As parents, we experience constant mood fluctuations as our kids continue to develop and grow older.  For the majority of us, there will be nothing more difficult than shipping are children away to school that very first time, but we know that it has to be done.  Every parent wants the best for their kids and that includes allowing them to receive a quality education which as we know begins with kindergarten.

So how do we let go of this hardship and separation anxiety?  The reality is that you can’t, but you can make sure that your child is prepared both mentally and emotionally to begin the new school year.  We as parents are crucial tools in developing our children’s mental aptitude and there is no time like the present to get started.

Most parents tend to think that you can just put your kids in kindergarten and they will learn all they need to know with no effort on their part, well that is not the case anymore.  Now days kids need to be ready for kindergarten.  Children are supposed to know their letters, numbers, colors, shapes, and even how to write their names before entering.  When we were kids, we just went to school and learned all that from the teachers.  We were able to have fun in kindergarten and enjoy it, but now the schools are often so worried about kids knowing every little thing that kids just don’t get to have the same fun that we did in school.

Looking back to when I was in kindergarten, I can remember having story time and painting, short naps and milk breaks.  We also had a lot of time to interact with the other kids, which was crucial to developing interpersonal skills.  Now kids are learning how to multiply and are doing fractions, spelling and the like.  I didn’t do any of that when I was five, hadn’t even come close to anything similar.  In fact, I don’t believe that even learned how to multiply until I was in the third grade at least.  The comment argument is that there is just  way to much pressure on such young minds in school right now,  it’s no wonder kids want to dropout and what about the parents, often working a couple different jobs just to stay afloat and still manage to find the time to teach you children the things our teachers should be teaching.

Nonetheless, this is the way of school is in many states and to truly give your child a good start in school, you have to take the time to sit down with them and teach them what they need to know.   Most kids are good with shapes and colors and most can say there ABC’s but being able to tell what a letter or a number is, might be a different story.

Flash cards are a great way to get kids started on knowing their letters and numbers.  Sure, it is going to take time, nothing ever happens right away, and it will take patients so please be patient with them.  It is so hard on a little kid to be pressured and make sure when they do something or try and do something that you give them praise for that. Try to teach them how school will be, make them as prepared as possible before sending them off to grow up on their own.

Teaching them little things like how to listen to the teacher and raising your hand before you can speak will make a world of difference in the development of your child.  Be sure to instruct them of classroom etiquate, like not talking to the other kids while the teacher is talking and so on, kids have a difficult time knowing what they should and shouldn’t do in school.

What are your tips for preparing a child for kindergarten?  Share them with us in the comment section below.

I became a mother at the age of 23. I don’t think that is as young as a lot of mothers are now days, but it was still scary and exciting none the less.  I found out I was pregnant 3 months into my pregnancy.  Really, the only reason I found out I was pregnant was because of a persistent pain in the lower left of my abdomen that made me seek medical attention. The doctor took some urine from me and came back in and told me I was pregnant.

I was completely shocked and had absolutely no idea of what was going to happen.  I called my parents and they were pretty upset for a little bit but they got over it, just as most parents do.  I was married at the time but the man I was with left me for another woman.  I was destroyed!   I didn’t no where to turn at the time because not only was I pregnant, but now I had to deal with a jerk who could care less about me and the baby.  For those of you that have never been in this situation, it is very difficult and one of the worst things I have ever experienced.

I was crying a lot.  I ended up in the hospital six times for high blood pressure which scared me tremendously since I didn’t know if my son was going to be okay or not.  I remember my sister having to watch over me while my parents were gone just in case I needed to go to the hospital again.  Then I went to the doctor for a regular check up and he wanted me to have yet another ultra sound which showed that my son was not developing the way he should have been.  By that I mean, I was supposed to be at 35 weeks gestation and he was only measuring 32 weeks gestation, so not good.

I guess he wasn’t getting the nutrition that he needed so he was smaller than normal and the majority of the problem was being caused by my blood pressure problem.  Now, don’t go assuming that I was heavy and that’s why I had high blood pressure, because in fact I had only gained about 6 pounds during the whole pregnancy, which is not much at all.

After that I went and saw another ultra sound specialist and my blood pressure was up yet again so the doctor told the specialist to do a amniocentesis,

Amniocentesis is a prenatal test in which a small amount of amniotic fluid is removed from the sac surrounding the fetus and is tested. The sample of amniotic fluid (less than one ounce) is removed through a fine needle inserted into the uterus through the abdomen, under ultrasound guidance. The fluid is then sent to a laboratory for analysis. Different tests can be performed on a sample of amniotic fluid, depending on the genetic risk and indication for the test.

according to WebMD.

So it turned out that his lungs were good so they gave me medicine to induce labor which I hated I was in labor for twelve hours . By no means was it as bad as some labors but to me it was because I was horribly sick to my stomach.  I couldn’t sleep and was just miserable at that point. The following morning my doctor came in and checked me and found I hadn’t progressed at all so he told me that I could go on for three days like I was and hope to go into full labor or I could have a c-section so I opted for the c-section because I was so tired. C-sections are not bad at all.

They gave me a epidural in my spine so I wouldn’t feel a thing and all I did was lay there and waited until I heard my son cry.  Let me say what I said then, “you never know you could love someone so much until you look at your own child”.  I was so excited to finally see my little boy.  He was so little he only weighed 4lbs 10oz.  I considered him my little football because he was about the size of one.  Having been through all of this, I felt that I could offer my parenting advice to other parents:

• If you find out your pregnant and you smoke, you need to quit, I did.  These smoking facts should help you want to quit.

• Follow the directions your doctor gives you very closely for the health of your child.

• Nutrition is very important try to eat healthy.  I had a hard time with that but here are some ideas on how to make diet shakes.

• Make sure to take all prenatal vitamins.

• After your child is born you will freak out about a lot but don’t feel bad. Mothers all over the world do it to you are not the only one.

• When you are done feeding your baby make sure to burp them because if you don’t you are in for a lot of crying because the gas buildup in there tummy hurts a lot.

• If your baby spits up a lot and I mean like projectile vomit where it gets all over everything, make sure you tell your doctor because there could be an underlying problem.

• Sleep whenever you get a chance because if your baby was like my son he woke every two hours and I still had to get up and go to work after my maternity leave was over. It was hard but eventually he started to sleep through the night.  You might consider using some natural sleeping aids to help a little.

• Avoid pacifiers if you can because they become a security thing for some kids and they won’t let go of them . I had to take my sons away when he was two because it was impeding on his speech.

• The other thing to avoid is giving them a favorite blanket to carry around because my son is four now and he still wants to take his blanket with him places he is like Linus from Charlie Brown.

• Do not let your baby sleep in your bed because they do get used to it and you can’t get them out of your bed once you start doing it. I never listened to my mom when she told me the same thing and now my daughter keeps wanting to sleep in my bed.

• Always remember to take time out for yourself and your significant other because the health of your own relationship is important.  Of course if you are looking for someone, you can try our online dating tips, who knows maybe its your turn for love.

• Make sure that you try and just get out by yourself there is nothing like having time alone to yourself. It helps you to relax.

Just make sure you always show your children lots of love and no matter what they do they are still as precious as gold. You will never want to trade them for anything else even if you do think about it sometimes. No matter what, your children will always look up to you and love you so make sure that you show them how to be a great parent because someday they just might be a parent too.

You here it everywhere, the number of overweight and obese children is growing at an alarming rate. Adult onset diabetes is becoming more common in children, as is stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. It is an epidemic, but it has a cure. It won’t be easy, wrangling these kids back into health, and it will include lots of kicking and screaming (and that’s just from the adults) but it needs to be done, and soon. The quicker you take charge of your child’s health including diet and exercise, the sooner you will see a reduction in serious health risks.

Let us start by getting the blame out of the way, so that we can focus on the true problem. It’s all the fault of the parents, the fast food companies, the television corporations, the grocery stores, the schools, the government, the fashion industry, the makers of video games, the criminals that roam our streets, the economy that forces dual incomes just to survive, day care, society in general, and don’t forget the kids. There I think I covered every layer of blame. And Yep, it’s all true, each of these groups/dynamics have contributed in some way to our kids being obese, or overweight, while also being malnourished (lack of the essential vitamins and minerals needed to produce optimal health). NO, No Bad People.

Now we can get back to basics. The USDA produces a food pyramid if you haven’t seen one, type food pyramid in the search bar and take a look at it. This nifty little graph tells you what a body needs nutrition wise to be healthy. (You can also check out the USDA’s sister site, MyPyramid.gov for a menu planner along with dietary information to benefit you and your kids.) Now look at your child’s diet… Does it in anyway resemble the pyramid? I thought not. You will notice that things like soda, cool-aid, snack cakes, and cheese curls aren’t on it. It uses terms like fruits, vegetables, meats and beans, grains, milk, oils, discretionary calories and physical activity. There is actually one other thing that should be on the pyramid that they didn’t include and that is water.

The food pyramid and its guidelines is a great start to getting your children off the obese list and back to happy healthy kids. It isn’t easy to incorporate into a diet that has been mediocre to lousy though. It will take time, patience and extra work on your part to begin increasing the good and garbage canning the bad.

Tip’s for a gradual but steady change:

Grains – most kids get their grains from white bread, white rice, noodles/pasta, frozen waffles, cereal, corn chips, snack cakes and cookies. I can hear you now, I bought whole wheat bread and they wouldn’t eat it. Yes I know. But there are alternatives. Try the whole grain white bread, while not as good as whole grain it is better than the processed to death white bread they’ve been eating. The same is true with noodles/pasta, waffles, cereal, and cookies look for a variety that has whole grains. Cereal is easiest of all since on of the major manufactures has made all their cereal whole grain (just watch the sugar content). For rice, try adding a handful of brown or wild rice to the pot about 15 minutes before the white rice, then cook as usual. Call it confetti rice and let them try it, you’ll have converts before long.

Vegetables – First, gradually wean your child off the notion that to eat a vegetable you have to drown it in ranch dressing or any similar condiment of choice. When they can once again taste the vegetable in its pure form. Let them pick out the ones they want to try. Buying just one to sample, is easiest. Encourage them to pick a variety of different colored vegetables. Please never tell them its gross, never say yuck, or you won’t like it, they might actually enjoy rutabagas or kohlrabi, they may have a hankering for radicchio its ok to experiment with your food.

Fruits – For the most part look at vegetables, but I have a word about bananas. They are wonderful, but a steady diet of them isn’t, they are a high calorie fruit and should be regarded as such. Buy the baby bananas (cool and small) or just give them a piece of the large banana, with other fruits!

Oils – As difficult as it is, stay away from fired foods. Incorporate raw nuts into your kids diet, and read labels. If it has a high fat content put it back on the shelf. Look for leaner options. Yes fat is a flavor enhancer, but if the food is good to begin with it doesn’t need that much enhancement. Again look at the condiments your child is eating, that ranch dressing can have 9 to 15% fat….OUCH!

Milk – Like fats you need to be aware of the percentage of fat you are giving your kids. Look for low fat varieties not fat free. Why, because usually fat free, especially in yogurt, ice cream and cheeses has extra sugar and or salt, which the kids don’t need. And the low fat ones just taste better.

Meats and beans – a hamburger is a hamburger, and chicken is chicken right? Not quite. Once again read the labels, lean hamburger with 7% or less of fat, cooked so that the fat runs off, way better than 20% fat, sizzled in its own juices. As for chicken, look at the added fat that they put in those chicken nuggets or strips before you buy them. A good choice is making your own, out of lean chicken, breaded with bread crumbs or cereal crumbs, then lightly sprayed with cooking oil and baked. They taste good too! Now for beans… Did you know that you don’t need to eat meat every day. Beans are an excellent source of protein, and fiber. Eat up, twice a week and it will be easier on your wallet, too.

Water – again, not on that pyramid, but very necessary. 8 to 10 glasses per day, of pure water, no additives, no colorings, no flavorings. And while I’m talking beverages, please begin cutting down on their soda (pop) intake. No more than 1 per day, they may revolt in the process, but in the long run at least their stomach will thank you!

Physical activities – That means off the sofa, floor or recliner and moving. Walks, bike rides, playing at the park or in the back yard. At the very minimum a half hour per day. Make sure they are safe. Be sure to put sunscreen on them. But get them moving. If necessary hide the darned video game. Their heart will adore you for it even if they are throwing a fit in the process!

No more obese children – ‘Nuf said!