Category: parenting

How to protect your children from air pollution?

Children’s lungs are so delicate and not completely developed as elder’s. The air we breathe sometimes turn out to be dangerous and harmful to health. This may cause respiratory problems for our little ones in the family. Though we cannot completely protect our children from these, we could at least take some safety precautions in order to protect them. Here are some useful parenting tips to keep your children protected from air pollution.

Teach them to wear face mask

Due to the heavy traffic pulled out in the city, the smog takes place all around you. Especially, in areas like OMR, ECR, Anna Nagar and other few areas in the city of Chennai, families dwelling in the apartments and villas in OMR are advised to wear a face mask when heading out.

Air purifier plants (indoor plants) to breathe clean

The indoor plants or home plants not only add beauty to your home but also purifies the air inside. Thinking the air inside the home is harmless might turn out to be the wrong intuition as a parent. So, plant some indoor plants at home to purify the air you breathe. Breathing clean means healthy lungs. Hence, do consider planting home plants like Tulsi, Aloe Vera, Snake plant, Arecea Plant and so on. Do not limit yourself to these plants alone; help yourself with a variety of plants which improves the quality of the air.

Go green

Try taking your children for a walk in the morning particularly, to greener areas like parks and community gardens. Taking walks during early mornings in a green environment improves health. Teaching the kids how to breathe properly exercises good health for keeping their lungs healthy. Practice breathing exercises indoors every day to avoid respiratory issues at a very young age.

Say no to smoking

Keep your children away from people smoking on the streets. Teach your children to not play in smoking zone areas in case if you have one in your community. Most inhabitants do not know smoking takes an ideal part of indoor air pollution. Do not encourage if any member of your family smoke inside the house. This may pollute the air inside your abode and results in clutter and dust in the house. Most respiratory problems are caused due to the dust and clutter formed in the house. People, who are allergenic to dust, ensure you keep your house clean from the smoke. Keep your house clutter-free to control air pollution.

Ventilate your house properly

Keep the windows open for an aerated indoors. Though opening windows helps to ventilate the house, this does not always help you from stopping allergies due to improper temperature adaptability. Even when you shift your house from a place, ensure the house is properly ventilated. These days, houses are built with cross-ventilation facility to inflow air anytime. Good airflow inside the house controls dust formation.

Cross-ventilation plays a prominent role in this. Do you know how? When the windows of a room are opened, there is a strong flow of air from inside and outside. There is a constant circulation of air flow and regulates the air periodically. So, the air goes out and fresh air is welcomed inside constantly. This helps you a lot to control air pollution and improves the quality of the air.

Many of us parents do spank children but is it needed or not is a question that ponders many of us. Is spanking the way to instilling discipline in your child. The answer actually is might just be no for some and yes for some. But, practically speaking if done in a controlled manner, spanking could work well. Though, you have to avoid panicky behavior and be mindful of how you manage your child and get him learn to be one. Again even using it needs to be limited to need basis.

First Warn Always – Verbally warning your child is the first step before you spank your child. A warning signal can help you avoid the spanking alternative, as your child will slowly learn that if he or she would not listen then there will be consequences that follow in form of a spank.

Responsibility – Usually when kids are upto something that’s not right and do it, you ask them about why they did it but this would not be of great help as the child does not have an answer to it. Asking them about what wrong they did is like enforcing the responsibility in him or her. Then you can warn with a last chance before spanking about it.

Say if it hurts – Its not always that you get angry always due to your kids behavioral issues, it can leave you disappointed and heart. At such a time its important to convey this feeling to your kids. At times if you feel like crying on their behavior, you may do it as well because seeing tears in their eyes can make them understand their parent’s grief and work on it.

Spank responsibly – Spanking if the need be should be done within limits only or else your kids will get use to it as well and get out of your reach. You have to understand that the spanking has to be just like a sting and not more that that. You need to take care of the child’s body as well. Eventually it will be decreased once your kids learn to think abstractly. Though after spanking you can show your love to your child and ask him he he wants to repent on the same. This way you make them know that you are spanking them for a reason and only.

Unconditional Love – As important It can be to spank your child at time, it might be of same importance to provide unconditional love and even more so. So, after your round of discipline, do take your child in your arms, hug or cuddle him/her. The child will eventually understand that you love him/her loads and the spanking is only to regulate their behavior.

Here all the important items that must be in your baby hospital bag when you are going for delivery – are mentioned in detail.

Document

The very important thing is to carry all the essential documents required for the delivery. Hence, keep all the record papers, identity proof, and insurance paper.

Video recorder

The first moment of a baby is very precious that each parent wants to store in order to cherish it long. So, you should keep a camera or video recorder in your designer baby bag to click the dear memories. Before putting that into the bag, make sure the batteries are fully charged and also, bring the charger along for an uninterrupted service.

Toiletry stuffs

It is always preferable to carry your own shampoo, toothpaste, soap brush, oil or any likewise items even if everything is available in the hospital. Use travel-size containers to fill your products. Keep your own razor with a new changed blade and sanitary pads that are very important after the childbirth.

Electronic items

Don’t forget to carry your most important item i.e. mobile phone with you. Along with this, keep chargers and other related accessories too in your baby hospital bag as after the bay birth you need it to tell the big news to your relative or near dear ones. Apart from this, you can also keep MP3 or tablet or anything that keeps you relaxed.

Innerwear

A number of undergarments such as maternity, disposables, and briefs must be kept in the designer baby bag. In the absence of your own collection, you will have to use the stuff provided by hospitals.

Socks

The hospital floors are cold than normal so you must keep one or more pairs of woolen socks and slipper to protect you from any harm as precautions are very important.

Keep home clothes for mom and baby

Keep one or two pieces of take-home baby dresses before heading to the hospital. To make the newly born baby feel comfortable, prefer loose clothes for them. A cute dress with the matching hat would perfectly work and make your baby look innocent. Mothers should not forget that their after-maternity wears should be very comfortable so they can relax in that outfit after delivery. Since mothers have to tolerate multiple pains and pressure, therefore, the clothes they wear should be very cozy.

Nursing Gear

You must have maternity bras and nursing pads in your design baby bags. There are various options for nursing pads such as cotton, reusable etc.

Accessories

There are certain things which slip away from your mind while you are packing for important items. Hair clips, hairpin, creams are some of them that are required to be kept as they keep you clean and fascinating.

Pillow

There might be the shortage of pillows in the hospital so you should keep extra pillows. The v-shaped pillow greatly helps to all moms in breastfeeding to the child.

Puzzles are not just a means of fun. Puzzle games have been attributed various benefits from increasing memory and speed up learning in toddlers & children to improving their social skills. But what exactly are the benefits of puzzles and what do they mean for your child.

Their benefits may include:

1. Development of memory, recall and associated benefits
2. Development of motor skills, hand-eye coordination and visual recognition
3. Development of problem-solving ability or deductive skills and emotional development

The benefits of puzzles may not be as absolute as numerous blogs and articles imply – they certainly lack enough science and research – however, we should not dismiss them off hand since most make sense. What you need to remember is that puzzles may not be solely responsible for your child’s development, but they are tools that provide a fun and entertaining way to add to the development of these skills.

Puzzles and Memory

Benefits of puzzles may include a positive effect on memory retention and recall function. Practicing a particular puzzle game will mean that proficiency at that particular game increases – like getting better at solving crosswords with practice.

However, they will not increase your child’s memory. They will, however, make sure that your child uses these cognitive functions while trying to solve the puzzle, nothing more than other similar and engaging activities. However, puzzles should augment not replace similar activities.

Puzzles and Learning

Learning is the most logical of the benefits of puzzles. Puzzle games make your child try hard at solving various problems. Solving different kinds of puzzle games as opposed to just one game may make solving problems easier for your child. Deductive skills are acquired and thus can certainly be picked up by your child.

Puzzles and Emotions

Solving puzzle games takes patience; this does not mean that all puzzle games will improve your child’s patience. They may if they are engaging and colourful enough to attract your child’s attention and help keep them focused.

Emotional development is only possible for your child if you take part in games with them as interaction with other people is the only way for them to figure out socially acceptable boundaries.

Puzzles are available for various age groups and in various types like, jigsaw puzzles, peg/knob puzzles, mechanical puzzles and more – the list is virtually endless. Their appropriateness deals mainly with the age of the child, and they are usually suitable for both boys and girls.

They are an excellent choice as a gift for toddlers and children. They are almost always fun to solve and come in attractive packages which mean that children will almost certainly like playing with them.

Inflation is the main culprit behind the excessive increase in the prices of different products and services these days. Just imagine that with current trends, how much cost will increase after a decade or so?

With current trends, costs of services like funerals are projected to touch the sky. So, how do you think you’ll pay for your funeral or in simple words – how your companion or family friends will pay for your funeral?

With the developing issue of paying for expensive funerals with low no monetary assets, numerous individuals have started to utilise the services of prepaid burial service plans to better deal with these unavoidable costs.

Just like they sound, prepaid memorial service designs are basically instalment plans that enable a man to pay for their burial service plans, step by step after some time, before their real demise ever comes.

Undoubtedly, death is inescapable, it is additionally unpredictable. This has provided many individuals the chance to be better prepared for their final journey.

Generally, the person paying for the prepaid memorial service plan will live a long life and would pay the whole cost on their own, along these lines he or she will save their grieving family members from that duty in case of their demise, however tragically this isn’t usually always the situation.

Prepaid funerals can be an amazing plan to prepare in advance. However, now for the tricky area, not all prepaid memorial service plans are a similar. So, you need to do your research about different types of funerals available.

A large number of the organisations giving these services will keep your cash in specifically made funds in reserves. So, in order to prevent your cash getting mismanaged or stolen it will be essential for you to know how this procedure functions. If the organization will gain interest on the cash you give them, as many do, it will be beneficial for you to figure out how and for what purposes they will utilise that premium.

No matter which prepaid funerals NSW you choose, keep in mind that you should be absolutely sure to completely read the agreement or contract that they present to you. Since these are long term commitments, there might be some bits of it that you approve of during the signings, but you might disagree with them after a decade later.

There’s a strong possibility that in future you might choose your preferences, for example a decade later you might wish to get buried in the ground, in spite of the fact that your agreement is set for you to be cremated. Due to the majority of the unforeseeable changes that any of us may experience, you should ensure that you can roll out changes to your funeral service plan whenever you change your mind.

Although we require a license for doing numerous things in life, there is no requirement of a license for becoming a parent and this is sometimes the most difficult of all our daily activities. These days, parenting is far trickier than it was, even one generation before. Numerous well-intentioned parents are utilizing inefficient and outdated parenting styles. And as a result, they encounter regular stress and frustration in their house.

Exploring Top Six Good Parenting Skills In Brief

Let’s check out top 6 good parenting tips which will motivate kids to want for being well behaved, can enhance family joy and mitigate family fights.

1. Self-care is important

Giving our kids an establishment to become a healthy and happy adult is one of the best things we can do for our kids. However, you should forget to take care of yourself. Self-care must be a necessity, not a luxury for parents. To be a good parent, you require self-care so you can become a balanced and healthy human being too. There are numerous kids who live with parents who are not fun to be around and always stressed out. If you are always getting stress, it will not be a pleasant experience for you or your family.

2. Put your marriage before your children

Some kids these days are raised with a very poor sense of privilege because their parents have made them the core of the world. With the statistics of divorce still hanging around 50%, kids are also sometimes coping with failing, unhappy marriages, and divorce – quite worse for them than missing out on a pair of brand name clothes or toys. So, take your stand and put some efforts and time into your marriage-for the sake of your entire family.

3. Care for your kids

Regardless of your situation-no matter how often the kids make you literally crazy-know there are numerous people in this universe who would delightfully exchange places with you. There are some couples who are ready to offer everything for only having a kid. Try to remember how really lucky you are. So, hug your kid at least 3 times every day. Let them know regularly how fortunate you are for having the scope to be their parent.

4. Concentrate on what you prefer

In case kids are not being praised or getting attention for what they do properly and when they behave properly, you should believe they are going to learn to get attention to not behaving properly. If you observe more what you prefer regarding what they are doing, they are less likely to change into devastating small terrors and the more likely you will motivate your kid for repeating the good behaviours and accomplishments you prefer.

5. Give your family much-required quality time

This is another important parenting advice to remember. Spend time with your kids to have fun with them. Enjoying each other’s company, tickling and laughing are the establishments of a healthy and happy house. Having fun can go long ways towards stopping the unnecessary conflict and behaviours which make you crazy. It also offers your family the much-required quality time.

6. Give respect to your kid and expect it in return

Never do anything to your kid which you would not want the kid for doing to you. There are many things you don’t wish to be doing incorporate: putting downs, spitting, hitting, yelling, etc. There are some better ways to deal with stress, conflict, and common misbehaviours. Follow a good parenting guide and dedicate to learning good parenting skills which depend on mutual respect – not the fear-based punishment which just makes our children learn to not get caught again.

Verdict

These 6 aforementioned good parenting tips are fun, effective and child-proofed. Take some time to learn to bring out the best in you and your kid so you can get the ultimate mind peace – knowing that you did everything to lead a healthy and happy

Parenting is never a cake walk for anyone and once you become a parent is a 20 year project if not less. Also, the early years, 0 to 5 are the major and most significant years for a child. We are living in the times when mostly both the parents work and spending quality time with the child is a problem that every other working parent faces. Dr. Richa Ahuja, a clinical psychologist at the Max super specialty hospital says that she has observed that most of the parents are not able to spend quality or quantity time with their kids. The reason is that most of them work for long hours. Once back they are so tired, stressed and drained out that, managing the kids or their tantrums. They want to be at peace and hence are either hooked to their gadgets or television, either as a family together or alone. The idea is to keep peace at home and relax. Sometimes kids are also soft targets for parents. Parents tend to vent out their anger at office on kids at home. Many a times children wants their parent to play with them or spend time with them, but due to the stress of work caused throughout the day parents aren’t able to do so.

Watching too much of TV or exposure to electronic gadgets does affect the child’s developmental behavior in a negative way. Many parents do understand that knowingly or unknowingly they are the ones responsible for too much exposure to gadgets to their children. Many feel guilty for not able to spend time with the child and even end up buying expensive gifts for their kids.

Here are a few tips for working parents on managing your child and work responsibility together.

Communication is the Key – Communication can work very well for you and your partner when it comes to managing your child. For example rather than playing the blame game, a good idea is to take turns to do things. For example if it’s about dropping the child to school, attending PTM, to name a few. This way one of the partners does not feel loaded, particularly when both parents are working.

No Work at home please – Most of us tend to work at home also besides working at office. Avoid making this a habit. Understand that you already are compromising on your child’s well deserved time when you both are working. The idea is to make optimum use of your available time at home. Listen to your child, when the child is talking to you. You may not be aware but not listening to your child could result in low confidence or self-esteem of your child.

Spend time with family – Try spending quality time with your child as a family. Indulge in playing games, doing activities, going for a walk or hike with your family. This helps strengthen up the bond as a family. Particularly on weekends try to engage with your child and rather than showering them with gifts try to teach them to make efforts to earn them.

Have Dinner together – Let dinner time be family time every single day. Cut of yourselves from gadgets and television while on the dinner table and eat together. It’s very aptly said that the family that dines together stays together.

Above all, parents need to understand that it’s not presents that a child seeks from parents, its presence more so. Hence, workout between the both of you as parents how to share your responsibility and make the most out of the time available on hand, for your betterment of your child.

In the busy routines of the modern day, there is hardly any time left to spend with your family and bond with your little ones. Kids have to go to school and then to afterschool activities and parents have to work 9 to 5 jobs which exhaust them by the end of the day. However, winters are a time when holidays allow for an escape from the busy lives and make the quality family time possible. Here are some of the activities that you can do in this winter holidays as a family and make happy memories. There are lots of indoor and outdoor activities that you can do here. The good part is that this area is not very crowded so you can have fun time without it having to be another burden on your senses.

There are a dozen classic video games and more than 30 pinball machines in the ‘Arcave’ here which will not only keep your little ones joyous and happy but will also take you back to your childhood days. Children from the age of 9 to 99 will be able to enjoy the whimsical delights that were submitted for The National Gingerbread House Competition, on Sundays through Thursdays at The Omni Grove Park Inn. However since you won’t be able to eat those delights, there are other opportunities to treat your sugar cravings from the Pink Pig as well as the connected Marketplace.

For the little brainiacs, there is also the Asheville Museum of Science that opened in November last year and allows your little ones to channel their inner geology lovers in the Colburn Hall of Minerals as well. You will get to dig the fossils and also feast your eyes on the Teratophoneus dinosaur skeleton. The Art PLAYce is the Asheville Art Museum is another interactive family place which offers books as well as building activities and supplies for budding artists. You can create your masterpieces and take them home too.

In the outdoor activities’ corner you can visit the Cataloochee Ski Area and Wolf Ridge Ski Resort that are only minutes away from Asheville. You will have the best of downhill winter snow fun right here. Last year, the resort dedicated a new area to beginners with a magic carpet lift. For your little ones, there is also the HEAD Kids Adventure Center that offers half and full-day programs for riders and skiers for children as young as 4 years old. Both these places also have snow tuning areas for the whole family to enjoy.

For an extra dose of adrenaline, you can visit the Adventure Center of Asheville that opens on weekends. You can bike, climb and zip there all year long so add this to your list of places to visit in winters when some of your regular places are out of bounds. Kids are used to their preschool playground equipment in safe foam padding for playground surfaces, but that means that such adventure trips will be all the more fun for the little brave fellows. It will provide them a completely alternative experience and will make it fun for the whole family.

Baby shower gifts are given to close relatives, friends or even colleagues to the parents-to-be as a symbol of love, affection and blessings for the expecting mother and child. It is organized as a pregnancy celebration in which people come with baby shower gifts, which are mainly useful for either mother and baby. At the baby shower party, there is an atmosphere of entertainment, happiness and enjoyment all around.

Baby shower gift products

The range of products that can be used as baby shower gifts is endless. You can choose the items that you feel would be useful for either mother or baby or both. If you like to give simple items, then you can simply gift baby clothing. Go for zero size clothing which has soft fabric. On contrary, if you wish to give special gifts you can select from: portable monitor, activity toys, hospital bags, bath kits, baby sheets etc.

Choosing hospital bags

Hospital labour bag is one of the most useful gift for a mom to be. Such bags come with all the necessary items which could be required by mom during her stay in hospital. Pre packed maternity bags have a wide range of products including baby towels, diapers, nappies, toiletries, infant clothing, night gown for mother and much more. This one gift simply enclosed with all the necessary items. Any expecting mother will be more than happy after receiving such a useful gift. Such bags can be customized as well to meet the individual need of every customer. This makes it a go to option.

Customized baby shower gifts

There are a number of baby shower gifts that can also be personalized as this reflect extreme affection and care. Such customized gifts are always special and stand out in crowd. You can go for customized jewelry which is highly popular these days. It not only looks stunning but gives a sense of care. You can go for customized pendants, rings, bracelets, and chokers. You can get the name, sign, a number or date imprinted on the jewelry. Apart from this you can arrange a family dinner, offer to baby sit for a few days as a warm gesture.

Take the mom-to-be in confidence

Baby shower is another name of pregnancy celebrations and share blessings for the arrival of baby. So basically, it’s the day for mom to be and you should always ask whether there is anything which she wants in the celebration. This way you will be able to have an idea about her likes, dislikes and expectation. You will be able to choose a gift that will make her more than happy. This way you will also be able to avoid duplication of gifts.

Conclusion

To find the best gift you need to conduct a thorough online as well as offline research. There are many companies that offer their services online, like hospital bags and customized bracelets. You can get all that online and your product will be delivered at the doorstep making it easy and convenient for you. So research and choose wisely to make her feel special and loved!

There is nothing more heartbreaking than to lose a child. No parent wants to ever go through the pain and tragedy of having to say goodbye to a child they cannot see grow into a wonderful adult. As painful and traumatizing as it is, moving forward after the passing of a child is a must because life goes on and you may have other children to care for and look after.

It is true that every parent mourns in different ways and not all healing and moving forward tips will work, but it does help to know that there are people all over who share your grief. These are some ways to help you process the loss of a child and move forward in a healthy manner:

Allow Yourself To Feel Every Emotion

Death is complicated and can bring about a lot of different emotions all at once. It is especially hard for parents who lose a child at a very young age. There are days where you will feel extreme sadness, guilt, pain, and even anger. These are all healthy emotions that come with grieving and should not be ignored.

Cry, wallow, get mad, vent, or do what is necessary to face the grief because the only way to move forward is to accept your loss.

Talk About Your Pain

You are allowed and expected to talk about your pain and struggles as you try to accept the loss of your child. Bottling up your emotions and feelings should never be done because it is unhealthy. Some parents find it comforting to talk to others who share the same experience, while others find that speaking to a professional helps them with the healing process. As long as you are talking about your grief, you are on your way to moving forward.

Find Ways To Remember Your Child

The short but precious time you spent with your child are memories worth keeping alive. Memorial wind chimes and similar keepsakes are perfect mementos to keep around the house to honor their memory. The soft melody from the memorial wind chimes can offer a lot of comfort to a grief-stricken heart.

While these personalized memorial gifts are the perfect way to remember a lost loved one, not everyone will find comfort with these gifts right away. Others will take time to warm up to the idea of a reminder and when they are ready there are several unique keepsake trinkets that will keep the memories alive.

Talk To Your Surviving Children

If you have children who have lost their sibling it is important to also be honest and open with them. They too are grieving the loss and may ask a lot of questions. Take the necessary time to explain the situation to them with honesty and be open to their questions. Grieving as a family can be a wonderful healing journey that will bring everyone closer together.

Remember: You Are Not Alone

Taking care of yourself also means accepting that you need help and asking for it. You do not have to face everything alone because there are people who love you and will help you every step of the way.