Parenting

Balloons are easily available and fun to play with. And they are cheap too! Why not have a game or two with your kids and at the same time foster a closer relationship with them through fun.

Here are the fun ideas you can play with balloons:

1. Static balloons. Rub a balloon with a piece of cloth to create enough static electricity to attract light objects like pieces of paper or hair.

2. Swinging balloons. Hang an inflated balloon on the ceiling with a rope. Let your toddler hit the balloon with hands. To get creative, you can show them to use a toy to hit the balloon (not the sharp ones!). Or you can even carry your child and use their legs to kick it.

3. Catch balloon. This is a simple game. Just throw the balloon to and fro without touching the ground. It’s quite a challenge though for toddlers.

4. A magical moment with balloons. Stun your kids with this trick: deflate a balloon without popping it. Blow up a balloon to its proper size. Tie off the balloon. Stick cellophane tape to the balloon, either side of it or top. Take a needle and pierce through the tape slowly and pull it out slowly.

5. Hide the balloon somewhere in the house. And ask your kids to find it.

6. Balloon rockets. Blow up a balloon and hold it tight at the opening. Then let it go off as a rocket. If you want, you can have a contest with your kids to see whose balloon travels the furthest.

7. Balloon faces. Use a felt tip marker pen to draw a face (smiley) on an inflated balloon. Draw different expressions.

8. Create animal balloons. I mean the long balloons a clown uses. For example, you can create a dog out of a balloon.

9. Popped balloons. Blow up balloons until they pop.

10. Teamwork. Stand face to face with your kid and put the balloon in between your bellies or chests. Without using your hands, move together toward a designated finishing line.

Bonus tip: Balloon balance. Try to balance the balloon on the end of the finger. Keep it in the air. Take turns with your kids. Or do it together and see who can keep it balanced and in the air the longest.

There you go. Get some balloons and let’s get cracking!

Sidenote: If you need to blow up many balloons at one go, say 100 or more, here’s an interesting way to tie up balloons without taking its toll on your fingers.

IMPORTANT: Never let your kids play with balloons when you’re not around. Dispose of deflated and burst balloons to avoid any choking hazards.
[Read more…]

After all these years of writing about attachment parenting on this Web site, it dawned on me a few days ago that we’ve never actually defined the phrase "attachment parenting". This point was reinforced when a new friend of mine commented that he’d read through the articles on this site, but that he still didn’t really get what attachment parenting actually was, even though he agreed completely on what it appeared we were using as our basic approach to parenting.

And so, let us define what we mean when we talk about attachment parenting — a phrase that we didn’t coin, by the way. I think William and Martha Sears, authors of The Attachment Parenting Book, might have come up with it, but in any case, it’s a good name for our general philosophy of parenting!

First off, the main elements of attachment parenting to us are: extended breast feeding, co-sleeping, non-violence towards children, and carrying or otherwise being with babies (especially newborns) every hour of the day. You can tell us attachment parenting types, actually, by the slings we use to tote our babies. 🙂

Underlying these ideas is the basic philosophy that parenting is about really loving each stage of your child’s life, from newborn to toddler, infant to kid, child to teen.

Rather than push newborns into a crib and separate room as fast as possible, attachment parenting folk believe that newborns and babies need to be as close to their parents as possible, even throughout the night. We believe that newborns even learn healthy sleeping and breathing patterns from sleeping close to their parents at night.

We, as well as the other AP parents we know, have had the experience of co-sleeping with a young newborn only to have them stop breathing for an increasingly noticeable period of time. If one of the parents takes a deep breath, in all cases it prompted the baby to breathe again and the breath rhythm was reestablished. Overall, we prefer to cuddle, hold, play with, and generally interact with our little babies as much as possible, day and night.

Pushing children to become independent from the earliest possible age is a definite trend in our society and has been for decades. Attachment parents don’t aspire to have our children become so independent so quickly.

Pushing independence from such a young age also tends to sever the deep attachment a child needs to feel with his or her parents, a connection that forms the foundation of trust and attachment for the rest of his or her life.

I can remember about six years ago a pal of mine telling me proudly how he and his wife had traveled to France for two weeks and that their five and eight year old children didn’t even miss them. He was proud of how independent they were. Me? I was horrified: while I want my kids to be independent and able to live their own young lives, I certainly also want them to miss me, to want to see me and show me what’s important to them every single day, to know that I’m there to protect and love them.

But it’s what we see as this "pushing away" trend that us attachment parenting folk are fighting. Name any element of parenting and I can show you how there’s an element of separation involved. From the shorter and shorter times that women breastfeed to the use of strollers instead of carrying babies, to cribs and separate nurseries at earlier and earlier ages.

We go even further from the mainstream by embracing Waldorf education too, and the anti-media philosophy that is a common underpinning of Waldorf. The truth is that our kids watch some TV (mostly at restaurants) but never in our house. Total TV and movie time, annually, for our kids? Probably 5-10 hours total. But that’s another long posting…

Are there challenges to attachment parenting? Oh yeah, there’s no question that it’s probably a lot more difficult than following the more contemporary parenting approach of TV and video game as babysitter, kids pushed into their own rooms as soon as possible, nannies, au pairs, childcare in lieu of having a parent at home with the children, etc., but for us, at least, this is the path that resonates with our hearts, that illuminates what we’re trying to accomplish on this most important of journeys, the journey to create a whole, responsible, engaged, loving adult.

Or, in our case, three.

Originally published here. Copyright 2007 by Dave Taylor, Apparenting.com
[Read more…]

Many of us plan to have children in our lifetime, some of us plan that time and others of us find the opportunity is presented for us. How do you know when you are ready to become a parent? Some of us are definitely more ready than others! I find it amazing that we go through life having to be trained in everything from our job to driving a vehicle, yet anyone can have a baby without any preparation at all! However, becoming a parent and having what it takes to be a good parent are two entirely different issues.

[Read more…]

Whether it’s a toddler who brings a whole new dimension to leisurely dining, a preschooler who redefines pickiness, or the day-to-day challenge of getting dinner on the table, Ann Douglas offers these solutions to your family’s toughest mealtime challenges.

[Read more…]

When is the best time to teach your children about the value of money? There is no definite time frame but it is always good to start as early as possible. Educating, motivating and empowering children to spend money wisely at a young age would inculcate healthy financial habits. To get your children started on the road to financial responsibility, here are six simple tips.

[Read more…]