Teaching Children Good Manners – Parenting
Teaching Children Good Manners
Rexanne Mancini
Last week in my newsletter, I mentioned that my children knew how to behave in nice restaurants because they had been exposed to the atmosphere at an early age. My idea of well behaved might be different from yours, however, I think there are certain basics that are important and universal.
When my daughters were babies, we would take them wherever we went. If they began to fuss or cry, one of us would promptly remove them from the room/restaurant/market/wherever. Not because we felt their crying or fussing was a bad thing. No, its a perfectly normal occurrence for infants and toddlers. We removed them as a courtesy to others who we felt did not need to be as tolerant as we were with our childrens noise. In consequence, my daughters know that other people are not as wildly in love with their racket or with them as we are. Nor should they be expected to be.
As our children grew older, they were always told the rules of our outings, how to behave and to always speak softly if other adults were present. Sometimes, its fine to let them get a little crazy ... just know your audience! If we are at a five star restaurant where many other diners have come to enjoy a gracious and expensive meal, would we expect everyone there to be enthralled with juniors vocal or behavioral outbursts Would we really expect them to care if our child is having a bout with walking pneumonia and coughing uncontrollably Nope. Its rude. And rudeness is basically nothing more than bad manners. If there is an emergency with your child, by all means dont give a flying flamingo about what others think. But this is the exception. Besides, children who are that sick belong at home, not in public.
Last night, my girls and I were in a department store. There was a toddler carrying on and screaming for more than 15 minutes when my younger daughter said: "Now his mommy is going to tell him to stop because there are other people in here that dont want to hear it!"
Unfortunately, his mommy did not tell him any such thing. She let him wail and scream and cry, much to the chagrin and annoyance of everyone else in the store. You know what As much as I love kids and cannot bear to see or hear them suffering, I disliked this kid immensely!
My reasoning is this: if our kids learn that they are free to trample on the peace, space or rose gardens of others, they will develop into spoiled and inconsiderate brats. And then who will like them Who will want to spend time with them Who, besides their forgiving parents, will be able to tolerate their lack of social graces and good manners No one
Children Get Constipated, Too – Diet
Children Get Constipated, Too
Dr. Loretta Lanphier, ND, CCN, HHP
Do you notice your child putting off going to the bathroom because he/she is busy doing more important things Do you notice avoidance of the bathroom for fear of a painful bowel movement Is your child not experiencing daily bowel movements These actions may be signals of constipation.
Parents often hope their worries about their childrens bathroom habits will end with the final diaper. But successful toilet training doesnt prevent occasional troubles with bowel movements. Constipation is among the most common but should never be considered normal.
Unfortunately most of the medical literature defines childhood constipation as not the frequency of bowel movements but the hardness of the stool. According to the Physicians
Guide To Choosing Educational Toys For Children – Parenting
Guide To Choosing Educational Toys For Children
Eugen Lisov
Educational toys for children
In the last few years, parents started getting more and more interested in choosing all sorts of educational toys for their children. Because a parent wishes the best for his child, a toy that is labeled as educational is very likely to be bought easier than others.
But what is an educational child toy
Well, there is no definition of the term "educational toy" from what I know. However, what I do know is that an educational toy is a toy that helps a child learn something good, something that will help in the future. Play is the most important activity of any child. Learning thru play is a reality; it can and it is done unknowingly every time your child plays. The parent must however control the play so that it remains on an educational course.
There are also toys that arent exactly educational for children … Toy guns and other such toys that somehow tend to violence and other bad behaviors are not recommended. You must avoid such toys. Although these toys may be a good source of fun for youngsters, on the long term they will only do harm.
How do educational child toys and games work
A I said above, play is a child‘s main activity. During the play, a child learns many new things. Toys and games must be integrated into the play to make their job. This is not hard, because play consists of several games that require using toys. Any toy can be educational, as long as it does not develop a bad behavior, and it is used in your childs play. A toy must be used in order to be educational for a child.
To be clearer about how educational child toys and games work, I will take one example: Hide and seek.
Lets take a look at Hide and Seek. You do remember this game, right Can you remember the rules Ok, I will still list them here, and comment on them and explain its educational side.
The first rule is that every player must obey the rules. I know, I know its obvious, but if players would not respect the rules, would there be any point for the rules to exist Every child must learn and obey them, or else they are not allowed to play the game. The educational part of this is that the child learns to accept the fact that he cannot do everything he wants, that there are some limits and he must not pass them in order to keep his privileges.
One of the children in the group is chosen to count to 100 at the home tree this helps young children learn the numbers in a pleasurable way, not like in school, without peeking this educated the child to use fair play in all areas of the life. Meanwhile, the others must find a good hiding place, one that is both hard to discover and close to the home tree. This stimulates the child to think fast to the best solution to a given task.
After he finished counting to 100, the child says "Ready or not, here I come" and then he must search for the other players. He must be very careful. Once he finds a player hiding, he must run back to the home tree and shout his name. He must be vigilant so that he can hear any sound that might indicate the position of the other players.
The players who are already spotted must not tell where the others are hiding. This too educates children to use fair play.
The first player spotted is the next one to count to 100.
Youd never think that hide and seek, one of the most common games in childhood, could be so educational, right Yes, it is a very educational game. And its not the only one. Pick any game you liked playing when you were a child, and analyze its rules, as I did above. Youll be amazed.
Hide and Seek is oriented mainly towards developing fair play and physical skills.
Heres another example of educational child game that helps developing more advanced skills: Monopoly.
I wont bore you with its rules. This game introduces your child into the basics of modern business life. Acquiring high value properties, negotiation, taxes. Yup! This game educates your child to become the biggest businessperson on the Wall Street. Monopoly has rules that are more complex and it requires greater concentration. Specific jargon and names that mean much to the entrepreneurs get your child closer the world of business.
Toys are amongst the first objects a child gets in contact. Understanding how things work is a direct result of solving problems with toys like "Why this fits there", "Does that fit here", "How big is that". Toys help your child learn to grab, pull, push, synchronize the movement of the head with that of the hand.
Toys are indispensable when playing. Playing with a great variety of educational child toys helps your child develop his imagination, understand that different objects have different properties, and learn how to combine them to create other interesting objects.
Read the whole article on choosing educational child toys.
About The Author
Eugen Lisov is the creator of Child-Toys-Guide.com, a site focused on helping parents worldwide to choose the best toys for their children. If you offer your child a bad toy, its the same as if you dont offer your youngster any toy. Please feel free to browse my site; it will only help you when choosing toys for your child.