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Babies & Parenting
Training Your Nanny as a New Parent
Aug 23rd
One of the greatest experiences a person could ever have is becoming a first time parent. It is exciting knowing that there is now a bundle of joy for the family and yet could be overwhelming since everything is new. This is the time when a professional nanny would be very helpful in taking care of your first child, especially when you as a new parent are in the adjustment period.
Properly training a nanny is one of the best things you can do to protect your child and ensure your child’s best care. It may be considered basic but would be very helpful both for the nanny and for you as a new parent as well.
Discussions: Like in any working relationships, sitting with the nanny and establishing how you would like to maintain the relationship should be done in the beginning. An example is discussing how often checking in would be done, be it once a day, once a week, or eventually once a month. You should be clear as well on how you want the nanny to communicate with you. Setting of expectations on both sides could also be discussed at this stage.
Home Care Guide: As a new parent, it is very helpful to have a guide both for yourself and for the nanny through a ‘Home Care Guide’. This can be in a form of a booklet which contains all important childcare and household information. You create and organize it in the form of a binder or a notebook by doing some research, or by simply thinking of the best information to include in the booklet. Your nanny would be able to read this information and reference it when you’re not at home. Suggested information to include in the guide is as follows:
Job description of the nanny, including all aspects of the job
Daily schedule of what the nanny should do
Directions for important locations (local hospital, school, doctor, etc.)
Emergency contact information for parents, neighbors, and friends
Emergency information about the child (blood type, medical history, current medications)
Household information (alarms, AC, etc.)
Emergency situations are inevitable and can be very stressful. Availability of information would make this kind of situation less stressful for everybody.
Basic Training Expected from a Nanny: When hiring a professional nanny, you as a parent should expect she has had some basic training. This can be a sign that a nanny candidate takes her job seriously. Since the day to day safety of your child depends on your nanny, you need to make sure that your nanny has knowledge of CPR and first aid; while it is a plus if she has attended trainings on ‘Child Development and Nutrition’.
A degree in ‘Early Childhood Education’ is a helpful qualification, but this is no substitute for experience in child care. You should be aware of this experience early on during the interview or the hiring stage. If in case, if there are some basic trainings which the nanny has not yet undergone to, you may require the nanny to attend these trainings. You may also enroll the nanny on other trainings which may be helpful in taking care of your child. If you need help in hiring a nanny with good training background, you may look for a nanny agency. A nanny referred by a respected nanny agency meets a certain level of qualification as these agencies recruit, screen, interview, and conduct background checks of those who want to become nannies.
Clear Boundaries: The nanny takes care of your child and would need to know the boundaries set for her. Make sure to agree and understand with your nanny where certain boundaries are in specific situations such as discipline; who is in charge when parents are at home, places where the nanny and the child are not supposed to go to, and so forth. This will prevent the child from getting confused on the roles a nanny and parents are supposed to play.
Research: Continuous research for you as a new parent is recommended. This may be on various topics from taking care of a child to dealing and maintaining a relationship with a nanny. Researching and seeking help from an agency may also be done when looking for a professional nanny as they ensure that the nanny is experienced and equipped with the basic trainings in taking care of a child.
It is important to consider the parent-nanny relationship as a working relationship and a partnership at the same time. Open communication is very helpful in knowing and understanding the best things for your child. Training a nanny would establish a professional manner in caring for your child and would give you less worry as a new parent, especially at times when you are not around your baby.
Kids & Healthy Eating
Mar 18th
What parent doesn’t want their kids to eat healthier? We’ve all had to bribe, cajole, threaten and manipulate our children at least once, but wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to stoop to such heavy handed tactics? Here are some tips to help you out.
Start early! Don’t wait until it’s too late and your child’s already ruined by sweets and treats. Once they’ve tasted ice cream, it’s harder to get them to eat broccoli. And if you’ve waited too long then you’ll just have to be strong and realize your kids might not like you for a few days.
Make sure you have a good variety of healthy foods available to your children. This prevents them from latching on to one food or one food group. Sure they’ll still have their favorites, but a variety of vegetables and fruits will help them to get used to all of their varied tastes.
Try combing foods they like with foods they don’t. For example, stir-frying onions with zucchini, broccoli, carrots, and snow peas isn’t as bad as sitting down to a whole plate of broccoli. It also helps to make sure the pieces are small enough so your child gets some carrots with her zucchini.
Be strong! This is very important for teaching a child to eat what’s good for them. Tell them that this is what we’re having for dinner and there’s nothing else for them to eat. They’ll get hungry enough to eat what’s served them if there are no other options available.
Which reminds me. Don’t bring any food in the house that isn’t part of a healthy food plan. That’s right! No snacks, cookies, sweetened cereals, pastries, treats – whatever – are permitted. This might seem harsh, but you have to decide who you’re raising; healthy, smart kids who don’t get sick or fat or sick kids with learning disabilities who grow up to suffer degenerative diseases.
Stay away from people hell-bent on corrupting your children with candy and treats. It’s amazing to me how so many well-meaning people like a bank teller or a relative offer my children lollipops or cookies. Teach your children to smile and politely say,
“No thank you.” And if it’s a relative that’s always offering your child a treat, then ask them to stop or stop visiting them (a third option is to make them take care of your kid during his sugar buzz and subsequent crash – they’ll never do it again).
Here’s another free tip for kids and healthy eating that might fall into the harsh category, but if you think about it seriously you’ll see how important it is. Don’t let your kids watch commercial TV. Yes! You read this correctly. The majority of the ads on TV are about food and getting your children to eat these unhealthy foods. TV commercials are the nutritional education for 95% of the population and virtually nothing advertised on TV has any nutrition in it. You’ll see a huge decrease in your child’s food cravings when you turn off the tube.
And finally, the most important tip of all is for you to set a great example. How can you expect your children to eat fish, vegetables and whole wheat bread when you don’t? How can you get them to give up ice cream when you won’t? They look to you as a role model so you might as well live like one because if you don’t, then you have no right to complain about their poor eating habits, obesity, ADHD and the time you have to take off work to care for a sick child.
Kids & Healthy Eating
Mar 2nd
What parent doesn’t want their kids to eat healthier? We’ve all had to bribe, cajole, threaten and manipulate our children at least once, but wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to stoop to such heavy handed tactics? Here are some tips to help you out.
Start early! Don’t wait until it’s too late and your child’s already ruined by sweets and treats. Once they’ve tasted ice cream, it’s harder to get them to eat broccoli. And if you’ve waited too long then you’ll just have to be strong and realize your kids might not like you for a few days.
Make sure you have a good variety of healthy foods available to your children. This prevents them from latching on to one food or one food group. Sure they’ll still have their favorites, but a variety of vegetables and fruits will help them to get used to all of their varied tastes.
Try combing foods they like with foods they don’t. For example, stir-frying onions with zucchini, broccoli, carrots, and snow peas isn’t as bad as sitting down to a whole plate of broccoli. It also helps to make sure the pieces are small enough so your child gets some carrots with her zucchini.
Be strong! This is very important for teaching a child to eat what’s good for them. Tell them that this is what we’re having for dinner and there’s nothing else for them to eat. They’ll get hungry enough to eat what’s served them if there are no other options available.
Which reminds me. Don’t bring any food in the house that isn’t part of a healthy food plan. That’s right! No snacks, cookies, sweetened cereals, pastries, treats – whatever – are permitted. This might seem harsh, but you have to decide who you’re raising; healthy, smart kids who don’t get sick or fat or sick kids with learning disabilities who grow up to suffer degenerative diseases.
Stay away from people hell-bent on corrupting your children with candy and treats. It’s amazing to me how so many well-meaning people like a bank teller or a relative offer my children lollipops or cookies. Teach your children to smile and politely say,
“No thank you.” And if it’s a relative that’s always offering your child a treat, then ask them to stop or stop visiting them (a third option is to make them take care of your kid during his sugar buzz and subsequent crash – they’ll never do it again).
Here’s another free tip for kids and healthy eating that might fall into the harsh category, but if you think about it seriously you’ll see how important it is. Don’t let your kids watch commercial TV. Yes! You read this correctly. The majority of the ads on TV are about food and getting your children to eat these unhealthy foods. TV commercials are the nutritional education for 95% of the population and virtually nothing advertised on TV has any nutrition in it. You’ll see a huge decrease in your child’s food cravings when you turn off the tube.
And finally, the most important tip of all is for you to set a great example. How can you expect your children to eat fish, vegetables and whole wheat bread when you don’t? How can you get them to give up ice cream when you won’t? They look to you as a role model so you might as well live like one because if you don’t, then you have no right to complain about their poor eating habits, obesity, ADHD and the time you have to take off work to care for a sick child.
Tips for Working as a Nanny
Feb 23rd
If you are thinking about working as a nanny, here are a few tips for you to think about before beginning your career. It isn’t that simple to just get matched with a family and start a job. There are many nuances that you must learn so that you can avoid termination within the first 30 days of working as a nanny.
Here are five tips for you to consider:
1. Do not try to be your employer’s best friend; hence crossing boundaries and turning your position as an employee into a nightmare for your employer. Always remain professional.
For example:
a) Do not delve into your employer’s personal life and offer suggestions of how her marriage might repair itself if she followed your ideas,
b) Do not go into your employer’s closet and decide that you need to borrow one of her dresses for a Friday night date – don’t ask to borrow anything personal for that matter unless it is a tire iron to fix your car or something of that nature,
c) Do not break down and cry because of a problem with your boyfriend and expect complete consoling from your employer (keep your private life to yourself),
e) When the family needs privacy, give it to them and do not expect to be included in every moment of their lives, and finally
f) Do not ask for a loan under any circumstances.
2. Arrive on time every day without any excuses, especially the ones that entail how you fell out of bed and were sitting up to turn the alarm off and hit your head so hard that you passed out for a few hours.
Another excuse that is not looked upon favorably would be the one where you state the traffic flow was so bad that you decided to stop and have breakfast first. How about the one where you locked yourself out of the house with your car keys inside. Soon, you will simply run out of excuses. No employer of any type likes their employee to be late. When you are late, the working parents will be late. If this in effect causes problems for their job or career, you may find yourself out of a job rather quickly.
3. Be honest even when you know you did something grossly wrong and could get fired for it. Better to ask for forgiveness and explain that you understand what you did wrong and that it won’t happen again, than to deny while your employer knows you are blatantly lying, For example, a nanny thought that she could win favor with a child by giving candy everyday in spite of the parent’s strict rules of “NO SUGAR”. The child has now grown accustomed to the treats and remnants of those sweets are found in clothing for the parent to discover. When the child is asked about it, the response is that the nanny gives it everyday and goes into great detail about it. You have just been nailed. Come clean and accept the consequences.
4. Do not use your cell phone while at work unless it is an emergency. You couldn’t possibly be putting proper attention to a child while talking on the telephone. Even if you see mothers do it all the time. It is one thing to have a mother with coffee in hand, cell phone in the other while walking the dog and carrying a newborn baby – equally not smart, but certainly as a professional nanny, you should know better.
5. Keep your skills honed. Take child development courses whenever possible and constantly read magazines and books about raising children so that you are always on top of the latest ideas and methods of approaching child rearing. While learning, you can make suggestions, but always follow the mother’s way of rearing. Do not decide that you are the mother of the child and absolutely know the better way of raising children. You should implement a new approach only if the parent agrees that you do so.
History and Celebration of Parent’s Day
Feb 4th
National Parent’s Day is officially held on the 4th Sunday of every July. Parent’s Day was founded in 1994, when President Bill Clinton signed into law a resolution that was unanimously agreed upon to make a commemorative day such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. According to the Congressional Resolution, Parents’ Day is established for “recognizing, uplifting, and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children.”
With the breakdown of families happening rapidly in our society, and divorces happening nearly more frequently than marriages, Parent’s Day is not only a day for celebration of parenthood, but also a statement that parents should be involved together in raising their families, and have a responsibility to do so. To put aside their own needs and focus on what is best for their own family.
Now, while the National Parents’ Day Council “invites all people of faith and conscience to join together in celebrating and promoting the God-centered family ideal.” I personally think that is a bit hypocritical. I don’t think that the family ideal of “mother-father-children” has anything to do with God necessarily. The Christian overtones of the founders of the National Parent’s Day are very obvious and a bit unnecessary. However, I feel that parents of ALL creeds and relationships should celebrate this day. Whether you are a heterosexual couple with children, a gay couple with children, whether you are Hindu, Buddhist, Pagan, Christian, Catholic, Jewish, or even Atheist, I feel this is a day where we can celebrate not only being a family, but being responsible, loving parents.
The White House issued a press release regarding Parents Day in 2001, stating:
“Being a parent is the most important job in the world. As we hold a newborn in our arms or embrace an older adopted child, the promise we make in our hearts to love, protect, and nurture our children stays with us and with them forever. We are eternally linked to the children whom we are blessed to parent and to the generations before us who helped shape our lives.
Both mothers and fathers play a vital role in giving children the best possible start in life. As parents, we provide our children with the love and support they need to grow up to be caring individuals and responsible citizens. The care we express and the values we instill help our children achieve their greatest potential and ultimately will determine the future of our Nation.”
So now that you know what Parent’s Day is all about, how are you planning on celebrating it? It is an occasion that should be celebrated by the entire family. If your friends are parents, send them a greeting card or e-card to thank them for being parents! As a family, you can discuss different types of parenting, two-parent households, adoptive parent households, single-parent households, etc. Discuss what respect means, how do you show someone respect? Hold a family board game day, or outside “activities” day with games, swimming, and other fun outdoor sports. If you are older, invite your own parents to lunch, or to dinner.
There are many different ways in which you can celebrate Parents Day. No matter what situation your own family is in, you can be proud of your own parents or the fact that you are parents, and that you are in a loving and caring household. Make an effort to increase communication and displays of love and respect among family members, and remember that parents are special people!
Helpful Parenting Tips to Deal with Today’s Struggling Youth
Nov 4th
Most of the teens parents these days find various types of difficulties to deal with struggling youngsters. If you have a disturbed teenager, there are specific steps that help to come out of the problem in a healthy manner.
The first important thing in my opinion is to take action; ignoring the problem can make it too hard in future. so that we may feel it is too late. Any kind of new behavior need to be identified and plan accordingly with the help of specialized educational consultants tips and it is also helpful to make our selves educated with latest teenager parenting information.
Any kind of issues related to anxious teenagers need to be considered as sensible issues. If these issues treated harshly or ignored these issues may turn into big issues with in no time.
When dealing with a disturbed adolescent, it is helpful to take help from other resources. Finding books, searching the Internet, and even asking friends if we are comfortable enough. All these important resources can give helpful advice. Asking other parents is one of the helpful methods, and so is joining parent discussion groups. Churches and other venues often have these types of groups. Listening to what other parents are dealing with, and understanding their parenting strategies can help us to understand their tips and help us adjust to our child’s unique needs.
Communication is also one of the important methods to deal with any troubled teenager. All struggling teenagers are generally reacting to problems in their lives. We cannot understand our teens problems if we don’t communicate well. Listening to what the teenager says, and then taking steps to help them solve the problem that they’re having is the best helpful parenting tip.
Finally, have faith on our basic parental instincts. If we think that our child may be using drugs, we almost certainly are right. If you think that they are doing things that they told, they wouldn’t do anymore, they just might be. It is very essential to trust our children, don’t let problems go. Problems don’t simply go away if we ignore them; they usually get worse. In order to choose a camp for struggling teenagers being a responsible parent one need to spend some time to gain most of the information about the camp.
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