Internettoddler.com is giving away Crayola Art Duffle. This is a wonderful give away to keep moms inspired and kids busy. You can also check their crafts, I get so many craft idea’s from them.

Until later,

My son has been asking for a pet for a while. One of his wishes for Santa was to have a puppy and a cat for Christmas. Now that we are getting close to spring and Nowruz (Persian New Year) he started again, he wants a rabbit or a hamster from Amoo Nowruz (Persian version of Santa, except that he wears green and his beard is not white, because he represents spring)

I have been against having a pet selfishly. I love animals, but I guess for some psychological reason I don’t feel comfortable around them. And as animals have strong sense they are always after me This is very frustrating for me because all my neighbours and most of my son’s preschool friends have pets. Especially because people who have pets think it’s normal to pet an animal, well I can’t. Most of the times I have to explain my problem so they know it’s not their pet, it’s me ???

When I saw my son being so eager to have a pet, I decided to at least do some research and see how I feel about it. The more I read on internet the scarier it got. I had no idea there are so much to do and spend for a pet and so much to read about!! Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: amoo norooz, norooz, pet, preschooler

I always like to do equal for my kids. Except when it comes to food, as my daughter eats less and I don’t give her some of the snacks my son eats. The rest of their lives, I make it as equal as possible. Well it turned out that kids don’t like to be equal, they like to be special.

When I think about it, I felt and feel special because I was the only daughter. I didn’t care if they did equal for my brothers and me, there was and is nobody like me for my parents, and that’s important to me.

I tried to apply this on my kids, show them how special each one of them are. I can’t see the affect of this yet, I guess they are too young to understand it now, specially my daughter. When I hold my son and tell him there is nobody like him for me, and he is very special, he calms down and lets me to hold him for a few minutes. Which is a big deal with him, he never liked to be hugged or held even in his sleep.

I know it’s impossible to do equal for a boy and a girl, as they grow they will have different needs. It is comforting to me knowing that, they will be fine as long as they know how special they are.

Until later,

Well if you are raising siblings you know there is going to be fighting, screaming, and chasing and …
Interestingly the family consultant who held the parent’s night at our preschool was mentioning that fighting is OK.

As per her advice, if there is no blood involved let them fight and figure it out themselves. Don’t give them any kind of attention, negative or positive. Let them know you know of the situation calmly and tell them you are in the other room doing your thing. They are just looking for attention and when they see they can’t get that with fighting, they will stop sooner or later. Make sure to listen and watch them secretly if you can, to prevent any damages. Of course, you have to stop them if you see they are hurting each other.

The other option is that to tell them because you have to protect your ears they have to fight outside. Take their hands and let them in the deck or yard to fight. They will just stop, I tried this

It is amazing, since I started to leave them alone and not getting in the middle to fix things they have a better relationship. They fight and cry but they have more fun moments compare to before.

She also mentioned that if you have to discipline any of them don’t do it when they are in the middle of fight. Let them to cool down, and them calmly explain, or use other subtle similar situations. In the middle of the fight they are fired up and won’t listen to anything you say, positive or negative.

Well it’s an on going battle, I guess they will be fine if we are.

Until later,

Tags: preschooler, Sibling Rivalry, toddlers

The worst feeling for a child is to be compared to his siblings. Remember, every one has individual abilities and gifts. If you are comparing them to make one of them do something you want, it won’t get you anywhere. For example, saying to one “look how good the other one eats”, the only thing you’ve done is to make him feel bad about the other sibling and not eat just in spite of you.

The question is that if one of the siblings does something good and you want to praise him how do you do that so the other one won’t get offended and upset. To praise one without creating comparison you have to make it about the action not the person. Like: wow Sally, you finished your meal, nice done. Instead of look, Sally finished her meal.

I couldn’t imagine how difficult was for my mom raising two boys and a girl. Now that I see my kids and there is only two of them, I remember those days living in my parents house. The three of us wouldn’t stop for minute we were always in each other’s face.

God help me raising my toddlers. They love each other, but they are always in power struggle. I used to compare them incessantly. I can see the affect of those comparisons now that I pay attention. Now I’m more careful to respect their individuality and not compare them even for eating. Raising kids for sure is a hard job.

Until later,

Tags: Sibling Rivalry, toddlers