Creative Ideas for Easing Separation Anxiety – Parenting
Creative Ideas for Easing Separation Anxiety
Nicole Brekelbaum
Does your child exhibit separation anxiety at daycare drop-off Do you spend more than fifteen minutes struggling to calm your childs fears You are not alone. All parents at one time or another have experienced guilt, fear and remorse at the very thought of leaving their hysterical child in the arms of a non-relative.
Separation anxiety affects both parents and children. Children display their discontent and fears by throwing temper trantrums, clinging onto parents for long periods and ignoring attempts by their daycare provider to calm their fears. Parents display separation anxiety by hesitating to exit the daycare, clinging onto their child for prolonged periods and performing disappearing acts when their child is not looking.
To help ease separation anxiety, change must start with the parents. Parents must first calm their own fears and insecurities. When children see parents more relaxed and confident at drop-off they begin to slowly warm up to their daycare provider and adjust to their new daycare setting. Parents can plan ahead of time by using some of these creative ideas to help ease separation anxiety.
Temporary Tatoos ...
Visit your local grocery store and ask your child to choose a temporary tatoo of his favorite cartoon character. At bedtime discuss going to daycare with your child. Offer to place the tatoo on his hand as a special reminder that you are with him always. Remind him at drop-off that when he looks at the tatoo, he will know that you love him dearly and will soon pick him up after work.
Popsicle Treats ...
Popsicles, especially on hot days, are a great treat for children. Purchase a pack with a variety of primary and secondary colors. Use the popsicles to teach him about secondary colors. Show him that two primary-colored popsicles can combine to form a secondary-colored popsicle. At daycare drop-off ask your child which color he would like to have at the end of the day. Ask him which flavor he thinks is associated with that color. Reassure him that he will be receiving his treat at the end of the day and that you will share precious time with him after returning from work.
Surprise Boxes ...
Keep surprise boxes in your vehicle. Explain to your child that he may open the surpise box if he is good throughout the week. The surprise box may contain baby photos of your child, his favorite storybook, a favorite snack and a simple craft item that he can quickly put together.
Healthy Snacks ...
Visit your local grocery store with your child and ask him to choose a variety of healthy kid snacks that he will pack and carry to daycare. Many children who are adjusting to daycare need something familiar to hold onto as they try to feel secure and comfortable being away from parents. If your daycare provider prepares meals, gradually reduce the number of snacks in your childs lunch box until your child starts eating the foods prepared at the daycare.
Bedtime Stories ...
Visit your local library and borrow books that focus on children going to daycare. Read these books at bedtime. From the pictures in the storybook your child will see other children going to daycare and will understand that he is not the only one experiencing separation anxiety. Ask your child about his day at daycare and try to determine if he is adjusting slowly or not adjusting at all. After a week or two most children adjust nicely to new daycare settings. For some children it may take longer.
If you suspect that your child is still not adjusting try to drop by the daycare unannounced to see if your child is interacting with the other kids. Look at his interaction with the daycare provider and the types of activities he is engaged in. Discuss any of your concerns with your daycare provider and allow time for adjustment. If there is no change after about a week or two try looking into other childcare options which may be better suitable for your child.
About The Author
Nicole Brekelbaum is the director at Young Achievers Inc. - A home-based learning center for aspiring youth located in Pflugerville, Texas. She has been providing childcare in her home since her career switch from working engineer to childcare director and mom. Visit her companys website at http://www.youngachieversinc.com
nicole@youngachieversinc.com
11 Creative Ways You Can Use Autoresponders – Affiliate Programs
11 Creative Ways You Can Use Autoresponders
Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
1. Pick 4 or more articles youve written that have a common theme and put them in an autoresponder series. Announce it on your site as an e-mail course on the go.
2. If you have a page for related links, create a related links file and put it on autoresponder. This can be a one-page e-mail containing 15-50 links that are of interest to your visitors. Put your own promotional texts or blurbs at the top, middle and bottom of the e-mail.
3. Create a fun or trivia quiz, put it up on your site and put the answers in an autoresponder that your visitors can request. This way, youll know the people who took your quiz.
4. Write reviews of books, music, e-books, sites, software or anything you can think of and put each review or related reviews in an autoresponder. If what you are reviewing have affiliate programs, use your affiliate links in the autoresponder.
5. Run a contest on your site or e-zine, then have your visitors or subscribers send their responses to your autoresponder. This way, you wont have to worry about manually sending them a confirmation receipt.
6. Create a frequently updated autoresponder and let your visitors and/or subscribers know about it. You can put in weekly tips or links to useful resources in the autoresponder and a reminder to the people who request it that you update it every week or on a regular basis e.g. tell them to request for the same autoresponder again a week from now. You can use this method instead of using autoresponders with limited follow up messages.
7. If youve written 20 or more articles and you have them on separate autoresponder accounts, create a master list for your articles. In this master list, list the titles of your articles, their autoresponder addresses and their short descriptions. You can then just promote this master list.
8. Put excerpts or free chapters of your e-book, book or paid e-mail courses in an autoresponder series, then include your follow up sales letters at the end.
9. If youre selling your own products, put your testimonials on autoresponder, along with the description of your products, an excerpt or a free chapter. This will increase your credibility.
10. Keep track of people who download your free e-book, e-report, or free software by putting their download links in an autoresponder. When you promote your free product, you can just promote the autoresponder address.
11. Put links to your hidden pages on autoresponder. A hidden page could be the affiliate page where you have all the graphics, text links, promotional articles that interested affiliates can use. Let people know they can have free access to your affiliate page by requesting the autoresponder. This way, you can have a list of people who are interested in becoming your affiliates.
About The Author
Copyright c Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
Shery is the developer of creative, motivating and fun e-mail courses for writers. Sign up and take an e-mail course today -- free! -- at http://WritingBliss.com. She also authored the e-book that lets you create your own original and profitable E-mail Workshops, eCourses and Tutorials in only 3 days! Visit http://EmailWorkshopsHowTo.com for more info.
Top Ten Creative Strategies for Inspiring Creativity Where You Work and Play – Diet
Top Ten Creative Strategies for Inspiring Creativity Where You Work and Play
Bea Fields
Websites, automobiles, milk cartons, living spaces. Design saturates every aspect of our lives and the difference between success and failure could be the color purple, could be the person that you talk to every morning when you wake up, or could be the amount of light that streams into your office every day.
These ten steps will support you in revitalizing your environments and will foster an amazing sense of innovation. With these strategies, creativity will become much more than a goal