ParentWonder

I just read about this post on Parent Hacks. If you want to donate some toys to Iraqi children, here’s what you can do — as I quoted from the post:

Edmay Mayers is coming home after a long tour in Iraq with the US Army Corps of Engineers. But two of her comrades have agreed to take over her "duties" as volunteer distributors of toys to Iraqi children there. Michael is a geologist from Buffalo, NY and a 20 year veteran of the Corps. Natalie is an archaeologist from Montana, who also worked to help people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I’ve heard from them both, and they are ready and excited to continue Edmay’s work. So keep those gently-used toys coming, and keep spreading the word!

Edmay left their contact information in the comments of our original post, but here it is, right up front. You may now send toys to:

Michael Fellenz or Natalie Sudman
USACE-GRS
APO-AE
09331

Another option Edmay suggested: Beanies for Baghdad. Donna Ward of Beanies for Baghdad has invited anyone to send donations to her organization as well, and to contact her with any questions (info@beaniesforbaghdad.com). Donna left a comment with more details here.

[via Parent Hacks]
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I go to my mum-in-law’s place for meals often as her place is only 5 minutes walk away from my place. My nephew, Xavier, came over to my mum-in-law’s place on weekends to catch up with his grandma. He would also pop by my place once in a while during those visits.

On past visits, he knew that we have Lego sets in my home. It was given to us as a gift and our one-year-old son is still too young to understand how to play.

4-year-old Xavier came over to visit his grandma again last weekend. I met him during lunch and he requested to go to my place to play Lego sets. I offered to bring the sets over to him as I didn’t want him to mess up my place.

So I walked back to my place and back with the Lego sets after lunch. He was so happy when he saw them that he dived into the sets immediately.

After a while, he encountered problems putting together one of the models that he wished to complete. So he requested me to help him. I was kind of reluctant at the beginning as I was enjoying my afternoon laze on a couch watching TV. But I relented at the end after his repetitive requests.

So I helped him with his construction and completed what he wanted.

An hour later, we decided to go out for a walk. I asked Xavier to keep the Lego sets and many of his toys while I packed up things for my son before we made the move. Like many other kids, Xavier refused. He just wanted to go and leave all his toys behind. I said firmly that he should keep his toys first especially the ones that I just brought for him.

Guess what he said next?

“You also played the toys, why aren’t you keeping the toys too?”

His question infuriated me. I raised my voice at him, “That was rude. Who is the one who wanted to play first? Am I not the one who brought you the toys? On whose request that I played together with you?”

“Go and keep those toys!” I shouted.

He followed my instruction silently. I don’t know whether he understood what I said. Or he just did it out of fear.

I didn’t know how to better explain the situation to Xavier. I was angry because I felt manipulated. How can a four-year-old be so cunning? When I explained what happened to my wife, she didn’t think Xavier did it on purpose. He probably has a faint idea of what fairness is. He had applied it inappropriately. What do you guys think?

Speckypilot, as the name suggests, is a pilot who wears glasses and a father of one child. You can visit his blog at Specky Pilot.
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“But they’re not yours!”

My wife bought a set of pajamas for my son, K. But my elder daughter, J, wanted them instead.

Put it crudely, it’s kind of like forced possession. The pajamas were hijacked when J said, “I want to wear the pajamas!!!”

The triple exclamations mark the unfriendly tone.

She continued, “The pajamas are too big for K. Let me wear them first until he’s big enough for them.”

If this happened some time last year, I’d have used my authority to lecture J by telling her this was not the right thing to do.

If required, screaming and yelling would be applied to a certain extent.

But, guess what, I am a different person now. My resolution is not to instill unpleasant and hostile feelings in my children – towards me.

Instead, my wife and I did the following.

• I hugged her and acknowledged her feelings:

• My wife explained to her that why she didn’t buy for her.

• It’s time to come up with an agreement.

The whole episode ended with peace.

When you happen to be in such a situation, remember to handle it calmly. Don’t lose your cool. Acknowledge the feelings of you child. Listen (with no interruptions) to her point of view. Suggest to her some solutions. Better still, let your child come up with ideas. Reach a consensus and…

Get ready for bed. Night night.

See also:
"The toys are heavy"
Turn Sibling Rivalry Into Healthy Competition
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My friend, Leo Babauta, of Zen Habits and his gang (Collis and Cyan Ta’eed of FreelanceSwitch and FlashDen) are teaming up for a good cause.

They are holding Blog Action Day. A day on which participating bloggers write about the same subject — on October 15th.

The topic for this year is environment.

This is a great idea, indeed.

I have signed up.

And so have many other bloggers. Such as Lifehacker, Web Worker Daily, Lifehack.org, Dumb Little Man, ProBlogger, FreelanceSwitch, Get Rich Slowly, Copyblogger, The Simple Dollar, Scott Young, Chris Garrett, Unclutterer, Wise Bread, Life Learning Today, Natural Family Living, Chief Family Officer, A Mama’s Rant, and many more.

For the latest list of participants, click here. And I urge you to follow suit by signing up.

A little effort makes a big difference. That’s the power of teamwork and it’s your opportunity to give back.