Category: Parenting

Whether you’re relocating across the state or the country, moving safely is the key, especially if you have kids. You’ll need to research schools, ensure that the area is safe for everyone in the family, and plan your move so that everything goes along seamlessly.

Having so many moving pieces to consider at once can be a lot to handle. However, with a solid strategy, you can make the move a success.  This comprehensive guide provides advice on how to be safe and avoid stress when relocating your family.

Research Safe Places for Your Kids

As a parent, one of the first steps in moving safely is to research the city where you’ll be living to ensure that it’s safe and suitable for your children’s needs. Start by looking up crime statistics in the area and comparing them to other nearby areas to find the best place.

If your kids are still in school, look into potential school districts, so you’re sure they’re suitable for them during this stage in their lives. When considering school districts, it’s essential to research academic performance, which you can determine by looking up graduation rates and proficiency levels in various subjects, like reading and math. You should also look up each school and learn if it fits your core values. Finally, research the district’s safety measures. Do they have disciplinary policies and emergency protocols in place? Verify that they do.

Next, consider whether this neighborhood has safe areas for young kids to play. It’s good to have a place where children can unwind. Plus, time spent on the playground is good for physical health and helps them learn to communicate with others.

You should look up several factors when choosing a neighborhood with safe play areas, including traffic flow. Unfortunately, children make up a portion of pedestrian traffic facilities, so research the statistics in the area. Also, if you’re able to visit the city before you move, ensure that there are sidewalks, lower speed limits, and speed bumps on the street. You’re also likely to find a safer and more suitable place for your kids if there are more children in the new neighborhood. An area full of families with kids is more prone to have extra services and more play areas from which to choose.

Make Plans and Talk to Your Kids About Moving Safely

The last thing you want to do when your goal is moving safely with kids is to surprise them at the last moment with the news that you’re all leaving. Many young kids and teens likely have friends they’ve grown close to, schoolwork they’re excited about, and maybe even a part-time job to consider. You don’t want to make the process more complicated or dramatic.

That’s why it’s essential that you sit down and communicate with your children. Tell them why you’re moving and when you plan to depart, and then ask them how they feel. You may be able to ease their concerns and help them feel better about the whole idea. They’ll also know that it’s time to say their goodbyes and get a bit of closure.

You’ll also want to get your kids involved when completing your pre-move checklist, especially when heading across the country. That starts by determining a move date. If possible, push it out far enough so that you and the kids can manage your affairs. You may need to give your job notice, and your teens may need to do the same. You also need to inform their school and handle other miscellaneous tasks.

Another big step on your pre-move checklist is to start packing. If you’ve lived in your current home for a long time, you and the kids likely have many belongings to sort through. Allow the kids to be a part of the process, especially regarding their rooms. Everyone should separate items by what they want to keep, what’s trash, and what can be donated. If your kids have large collections of video games, guitars, or something else that takes up a lot of space, this may also be a good time to teach them about the value of self-storage.

Remember Mental and Physical Health

Keeping your kids safe and happy during the move is key, so consider their mental health. This transition is likely weighing on their minds. So, plan out the move so you’re not always rushing and that there are breaks to give you and the kids a chance to mentally refresh. A good idea is to get your kids a journal so they can write down their thoughts when they’re stressed and make a scrapbook of sorts to remember the experience. Once you get to the new home, continue to help your kids cope by getting them involved. Allow them to paint their room or choose the color and design.

Next, consider your kids’ physical health, especially when setting things up in the new house. If you have young kids at home, be careful when moving potentially dangerous substances, like medication, laundry detergent packets, and cleaning products. To protect yourself and kids of all ages, make it a point to prevent furniture tip-overs. Secure all large free-standing objects with mounts, braces, or wall straps and reduce the chances of a fall.

Finally, try not to take on too much at once. It may be tempting to have you and the kids do all of the heavy lifting and moving, but you need to stay safe. Hire movers to help with the load, and it will be easier for everyone.

Conclusion

A big move can be tough on the family if you let it, but with proper planning and open communication, it can become easier for everyone. Keep the kids involved and turn a daunting experience into a positive transition.

About the Author
Katie Brenneman is a passionate writer specializing in education, mental health, family lifestyle and online safety. When she isn’t writing, you can find her with her nose buried in a book or hiking with her dog, Charlie. You can follow her on Twitter.

Everyone, including people who are yet to have children, knows that parenting isn’t easy. Never has been, probably never will be. It’s stressful and time-consuming, but above all else, it’s an extremely responsible job. And, for the most part, parents do take (or at least try to take) responsibility for the upbringing of their children.

However, with each passing year and decade, life tends to become more and more stressful, despite the many comforts that developments in technology bring us.

To enhance their knowledge and understanding of this topic, parents can consider enrolling in a positive parenting program that offers insights and strategies for managing screen time for young children effectively. These programs provide valuable guidance on fostering healthy digital habits and maintaining a balanced approach to technology within the family dynamic.

And in such a stressful day-to-day, it’s easy to see how many young parents nowadays seem to struggle. Young and small children get easily bored, lack the ability to keep their attention focused on something for more than a couple of minutes, and constantly demand attention. But when you are overwhelmed with other tasks and have several additional responsibilities and things to attend to, it becomes next to impossible to devote your entire attention and energy to a toddler, whose own energy never seems to run out.

Balancing Control and Technology

All these factors combined have led to a common trend in recent years, where parents would simply opt to put a tablet or a smartphone in the little hands of their toddlers. As we all know too well, the little gadgets have this weird property, where they can turn 10 minutes into two hours without us noticing. Apparently, this also works on young children and toddlers, despite their attention being no longer than a couple of minutes.

This shouldn’t actually come as a surprise, considering most of the content we consume nowadays is short-form and perfect for someone with a toddler’s attention span. However, while young and small children can be forgiven for not being able to stay focused for too long, this is something that they are supposed to grow out of. By giving them a source of endless short-form entertainment, you are only reinforcing their lack of attention span, which can have severe negative effects on their cognitive abilities in the long run. And this is only one of the many problems associated with letting your children be raised by a screen, that we’ll talk about in the next lines.

The Negative Impacts that Screens Have on Young and Small Children

We already talked about the problem with the impeded development of a longer attention span caused by letting your toddlers use smartphones and tablets. However, while I think this is one of the biggest problems, it only scratches the surface of the mountain of problems that can come from such a “parenting strategy”.

Here are some of the other more serious issues that people need to consider before putting one of their adult gadgets in the hands of an impressionable child.

Eye Strain

Starting with one of the more obvious problems often associated with excessive exposure to screens, eye strain is definitely something you can expect to occur if your child is spending too much time on their tablet, smartphone, or computer. And since we are talking about young children whose bodies are undergoing rapid development, allowing their eyes to constantly be under the stress caused by a digital screen can lead to all kinds of vision and eye-related problems in the long run.

Sleeping Problems

Toddlers and young children are generally known to often have a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep for too long. This is, in fact, one of the main stresses of parenting, because if the toddler is awake, so must be the parents. And as far as sleep is concerned, overexposure to screens tends to make matters a lot worse. You see, the content that appears on the screen of a phone or a tablet greatly stimulates the hyper-sensitive nervous system of a toddler, which means that there’s even less chance of them falling asleep after having been in front of a screen. This is why it’s a particularly bad idea to let them use something with a screen when it starts getting time for bed, as this is a sure recipe for a long and sleepless night for both of you.

Digital Disconnection

The younger a child is, the more impressionable it is, which means that its mind will be more affected by what the child gets exposed to. This is also why people say that the first seven years play the biggest role in a person’s mental development. However, if a child spends more time being exposed to the digital world than to reality, this can eventually result in the child suffering from the so-called “digital disconnection”. In other words, the child will have difficulty telling apart the real world from the virtual world and will think that everything they see on the screen is something that applies to real life. The results from this can be pretty unpleasant, as the child won’t know how to behave or act and will start becoming more and more confused as it begins to grow up and experience more of the real world.

Behavioral Issues

Excessive use of smartphones, tablets, or computers is also prone to causing behavioral problems in young children. The child becomes more likely to oppose you, especially when you try to separate it from its favorite digital toy. Aggression and irritability are also likely results of overexposure to screens. Since the smartphone/tablet has become your main method of regulating the mood of your toddler or young child, attempting any other strategy is bound to be faced with intense opposition. All of this is without getting into the specific influence that different types of content available on the Internet can have on a child.

Addiction

Lastly, I want to talk about an issue that not many people have when handing over a smartphone to their toddler, so that they could be left alone for an hour or two, and that is the fact that screens are addictive. Many studies over the years have concluded that smartphones can affect the brain in the same way as actual drugs. They can make a person addicted to them to the point where getting separated from the device can have symptoms similar to abstinence. Consider that these are effects often seen in grown adults, who are supposed to have at least some form of impulse control. And if this is what can happen to an adult person as the result of excessive smartphone use, then what’s left for a young child, or worse yet, a toddler?

Final Notes

Obviously, it’s very tempting to get a moment of peace from your screaming toddler, who’s constantly throwing tantrums if you don’t give them every second of your attention (and sometimes, even if you do). However, parenting isn’t supposed to be easy, and as overwhelming as it may be sometimes, it’s still the parents’ responsibility to do their best with the upbringing of their children. Taking the easy way out and letting them be raised by colorful images or other people that appear on a plastic screen is the exact opposite of what a parent should do and, hopefully, this post has helped to remind people of this fact.

Packed lunches are often considered healthier than foods offered in the school cafeteria. However, less than 2% of packed school lunches meet the key healthy standards. As a parent, ensuring your kids eat well-balanced meals is essential for their growth and development.

With the right recipes, you can avoid deficiencies below nutritional standards and ensure your loved one gets the nutrients they need while enjoying their meals. If you’re looking for some inspiration for healthy and easy preschool lunch ideas, you’ve come to the right place! Below are 10 options that your kids are sure to love.

1. Nut Butter and Banana Roll-Ups

Create a delicious variation of the classic sandwich by making these roll-ups. Spread some nut butter on a tortilla, place sliced bananas on top, and roll everything up. Then, cut the rolled-up tortilla into smaller pieces for a tasty snack.

2. Fruit Skewers with Yogurt Dip

Is your kid having trouble eating fruits?

This is the ideal picky kid’s meal. Skewer fresh fruit like grapes, melon cubes, and strawberries. Serve the fruits with a side of plain Greek yogurt for dipping.

3. Pasta Salad

If you have a busy morning, you can whip up pasta with diced vegetables, cheese, and a light vinaigrette dressing. You can make it ahead of time for added convenience. Serve chilled as one of your cold lunch options for warmer days.

4. Colorful Veggie Wraps

Create vibrant veggie wraps using whole-grain tortillas. Fill the tortillas with a variety of colorful vegetables like lettuce, bell peppers, carrots, and cucumbers.

For extra flavor, add a spread of cream cheese. You can also include this meal among your healthy children’s dinner options.

5. Yogurt Parfait

Layer vanilla yogurt with granola and fresh berries in a jar for a tasty and nutritious treat. You can also add a drizzle of honey or maple syrup for extra sweetness. Additionally, you can sneak in some organic baby meals in the yogurt.

6. Homemade Chicken Nuggets

For a tasty preschool treat, coat bite-sized pieces of chicken in whole wheat breadcrumbs and bake them until crispy. Serve with a side of yogurt-based dipping sauce or ketchup.

7. Mini Pita Pizzas

To make mini pita pizzas, top whole grain pitas with tomato sauce, shredded cheese, and your kid’s favorite toppings. These may include olives, diced bell peppers, and mushrooms. Once done, bake until the cheese melts.

8. Fruit Kabobs

Thread chunks of fresh fruit onto skewers to create fun and colorful fruit kabobs. To make it fun for your kid, mix and match fruits like melon, strawberries, pineapples, and grapes.

9. Mini Sandwich Skewers

Strand mini kids sandwiches made with whole grain bread, cheese, and deli meat onto skewers. For a balanced meal, pair it with a side of organic lunch chips.

10. Ants on a Log

Fill celery sticks with peanut butter or cream cheese and topped with raisins. This snack can be a great source of fiber and healthy fats for your kid.

Try Out These Preschool Lunch Ideas for Fun and Healthy Meals

Incorporating these preschool lunch ideas into your child’s meal rotation can help ensure they receive the nutrients they need to flourish. Remember to involve your children in meal preparation and find ways to make it fun.

All caring parents want to do the best for their beloved children. Giving them attention, care and parental warmth is the main task of all moms and dads. It is also important for each of us to worry about the right ways to develop our little explorers and give them all the necessary tools for this.

Today there is such a variety of methods to stimulate children to learn new knowledge and skills that it is impossible to prioritize any of them. But no matter what new techniques are in trend, the fundamental point always stands that true natural mechanisms are the most harmonious.

Today we want to pay closer attention to the topic of using wooden toys for educational open play for children of different ages.

The Way of Wooden Toys to the Modern World of Children’s Entertainment

It’s no secret that natural materials were the first materials used to make various objects, including toys. Children need developmental tools, and even in the absence of special play objects, can create them themselves from any objects around them. To give even the strangest objects properties and to put them in their imagination and find their use – this is a real children’s superpower. This is the main factor in the development of a child’s communication skills.

For many centuries homemade wooden toys were an obligatory part of family life. This is confirmed by archaeological finds of different times.

And only in the 18th century, the first toy production began to appear. And for more than two centuries, wood was the main material for playthings. Until the 20th century, it was displaced by a cheaper and faster material – plastic.

Wooden Toys as a Basic Natural Tool for Personal Growth

It is at this point that we can start counting down the plastic era, which, in addition to its many advantages, has significant flaws. The fact is that plastic toys are so colorful and detailed that they literally kill the child’s ability to conjecture, fantasize, and imagine. Noticing this, experts in child psychology began to call on parents to pay more attention to wooden toys, which are the most effective for developing, teaching, and improving children’s abilities. Open activities with safe play objects made of natural materials have an impact on the growth of several skills of children of different ages.

Sensory Experience of Perception and Interaction

Encountering different shapes and textures at a very early age is the baby’s first sensory experience. This is an extremely important developmental stage, the foundation on which more complex cognitive structures will be built later on. Natural wooden toys with different shapes provide a unique multi-sensory experience. Tactile sensations and attempts to perform the first actions cover all the senses of the baby and become an effective stimulus for the creation of neural connections.

Fine Motor Skills and Building Cognitive Connections

Only the lazy parent is not already well aware of the importance of a child’s fine motor control for future communication skills. Touching, grabbing, holding, and repositioning are essential experiences in interacting with objects, which will later be a factor in the development of the brain centers responsible for verbal communication. In addition, manipulating wooden toys actively teaches coordination and helps the child learn basic physical and territorial concepts.

Stimulation and Progress of Speech Skills

At an older age, wooden toys stimulate the emergence and progression of communication functions. Description of the properties of the object: color, shape, texture. As well as free play with parts of wooden constructors or sorters directly affects the building of logical and cause-and-effect associations. In the process of growing up, details made of wood become one of the best tools for role-playing games, in the process of which the child’s language and imagination develop very quickly.

Practicing the Concentration Holding Ability

Wooden constructors, unlike colorful plastic analogs, do not have fixation mechanisms. This is extremely important in the matter of teaching a child the ability to retain focus on a particular task. By assembling wooden parts or focusing on sorting objects of different shapes and colors, children can improve their capabilities to hold their attention for a long time and be ready to find new solutions and ways of doing things.

Extra Benefits of Choosing Wooden Toys for Your Child

Creativity, flight of fancy, and communication in the form of internal and social communication – can be considered the main pluses that convince us as parents to buy wooden toys for our kids. But besides this, natural wooden toys have other bonuses:

• Therapeutic Properties

Wooden toys are used by leading experts in the field of child development as the main therapeutic tool. And in logopedic practice, professionals most actively use wooden objects.

• Eco-friendly and Safe

The materials used for the production of such toys are absolutely ecological. They do not contain toxic materials and are safe even for babies. The quality of the simplest and cheapest wooden toys is guaranteed to be better than many plastic analogs.

• Stability and Durability

Experienced parents know well how important it is that the material of toys is durable and stable. Toys made of wood will withstand almost any damage and will remain intact and ready for a new game.

In choosing wooden toys for their children, caring parents choose the best level of growth for their child, multifunctionality, and a great perspective for play activities. The variety of toys made of wood today is so wide that products are available in different formats for all age groups. Try to give your child a new experience of playing with toys made of eco-friendly and natural materials that not only make it fun but also promote learning and training of new essential skills.