One tiny step to school, a gr8 step to independence!

Preparing their child for his/her first day in school is a challenging job for every parent. Many children cry and throw tantrums. It may take days, weeks or even months for a toddler or pre-schooler to settle down in the new environment. How to make this transition from home to school a smooth one is every parent's quest.

Here are a few things you can do to help your tiny tot.

• Talk to your child about school in a positive and exciting attitude, your attitude toward school will give your little one confidence that school is going to be an enjoyable and positive experience.
  
  
• Take your child around to some parks, playgrounds or to a friend's home where there are other children his age, so he has the opportunity to interact with other children. Let it be a very informal setting where he gets to choose who he wants to interact with, what toys he wants to play with,etc. Do not force your child to leave you and move with the other children, just expose him to this environment a couple of times. The third time you will notice that your child ventures out to meet and play with other kids. Also be around but do not disturb or talk to him in the middle of the activity he is doing (unless ofcourse if he is creating havoc or fighting with others). After a few trips like this you will observe that your kid is not bothered whether you are around but is getting absorbed in the play/game. This is a good sign of independence.
  
  
• Prepare your child for the experience of school. To do this you can talk about the activities he is likely to do in school, like play with toys, listen to rhymes/poems, eat some snacks at the break. When your child observes these things on his first day at school, he will remember you having talked about it and will feel at ease performing these tasks.

• And on the day prior to school day pack his bag in advance (you might need to keep a bottle of drinking water, a set of dress to change in case he soils the one he is wearing, a hand towel to clean him up after a snack, a snack box with something he likes and diapers (if needed))

• On the day of school, wake up early so you have a smooth time getting ready. Give your child a comfortable dress to wear (some parents make the mistake of dressing up the child in a brand new dress, with tight elastic/thick fabric, that may be very uncomfortable for the child and he may not be able to express his discomfort to his new care giver at school). A simple breakfast or a glass of milk will help. Then don't forget to take a photograph of your little one going to school! This is definitely a milestone you will want to remember later on. Then you might want to say a word of prayer before you head off to school.
  

These positive strokes will help your baby transition to pre-school easily. Even with all this there may be a tear or two, but you can rest assured that you've done your best to help your little one cross this milestone :)

Play dough! A great learning tool

A simple play dough is such an interesting toy for toddlers and pre-schoolers alike. If you dont have play dough, just mix some dough for chapathis and use it instead :) 

You can start by spreading  a rubber sheet / mat / newspaper on the floor so that you dont spill dough all over the floor! Give each child a lump of dough and you are ready to go! Just ask them to squeeze the dough, then make it flat by tapping on it, then make it into a ball. Yes, teach them all this by doing it yourself. When those tiny hands press and squeeze the dough, they refine their motor skills and dexterity. And they learn to take simple instruction from you, this can double as a vocabulary building excersice too where you introduce a shapes and colours and other atricles.

Other shapes you might want to try:

Shapes(circle, triangle, rectangle)

Ball

Plate

Snake

Bucket

Spoon

Wrist watch (Just make a long flat strip and make a small circle and stick in the center as the dial and put it on your kiddo's wrist) / bangle

Grape bunch (make a lot of grape size balls and stick it together to make a bunch of grapes).

You can also fire up their imagination by asking them to suggest things they want to make : )

The next time you make chapathis, take their help  to roll out the chapathis, you will enjoy the different shapes of chapathis you get to eat!

Expecting a tiny miracle!

A friend of mine suggested a site to me when i was carrying our first child. This site has useful information on the foetal development and nutrition.
I also subscribed for a weekly newsletter that gave information on the baby's development during that week. It was interesting to know what changes were happening to my little baby.
So if you are expecting your baby soon go ahead and visit this site for a whole lot of interesting information and nutrition and health care tips.

Here are some tips you might find useful:

Eat healthy, and don't eat for two. I was overweight and i gained a lot of weight and you know how hard it is to loose those extra pounds later on! (If you are underweight, please consult your physician for diet details as you need to gain weight for a healthy pregnancy). The calorie needs of a growing infant is 500 cals. Your normal calorie intake would be around 1800 - 2000 cals, so just a few nutritious fruits and nuts will be sufficient to add these extra calories. Just make sure you gain these calories from healthy and natural foods than from processed or fast foods. Some healthy additions will be Fruits (apple, pomegranate, oranges, pear, etc), vegetables, lentils, greens/spinach, nuts (like almonds, pistas, walnuts, etc ) and a cup of a milk. Make sure you do not combine your Iron tablet at the same time as milk as the calcium in the milk will reduce iron absorption.

Walk regularly (at a normal pace). This is just to keep you flexible. So relax, take a deep breath of fresh air and enjoy your walk. Take a iPod with some soothing music, this will not only help you to enjoy your walk but also help you de-stress after a long day at work!

Drink a lot of water (don't over-do it, 8-10 glasses a day should be fine). This will wash the toxins away and keep you and your baby healthy.

Bringing-Up Kids

This is my first post in WorkingMomsJournal. Being a mom of 2 bubbly little angels, i continually face a lot of challenges in 

• Spending quality time with my kids
  
• Giving them healthy food options
  
• Entertaining them with skill building games
  
• or the hardest task of all: Simply keeping them out of trouble for an hour!
  

Here i want share, with moms like me who are trying to balance work and home, some tips and tricks i've tried and found useful!

Our children are precious, lets strive to give them the very best we can :) 

Your constructive comments and ideas are welcome.