What not to do while being an Effective Parent? | 3Cs to avoid being an effective parent | #BlogChatterA2Z

By snehalata April 3, 2021

3Cs to Avoid in Parenting

We are here again with our A to Z challenge with #BlogChatterA2Z. It’s time to reveal another article which starts from C.

Since, I have told in the past two articles that what to do to be an effective parent, here I am sharing the C, to tell you what not to do if you want to enhance your parenting skills.

So, you might have quite guess the topic 3Cs to avoid for being an effective parent.

Criticize

The studies show that frequently criticizing your kid can make them bully others. Don’t you think sometimes the things we do as parents on our child might have long-lasting consequences? Yeah, it does have, and it can turn out to be the worst. If you criticize your child then stop it now, they feel unloved and they start comparing you with others. Many parents make the mistake of criticizing their child in front of others. Do you think this is the right way?

The right way is to explain to them a reason why certain things are immoral and tell them their consequence. Communicating your thoughts makes your relationship healthier and stronger.

Compare

Comparing your child with others is completely a No-No. Being a parent you need to realize that kids have different abilities, and comparing them can demotivate them and bring their morale down. Your appreciation can make them feel confident and boost their mind in creativity.

Just imagine, don’t you get disappointed when your kids start comparing you with their friend’s parents? Think twice before comparing them with their peers.

Compete

Nowadays, fighting for 1st rank and expecting your child to be number one has become a normal task. But why? Why your kids have to participate in every race?

I have seen parents and maybe you guys might sometimes compete with your kid with their friends, cousins, etc. I really want to know why?

Every child is special and they have different talents. So, don’t ask them to compete with them. Instead, ask them to follow their heart. If someone is good at sports then it is possible that your child will be good at something else. Encourage them for what they are doing.

I hope you will avoid these 3Cs in your parenting journey. I will be coming up with the alphabet ‘D’ which guides you to be an effective parent.

Also Read, 3B’s of Effective Parenting.

PARENTING

3B’s which makes you an effective parent | A to Z Blogging Challenge | #BlogChatterA2Z

By snehalata April 2, 2021

3B’s of Effective Parenting

We are back again with our A to Z blogging challenge by #BlogChatterA2Z. It truly gives me immense pleasure to participate in such challenges. I have been participating for the past 4 years and still not tired to go ahead with it. We have already started up with 3A’s of effective parenting, if you haven’t read it till then make sure to give it a read. Every parent should learn about effective parenting, so here we will start with 3B’s which makes you an effective parent.

You might be guessing that what are the 3B’s make you an effective parent. Aren’t you? No worries! I am here to guide you in everything about effective parenting.

Be Available

The first B tells you about being available for the kids. Our kids notice when we are and when we are not present around them. Be available for your kids not only when they need it, but also when they want to spend some ‘me’ time with you. Remember your kids are always in search of you. Play with them, spend some time, teach good habits, etc. Let your kids know that you are in their vicinity. Being available at the times when they need makes your relationship stronger.

Be Patient

Being impatient with your child can damage your relationship. It actually takes a lot of time to be patient with your kid. Yelling on your kids can worsen your relationship with them. Remember to make them understand calmly and patiently will help you to gain their confidence. This is one of the key lessons of effective parenting. Try to create a good bond with your kids. Don’t Yell! Be patient with your words and actions with your kids.

Believe in Yourself

Sometimes, parents are really scared whether they are handling their kids in a good way or not. Are they good parents? Trust me every parent has such doubts. Believe in yourself, and trust your abilities to be a good parent. Doubting your parenting abilities never makes you an effective parent.

So these are the 3B’s which make you an effective parent. Did you find this blog as a great guide for new parents? If yes, then please share with people who are becoming new parents.

Also, Read 3A’s of Parenting

Stay tuned with A to Z blogging challenge with #BlogChatterA2Z for the complete guide.

PARENTING

3A’s of Parenting | A-Z blogging challenge by #BlogchatterA2Z

By snehalata April 1, 2021

3A’s of Parenting

Hola! We are again back in April with our A-Z blogging challenge by #BlogchatterA2Z. Trust me, it is an extreme pleasure to participate in this challenge for the past 4 years and it excites me every time. Your wait is finally over, and I am coming up with a new theme to this challenge, i.e. A-Z becoming an effective parent. If you are a parent then this blog will be worth it. What are you thinking? This niche is related and close to my heart as every parent should know how effective parenting is important and how it helps you and your child to make a stronger bond.

So, let’s start with alphabet A, Do you know what are the 3A’s of becoming an effective parent? If not they do give a full read to this blog.

Acceptance

Acceptance is the key to open the door to different opportunities. Once we become parents, the acceptance of our child shows how she/he is making parenting effective as we are unlocking the door of possibilities, and finding the new and creative solution to every hurdle. In my opinion, once you start accepting the situation, your whole perspective towards parenting will change. When I started hurdles came around but trust me the situation tremendously changed.

Availability

The availability towards your child might be tough but it is not impossible. You have to take them as a priority, this will help them gain trust and open up to you. Don’t stress! Being a parent makes them believe, no matter what the situation is you will be available with them. This will help your child be more confident. Availability towards my children is the key and being available to them is a sense of identity that makes them conclude that they are secure.

Affirmation

Parents Affirmation is security, praising and encouraging them makes them believe that they are important to you. Make a positive statement every time they do something good, talk about their good traits. Our children have a desire of being loved, they feel valued and loved for what they are. So, affirm their attributes.

There is a whole lot of difference between effective parenting and good parenting. Don’t you agree with it? A loving parenting guide can bring a change not only in parents but as well as children’s life.

Stay tuned for my next blog where I will be revealing the effective parenting techniques which starts from the letter ‘B’

PARENTING

How to Calm Your Child?

By Blogsikka December 3, 2019

How to Calm Your Child?

Nobody likes a cry baby on an airplane, neither do they like them in the theaters. There are several times when people are seeing chit-chatting “Why do they bring their child to such places?” Well, it is only a parent who can understand what it is all about. They need to be quick and sometimes new parents tend to lose their patience too. So, this time on my blog I will be going a little deeper than this on the same topic, “How to calm your child?”

There are a lot of times when your child feels agitated or lose his temper, which might lead to breakdown and end up in expressing his anger in actions rather than just in words. There is a huge bubble we parents are living in, the mistake isn’t all ours, we have been brought up the same way. Whenever our child breaks down into tears what is the first thing we usually say? “Stop it!”, “Go to your room, now!”, instead this is a time when we as parents should be the one to calm them down. This is the time to let them know everything will be fine, all they require this time is to feel connected with you.

Below is a rundown of the tips and tricks, which I have been trying to and have worked upon to a lot of extents that will help you calm your child:

– Stop Adding Up Your Anger on Him/Her

The first and foremost thing is you should not lose your temper when your child is going through the same set of emotions. There will be a time when you might regret your behavior, instead be careful. Whenever your child yelling, throwing things, and crying at the same time you have to take a step back on your anger and calm. Recently we had marriage function ,during haldi I forced angel to go and dance, as other kids were fully enjoying. She did not got up from place. Suddenly my guilt brought anger on her and I started shouting on her. But later I realized that, I was wrong. Its her wish, if she is comfortable, she will dance. Even she started opposing me that I can’t force her to dance and we both calm down with hugs and tears. But I also made her realized that you should also involve yourself and not just sit idol. She too understood and started dancing immediately.

There might be several reasons for the anger –

their insensitive demands
intolerable behavior
emotional breakdown

However, after you have done your part of the job of making them realize their fault you need to teach them to be calm again. And you are the first teacher, therefore, don’t let the temper extend.

– Understand what the child is trying to say

There are innumerable times my child tries to tell me something while she is crying, which irks me sometimes. But I have made sure that instead of getting irritated, I give her a couple of minutes and understand what she is trying to say. This is one of the best tips to be followed. You not just understand what he is trying to say but also teach her where she is wrong and when she is right – indeed a practice for the future!

– Calm her down

It is very important that when your child is angry or went through a breakdown be it for any reason, you need to calm her down. There are times I have seen little ones starting to cry their heart out where they are unable to breathe, well in any of such situations you have to make sure as a responsible parent to let them know that you are there for them, especially to the little ones. A hug with a rub on the back and peck on the cheek will make a huge difference. They will understand the situation in a much better way. I will take the opportunity to say that never leave your child while she is crying, calm her down and talk it out, it is very important and healthy at the same time.

– Follow a zero-tolerance policy

Having mentioned the above points, it surely doesn’t mean that you do not scold your child ever. You as a parent have to teach your child, make her learn the lessons of life, definitely not with a stick but sometimes harsh words. At the tender age, the child is never well-behaved, they are children they are meant to be that way. It is slowly and steadily from you that they learn. Let them know they are wrong when they are at the moment, it might lead to tears and yelling, but tell them then and there. However, after making them know about it you need to hug them and let them know things will be fine followed by “Make sure you won’t repeat this mistake, right?”

It is quite possible that you have not been following such things with your child which may lead you to think you are a bad parent, but no. You are not a bad parent you can always make things right.

Kids in the Kitchen – Cooking Together and Bonding Together

By Blogsikka October 3, 2018

Kids in the Kitchen – Cooking Together and Bonding Together

Children are looking up to their parents since they represent great role models for them. Therefore it’s extremely important to let your child get to know you better and learn from you. After all, a childhood filled with parental love and support is a prerequisite for future healthy relationships and a successful life in general. However, a working parent can’t spend the whole day playing with their children and they must find alternative solutions. Luckily, we have a great suggestion – cooking together. Kids in the kitchen is a unique concept that increases family bonding. Let the fun bonding time begin!

Benefits of family cooking

Cooking with your children is an amazing way to spend some quality time with them. On top of that, it has been shown to have a lot of benefits for their emotional and cognitive development as well. For instance, you can teach them new vocabulary and show them many exotic ingredients and different kitchenware that they have never heard of before. Furthermore, the kitchen is the perfect place to foster teamwork and show your child how every member of your team is equally valuable and that they need to do their part of the job in order for the meal to be a real success. We guarantee you that your children will feel super proud of themselves because they are trusted with an important task such as selecting groceries, measuring ingredients, peeling the veggies or setting the table. Finally, cooking together with your children will give you an opportunity to teach them about cleanliness. They will become aware of how important it is to keep the kitchen clean and the groceries well-organized in order to prevent potential food spoilage or poisoning. So, exercise the concept of kids in the kitchen more often at your homes.

Set some ground rules – safety comes first

Cooking in the kitchen with your children can be extremely fun and educational, but there are some safety guidelines they must follow in order not to harm themselves. For instance, set the ground rules that they can’t play with electrical appliances like beaters, dicers, hot pans and stovetops. Additionally, keep reminding them that washing their hands is paramount before entering the cooking area in order not to get sick afterward. On the other hand, you can allow them to mix and whisk the ingredients in a bowl or use plastic cookie cutters so that they can shape the dough in any way they want to. Lastly, make sure to invest in high-quality cookware like that made by the amazing Anolon which your children will absolutely love to practice cooking with.

Cooking – fun and educational

Who said that you can’t dress up as pirates with your children and prepare a delicious Caribbean-inspired dish? Sounds fun, doesn’t it? If you truly want to turn your kitchen into a kid’s fun room, you can organize themed cooking evenings for your children’s birthdays or an entertaining night at home. For example, you can even create an international cuisine calendar where a certain week or day of the month will be dedicated to various cultures and their food, so your children can learn about them and have a delicious meal as well. Lastly, the more variety you introduce into the kitchen with different spices, recipes and preparation ideas, the more you’ll promote their creativity and development. So, the concept of kids in the kitchen will bring about overall development.

Invite their friends

Once your children are familiar with the kitchen and all the appliances, accessories and utensils, you can let them invite their friends over for a cooking night. By doing so, your children will create fond memories and develop their social skills. However, don’t expect them to start preparing soufflés and crème brûlées just yet. Instead, stick to something simpler like their favorite cookie, pancake or other easy sweets recipes, but let them decorate and even add their own unique ingredients to the mixture. Keep in mind that kids love to show off in front of their friends so it’s important to supervise them during their little cooking project so they can have fun and be creative. This way, you’ll have a chance to get to know their friends better which will help you create a deeper bond with your children as well.

As you can see, it doesn’t take much effort to turn cooking into a wonderful bonding experience between you and your children. All it takes is ensuring that they are using the items in the kitchen safely and that they have enough different cooking activities that will help them be creative. Bon Appétit.

PARENTING

Tips to Follow while Traveling with Kids

By Blogsikka February 5, 2018

Let’s Travel! But What About The Kids?

Any time there are the holidays coming up or a long weekend, what’s the first thing that pops up in our minds? We usually think about taking a vacation, a long one or a quick getaway, whatever our time on hand and our budget permits!But for many couples, those with babies and toddlers, there are a few more factors to be taken into consideration while planning a trip. But yes, it is entirely possible to Traveling with kids and that too, travel smoothly.

Once a trip has been planned, there begins the fun of planning and packing for the trip. What to carry and what not? How much is necessary and how much is enough? As far as children are concerned, of course, priority has to be given to carrying their essentials, especially medicines for them and food items that they absolutely cannot do without. It would be a good idea to throw in sunscreen and hats if you are visiting a hot and sunny place and woolens if you are visiting a cold place. Babies have a lot of paraphernalia but it makes good packing sense to carry only what is absolutely necessary.

Once the packing is done, it’s time to begin the journey! If planned right, the journey can be more fun than the destination! Whether you are traveling with kids by plane, train, bus or car, entertainment for the children needs to be provided. Books, special toys, puzzles, music, even a favorite blanket, all need to be carried that cater to your children’s taste.

What is necessary When Traveling with Kids

Baby wipes, tissues, hand sanitizer and diapers if required are all a “must-carry”. Any food that is carried needs to be the type that will not make a mess if dropped. Water has to be on hand in sufficient quantity and that too in a non-spill bottle or glass!

If traveling with other passengers, parents should try their best to ensure that their children are not a nuisance to other passengers. Every parent can and should ingrain good behavior and a consideration for others in their children. Parents can definitely guide their children not to shout, run around and be a source of annoyance to the other passengers.

Whenever I have traveled, I have on numerous occasions been disturbed by a child howling or shouting and the parents making no effort to control him or her. I’m sure that many of you have had the same experiences as I have.

Once the traveling with kids is out of the way and you arrive at your destination, the fun should continue. Most definitely, your baby or toddler will need some time to settle down in a new environment. Parents, you need to be patient and understanding about this.

Outings and excursions, ideally, need to be planned around the baby’s or toddler’s schedule, i.e. naptimes and meal times should be taken into account. Of course, if that is not practically possible, then parents need to take into account that the child/children might get fussy or cranky at certain times.

What is Parents Responsibility?

That is when a very important issue comes in: support. You are spouses to each other and you are also co-parents to your children. You need to work as a team when it comes to handling your children. Do avoid criticising and blaming each other if the children misbehave or something goes wrong.

Do try to give each other time away from the children for a while. Husbands, take care of the children and let your wives go shopping or to the spa. Wives, handle the children and let your husbands go to play a sport or for male buddies drinking session. Your spouse will love you for this!

Parents, it’s equally important that you use your vacation, however short it is, to reconnect with each other as a couple. Spending time with your spouse in a different environment, i.e. away from home and routine, can have a rejuvenating effect on your marriage.

Do try your best to spend time with each other, without the children. Even if it is just for a short while, try to grab a cup of coffee or a drink together. Talk to each other, bring each other up to date on what is happening in your lives.

It is perfectly natural that young children might fall ill in the course of a holiday. Parents, please do not panic! Administer the relevant medicines that you are carrying to the child that is unwell. Do call up your pediatrician to ensure that you are giving the right dosage and following the correct treatment.

Parents tend to get very anxious when young children are involved. Do remember that children sometimes fall ill when they are exposed to a new environment and experience a change in the air they breathe and the food and water that they consume. It is reassuring to remember that children also recover equally fast.

A vacation can be called a success when you as parents, return from it, happy, contented, charged and with fond memories. If you return from it cranky, irritated and depressed, you need to rethink and rework your vacationing and parenting strategy with your spouse!

So parents, remember that children can be taught to enjoy vacations as much as you. Travelling to new places will serve to give a good exposure and good experiences to your children. Keeping this in mind, let’s get set to plan and enjoy the next getaway. Bon, voyage to you!

This is a Guest Post from Meghasi Bhatt,

Hello, I am Meghasi Bhatt. I started my career as a lawyer but somehow ended up as a teacher and now I have aspirations to write! My first novella Mutiny at Primrose High is available on Amazon and Flipkart and also as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

PARENTING

Organizing Tips | This Will Help To Get Your Child Organized

By snehalata June 6, 2017

Tiny Tots and their Toys

If you’re a mother of an active kid/child who loves to play, we know how cute he/she looks when he plays with his little toys. But what after he’s done playing? The entire house becomes a treasure hunt location for you, while you’re trying to find toys that are all over the place.

Messy Toys for child — Well, I can’t handle it now!

This habit of scattering of toys eventually leads to an unorganized child. You need to teach him the ethics of playing and post-playing activities.

So where do you start?

Firstly, teach them not to scatter toys in the first place. Try giving them a specific location where they can put their toys after playing. Every time the kid throws a toy away, tell him to bring it back and play with it in the given area.
You could also make him/her learn while stacking the toys. All you have to do is bring him a narrow pocket to store all his toys. And make it a habit of storing all the toys inside, scattering free. Simultaneously, teach him to put the less used toys in the back, and the more frequently used ones in the front. This will teach him order and priority.

Never give a kid many new toys at once.

Try giving him a new toy every week, so that he/she learns to play with it first and then moves onto the next one. This way he/she will know the value of each toy and will be surprised every week for a new toy.
It’s a casual approach for parents for bringing toys for their children, always try and bring some toys that help develop their brain and body. You could get them toys that help develop their motor neurons. Motor neurons are the cells in our body which help transfer charge from one body part to another, helping the cells to coordinate with muscles and the brain.

One of the best ways to give your kid new toys every week is by joining a toy library in your city. This is the modern day good parent option that a majority of city parents follow. The library gives your kid a new toy to play every week and replaces it with the old one. They also carry out a lot of research in giving toys to your child, that in-turn saves you the hassle of selection of new toys.

Group plays

If you child is really messy child and doesn’t listen to you, when it comes to organizing his/her own toys, make them play in groups and ask them to compete with each other, so who ever puts up toys first, should be rewarded In an healthy manner. This motivate kids to organize their toys next time when you ask them to play. Recently I made a colorful cupboard for my angel for her toys and school stationery and gave a each colour drawer a name , this has made my daughter more attracted towards going to cupboard taking one toy at a time and keeping it again. I also play with her while organizing toys, so that my work gets easier and she learns to do her work as well.

Also I have bought colorful boxes of different sizes for her crayon, pencils and other stationery, as she is growing she has also realized the importance of keeping it in a place. She herself realized that if I don’t keep things in proper place she won’t get it back.

Always ask your kid to play on play mat rather than on floor. So it become easy for them to pick up small toys or stationery and room gets cleaner fast. For eg you have a guest at home and your kid has spread the whole toy bucket and guest has no space to stand. This would be bit insulting for ourselves, so if you kids toys are on mat, for time being you can take the whole mat to another room to make this room cleaner (kind of hack).

It is always THE BEST option to DONATE the toys that your kid doesn’t like to play.

There are thousands of children that never get to play with toys in their entire childhood. Donating old toys will teach your child the joy of giving and probably you’ll make someone’s day, win-win.

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