The other day we went to visit my brother and his growing family. My children love visiting their cousins. As soon as we walk through my brother’s front door, the girls disappear upstairs to explore their cousins’ bedrooms, toy boxes, and wardrobes. This time I was pleased to hear the kids excitedly discussing a great new initiative that has been started at their cousins’ school.
Do you ever get the feeling kids these days are expected to spend every waking hour either at school, playing sport, learning a musical instrument, or otherwise taking part in some other extra-curricular activity? Don’t get me wrong, I am beyond delighted when my daughters show a passion for a new hobby. And of course I am more than happy to spend money helping them realise their goals and potential. But sometimes I think there is too much pressure on parents to spend money “outsourcing” their kids activities.
I have a confession to make: I hate it when my girls insist on “helping” when I cook dinner. Maybe I’m lucky they have taken an interest in this domestic chore (couldn’t they clean the bathroom instead?), but honestly I would much rather get the cooking done in peace.
We all want our kids to be happy and successful, but it’s easy to forget that as parents we also have a responsibility to raise socially aware children who know how to do their bit for the community. With Earth Day coming up on the 22nd April, there are countless kids activities that will instil valuable lessons in our little ones to make sure they grow up with a robust social conscience.
I try to make sure my girls are out and about as much as possible; enjoying the outdoors, exercising, and socialising with other little ones. One of the difficulties with outdoor kids activities, however, is finding nutritious food. With the foodie movement on the rise, it amazes me that sports centres, play parks, and swimming pools don’t do more to provide healthy, interesting meal options at their canteens.
Every parent wants their child to be happy at school, and a major contributor to schoolyard happiness is a healthy social life. Unfortunately, many parents focus too much energy on improving their child’s academic abilities, rather than teaching them how to foster healthy friendships.
Are you ever left with the feeling that our little ones don’t get to make the most of their mini-break by being parked in front of the television with the candy bowl in their lap?
As a housewife and Mum, I try to make sure that every moment I spend with my kids is quality time that lasts. That is why I never fail to be with them during special occasions. I also realized one way which I could bond with my children during my free time: Face painting!
As you know I am a big advocate for kids health & fitness. After all our bodies have been designed to move., not to sit around playing computer and TV games. All of us need exercise especially kids.
Bullying in the playgrounds across the Australian school landscape continues to be a concern for us all. It's not just the playground either. I have witnesses many times "Bullying" at activities for kids on the Weekend. Bullying has been around for as long as we can remember. But, are we any better at helping our kids deal with being bullied?
My 9-year-old daughter hates Science. She moans it's too hard that almost everything that her teacher says doesn't have anything to do with human beings. She often asks me, “Why can’t we just get rid of it? I don’t seem to learn anything from it anyway!”
Are my Kids Normal? Sometimes they do strange things ! I sometimes wonder if they are "Normal". Much of the behavior of kids when they are very young we put down to them being young and kids. We as parents to some degree do try to tolerate this as normal kids behavior. However, our main focus is to try and educate our kids into "growing up".
Police are again today warning us all to be vigilant and also speak to our kids about stranger Danger. According to the report there has been a spate of incidents recently, which often occurs with the start of the new school year.
I really have nothing against stage moms. I mean, even as a working mother, I am still hands-on in taking care of my kids and only want what’s best for them. However, a stage mom normally has a negative connotation. Originally, I believe this term came from Mothers of kids that were involved in Performing Arts Activities. However, today this does not only refer to the mothers of celebrities or those kids who are in the limelight but are also Mums who put pressure on their kids to succeed.
We all need some encouragement at some point. As parents we probably need encouragement and motivation more than anybody. But when our kids do need that little bit of help - it's the way of families that sometimes kids need to get a boost from their peers or someone outside the family circle.
