Bath time is a good way to help young children wind down at the end of the day and get ready for bed time. Bath time is the perfect opportunity for messy play, pouring and blowing bubbles can be lots of fun. Make bath time a fun time by using toys ,bubble bath and games like lets pretend. show your child how to clean themself and then encourage them to have a go at washing themselves . When washing your child’s hair keep the bath water shallow this makes it easier for them to lie down and rinse the shampoo off. Remind your chid when it is time to get out the bath. nce they are out let them pull the plug out and encourage them to help you dry themselves and help with putting thir PJs on ready for bed. Always make sure someone is suppervising your child at all times while in the bath. Once your child is ready for bed, a bedtimes story can help a child unwind and relax and show them that it is nearly time to go to sleep. Make sure your child’s comforter is near by if they have one. Having a comforter can help your child be relaxed and go to sleep easier without you in the room. Always remember a good night kiss and cuddle and reassure them that you will see them in the morning. It is a good idea not to leave a tv on in their room at night as this will stimulate them and they will not go to sleep. All of these things will help make bath and bed time an easy relaxing and enjoyable time for all of you.
How to comunicate well with your child
Try to talk to your child in a positive way as much as possaible.
Be respectful to your child ,don’t scream,swear or shout. If your child shouts back at your dont retaliate by shouting back; screaming matches don’t work. tell your child in a calm way not to speak to you in that manner. Praise your child when he/she is behaving well don’t be abrupt or bark out commands (this will lead to instant resistance). Try not to offer to many choices to a young child as this will confuse them an may cause conflict where its not neccessary this is easily avoided by keeping choices short and simple. Instead of always telling your child what to you don’t want them to do, try putting it in a different way for example- instead of saying – don’t put your dirty hands all over the sofa try saying – let’s wash your hands now they are dirty , then you can come and sit on the sofa and we can read a story. all of these things will help you keep in control an help you to comunicate well with your child.
Routine
Giving your child a good routine can make your child feel more secure and conflict can be avoided if there is a clear patteren or framework to their day. A good way to get good structure is to start with good getting up time- Every day can be more enjoyable with clear acceptable wake up times for you an your child to help start the day is 2 meal times – Having breakfast,dinner and tea at around the same time everyday can make life easier for you and help your child to understand the patteren of the day. Step 3 bath time – bath time is ofter a calming and nice way to relax your child ready to focous on bedtime and sleep. Last step bedtime -keeping the same bedtime routine is important. This should include a winding down time and avoidance of over excitment bedfore bed times. these routine tips will really help your child, consistency and routine matters to your child and will really help with your child behaviour and overall happiness in day to day life .
Relationship Drama
Lately me and my partner have been going through a rough patch, there are a number of factors that have led to this:
- Stress
- Health Problems
- Lack of communication
…and the list goes on.
The question is what do you do about it? Well in my case me and my partner decided to sit down and try to talk things through. Lack of communication solved, however due to the fact that we are talking more unfortunately this has led to another problem; basically because of the fact that I have always tried to be open yet my partner doesn’t remember me telling him stuff because he has been drinking most nights, he then gets angry and claims that I haven’t told him this until now. Before the alarm bells start ringing my partner is not an alcoholic, he jusy enjoys a beer after work.
Because talking about stuff didn’t seem to be working I tried a different approach focusing on 1 problem at a time. We talked about the problem and then decided what we were going to do about it. This seems to be working pretty well.
One of the issues that we are currently dealing with is the fact that 1 of my male friends made a pass at me one night after we had been out drinking. I told him that we were friends and that was all. We both agreed that it was a mistake that shouldn’t have happened and have both moved on from it. However when I spoke to my partner about it; let’s just say it didn’t go down too well. He has banned this friend from the house and has made me promise that I will not go back to this guy’s house, which is fine but when I get snide comments when I get home it really bothers me because I haven’t cheated and why should I stop being friends with someone just because they made a mistake?
Dealing with debt as a single parent
Coping with debt in any circumstance can seem impossible sometimes and can be even harder as a single parent. I found myself getting swamped down with debt and the stress was putting a strain on every day life even simple tasks at home at the end of the day with the kids seemed like more hard work than it was but I have realised that being honest with yourself and others and finding the right help can be a big step to help making life and money a lot easier. I found help with with the housing support group I was with and found that there are lots of people out there who are there to help you find the right help and support with your finances, which can seem difficult but its a lot easier than you might think going to your local job centre or connections is an easy way to start. The people there are there to help and will do most of the work finding the right people and getting you in touch with them so that they can help you manage your money and even people who will speak to the people you are in debt with to help you find an affordable monthly repayment. It may seem a little daunting at first but it is easier then you think an well worthit. The support is there for you so make the most of it and don’t be shy to ask for their help and advice on anything that may be troubling because if they cant help they will put you in touch with people that can. It’s helped change my life for good I hope it can help as much for you.
Eating problems
I have found that a lot of my friends with young children have asked me about their childrens’ eating habits and the problems they have come across. This is a common problem for many parents. I find that the most important thing to do is from the moment you introduce your child to food to make it a fun and rewarding experience with everything they eat and not to make it a chore, more something they can look forword to each meal time. Making vegetables fun is easier than it sounds; doing simple things like making shapes and faces on their plates and giving plenty of praise for eating them or making a reward chart when they have eaten all the food they get a reward for it. Children also learn especially younger children by the sense of touch so setting up finger foods vegetables and fruits as a spread on the table can be very beneficial as they not only get to taste the food but but they get to feel the different shapes and textures aswell this can be very helpful with their development skills and fun too. You don’t always have to eat food using things such as potatoes and carrots to make print pictures is really fun and messy which as we all know is what kids love to do best it also keeps up with how fun food is and never a bad thing. Explaing to your children the importance of helthy eating and doing fun activities can all help and should help prevent any problems in the future and help your children lead a happy and healthy lifestyle.
Hippy Parenting?
I recently got accused of being a hippy parent because I don’t specify that my 2 daughters don’t have to play exclusively with girls toys amongst other things:
- Getting them to try new things, regardless of whether I like them or not.
- Allowing them items of an ethnic origin
- Refusing to use smacking as a form of discipline
and the list goes on. It doesn’t seem to matter what I do I get accused of being a hippy parent; the latest 2 are using washable nappies and the fact that I tend to go to the local health shop and buy things like vanilla pods and various other things because Holly got hold of 1 ages ago and enjoyed chewing on it so have been buying them for her since.
To be honest as long as the child(ren) are happy and healthy what does it matter? The answer to this question should be nothing but because it seems odd or because it is different to the style of someone else it is criticised. News Flash everyone is different and you have to accept that regardless of whether or not you agree.
Early pregnancy advice
I have recently discovered that I am pregnant. I am in my seventh week an am feeling the strain of early pregnancy symptoms and seem to be spending more of my time with the toilet than anything else which is very normal at this stage. These are a couple of methods which you may find helpful.
- Eating dry crackers or ginger biscuits in the morning.
- Drinking lemonade or sucking on a lemon.
- If you are feeling sick don’t hold it back it is best just to get it out your system.
I hope that these few things will help you through this difficult stage. I like to think of is as you cant have a rainbow without the rain an it will be more than worth it in the end.
child bad behaviour advice
Recently I have been struggling to deal with my 5 year old son’s temper tantrums. I have found that a common problem for many parents on how it is best to deal with there child’s tantrums and i have now discovered a couple of methods on dealing with his tantrums.
The most effective way of getting your child to do things which they don’t wont to do is to punish their bad behaviour by removing there privileges such as toys and not watching there favourite programs on the television,and rewarding the good behaviour so that when they do something positive they are rewarded with a special treat or getting there privileges back.
Another way to deal with tantrums is to use a naughty step or room, when your child is having an uncontrollable tantrum and you are finding it hard to control I find using the naughty step or room is the best an most effective way to control the tantrum. Once they are calm ask your child to apologise for there bad behaviour and explain to them why what they was wrong, this helps your child to understand an realise the difference between good an bad behaviour. I hope that this information and advice helps you as it has me.
More ideas to make/save money
In most families there is at least 1 games console. This means that there is probably lots of games that aren’t really played, this could be turned into either cash or vouchers; the same is true for unwanted cds or dvds. Below is a list of places that you can do this at:
- CEX – They will accept all cds, dvds and games and will also allow you to trade unwanted consoles, phones and laptops.
- ASDA – At the moment they only allow you to trade in games and these are only for cash on a gift card
- HMV – Again only accept games but offer cash or vouchers
- Music Magpie – Despite the name these guys accept cds, dvds and games
- eBay – You put the items you want to sell on and then they do the rest.
- Game – These guys allow you to trade games only
- Fat Brain – These guys accept old books
Using a combination of CEX, ASDA and Music Magpie I have generated a total of over £300! This I used to get a DS to help ease the boredom when I’m in hospital and paid for the food shopping for 1 whole month. It was really easy and definately worth having a sort out and getting rid of your old/unwanted games, cds and dvds.
Another way that you can make money is to check out peopleperhour.com or have a look at the online surveys such as global test market or lightspeed panel.