Nasty Habits

Ever wonder where bad habits start? Whining, using "naughty" words, shrieking, sticking one's tongue out, hitting, and the like often begin by accident. It happens once — a bad word is overheard and repeated — and creates an instant strong reaction in you that makes your child think, "Wow! Let's do that again!" Ignoring minor misdeeds and calmly punishing major ones is the best way to nip unpleasant behavior in the bud.

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I copied the picture and paragraph above from the weekly email I receive from BabyCenter. Lyle is quickly picking up new words and I love it that he's widening his vocabulary. But just like a sponge a child's brain is picking up everything they hear and see. There's no filtering system so what happens is that they'll imitate what they saw and will say whatever thay heard. Hubby had a memorable experience on this =) he just related to me this story because it happened when I was still in Singapore. And I want to also share this piece of story with you, so here it goes.. While hubby was at the kitchen and frying, the oil started to splatter. When one big splatter hit him,  he said "sh*t" and it was loud enough that Lyle heard him. The word had an impact for Lyle that he immediately said the word and hubby heard him said that. Lyle's Uncle Plok who was also there heard him. Hubby decided not to make a big fuss over what happened and just waited to react in case Lyle will repeat saying the word. Lyle didn't get any attention after saying the word and realizing that, he just continue on the things he was doing. Then when Lyle turn around, hubby and Plok laughed =) it was one funny experience for them. Good thing that Lyle didn't repeat saying the word and I haven't heard him saying that again (as of this writing).

Do you also have this kind of experiences? How did you handle it? I would love to hear your story.

How to Encourage Learning at Home

How to Encourage Learning at Home

By Baljit Sadhal

Home is where the heart is, and home is also where the heart of learning is. It is where we grow and flourish as children, and a place we never forget. Home is also the first stage where learning takes place. This article offers parents some tips on how to create a home that promotes and encourages the love of learning.

Making the effort to ensure your home encourages an open and fun attitude towards learning will make a big difference on how your child feels about learning. As a parent your attitude towards learning is vital. Does that mean you turn your home into a library or a class room? Not at all. Making learning FUN in your home can be easy, key items to consider for your home which encourage and foster learning and creativity are:

• Building Blocks
• Puzzles
• Finger Painting
• Drawing
• Play-Doh
• Clay
• Books and Magazines 

Stock up on colorful books, toys, games, pencils, paper, crayons, paint, play-doh. These items are fun to play with but are also helping your child to explore and learn by DOING. Each of these items challenges the mind to be creative and imaginative thus learning as you play.

As a parent your role is to create an ambience of happiness and enthusiasm through your fun-to-learn attitude. This includes showing your acceptance and approval of something your child has worked on. Your praise encourages your child to work harder and the desire to learn more

Nothing can replace sharing your time with your child. Not the best toy, book, movie, or best music....by sharing your time with your child you are telling your child that they are important and thus building their belief in themselves.

For more tips and information about brain building toy products that promote learning and creativity check out http://bestbrainbuildingtoys.com/


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Baljit_Sadhal

A day at UPLB freedom park

Lyle and Lance had a great Sunday afternoon visiting their grandparents in Los Baños, Laguna. Here are some pictures taken by hubby. How I wish I was there. Oh well, I only have to wait for two more weeks and I'll be soon flying back again to Philippines. For now, I'll share with you the joy of viewing these happy, lovely photos!

See how happy they are? They love running around freedom park.

Looks like they are looking for something

Did they find it? Hubby told me they are picking up the grass

Running and playing with cousins Jerick and Jade

This photo is so sweet! Special bonding and connection between big brother & li'l brother

Can you see Lance? He's the little boy at the left following those 3 boys whom he didn't know. Why is he following them? Click the picture to see bigger picture and you'll see that the boy at the right is holding a red C2 (lemon ice tea) bottle. Lance have an obsession with bottles, whenever he see one he wants to take it so he can play with it =)

No child was hurt taking this picture! Don't think that hubby dug up a hole just to get this cute shot of lance ^_^

A leap of faith! He was scared but he still jumped (with eyes closed) knowing that his uncle will be there to catch him.

The grandparents group picture with Lyle just passing by

That's all folks! Thanks for looking =)

Whew! This saved me from my unnecessary worry

I'm so glad I had found this article from BabyCenter. This really helped a lot and knowing that I'm not the only mom undergoing the same situation.

Is it normal that my preschooler pretends that everything is a gun?

Expert Answers
The BabyCenter Editorial Team
Yes. It may be a little unsettling to see your cherubic little guy blasting away at everything in sight like a miniature John Wayne, but this behavior is definitely normal.

"I hear this question quite frequently in my practice, particularly from parents of boys," says pediatrician Ari Brown, co-author of Baby 411 and Toddler 411 and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. It seems there are quite a few mini John Waynes stomping about.

Why do children do this? According to Brown, part of the reason might be that they're mimicking grown-ups. This doesn't mean that these children come from violent homes, however. Images of guns are all around us — on the evening news, for example. Children who pretend to shoot each other may simply be playacting what they see on television.

But we can't chalk it all up to exposure. Even children with limited access to violent images can become enthralled with pretend guns, and experts can't really explain why.

While the behavior is common, there are times when it can get out of hand. Perhaps your child is playing pretend shoot 'em up to the exclusion of other games. If this is the case, you may want to help him branch out.

Brown suggests that you start by thinking about what your child sees and hears. Is the news on during dinner? Is an older brother playing aggressive computer games in the living room? Reducing your child's exposure to these types of things will give him less fodder for his own reenactments.

Along with working to discourage pretend gunplay, Brown suggests parents go a step further and offer suggestions for other types of pretend play. For example, suggest playing "restaurant" and have your child be the waiter, or play "school bus" and your child can be the driver.

"Sometimes offering suggestions to a child who's obsessed with guns will help him start to think outside the box," says Brown. Your little one may be stuck in a gun rut for now, but once he understands the sheer vastness of the make-believe world, he'll probably step out of it.

Article Source:  BabyCenter - Is it normal that my preschooler pretends that everything is a gun?

Organizing my kids' drawer

I just fold my boys shirts the usual way and then stack them in their drawer. The problem with stacking their clothes this way is that you  can't easily find the shirt you are looking for and usually will just pick up whatever is on top.

Today, I'm in the mood to do some organizing work and used the drawer organizer I got from IKEA. I bought these 3 years ago but not realizing how great they are.

Here's how my kids drawer looks like now. See the big difference? I can now easily find what I am looking for =)

I got the idea of folding the shirts, blankets and towels this way from a blog I stumbled upon last month. I'm searching for the site to put the link here but I can no longer find it. I really like what I did and I'm planning to go to IKEA one of these days to check if they still sell these drawer organizers. There are still other piles of clothes waiting to be be organized.

How about you? Are you also having a hard time arranging/organizing your kid's closet/drawer? I would love to hear your ideas and tips on how you keep them organized.