How To Make Conversation With Your Toddler

There is no need to feel uncomfortable any longer. Start having good conversation with your toddler. Start conversing. The sooner the better. You do not have to be at a loss for words any longer.

1. Assess

Assess your present situation and surroundings. Look around you. Just choose a subject. Ask your toddler his/her opinion. Give your toddler an honest compliment about him/her, his/her clothing, his/her thoughtfulness. The list could go on and on. Ask your toddler how he/she might feel about something. For example pick out one of the many books that you have read to your toddler and ask him/her what did they like most about the story.

2. Food

You could ask your toddler what their favorite food is to start a conversation. Usually just by asking the question is all that your toddler needs to get started talking in the conversation.


3. Jokes

Jokes are sometimes a good way to start a conversation. It will make your toddler feel at ease when talking with you. Maybe you feel you do not know any jokes to tell your toddler. That is no excuse. Just search the internet, you will find many clean jokes to tell your toddler.


4. Teacher

Maybe discuss what your toddler likes or dislikes about his/her teacher or daycare provider. I once remember my child disliking a teacher very much. When I mentioned the teacher’s name she had quite a lot to say about him. No it was not positive, but it did start my child to talking.

5. Practice

Have you ever heard “Practice makes perfect?” Well that is true. Maybe you might not do as well as you wanted the first time. Do not beat yourself up about it. Continue to practice and it will become easier and you should get better at it. Remember conversation is not just one-sided. Usually you can start the conversation by asking certain questions.


6. Who, What, When, and Why

These are things to remember to help in your conversation with your toddler. Possibly ask your toddler something beginning with “Who, What, When, and/or Why.”

Celebrating Toddlers Birthdays

1. Pinning a dollar on your shirt

Are you familiar with people walking around with money pinned to their shirt? Well it has been said it is traditional for some to do that on their birthdays and at birthday parties in order to get more money. It is not only traditional at birthday parties, but there has been observation of children and adults wearing pinned money on their shirts at church, in the stores, and various other places.

2. Karaoke

Karaoke has become a very popular event for birthday parties. This is the time when individuals or groups may come to the microphone and sing, tell stories, or poems. Most of the time it is singing though. Usually there will be a screen showing you the words as you sing along with the music. This can be fun and entertainment. It is especially entertaining to watch toddlers perform. This is a time where you do not have to have a great voice. You only have to be daring and willing to attempt it.

In observing some karaoke parties, there have been times a group of ladies might sing together, while the group of men danced as if in a performance. There are various disputes about who first invented the name karaoke. There is the one claimed that the karaoke style machine was invented by Japanese musician Daisuke Inoue in Kobe, Japan, in 1971. Unfortunately Inoue never patented his invention. In 1975 Robert del Rosario, developed a sing along system and patented it in the
1980’s.

3. Famous people

There have been some parties where there was sharing of famous people that were born on that day. This can be quite popular when there is a certain person that the toddler might admire. Some stores have books that tell about events that were occurring on the day that a person was born.

4. Huckleberry Junction Playhouse Theatre


Some toddlers and adults love to celebrate their birthday parties at Huckleberry Railroad Playhouse Theatre. There you can have pizza, play games, and enjoy the great customer service. The children usually love the birthday performance that they see and the different games that they can play during the birthday party. Children can win tickets from the games and turn them in for actual prizes of their choice.

5. Clowns

Clowns have become very popular over the years for providing entertainment for toddlers. They are funny and cause toddlers to laugh and be amused.

6. Bounce Houses

Bounce houses are inflatable structures that have flexible outer membranes. They are filled with air or helium. The first inflatable structure originated in 1959 by John Scurlock in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was experimenting with inflatable covers for tennis courts. It was at that time he noticed his employees enjoyed jumping on the covers. One of his greatest achievements was the invention of the safety air cushion that is used by fire and rescue departments to catch people jumping from buildings or heights. When observing toddlers playing in the bounce house, you can see the joy, laughter, and the fun that they experience. The bounce house provideds hours of endless fun for toddlers.


7. Piñatas

Piñatas are believed to have originated among the Aztecs, Mayans, and other native people of Mexico. The Mayans played a game where the main player’s eyes were covered with a cloth while he tried to hit the pot that was suspended by a string. Piñatas are a favorite activity to have at toddler birthday parties. A piñata is a brightly-colored decoration made from either a clay container or cardboard shape covered with papier-mâché. There may be several variations of this. There have been piñatas that are wrapped in light weight paper colored bags filled with a variety of candy. Generally the toddlers will line up and take turns throwing the piñata against a hard surface until the bag burst and the candy then falls out of the bag. Again, there may be several variations of how this game is played. The children may or may not be blindfolded during this game.

Resources:


http://www.momswhothink.com/birthday-party-ideas/toddler-birthday-party-ideas.html

http://totville.com/cooking-with-kids/toddler-birthday-party-foods-ideas.html

Photo caption: Huckleberry Junction.com and WikiPedia.Org

How To Prepare Your Toddler For School Photographs

Sleeping child







1. Sleep

Be sure your toddler gets a good night sleep. Be sure to have an established routine as to the time your toddler goes to sleep each night. Your toddler should be well rested the day that the photograph will be taken.

2. Breakfast

All school programs do not include FREE breakfast. Be sure that your toddler gets a fresh start with a nourishing breakfast. You want to insure that your toddler is prepared for the photograph that will be taken.




Scrambled eggs and pre-made pastries





3. Brochures

Be sure to read the brochure or pamphlet that may be sent home from school with your toddler. Observed what the background colors will be. Choose your toddler’s dress accordingly. You want to choose colors that will not clash with the background colors. Colors are very important. They will and can enhance the look of the picture.

4.Communicate

Talk to your child before the day that the photograph will be taken. Explain to your child that his/her picture will be photographed. Talking to your toddler will help dissolve some of the fears or concerns your toddler might have. Definitely talk to your toddler about “smiling” when he/she is photographed. Possibly take a few photographs of your toddler at home and show them to your toddler. Practice makes perfect.

Photocaptions: Wikipedia.com

How To Teach Your Toddler To Care For The Puppy

I was blessed to have a Toy Poodle and Red Doberman for my children. They picked the Red Doberman from a litter of black Doberman puppies. The puppies proved to be very good with my children. They had very good temperaments and were protective of my children, but yet gentle with them.


Possibly you have a puppy already. That is great. Your toddler can learn from you about caring for the puppy. Remember the puppy will need care just like your toddler does. There have been those that have said their puppy was just like a member of their family.

1. House training.

Include your toddler in the house training. Allow your toddler to watch your interaction with the puppy. When you take the puppy for a walk, allow your toddler to walk with you. Usually have your puppy eliminate in the same area outside. They will usually sniff that area once they use it the first time and will automatically eliminate there again. Remember to reward your puppy just like you rewarded your toddler when he/she used the potty. Let your toddler see you rewarding the puppy. Keep a pooper scooper to pick up the puppies poops and dispose of it. Once your puppy is house trained, you might want to consider obedience school also. A well trained puppy is so much better to deal with as compared to a puppy jumping all over you, jumping on the furniture, or barking constantly. The website below explains about house training. Carolyn Clark gives several tips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsSsxU12xGU

Below is another video by Dr. Ian Dunbar. He explains and shows demonstrations. He speaks about teaching your puppy to ring the bell when he wants to go out. Also, I kept the dog chain on the door knob. When my Toy Poodle wanted to go walking, he would go get the leash and bring it to me or one of my children. Very intelligent dog.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4zsaBtr5Iw


2. Feeding.

Usually allow your toddler to help with the feeding. If using dry food, keep a measuring cup in the bag to dip the food into the puppy’s food bowl.

3. Shots.

Puppies just like children require shots. Take your toddler with you, so he/she can see the process when you go to the veterinarian.



Doctor examining a poodle




4. Traveling.

When it is vacation time, decide if your puppy will travel with your family. If you decide to take your puppy with you, you might want to travel with your puppy around in your car before that time, to be sure that your puppy will not get motion sickness. When traveling by car with your puppy be sure to take the pooper scooper with you to scoop up his poops and dispose of them when you stop at rest stops. Also, if visiting with relatives make sure that your relatives are okay with you bringing the puppy. If you decide not to take your puppy with you, consider getting a house sitter. In that way, the puppy will not be taken out of his/her natural environment. You might also, want to consider taking your puppy to a dog boarding facility. Include your toddler when you go, so he/her can see the process.



Traveling with your puppy



photo caption: fotosearch.com


Have A Merry Christmas and remember the reason for the season.

How To Failures With Toddlers

Woman Holding Her Head Because She Made A Mistake







I have been sharing various how to’s about toddlers, but I had neglected to share my failures with you. I do not want to give the impression that I know it all or have all the answers. I am still learning especially from my failures. There are many self- help literatures available now, but there was a time that there were no parenting classes. Also, there was very little literature on parenting. So I am sharing some of my failures and hopefully you will not make the same mistakes.

1. Toddlers Sitting Still.

There was a time I did not realize all toddlers would not sit still most of the time like you or I. I went through trials and errors trying to make my toddlers sit still in church, at school programs, etc. I learned it is not that important. There were other alternatives such as taking them out of the room and walking and talking with them. Telling them some of my expectations.




Parents Walking With Toddler







2. Toddlers Are Not Perfect.

At one point I thought I was a super mom or super nanny. I realized that I was not perfect, so why should I expect my toddlers to be perfect. I make mistakes so will my toddlers. I have changed my mind, so will my toddler.


3. Toddlers Imitate What You Do And Say.

Toddlers are ever learning so they watch you and imitate you. So you want to show them good behaviors to emulate. I used to smoke. So it was an eye opener to see my toddler imitating me smoking. I put my feet on the coffee table while watching TV. My toddler took his chair and sat in it and put his feet on the coffee table also.



Toddler In Mother's Heels






4. Strong Disciplinarian.

I learned the hard way that there is a time and place to say “No.” to your toddlers, especially if something is harmful to them. I learned to pick my battles. I would tell my toddlers no about almost everything. For example, “Don’t touch that table, don’t touch that picture, no-no.” No wonder a toddler can learn the word “no” so readily.



Mother scolding toddler







So these were a few of my failures that I learned from. I hope that others will be able to learn from a few of my mistakes.


Tips:

Learn lessons from failures.

Do not beat yourself up over your mistakes. Move forward.

First time parents will learn by trial and error.

Remember toddlers will be the adults for the future.

Educate yourself and learn from the mistakes of others.

Photo captions: Fotosearch.com

How To Teach Toddlers To Clean Up

Toddler playing with toys




Someone might say it is easier said than done, but it can be done. Toddlers need to be taught early in life that mommy and daddy will not clean up behind them. The main thing to remember is to be persistent. Some toddlers may only take out one or two toys to play with. Then there are those toddlers that will bring out eight or more toys to play with within a matter of seconds if allowed to.

1. First of all most toddlers attention spans tend to be short. They might want to play with one toy one minute then the next minute play with another toy. Parenting involves guiding toddlers. Only allow your toddler to take out one or two toys at a time to play with.

2. When finished playing with those 2 toys, make sure they put them up before taking another toy out. When they put the toys up, they should have a toy box or shelf where the toy can be put. This process can be used for the toddlers to put their books or games back up where they belong. This is crucial for the clean up. You MUST follow through. It is not enough to tell a toddler to do this without checking to see if they actually put it in it’s proper place or just took it to the room and dropped it on the floor. This part of parenting can be tiring, but will be worth it over a course of time.

3. This procedure needs to be done consistently. You might even want to sing a song with toddlers as they clean up such as, “Clean up, clean up.” Naturally most toddlers want to know why they have to put two toys back before getting another. Just tell them the truth. You want to keep the clutter down.

4. This also teaches the toddlers responsibility and it is an important part of child development. They are accountable for putting their toys up. You may encounter some toddlers not wanting to put their toys up. They may have an excuse saying, “I am tired.” Then you just address it. Let the toddlers know if they are tired, then maybe it should be nap time. Not many toddlers want to voluntarily take a nap, so the tiredness might just disappear.

Tips: PERSISTENCE is the key.
These parenting tips for toddlers will work.