Letting Kids Choose What They Wear

Is your child laying down the law about her clothing choices? Don't let it ruin your mornings!  Try these quick tips from Parent Magazine to get out of the house with less stress!

Provide Choices
Most 3- to 4-year-olds are wannabe dictators, grasping for control wherever they can. So whenever possible, let 'em have it.  For example, ask, "Would you rather wear your blue sweater or your red one?" Having a say will make him less likely to dig in his heels.

Allow for Taste
Do you hate wool? Can't stand too-tight tank tops? It's likely your kid will have her own likes and dislikes too. Within reason, try to be flexible about her preferences. And if she wants to wear dresses every day -- well, why not? If you're worried about her being cold, you can always layer warm leggings or a T-shirt underneath.

Take Time to Practice
By age 3, most children can handle the basics of getting dressed, such as pulling on underwear, elastic-waist pants, and a sweatshirt. (Trickier tasks, like threading a zipper or doing buttons, may come later.)  So even if it's slow going, let your kid dress herself as often as you can, especially on those weekend mornings when there's no need to rush. "The more you can give her the power to dress herself, the less of a struggle it will be," says Dr. Levine.

Make It a Race
Of course, preschoolers don't feel the same urgency to get out the door that you do in the morning. They'd rather play with Legos or watch Go, Diego, Go! than get dressed. With that in mind, turn dressing into a game. Say, "I'll close my eyes and see how long it takes you to put on your shirt and pants." Or set a timer for ten minutes and reward your kid with a sticker if he gets downstairs before the buzzer goes off. You can also give him a poker chip for each good performance and allow him to trade them in for a treat when he has five chips.

Plan Ahead
Kids this age love looking at photos of themselves. Use this to your advantage by making a step-by-step picture guide of your child's morning activities. It could show her waking up, getting dressed, brushing her teeth, and eating breakfast. Hang it in her room, where she can follow it each day.

Let Him Chill
Ah, the winter-coat struggle. Your child isn't cold inside, so why the heck would he want to put on that bulky, sweaty jacket and cover his perfectly warm-enough outfit? But he will feel different when he gets outside. Unless it's truly freezing, don't sweat the situation, says Dr. Levine. Just carry his coat and let him go out as is. "If he's chilly, he's going to ask you for it," Dr. Levine says. "Then next time, you can gently remind him of how cold he was." Chances are, your child will welcome the coat and gloves long before his fingers go numb.

Keeping Your Family Strong

Every family has strengths, and every family faces challenges.  When you are under stress-the car breaks down, you or your partner loses a job, a child's behavior is difficult, or even when the family is experiencing a positive change, such as moving into a new home-sometimes it takes a little extra help to get through the day.  Protective factors are the strengths and resources that families draw on when life gets difficult.  Building on these strengths is a proven way to keep the family strong and prevent child abuse and neglect.  These tips, provided by the the U.S. Department of Child Welfare describe some of the protective factors and some simple ways you can build these into your own family.


Protective Factor #1: Nurturing and Attachment- Our family shows how much we love each other

Strategies:

• Take a few minutes at the end of each day to connect with your children via a hug, a smile, a song or a few minutes of just listening and talking
• Find ways to engage your child while completing everyday tasks (meals, shopping, driving in the car).  Talk about what you are doing or play simple games such as "I Spy"

Protective Factor #2: Parental Resilience-I have courage during stress and the ability to bounce back during challenges

Strategies:

• Take a quiet time to re-energize: Take a bath, write, sing, laugh, drink a cup of tea
• Do some physical exercise: Walk , stretch, do yoga, lift weights
• Share your feelings with someone you trust

Protective Factor #3: Social Connections- I have family, friends and neighbors who help me out and provide emotional support
 
Strategies:

• Join a playgroup or on-line support group of parents with children of similar ages
• Find a church, temple or mosque that welcomes and supports parents
• Participate in neighborhood and community activities such as lunch in the park, outdoor concerts, street fairs, farmer's markets and potlucks

Celebrate Spring in the Kitchen

Needing a sweet treat?!? These easy and adorable desserts not only taste great, but are a fun way to celebrate the coming of spring.  Have kids help add the ingredients (be careful of the hot stove) and place the eggs in the nest.

Ingredients
2 cups milk chocolate chips
2 Tbs smooth peanut butter (optional)
1 bag chow mein noodles
Candy to use as "eggs" (jelly beans, mini eggs, etc)

 Directions
1. Using double boiler, or the microwave, melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter until smooth (stirring occassionally)

2. Add noodles and stir to coat

3. Place on wax paper in nest shapes and place "eggs" in nests

4. Allow to cool and set

Happy St. Patty's Day

Celebrate St. Patrick' Day by spending a few minutes crafting with your kiddos!  Simply cut a green pepper, dip into some washable green paint and stamp away!  Once your shamrocks dry, use marker or paint to add a stem.  Once the day is over, use the prints to make a great spring card to send to family and friends.

Strategies to Stop the Sibling Fighting

Do your kids bicker and fight over everything? Are your nerves wearing thin? Read this step-by-step approach from Parenting Magazine to help you restore order to your family, so that you can enjoy being together.

Step 1: Think About It
Most of us brought our second baby home from the hospital along with visions of our children becoming life-long friends. (Some of us even had a second child specifically so that our first would have a playmate!) When our children fight, it not only grates on our nerves, it tugs on our hearts. The most important advice I can give you is this: Calm down and relax. Keep a level head and view your kids' arguments in a realistic way. The fight over the red Lego, as intense as it may seem, will be over and forgotten by the time one of them realizes he needs a blue one. Kids fight for lots of reasons. They fight because they don't want to share, because they want parental attention, because they each have a differing view about what's fair or simply because they have to share the same space, day after day after day. The vast majority of sibling battles are not destructive to the relationship between the children. All this considered, there are ways to survive sibling fighting. And there are ways to reduce the number of fights, and the severity of them, as well.

Step 2: Take Away the Audience
It's a proven fact. Kids will fight longer, louder and with more enthusiasm when they have an audience. Usually, it's because they hope you'll step in and solve the problem. (You can sometimes tell that this is happening because your son's comments are directed at his sister, but his eyes are on you!) Therefore, it stands to reason that if you leave the room, they will have to solve the problem themselves. A large amount of verbal battles will fizzle out without a parent's interference. If you think about it, you'll really love this solution. It gives you permission to follow the essence of the advice from a particularly appealing bumper sticker I've seen, "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping".

Step 3: Identify and Solve the Problems
Try to identify if there is a pattern to the kids' fights. Do they typically fight over one thing, say the computer, or choice of TV shows? If so, make a schedule for computer or TV use. Do they always fight while you're making dinner? You could enlist their help in preparing the meal, feed them a healthy snack or have a routine activity planned during that time, such as homework or chores. Do they always fight over who sits where at the table, or in the car? Assign specific seats and rotate them monthly. Do they fight while they are getting ready for bed in the evening? Let them take turns using the bathroom, one at a time, for a specified time period. The idea here is to identify the "hot spots" between your children and create a plan to prevent the problem from continually causing arguments.

Step 4: Teach
Teach your children how to negotiate and compromise with each other. Have both children sit on a sofa at opposite ends, or on two adjacent chairs. Give them a choice. Tell them you will "arbitrate or mediate." Of course, they will ask what you mean. Let them know that "arbitrate" means you make the decision and they will live with it, "mediate" means they will make the decision, and you will help them come to the best conclusion. Over time, and with practice, they will learn how to settle arguments on their own.

Step 5: Distract
If the argument is over a trivial issue, you can often defuse the tension with humor, or distract the kids with another activity. For example, if one kid is complaining that his brother is "looking at him funny," there is no sensible reason for you to intervene. Instead, ignore it and ask who would like to help you make brownies. Or, try humor. "Oh no! I once read about a boy who made a face like that and it froze in place. They had to mash up his food so he could sip his squashed pizza through a straw. He had such a hard time eating that he lost so much weight the cat thought he was a piece of string and batted him around the kitchen."

Step 6: Praise Good Behavior
It happens. The kids are playing together nicely. "Oh, good," you think, "I'll have time to catch up on my paperwork." As tempting as it is, don't ignore your children when they are getting along well! This is the time to show up with a plate of cookies and a kind word of praise. Reward the behavior that you wish to have repeated, and you'll see more of it.

National Breakfast Week!

 

 

March 4th-8th is National Breakfast Day!  The folks at Kellogg's know how important breakfast is and want to spread the message to all of America's families.  The following is a collaboration between Kellogg's and the Institute for Healthy Kids.

What if parents could give their children a magic pill in the morning to make them healthy, smart and well-behaved? This pill would undoubtedly be flying off the shelf of the local pharmacy. While there is no such medication, there is something just as powerful: breakfast. Consumption of this morning meal is one of the most important things a child does all day. Over 30 years of credible research has proven that a healthy breakfast positively impacts brain function and energy level, which is extremely important for school-aged children.

Benefits of breakfast

The following are key reasons why breakfast should be made a priority for every child:

Breakfast equals better behavior

Children who skip breakfast are more tired, irritable, or restless by late morning. These symptoms lead to aggressive behavior that causes children to get in trouble in school. Children who regularly eat a morning meal have more energy, are less likely to exhibit aggressive behavior, and have a better attitude toward school.

Breakfast leads to higher test scores

A study published in 1998 in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine showed significantly higher math test scores after children ate breakfast. This and other research has clearly shown that children who consistently eat breakfast test higher in most academic areas.

Eating breakfast led to better class attendance

Children who eat breakfast are absent from school fewer days. They also spend less time in the nurse's office complaining of stomach pains. Ironic as it may be, children who claim they don't eat breakfast due to a lack of time in the morning are tardy more often than those who take time for a morning meal.

More nutritious intake by eating breakfast

Breakfast eaters generally meet vitamin and mineral requirements for prevention of deficiencies. They consume more fiber, vitamin C, calcium and folic acid. Unfortunately, children who miss breakfast do not make up for lost nutrients later in the day.

Eating breakfast helps weight control

Eating breakfast helps to establish a normal eating pattern. Eating regular meals and snacks is a key to maintaining a healthy weight throughout life. Increasing childhood obesity is in part attributed to the disappearance of normal eating patterns in many of today's household