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Clean Slates and Fresh StartsPatricia Gatto Hope, excitement and anxiety all wrapped up in fresh haircuts and new clothes. Pens, pencils and notebooks, the smell of a new box of crayons and a brand new book; it all speaks of such promise. Its the first week of school and everyone starts with an "A". Children are on their best behavior as they cautiously gauge their new surrounding. But once those first days fade and familiarity takes shape, the playing ground is no longer even. A pecking order becomes evident as cliques form and personalities emerge. And it is this pecking order that can make children unintentionally cruel to each other. If I could bottle up a time, it would be the first week of school. Every child, for at least those first few days, has a new beginning, a fresh start and is on his or her best behavior. If I could capture the essence that lingers in the air and label it "open when necessary," it would be an invaluable gift. It is easy to overlook the suffering of others, especially when maturity and compassion have not yet developed. But as an adult, if you knew your child was taunting and teasing another classmate, would you ignore the situation and chalk it up to "kids will be kids," or take the time to correct the situation Maybe the little girl in the front row cant concentrate on her schoolwork because her parents are fighting. And the boy in the corner is withdrawn and tired because he spends his nights taking care of an alcoholic parent. Or maybe the overweight girl they laugh at is using food to bury her secrets and sorrows. Although the harsh realities of social injustice are too heavy for a young child to comprehend, it is never too early to encourage empathy and compassion. If your child is quick to tease or judge, remind him that making fun of others is never cool. Ask him to put himself in the other childs shoes and just try to imagine how it would feel if someone made fun of him. Remind your child about the first day of school when the slate was clean and everyone started with an "A". And encourage him to reach out and give his classmate another chance as if he held a magical bottle marked "open when necessary" filled with fresh starts and good behavior.
| RELATED ARTICLES Birth of a Parent So you’re pregnant. Congratulations! Your life is about to change in ways you might find unthinkable and we’re not even talking about the surrender of your once slim waistline to proportions most comparable to that of a Dr. Suess character. Pregnancy is the beginning of a new life for a baby, but also a new life for you as a parent. If this is your first baby, you may be filled with an endless list of questions and concerns. If you’re a veteran of the labor and delivery room, you’ve got a better idea what to expect, yet every pregnancy, like every mother and child, is different. Mindfulness: Youre Soaking In It! Looking for a bit more mindfulness in your daily life Relax. Youre soaking in it! Keeping the Stress out of Single Parenting Researched through personal experience! by Marta Dodd 101 Gift Ideas For All Occasions People have forgotton about the meaning behind gifting, in a consumer driven society we are often pushed towards competing e.g. upstaing gifts and my gifts better than yours. Lets go back to basics, giving is far more rewarding then receiving its much better for your Karma. If someone gives you a list ignore it, the only time a list is applicable is for Weddings where this is a tradition. Gifting is all about imagination, and a little thinking time. For big events like Christmas buy people things they would never buy themselves. Work at Home Jobs and the Internet People with work at home jobs should use the Internet to maximize their businesses. The first necessary Internet tool is a website. You can market and sell just about any product or service via a website. If I Hurt You, Then Im Sorry This statement has stopped many a war in my house.My oldest two children are two years apart in age and would fight about everything and nothing when they were little.One would anger the other and then deny that it ever happened.One would accidentally harm the other during play and not want to accept responsibility for the others anger.Seldom did a day pass by that one of them wasnt screaming at the other for some horrible crime.It never failed when I would be brought in to mediate, theyd both claim they were innocent and the other was bad.How many times did one of them try to convince me that the other was lying and just trying to frame them for a crime they didnt commit.Whats a parent to do Learning To Be Safe With Your Children On The Road NC—According to recent Canadian studies, as many as eight out of 10 child safety seats may be improperly installed in Canadian vehicles. While most parents understand the importance of child safety seats and make sure they have one for their child, the problem comes from a lack of caregiver education when installing them. The 7 Feng Shui Fundamentals for Childrens Bedrooms Math or Magic As someone once said: "Theres an easy way to do something, and an unlimited number of difficult ways". Where Do Your Priorities Fit An expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students when he decided to do an experiment. He pulled out a large mason jar, a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one by one, into the jar. When no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Scorpios Child Scorpios get a lot of bad press. Theyre vindictive, mean, and obsessed with sex. Thats not really fair. Scorpio rules the house of sharing. They are the stewards of sharing money, resources, love, and yes sharing each others bodies. It is their deepest most spiritual need to be completely connected, loved, and sharing from the depth of their soul. Its from this place that they are so easily hurt. Wounded Scorpios are a force to be reckoned with and yes, theyre famously ruthless and cruel. How do you keep your own Scorpio child from becoming obsessive and mean Surviving a C-Section After 42 weeks of pregnancy, two days of undergoing inducement and physical stress on the baby, my daughter was delivered via an emergency C-section. Oh, it was music to my ears when my gynecologist arrived in my hospital room at 4:30 a.m. and told me they were going to do an emergency C-section. I must have been in shock or delirious! However, after going through a traumatic two days, I had had enough and I wanted to meet this precious baby who lived inside of me for 9+ months. The time came and I was wheeled to the operating room, and what a blessed event it was to see my sweet new baby girl! How Parents Can Win the Battle To Keep Your Child Safe From Strangers This Holiday Season When we think of Holiday shopping, we think of all the glowing lights at our area malls and the various eye-catching decorations in shopping centers. Along with distractions with our ‘to do’ list in our heads, we get preoccupied with carrying bags and scoping out gifts. But with all the whirlwinds of diversions, we cannot put our guard down with who is scoping out our own children. A Night Out For Mom & Dad Is your babysitter watching the kids and your k9 family member Graphology - Reveal the Inner Personality & Talent of a Child Graphology isthe science of understanding the human mind through person’shandwriting. When a person writes, the signal in the form of letters get decoded / printed on the paper by the fingers. Graphology aims at understanding & interpreting these signals through the writing. Using this we can know a persons mind so the thoughts, character and behavior. Why A Father is Not A Dad It can be said that any man who procreates is a father, whether present in that child’s life or not. While this is technically true, it really takes a man to be a dad! Really Good News About Your Children’s Video Games Research published by University of Rochester neuroscientists C. Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier has grabbed national attention for suggesting that playing “action” video and computer games has positive effects – enhancing student’s visual selective attention.But that finding is just one small part of a more important message that all parents and educators need to hear:video games are not the enemy, but the best opportunity we have to engage our kids in real learning. In Search Of Elmo My son is a wonderful boy, an imaginative, active four year old with a set of rules for life all his own. The rules that keep his four year old views in his perspective, the rules to life that make him, his own person. Goal Setting for Kids Goal setting is essential for building a successful life. However, teaching kids how to set and achieve goals is not part of most school curriculums, nor is it taught in most homes. Many parents never learned the techniques of goal setting, and are still struggling with their own. You dont need to know it all. While you develop your own goal-setting skills, you can also be helping and encouraging your children to develop theirs. Goal setting is a life-long skill. It helps your child to focus their unique gifts and talents, it helps to cultivate and strengthening your childs self-worth, and equips them to lead a life full of meaning purpose, and direction, regardless of the professional or personal paths they choose. Breastfeeding - Handling Criticism Feelings about how to parent seem to shift with every generation. A new way of parenting, sometimes called attachment parenting, has emerged and it challenges many of the rigid teachings of our mothers generation. Although breastfeeding is on the rise now, women are still dealing with the repercussions of previous generations. Not too long ago mainstream women did not breastfeed at all and the ones that did were taught to follow strict schedules. Some thought of breastfeeding as primitive. Formula was touted as being equal to or superior to breast milk. Only recently, has the fact that "breast is best" been acknowledged. Other women were in the workforce. They may have felt that breastfeeding was not an option for them. They did not have the modern breast pump available to them. The medical community may not have encouraged breastfeeding at the time. It is not hard to imagine. After all, even with all the knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding there are still many health professionals today that are uneducated and unsupportive of breastfeeding. With all the challenges in the way of breastfeeding, it is understandable why many women of yesterday did not choose to breastfeed. |
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