Kids need chores. Chores teach skills necessary for life, responsibility to do what we need to do, to realize everyone in the family participates in making a good home. The earlier you start your children doing chores, the easier it is to continue to habit. Alessia Santoro created a list of chores appropriate for each age group of children.
See Alessia’s list of chores your child is able to do, check out: PopSugar
To download a pdf of the chore list click: Chores by Age
Most modern parents are frustrated that they cannot spend more time with their children. We wonder how we can make the most of the time we do have.
Ellen Mady recently wrote about how she is taking advantage of the time she has with her child. Every evening she asks three questions of her three year old. His answers give her a window into his thoughts, experiences, and feelings. She really listens and responds to what she hears. Her two year old also listens to these conversations and is beginning to be really interested too. Her three questions:
She says, “I want our kids to feel comfortable coming to us later on in their life when they find something challenging, need a shoulder to lean on or just want to share a success. That won’t come out of nowhere. Teaching our children when they are very young that sharing as a family is something good and normal builds a sense of security and trust that will help keep communication pathways open later on.”
Are you going into debt to give gifts? How long will the things you buy satisfy and please your children? What are your children learning through these gifts?
Consider these ideas about gift giving:
My most memorable childhood Christmases were when we brought an orphan girl to share a few days with us during the holiday season. We each made gifts for her as we did for each other. Other years we helped mom shop for food baskets to take to poor families who lived near-by. We often went as a family to visit older family members and took them homemade cookies or other treats we helped to make.
Do your kids ever say they are bored when their room is littered with toys? Maybe they have too many toys. It is not just the gifts you give your kids, but your extended family may give them way too many. Children get overwhelmed if there are too many toys to choose to play with. They also learn to be more grateful for the toys they have when they don’t see so many at one time.
Here are a few ideas to help with this ‘good’ problem:
Why am I sad? I just had a beautiful, healthy baby!
Welcome to the majority of new moms! Where is the blissful joy we expected as the reward for labor? Why do we feel like this is the worst PMS ever?
With delivery go all those wonderful hormones. We’re profoundly exhausted by the birth process. Then comes learning to breast feed (no one told us we would have to learn how!) And, let’s not forget, sleep deprivation from waking to feed our darling every 2-3 hours.
The first two weeks involve profound physical, emotional, social and family changes. This is all normal. To feel sad and irritable is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed by.
What should you do during this time? Ask for help, rest as much as possible, take good care of yourself, and share your feelings. Don’t bottle them up and make yourself feel even more miserable.
Life soon settles down to a new normal, hormones level out, and the worst of the emotional storms are past.
If however, you are among the 10-20% of moms whose baby blues last longer than two weeks and are more intense, you are experiencing postpartum depression. Talk to your OB/Gyn or midwife as soon as possible. There is much that can be done to help you out of this common depression. Don’t delay getting help. These first 2-3 months of your baby’s life are so important for bonding and establishing the foundations of trust in your baby. There is no shame in asking for help.
Read more: Baby Blues and Beyond