Your Child's Journey

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Tantrum Tamers

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This month I had some questions about temper tantrums or meltdowns. I found this article from Parenting Magazine, but couldn’t find a link for others to read it. It seemed to hit most of the points I’ve found in other places, so I’m going to quote it.

Overview of Tantrums
Little kids sure can create big scenes! No matter how sweet your child is or how good a parent you are, meltdowns are a fact of toddler life. So try to remember that your child’s tantrums aren’t a reflection of your parenting skills: They simply mean you’ve got a frustrated little kid on your hands. Here’s how to handle them without losing your cool.

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Sibling Rivalry

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Quarreling and fighting among siblings is a perennial problem. Every mom of two or more kids faces it. Remember Joseph and his brothers in Genesis? Even Fairy Tales like Cinderella talk about sibling rivalry. We hope to make this an on-going discussion. Why not share your examples, strategies, and resources for other moms facing the dreaded Sibling Rivalry?

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Baby Signing

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Have you heard about baby sign language? Have you tried any signs with your baby?

I’ve been doing some research on sign language for babies and am intrigued by what I’ve read.

Babies desire to communicate their needs and wants, yet they lack the ability to do so clearly because the production of speech lags behind cognitive ability in the first months and years of life.

Speaking involves so many complicated skills. Babies must learn proper placement of the tongue, how to form the lips, to use the nasal passages, to control the vocal chords, and how to regulate their breath. All of this besides associating certain words with their meaning.

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Classic Meltdown

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James was meeting his brother Chris for coffee at the mall, so I gamely decided to attempt taking both boys to the Pak N Save supermarket by myself for the first time. First mistake. Imagine 4:30 on Friday afternoon at the most popular supermarket in the most popular mall in Christchurch. What was I thinking!?!?

James dropped me off and helped me put Will in the cart while I optimistically strapped Ben into the front pack– second mistake. I will never again ask my body to grocery shop with a 10 pound weight strapped to my front. (I naively thought it would only take half an hour!)

Apart from struggling to make decisions and focus on the task with Will interrupting all the time, I did pretty well. I did stretch Will’s patience though, and by the time we got to the checkout he had had it with sitting in the cart. So while I packed the groceries I lifted him out and let him ride the toys at the front “for a treat for being so good”. Third mistake. Never un-contain a rather large and strong, safely contained toddler in a public place unless you are supremely confident of being able to re-contain him.

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Getting Toddlers to Eat

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Moms worry about how to get their toddler to eat. Let’s brainstorm and share success stories this month about getting our children to eat.

Now some of you have no problem getting your child to fill up on one certain food. But what can you do to get variety in their diet?

What kinds of foods are easy to prepare, nutritious, and appealing to kids?

Here are some resources that may help you to get your toddler eating healthier foods:

1. Suggestions for getting toddlers to eat
2. Baby Center has a great resource for getting specific nutrients into a child’s diet.
3. Finger Food Chart
4. Parent’s Magazine published 10 tips for sneaking in vegies.