Category Archives: Parenting

Of course giving birth is a woman’s work. Nature has built the human race that way. But this does not exempt fathers from responsibilities. New dads have a really important role to play in their children’s lives. In fact, after childbirth, fathers should play a prominent role so that mothers can recover from the labors of giving birth.

Firstly, new fathers should realize that babies really aren’t all that fragile. You shouldn’t be afraid of holding your baby! He or she isn’t going to break! As soon as your baby is born, ask the people around you such as nurses, doctors or midwives to show you some great holding positions for your baby.

Next, be sure to be supportive. New mothers are still under the influence of heavy hormonal overdoses! They might snap at you and be unpredictable. In such a situation, it is your duty to be as supportive and as understanding as possible. Remember that she isn’t doing this on purpose. Moreover, if you somehow feel left out, please speak up about it. It really isn’t something that your wife is doing on purpose.

As a new father, you too may experience blues or post partum depression. Don’t worry about it, it is completely natural to feel that way. If required you should seek out help. Or at least talk to your partner about it.

Remember that as a new father the only thing that you can’t do for your baby is breast feed them. Everything else you are equally capable of doing as your wife. You need to understand that and be a hand on father and offer as much help as you possibly can. Help out with the breast feeding. If required take a breast feeding class with your partner. It is important that you provide as much support as you can at this phase.

Remember that your wife is in a delicate state and will need a lot of extra sleep, rest and pampering. Offer to get up when the baby wails and look after other needs at night. If possible, attempt to bring your newborn to his or her mother in the middle of the night to save her the trouble of getting up. Lastly, make sure that you make your partner feel as if she is really important to you – that is the secret of being a wonderful new father and husband. Good luck.

Moves can be hard on children because moving to a different place and city means making a whole bunch of new friends and starting a whole new life for them. Often, you might find that your children have sunk into a depression because they have not been accepted by their peers or for some unfathomable reason have been unable to make friends with them.

But have no fear, you can do your bit, as a parent to help your child settle into a new city or town. Yes, believe it or not, as impossible as it may seem, you, as a parent can do quite a bit to help your child make friends. First up, you can choose the timing of your move with care, if that is possible. Do it between school years. What you could do is sign your children up for a summer camp or two in their new hometown.

Be a more hands on parents. Try to find out what is happening at school. Then you need to go about actively encouraging your children to participate in new activities and events. There are also activities in schools which involve parents. Sign up for it with your child – this will help them get around a bit. Think dance rehearsals or even team sports. You could even make some new friends of your own and introduce your child to their kids!

Another very important thing that you could do, in order to help your child is settle in to a new town or city is to reassure them. Tell them in as many ways as you can that they are not alone and that you will always be by their side. They may not admit it, but children definitely crave to know that no matter what they will always find solace and support in the lap of their family.

Another thing you could do – but your kids might not appreciate so much- is talk to the guidance counselor in your child’s school. You might be surprised at the kind of assistance the guidance counselor can offer you. Often they can really help your child fit into a new school and environment.

Lastly, take a deep breath, remember that your children won’t be forever hiding in their shells. At some point or the other, they will definitely come out of it and make friends. Good luck with the move!

Parenting is no piece of cake. It involves a huge amount of responsibilities. The equation between parents and children of 2 families are never alike. So there can not be general rules of parenting. However, there can be certain guidelines that will help you to strengthen your bond with your children.

Have fun with your children: childhood is very short lived. Think of your own childhood and how fast it passed by. So when your wards are children bond with them as much as you can. Your focus should be how to spend quality time with them. Play with them, take them to parks, read out to them, and go for outings with your children during weekends. Listen to your children and also share your own experiences with your children. This is how you can stay involved in each other’s lives.

Teach your children things that are of high value to you: you must show them what you value so that they learn valuing them too. Tell them the virtues of being honest, being fair, respecting people around and caring for people. Morals are best learnt at home. Show them your spiritual side so that they also learn something from you.

Teach them how to act and to speak: children observe much more than what you think they do. So be at your best behavior so that they can learn something from you. If you think that they have learnt something undesirable from somewhere, correct them instantly. You have to show them the perfect way how to act and to speak. Tell them why behaving in a certain way is desirable and behaving in a certain way is not desirable.

You must set reasonable expectations from your children: you have to let your children know that you expect certain things from them. Formulate a routine for them. Allot specific time when they should have their meals, when they should do their homework, how much time they should watch TV, how ling they should play, etc. tell them how you want them to behave. Be careful while formulating the rules for them.

Do not overburden them. Then the results will be rather negative. Know that children are children. They may always go wrong and it is your duty to correct them. You should not be too strict with them. Keep in mind that your job is to ensure that they have fun with their lives and grow up beautifully and in a healthy way.

There are different approaches to parenting and every parent seems to have their own dedicated style for dealing with their children. It is very much a logical solution coz every child is different from the other and requires a different level of looking after. However there is one thing which all parents must adhere to that being positive parenting. The concept is a very simple one and does not involve any complex theories. To put it in the most basic form positive parenting is about asking your children to do things you would like them to do and not things which you would not like them to do.

A good parent should apply this technique everyday of parenting. Be it a difficult situation or any sort of conversation positive parenting always seem to work. A simple example should suffice. A believer of positive parenting would instruct their child to eat their food properly and not scold their child with a warning to stop playing with their food. The action words in positive parenting necessarily need to be very positive.

Do not look upon this as a very difficult concept coz it really isn’t. If you firmly believe in yourself this will be as easy as anything else you have already done. This concept tends to boost the self esteem of your children. Both the ambience of the house and the children will be happier coz you won’t keep cribbing about what not to do throughout the length of the day. It is much better to hear what you expect your kids to do rather than what you don’t expect them to do.
Negative conversations usually start in the early childhood. Children’s are the simplest creations of god and hence every word we speak to them has a different effect on them. It is very common for children to get influenced by the smallest of things.

Negative words thus have a very bad influence on the emotional kids. Statements which you give merely coz of care but are negative in nature might actually offend children. Remember they are vulnerable to all sorts of emotions. Not being careful in talking to them might ruin their morale and confidence forever. Make them confident by speaking to them like you are sure and that you trust them of their capabilities. Speak to them of what they are capable of and not things which they lag behind him. Try this and see for yourself how this works wonders.

Has your child been hankering for a pup of late and have you been turning him or her down because it’s too much trouble to look after a pet, given the busy lifestyle you lead? You might want to think again because pets are an essential part of a child’s formative years. Pet ownership can actually be an extremely positive experience for your child and will teach them many things about life.

A child who learns how to properly care for the needs of his pet, to treat it kindly and with patience and gentleness, will learn how to treat other people that way. You, as a parent should ensure that your child learns the right way to treat the pet. In fact, this could turn out to be really beneficial for your child in the long run because what they learn by caring for a pet could help them when they, in turn, become parents!

There are many advantages that children who own pets have, over children who don’t. For example, they are never too lonely. Their pet is always around to provide them with the attention and company which every child (especially those with no siblings!) craves. In fact, if your child has an affectionate relationship with his or her pet, this will also enhance their non verbal communication skills.

Children often vent to their pets and though never really understand what the problem is; they do a great job at comforting the child. Plus, the good thing about pets is, they’ll never really spill the beans! The life of a pet is a very illustrative one and they can, in fact, be a source of many an important lesson for your child – your child can learn all about birth, illness and how to provide assistance and how to cope with death too. Pets also teach children how to respect other living creatures, something that is increasingly important in today’s day and age.

Lastly, having a pet can be great for your child’s physical health! They’ll never be obese because they’ll have to walk the dog and play with it! Plus, taking them on a run will provide them with all the benefits of exercise. What is more, your children will actually enjoy this, as opposed to exercise and they’ll be greatly benefited at the same time! So do give in to those puppy dog eyes, having a pet will not be all that bad!