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It is that time of year again, back to school time. If your kids haven’t already started back they likely will be over the next couple of weeks. Here in my neck of the woods most kids start back this week or next. It is fun to watch all the new little kindergartners heading off to school with mom and dad carrying their cool new backpacks so proudly.
Whether your child is going to school for the very first time or returning after the summer break that first day (and often first week or so) can cause a lot of feelings and emotions in your kid. They’ll be feeling excited, scared, happy, nervous or most likely all of the above. So many new and unknown things surround the first day of school so it is completely understandable that it can make your child a little wary.
Here are a few tips on how you can make your child’s first day a little less scary and how you can help them with this big life transition.
- As the first day of school approaches talk to them about how they are feeling. Don’t down play their negative emotions, talk them out with your child.
- If you are scared or upset about their first day of school try not to let that show. Play up the excitement and happiness of the moment.
- Purchase some books about going to school, or pick some up from the library and read them with your kids. Children learn a lot by reading storybooks.
- Get your child involved in the purchasing of school supplies. Let them pick out their backpack, pencil case, etc.
- If your school offers it take a tour of your child’s classroom before the first day of school so they will be familiar with the layout.
- If your child will ride the bus to school be sure you talk about and practice how that will work.
The most important thing you can do for your child is to listen to them. If they are nervous or scared they will feel better once they have talked it out and know that you understand how they feel. After the first few days your child will likely get over being scared and will just be excited about school.
Don’t forget to take those priceless first day of school photos!!!
How do you handle the first day of school? Is your child usually excited or scared?
Children begin learning about language at a very young age. They begin saying and repeating sounds when they are just babies. A baby’s early babbling is the beginning stages of learning to talk. One day you’ll find that those bababas and mamamas and dadadas turn into real words like ball, mommy, daddy, etc. Most children will begin saying real words (well what sound kind of like words anyway) at around a year old. Throughout their second year of life their vocabulary will really begin to increase and they will go from saying single words to forming short little 2-3 word sentences. It is so fun to watch their faces light up when they correctly repeat a word or get their point across the first try using real words. You can just see the pride written all over their darling little faces.
An important part of helping your child grow and develop language skills is teaching them their ABCs. The alphabet is the first building block to being able to read. Once your child begins to use words you can begin to really start teaching them the alphabet. That early reading, singing and talking you did with them as babies will work as building blocks for learning and grasping the alphabet and counting.
Here are a few suggestions you can use to work with your child to help them learn their ABCs and 123s:
- Read to them early and often. Children learn a lot about language simply by listening to us talk to them and read to them.
- Sing the alphabet song regularly and encourage your child to sing along once they are old enough to copy and repeat sounds.
- Repitition, repeat letters and numbers often and encourage your child to repeat them with you.
- Use flash cards once your child is old enough.
- Invest in some books, puzzles, letters/numbers fridge magnets (or bath toys), etc.
- If you let your child watch television or DVDs include programming that helps them learn their alphabet and counting.
Now that my daughter’s language is really beginning to develop we have begun working with her on letters and numbers. She can repeat all the letters of the alphabet and all the numbers up to 10 when prompted. We make it fun by including it in fun activities like reading, singing or games. Since she was born I have read to her every day. She loves books and will sit and listen to stories or flip through a book on her own for long periods of time (a trait she gets from her mom!!). She doesn’t recognize the letters yet, but that will come with some time and practise. We use fridge magnets and bathtub sponge letters/numbers to help her with recognition and to give us just another opportunity to include learning in her play.
When children start school having a firm understanding of the key building blocks for learning such as knowing their ABCs, 123s, having some early reading skills, some early math skills, etc will help them learn more easily and enjoy school more.
The ABCs and 123s are such a simple thing but they truly are the building blocks for all learning. Getting started early and making the learning fun are great ways to show your child that learning is fun and they can do it.
Making the decision to have your first child is a huge deal. A lot goes into that decision. Afterall, you are deciding to completely change the dynamic of your relationship forever, you will no longer be just a couple you will be a family. Conceiving your first child means you are taking on the responsibility of caring for another human life and putting their needs, wants and desires before your own. It is a big deal. My husband and I waited to start our family until we hit our 30s because we wanted to spend time just being a couple, we wanted to be financially stable and we wanted to be in a place where it was possible for me to stay home with our child. But when we finally took the plunge it felt right, we were ready (well as ready as you can be).
Lately we have begun talking about expanding our family, trying for #2. The talk has been pretty limited so far, just a few little conversations here and there. No concrete decisions yet. I’ve discovered something through these conversations though, deciding to try for #2 may actually be a bigger decision for me than the first was. With Maya I just knew I was ready every part of me was screaming that it was time, this time I feel like I have more to think about and the signs are quite so obvious.
We want to have more kids. I’ve always pictured myself with 2. However, I’m having trouble actually saying “ok, let’s do it.” (and my husband is too). So much will change when we expand our family. I used to think that once you had the first the giant changes were over and having more wouldn’t be that big a deal. I was wrong. There are so many things standing between me and making the decision to go for #2. Like:
How will my relationship with Maya change and am I ready for it to change? I love the way things are now and I don’t want my relationship with her to change.
Can we manage two kids in our condo or should we buy a house first? I don’t think we have the room we would need but I can’t say that I want to put it off just for a house.
How will we manage two kids? Traveling, shopping, trips to the zoo, naptimes and bedtimes, it all becomes more complicated with two, am I ready for that?
Will they be the right number of years apart? I don’t want them too close together or too far apart.
So many little things swirling around in my head, so many questions, so many “what ifs”. Who knew it would be such a hard decision. I think the biggest thing standing in the way is Maya. I want her to have a brother or a sister, both my husband and I loved having siblings growing up. However, I worry about how bringing a new baby into our life will turn her world upside down. I think (I know) she would love the baby and would be an awesome big sister so I don’t know why I let it bother me so much.
Maybe, we just need to stop thinking about it so much and just go for it. Who knows. We’ll talk some more, figure a few things out and decide from there. Any tips, pointers, suggestions or opinions are welcome (obviously we could use a little help from the pros on this one).
Since Maya was born we have been using the stroller that came with her Chicco Travel System. It has worked out well for us so we hadn’t bothered buying another one. However, traveling with a big bulky stroller isn’t easy or fun. Since we had a trip planned this summer that involved flying and renting a car we decided we needed to suck it up and plop down the cash on a light-weight stroller that would be more convenient for traveling.
Before making a choice I did a bunch of research online and had narrowed it down to a couple of different strollers. We headed over to our local baby store and tried out a few of them. After being pretty disappointed in the ones we tried we decided to try out a Maclaren. I hadn’t originally wanted to buy a Maclaren as they were more money than I wanted to spend. However, after trying out the Maclaren Volo in the store we decided it fit our needs, was really well made and seemed to handle well. Since the price of the Volo was more than we had originally wanted to spend we decided to do some shopping around and were able to find it online at Albeebaby.com for a pretty good price.
The Maclaren Volo is the bottom end, bare bones model. It does have a small mess bag under it for carrying a few items and has a really good sunshade for an umbrella style stroller. You basically get a great quality stroller with only the necessities and none of the extras. It doesn’t have any cup holders so we opted for the universal organizer, which provided us with two cup holders, a small mess pocket for storing small items like keys and a large mess pocket for storing larger items. I’m glad we decided to buy the organizer as it has come in really handy so far, I would definitely recommend it.
A few of the things I really like about the Volo include the mess back on the seat as it helps keep Maya cool during walks out in the hot St. Louis heat, the sunshade, the 5-point harness, the fact that I don’t have to hunch over to push it, and the ease with which it opens and closes. The Volo weighs only about 13lbs so it is really easy to get in and out of the car, or to carry around if you need to (it has a strap so you can carry it over your shoulder). I also really like how sturdy the frame of the stroller is, it feels like it’ll last a long time.
A couple of the things I don’t particularly like are how small the wheels are, how difficult the stroller is to push “off-road” (like on grass or gravel), and how tippy it is when there isn’t a child sitting in the seat. The stroller manuvers really well on flat ground and turns on a dime but as soon as you get it on grass or gravel it becomes difficult to push. If the wheels were a tiny bit bigger I think it would solve this problem.
Overall, my first impressions of the Maclaren Volo are good. I’m happy with my purchase and feel like I’m going to get a lot of use out of this stroller so I don’t feel so bad spending more than I had originally planned. And Maya likes it too. She seems really comfy in it and I think she enjoys the better view of things she gets with the openness of the Volo compared with her bigger, bulkier stroller.
As parents we want to do everything we can to keep our children safe, it is a natural instinct. Makirng sure your child is in the correct child safety seat when traveling in the car is one ways we as parents can help keep our children safe. Child safety seats are designed specifically for certain ages, weights and heights; and when used correctly can (and likely will) save your child’s life.
It can be hard to keep track of all the specific rules surrounding child safety seats. Rules like when your child can go from rear-facing to forward-facing, or when they can move to a booster seat, or when a child safety device is no longer needed. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed the 4 Steps for Kids campagin to help educate parents about child passenger safety and which child safety seats to use when. If you ever have any questions about child passenger safety be sure to check out their website.
Here are the federal regulations regarding child safety seats in the United States. Your state may have more specific rules so be sure to check with state officials in your area to make sure you are obeying the correct rules in your state.
INFANTS: Babies up to at least one year of age AND 20 pounds must be in a rear-facing child safety seat in the back seat. For increased safety your child should remain rear-facing up to the weight and height limits for their child safety seat. Be sure the read the manufacturer information booklet for the specifics on your child safety seat.
TODDLERS: Once your child outgrows their rear-facing seat they should begin to face forward in the backseat of the vehicle until they reach the weight and height limits for their carseat. At minimum your child should remain in their carseat (with a 5 point harness) until age 4 and 40 lbs. Many carseats have much higher weight limits on them, some as high as 65-80 lbs so read the information booklet that came with your seat.
CHILDREN: Once your child reaches the weight limits of their carseat and are at least 4 years of age they can move to a booster seat. These seats are designed to give your child a boost so they can safely use the seatbelts in your vehicle. Your child should continue to use a booster seat until they are 8 years old or 4′ 9″ tall. The safest place for your child remains the backseat.
Choosing the correct safety seat for your child is only part of the equation, you also need to make sure it is installed correctly. Most manufacturers provide very detailed instructions. To be sure you have installed the seat correctly you can take it to an inspection site (most fire departments have inspectors on site) to have the seat installtion inspected.
It is always better and safer to err on the side of caution. If your child is still within the height and weight restrictions for their seat then keep them in it. Just because your child is 4 years old doesn’t mean they have to move to a booster seat, they are safer in their carseat so leave them there if you can.