Life Stuck In Fast Forward
January 31, 2009
the woes of being a parent of an ADHD child…..
Like Curious George discovering new things and fiddling with the old, you go through life. Taking things apart and scattering the pieces here and there. Putting books in the freezer and clothes in the food cabinet. Where the food went, Lord only knows.
You remind me of a living tape recorder,going through life stuck on fast forward in a blur of activity. Trying to accomplish many things at once and completing none without constant reminders and coaxing. Life is full of multi-colored lights and muffled sounds moving way too fast.
You need to slow down some and put life on pause sometime. Savor the things in life and fill your senses. There are things to savor like the smell, texture and beauty of a flower, or observing the life of a busy insect. If you keep your life in order, you would be able to find things, and your room would not look like a tornado hit it.
Maybe you could even put your life on stop now and again and get some rest. Speaking like Mickey Mouse, yet speaking so quickly I need to rewind what you said. Whirling and spinning like Taz and acting like Speedy Gonzales without the accent. Slow down some…and be my little boy today.
Learn To Type Quickly By Using Typing Tutors
January 30, 2009
Learn To Type Quickly By Using Typing Tutors
by: Jacob Surkis
A good typing tutor program can help you learn to type. Typing tutor software usually offer various different methods to learn typing. They include typing lessons, speed typing tests and typing games.
When buying a typing-tutor, make sure that it’s easy to use and navigate, that it has enough different typing-lessons and exercises, and that it offers some great typing games too. Typing-games are great to learn-to-type while having fun, just in case you get bored of regular typing lessons.
Prices for typing tutors run quite low. You can get a great typing tutor for less than 30 bucks. If shipped on a cd - for less than 40 bucks, although you can probably find some for an even lower price.
Typing tutors are available for download and for shipping on a cd. You can also learn to type with online typing tutor services. Access is usually given for a very reasonable monthly membership fee, even below $10, and in one month’s time, you have a good chance to learn the basics of typing. On line typing tutor services offer a whole range of typing lessons, exercises and typing games. You can access the site whenever you want from whatever location you are in, and there’s nothing to download.
Unique and Unusual Baby Names
January 29, 2009
Today one of the biggest trends in naming is choosing a unique name. Those of us who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s undoubtedly knew multiple Jennifers, Amys, Michaels and Johns, and many parents want their child to have a more unusual name. Parents have dusted off old classics, combined names and altered spellings in the hopes of saving their child from the fate of being known throughout their school years as “Amy with a Y” or “Michael R, the one with brown hair.” So how do you find a name that is unique and unusual? Here are some suggestions, along with a few warnings.
1. If you live in the US, look through the top 100 names from the Social Security lists for the past few years to get a sense of what names are currently popular. You may be surprised at just how many children share a name that sounds fresh and unusual to you.
2. Look for unused classics. Literature is a great source of names that were once popular but have since fallen down the charts. Read the names in your family tree or look at Social Security lists from the early 1900’s and you may just fall in love with a forgotten classic.
Birth of a Parent
January 29, 2009
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.
Making Choices
While pregnancy and birth have physiologically been the same since the beginning of time, your options as a pregnant woman today are greater than at any previous time in history. After confirming your pregnancy, your first (and arguably most important) decision to make is choice of caregiver. While traditionally in the U.S., maternal care has been provided through obstetrical physicians and hospital births, there is a growing movement towards the return of low intervention, midwife-assisted births.
Am I Really A Stroller-Monger?
January 28, 2009
I was reading “A Modern Infant Armada”, a humor column in Maclean’s Magazine written by a fellow humor columnist. Writing about it now is a bit like a painter painting another painter or a singer singing about another singer (but it not like a cook cooking another cook.).
David Russell (yes, another humor columnist named David)laughs at his neighbor for parking both cars in the driveway to make room in the garage for four strollers for just one child. I laughed with him. Four strollers for just one baby is ridiculous, right?
However, David Russell becomes a parent himself, a condition that afflicts many unsuspecting homo sapiens, and he concludes that a call to his neighbor is warranted: “I need to see if he can help me get a fleet rate.”
“Traitor!” I cried out. “Stroller monger!”
“Who’s a traitor?” my wife asked as she walked in the room. “And just what is a stroller monger.”
I resisted the obvious answer ? that a stroller monger is somebody who mongs strollers. “David Russell. He says that one stroller is enough for any child, but then he decides to buy an entire fleet.”
Resolutions - setting goals with the family
January 27, 2009
Resolutions - setting goals with the family
by: Ron Kernahan
“Draw a great picture and win a battery-operated fire truck” the T.V. loudly blared. That caught my son’s attention. “That shouldn’t be too hard,” I thought as I began to make a plan of action. I decided to set a goal with my son to get the picture drawn and submitted in two weeks time. My son was ready and raring to go. Or was he?
Although I was sure my son wanted to win a toy fire-truck, I made a mistake when I tried to turn his fun into a goal-setting mission. However, we learned together through the experience and have, since then, been able to set other goals with good results for the whole family.
Here are some things we learned together:
1) Work with your child on the timing :: kids don’t have the same reference of time as we have. I made the mistake of setting a “two week” deadline for my son. He really didn’t understand the time reference anyway. It would have been easier for him if I had simply sat with him a few minutes each day with his drawing in front of him.
Preventing Obesity in Young Children
January 26, 2009
Do you have a young child whose weight or eating habits are out of control? Need some real world help with ‘taming the cookie monster’? Here are some things that worked for our family.
Our daughter, now 14 years old, was plump from birth and thrived happily for her first year on a combination of breast milk and formula. When she was completely weaned and eating only solid foods, however, she began to gain a great deal of weight at an unhealthy rate. This continued for the next year until, on the advice of her pediatrician, we began to modify our daughter’s eating habits. She was barely two years old, but her doctor felt strongly that we should make some changes before her weight became a lifelong problem. The goal was to prevent further weight gain until her height could catch up with her weight, without depriving her of nutrition or having her feel deprived of the comforting aspects of food.
The B Word
January 25, 2009
Former students would probably attest to the fact that few things tried my patience as much as did the statement, "This is boring!" As I reflect back on my many years in the classroom, I can’t help but feel a tad bit sorry for the first kid who made the mistake of uttering those words each year. (It was rare to hear the phrase a second time because most kids vividly recalled my "sermon," and they didn’t want to risk a repeat performance.)
The sermon went something like this. "Nobody is BORED in my classroom. I work hard to plan fun and interesting activities that will allow you to learn. When you finish your work earlier than others, there are many choices of quiet things to do. You may use the book nook, puppet theatre, computer, writing center, art center, or the manipulative math corner. Now please, do NOT let me hear the word "bored" again!"
I suspect that each school year’s first offender felt like Calvin in one of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes cartoons. In the first two frames Calvin is sitting at his school desk looking totally bored, but saying nothing. In the third frame Calvin screams, "BORRRING!" In the final frame Calvin is heading for the Principal’s office muttering, "Yeah, yeah?kill the messenger."
Robeez Shoes ? A Baby Shower Gift That Moms Will Thank You For
January 24, 2009
Robeez shoes help your baby put their best foot forward
If you have a new baby in your life one of the most fashionable and functional products available for your child are Robeez shoes. This terrific line of children’s shoes, created in 1994, has become a popular item for moms and the perfect baby shower gift for moms-to-be. This is no ordinary line of footwear. If you have ever dealt with kid’s shoes you know how easily shoes can fall off or be pulled off. Thanks to a secure, elasticized ankle band this line of baby shoes are not only easy to put on baby’s feet but they do not slip off.
Baby shoes need to be comfortable and reliable
Robeez shoes are machine-washable, genuine leather baby shoes recommended by medical experts to help in the early development of children’s feet. The next best alternative to bare feet these baby shoes allow your child to grip and feel the floor as they learn to walk. Better than baby slippers, these baby shoes are skid resistant and an ideal shoe for toddlers beginning to walk. Available in sizes from newborn up to 4 years of age Robeez has over 70 designs to choose from. Whether fun and funky or stylish and classic there is a design in this line of children’s shoes to suit any taste.
When Parents Disagree
January 24, 2009
Moms and dads, are there times you think that parenting would be easier if you didn’t have to make family decisions? Having a partner that is not in agreement with your parenting ideas or discipline approaches is more than just frustrating. It can be a cause of division in even the best of relationships. Furthermore, how you handle your disagreements will have a direct impact on your relationship with your partner and with your children.
It would be great if every couple agreed on everything but that is an unlikely event. One partner may have been raised in a relaxed environment; another may have been raised in a very strict home. What is acceptable by one partner may be appalling to another. It is important to discuss with your partner what your parenting objectives are. Decide what values are important to both of you. You will find that some things are more important to you than to your partner and vice versa. Here are some steps you can do to work towards resolving parenting disagreements.
1. Discuss your parenting objectives. What is important to both of you? Sit down with your partner and decide what values are most important. Also what areas are not as important?
