Enriching Your Child's Conscience

Children are living with curiosity. They learn lots of things in life, gifted naturally with intuition, and open toward everything they find. Everything seems to be interesting to them. That’s why they want to know about many things. It’s indeed a sign of good development.

Parents need to help children develop their conscience, which will be a great means of getting spiritual experiences. Through these, they’ll learn about self-esteem and moral values. Of course parents want children have and familiar with good values in life. As parents, what can you do then? Here are 5 ways you can do to enrich their conscience:

• Give good examples. What you say and do everyday reflect what you think about the world. If you say good stuff, your children will do the same. Children are great imitators. It’s important for you to say and do nice things anytime anywhere.
• Listen when they talk. Sometimes your children ask questions that sound silly to adults, like “Mom, where does the sun sleep when the night comes?” Listen to them and answer seriously, “The sun doesn't sleep. It shines in other places in the world.” By listening, children will feel that they get respect from their parents.
• Show happiness. Show and share all the happiness and positive energy and thoughts with the children. If you’re happy, they’re happy too. By doing this, the children will learn that life is enjoyable.
• Introduce them to nature. Tell them that all things happen in the world are connected to each other and that there’s a reason for it. For example, water is needed to irrigate plants and plants are food source for other living creatures.
• Be flexible with your rules. Children should be informed about what they should do. However, always take notice on their development. There will be time when they can decide what they want to do. By being flexible with your rules, children will stay cheerful and expressive.

Those 5 tips are actually easy to carry out. Just place yourself as your children’s parents and friends as well.
Again, remember that children are good imitators. Once you do or say something bad, there’s a great chance that they will do or say the same.

Cooking With Your Kids Helps Develop Motor Skills for Preschoolers

Did you know that cooking with your kids is a natural way for them to develop motor skills? If you've never looked at cooking that way before, think again. There's a reason why kids have a universal love for cooking - just like for stacking blocks and banging!

Cooking is especially good for preschoolers and here's how:

1.  Two year olds are developing large muscles in their arms:  They will enjoy stirring and stirring and stirring :-).  My two year old is always asking to stir; and her subconscious knows why! At 2 years old, a child naturally imitates circular strokes as part of their normal physical development. So, let them stir at every opportunity.

Here are some ways to encourage arm muscle development through cooking:

• stirring: flour, eggs, pancake batter, gelatin making, etc. 
• scrubbing potatoes and vegetables 
• cleaning the cutting board:  Give them a washcloth and some lukewarm water with the cutting board in the sink. They'll have a blast rubbing the wet washcloth up and down the cutting board to clean it. 
• pouring from large measuring cups into a bowl 

2.  Two year olds are developing the ability to turn pages:  Another motor skill developed during the preschool age is the ability to turn pages. So - just pondering here...is it the story they love so much or just turning the pages of the book? Well, actually both. They need the motor development of turning the pages; and the pictures and vocabulary improve their intellectual development.

3.  Two year olds love "patting" and "pressing":  From being fascinated with "patty-cake" chants at an early age, preschooler's still love to pat and press. I'm sure you'll recognize your preschooler doing this at the park:  scooping up rocks or sand, piling them up, and patting the top into different shapes.

Well, here's some suggestions to bring the "patting" inside:

• packing down brown sugar in the measuring cup 
• gently pressing a fork on top of peanut butter cookie dough on the cookie sheet 
• patting to level off the top of a cup of sugar 
• patting and pressing on pizza dough 
• pressing down with a cookie cutter on rolled sugar cookie dough 

4.  Two year olds love to dip - and this develops arm muscles skills too!:  it takes a lot of coordination to dip! Getting the food in the dip, then moving the arm and somehow getting it into your mouth.  If it wasn't difficult, they wouldn't get food all over their face! :-)

So, unless your 2 year old always has a clean face when he or she is done eating, here's some dipping opportunities:

• carrots in salad dressing 
• french fries in catsup 
• dipping a spoon in the emptied batter bowl to clean out the goodies :-) 
• dipping fruit in a fruit dip or chocolate (like frozen bananas or strawberries) 
• dipping chicken or fish in a batter for you to cook 
• dipping the bread in French toast mix 

So, instead of "shooing" your preschoolers and 2 year olds out of the kitchen, let them dive in with these simple tasks that not only give them great pleasure, but help them develop their age appropriate motor skills.

article by Laura Bankston

Nap Time Cues & Solving Bedtime Fights

This advice actually saved us a lot of headaches when our daughter was younger. In fact, following just this piece of advice got her sleeping two hours each morning and afternoon, plus twelve full hours every night at just five months old. Now almost four, she has no trouble saying that she's tired and needs a nap. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, there are three very common mistakes parents make:

1. They assume more naps will make it harder for the child to fall asleep at night. This is flat out, 100% UNTRUE. In fact, most bedtime fights occur because the child is overtired. Even when they do manage to fall asleep, they can't get that deep restful sleep they need. Think about it: when you're overtired, how often do you crash hard, only to find yourself wide awake at 2 a.m.? It's no different for the little ones.

2. They assume that babies need to be fed every two hours, regardless of any other schedules. This is also generally untrue. Granted, for very new babies this is a precaution that should be taken into consideration, and breastfeeding moms will need some relief as well. But our family doctor made a very good point: if a baby is sound asleep, it means they're not being woken up by nagging hunger...so stop waking them up to feed them! With my own daughter, once she learned that she wasn't going to be fed every couple of hours she opted to just stay asleep and eat a bigger breakfast.

Remember, this was when she was just five months old. It took only three days to train her this way, and to this day she sleeps well right through the night.

3. They assume a later bedtime will create a later wake-up time. This is also completely untrue. Children are creatures of nature and instinct, and they will tend to wake up at the same time every morning. Yet surprisingly, parents extend their kids' bedtimes as late as possible to try and get them to sleep in a little later. What this does is it actually forces the kid to become overtired, resulting in more and more bedtime arguments and restless sleep. The kid gets up throughout the night, and they still wake up early. It becomes a cycle. The way out of this is to go for an earlier bedtime, and be consistent with it. That consistency will pay off.

Oh, and admit to yourself that 6 a.m. actually isn't a terrible time to get up. You can go to sleep before midnight too, you know.

A new baby needs a lot of sleep and when they’re not sleeping, they can be hungry or need a diaper change. It’s a little hard to know in the beginning what’s making your baby cry or if they're tired. But as you both begin to settle into your routines, you’ll begin to notice the cues that your baby needs to nap. You want to make sure they get in good naps during the day and at appropriate times so that you won’t have as much trouble getting them to sleep at night.

Even a very small baby will rub their eyes when they get tired. They'll yawn; perhaps get fussy. As children get a little older, their activity levels may pick up as they get tired and try to avoid sleep.

Try to keep to regular nap times during the day. If you’re baby is napping 3 times a day, then a mid-morning, early afternoon and late-afternoon nap is appropriate for a baby with a 7:30 or 8 PM bedtime.

Often babies get tired towards dinner time, and then parents are faced with a dilemma. Do you let the baby sleep and risk not getting to sleep at bedtime? Or you do you try to keep them awake through dinner and perhaps put them to bed a little bit earlier?

Most parents will opt for trying to keep the baby awake a little longer in favour of keeping to a regular bedtime. But if it's been a busy day for the little one, let them have a very short nap and then wake them up gently for dinner or a feeding and some light play before putting them to bed for the night.

Remember to make rituals for naps as well as bed time so your baby gets used to sleeping at regular times.

101 Uses for Dirty Diapers

As the father of a toddler, I am an expert on dirty diapers. I know exactly what to do with them: throw them out!

But along comes a New York waste company and a town in California who want me to do something else with my dirty diapers. Like cover my roof with them. Or walk on them. Or build a doghouse with them, perhaps.

Does this sound nuts? Well, it's not. In fact, this project won the world's top happiness award: the 2003 Happy Guy Award (www.The HappyGuy.com).

If you have never had children, you may not realize how much a little child can dispose of.  In olden days, a couple would have a dozen kids, give or take a few. In these modern times of disposable diapers that just is not possible – the diapers from the first child take up more place on this planet than several dozen siblings would.

So along comes the town of Santa Clarita and Knowaste Inc. proposing to recycle dirty diapers. They've figured out how to extract the plastics from the diapers in a way that actually reclaims over 90% of the source material. Sure, you think, just mix them all together, throw in a bit of water, steam them clean and slap them back on baby. Ironically, the only product that does not seem to be on the list of end uses is diapers. Roofing shingles, sure. Shoe insoles, yes. But not diapers. As I pondered how the world might look if the massive force of dirty diapers was unleashed, it became clear that there could be several big markets. Imagine the pitches...

From Milan and Paris:  "Next we have Oo-La-La Picotte strutting her stuff in a lovely ensemble of pure recycled diapers.  Notice the fashionable fuchsia on the upper tilt of the collar. This line will be all the rage in parlors and bars this spring."

From Detroit and Tokyo:  "Feel the energy and invigoration. That's the power of 100% pure recycled diapers under the hood.  Go ahead.  Kick the tires.  Pick your color.  And drive away safe in the knowledge that you are being protected by 2000 pound of pure recycled baby poop!"

From Los Angeles: "It's a smash hit. Dirty Diapers II: The Recycled Story opened in theatres across the country yesterday and immediately claimed the number one spot. What a movie!"

From New York and Toronto: "This just in.  Citizens are being asked NOT to hoard dirty diapers. I repeat, do NOT hoard dirty diapers. The shortage has already slowed the economy by three percent and housing starts have ground to a halt. Please take all your dirty diapers immediately to a drop-off depot.  This has been a public service announcement."

So what will YOU be doing with your dirty diapers?

5 Steps to a Balanced Monday Morning

It’s Monday morning (again).  You glance at the kitchen clock and gulp down a cup of coffee while attempting to put on your clothes at the same time and realize that you only have 5 minutes to get your 5 year old dressed and ready for school, not to mention you still need to pack her lunch.  Not soon enough do you remember that you were warned the previous Thursday by your easy-going boss (not!) for being late the third day in a row.

Sound all-too familiar?  Hey, no one said being a working mom would be easy, but here are 5 steps to help you achieve that delicate Monday morning balance:

First and foremost, be prepared.  If need be, pack your child’s lunch the night before.  Give your child a bath the night before as well. Do your washing and ironing on the weekend so that all clothes are hung and ready to go; prepare at least 5 outfits for each member of the family over the weekend and have your partner and/or older children assist you in the process.

Set your alarm clock 10-15 minutes earlier to allow yourself more time in the morning.  If need be, go to bed 10-15 minutes earlier to make up for the time difference. Wake up before your kids to shower and dress.

Keep breakfast simple and healthy.  If you feel that you just don’t have the time for breakfast, try keeping bananas (and other easy to eat fruit) and vitamin fortified cereal bars handy and ready to grab and go.

Set a routine for you and your family and stick with it.  Our bodies crave routine and that’s a fact.  Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning.  Sticking with a schedule will make it easier to effectively manage that Monday morning balancing act.

Divide your morning into phases.  For example, phase 1:  Eat Breakfast, phase 2:  Get Dressed, etc.  Set the phases in 15-30 minute time increments (phasing increments can vary, depending on the overall time you give yourself).  Attempting to accomplish everything at once will only lead to chaos and confusion.  Help your family stay within the proper phase and ask them to also pitch in and help.  Encourage your family to stick to the morning phases to keep things running smoothly.

The key to achieving any balance, especially that Monday morning balance, is being prepared.  Try a more organized approach to your Monday mornings and you will find that they turn out to be a lot smoother and less stressful for everyone.

10 Steps For Cooking Up Family Memories

The kitchen is the perfect place for making memories. When you spend time baking, cooking and enjoying meals with your family, you create happy memories you and your children will cherish forever.

The benefits of preparing and enjoying food as a family are clear. You save money and eat healthier meals. You create opportunities to connect and communicate with your children and spouse. And most importantly, you show love for your family when you spend time cooking and eating with them. Children of all ages need your attention and your time. By working together to create a meal or bake a batch of cookies, you spend valuable time together.

So, here are 10 steps to get your family cooking up memories.

Step 1:
Teach small children the fun of cooking by helping them bake cookies and cakes. If you are short on time, you can use a boxed cookie mix and spend more time decorating.

Step 2:
Encourage the littlest ones to play pretend cooking. Kids love to play with real mixing bowls, strainers and wooden spoons. These make harmless toys and can be easily thrown in the dishwasher for quick cleanup.

Step 3:
If you live by your day-timer, schedule in baking cookies with your kids. Our schedules can be so hectic that something as simple as baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies can get skipped over. Write it down and do it.

Step 4:
If you have teenagers, let them play their favorite music while they wash the lettuce and set the table.

Step 5:
Work together with your spouse to prepare the dinner and use the time to catch up on each other's day.

Step 6:
Even if you are in a rush preparing dinner, remember to reduce your stress and focus on creating a fun atmosphere that naturally encourages the whole family to participate.

Step 7:
When spending time preparing food with your children, include lessons about healthy eating choices. Keep the conversation positive and avoid listing foods they can't have.

Step 8:
On days where you anticipate time will be tight, consider taking a short cut by using a frozen stir-fry mix or pasta with a jar of pre-made sauce. Your family will appreciate your relaxed mood much more than a made-from-scratch dinner.

Step 9:
Share the job of grocery shopping. One week have mom take one of the children as a helper, the next week dad can go with another child. Always work from a grocery list and let your children help you retrieve items and cross them off the list.

Step 10:
Have big family meals where you share about your day. Keep the conversation fun and avoid negative lectures over dinner. Remember to laugh.

Take these steps today and make your kitchen a fun and memorable place for your whole family.

8 Tips to Save Money on Groceries

Hey hey...we're coming up to the weekend, and you know what that means!

Nope. Not fun in the sun or a restful mini-vacation between grinds at work. For the working parent, there are no mini-vacations. What we do get is a little extra work, not least of which is hitting the grocery store!

The average family’s grocery bill is usually one of the higher numbers on the family budget. There can be an enormous difference in what each family spends on their groceries, depending on many factors, such as whether they buy name brand, more meat, etc.

The good news is that this allows for a large amount of savings if we decide to be frugal with our shopping. Following a few simple tips will have you well on your way to saving a few bucks.

1.) Make a meal plan. You’ll know exactly what you need from the store before you go.

2.) Watch for specials and coupons in store newsletters, and plan your meals around them.

3.) Make a list and stick to it. If it’s not on the list, don’t buy it.

4.) Don’t shop when you’re hungry. That way you won’t be tempted to buy things that you don’t need.

5.) Shop alone. Count on your bill being higher when you bring your spouse or children.

6.) Only buy things you know you’ll use. For example, if your family doesn’t like broccoli, don’t buy broccoli in the hopes that they’ll eat healthier this week.

7.) Keep your eyes on the items on the bottom shelf where the prices are lower.

8.) Buy store brands when the quality is the same. Most of the time, it actually is the same product in a different package.

It’s pretty easy to be frugal once you realize how much money you’re actually saving with these simple steps. Keep a log of your grocery bills, so you can see how much of a difference you are making.

Parenting Resources You Can't Live Without

Until I saw the job listing (sent to me by a friend) earlier this week, I'd never heard of the Yummy Mummy Club. When I saw the link, naturally my first thought was, oh jeez...this is just another one of those "Sex and the City" girly girl websites about wine and lampshades with feathers on them.


OK, that wasn't my initial reaction, but you know the kind of website I'm talking about.

On closer inspection, however, the breadth of parenting info available through YMC is really impressive. Yes, the brand is geared toward mothers, with emphasis on moms who prefer to work in the "L" zone (from "Liberation"...the last stage of Tim Ferriss' 4-Hour Work Week, referring to removal of the individual from an assigned 4x4 cubicle in order to get their work done). But once you dig in a bit, there's no reason -- NO REASON -- why a dad can't make use of Gav Martell's Chicken Vindaloo Soup with Mango Curry Dumplings recipe.

The fact that the site includes a daddy section is of course a bonus. Of course, the savvy dad knows that 99% of the parenting websites out there are built with moms in mind, and knows therefore how to navigate these with a discerning eye and a little masculine adaptation; all of which is certainly possible with very little effort at YMC. But including a section for dads is a nice touch. It's a bit like knowing that once you're a dad, your space will be filled with cuteness and pink stuff and stuff that smells like baby powder. But, you can always escape to the garage with your buddies for a cold beer and something involving spark plugs.

Overall, it's a site I plan to spend a lot of time on, regardless of the outcome of my little campaign here. And if you're an active, engaged parent at any stage (even just the planning-to-eventually-be stage), you'd be smart to hang out there too.

I'm Applying for Digital Project Manager

So, some of you might be wondering what exactly is going on here. I can understand that. All of a sudden this random guy shows up and decides he's going to launch a big website campaign designed so show off his SEO and social media skills, right?

What a nutjob!

OK, I'll explain. I'm applying for the position of Digital Project Manager with Erica Ehm's Yummy Mummy Club. This is a fantastic organization that features a website devoted to information and entertainment for moms everywhere.

Moms?

Yup. Moms. Now, being a single, mostly work-at-home dad myself, I'm not the sort to let a little thing like gender get in the way of following some killer recipes and parenting advice. Heck, the advice alone is worth its weight in gold; and believe me, without some kind of support network even being a dad is a rough affair. This site is absolutely priceless in terms of its overall value to parents, whether moms or dads.

And that's the #1 reason I want to work there. It's fun. It's a great vibe. And it means something.

There's your answer. I want this job. While I've already applied by traditional means (cover letter and resume), this campaign is designed to show them what I can do. It's a one-week campaign to build traffic, social engagement, and an audience. The job listing closes on Jan. 22, so this campaign will close Jan. 21 at midnight. At that time, I'll pull down all the metrics I can and load them up into a full-blown report.

What You Can Do

Here's how you can help:

1. Follow me on Twitter, "Like" the Facebook page, click the "Follow" link over in the sidebar (if you have a Google account), subscribe to the YouTube channel, and sign up for the newsletter (it's free...and I won't spam you much :) ).
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