A monthly online magazine chock-full of insightful articles for busy mothers.

by Laura Cecil

Getting children, especially toddlers, outside to play on snow days is a challenge. Experienced mothers know that the time that it takes to dress and undress them for the experience is about twice as long as the length of the actual outdoor experience. I’ll never forget the first time that I dressed my firstborn for his introduction to playing outside in the snow.

He had been looking out the window at the neighborhood children, all older than he, and babbling on about wanting to play with them. His thinking was that I could simply open the back door and let him out. My attempts to dress him appropriately were met with some serious opposition, and I can’t say that I blame him.

First, he had his snow pants put on, with straps over his shoulders, followed by a sweater, a hooded jacket, ear muffs, a scarf, and mittens. When he was fully prepared for the trip outside, he could barely move, looking like a short telephone pole standing perfectly upright with his arms spread out from his side like cross beams. Naturally he resisted. His new cocoon didn’t feel natural, and I’m sure it didn’t help that the adults in the room were laughing a bit too loudly over his appearance.

When he finally did get out through the back door and onto the snow covered rear deck, his outside visit lasted about five minutes before the banging on the back door began. His experiment with the outdoors was over for that day. He had a frown on his face when he came back in, proclaiming loudly that he didn’t like his mittens, his scarf, his hood, or his boots. The next day, when he again wanted to join the neighborhood children outside, he was quite verbal in his insistence that he not wear the mittens, scarf, hood, or boots. What’s a parent to do?

The weather that day wasn’t too bad; the sun was out. I decided that experience would be the best teacher and determined to try a little “tough love.” I put on his snow pants and his hat, but left off his scarf, mittens, and boots, and I zipped up his jacket without pulling up the hood. He was one happy camper with a big smile on his face as he bounded out the back door in his severely modified winter wear. Five minutes later, he was back in the house crying that his feet were cold, his ears were cold, his hands were cold, and that he hated winter.

Later that day, as he stood staring out the window at the neighborhood kids enjoying their sleds and snowball fights, I explained the facts of winter life to him. That the cold could hurt him, that unlike our pet dog, he had no fur and needed clothing to keep him warm when he was outdoors. The following day, when he once again wanted to go outside, I let him decide what to wear. I asked if he wanted his mittens, and got a yes response. The same thing with the other winter wear. He was reluctant, but seemed to realize that he had to suffer with the clothing, or suffer more with the cold. He quickly adapted to the need for bundling up, and his ventures into the cold outside became of longer and longer duration.

While he learned to accept the necessity of bundling up, I learned a few things about making the needed clothing less cumbersome and easier to use. The hat and hood combination has since been replaced with a ski mask type head covering called a balaclava. It keeps his head and neck warm and allows more flexibility. (It’s also a favorite in the neighborhood, and wearing one makes him feel like “one of the guys.”) We’ve also replaced mittens with gloves, which are much easier to manipulate. We’ve also learned to keep an extra pair of gloves in the kitchen for an immediate change when the gloves that he is wearing become filled with melting snow.

It took a little time and a small dose of reality to get my child to accept the necessity of winter clothing. Forcing him would not have worked as well. Letting him go outside for a short time without adequate protection was a great natural training experience, letting him decide for himself that he needed to dress properly to enjoy the outdoor experience in the winter.

Laura Cecil, a single mother of three kids and the editor of www.Livesnet.com, a site that reviews the hot baby products and gives parents parenting tips. And her single parenting life has been totally changed since she had built this site with her friends several months ago. She really likes sharing her reviews and her parenting tips with all parents. Want to take your kids outside or enjoy a wonderful trip, let’s see if uppa vista 2011 stroller can help you or not!

Babies are creatures of habit. Their needs are simple: food, comfort, and security. Food can be provided anywhere. With a bit of planning, comfort can be made portable to most places. Security, however, is different. His living space is similar to a nest. It is made up of surrounding sounds, views, smells, a predictable routine, and people with whom the baby is familiar. Any changes to these characteristics of security, no matter how trivial they may seem to parents, can have a great impact upon the baby.

For a parent, security in any new place, such as a hotel, is defined by secure door and window locks, a nearby fire escape, an absence of unwanted noise, access to necessities, and a degree of temperature control. For a baby, however, the security is defined by things that are more personal: a familiar blanket, familiar faces, familiar toys, familiar smells, familiar routine, and familiar sounds. The key word here is obviously familiar. When you travel with a baby, whether it is across town, across the country, or across the ocean, it’s important that he is not confronted with too much of the unfamiliar. He must have much of his nest brought with him.

Duplicating the Nest

When you must move the baby from the comfort and security of his home “nest,” it will comfort the baby greatly if his new temporary location has enough of the characteristics of his home nest to feel like home. The baby probably is little affected by the wooden pony door stop used in his nursery, and probably won’t miss it while on a trip. He will, however, undoubtedly miss the music playing mobile that spins around slowly over his crib. Favorite stuffed animals that are normally around him in the crib will also provide the feel and, more importantly, the smell of the home nest.

Making New Surroundings More Comfortable

Again, one way to help your baby adjust to the new surroundings is by making them seem as familiar as possible. Clearly you can’t transport to Grandma’s or to the hotel the toy chest or dresser he sees when he looks out the bars of his crib at home. But whether you’re leaving him at Grandma’s or taking him on vacation, bring some or all of his crib toys (depending on how many he has). The familiarity of Mr. Bear or Fluffy Rabbit or whoever inhabits his little world, perched in his new or temporary crib, will help make the new surroundings seem more familiar. The more you can reassure him that there is nothing fearful out there, the better. If you can show him something familiar in his surroundings, you’ll be even better off.

Hotel Crib or Portable?

Most hotels will provide a baby crib for your room if you make arrangements ahead of time. As a parent, I worry about how well the crib has been maintained. I am not concerned about its structural integrity, the concern over law suits would make that the hotel’s prime concern. I’m more concerned about its hygiene. I don’t know who used it last, and whether or not it has been sterilized. Whenever possible, I bring a portable crib with me. If the baby is properly prepared, the portable crib can also remind him of his home nest.

Set up the portable crib in the home nursery about one week before taking the trip. Put the baby into it for naps on the first few days. Toward the end of the week, place her in the portable crib for the night. Make sure that the familiar items normally found in his regular crib are placed in the portable one. He’ll become comfortable with the portable crib, and recognize it as part of his nest when it is used in the hotel.

Resetting the Baby’s Biological Clock

The baby’s biological clock has undoubtedly been set to a fixed schedule since he was brought home from the hospital. If you are travelling to a different time zone, the baby’s clock won’t automatically reset. If you’re travelling inside theUnited Statesand have moved over only one time zone, the transition can be easily made in two nights. Simply change the baby’s schedule by one-half hour each night. In fact, if the trip is going to last no more than two days, it may not be necessary to try to adjust to the new time zone at all. If the stay is to be longer than that, a gradual shifting of the baby’s schedule is advisable. It may be prudent to begin making the adjustment at home during the week prior to your leaving.

Maintain the Baby’s Expected Routine

Babies are creatures of habit. They find security in routine. We’ve already discussed resetting the biological clock with regard to sleeping, but other activities must also be coordinated with the new sleep patterns. Eating times should remain relative to the sleeping times. Feeding should be done in a manner familiar to the baby. If he is usually fed in a high chair, he may resist if you try to feed him while holding him. If you cannot bring a high chair with you or get one from the hotel, consider feeding him for a week at home in a baby carrier, and then use that carrier for feeding in the hotel room. Do you usually sing the baby to sleep? Continue to do so. Does he expect a sponge bath every evening? Continue to do so on the trip.

Obviously, it will be impossible, stressful, and time consuming to try to duplicate the baby’s home life experience when travelling. You can do only what’s possible. Whatever you can do, however, to make the baby feel that he’s secure in his home nest will be of great benefit to him, but slight deviations will not harm his psyche as long as he has access to the most important ingredient experienced at his home nest – mom’s love.

Christine Allen is an editor for www.livesnet.com, a site for baby products reviews and tips. She loves to make reviews on baby bestsellers and shares her parenting stories. She would like to connect with you on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/livesnet) or by email at Christine@livesnet.com. Please visit Livesnet and read her hot articles such as Kidsline baby bedding and Davinci Baby Crib.

What should you tell your kids about the hurricane?

Try to keep calm. If your children exhibit anxiety, help them to talk about their feelings. Try to be honest, depending on your child’s age (don’t reveal too much if your child is very young). Try to keep to schedules that you usually observe, if possible. Use activities below to relieve anxiety, such as the hurricane tracking chart. If you are evacuating, tell them you are going somewhere to be safe. Take along some small games for them to play with and their favorite stuffed toy.
Have kids check out Weather Wiz Kids designed by Crystal Wicker especially for children.

She has a hurricane tracking chart to print and an info page to print on
What a Hurricane is.

Make sure you have thouroughly prepared so you can help to relieve your own anxiety. Use this time to do some family reading, game board, card playing, whatever you like to do together.
Take a look at the Hurrican Links page. Be safe!
Hurricane Links…find printable emergency supply kits to make and so much more.

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How To Keep The Kids Busy On Bad Winter Weather Days by Shelly Hill

During the Winter Season we are often hit with bad winter weather here on the North East Coast. That bad weather can consist of blizzards, snow storms, ice storms, sleet, freezing rain, you name it, we pretty much get it all here.

When the bad weather strikes, businesses, schools and daycare’s close down by the thousands, leaving many children stuck at home with not much to do. When our daughter was little, we decided to make “bad weather days” our family’s arts and crafts day. As I look back over the years, we made some pretty awesome things…many of which I still have today.

The first thing I recommend that you do is to make up an arts and crafts bin by purchasing a plastic bin at your local discount store. Then, you will head to the dollar store and your local craft store and pick up some supplies. You should really fill up that bin! Here is a list of general supplies that every craft bin should have.

Straight Edge Scissors, Designer Edge Scissors

All Purpose Liquid Craft Glue and Glue Sticks

Construction Paper, Watercolor Paper and 8″ x 11″ sized scrapbooking paper

Stickers, Rubber Stamps, Ink Pads, Magnet Backs, Wiggle Eyes

Scraps of Ribbon, Lace, String, Yarn, Feathers, Popsicle Sticks, Craft Sticks

Buttons, Charms, Beads, Faux Gems, Rhinestones, Small Silk Flowers,
Jewelry Findings

Markers, Colored Pencils, Crayons, Water Paints, Finger Paints, Acrylic Paints and Paint Brushes

Modeling Clay and Optional Clay Molds

Paper Mache ~ Trinket Boxes, Ornaments, Photo Frames, Etc.

Coloring Books, Water Paint Books, Activity Pads

Foam Craft Sheets and Sheets of Craft Felt

Once you purchase the basic supplies which are suited for both boys and girls, you will want to keep your bin in a handy place. Once all of those “bad winter weather” days hit, you will be prepared for some Arts and Crafts fun with your children! You can visit various online web sites to get some great craft project ideas to use up all of those supplies. Keeping children busy during bad weather days doesn’t have to be a stressful task so view it as a great way to have some family bonding time.

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in central Pennsylvania who enjoys crafting with her daughter and grand daughter. Shelly has been crafting for over 30+ years and enjoys crocheting, beading, scrapbooking and cross stitching. You can visit Shelly’s online craft blog called Passionate About Crafting at http://passionateaboutcrafting.blogspot.com for free craft project ideas and patterns

Article Source: WAHM Articles