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Simple Parenting Tips You Shouldn't Overlook

Friday, February 24, 2012

With the amount of books and videos available, you would think that everybody would be an expert on parenting by now. Unfortunately this is not the case because people are either getting bad advice,
or they choose to not act on the advice that they are given. Use the advice provided in this article to help you be a great parent or step parent.

You should use your local grocery store ads to interact with your children. By scanning the ads with your children, you can help them practice math skills and develop good eating habits all at once. How much are two pounds of bananas? How much can you save on three boxes of cereal? Your child will be a shopping whiz kid.

Add traditions to enrich your life with your children. Whether you start daily, weekly, monthly or annual traditions, these little routines can mean the world to your children, whether it's a special snack time every day after school or an annual summer camping trip. Kids thrive on routine, and traditions give them something to look forward to.


This really is even more difficult if parenting troubled teens is part of the equation.

Even when your child has misbehaved and you have administered discipline, make sure he still knows that you love him. He needs to know the difference between you disapproving of what he has done, and the fact that you still love him for who he is. This is very important to build the child's self-esteem and self-worth. You do not want him to feel abandoned just because he did something wrong and you had to discipline him.

When riding in the car, keep your baby in a rear facing car seat as long as you possibly can. While industry standards recommend turning the seat to front facing around the age of 12 months, the risk of a spinal injury to a baby during a frontal car crash is higher when it is facing forward.

While in times of frustration you may want to tell your kids the tried-and-true line "because I said so," it can be very helpful to both your child and your relationship with your child to explain why you have certain rules. Encouraging an inquisitive nature and explaining your rationale for parental direction, can provide your child with a better understanding of right and wrong. It also will show them just how much you really care for their well being.

If your child is afraid of bathing, try bringing some fun activities into the tub. From bubble bath to special finger paints, there are a variety of exciting toys that may make bath time more enticing and less of a struggle. You can also climb into the tub with your child to show that you aren't afraid, and she shouldn't be, either!

Encourage your kids to get the right amount of exercise. Your kids should be outside playing at least a few hours every day, barring some bad weather. Turn those HDTVs off and unhook the gaming systems. Make sure your kids are going outside to play in the open air where they'll remain active and healthy.

Competitive sports are actually good for a child, despite what some trends are suggesting. Making sure that your children are involved in some type of competitive sport will ensure that they know how to compete and that they understand that trying hard and doing your best will be rewarded in multiple ways.

A good parenting tip that is good to practice is to spend time with each of your children separately. Each child has a different personality and spending time separately will help them feel appreciated. It is also a way for you to have an experience with them that they will never forget.

Every parent has high hopes and expectations for their child, and this is a great thing, but you also need to be realistic with your kids. Let your child know that he or she can be the next President, for example, but make sure they realize that it's a long-shot too. Parents need to teach kids that life is about options.

To determine if your child has colic or is just crying, check for these signs. Colic is crying that lasts for hours and occurs at around the same time each day. Colic typically begins at age 2 weeks and lasts through 4 months. Typical crying is due to issues such as a dirty diaper or hunger, however colic will not be soothed by resolving these issues.

When your child is working on homework, make sure to provide a distraction-free environment. Minimize noise and talk around their area, and turn off the TV. If they're on the computer, make sure they're only using programs directly related to the assignment. Distractions make it difficult to focus on the work and turn a quick assignment into a long ordeal.

Some say that self-esteem is overrated, but since self-esteem is relative, it really cannot be rated one way or the other. The important thing is that you do whatever necessary to help build your child's self-esteem. You do this by ensuring that your child is rewarded for doing things correctly and that he or she always receives some encouraging words from you.

Begin teaching your child essential academic skills early in life. Play educational games and spend as much time reading to them as possible. This will help them be successful in school and will also allow the two of you to spend quality time together, increasing your child's confidence and self-esteem.

Dive head first back into childhood yourself by playing with your child. Play with your child like another child would, really take a walk in their shoes. You will learn a lot about your child in the process and build a deeper bond with the child along the way.

If you child wants to argue with you about a specific rule that you have set, just repeat the rule and do not respond to his argument. Arguing with him will only lead to your frustration, and it encourages him to argue further. You want to let you child see that you are firm in your decision.

You want your kids to grow up strong and smart. You want them to be well-behaved people and make proper choices. All of that begins with showing them what it is to be a good person and a loving parent. Hopefully, you have gained a few ideas on how you can accomplish that from this article.

As you can see, there are ways to make the task of parenting or even raising step children a little easier.

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