Parenting Roles

The Effects of Helicopter Parentiing

The term helicopter parents is a relatively new term to describe an extremely over protective parent to tends to hover over every aspect of their child’s life. While being protective of your children is natural for most parents, the extremes that some parents have gone to in some cases is creating kids that are dependent and closed in.

Helicopter parents have been found to become involved in the decisions that are traditionally supposed to be made by kids and students on their own. It is seen at the college level when students are supposed to be striking out on their own and starting to make their own way.

Unfortunately this type of parenting is having a negative effect on kids. School officials are finding that students who have helicopter parents tend to be more anxious and dependent when they are compared to students who have parents who allow them to make their own way and make their own mistakes.

Students with helicopter parents are also less able to make decisions on their own and have a hard time opening up and accepting new ideas. This can make it very difficult for them to survive and be successful in college and when they get out of college and have to make it in the real world.

While protecting your kids is important and helping them along the way is what a parent is supposed to do, it is also important to allow them to breath and find out some life lessons on their own. This will help them later in life when they really need to be able to make their own decisions.

Filed Under: Parenting Roles Tagged With: Helicopter parent, Parent, Student

Helping Your Child Focus During School

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When a child begins going to school, it’s a dramatic change from the unstructured environment they had during the early years of their lives. From the days of taking regular naps and doing whatever they please, the child has to rapidly adapt to the strict schedule of the school environment. Schools are set up to teach a lot of skills quickly to young children, and concentration is critical. So if your child doesn’t focus well, that problem needs to be addressed immediately.

While your child sits there dreaming of American Girl doll clothing, she can’t very well learn what she needs to know in order to be successful in the future. So you need to work with your child on finding ways to keep her focused on school during the day. There is a time to play and a time to work, and they don’t always get to be the same time.

So how can you get your child’s mind off play and onto work? For starters, you can ask your child every day to tell you something interesting that happened at school.

Once your child knows that you’re going to ask, she will be more likely to concentrate, just so she can remember something interesting to tell you. Another way you can help your child focus during school is to ask if she’s having trouble focusing. If your child has some symptoms of ADHD, you can get help for her from a pediatrician. It’s also helpful to talk to your child’s teachers to get their perspective on how well your child focuses on the task at hand.

Filed Under: Parenting Roles Tagged With: ADHD, Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Child

Helping Your Child Love Reading

Giving your child the love of reading is one of the best things a parent can do. With the gift of reading, you will give your child the chance to develop his or her imaginations, enlarge and expand vocabulary skills and learn to enjoy “alone” time. Your child will also be able to expand his knowledge, experience new ideas and places.

Here are a few tips to instill the enjoyment of reading in your child.

It’s never too early to start reading to your child. Start and birth and don’t ever stop. Those wonderfully colorful childhood books are a great place to start. Consider purchasing a “personalized” book complete with your child’s name. Your child will love having a story just about him.

Make reading your childhood favorite books a routine. It’s fun for both you and your child.

As your child gets older, making trips to the library a weekly event. Let your child choose books and go to story hour at the library. Also, consider going to theater and plays about your child’s favorite books. You can also rent videos about those books.

Make sure you know what the popular books are for your child as their age progresses. You can either purchase these books new or even find them at yard sales or library sales.

Books on tape are another great option and the whole family can enjoy the time spent listening to these. Make this an option that can be varied with family movie night.

Finally, set an example and spend time reading yourself.

Filed Under: Parenting Roles Tagged With: Books, Child, Shopping

Teach Your Children About Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles

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Most, if not all, parents want their children to have and be the best. One part of this is making sure that children learn how to live a healthy lifestyle, including nutrition so they can have a good quality of life as the grow to be adults.

Parents should act as role models to provide the skills and information to maintain a health lifestyle and habits. Here are a few ways parents can help guide their children to good nutrition and health.

Make sure you know each family members caloric requirements. These requirements vary according to height, weight, age, activity level and gender. You can consult your family physician for this information concerning your entire family.

Make sure that each family member maintains a healthy weight. If the parents are overweight, it is more likely that their children will be as well.

Be a good example to your children. Eat healthy foods in proper proportions, and don’t overeat. Try to maintain a regular schedule of meal times. If your child sees you doing these things, they are more likely to maintain them.

Let your children help with meal planning. Let them have some input on meal choices and let them shop for groceries with you. In addition, let them help cook the meals. These are habits and processes that can help your child learn good nutrition habits.

Teach your children the importance of reading labels. You should do this while grocery shopping with your child. Include information about portion size, how to determine the calorie count. In addition, teach them about fat, cholesterol and sodium content in their foods.

Filed Under: Parenting Roles Tagged With: Health, Nutrition, Parent

Cool Apartment Styles for new Parents

Decorating doesn’t always come easy for some people. Decorating small apartments can be even more challenging for them. Here’s the thing, new parents can still create a great, stylish apartment. Here’s a guide to cool apartment styles for new parents.

Most people looking to decorate their Atlanta apartments tend to go the more modern or contemporary route. This style has nice, sleek lines and neutral colors with a touch of fun, bright colors here and there. Contemporary styles also include dark and light wood in the furniture and large open spaces.

Traditional is a style that’s romantic with a nice touch of soft colors and floral fabrics. To balance out the floral print is some architectural details and several antique pieces throughout the apartment. Most people who go traditional want their place to look like an English manor.

Then there’s the retro look for those young, hip parents and you’re more than willing to be more fun and be open to anything when it comes to style. With retro, all you have to do is pick your favorite decade and go off of that. The biggest retro trend is the 1950s Mid-Century Modern. Since this trend is so huge, you won’t have to go thrift shopping or walk around flea markets to find your pieces because stores carry them now.

Another option would be to bring the outdoors in with a rustic style by using natural woods and earth tones in your decorating style. Think of it as turning your apartment into a log cabin.

It doesn’t matter what your style is, you can easily transform your apartment into one of the many apartment styles.

Filed Under: Parenting Roles Tagged With: Apartment, Atlanta, Flea market

Hosting Your Child’s Sleepover

For the 18 years or so that your child lives with you, you are bound to host a sleepover or two. Your child will usually leave you responsible for getting everything ready. There are different types of sleepovers that require a different amount of preparation. Here are some tips to help your child with their sleepover.

If the sleepover is part of a party such as a birthday party, you want to get everything ready for the party as well as the sleepover. Make sure you get all the decorations (if you want them) and party food that you will need. Take enough time to go shopping beforehand so that you are well prepared for the party.

Any sleepover requires dinner, unless the guests don’t arrive until well after dinner. Plan an easy meal that will feed all your guests. Pizza is probably your best bet because it is cheap, easy, and your guests usually like it. Chips and soda are also traditional at sleepovers. If it is just one friend staying the night, you can simply cook whatever you usually do.

Clean the house before your child’s friends arrive. The least you can do is tidy up. Your child may be embarrassed if the house is not clean when their friends come over. This is something that you can also get your child to do that you don’t have to do on your own. If your child really wants their sleepover, they will be more willing to clean if it’s required before they can have their sleepover.

Ask your child about what they plan to do at their sleepover for entertainment. If they want to play games or watch movies, ask them if there is anything you can pick up for them. There may be a movie or two that they want to rent that you can pick up while running errands.

Filed Under: Parenting Roles Tagged With: Home, Parent, Sleepover

Your Child Is Headed To College

You can avoid the inevitable. As much as you don’t want it to happen, your child is going to grow up and move out. One moment you are staring into the eyes of your newborn child, and the next, you’re sending them away to college. It’s frightening as a parent to watch your child leave, but it’s just as terrifying to your child to actually leave you. When you’re child is going away to college, as scary as it is, there are plenty of things you can do to help.

Be as supportive as you can, encouraging them and helping them out. This will help your child feel more comfortable about being on their own and even help you be reassured yourself. Don’t tell them about how upset you are that they are leaving because it might scare them away from their chance at a higher education.

Help out with expenses. There are a lot of things your child is going to need in their dorm room such as towels, toiletries, bedding, and possibly a mini fridge, microwave, laptop, etc. You don’t have to buy everything for your child, but if you could take them shopping for towels and bedding, it will help them out a lot. You may even want to give them a little extra cash in case they need it for food or other expenses.

Once they’re at college, it’s okay to talk to them every now and then. You may call them, email them, or send letters. Some parents tend to contact their child a lot. Try not to call them every day. They have classes and are having fun and may feel too pressured already. If you have to call them, try keeping the conversations short unless they’re the one that keeps talking. Your child needs their freedom and probably doesn’t want their parents checking up on them every day.

Filed Under: Parenting Roles Tagged With: Dormitory, Parent

Spoiling Your Children

It is solely your decision how you raise your children. Many parents use different techniques. Some yell at their children in order for them to understand when they are doing something wrong. Others praise their children so they understand when they are doing something right. Some use of mix of these techniques. But when you praise your child, you don’t want to spoil them.

Being spoiled can be damaging to a child’s personal development. You should decide what actions deserve what amount of praise and punishment. If you have more than one child, be consistent with this praise and punishment and treat all your children the same.

A spoiled child will turn into a selfish child. It happens quite frequently. Every child deserves praise, but you have to figure out how much praise your child really needs for each action.

In order for your child to learn valuable lessons in life, you must not spoil them. It’s okay to spoil your child every now and then. Sometimes everyone needs to be spoiled, but when you over-spoil them they don’t learn how to share and will become selfish children.

You can never spoil your children enough with hugs and kisses. Don’t think that you give your child too much praise when you give them hugs and kisses. Hugs and kisses are signs of love, and receiving love is essential toward every human’s growth. Give your child as many hugs and kisses as necessary, and even more even when there is no reason for it, except that you want to show them you love them.

If you’re not sure how much is too much when it comes to spoiling your child, you may want to ask other experienced parents how they treat their children. You want your children to love you, but you have to discipline them, also, and not always give them what they want.

Filed Under: Parenting Roles Tagged With: Child, Spoiled child

It’s Never Too Early To Get Ready for College

Every parent knows how precious time is. You blink and your little toddler is heading off to pre-school. Turn around and they’re going to high school and before you know it they are heading off to college to start their own lives. Try as we might, we can’t do anything about that. The best we can offer is to get our children to face the challenges that will come their way. We do that by providing emotional support as well as all the other necessities of life such as food and shelter. But that doesn’t mean we have to stop there. Sometimes it takes the perspective of a parent to enable their child to head down the right path.

One perfect example of this can be found with preparation for the college admissions. I’m a long ways off before we have to worry about college applications, but it’s never too early to be prepared. Many of my cousins and neighbors have already decided to advance their education by obtaining an MBA degree. Before they can be accepted into a program they first needed to pass the GMAT test. When they first told me about this exam, I was reminded of the SAT tests we had to take in high school. The higher the score the better chance you had of getting into the college of your choice. The GMAT tests are the same, but on a much higher level.

Thankfully, I know when my little one is ready to apply she’ll have the kind of helpful resources like an online GMAT prep course. These are wonderful study guides to help prepare a student for this important exam. Not only will they be able to review sample questions, but they’ll have direct access to an instructor to help them over any rough patches. I’m definitely bookmarking this site!

Filed Under: Parenting Roles Tagged With: GMAT prep, Graduate Management Admission Test, Master of Business Administration

Having a Baby? Find Jeans That Fit You

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If you’re pregnant, it’s a very exciting time in your life. Your whole world is changing, but it can be a wonderful thing. There’s nothing quite like raising a child of your own. You might be a little bummed out about how your body is changing, though, because your belly will get larger and you might feel a bit uncomfortable as you get into your second trimester and beyond. Your jeans and some of your other clothes that you used to wear all the time might not fit you anymore, and you’ll have to buy others that do. The good news is that there are actually clothes out there that will still be comfortable for you.

If you like Apple Bottoms, you should know that they are designed to conform to your curves. Even if those curves were made by pregnancy, you should still be good to go – and you can stay comfortable. Other jeans might put too much pressure on your stomach because they just come in certain sizes and you are expected to fit into them. Apple Bottoms are created with a woman in mind, and all women are shaped differently. Even if you’re the same height and weight as another woman, you won’t be shaped identically. Keep that in mind and look for jeans that fit you the right way.

That will help your growing and developing baby, too, because you want to keep both physical and mental stress as low as you can when you’re pregnant. It’s an emotional time for you, and you just want to have things simplified and not have so many things that you need to worry about. Even zipping your jeans can be a hassle, so it’s nice to have great options that feel comfortable, fit well, and still keep you looking great throughout your pregnancy.

Filed Under: Parenting Roles