|
|
The Editor's Desk - From Beneath the Clutter
Feature Article - Am I Hurting My Child By Staying Home?
What's happening on the discussion boards?
Guest Article - The Theory of Parentivity and Other Equations
Free Offers
Classified Ads
At last the election is here. Go vote!
Ok, so that's a little blunt, but if you can vote you really should. That's just the way I feel about it. You could make a difference.
I hope you all had a great Halloween. Ariel went trick or treating for the first time. She wore a butterfly costume we made for her. Brent assembled it using wire and black cloth, I painted it. Ariel supervised. Actually, she watched me painting and asked for snacks once in a while.
She had her doubts about trick or treating, but did go to several houses before asking to come home. I had Brent take her for that, as I had taken her to her grandparents' homes during the day. She visited all her local grandparents and one elderly neighbor who was just about in tears, she was so happy to see her. It was a great feeling.
Don't forget, you can contribute your articles or tips anytime for consideration. Just use the contact form.
It's something many stay at home moms fear, that they are hurting their child socially by not putting them in daycare or doing a million activities with them from the time they are born. But it's not something you need to worry too much about, so long as your children do get some social time.
Infants, of course, don't really play with each other, so that early in the game there is little to worry about. But as they grow into toddlers, they definitely need to be around other children, even if they don't interact much until they are 2 years old or so.
One thing to remember is that activities don't have to be formal. You don't have to pay for art classes, gymnastics, etc. Just take the kids to the park. Most times there will be other children there for them to interact with if they like. Or they can just run around and play on the playground equipment.
Especially if there are cousins or neighborhood children of similar ages around, it can be very helpful to get the kids together just casually. Whether you do this by having all the kids play out front, in one family's back yard or have quick get-togethers, this is a great way to ensure that your child does get some social time.
Of course, if your child has spent a lot of time with just you, it can be hard to get them to pay any attention to the other children. You may have to work harder in this case.
One thing just about all children love to do is color. Go to your local home improvement store and buy a piece of whiteboard. A 4-5 foot long piece will probably run $5 or so. This is big enough that several children can color on it at one time. Get the washable crayons rather than markers and let the kids go at it. They may not be playing together as such, but they're certainly aware of one another and will have to take turns using the different colors. There will be arguments over colors and who colors where, but that just encourages interaction and it is up to you and the other parents to keep it friendly.
You should also take a look at what your child enjoys doing with you that could be done with other children. From playing catch to board games, there are many ways to get young children interested in playing with each other. If your child learns to do something with you, they may be more interested in other kids when they realize that they can do that activity with them as well.
Being a stay at home parent does not mean you are depriving your children socially, but it can mean you have to put some thought into the matter. You can't just stay home all day; you need to take your children out to play where they will encounter other children. You don't have to spend a lot of money on this, just some time.
Stephanie Foster is the owner of Home with the Kids, a resource that knows that there's more to staying home with your family than just business. For more stay at home tips, visit the site at http://www.homewiththekids.com/ and subscribe to the free newsletter.
Add to Your Social Bookmarks:
Del.icio.us
Furl
Reddit
Simpy
Spurl
Y! MyWeb - Netscape
Sharia Law SHOULD be used in Britain, says UK's top judge. in Let's Talk About the Issues - stephfoster, Sat 05-Jul-08 (1 Reply)
Happy 4th of July! in General Chatter - stephfoster, Sat 05-Jul-08 (2 Replies)
Google Has Enough Data To Pull You Out Of A Crowd in General Chatter - stephfoster, Sat 05-Jul-08 (2 Replies)
Snow Being Sold on Ebay in Let's Talk About the Issues - Knight, Sat 05-Jul-08 (5 Replies)
Hussein Executed in Let's Talk About the Issues - snowdog20, Sat 05-Jul-08 (3 Replies)
When my children returned to school in September, I was reminded once again of how quickly time is passing. I had just gotten over the shock of sending my eldest child off to Grade 1, when I suddenly found myself delivering him to school for his first day of Grade 2.
Albert Einstein may have been the first man to scientifically prove that time is not a constant, but I have no doubt that this was something parents suspected for many centuries.
In Einstein’s world of E=mc2 time is a variable that is dependent on how fast you are moving. In a parent’s world, time is a variable that is dependent on the birth of each child. I like to think of the parental equivalent of Einstein’s famous equation as The Theory of Parentivity. To put it simply, the amount of energy it takes to be a parent (E) is based on your loss of memory (m) multiplied by the number of children you have (c).
What this really means is that when you become a parent, your space-time-continuum undergoes a radical shift and your brain has a very hard time keeping up with the speed at which things are now moving. It goes something like this: One day you find out your pregnant, the next your baby is out of diapers, and then your child is off to school. Sure, there’s some stuff in between, but it’s all just a blur of activity.
I have found that the net effect of living in this black hole in time is that my old, reliable brain was replaced by what I refer to as my “mommy brain.” “Where did I put my keys?” or “What did I have for breakfast?” are common refrains. My forgetfulness quickly escalated from the mundane to the momentous as I began forgetting things I swore I would always remember.
All those special moments that mark the different stages in my children’s development just seem to blend into each other and I am simply unable to organize events in chronological order. Which of my children lost their first tooth in Kindergarten? Was my youngest daughter born yet when we went to Disneyland? Who started riding their bike without training wheels at age 4? Given enough time, I can usually come up with the correct answer, but not always.
The upside of all this time shifting is that I feel I have come a long way quickly, and I have attained quasi-expert parenting status in the blink of an eye. I realized I had crossed the bridge from novice to experienced parent when I met a lovely young woman who was a new mom and I had an overwhelming desire to flee from her.
When I was a new mom, I found comfort and support spending time with other new parents. However, once I had my third child, it became increasingly difficult for me to befriend someone who was fresh off the “no children” boat.
I think the reason for this odd reaction can be traced back to one thing: poop. When I was in the throws of my first parenting experience, poop was interesting. I had many conversations with other new parents about the frequency and consistency of our little angels’ bowel movements. I admit I even found it difficult to discuss my child in those early stages without broaching this subject. Once I had changed my one thousandth diaper, however, this topic no longer held the same intrigue.
Meeting up with a new parent now causes a similar reaction to the one I have when looking at my high school yearbook photo. I recognize myself, but I can’t quite believe that it was really me. New parents force me to ask, “Was I that neurotic? Could I really discuss breastfeeding for hours on end? Did I truly get panicky if my child ate a grape with the skin left on?” Of course, I was truly that neurotic and while I find it easy to sympathize with the dilemmas of new parents, it doesn’t mean I want to relive the experience.
While I am no Einstein, I have come up with another equation to explain a different reality of parenting. It can be summed up as PT=S4 or Parenthood multiplied by Time = lots of Stuff.
Before I had children, I could have been mistaken for a minimalist. When I was 18, I traveled around Europe for months with my entire life contained within my backpack. At 22, I moved across the globe to start a new job with a small suitcase of clothes in one hand, and a bag of my favorite books in the other. At 25, my husband and I moved the entire contents of our one-bedroom apartment to our new duplex using only our beat-up Toyota Corolla.
Then my son was born. Before I knew it, I had accumulated more stuff than I had ever thought possible. There was the cradle, the crib, the changing table, the diaper bin, the mobiles, the books, the toys, the clothes, the blankets, the sheets, the coats, the shoes, the boots, the strollers, the car seats, the high chairs, the booster seats, the medications, the swings, the jumpy seats, and the activity centers. And, that is the short list.
Recently, I gave what was left of my early baby gear to my cousin; it took two trips with our minivan just to get it all over to her house. This of course made just enough room in our house for our next round of gear: the bikes, the in-line skates, the soccer balls, the bats, the rackets, the dolls, the skis, the games, the inflatable toys, the nets, etc. Clearly, the only place for minimalism in my life now is my mind.
Clearly, math and science can go a long way in clarifying the workings of the universe, but perhaps the mysteries of parenthood are beyond their domain. In the end, parenthood will always defy logic and can only be explained with four little letters: L-O-V-E.
Lara Shecter combined all her parenting theories in Now and Then - A Scrapbook for School-Aged Children. Divided in 9 vibrantly colored sections, covering Preschool to Grade 7, this simple scrapbook allows busy parents to capture the magic and memories of their child’s school years with minimal time and effort. Visit http://www.bodegabooks.com for more information.
New feature here. You may have to fill out a survey or give out personal information for your freebies, so decide if the offer looks worthwhile to you.
If you offer a freebie, let me know! I will consider it for inclusion here and in the freebie section of the website.
Want to find more free offers? Search here to see if there's a freebie for your needs.
============================================================
The Internet Marketing Center's top rated Affiliate Program
is 100% free to join and gives you the ability to INSTANTLY
GENERATE AN ONGOING STREAM OF INCOME without any cost or
obligation on your part.
To start maximizing the profit-producing power of your web
site in the next 10 minutes, click here and take advantage of the arsenal of Internet marketing
tools they provide you with just for joining!
============================================================
Make bundles of Cash on Google P/T F/T
Let us tell you about people who are doing it and how you
can do it too… It's fast, easy and can be done from home
part or full time (no previous experience necessary).
Click here to start making money on Google.
Site Map - Press Room - Disclaimer - Disclosure
Copyright © 2003-2008 Stephanie Foster unless otherwise indicated
Enter to win a FREE SBI website! Drawing held on the first of each month.
Get a freelance job, work at home and make loads of money. Click here to start. tp://www.ftjcfx.com/ql118xjnbhf024847140214149A7" width="1" height="1" border="0">