As a mother you may be expending a lot of energy on your
kids to the extent that you don’t seem to be having enough
time for your husband.

Have you taken your time to study the situation around you
in recent time?

Is your husband satisfied with you even as you don’t seem
to be having enough time for him unlike you were doing before
the arrival of the kids?

Check your marital life occasionally to seem that nothing you are
doing to the kids is affecting your relationship with your husband.

I have experienced a situation that a father began to be jealous of
his own kids simply because their mother concentrated more of her
time to the nursing of the kids than the time she had for him.

I must warn you that you need to balance your time between the your
husband and your kids. If you can’t do this simple time management
then you better prepare yourself for the inevitable consequences at
the end of the day.

Your marriage should not suffer because your time is devoted much
more to your kid.

You must remember that your man was always there with you before
the coming of your kids and he would always be there with you when
the kids have grown and are ready to leave home to establish their
own families elsewhere.

Your future with your husband is only guaranteed now if you maintain
a loving relationship with him as you do with your kids.

The truth is that you can maintain that balance, if you really want to.
But not everybody can do so.

Give this a deep thought and see if you could work it out pretty good.

Enjoy your parenting efforts.
Sikaz.

Being a good mother goes beyond giving birth to your own baby biologically.

There are many mothers out there who are not worthy of the name “mother” in the real sense of the word.

Mothers come in different shapes and manners across race,ethnicity or religious leaning. But being a good mother is universally acceptable as the best thing to being called a mother indeed.

It is therefore very essential that a person who is aspiring to give birth to her own babies  should learn to be a good mother to such a baby.

The following are tips that will make you a good mother, provided you do them.

* Be there for your children by providing there physical, emotional and financial needs at all  times.

* Provide avenue for your children to tell you whatever is bothering them.

* Be supportive to your children and inculcate good values in them.

* Encourage the things that give your children  joy as long as such things are not harmful to them.

* Support those things that will make them fulfill their dreams in life.

* Be approachable, you will never regret being so.

* Give your children reason to be confident that their mother will treat them well.

* Create a way to make your children express themselves irrespective of what it is they have to talk about.

* Love your children unconditionally.

* Be there for your children and never allow your devotion to your work be detrimental to the care of your children.

* Discipline your children where there is the need for it. But you must discipline in love.

Enjoy your parenting efforts.

Sikaz

Let not your spirit be weary teaching your child the right values!

You’re tired of repeating yourself over and over again, aren’t you?

Sure! Every reasonable person will…

We get worked up when we’re made to sound like a crack disc; repeating the same instruction to our children every time.

It’s disheartening that children seem to be somewhat carefree in their attitude to parental instruction. But you need not let them wear you out.

Most times you will need to repeat yourself while telling your child the end for personal hygiene; as they don’t see any reason why they should keep their clothes clean and change them when they are soiled.

Bathing and brushing of teeth every morning and night, is probably not his concern except if you press hard to make it happen.

Have you, at anytime, sat down to find out the reason behind this behaviour?

Why is your child ‘hurting’ you so much and making you to get exasperated repeating the same instruction several times?

It could be either of these two reasons:
(a) Forgetfulness; and
(b) Deliberate attempt to disobey.

Because children’s minds are filled with so many ideas about leisure activities, they find it hard to remember our instructions on values. Those things are not programmed into their to-do memory.

You might have offended your child without knowing it; he feels the only way to get back at you will be to deliberately turn down your instruction and make you yell at him.

You yell…

Consequently, you hurt yourself in the process; and he feels delighted doing it.

There is a remedy!

1. See your child as an individual who has a mind of his own.

2. Don’t keep quiet; you don’t have to. But don’t yell at him. Keep talking.

3. Keep teaching him the value of integrity, hard work, fear of God, and respect for constituted authority.

4. You must open the communication line between you and your child. Until the message sinks in his mind, your job is not done yet.

5. Listen to what he has to say.You’re the parent, and so what?You’ve got to put an end to being dogmatic and don’t take every matter seriously.

6. Reach a compromise by sparing time to engage your child in useful no-hold-bared discussion. And listen carefully!

That is the trick…you’ve got to listen, if you want to have p-e-a-c-e !

Pay attention to your child and hear what he is saying as the world is changing.

Believe me, if you do all of the above, your child will always listen to your instructions and obey .He will turn out to be the best of friend you can ever have.

Enjoy your parenting efforts.
Sikaz

A baby walker is used when a child has not developed a
steady ability to walk on his own,but he is already old enough
to sit securely.

It is a good tool in training a baby to walk.However, there is a
need to take the necessary precautions while using the baby
walker in order to prevent your baby from having an aviodable
injury.

The following preventive measures should be taken when
your baby is on a baby walker:

1. The baby walker should be used only on a smooth flat floor
without carpets,door threshold or any form of obstructing
object that may cause the baby walker to tip over while the
baby is using it.

2. There should always be somebody around to oversee how
the baby is using the baby walker in order to prevent an
unforeseeable injury as quickly as it is about to occur.

3. Before putting your baby on his baby walker, try to close
your gate and stair guards securely.

4. Make sure your baby’s walker has at least six wheels and
a wheel which is wider and longer than the normal height of
the seat.

Enjoy your parenting efforts.

Sikaz

Are you a busy dad?

Is your life anything like this:

Commuting to or from work, business travel,scheduled and
unscheduled meetings and attending to files even as you close
the door behind you in your master bedroom?

Most busy dads hardly have time for their children,they work
so hard that they tend to end up unwittingly denying their children
a valuable time which should have been positively used together as
a family.

Well, you don’t need to worry for too long because here you will be
learning how to make maximum impact as a busy dad in the life of
your children.

It is possible to raise the kids you want in the time you have.You
needn’t feel anyway guilty with yourself.

Simply follow these steps and see how much impact you would be
making in the life of your kids as a very busy dad:

* Be involved in your kids’ schooling – Try attend
the child’s”Back-to-School Night” and other activities once in a
while,or even every time since such things don’t happen every day.

* Give your child a few minutes to play together,no matter how   short,everyday before leaving home for work.Your kid will definitely appreciate the few minutes.

* Build relationships with your child’s teachers.Teacher appreciate it and communicate more with parents they have met physically.The consequence is that your child won’t get away with anything because he will surely be reported.

* Plan a trip with your child.There are always some work-free days

that would involve both you and your child.So, while not plan a short trip together?You will be glad you did as your child will forever thank you for it.

* Develop the habit of listening to your child anytime he talks to you. I don’t mean that you should just pretend that you are paying attention while you are not.Deliberately pay serious attention and let your child be convince that you are.

These are just a few of the things you can do to make maximum impact as a busy dad in the life of your children.You need to be fully engaged in the development of your children regardless of how busy you think you are.

Take action right now and see how your parenting life will improve

for the better.

Enjoy your parenting efforts.

Sikaz

As Featured On EzineArticles

You have to provide guidance to your children as a parent.
Where you fail to do this, then you’ve failed in your main
duty as a parent. Nothing you do thereafter would yield the
right result.

No matter how busy you are,you must endeavour to guide your
children to the right path so that they would turn out to be
your joy and good citizens in the nearest future.

Adequate guidance would secure your children against bad
habit, peer pressure and the intrusion of bad gang in their
lives.

Listen…

If you just continue to rare children without the provision
of proper guidance, you will surely end up regretful in the
future. They will first turn against you as they unleash their
“corrupt and poisoned” minds on the society as a whole.

Agreed!

You may be very busy and you may lack enough time to be
around your family. Though it is understandable, it is still
not enough to use this as an alibi for neglecting your
responsibilities of providing guidance as a parent.

Enjoy your poarenting efforts.

Sikaz

My dictionary defines this as “feelings of pride, care and
support for each other… that are shared by members of a
group”.

Where does this become applicable in parenting? You may
ask me.

Well, my answer will be; everywhere. And in every way.

Let’s take another look at the above definition once again.
Does it not mean anything deeper than this ordinary letters
to you?

Don’t you agree that for you to truly succeed as a parent you
should develop the espirit de corps with your partner and
your children?

All of us need to be assured at every point that somebody
somewhere dedicatedly cares for us and we can not
afford to disappoint them.

You should give adequate support and care to members of
your family even if doing so may infringe on your time,
money and other personal interest. That, in the true sense,
is what parenting does to you.

As a parent you need to be proud of your children’s
achievement. And also comfort them in their failed
adventures.

Be careful not to give the impression that you only care
about successful results. This may send a wrong signal to
your children because they won’t accept the truth of life
which is that failure is a stepping stone to success and
so it should be welcomed.

Where your children do not understand this fact, they will
want to do everything (including cheating, bribing, killing
and other diabolic things) to attain success by all means;
just to satisfy your crave for success.

Develop the spirit of togetherness with your children and
your partner.

This is the hallmark of parenting in its entirety.

(This is excerpted from my book: A-Z of Parenting)

Enjoy your parenting efforts.
Sikaz

Cultivate the friendship of your partner and your children.
Where your partner sees him/herself as your friend,
he/she would work in harmony with you to achieve
success in your parenting enterprise.

Take it from me, everybody is needed in this exercise.
Nobody should be left out. It’s just not advisable to
exempt even the smallest ranking person in your
household or family because at the end of the day they
may be the saving grace to your child.

Carry your partner along with you. Let your partner
know what you intend to do and what you are doing in
order to succeed as a parent.

It’s got to be a joint venture!

As parents you have to develop a very strong
relationship and speak in one voice based on the
understanding that if you don’t ,it would eventually
affect your children and lead to total failure in your
parenting duties.

You should also learn to cultivate the friendship of your
child or children. This is vital because when your
children see you as a friend, they will be free to express
themselves to you.

They will not hesitate to tell you about their problems,
feelings and ambition.

They will submit themselves to your pieces of advice at
all times instead of listening to the wrong and
misleading advice of their peers.

You can also consult your children whenever you want
to make any decision concerning the family. Ask them
their individual opinions about what step to take. I can
assure you that they will really surprise you by the time
they make their suggestions.

The problem with us as parents is that we usually
under-estimate they intelligence of our own children,
yet we continue to pray for them to be wise and
knowledgeable while we do not subject their wisdom to
a test even when there are opportunities to do so and
even get a good result in the end.

Where your children have good and better ideas than
your own, please do not rubbish their ideas. Use the
ideas and make your children feel proud of themselves
that after all they are contributing to growth, progress
and development of their family even in their own little
way.

Be friendly with every member of your family in order
for you to succeed in your parenting enterprise.

(This is excerpted from my book: A-Z of Parenting)

Enjoy your parenting efforts.

Sikaz

Choking in toddlers, though a rare occurrence, is seen by medical experts as one of the causes of unintentional death in children.

If parents of toddlers endeavoured to be very careful in the handling of their children there is the possibility of preventing so many harmful thing that may unwittingly cause them sorrows in life through preventable death.

Some everyday objects that we have around us such as safety pins, coins and other tiny metal and plastic toys could lead to choking in toddlers.

These are not the only cause of choking; food is the main reason responsible for death through choking in toddlers.

When your baby is about one year old, you should be careful and seriously watchful as your baby sample new foods on his way to weaning from the breast. This is important in the sense that some tiny but solid foods can cause your child to die contrary to your personal intention.

If you follow this suggestion and take the correct step, you may succeed in preventing sudden death through choking:

Avoid Giving Babies Hard Foods
When your baby is still very young, say around the age of one or thereabout,
Try not to give him hard and smooth foods like groundnuts as they could be
choked up while trying to swallow such food.

I am sure this is definitely not your intention for your baby, is it?

Yet, a baby who is of that age must not be allowed to get near groundnuts
Until perhaps he is about four or more years old.

No Round Food, please!
In as much as you may be eager to see your baby taking his first solid food,
avoid offering round food like carrots, grapes, hard biscuits and meat sticks.

You should do away with the above foods because they can easily lodge in
the baby’s throat.

Cut Food to Pieces
No matter how occupied you may be or how tight your time is, make sure that
you cut or break the hard food you are offering to your baby into small pieces that he can bite. If possible try to marsh the food before giving it to the baby to obviate choke up.

You can see for yourself that it is not difficult to prevent the loss of one’s baby .As long as the precautions are followed.

When you follow the outlined steps, it is certain that your baby will not only
learn to eat hard solid food, but his life would be secured and well protected
from harms.

Enjoy your parenting efforts.

Sikaz

Giving your toddler to a caregiver to take proper care of in your absence is a common everyday occurrence in mothers.

But before you take that final decision to give your beautiful baby to anyone to take care of there are certain things you have to consider if you do not want to regret your decision at the end of the day.

These are the things you should consider before handing your child to any caregiver:

Open Relationship
Is your caregiver a person with whom you can develop an open relationship? Do you truly feel that the person you are considering handling your precious baby to is worth it really? If you feel differently from the above, please reconsider your stand for the sake of your dear toddler.

Relationship with Your Baby
Are you so impressed that this person is the kind that your baby will enjoy staying with? This is important because you will not be around to know what transpires between them.

In another way, does this person enjoy working with children in the real sense of the word and not just for the money derivable from the service? If someone is working for the money and not for the deep interest in the service, there is no way they can deliver the right service as we want it.

Provision of Activities and Materials
Can your caregiver provide the necessary activities, materials and equipments for your toddler to play with and help him/her to learn and grow at the same time?

Knowledge of Basic First Aid
Your caregiver should have the knowledge of basic first aid treatment in order to help out where there is a medical problem from the child. This must be made a priority as there is a risk if the caregiver is lacking in this basic knowledge.

Enough Time for Each Child
The caregiver must be able to give enough time for each of the children in his/her care for things to work out well for your child and for you to benefit fully from the money you are paying the caregiver for the service.

A qualified caregiver should be able to properly care for your baby’s physical needs such as feeding and changing of the diapers.

In addition, he/she must be ready to find time to hold the baby, talk to the baby and play with the baby most of the times as long as the baby is in his/her care.

Provision of a Safe Environment
A safe environment is important for your child’s safety and for this reason; you should ensure that the caregiver you want to give your child to must provide this basic amenity. Actually, this should be of concern most especially when the child has started to crawl and walk.

These are the six main things you have to consider before appointing any caregiver for your dear toddler.

You will agree with me that these are worth considering for the sake of your baby. If you love your baby enough, somebody else should, as much as possible, do the same for your baby in your absence since they shall be earning their pay from your hard-earned money.

Anything short of this should not be considered at all. Do not compromise in matters of baby caregiving, please, for the sake of your baby if truly you love him/her.

Enjoy your parenting efforts.

Sikaz