From patty cake to peek-a-boo, the more interactive activities your child engages in with others, the more potential she has to expand her intellectual growth. From developing motor skills to enhancing brain power, games are a fun way to keep her mind sharp. Expose your little one to new information and discover how games not only keep her giggling, but also intellectually stimulated on a day-to-day basis.
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Looking into the Future: Faith and Freedom
Each year, on the first day of school, I make my children line up outside so I can take their picture. As they get older, they groan and moan about this tradition, but after some prodding, they line up on the back deck in front of the large cherry apple tree and smile for a few seconds so I can capture the moment.
Re-Launching the Idle Faith
As summer winds to a close, I often jokingly say that I’m counting the days until school starts while mediating arguments and dealing with restless teenagers. As a teacher, I love the fact that I get to stay home with my kids during the summer. We stay busy with day trips, dance and football practices and jaunts to my sister’s pool, but at times, it seems that the kids are restless when a day of “there’s nothing on the calendar” arrives.
Parenting Lessons: The Teachable Moments
As a teacher, I crave those teachable moments in life. From a tidbit online to help with my writing to an eye-opening experience in the classroom, I’ve committed to be a lifelong learner. What I never expected, though, is that parenting offers me the most opportunity for those ‘aha’ moments and I’ve learned more about love, life and faith as a parent than in any other role in life I have.
How Pregnancy Can Affect Your Relationship
Pregnancy is a time of growth and change — for both mom- and dad-to-be. Pregnancy also provides a period of adjustment for your relationship, as you and your partner prepare for the arrival of a new family member. This is "the real training for parenthood," says Alicia Clark, Washington-based clinical psychologist. "And nowhere is this more evident than in your intimate relationship, where — perhaps for the first time — the needs of a child have to be balanced with your own."
Tips for Keeping the House Clean With a New Baby
When you bring home your newborn from the hospital, the responsibilities of caring for him while keeping your house tidy can be overwhelming. From feedings and diaper changes to laundry and scrubbing, your to-do list may be overflowing. Finding a balance with your time to ensure your home is clean and safe for your infant is crucial for the health and well-being of your family. A few creative strategies to clean up when your plate is full can help smooth the transition of raising a baby while keeping your home in tip-top shape.
Pregnancy Beauty: Best Foods For Your Skin
During pregnancy, a woman’s body has one priority and that is supplying nutrients to the baby. Therefore, Mom may suffer, including her skin, if her nutritional supplies are not stocked up or always replenished with excellent nutrition, says Birgitta Lauren, a pre and postnatal fitness and nutrition expert and author of “Expecting Fitness.” Consuming the best foods for your skin may not only help keep you glowing during pregnancy, but also provide you and your unborn child with energy and needed nutrients when you both need it the most.
Tips for Keeping Your Husband Calm During Labor and Delivery
Pregnancy is a stressful time for a woman – and for an expecting father as well. Becoming a father is a time of great change for a man, with added strain pertaining to financial planning and the changing dynamic of the relationship between himself and his partner, says OB/GYN Kecia Gaither, Director of Maternal Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. The tenseness of labor and delivery can heighten these fears. But with a few creative strategies, you can help keep Dad calm and relaxed during labor and delivery.
Multiples? Things to Consider
As a mom of twins with a total of four kids, Melissa Perry Moraja knows firsthand that having twins is more tiring than having a singleton. Moraja, a North Carolina-based children’s author and illustrator, found that she slept more and ate more when pregnant with multiples. The weight gain was taxing as well, she says. “I was a 125-pound person who couldn’t even fit into my husband’s extra large clothes at 32 weeks pregnant,” says Moraja. Preparing for and parenting multiples includes considering self-care, baby care and support systems.
Games That Develop Your Toddler’s Imagination
Toddlers are bursting with energy, ready to assert independence and full of creative ideas, but they probably don't know how to express themselves creatively yet. You can help develop your little tyke’s imagination with interactive games that rely on role playing, communication and collaboration. From building blocks and pretend play to dynamic dancing and rhythmic drumming, games that foster your child’s imagination can be a routine part of your day and your child’s life.
Shannon Philpott-Sanders 