"Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well." -Josh Billings
If parents want to be able to make best use of time with their children, then it is crucial for a parent to start becoming alert to the state that their children are in. Tired? Satisfied? Bored? His shoe hurts him? She has a stomachache from the spaghetti? And so on....This applies particularly during the time that children are playing with toys. They want to be happy. And you want them to be happy too..
Here's one way of looking at it: it's a bit like dealing with a baby. Your baby cries. So you figure, usually and probably it's one of four things. One, the baby is hungry. Two, the baby needs a diaper change.Three, the baby is tired. Or four, the baby wants to be held. You would probably test each of these out to see if the baby will stop crying. What's happening here is a continual process of trying to figure out and be sensitive to the the baby's needs. Right? So we are dealing with a sensitivity to the child, and a willingness to experiment to find out exactly what the baby needs. Once the thing is done (for example, changed a dirty diaper and put on a clean one) and the baby stops crying, and is now smiling and gurgling, you think: "Bingo! I did the right thing there!".
So the checklist is a key to a parent's success, because it provides the parent with the various possibilities of dealing with a baby's (or child's) needs.
As babies turn into toddlers who turn into pre-schoolers who turn into kids (and so on), their needs naturally get more sophisticated. In order to keep up with their kids, parents need to increase their checklist. Not only that, but to change the checklist as the kids grow, as some needs get taken off the list and others get put on. So it helps to start off with this idea of a checklist for each of your children. It can be simply a mental checklist. For those who are more organized, they can write it down.
An example of a checklist for a 6 year old can be:
1)Parents
2)Food
3)Friends
4)Clothes
5)Sleep/Fatigue
6)Homework
7)Entertainment
8)Siblings & Family (relationships)
For each of these items you can ask yourself- is my child happy and fulfilled in these areas? What areas does the child need help in? It would be difficult for them to be having fun playing if they have problems elsewhere.
In dealing with each of these items, here's an example of dealing with a checklist item: Energy Levels/Fatigue: Let's take a closer look at this. Children naturally have routines during the day. Wake-up, get dressed, breakfast, school, after-school activities, suppertime, homework, evening snack, bedtime. Yet you cannot expect children to have the same energy level in the afternoon after a long day of school/play as they would have in the morning when they are fresh from a full night of sleep. Many experienced parents know that when children are tired, especially little children, they just do not function as well in being able to do activities, in listening to their parents, or even at times to behave normally (!!). So this is a good item for the checklist: How tired is your child?
"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see." John Burroughs
For parents, the same can apply for the time spent with their children! Parents who want to get the most out of being able to build relationships with their children should consider (as difficult as it is) to schedule their day around the times that children have high energy levels.
An example of a good time to be with the children is after supper. Often children are well-fed, and the time spent sitting at the dinner table allows them to recharge their batteries. They are refreshed and well-fed and ready for some evening activity.
The time that is well-spent with children is like depositing a lot of value into a bank account of love and trust with your child. And what could be more valuable than that?
"Life is half spent before we know what it is." George Herbert
Joseph Browns (http://www.home-educational-toys.com) wants to share his experiences and expertise in how parents can find valuable opportunities for quality time with children to acquire priceless family memories. A total environment approach is taken, dealing with issues like educational toys, parent-child relationships, environmental + interior design, health, communication skills, and child education.
limo prices to midway Crystal Lake west of Randal .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HarePlus size children and overweight children need patterns and clothing... Read More
Every school year parents and students dutifully trudge through the... Read More
We know that you want your little guy or gal... Read More
The initial state of happiness about an own child is... Read More
Child Party Planning Guideline #1)Pick the ThemeYour child is going... Read More
Be aware. You may become totally overwhelmed when you get... Read More
1. They can make mistakes under your guidance2. They will... Read More
Now is an excellent time to have your child's vision... Read More
It's that time again! Parent-teacher conferences are coming. Are you... Read More
What a dreamer I am when thinking about parenthood. Most... Read More
We all want to comfort our children after they suffer... Read More
My son is 6 yrs old. He came home the... Read More
It's been raining for a week and the kids and... Read More
"To educate a person in mind and not in morals... Read More
Chaim Ginott was a schoolteacher whose ideas and observations helped... Read More
The back-to-school shopping is done. Brand new pencils, colored markers,... Read More
Reading is the most important skill that a child must... Read More
Well first off, please to don't institute the ? hour... Read More
Graphology for Child development.:- Graphology is the science of understanding... Read More
What is Happening in the brain of children, teens, and... Read More
4 traps to avoidTrap 1 - Parents need to realize... Read More
One of the biggest milestones in our children's education is... Read More
Kitchens are where everything happens. It's not just where meals... Read More
Single parenting has seemingly become an acceptable norm which is... Read More
Tripping over the shoes and toys that seem to clutter... Read More
taxi o'hare Auburn ..Time devoted the better part of an issue to it.... Read More
Parental Alienation Syndrome was probably first identified and codified by... Read More
I still remember the scene vividly. I was getting out... Read More
Maryann is so focused she's blind. She's slipped over the... Read More
Get into their world. The world that teens are growing... Read More
Do you feel like someone has abducted your sweet, innocent... Read More
How excited do kids get with the start of school... Read More
We all scream for ice cream. Or, we don't, at... Read More
I have always found the notion of toilet training a... Read More
You can learn a lot from children.The best part of... Read More
One of the most powerful tools that parents have for... Read More
There are many parenting styles. Yours may be very different... Read More
Hope, excitement and anxiety all wrapped up in fresh haircuts... Read More
Here's some of the bad news about sedentary lifestyles:? Forty... Read More
How in the world do you get your child to... Read More
Parents are always looking for ways to open up the... Read More
Karen, a single never-married thirty-year old attorney has a four-year... Read More
"Family Matters" was the headline that caught my attention in... Read More
At age seven months in the womb, humans begin language... Read More
A common problem many times facing parents is Colic. Estimates... Read More
Life is funny.My twenty-year-old daughter, Melanie, has a her new... Read More
Home, home on the range, Where never is heard A... Read More
Pool safety should be on the minds of every parent... Read More
Many parental units are not "techies" and openly admit they... Read More
"Not another meeting!"That tends to be the reaction from many... Read More
Parenting |