Parenting Strategies and Tips

School is back in session for many kids so let’s talk school lunches. Sodas, juice drinks, cookies, hotdogs, and chips- all common school lunch components but none healthy. Over the past years, some schools have improved the nutritional quality of their lunches but it is an area that desperately needs more attention by both schools and parents.

What’s scary is that the obesity rate of young kids to teens is significantly rising and poor lunch options aren’t making things any better. Over 1/3 of our nation’s youth are either overweight or obese. Poor food choices and a lack of physical activity are contributors to this epidemic. So, what can you do as a parent do to help prevent your child from weight control issues?

For starters, making sure that they have a healthy and adequate lunch will put them on the right track. Kids can be awfully picky when it comes to choosing and eating certain foods. In general, there is an overconsumption of high calorie drinks and high fat foods and an underconsumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. If you are unsure about what your kids may be eating at school, get the school menu and consider visiting at lunchtime. You can also volunteer to serve the children to get a better understanding to see what they are actually eating.

If your kids are taking lunches from home try to limit the highly processed snacks and give them more fresh food items like fruits and vegetables. If you have healthier foods available at home to make a healthy lunch, you can send your kids to school with the reassurance that they’re getting a nutritious meal.

Follow these 5 tips for packing your kids school lunch:

1. Plan Ahead: Since you can only pack a good lunch if you have the foods available make sure to go shopping at least 1-2 times per week so you will have fresh foods on hand.

One of the most important things you can do to help your child develop into a well-rounded individual is to nurture their awareness of self and how they interact with their peers and siblings.  Children should learn, at an early age, how to make simple choices and solve simple problems.  They need to learn that everything isn't about only them and that they need to be respectful of others.

How can you help your child's Social Development?

• Arrange for play with other children
• Let kids participate in conversations
• Teach your child good Manners, especially Please and Thank You
• Play Games with your child
• Encourage completion of activities such as Puzzles and Worksheets
• Teach your child to Share and Take Turns
• Talk about Fears and Feelings - Puppet play is good for this
• Let your child make Simple choices
• Explain how Talking rather than Fighting can solve conflicts
• Follow routines at home
• Give your child simple Responsibilities (setting table etc.)
• Make your child take responsibility for Cleaning up his own Toys
• Teach your child to Solve easy Problems by asking questions

The most important part of social development is learning to interact with other people and knowing how to be respectful of those people, even your peers.  Unfortunately, some children are never taught to take responsibility and are never allowed to make their own choices.  These children grow up with a sense of entitlement and they struggle throughout life trying to make decisions.  Make the effort while your child is young to help them develop well socially as well as physically.

One of the most important skills you can help your child develop before attending school is how to be a good listener.  If a child is able to listen and pay attention to their teacher's directions they will then be able to process the instructions and act on them.

Music is extremely important during the preschool years, as a child can process music even before they can process language.  Try to introduce all types of music to your child, including classical, country and pop music, not just kids music.

Other ways to help your child with his learning skills:

• Listen to Stories
• Play Rhyming games
• Act out a Story
• Imitate a Clapping pattern
• Answer questions
• Give them 2 step Directions to follow
• Repeat easy Tongue Twisters
• Play Simon Says
• Play different Beats on a Drum or Pan

There are certainly lots of other fun things you can devise to help your child with listening.  Just be creative and make it fun.  Your child will have a much easier time once they start school and are in a classroom environment.

Arm yourself with everything you need for successful potty training. Start with a potty seat that is comfortable for your child. My recommendation for a potty seat is the Baby Bjorn Toilet Trainer. It adjusts to fit any toilet seat and has a rubber ring to keep it in place so that it won't slip. It is made of one solid piece of smooth plastic so there are no sharp edges. There are plenty of different types of seats to choose from. Find one that suits the needs of your child and yourself.

Next you will need some "tools". Here are a few of my favorites:

• Books- Sometimes it takes awhile to get the job done. Books help keep your toddler entertained while on the potty- hopefully long enough to make something happen. Books on the potty training topic are particularly helpful and can be read to the child prior to starting the training process to gear up.
• Potty Charts- Children do well with positive reinforcement. Track their progress with stickers and reward them when a goal is reached.
• Training Pants- Go old school with cloth training pants and a plastic cover for faster results. Your child will feel when he/she is wet and will likely learn a lot faster.
• Potty Training Doll- a potty training partner in crime!

In the process of teaching our children good values, we need to teach them the art of Giving, whether it is helping a family we know personally, giving toys to children less fortunate or using a portion of our money, and theirs, to help a worthwhile organization. The wonderful thing about Heifer International is the extension of the idea that "it's better to teach a man to fish so he can feed himself than to give him a fish that will feed him only once". With the Heifer Gift Ark, the gift of just one animal could eventually benefit an entire community.



Since 1944, more than 9.2 million families have moved closer to self-reliance for food and income with Heifer International's assistance. This is a program that we can all become involved with to help end hunger and also provide hope for the future to families all over the world. It is also a perfect opportunity for teaching children about these important issues and show how they can be involved. A really big step is when a child actually asks that someone give him/her one of these wonderful Ark animals in their name, as their birthday gift.

We are so impressed with Heifer's Gift Ark that supports their mission, furnishing quality animals wherever they are needed most, while providing extensive training and support to the recipients. The Gift Ark is a life-changing parade of Heifer animals that offers you the choice of providing chicks, sheep, rabbits, beehives, llamas, goats, pigs, camels, water buffalo and cows.

Some of the GIFTS you can give will help in these wonderful ways.



COWS Cows provide manure for fertilizer, draft power to plow fields, one calf a year and four gallons of milk a day. The milk that is not used to feed the family can be sold for income.

Recently, I attended a conference on the psychological assessment of infants, the goal of which is to ensure healthy development for the infant. I want to tell you about a wonderful resource online that we discussed at the conference. The good news is that you can use this site to cultivate your parenting skills: www.zerotothree.org.

Check out this website and you can find all kinds of resources that relate to infant development. Specifically, look for information on developmental milestones - you can actually investigate on your own whether your child is meeting the developmental milestones that have been established for various stages of infancy.

This is not the only online resource, in fact, for parenting tips on raising infants. If you have a computer at home, spend some time doing searches for websites that focus on raising this particular aged child. You will be astonished at the wealth of information at your fingertips!

Article by Dr. Seth Meyers
Read more articles by Dr. Seth Meyers at: www.DrSeth.blogspot.com
or visit his web site http://www.drsethrelationshipexpert.com/.

 Even at a very early age, children like to emulate activities of both parents and their older siblings.  We've all seen a two year-old try to sweep the floor or help mix cupcake batter.  What better time to start nurturing this almost innate sense of family.

It is never too early to help your child develop a real sense of family responsibility.  We all know kids in their teens, and even twenties, that feel a sense of 'entitlement' about everything.  They act like everyone owes them and that they don't need to do their part in the family.  If children are taught, as young children, that they are an integral part of the family and, as such, they have an important part in the family, then this will help them to develop a greater family bond.

By letting young children help to do things, such as dusting, sweeping with a little broom, wiping out sinks and baking cooking, it will give them a feeling of accomplishment and pride in doing a good job.  Always be sure to praise your child, letting them know what a wonderful job they have done.