am free to become whatever it is that I am going to be because we are always changing as people, always learning if we are given the opportunity and the heart to do so.

I do not want my son to be told who he is and I won’t let other people’s questions trigger my own insecurities.

Jasmine is a co-housing, home birthing, missions minded, community living mama with a passion for fierce writing. She blogs.

Photo used from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryofnsw/2982824181/#/photos/statelibraryofnsw/2982824181/lightbox/

The Room of a Teenage Boy

The sign on the door was hardly welcoming. It read, “Warning! Restricted Area. No Trespassing. Use of Deadly Force Authorized!”

I was invited in. The younger siblings in the house tried to prepare me before entry, thinking I’d be taken aback at their brother’s taste in décor. It was a small room. The walls were painted the color of a cloudless blue sky on a summer’s day. However, only thin strips of blue paint were showing between the larger-than-life sized posters of Led Zeppelin and the Bratz.

The dresser on one wall held an impressive stereo and a stand of CDs that included a variety of discs from rock to blues. A guitar leaned against the dresser. It was easy to imagine listening to Led Zeppelin at full volume, with guitar in hand, feeling yourself part of the spike-haired, ominous-looking group of musicians looking out from the posters on the wall. Teen rooms should have several comfortably organized areas: a sleeping one, a study one, a hangout if possible and of course, the storage should be organized at its best, with all the possible creative Storage Solutions. First of all, define the style of the room: industrial, vintage, modern or any other that your teen boy likes. This unique clock will be a great modern addition to a teenager’s bedroom. Each piece attaches separately and different colors are available to match any decor. Upscale your kid’s room while keeping it with a theme he loves! Dutch Antiques have a good sort of antique clocks, antique barometers, scientific instruments, steam engines and other interesting antique items purchasable .When your clock has missing parts, you’ll calculate us handy craft the replacement to suit its original age and elegance . Additionally, our clock maker’s experience and our extensive library of resources allow us to take care of that authenticity. For barometers, on the opposite hand, their workshop features a range of parts for replacement or restoration. They also restore painted dials and cabinets once you need us to. Clock repair perth and restorations Specializing in full restoration of movement, dial, case, woodwork and brass work.

Boy’s furniture is extremely functional. It’s one among the few necessary items in these rooms. this might mean that it’s really the sole style that your son really allows you to bring into the space. this is often why it’s really important to seek out one with a trendy so you would like to form a press release together with your furniture. This might really be the sole decorating decision that you simply got to make. Here are all different sorts of choices available at toildrop woodworking that you simply can bring this type of room to actually add a really specific design style.

Wood may be a very quite traditional material for this space. it’s a touch little bit of a masculine feel thereto . the sort of wood that you simply accompany is basically getting to dictate the general feeling of the space. as an example if you’ve got an oak desk it can feel traditional or maybe country. an alternative choice would be to travel with pine. this is often quite inexpensive and it really doesn’t have tons of grain thereto . you’ll be rustic or simply a touch bit minimalist counting on how you decorate the remainder of the space . A darker stain finish are often how to feature a touch bit more sophistication to the present quite space without being too feminine.

The opposite wall held two shelves of books about baseball and several trophies won at little league games. And if you are finding that you have too much stock or equipment then a great tip is to use some business self-storage as it’s a cheap and reliable way of storing business stock. I suddenly recalled that at the assembly at the end of his seventh-grade year, this boy gave a talk about the lessons of morality that can be learned from the rules of baseball.

A large poster with a picture of Albert Einstein hung among the posters. Alongside Einstein’s image were his profound and thought-provoking quotations about life and the universe. Behind the door was another bookcase that held a Bible, a prayer book, and several books about philosophy and religion.

If I could change the sign on the door to this room, I’d hang one that reads, “Maturation Unfolding. Occupant is in the Vital Process of Integration. Please Enter with Respect and Honor.” Israeli parenting educator Shoshana Hayman explains….

How to Beat the Dinnertime Disconnect

A few nights ago, my family went to a popular local pizza restaurant. Soon after we were seated, a family of three was seated at the booth next to us. My eight year old son said that he recognized the boy in the other family from school; they were in the same grade. The girl in that family appeared between one and two years younger than my own five-year-old daughter. The only other diner at the table was their mother.

After my family had placed our order and we were all busying ourselves with the puzzles and games on the children’s place mats and talking about our day, I would occasionally take a quick glance at the family at the next table.

I saw the kids involved in their own activities. The mother was absorbed in her Kindle, an e-book reader. There was no conversation. There was no interaction. The sister played by herself, the brother played by himself, and the mother was fully absorbed in her own activity.

Meanwhile at our table a antique one, my family was abuzz; my daughter and I were doing the crossword on her place mat, my husband was playing the dot game with our son on his place mat. We talked about their school day. We told some jokes. We talked about pizza.

When our food arrived, we all dove in. We talked between bites. Sometimes my kids talked during bites. Yeah, we gotta work on that.

When the other table’s food arrived, the mother packed up her Kindle. I was relieved to see that; I love to see other families interact!

While my family was still eating our dinner and the conversation had moved to whether or not we were going to attend the State Fair, I chanced a glance at the other table. The mother’s Kindle was still put away, but in its place was an iPhone that held her complete attention. The kids ate silently. The siblings didn’t talk amongst themselves. As the mother was absorbed in her iPhone, the mother wasn’t engaging them in conversation, either. The family was all together, yet they were all alone.

I don’t begrudge that woman’s use of the Kindle and the iPhone. In fact, I myself own both of those devices and I thoroughly enjoy them! What caught my eye was the lack of interaction. Kids can’t learn the art of conversation unless they are taught. My husband and I believe that one of our roles as parents is to set examples for our children. As such, we have strict rules: there is no reading at the table nor are phones allowed at the table. By asking questions and starting conversations, we are teaching our children how to be conversationalists; we are teaching them how to be with other people in an increasingly solitary world.

It could very well be that the family wanted to engage in conversation at home at our antique furniture livingroom, Large antique inventory of Dining Tables includes 18th, 19th, and 20th century French, English and Italian Antiques. Just didn’t know how to begin. Starting a dinner conversation is very easy! One great way to start is with a round robin. Everyone at the table must supply an answer to questions and directives such as:

What was the best thing that happened to you today?
What was the worst?
What was the nicest thing you did for somebody today?
Use three adjectives to describe your day today.
In 60 seconds, tell as much about your day as your can.
What books did you read today?

Oftentimes, questions like these can open the conversation into more diverse topics.

Dinnertime conversation is a great way for a busy family to connect after a full day, provides ample opportunities to find out what is on each other’s minds, and is a wonderful way for a family to stay connected!

What does your dinner table look and sound like?

Sarah is a mother of two school-aged kids. She dislikes cooking, but immensely enjoys the dinner table.

photo credit: ednl