I'm a full-time mummy

I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys as I'm very interested to know your thoughts on this. For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here:

People always tell new parents that the newborn months are the hardest. They're warned about sleep deprivation, feeding around the clock, and diapers that explode across the room. But they don’t talk about what comes next.

While parenting kids is full of everyday miracles and memory-making moments, it also includes a significant amount of stress along the way. It requires a lot of juggling and a near-constant battle with trial and error. And just when you think you have it all figured out? They change. Kids are constantly growing, and the more you learn about how to do it “right," the less you feel like you actually know.

Plus, parenting is different than it once was. Moms, dads, and kids are constantly on the move, with little time to rest and recharge. And that pressure to be the perfect parent? That only exacerbates the stress parents experience on a daily basis.

That kind of stress can lead to frequent illness, exhaustion, anxiety, and many other health issues for adults. What most people don't know, though, is that it can also trickle down to the kids. Stress is contagious.

In fact, a study in Child Development revealed that when parents are significantly stressed during their child’s first few years of life, some of the child’s genes can even be altered, harming development and leading to negative effects years later. Yikes.

As a child psychotherapist, here are the most important things I recommend doing to keep parental stress in check:

1. Raise the white flag — and ask for help.

No mom or dad is an island. I’m not sure when the trend in parenting shifted from “It takes a village” to “Don’t worry, I got this,” but we are long overdue for a shift back to the village mentality. Parenting isn’t about doing everything independently while baking the best cookies on the block. There's no room for competition in this gig. Asking for help is a great first step toward finding your own parenting happy place. Start with one friend or family member. Set up a rotating schedule to trade favors or child care so that you both have time to step back from the daily grind of parenting.

2. Ask yourself two questions before you commit to any activity.

If you spend your days running around chasing your tail, you’re probably not getting much done. Time management is a critical part of parenting. It begins with feedings and sleep schedules and moves into school, classes, sports, and homework. There is always something that needs to get done and somewhere you need to be.

Begin by setting realistic expectations and reasonable limits. You simply can’t drive your child to every activity under the sun, run the PTA, and attend every party that comes your way. Cut back on your own activities, as well as those of your kids. Your kids might want to play two sports every season, but they don’t need to. Ask yourself these two questions before you commit: "Is this something I really want to do? Do I actually have the time to do this?" Proceed accordingly.

3. Take a digital vacation with a "Facebook-free weekend."

 I have a love/hate relationship with technology. When my husband can attend my son’s back-to-school night in Los Angeles via FaceTime in Australia — I’m in. You can’t put a price on that. But so many of us struggle to put technology in its place. The lines between work and home are significantly blurred these days due to advances in technology. We are a generation distracted by the sounds coming from our pockets — and we're paying for it with sleep deprivation, increased stress levels, and fractured family relationships.

We're also surrounded by “perfection” when we live in our digital microcosms. Facebook perfect parenting is all the rage these days, and let’s not even get started on Pinterest-perfect parties. When we peek into the lives of others, we can’t help but try to compare. But we don’t actually see the whole picture, do we?

About a year ago, I decided to silence and hide my phone on the weekends. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but the temptation to check in with the digital world felt strong. I jokingly referred to this practice as “Facebook-free weekends," but it worked.

Walking away from technology from Friday night to Monday morning each week decreases my stress, improves my connections with my family, and leaves me feeling light and free. Saying no to distraction each weekend resets my soul.

Parenting is an incredible journey — but it's characterized by ups and downs. It isn’t always stressful, but it isn’t always easy. When parents choose to care for themselves and keep their own stress levels in check, the whole family benefits.

Go ahead: Give yourself a break today. You deserve it.

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys as I'm very interested to know your thoughts on this. For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here:

Parents spend big money on safety-regulated car seats and diligently buckle the devices into the cars. But when used incorrectly, a car seat can be deadly for very young children.

"Babies aren't supposed to die," said Ali Dodd, whose 11-week old son died after he was put to sleep in a car seat. Dodd's son, Shepard, was being cared for at a home daycare in Edmond on April 6, 2015. According to the police report, Shepard was put to sleep in an unbuckled car seat and placed on the floor in a room, unsupervised.

The daycare operator checked on Shepard two hours after he went to sleep, and he was reportedly blue. Derek and Ali Dodd wouldn't see their son alive again. "I was able to kiss him on the forehead as they wheeled him in," said Derek Dodd. "He was cold. So I knew it was coming."

According to DHS, the daycare stayed open for several months after the infant's death. The agency eventually revoked the license. Parents inquiring about the level of care in the home day care will be hard-pressed to find any record of Shepard's death. It's not even listed in the public file. In fact, DHS records posted online indicate the following non-compliance for the date of Shepard Dodd's death: "Child was placed in a car seat to sleep." "What it says on there for our incident...it says she allowed a baby to sleep in a car seat. It doesn't say anything about him dying. Even parents, wouldn't even know that he died in her care," said Ali Dodd.

NewsChannel 4 uncovered internal documents from DHS, showing the daycare operator had been warned about unsafe sleeping conditions the week before Shepard Dodd died in her home. According to the DHS report, "Licensing advised (day care operator) that infants are not to be placed in a car seat to sleep and should not be left in car seat if infant falls asleep in car seat." That citation came 11 days before Shepard`s death. "It is unthinkable that these choices were so easy to make," said Ali Dodd. "That she knew better. She was counseled just days before by DHS. She had had a violation eleven days before."

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater declined to file charges against the day care operator because the coroner's report showed Sudden Unexplained Infant Death (SUID) as the official cause of death. According to Chief ME Investigator Timothy Dwyer, the manner of death in Shepard Dodd's case is "unknown."

The criminal case against the day care operator can be re-opened if new information is presented to the district attorney's office.

According to the Fetal Infant Mortality Review board, in the past five years, 107 Oklahoma City-area babies have died because of unsafe sleeping conditions. Of those 107 deaths, more than five percent were put to sleep in a car seat, bouncer or infant rocker.

Positional asphyxia occurs when a baby slouches down in a car seat or infant rocker and their airway closes. Newborns and young infants don't have the neck strength to lift their heads enough to breathe.

 The Dodd family believes if you don't know better, you can't do better. They are begging other parents to listen: Car seats are not a safe place for your baby to sleep. "It's not worth getting a little more sleep or 30 minutes more of quiet time," said Derek Dodd. "It's just not worth it when it's as dangerous as it is." Derek and Ali Dodd will go to the State Capitol next week to lobby for change, to make safe sleep standards for infants a priority in Oklahoma.

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys.

"Anyone who’s “read” a picture book can tell you that you don’t need words to tell a story. Prereading toddlers and preschoolers can follow a story told in pictures, a parent or child can narrate the action, and the cozy, empowering experience can help kids develop positive associations with books.

And even though kids aren’t reading words, it turns out that wordless books can develop important skills:

• Toddlers and preschoolers can learn how a book works: Front to back, left to right, top to bottom. They practice listening, comprehension, and interpreting visual images. Following a story helps kids understand the structure of storytelling: cause and effect, conflict and resolution, character development, and a narrative arc with a beginning, middle, and end.
• Vocabulary and verbal skills: By reading a wordless book with an adult or a more knowledgeable peer, kids can learn to identify objects, people, places, animals, and actions and narrate a story based on visual cues. This helps kids understand stories once they start reading and can inspire them to write their own stories — an expression of literacy.
• A toddler or preschooler is proud to have finished a favorite book and to have understood the whole story from start to finish without adult help.
• A love of books and art: Wordless books can be enjoyed by readers of all ages and can develop a taste for reading for pleasure and delight in illustration.
• Easy access: Books without text are great for kids who speak different languages, are learning English, or have developmental or learning difficulties that make reading words challenging.
  

Kids still need exposure to print, especially kids who may not have a lot of books at home. And how many literacy skills a child gains may depend on how involved the adult reader is in pointing out and reinforcing elements and vocabulary in the story. But the bottom line is wordless books are loads of fun to read together and can be entertaining and empowering for kids of various ages to read on their own."

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.