build self-confidence in your children daily. remember, confident children can walk away from a bad situation more easily than those who lack confidence.
by: janet
parenting Category
Monday, June 15th, 2009
it does pay off
This post was written on April 2007, when my boy was 2.5 years old.
I started reading to my son when he was 3 months old. I noticed he had one particular story he liked… and that was Peter Pan. Everytime I read to him, he would laugh like crazy! Of course, I would read other books as well, including the Book of Psalm from the Bible… that, too he would laugh everytime I read it. I read to him, but it wasn’t regular, until he reached the stage when he didn’t wanna go to sleep until you read a story book to him. The ever present Peter Pan story has been always included during reading time.
Tonight, my husband Peter and I tried… just to see whether our son knew the flow of the story already or not coz he has heard it almost every night. We tested… Peter started reading and paused… and to our amazement, he filled out every word Peter has left out! We were so surprised! I didn’t expect it… we just wanted to see whether he knew the story line or not.
It really does pay off… to read to kids every time. Now I have to start with Samantha. I have read to her already but not on regular basis. It is really encouraging to know this new discovery. I am so proud of him (or maybe us?.. for reading to him). Hehehe.
Also, I mentioned in my previous blog that while Peter (my husband, not Pan), was in Phuket, Schenker boy and I watched the same Barney program over and over again. I almost went nuts just thinking of Barney… until one time, I led him to sing the alphabet song. I haven’t taught him this yet but it’s included in the Barney program. Again, to my surprise, he could sing the alphabet song already! Repitition does help… or watching educational programs does… whatever. These days I get too lazy to sit down and teach our boy. So i leave it all to Barney. Hehehe.
Anyways, we’re planning (again) to send him to school in July. Actually we wanted to send him to school in January already but we postponed coz we thought he was too young to be sent there. He’s not even potty trained! (But the school said it’s ok… they could train him – that would be a big relief for me then – hehehe). We’ll see.
My point here is: repetition does really help.
by: janet
Monday, June 15th, 2009
be firm
be firm when you need to leave one of your children in the nursery or with a sitter or with a playgroup. Hug them, explain that you will be back to get them, and leave. Lingering sends your child a mixed signal and will increase anxiety.
by: janet
Monday, June 15th, 2009
make your home cozy
my husband and i were talking just now about the house we’re living in now. it doesn’t loo
k as cozy as our apartment. the wall painting is white and it rather looks plain against our white couch. in our apartment, my husband painted different colors on the wall. he combined 9 different colors, which made the house really looked cozy, especially that we used yellow light fixtures. here in our house now, although we use yellow lamps and lights, the house still looks plain. i mean, it looks cozy in a certain degree, just not as cozy as our apartment. we don’t want to invest and change the wall painting because we only have 1.5 more years to live here. we thought it’s not a good idea to do that. sometimes, home lighting does make a difference, even with white colored-walls, but it’s best to combine the color of the lights and the color of the wall. it doesn’t matter if we have white light for our ceiling light fixtures because sometimes, i just need a bright light whenever i need to do something. i am not an interior designer, but somehow, i know what effect the colors of the house do. right color will definitely set a right mood. anyway, if you’re looking for a good lighting fixtures, just visit www.farreys.com. you will find an array of lightings which suit your needs.
by: janet
Monday, June 15th, 2009
mini vacations
can’t afford a big family vacation? take mini vacations close to home. day trips can provide a great deal of fun and a much-needed break. next week will be my son’s school vacation. we’re not going far for a holiday but we’re planning on going for a day trip to some of the nice places in malaysia.
by: janet
Sunday, June 14th, 2009
how to choose the right shoes for your child
W
hen I got pregnant with my first child and when we knew it was going to be a bot, my husband got very excited. In fact, he’s very excited that he wanted to buy a pair of shoes for the baby already. I laughed at him because it was the first thing he wanted to buy for the boy. Shoes. Now that we have a girl, I am the one getting excited in buying her pairs of shoes. How do we actually choose the right shoes for our children? I have gathered some tips:
- look for shoes that will give you different sizes to compare. oshkosh shoes usually have a measurement at the back of the shoes, i.e.: too big, just nice and too small with lines on it. i like oshkosh products. they’re not that super expensive but good quality.
- shop later in the day or late afternoons where feet usually swell this time.
- don’t buy shoes that are too big or too small. one size bigger is just nice.
- i remember my boy’s pediatrician recommended on investing a good pair of shoes. it helps a lot with their walking development. she actually highly recommended mothercare shoes, especially for those that are still learning to walk.
- look for shoes that have a good grip.
- best of all, buy shoes that are comfortable to use.
- if you can’t go to the shop and buy shoes, try looking online. Shopwiki.com has all sorts of shoes in different sizes and good brands.
by: janet
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
creative play
Children will entertain themselves with whatever is available for play. Encourage these early espressions of ingenuity and creativity. Once, I remember, I felt overwhelmed with our room filled with the kids’ toys. So I cleaned up the room and put all the toys outside. The moment kids come into the room, they’d start looking for some things to play with! Since there wasn’t any toys available, they looked for some thing else to play with. Our things! Just about anything they could find… clothes, pillows, blankets, etc! I put the toys back there.
by: janet
Friday, June 12th, 2009
nip a bud
when bringing a new baby home, prepare small gifts for the sibling/s. presents will be flowing freely for the new addition, and this will keep others from being left out. i tried this for my so when my newborn daughter came. i knew then that he felt so loved and cared for even we had a new baby at home.
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
how to encourage children’s creativity
encourage creativity by exposing your children to music, dance, the arts, and other activities that help themto develop their imaginations. specific activities include:
- playgroup – the best exposure for toddlers/kids is by joining playgroups
- piano or music lessons – can start a 4-year old child for music lessons with a group. this may be a bit expensive but it’s worth the investment because music enhances logic.
- art class
- dance class
- sunday school class – exposes children to other kids, listens to stories which triggers imagination and get to know God above all else.
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Importance of Family Activities
As a family, it is important to go for a break or getaway from time to time. It fosters bonding between members of the family. Fathers could be busy because of the nature of their jobs and gets few or no time alone for the family. Mothers could get very busy keeping the household together and yet not enough time to spend with kids and husbands. Children could get very busy playing or studying or by being with peers they spent less and less time with the parents. The very obvious solution is for each member of the family to pause in whatever they’re doing and go for a vacation just with family alone. How do we set family time and how often?
- once a day – set aside one hour a day to talk. It could be around the table for a meal. Talk about the experiences you have had for that day.
- once a week – set aside one day a week to be with the family. Usually, Sunday is the best time to do so. You may go to church for worship or go to a park, or go to a cinema. The possibilities are endless. We just started going to the cinema as a family. My boy is already almost 4 years old and my girl is almost 2 years old. Glad both of them did very well inside the cinema. We watched Wall-E. The first ever movie we watched in the cinema as a family
- once a month – stay overnight somewhere else.
- once a year – go for a 3-5 day vacation. There are a lot of holiday destinations available and you can check them online. Cheaperthanhotels.com offers a last minute accommodation deals for the family. The offers could come with free breakfast, free usage of facilities or even free access to the internet. They have hotels all over Europe.
One of the best memories we have as a family is when we go for a break. We could do things together without interruptions. We could discover new things together. And the best of all, we could create a more special bond as a family.
by: janet