Better Quality Time

We have run across a couple things lately that made us think about how we approach our time with Xavier. We like many people are extremely busy and time crunched. I have a full time career, Angela is a full time student, and we are in the throws of starting our own business together. So for us time is at a premium. If we are not working on something, we are fighting off sleep depravation. On top of all of this we are raising an energetic little girl. So finding the right balance of time devoted to X and time spent working can be a struggle. 

We try hard to spend quality time with Xavier, but it does get hard. There are many things that ‘need’ to get done or should get done, but much of the trick is making sure that you focus. We were looking through a new book Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar (Harvard Prof. of Psychology) and came across something interesting. He discussed a survey about things that make people happy and found that moms did not enjoying spending time with their kids. The finding wasn’t about not loving their children or not enjoying being parents; but rather, the constant levels of stress and multi-tasking our days hold. Parents reported not enjoying spending time with their kids because they were constantly distracted by getting work done or talking on the phone or cooking or cleaning up….

This made me think of another book I read The Corporate Athlete by Groppel and Andelman. It was an interesting book that had a couple of valuable nuggets. They devote a lot of time to the concept of focusing. Sounds simple, but in today’s world of multi-tasking focus tends to get lost.  Having always been a competitive athlete and still competing now, I liked the sport analogy. In sports it is easy to understand how important focus is. There are pre-game rituals, visualizations, practices, walk-thrus, training, all of which are designed to help you perform at your best. Athletes don’t do well if they are distracted. So why is parenting treated differently. Why don’t most parents practice or train. Why don’t they approach ‘quality time’ with their child with a similar focus? While we may not ever get to the level of focus a fighter has as he steps into the ring, but moving in that direction could certainly help.

Focusing will help you to enjoy the moments that you have with your little person and end up getting more of the stuff on your list done. It will also reinforce to your child how much they mean to you. Fighting the multi-tasking temptation can be hard, but from personal experience, refining a business plan or writing a marketing plan with a 21-month old trying to climb in your lap really isn’t that effective. In the end, you will be doing yourself a favor as well as your little person by being there, fully there, when you are spending time with them.

Baby Einstein…Important Research!

(RaisingX.com) Initially, the thought of allowing Xavier to watch television was repulsive, but as they grow older you begin to realize the only thing that keeps them entertained for 20 minutes is their favorite tv show. I am in no way advocating the use of television as a babysitter for your child, however, it can be the perfect solution when you need a little time to make dinner (and safer than letting them run around in the kitchen with the hot stove and sharp objects).

So if I was going to let her watch tv I wanted it to be the most educational show I could find; I wanted it to give her a head start. Of course the first thing you think of is Baby Einstein. From the moment I learned I was pregnant I was bombarded with ads and advice telling me that Baby Einstein was the best option available and that it would promote development (and may even make her smarter).

Fortunately, she never got into them. I bought about 6 dvds and I couldn’t get her to sit through 2 minutes of any of them. With the lack of dialog and moving characters people, they bored her. She likes action, singing, dancing, and laughing.

I say fortunately because I just read about Dr. Dimitri Christakis’s latest research. In this study, he surveyed parents to determine the most common words their infants and toddlers used as well as exposure to different type of developmental stimuli. It was reported that for every additional hour each day an infant/toddler watched Baby Einstein or Brainy Baby, they knew 6-8 fewer words than other children their age. Additionally, Dr. Dimitri Christakis found that the children with the most vocabulary were often told or read stories.

So the moral of the story is…don’t always believe the hype (it could do the exact opposite of what you think it will do) and READ TO YOUR CHILDREN!!!

Story Source: LATimes.com

Image Source: InkyCircus.com

www.raisingx.com

Smart Kids: Thinking about intelligence

Many parents wonder how smart their child will be. How will they compare to other kids their age? They try hard to provide the latest learning toys and educational programs but few parents stop to ask themselves what it means to be smart or intelligent. Is it the ability to read, add, multiply? Is it the ability to draw, dance, sing, write, etc? These are important questions because they will influence how you encourage and guide your kids. In our child development research, we have done a lot of reading on Multiple Intelligence theory (Howard Gardner). The theory has been around for a little while now and has found a home in Montessori schools and progressive child development centers but has yet to really break into mainstream education.

The common notion of intelligence is closely rooted in our educational system where value is placed on language (reading, writing,) math, and science. Other subjects like physical education, art, music, and drama tend to be the first to go with budget cuts. When people think about intelligence it usually relates to one of the primary areas of our education system. This push continues with the current focus on raising educational standards as measured by reading and math scores.

Read the rest of this entry »

Intelligent Discipline

(RaisingX.com) Discipline is not the most fun topic to think or write about but it is an important one. Discipline can be good and important for safety, growth, and development or it can create severe problems effecting safety, growth, and development. The best place to start this conversation is with how discipline should be used – always with love.

Why discipline is important

At a basic level parents have a legal duty to protect their children. But most of us know we need to do more than just avoid legal issues. We want to protect our kids so they can grow up to be healthy happy adults. There is joy in seeing them learn something new. Part of their learning and growing involves understanding what may hurt them and what happens when they make choices. Discipline is an essential tool to help. Read the rest of this entry »

Your Child’s Social and Emotional Development: Milestones

Social and emotional developmental milestones may be harder to identify than their physical counterparts. Here are age ranges and milestones to watch out for as you help your child develop socially and emotionally. Read the rest of this entry »

The Importance of Emotional Development

I read this article today that focused on problems that people have as adults because of the lack of emotional development they received as a child. It is easy to see how this is true even though I don’t think that all people who fail to get the proper training become alcoholics and drug addicts). Read the rest of this entry »

16 Questions for Finding a Good Daycare

(RaisingX.com) Our daycare search continues. We wanted to follow up our finding good daycares tips with our top questions. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather some of our favorites.

What accreditations does your facility have? – Look for National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accredited daycares. Licensing only shows the daycare meets state minimum requirements.

What education and training do your teachers have? – While education is not a 100% proxy for good teachers, finding daycares where teachers have committed time and money to study related fields, at least shows they have an interest in your child’s learning. You want more than just needing a paycheck.

How long has your newest teacher been with the facility? – Get a feel for the turnover of the facility, is it a place teachers want to work? We interviewed nannies for at home care as well and several had left daycares because of teachers’ behavior toward kids or the poor quality.

When was the last time a teacher left? Why? – Try to uncover how often teachers exit and the reasons, though just like most people won’t tell you they were fired, don’t expect revealing answers. Read the rest of this entry »

Infants, Indoor Pools, & Asthma

(RaisingX.com) The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a news brief citing the dangers of indoor pools for infants. Our whole family loves swimming so we were a little concerned. It appears that the chemical that, “gives indoor pools their distinctive “chlorine” smell – is one of the most concentrated air pollutants to which children of developed countries are regularly exposed…this pollutant along with… can be associated with airway changes that predispose children to asthma and recurrent bronchitis later in childhood.”

Families who enjoy swimming as we do may want to reconsider their use of indoor pools for their little ones. I have seen similar articles linking indoor usage of hot tubs to respiratory infection caused by the dispersion of the water into the air by the jets, but not regular pools. Parents probably should consider this for indoor water parks, as well.

The article was based on a Belgium study, “Infant Swimming Practice, Pulmonary Epithelium Integrity, and Risk of Allergic and Respiratory Diseases Later in Childhood”.

http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/june07studies.htm

www.raisingx.com

Fisher-Price Toys Recalled Due to Excessive Amounts of Lead in the Paint

If you haven’t heard about this and you have children you should check out the list of toys recalled below. We all have toys from Fisher-Price…make sure you don’t have any of these!

Fisher-Price Recall List
Nearly 1 MillionToys Recalled For Excessive Amounts Of Lead
August 2, 2007

(CBS) Toy-maker Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of Chinese-made toys - including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters - because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead.

The recall, announced on Aug. 1, involves 967,000 plastic preschool toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August. It is the latest in a wave of recalls that has heightened global concern about the safety of Chinese-made products.

The recall is the first for Mattel Inc. involving lead paint. It is the largest for Mattel since 1998 when Fisher-Price had to yank about 10 million Power
Wheels from toy stores.

Owners of a recalled toy can exchange it for a voucher for
another product of the same value. For more information,
call Mattel’s recall hot line at 800-916-4498.

See below for a complete list of recalled items and their product numbers:

33662 Elmo Light Up Musical Pal
33663 Ernie Light Up Musical Pal
33664 Big Bird Light Up Musical Pal
34658 Elmo Stacking Rings
39038 Elmo Tub Sub
39054 Sesame Street Shape Sorter

87946 Elmo Keyboard
90267 Ernie Splashin’ Fun Trike
90609 Elmo Collectible
90611 Cookie Collectible
90612 Zoe Collectible
90613 Ernie Collectible
90614 Big Bird Collectible
90745 Construction Playset
93068 Elmo Boom Box
93107 Action Fire Engine
93307 Press N Go Elmo
93308 Rev & Go Cookie Monster
93492 Cookie Saxophone
93493 Elmo’s Guitar
93615 Splash Tub Puzzle
93780 Music And Lights Phone

B7554 Count To Beat Elmo
B7888 Shake, Giggle & Roll
B7987 Elmo in the Giggle Box
B7989 Silly Parts Talking Elmo
B9620 Dora’s Talking House

C6908 Dora, Backpack, Perrito Figure Pack
C6909 Diego Figure Pack
C6910 Swiper Figure Pack
C6911 Boots, Tico Figure Pack

G3825 Dora Talking Vamonos Van
G5112 Sing With Elmo’s Greatest Hits
G9717 Giggle Doodler

H2943 Grow with Me Elmo Sprinkler
H3343 Cousin Daisy
H3344 Birthday Dora
H5569 Elmo & Pals (Elmo, Cookie, Ernie)
H5570 Elmo & Pals (Elmo, Zoe, Big Bird)
H4187 Dora Figures in Tube
H4628 Water Fun Tote
H8236 Dora 3 Pack Figures in Tube
H8237 Blue 3 Pack Figures in Tube
H8238 Sponge Bob 3 Pack Figures in Tube
H9124 Chef Dora
H9125 Bedtime Dora
H9186 Giggle Grabber Ernie
H9188 Giggle Grabber Oscar the Grouch

J0338 Diego Talking Field Journal
J0343 Go Diego Go Antarctic Rescue
J0344 Go Diego Go Deep Sea Rescue
J0345 Go Diego Go Mountain Rescue
J0346 Go Diego Go Talking Rescue 4 X 4
J5935 Giggle Grabber Soccer Elmo
J5936 Giggle Grabber Chef Cookie Monster
J6537 Sesame Street Giggle Toolbelt
J6762 Queen Mami
J6763 Royal Boots and Tico
J6765 Prince Diego
J7983 Sesame Street Tub Pots & Pans
J9518 Sesame Street Giggle Drill
J9692 Dora’s Talking Pony Place

K0617 Twins Nursery
K3414 Diego - Talking Gadget Belt
K3571 Go Diego Go Mobile Rescue Unit
K3580 Fairytale Adventure Dora
K4139 Go Diego Go Dinosaur Rescue
K4140 Toucan Motorcycle Rescue

L0305 Dora Figure
L3194 Surprise Inside Diego Eggs
L3215 Sesame Street Elmo Jack-In-The-Box
L3488 Sesame Street Birthday Figure Pack
L3507 Sesame Street - Super Boom Box
L5202 Birthday Dora
L5813 Diego Tub Trike
L8905 Pablo & Pals

M0351 Dora Figures Dora & Kitty
M0352 Dora Figures Diego & Bear
M0524 Go Diego Go Talking Gadget
M0527 Sesame Street Giggle Doodler
M0732 Dora’s Talking House
M2051 Let’s Go Rescue Center
M2052 Fairytale Castle

© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

View this story at: CBSNews.com

Helping Your Baby Learn 1-2yrs old

(RaisingX.com) These twelve months have so much change and growth it is incredible to watch. They go from forming little personalities, beginning to be mobile, to having an expanded vocabulary, running around, and starting to talk in little sentences. In this incredibly formative time there is a lot you can do to help encourage their development. We have been doing a lot of reading recently and like much of the work of Jean Piaget, so you will see some of that in here.

Here are a few of the milestones for this development period. They will/should begin:

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