Role Model for your Child

Always remember that someone is watching your every move and action. I am not talking about a stalker I am talking about your child(ren).

I try to be conscious of my actions, I am not a superhero I make mistakes and sometimes it reflects my daughters behaviour.

I try not to contradict myself, know my place and I for one knows that actions speak louder than words.

I am a single mom; my ex husband; daughters father is an absentee. As much as I want to scream at the top of my lungs and bash him, I take a breath and realise that it would only hurt my daughter more. I never say anything bad about him and I am aware of my actions when she asks about him.

I encourage her and love her unconditionally and I think it is paying off as she has become this polite, respectable warm hearted four year old who is sensitive and caring. She hates to see anyone cry, and when I am happy she seems to be too. When I am crabby because no matter who we are we can't be full of sunshine 24/7, I see how different she is and she thrives off me like a sponge she shares the same emotion.

She does push me to my limits, knows how to push my buttons and I have to laugh it off. She has my attitude and I don't know if that is a good thing or not. I teach her to speak her mind and not to worry about what others think, I teach her to think outside the box and give her Independence and limits.

She recently came home with an award, she was chosen out of her whole class as the award was for being respectable, for having manners and being polite.Even though she can be a handful at home; I am glad to see that she is a joy at school. All I want is for her to be herself; Loving and caring and not make the same mistakes I did.

I know she will make her own and learn from them just as long as she doesn't have to pay for my choices and mistakes. Being a single mom is the job of two parents and I have to be the good and bad cop making it a lot harder, all in all my daughter and I are close and she knows that I will always be there for her and she can come talk to me; tell me anything.

Only time will tell, I will keep doing what I am doing and try to stay aware of my actions, If I do argue with someone I make sure I go into another room where she can't hear me, my daughter constantly tells me to keep my smile on. Hopefully she will to and we can keep our smiles on together, working together, and I for one being the best role model I possibly can be!

No television as if...

Living with no television; Are you kidding me? We are not in the stone age, things have revolved and technology is one of those things.

I grew up with Seasame Street, and all those educational shows; which gave me a start to kindergarden.

Television doesn't have to be a bad thing, It can be educational, Dora teaches children Spanish and to count etc.

Although there are useless bad taste shows like Family Guy, Which I do not let my child watch. It is sick, and down right degrading. You can always set perental locks on the television also that way it tis monitored and you don't have to worry about them seeing anything that is not appropriate. Television, video games, computer; it's the way of the world.

There is nothing wrong with allowing your child to watch television, as long as that's not the only thing they are doing, as long as the child is not a couch potato, and is active then great!

If your child is parked in front of the television 24/7 or is in on a nice day then that's a problem, but if you monitor their viewing and keep it to a minimal, it can be actually benefit them.

My daughter usually watches Treehouse, a few of her favorite shows then moves on to playing and other things, I always read to her before bed. She will play her computer games which are educational. watch a quick show have a book read then off to sleep.

She has a television in her bedroom, there is one in the kitchen.

I allow her to watch television while she eats, and it works because she actually sits at the table and eats.

I do not agree with people using a television as a babysitter and their child is in front of the television, constantly.

A child needs interaction from others, But there is nothing wrong with a couple hours of television, just as long as they are doing other things and it's not a consist thing where they are absorbed and aren't doing anything else.

I grew up with Television, after school specials and sit com's, and Now as an adult I watch less television than I ever did.

I feel that without television you are depriving your child of a natural thing. Face it people it's a part of our everyday lives, from the news to the weather channel. Even the news is not PG rated. They will watch it at a friends house regardless if you do not allow them to watch it at home. As long as you try to monitor their viewing time; Perfectly OK.

My only television day is Thursdays. Television can be beneficial if monitored and if you are not allowing your child to watch anything other than what is geared to their age group. Treehouse TV is good for that, no violence, no adult humor, no lame commercials.

Teaching your child to speak

My daughter was six months old when she spoke her first real word Mama; before that she was making sounds.

The most effective way to teach a child to speak is by repetition. Do not speak baby talk to your child, it is degrading. Using an object as visualisation can be helpful too.

It was smooth sailing after she spoke her first word, the words just came to her. She spoke her first whole sentence at ten months old. " I see a bird in a tree" of course we praised her which encouraged her to learn and want to talk some more, and now at 4 years old she has the gift of gab. Her repertoire has grown immensely. I make her sound out the bigger words as I read to her. We practice reading and writing. Being in J.K helps a lot, as she interacts with children she learns from them also.

From day one I'd educate her everyday, interacting with her, reading to her. I don't believe in baby talk and never spoke that way to her. We pretend play, she is the student, I am the teacher, she practices tracing her letters, knows opposites, can find differences, very smart. I believe it's because of all the one on one from myself, as a stay at home mom, her and I spend a lot of time together, busy days filled with crafts, I allow her to go on websites and play educational games, having fun while learning. She knows her numbers and uses the phone to call her grandparents etc.

I make the best out of every situation, She can memorize a whole book. I feel that parents should interact with their children and talk to them, read to them, giving them a head start to kindergarten. I don't like when people speak baby talk to their child, it's degrading, they are capable of learning, being taught so why not start off right, how would you like it if someone spoke to you like that? It would degrade your intelligence.

She knows how to count to 30, Knows her alphabet, knows all her colours, she can spell simple words like cat and dog, mom and dad, baby etc. She spells and writes her name and mine (mom). She is very inquisitive which makes it easier to teach her, Her repertoire has grown immensely. I encourage

those around her to keep educating her, if she asks questions we do the best to answer them.

I have a friend and his son is two and can barely talk; he cries and screams, making it hard to communicate with him. I believe he may have a learning disability, he hasn't reached milestones but it could also be bad parenting, his mom doesn't communicate with him, he is sent to play rather than being read to, When he is in my presence I interact with him constantly,trying to teach him and I don't back down, I am persistent; when he screams I give him a time out and ask him what he wants even if he has to show me, then I repeat the word to him juice; I want juice. I read to him and have noticed a change in the past weekend alone. So I think that educating your child from day one is essential and rewarding at the same time. A sense of accomplishment, and it also gives your child a head start in the right direction, giving them a chance to flourish and grow.

Kinda like a love song?!

I know and you know that our love will never fade, you and I know in our hearts it will always remain, but I know that you know that love is not based on lies and you know that I know that love means compromise, When you are with me there is no other place that I wanna be, When I am with you there seems that there is nothing I cannot do. You and I know that we are meant to be, and I know that you know that you set my spirits free, Our love means the world to me, our love is what keeps me going each day, you know and I know that we are here to stay, and I know that you know I'll never go away, so take my hand and run with me, take my hand come fly away with me, you know and I know that we are meant to be, I know that you know you set my spirits free, so come run lets have some fun, lets stay the way we are right now, just loving each other forever, I know and you know that we have our days and you know that I know that I am set in my ways, but our love has remained strong, our love will never lead us wrong, you know and I know, I know and you know, we are on the same page, so come fly with me, come run with me, nut stay with me and you will see that we both know we are meant to be, that together we are destiny.

Allergy Testing in Children

My four year old daughter just had a skin test done, fifteen allergens, she broke out in a rash to five of them, they do ask questions before they proceed and because she is a mature four year old they did the test on her. I was a little confused on how they knew which one was which but the nurse knew.
She says that it didn't hurt just itches for a bit, they made her wait 10 minutes after they did the test, then they looked at her little arm and where she broke out is what she was allergic to, beside the dots she had a rash like I said on five of the fifteen, usually it's fifty things they test for but because of her age they tested the minimum and most common including pollen and grass and other outdoor bourne things; environmental as they refer to it as. The rash lasted 15 minutes tops and went away, you couldn't see where they poked her, the marker washed off and her arm was as good as new, you couldn't even tell she had the test done.

Feathers, cats, sheep wool, dust mites and tobacco. I knew she was allergic to cats as we had some and had to give them away because her breathing got so bad and she was always congested.
I had to get rid of everything with feathers including my duvee. As far as tobacco, it's the smell and everything that goes along with smoking. What was funny is that it came back positive for cats but not dogs, they have different dander or something. My guess is that the skin tests are accurate.
My daughter was lucky and doesn't have to under go shots, she takes kids allergy medicine when she needs to, and steroid spray for her nose. I bought her a air purifier for her room. The testing explained a lot and now we know that she does indeed have allergies, I can treat her and she has more relief and can breath a lot better, so It is to your advantage to get a skin test done, it doesn't hurt as my daughter will tell you.

My Aunt has also went for skin testing and again has proved that yes it is an accurate proceedure, I know a few people who have got tested and all came back with positive feedback, I too will be going soon.
I know cats will be a big one for sure! So if you have allergies or think you do, a skin test is probably your best bet for getting results, there are allergy specialists out there who will sit you down and go through the test results then they will try and find the proper medication type for you.
All in all I have faith that these skin tests are accurate and my daughter has proven that!