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Child’s Speaking Skills

While baby starts growing up, lots of developments start taking place simultaneously. How did you feel when your baby first said Ma or Pa? That must be mighty pleasing to you. We eagerly wait for times when baby starts talking or even muttering innocent words. Parents must focus on how to build speaking skills of the baby. There are several ideas which will help in improving the speaking skills of the baby. The obvious ones are talking to your child, read to him, or even encouraging him to read something aloud to you. Reading children’s book to your child is one of the most basic steps that you should take. Experts recommend this step on a regular basis. In the modern era, most of the parents are working couple and they do not have free time. But parents can always manage some time in a day when they can read as much as they can. Parents should read to the child as often as possible. It is up to the parents how they can make this process interesting. They can read during dinner time or in form of a story. Reading him in night will be really nice. While reading, follow the words with your fingers and try holding the book in a way that both you and kid can look at it properly. Child will learn to read sooner or later but you should just focus on making this process interesting. The idea is to make him familiar with the magical world of words.

Parents should also encourage kid to read aloud. This will increase his ability to read from the text. Finally, try spending a lot of time talking to your kid. Don’t go by child’s understanding level. He will just pick up the words. Try happy talks and it will have long term nice effects.

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Exercises for mothers

Most mothers tend to neglect their health as there is so much multitasking that an Indian mother seems to do these days. She works, takes care of her baby, cooks and fulfills all the social obligations that she has to. And in doing all that, she often neglects her health. End result – they constantly put on and are overweight.

You may have read this a million times but it is surely a million dollar advice anyone can give you as far as weight loss is concerned. Jogging, running and brisk walking are considered to be the best form of exercise for weight loss. Walking or running not only helps to burn stored fat but also burns a large amount of calories. You need to find 30 minutes for yourself under any cost. After all, most mothers forget that there is something called as personal time that you just can’t part with!

For those who seem to get motivated, finally join a gym. In a typical gym, you are doing weight training and cardio exercises which help you with an overall weight loss. These activities prove to be effective ways to lose weight.  Besides, Yoga is also a great form of exercise which helps you to lose weight effectively

Now for those who absolutely don’t have the time to go to a gym or do Yoga, this is something you should definitely try: A couple of simple exercises that can be tried at home (no excuses allowed). Climb up and down your staircase (200 steps) at least 5 – 7 times in a day. Try squats. After enough practice, you can do two to three sets of 20 squats each. Do 2 or 3 sets of 20 pushups. This will build your arm strength and also help you to lose weight especially around your arms. Also try stomach crunches, breathing techniques and other exercises that will help you lose weight and be in shape. Trust me, when you see the results, you will love yourself!

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Christmas Gifts

The first and the foremost tip that most gift givers should realize is that it is not about the money. Gifts are all about thoughts and feelings. Christmas is the time to share the joy and be merry.

Apart from the X-mas tree, Christmas bells and other Christmas Décor which is usually gifted and bought during Christmas, you can give a variety of gifts to your near and dear ones. Children love to be gifted during Christmas. As children are decorating the X-mas tree, Santa Claus comes on its way and distributed gifts to children.

On Christmas and New Year, put small notes, quotes, cards, letters or some words along with your gift. You can either write a poem or make some memories alive again by writing about some cherished moments.

You can also give personalized gifts. For example, if you want to gift a watch, you can get a Xmas tree printed on the dial of the watch or you can also get his/her name emboss on the dial. This will truly delight the person you are gifting. There are lots of other gifts that include Christmas Cannonball Train, kids toys, Christmas gift container, diaries, mugs, card holders etc.

Christmas décor shaped chocolates and sweets are available in the market. They are surely a safe bet when it comes to gifting friends and relatives. You can also give homemade sweets and gifts. There is nothing more special for person than to receive a gift that is made by the giver himself! Homemade gifts always make the person receiving the gift feel warm and nice. This is because the person appreciates the effort that one has put in to make that gift! It is indeed a good and creative idea to make homemade gifts. So go ahead and gift as many as you can this Christmas!

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The Learning Baby

Parents often think of new ideas that could come handy for babies to learn in a faster and effective way. The thing to remember here is a baby is learning all the time. In fact, a baby learns much faster than an adult. Using a simple metaphor, a baby’s mind is like a sponge which is always soaking information and knowledge. A baby uses all her five senses, smell, taste, touch, sight and sound. For a baby, everything is new and exciting so she tries to soak up everything. A human being keeps learning all his life but the rate at which baby learns things is truly phenomenal. During his/her initial days after the birth, a baby grows up in everything right from size, width, emotions and intellect.

It is very important for parents to stimulate baby for better and quick learning. Even your innocent loving gestures can do wonder to baby’s learning process. Parents should focus on establishing strong bond with the baby. In the initial stage it can be done by using your facial expressions. Remember, a baby starts identifying you by your face, voice and touch. You can bring your face closer to the baby and act animated. You can smile, talk, read colourful books and even hold one way communication with your baby.

It is imperative for parents not to have any preconceived notions about baby’s learning. A baby keeps learning new things, growing new ideas and skills. It is the job of parents to find out new ideas that will help baby in quick learning. Keep experimenting with new games, new ways and you will come across several wonderful ideas.

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How to motivate your kids

Motivation can drive you to do the impossible. Every person needs a certain amount of push to accomplish their task and so is the case with kids as well. They need a little motivation to finish their homework, to get up on time, to go to school, to perform better, to achieve preset goals etc. While internal motivation comes from one’s own self while external motivation comes from the environment and in most cases, children do require some form of external motivation. Motivational forces can be negative and/or positive. Sometimes forces such as fear and anger can also drive you to a certain behavior. Positive thinking is generally an action which includes enjoyment and optimism about the tasks that one is doing. Negative motivation on the other hand pushes one to do a task because one fears failure or facing an angry boss if work not completed on time etc. For example, a student studying hard for the exams is intrinsically motivated towards accomplishment of his goal to perform well. On the other hand when a student is motivated by his teacher to study hard for the exams, he is externally motivated. Getting motivated and feeling motivated is important to move and tread on the path of success. In the journey of a student, one experiences all kinds of motivation including loss of motivation at times. It is important to know that negative motivation is equally effective and important as positive motivation.

There are many ways in which parents can bond with children. It is said that the company of inspiring people around your children can be a great source of motivation. Also, reading motivating articles, motivational quotes or listening to motivational talks can pep you and also your children up in a great way.

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Travelling with Baby

Parents who travel with babies on a regular basis face lots of difficulty. It is not an easy task to handle baby and related issues while travelling. Parents need to be very careful while travelling with the baby. They have to take care of certain issues. However, one thing here is quite noticeable and that is if you travel regularly with the baby it starts getting easier next time. Parents should make advance preparation before heading for their destination. One suggestion could be to make a checklist for all the needed stuffs for the travel. Parents should also pack kid’s stuff first before focusing on their own. This will help them in making thorough preparation and later on they could add things if initially they forgot to add. Organising things in advance goes a long way in making journey memorable and hassle free.

Disposable diapers are a must during travel. Its a different matter if baby is at home or parents have washing machine at home. But to make your travelling experience hassle free, they need to take disposable diapers. It can be safely kept in overhead luggage. One other important thing for journey could be baby seat. It can be clipped on to any dining table chair and best of all these baby seats have their own little plates. They come very handy during travel.

Another thing that comes very handy during journey is few packets of damp disposable wipes. It can be used to clean baby’s bottom after potty. This will also save you from resorting to towels and washing cloth wipes during the journey. Many parents prefer to have a roll of cotton as well. Other useful things during journey are medicines, toys and extra clothes. Now you are all set for enjoying your journey with your kiddo.

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apprehensions of a child

When my daughter was asked to perform a skate dance on stage, I said aloud to my hubby, “Will she be able to balance.” What was actually an innocent expression from my end got transferred to my daughter and she started getting apprehensive of the same. Confidence and apprehensions are linked. A child at any age is quite excited and wants to win on stage but at the same time as they grow they understand the finer parts of a competition. Airing our fears must not be done in front of them.

 Owing to lifestyle changes and nuclear family trend, people opt for day care services and the child is apprehensive about going there in the initial days. Most things can be programmed about the child. In the sense, the child can be casually taken to the place and make himself or herself familiar with the environment. Seeing other kids play and be by themselves gets them into an independent mood.

 Many kids find crowds unappealing. The do not mingle with a party environment or again they do not like to participate in games. Outdoors is very much important and going to a park, rocking on the swing is very much an effortless experience for a child. Kids love to be encourage and hence simple things by them can be appreciated. Tell them you love them and yet they need to do a particular thing alone.

 After several practice sessions and repetitions, a child refuses to go on stage. This could be a tint of stage fear or a general attitude that stems from a mood swing. Prepare the child well and if possible draw a picture of the event. Kids relate very well to pictorial representations. Hence I drew the stage show performance of the skate dance and my daughter is very much excited about the same. Actually they just need to know that their care givers or parents are watching and cheering them.

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Name Game

Parents focus a lot on keeping wonderful names for kids. In fact, the trend has taken a definite change last some time. During earlier eras, parents were not that conscious about naming child. It could be anything that comes easily to the tongue or based after some movie stars or mythological characters. Now a day, parents are more conscious about according different and beautiful names to their kids. Names must be different and unique and that’s what parents focus on these days. Parents cannot do much about appearances of the kid but they definitely have the power of assigning wonderful names to the kids.

The problem also arises when siblings have different looks. One might be very beautiful whereas other may be just normal. That may often lead to complexity factor or in fact, one child has high chances of developing inferiority complex. Family members or even neighbours often indulge in comparing siblings based on different parameters. That is not a healthy sign and yet it is hard to stop others.

Getting compliments on name is a common sight. This is one aspect where parents can be more conscious. They can’t do much in regards to looks or comments made by others but they can definitely focus on assigning names that can give the child high self-esteem. It has been observed that good names often lead to better sense of self in the kid. Agreed, it is not the only factor. There can be other factors as well like looks, academics, intelligence, extra-curricular but yes, name is also one of them. While choosing the name of the child, be careful and put adequate efforts. People have the tendencies of asking meaning of the name and in the long run it matters a lot. Your child will also feel proud of his name. Make sure you as well as your kid knows the meaning of the name.

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Healthy biscuits for kids

Most kids love biscuits. Cream biscuits, sugar biscuits, chocolate biscuits, jelly biscuits are something that most children just can’t resist! However, these biscuits can cause cold and cough apart from the fine flour sticking in their stomach and the high sugar content that affects their teeth and also increases weight. Hence, wheat biscuits have always been a healthy option as compared to biscuits made of fine flour. Parents are really getting health conscious and bakery products are taking a back seat in most homes. Instead healthy bakery items are being introduced to children so that they can relish the taste at the same time the wholesomeness in the biscuit makes kids remain fit and healthy. Healthy bakery products like whole wheat bread, high fiber bread, low fat and high protein biscuits etc are on the rise. Wheat biscuits are especially very good for children because they are healthy and filling. Mothers and even fathers can make wheat biscuits at home using simple recipes. The basic recipe for whole wheat biscuits remains almost the same but for the different flavors one needs. One can make oat wheat biscuits by adding oat flour to the wheat flour or one can also add different essences like orange, raspberry, vanilla etc for various flavors that one wants in the biscuits.

The following are the ingredients one needs to prepare wheat biscuits: 750 gm of wheat flour, 500 gm sugar, 500 gm makhan (homemade butter) /butter and two teaspoons of cardamom powder. This quantity will make eight servings of the biscuit and the cooking time is forty minutes. All one needs to do is sieve wheat flour, mix the flour, ghee and sugar, blend it in the mixer for a smooth paste. Once you have a smooth paste, take a baking sheet, add little bit of butter and spread it, and sprinkle a little flour on top of it. Add the paste to the baking sheet. Pre-heat the oven to 275c. C. Bake the biscuits for 30 to 35 minutes and the biscuits are ready to eat! So mothers/fathers go ahead and give your children some healthy biscuits to snack on.

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Nutrition for kids

Fruit and vegetables, like milk, is a very useful element in the diet of your kids. Fruits and vegetables are one of the most important sources of nutrition. Parents should ensure that a child’s diet provides healthy supply of vitamins A, C and E. Nutrition fact of fruits and vegetables show that five servings is actually the minimum number of fruits and vegetables to be eaten each day. Parents should encourage the use of green leafy vegetables like spinach, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and fresh fruits like apple, orange, melon, papaya, strawberries, grapes etc in their child’s diet. Rather than giving your child chips and popcorns to munch on, they should increase the use of tasty salads in their meals. Teen boys need about 2,800 calories a day and hence should consume lots servings of fruits and vegetables. Children emulate and usually eat what their parents eat. Hence their parents should eat more fruits and vegetables so that their children will follow. Have fruit and vegetable snacks readily available. Make sure one has fruit and vegetables around for kids to snack on. Parents should cut up fruits and keep them visible in the refrigerator. Keep freshly cut apples, pineapples, watermelon, oranges, lemons etc for children to snack on. Add some chat masala so that your child can savor the taste.

Parents will be surprised to know that one banana and a few strawberries can give your kids as much as energy as one meal. Fruits contain a substantial amount of fibers which help our body in easy digestion. The water percentage of fruit (80%) is higher than other processed foods and thus it helps our body to retain the water percentage that our body needs. Hence make sure your kids develop a habit of eating enough fruits and vegetables because such good habits instilled at an early age will go a long way in maintaining your child’s health.

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