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Nanny to the Rescue
America's nanny offers a large dose of healthy parenting advice with secrets for raising happy, secure, and well-balanced babies and toddlers.
Babies don't come with instructions. And since today's parents are so overwhelmed with schedules and demands, they have little time to bone up on their parenting skills. Often removed from grandparents and relatives who in times past lived next door or just down the street, they have no one to guide them through the disorienting world of raising children. Enter Nanny to the Rescue! Michelle LaRowe, 2004 International Nanny Association "Nanny of the Year," gives her tried and true solutions to childcare. Her expertise with chapters titled "Who's the boss?" and "Discipline is not a four letter word" gives confidence to parents who need specific ideas for real day-to-day problems. A proud member of Christian Nannies, Michelle offers foundational truths sure to help encourage moms and dads.
Nanny To the Rescue Again
Faced with multiple choices regarding school, friends, and activities coupled with the ever-widening influence of the outside world, parents of 6-12 year olds need help. America's nanny is back to offer a large dose of healthy parenting advice with secrets for raising happy, secure, and well-balanced children.
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Five Easy Steps to Picking the Perfect Baby Name
One of the few decisions you'll make during pregnancy that
will, in fact, last throughout your child's lifetime is the
choice of your baby's name. (Unlike, for example, your
choice of stroller or whether to use Lamaze or hypnosis to
ease labor pains.) To choose the best name for your baby,
follow these simple tips: 1. Don't try to please other people. Everyone from your in-laws to the supermarket checkout lady
is going to have an opinion about what you name your child.
But the only opinions that really matter are yours and your
spouse's. 2. Keep it a secret! If you tell everyone names you've chosen before the baby is
born, they won't hesitate to criticize your choices. But if
you keep it to yourself and announce the name and the birth
at the same time, everyone will compliment you on a great
name choice. 3. Consider how your child will feel about the name as he or
she grows up. Will it be difficult for the teachers to pronounce in
school? Will she be teased because it sounds funny or
rhymes with an unfortunate word? Does it sound like a very
young or very old name? You want to choose something your
child will be comfortable with at all phases of his life. 4. Check the initials to make sure they aren't problematic. One of the moms I surveyed for "The Gallagher Guide to the
Baby Years" told the story about her relative who named his
baby, William Eugene Thompson. A nice name, but the
initials (W.E.T) weren't ideal for monograms. 5. Decide in advance, or at least have a couple of names
under consideration, by the beginning of the third
trimester. There's so much to do as your due date gets closer. You
don't want to be under pressure to choose a name because you
went into labor early and had to come up with something at
the hospital. Check out BabyNames.com (www.babynames.com)
for lots of neat ideas for baby names. Stephanie Gallagher is Author of "The Gallagher Guide to the
Baby Years: The Real Mom's Survey of Top-Rated Products and
Advice." To subscribe to her ezine, "The Shopping Mom's
Weekly Tip, send a blank email to theshoppingmom@aweber.com.
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Parenting advice and family fun resource. Expert
parenting advice for babes to teens from doctors, teachers,
psychologists, nutritionists, Special Need Children and Child
Development Specialists and a Nanny. Family Fun includes crafts,
games, party ideas and family vacation travel. Families Online
Magazine also provides answers to those important questions, What's
for dinner and Are We There yet?
What Do You Teach Your Children About Money?
Whether we realize it or not we teach our children about money every day. Sometimes we teach with words and sometimes with actions. I'm sure at one time or another the following scenario as happened to you or something close to it: "Mom, can we go buy some toys?" You say, "We don't have the money for that right now." Your children reply, "Just go to the ATM and get the money." You then make a comment to the effect, "There has to be money in my account in order to get money from the ATM." I still remember the first time I had that conversation and my children's jaws dropped. It never occurred to them that you had to have money in order to get money out of the ATM machine. They just saw the ATM as the cash machine ? Free money. Don't we all wish that was true!
What the Matter Is
When my oldest boy was really young, he tickled my mother with that phrase. I would ask him, "What's the matter?" and he would answer me, "Well, what the matter is..." followed by whatever it was that he needed to discuss with me. He would say it with that very serious face that children get when they are expecting to be taken very seriously. We all loved the cute way he prefaced his concerns.
Diagnosing ADHD in Children, an Introduction
Everyone in a private practice setting who works with children or adults is going to have their own opinion on how Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - ADD or ADHD - should be diagnosed. Some clinics take the perspective that "more is good," and will recommend a large battery of tests, often costing many thousands of dollars. Other clinics, typically with hurried physicians, will simply give a brief rating scales to the parents and then make a quick diagnosis and prescribe treatment, usually a medication.
A Night Out For Mom & Dad
Is your babysitter watching the kids and your k9 family member?
Uniforms
Direct Answers - Column for the week of May 31, 2004
How Public Schools Lie to Parents and Betray Our Children
Under the "No Child Left Behind Act," public schools whose students consistently fail standardized tests can now be shut down. To protect their jobs, teachers and principals are now under intense pressure to cheat - to fudge test scores and report cards to fool parents and school administrators.
They Call it Puppy Love
My son is 6 yrs old.
He came home the other day from school and stated that he had two girlfriends.
I asked him who they were.
And he said one was in his class and the other was in the other Kindergarten class.
He said one of them asked him to be her boyfriend, and the other he just liked, so she was his girlfriend too.
He liked her so he assumed she was his girlfriend too.
How to Get Your Children Brand Free
Those of you that have children know what an excursion to the local mall or supermarket can be like. If you're not careful, this simple trip can easily become a wallet draining experience.
Communications for Family Emergencies
You know that children can get into trouble. The older they get, the bigger the problem as history would have it. To keep your teens safer you undoubtedly have already issued the cell phones to keep in touch, especially in the event of an emergency.
From Good to GREAT: Secrets On Becoming A Better Dad
While most fathers aspire to become the best Dads they can, all too often life just seems to get in the way. Missed soccer games and bedtime stories, always "In a minute" or "Later" when asked to play. The years pass, and many are left to wonder why their kids don't seem to make time for THEM any more.
When Your Chicks Leave the Nest
When my son was 18 (and had finished school), he moved into a flat with two of his mates. They were boys we'd known throughout his high school years and the flat was only ten minutes from home, but I cried for two weeks!
Five Ways To Build Super-Strong Relationships With Your Children
One of the questions I ask in parenting presentations is "How do you show your children you love them?"
Whats Mine Is Mine
You are at the grocery store with your daughter and she pulls out her hard-earned fifty cents and begins to buy a candy. Your son is at home with his soon to be step-Dad and fifty cents is jingling in your pocket... so you buy the same candy in a "boy" flavor to prevent any arguments when you get home.
Parents/Teens and Money ? 5 Ideas for Keeping the Peace
Children and teenagers are relentlessly bombarded with merchandise that entices. It can be difficult to find contentment when a newer, better, faster gizmo of the moment hits the market every day. What's a parent to do?
MORAL ARMORS Irrational Parenting, Part III
Not Letting Them Think.
Partnering With Your Daycare or Preschool
For the most positive daycare experience for your child, partner with your childcare center and make a personal investment beyond the monthly tuition. You can build your partnership with your daycare by volunteering your time, contributing goods or services, or donating money.
If your child is in daycare full-time, he is spending 40 ? 60 hours at your daycare facility with his childcare providers. You owe it to your child to help make the center the best it can be for him.
Beautification Day. Schedule a few hours on a Saturday morning for a group of parents to come into the center and give it a really thorough spring cleaning where you tackle involved chores like painting walls, repairing bookcases, decorating classrooms, scrubbing cubbies.
Fundraising. You can support your center's fundraising efforts by asking for goods, services or monetary donations. Ask friends and family to partake in fundraising auction events with you ? spirited bidding in a live auction is a lively way to spend a Saturday evening with friends while benefiting a good cause.
Participation. Spending an hour or two in the classroom a week reading stories, engaging in dramatic play or just lending a helping hand are all time well spent and greatly appreciated by the daycare center.
If your schedule is too tight to accommodate volunteering at school, think creatively about other ways you can contribute ? do you have a skill, talent or connection that can potential benefit the school in some way. It may be an activity that seems inconsequential in your normal course of business but would be invaluable to your daycare center.
Here are some examples to get you started:
Investment Banking. Most centers have an emergency fund they must keep for unexpected facility maintenance or other unplanned expenses. Suggest the best short term investment vehicles for them.
Tax Accountant. Offer to review their current tax preparation forms or evaluate their tax planning process.
Medical Expertise. Conduct a 30 minute seminar or write a column in the newsletter about common childhood ailments, healthy eating or sleeping practices.
Educational Background. Suggest weekend learning activities or offer to conduct a 30 minute special event for one of the older classrooms.
Music. Entertain the kids with an impromptu concert or offer to entertain at the center's annual fundraising event.
Legal. Offer to review contracts or agreements the school is considering. Offer to review the current application portfolio and identify policies or additional waivers or agreements that should be included.
Sales. Create a bonus plan for the teaching staff that takes into account length of employment and special recognitions.
Marketing. Review the centers brochures, ads and marketing plans. Make recommendations for how to best sell the centers services, help develop creative materials and negotiate print rates with vendors.
Facilities. Offer to inspect the daycare facilities and make maintenance repairs or negotiate with preferred vendors for discounted rates.
Birth of a Parent
So you're pregnant. Congratulations! Your life is about to change in ways you might find unthinkable (and we're not even talking about the surrender of your once slim waistline to proportions most comparable to that of a Dr. Suess character). Pregnancy is the beginning of a new life for a baby, but also a new life for you as a parent. If this is your first baby, you may be filled with an endless list of questions and concerns. If you're a veteran of the labor and delivery room, you've got a better idea what to expect, yet every pregnancy, like every mother and child, is different.
Educational Toys And Childrens Books - A Must For Optimal Childhood Development
The brightly colored plastic mobile dangles lazily overhead in the infant's crib. The baby coos as its tiny arms swing a rattle back and forth. In another room a pre-school youngster is busy assembling the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and upstairs a teen is conquering worlds on a computerized video game. What do all of these activities have in common? They are examples of children playing with educational toys.
Learning Responsibility is a Lifelong Process
Learning responsibility is an ever widening and lifelong
process.
Overscheduled Kids
Time devoted the better part of an issue to it. Newsweek featured an article titled "Busy Around the Clock." Articles with titles like "Whatever Happened to Play?" "Pushing Children Too Hard," and "Are You Over-Scheduling Your kids?" show up in print media and on the Internet. Books with titles like Hyper-Parenting: Are Your Hurting Your Child by Trying Too Hard? are appearing on bookshelves.
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