PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

I know I may be too young to really give advice, but I've had some experiance, and I'm good at problems solving, plus I like doing this kind of thing ... And with that, let's start ...



A couple of notes about kids, kids love to feel important. We all love knowing some one needs us, or desires us to do something for them, kids are no exception. One thing that can help kids feel important, and might help them behave better, is get a small bag for them to carry at the store. When you go to the grossery store, depending on the age of the child, have them help you out, let them hold the bread, or a few yogarts in a bag, make them think that they are mommy or daddy's special little helper ... make sure the item is apropriate for their size, you don't want to over whelm them, but you do want them to feel "Wow, I'm helping ____ s/he is counting on me" you'll be surprised how much easier it is to keep the child close to you if they think they are part of the shopping experiance.



I know some people who see this might think "I bet this person doesn't even have kids, why should I listen to them?" well you'ld be correct, I don't have kids of my own yet, but I have worked in places with kids and I've seen what works, that's what is leeding me to write this. Sure I could try and make a huge book on "Kids and you, a better understanding of your child's behavior" but who wants another stuffy large worded, long winded novle about theripy and clinical studdies?



For younger kids, especially ones who are at the grabbing age where everything is a toy, keys work great, but try adding a little color, kids get bored easy with things. Go out to one of those odd little stores and look for Lanyards, get 4-5 of the most colorful and exciting ones you can find, 6-10 inches long work best, and then try keeping 1 or 2 on your key chain. When you need to distract the child pull out this "special toy" and let them fiddle with it, just remember though. IF IT IS SMALL ENOUGH TO FIT IN A TOILET PAPER TUBE A CHILD CAN CHOKE ON IT!!! so don't let them use it unattended ... One thing you need to do though, is make it a 'special toy' not something they have every time you are going out, but something they get once in a while as a reward for behaving. Having a few toys like this will help give rewards...



By now some out there are thinking "Are you trying to help us with our kids, or tell us how to train a puppy" well, it's kinda the same thing. With a puppy, if you do things right, you reward it when it's good, and you scold it when it's naughty, but you also show it a correct way of doing it. Hitting never accomplished anything with puppies or young kids, fear is NOT a good teacher when it comes to parenting. If a child fears you when younger as the child gets older they might be scared to come to you if they really need help.



Punishments should suit the AGE of the child NOT the crime when kids are younger. A child of 4 or 5 is not going to understand the difference between ... breaking a picture and say, flooding the bathroom ... When you SEE them do it you can tell them that it's not a good thing to do, then tell them what they should do, like you need to be more careful. On adverage 1-2 minutes per year old the child is is the normal attention span, some have more, some have less, using this that means if you sit a kid who is 6 down for half an hour, they might think about what they did wrong for 5-10 minutes, then they start thinking "Man, mom and dad are really mean, this is so boring, I hate them, why don't they love me. They always are so mean to me". they might never say that, but they are likely thinking it. A good spot for a child is in the bathroom, as long as you have very few items there. Sit them on the toilet facing the wall and tell them "You need to stay here for (5) minutes and think about what happened. You were playing inside and broke something, you might have been hurt and we would be sad if you got hurt, that's why we don't play like that inside" When the child finishes the 'time out' give him or her a hug and tell them they did a good job behaving in time out.



One last thing. . . Kids have a hard time dealing with this, I should know, I'm still one on the inside. If you promiss a child something, make sure they understand what is expected of them. Don't say "If you're good in the store you'll get a reward" try "If you are on your best behavior and stay with (mommy, daddy, grandma ...) You can pick out one (hold up 1 finger to visually reinforce the idea) small candy (toy, book, ect) when we reach the check stand" make sure they nod and understand. If need be ask them "Do you know what 'best behavior means'?" and have them tell you, something like this usually "it means no fussing in the cart, no crying, no grabbing items and using inside voice" of coarse it changes from parent to parent and caretaker to caretaker, but the idea is the same. Once a child has recieved the reward, do not take it back just because the kid acted up in the parking lot, or got excited ... doing that makes you look like "A big fat lyer" (as kids would say) remember, most parents tell kids to "Always tell the truth" so leed by example.



One fast recipe

Ingeedients ::

1 semi green banana

4 lg ripe strawberries

8 oz. milk (plain milk, use soy, lactos free, or non dairy if need be)

2-3 lg Tbls Chocolate Syrup -OR- 1 scoop SlimFast Creamy Milk Chocolate Powder

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Cut banana and strawberries into chunks, add with milk in blender and chocolate of choice, mix well.



This is a very healthy drink, good sorce of calcium, potasium and vitumin C. If you use the SlimFast it'll add a lot of extra Vits and Minerals.