Just a few years ago I was a young mom with five little boys under 10. They were lively, loud, competitive, loving, and fun. My life was a mixture of noise and laughter and conflict and exhaustion. The holiday season became a time of emotional overload that was stressful, tiring, sad, and wonderful all at the
Category: Family Tips
Consequences of a visual world
Our ever-more sophisticated technologies and culture have led us to become highly dependent on visual stimulation to maintain our attention. Tell Me More We are very fortunate to live in a highly visual world. Our senses are constantly stimulated and bombarded with visual input. As a result, we have become largely dependent on this input
Navigating Discipline – Tips from a Veteran Sitter
Children are a great passion of mine! At the age of 14, I started working with children as a volunteer teacher’s assistant at a local church. Since then, I’ve observed, been inspired, and studied the way children act and behave. As a babysitter, on-call nanny, and childcare provider, it’s been a pleasure to experience the
Neophobia: the fear of the new
Is your child a picky eater? Well, here’s some reassuring news for frustrated parents: you are not alone. Furthermore, a fear of new foods and a fear of new things in general often go hand-in-hand for many children. Tell Me More Most of us would be surprised to discover that research shows children often require
Bundled babies eat and sleep better
Swaddling coaxes babies to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Tell Me More Swaddling is a technique of wrapping a young baby in a blanket in such a way that the baby’s natural reflexes are suppressed. Midwives and lactation consultants have long advocated swaddling as a means of calming young babies, and now we
Toy labels: consider ager before stage
The age listed on labels of toys and games is often a recommendation based on safety concerns, not developmental suitability. Tell Me More At present, there are simply no global guidelines in place for age recommendations listed on toys with the exception of rules regarding choking hazards for children under three years of age. Recommended-age
Finding a Mentoring Mom
When I was a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) with five little boys, I yearned for an older woman to talk to—someone who had walked the path ahead of me. I had a close relationship with both my mother and mother-in-law, but sometimes I needed a neutral voice to speak to my concerns. My husband and I
The difference between boys and girls – not so great after all
Despite common statements such as “girls speak earlier than boys” when it comes to developmental milestones, there simply is no proven significant difference between genders. Tell Me More Despite this fact, we tend to compare the genders often, with the result that there are many misleading perceptions about differences between the genders. Boys and girls
Pointing to print preps the brain for reading
Years before children actually learn to read, they begin to realize that letters and written text carry meaning. Tell Me More Research has shown that most toddlers and preschool children don’t pay attention to printed text unless they are encouraged to do so by the person reading the book. Simply by pointing to the text
Thinking “outside the box” has roots in early experiences
Like many other skills, creative thinking can be strengthened by early environments. Tell Me More Seeing things from different angles is considered a form of abstract thinking, but it has concrete roots in visual-spatial perception. For example, being able to see an object in two different ways of finding objects hidden in drawings. These skills