How to successfully engage your teenager to get him/her to
talk to you and ,in addition feel free to see you as a confidant.
 
Most teenagers are secretive in their doings. They could be so
for some reasons better known to them.
 
But as a parent you must ensure that you break that silence
the moment it becomes so unbearable to you.
 
It really should be so because you and you teenage child need
to always maintain some form of communication before things
go wrong with him/her to the extent of contemplating suicide
if he/she is not find things around him/her comfortable any
more.
 
You can successfully engage your teenage to get him/her to
talk to you by first creating the necessary atmosphere which
is free of stress and tension.
 
The creation of such environment will make the child lower his/
her guard and see you as a friend with whom he/she could
discuss whatsoever may be agitating his/her mind and even
possibly get a solution to his problems in confidence.
 
Eat together in an eatery away from the common sight of the
home environment which may remind him of the ’slave-master’
relationship with which he/she has come to associate the
house with since he /she was a toddler.
 
The two of you could playfully engage in a sporting activity
which he/she is interested in. Remember, the atmosphere must
be cordial in all respect for you to get the good result you
desire from the exercise which is to get your teenager to talk
to you.
 
Avoid a third party whenever you choose to engage your
teenager in any talk .This is because the involvement of the
third party would make him/her feel ‘caged’, which will make
you lose the opportunity to get to talk to him/her again.
 
Allow for free flow of thought anytime he/she decides to talk
to you. For once choose not to hear his/her manner of
speaking and all other gesticulations that come with.
 
Don’t caution!
 
Remember this is meant to be a free- time when everybody
is free to say things as he/she feels.
 
Enjoy Your Parenting Efforts.
Sikaz

You must inspire your kid to persevere anytime he feels like quitting
what seems to be a difficult assignment for him. You can not afford
to fold your arms when ,after attempting a task, your kid suddenly makes
a u-turn and give up attempting.
 
If you give support to such an effort; if instead of encouraging him to
push on, you nod your head in agreement with the kid’s decision to pack
it all aside and find something else to do, you will be creating a quitter’s
spirit in the kid’s mind.
 
You will be, unwittingly though; telling the kid there is nothing worthy
of any struggle in life. You will also be saying indirectly that he should
never make any serious efforts to achieve whatever he aims to achieve in
life, as it is not worth the struggle.
 
Is that what you really desire for your own kid?
 
I bet, you don’t wish him to be a quitter no matter how tough
the assignment may be!
 
Here are five reasons why you must inspire your kid to persevere in the
time of difficulties:
 

 
    2.  When a kid is adequately taught the true lessons of life, there will be
         nothing  that can make him feel discouraged anytime he is unable to get 
         what he wants at the time he wants it. He will persevere until when he
         attain his goal.
    3.You will be at rest with yourself because the kid has imbibed the true    
       lessons of life from you and not the  wrong ‘teachers’- his peers.
 
    4. There will be less negative peer influence in your kid’s life. This is
        because whatever his mates may try to say, which may be contrary to
        what you had taught him at home, will not have any effects on him. And
        where with will,such shall be little as he will likely caution himself upon
        the realisation of the fault inherent in such decision.
 
      5. You can be sure of a better future for your kid. As long as he has
          imbibed the culture of perseverance at a very young   age, he is likely
         going to continue that way for the rest of his life.
  
      And what else is greater than that?
 
     Enjoy your parenting efforts.
 
            Sikaz

Teenagers are greedy by nature. But their greed could be
curbed.
 
Teenagers are careless about money. To them, money is meant
for spending and not for saving.
 
Most teenagers do not work for the money they spend;
parents give it to them .The most unfortunate aspect is that
they are somehow greedy about money.
 
Parenting teenagers who have become greedy with the
spending of money is not going to be an easy task for a
parent who is determined to succeed in the upbringing of
their children.
 
But there are ways about this problem for a parenting who is
keenly interested in parenting his teenagers successfully.
 
Follow the guideline before to curb your teenager’s greed:
 
Ensure that you tell your teenager about money.
 
Let your child know that one has to struggle to get money
as it does not come with ease.
 
Make your teenager work for the money he would get from
you right there in the house by doing some things you may
have to pay for through some other people.
 
Don’t respond the way your child wants when it comes to
matters concerning money. However, you have to the tactical
with it if you don’t want to be misunderstood.
 
Eventually, you would be in a situation where your teenager
would begin to appreciate your worth and concerns for him
and turn a new leaf to the benefit of all concerned.
 
Enjoy your parenting Efforts.
Sikaz
 
 
 

Toddler discipline could be a big cause of unending
wrangling between couples,if not well handled.

When you are just married you feel your marital
life is a paradise on earth, more so if you have
had a long term courtship as partners.

However, when the young ones begin to come, you
find yourselves seeing things somehow from
different perspectives as a couple unlike the
way it used to be.

Many things are responsible for this part of which
is your individual view about matters of discipline
when it concerns the child.

If you fail to take the necessary caution and
work at it,this may turn out to be your Achilles
heel and really scuttles your well established
marital nest.

In matters of child discipline, many things
need to be considered, if you would want things
to go well as you really craved at the beginning
of your relationship before it cummulated into
marriage.

Toddlers are very intelligent indeed and they
really study us as parents. If you fail to understand
this aspect of your toddler and still regard him/her
as a” little thing” instead of a human being with
his/her own thoughts and reasoning ability, you will
be doing so to your peril.

Since our toddlers study us, it behooves on us to
make sure that the things we do in their presence
are carefully done and with serious caution too.

In matters of discipline of the toddler there
is a need for collaboration by the parents. Even
if you never agree on any other thing as a couple,
please endeavour to agree on this particular one for
the sake of your toddler who may capitalize on your
lack of until of purpose to become a spoilt child in
the end.

Where daddy is seeing his little Tom as a “jewel”
that must be given absolute protection, he may find
it a bit difficult to raise the rod where the toddler
errs.

A misunderstanding may even set in where mummy
chooses to do what she considers to be the right
thing- applying the little rod.

The solution?

Well, you both have to come together as a united force
to be able to achieve the desired success as parents.

Parenting goes beyond the undue show of love without
considering the need for breeding a well disciplined
child that would be a pride to his/her parents, him/her
self and the community as a whole.

From this very moment decide to work as a solid unit,
an indivisible united force that your toddler would not
be able to break and play a game with.

It is possible, it is achievable.Do it for the future
of your beloved toddler.

Enjoy your parenting efforts.

Sikaz

To a new mother the baby’s hard cry could be a source of nervous breakdown.Very irritating, useless,needles  and punishing

But we all know that when a baby chooses to cry hard something must be wrong somewhere which,unfortunately, the baby could not tell by himself.

All babies cry!

They tighten their body muscles as they scream or cry.They draw up their legs, get red faces and wave their arms.

Crying is just about the only means by which the baby could express his discomfort or hunger.

What are the possible causes of constant hard cry in babies?

The following may make a baby cry hard:

1. Hunger: A baby that is hubgry will cry hard for attention.That is how best he knows to express his hunger.Attend to him!

2.  A Wet or Soiled Diaper: This makes the baby irritated an uncomfortable. You should investigate and change his diaper.If you do, your baby will wear a smie on his  toothless mouth .

3.  Need To Be Held: Babies, like the rest of us,crave for closeness, affection and body-hug.If your baby had been left alone in his cot for too long, he will cry hard for your attention when he feels he is missing you.

And don’t be surprised to see him stop crying the moment you pick him     close to your body.But beware  that constant holding,jostling walking the floor and bouncing have its own consequences.

The baby could become a demanding person who must be  held for him to feel happy at any time.So, don’t encourage it for long.

4.  Colic: This may be as a result of cramping although some physicians have argued against this and wondered why the intestines would start cramping during the same period  every day.

5.  Ear Infection:  This makes your baby cry hard indeed. So, get him to the doctor’s place and have his ears carefully examined to determine if that is the cause of  his hard cry.

6.   Urinary Tract Obstruction: It is anothor important cause of hard cry in babies.Try not to overlook it.

7.   Inguinal Hernie: You may notice the presence of hern  if you take your time to examine the baby’s groin.It may be  bulging or swelling groin could travel to his scrotum in no time.Take him to the doctor for a check-up.And the earlier the better for you and the baby.

8.    Overly-Concentrated Food Formula:This can cause irritability and fussiness in the baby.If   you  notice this, try change the baby’s food formula.

You now knowthat your baby’s constant hard cry is not without its reasons or causes.The unfortunate part is that these causes may be somehow difficult to determine for a first time mother.

No matter how you feel, try to examine the baby well to  see if any of the above causes could be the reason for constant hard cry.

Enjoy your parenting! efforts.

Sikaz

Toddlers are prone to being poisoned even right under their own roof.In fact it is a common thing for the toddler to experience some form of poisoning through some of the common items available in their homes.

They explore their environment by mouthing and tasting things because they love to do so as they grow up. They also emulate the adults around them even when they rarely know the meaning or reason behind the behaviour of such adult at any point in time.

It is now known, through research, that toddlers are usually poisoned by items available mostly in their homes. These items include drugs and medications, plants, cosmetics, paints, plants, pesticides, solvents and cleaning products

It is advised that the toddlers should be watched at every point in time especially when the parents seem to be too busy or distracted. Also, if you are visiting a friend ensure that your toddler is always close by and does not leave your sight.

If you follow the steps below, there is every likelihood that your home would be saved from poison and your toddler could begin to see it as a paradise.

*  Store and lock up every toxic substance where your toddler cannot get to touch them.

*  Don’t deceive your toddler by saying that drugs are biscuits just because you will want them to take it. This may backfire in the end because the baby may take the drugs behind you when you are not available to caution them against it.

*  Caution yourself against taking any drug in the presence of your toddler. You must do this because toddlers are by nature imitators. The moment you are not around and they sight the same drug which may not be good fro their age or could be poisonous to them.

*   Make sure the medicine box in which you store your drugs and other medications is locked up with a key to debar your toddler from opening and using the drugs it contains illegally or dangerously.

*  Don’t use any medicine in the dark or in the middle of the night because you may make a mistake in the dispensation of the drugs. Instead, put on the light when you want to use any drug.

*  Always read the prescription on a drug before you ever use it at all.

*  Read the labels on products you want to buy for domestic use at home. In the process of reading, make sure they do not contain any toxin that may cause damage to your toddler and other members of your household.

*  Never be tempted to keep detergents and other cleaning products under the kitchen because your toddler may mistakenly put it in his mouth thinking it is edible since its found in the kitchen.

Poisons are dangerous to our lives and everything must be done to eliminate the possibility of getting them into the hands of your toddler. It could be done if you follow the afore- mentioned sure ways of preventing this gateway to death.

Enjoy yourparenting efforts.

Sikaz

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder(ADHD) are faced with many things which most of their parents do not really understand or may not be able to explain.

Here are some ways by which children with ADHD could stay alert:

1.Let them move around a lot –The truth is that moving around makes the children stay alert and consequently, they would be able to do or complete whatever tasks they are challenged with.

2.Provide them with written instructions – When the ADHD children are made to go through a written instruction about what to do, they are always very alert so long as they have enough space to move about while doing the work.

3. Give them simplied multi-step directions – You see, since they are special, to some extent, the children chould not be left without enough work and another good way to provide the work is to make them simple with  multiple steps.

4.Using poster checklists – When you use poster checklists they would provide some help for the children learn.Just make sure that you don’t overwhelm their memories.

Enjoy your parenting efforts.

Sikaz

Parents have had a lot of troubles agreeing on common ground in child-rearing.

Because most  parents are from different backgrounds, there is always the possibilities that their child -rearing philosophy would also be different.

However,when this occurs, parents can always make efforts to find a common ground to resolve the disagreements over how to raise their children.

The following are ways by which you can find common ground when your child-rearing differ:

* Never disagree while you are with your child.When you argue in front of your child about issues relating to him, he could be upset, confused and guilt-provoked.

* Talk on the matter ahead of time.It is always better for parents to come together and decide how frequent disagreements will be dealth with between them before they even happen.You should always stick to the plan once you have agreed on the conflict-resolution method.

* Divide areas of responsibilities.Each parent will naturally have his/her  area of strength and weakness.So, you should assign each parent those things he/she is strong in.Someone may be in charge of how the child behaves(manner) while the other takes care of diet and health maters.

*Never give your partner a bad name regardless what happens .Doing this can undermine his/her authority in your child’s eyes.

*Learn to compromise .Find a middle ground on the matter at hand.This is possible if you don’t alow your ego to rule you.Compromising does not make you a fool in anyway.

*Sometimes, you should give in without a fight.Some issues don’t deserve any fight at all.Just over lok and keep going as a happy family.

*Learn from each other’s insights.The  thing about life is that we continue to learn till we die.When a parent spends more time with the child,there is a tendency for him/her to either know the best things for the child or he/sh will be too close to be objective.Therefore, you should listen to each other’s opinions with open minds.

Finally, you should both show respect  to each other.None of you loves the child more than the other.

Enjoy your parenting efforts.
Sikaz

The legislators in Minnesota in the state of Minneapolis,U.S.A. are thinking of the ways to help theIr children grow well health wise.

As you are reading this,they have banned smoking in bars.But they still feel it is necessary to bexted this further by banning smoking in vehicles whenever children are present. The lawmakers say “it only makes sense to outlaw smoking in vehicles when children are present”.
Enjoy the rest of the report:

A Senate committee approved the bill Wednesday after a doctor and an 11-year-old asthma sufferer testified that children are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke in a car.

Sen. Sandy Pappas, a Democrat from St. Paul, says her bill isn’t meant to catch parents in the act. Instead, she says having a law will help educate people about the potential health hazards.

The bill would make the violation a secondary offense, meaning a law enforcement officer would first need another reason to pull over a motorist.

One person testified against the bill, saying it was another example of government trying to trample on people’s rights.

My Question:

What is your personal opinion on this matter?

Enjoy your parenting efforts.

Sikaz

Time management is essential for every mother this is because most mothers are so pressed up that they hardly have the time for themselves between caring for their babies and the house.

It is true that a worker needs atime off to be effective at his job.That also goes for a mother too when we consider the emotional and physical challenges they go through in their daily activities.

Mothers need to manage their time well to their own personal advantage.They deserve a break.

Mothers should not care for their children so much to the exclusion of other pursuits and pleasures that would benefit them

You should avoid being resentful and burnt out as a result of the care for your children.This does not make you a better parent than your neighbour in the end.

Learn to slow down and spend fewer hours for things concerning yourself while caring for your children .

Share your responsibilities with your partner or someone else  who is interested and dependable. The person could be a friend ,relation or a paid worker.

Once your baby is sleeping, relax yourself and do something that makes you feel happy.You could have a nap or a long bath.You couldread a good book that you have been cravingfor  or watch a good movie.

You are worth every litlle time you spend on yourself.

This would make you a better parent who is not stressed up or burnt out.

Every mother who gives time management a thought would not reget being a parent at all.

Enjoy your parenting efforts.

Sikaz.