Communicating With Your Teens By Shannon Miller

Having two teens of my own I have learned a few things about communicating with them. Each of knows how important it is to have communication with your teen. I would like to share these few steps with you to lead you to better communication with your teens.

1. Always, Always, Always, have an open line of communication with your teen. This is one of the most important steps. If your teen knows that they can come to you and talk to you knowing that you will listen at any time will keep that teen coming back over and over. It will also keep you the parent on top of your teen’s life.

2. Make sure that your teen knows that you will hear them out. Don’t stop them right in the middle and cut them off. It makes us as parents mad when teens do it to us so please don’t do it to them. A teen wants parents that are going to listen to everything that they have to say to the end. Then give the teen your opinion, advice, or input on the matter.

3. Always be open-minded when it comes to communication. Remember you were a teen once too. If your teen is coming to you in the first place they must value your opinion and feel that they won’t regret coming to you. So always try and put yourself in their shoes before you offer your advice.

4. Try not to lecture your teen when they have made a point to come to you. No teen wants to come to their parents about something and end up in a two hour lecture. And if you do lecture them your teen might not come back next time. I’m not saying to tell your teen what they want to hear. I am simply saying give them your honest opinion good or bad. Say it once and drop it. Your teen will know how you feel about the matter and usually takes it to heart when making their final decision.

5. Let your teen know that when they do come to you that you enjoy talking with them or that it really makes you feel closer to them by having some communication with them. Always try and end you conversations on a happy note. Teens will be more willing to come back in the future for more advice or even just for you to listen. Sometimes our teens will not need advice just an ear to listen to a problem or to unload the bad day that they may have had.

6. Always remember this one. Try to give your teen respect. Give them as much respect as you think they need to give you. Give respect get respect in return. It is a pretty proven fact. Another big thing is respect their privacy. If we stuck our nose in our teens life all the time. What would they have to come to us about? Your teen would feel that you already know.

7. This one is a big one too. Please whatever you do keep what you and your teen talk about to yourself. Don’t go and tell the first person you see what you and your teen discussed. It will eventually get back to your teen and all that trust that your teen thought they had with you is gone in an instant. Not including the humiliation of hearing their problem being told to them by God only knows who. It is just so important that you keep it just between you and you’re teen.

Following these few steps had proven for me that I can have good communication with my teens. My teens know that they can come to me about anything. When you do this with your kids they will take it with them when raising their own children and carry it over to them. It’s a win, win situation for generations to come. Communication is needed in this day and time for us as parents to help keep our children safe.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=27014&ca=Parenting

Baby Clothes: 7 Money Saving Shopping Tips For New Parents By Wanda Lam

Perhaps the biggest problem with baby clothes is that they don't last. Not because they wear out, but because your baby quickly out grows them.

It's important to plan your baby clothes shopping around the growth of your baby. If you don't, you could be wasting money.

Keep in mind these seven tips while you plan your baby clothes shopping:

1. Wear a Larger Size

People say babies grow fast, and they're right about that. You'll be wasting money if you buy perfect fitting clothes because they'll soon be too small. Buying a larger size will extend the amount of time your baby can wear them.

2. Make a Weather Prediction

Stop and think for a moment about clothes labels that state size in terms of a baby's age, such as 12 or 18 months. Then ask this question: 'When my baby is X months old, what will the weather or temperature be like?' Get the answer to this question correct and you'll buy clothes that not only fit, but also will be appropriate for the season.

3. Find Easy To Put On Outfits

Sometimes you'll struggle to dress your baby into an outfit you want him to wear. Outfits that come in several pieces, button from behind or pull over the head may require more of your patience and time. Outfits that come in one piece, open in the front, have zippers, or snap buttons should be easier to deal with.

4. Have Enough for Emergencies

Food can drop on your baby's clothes while you're feeding him. If your baby becomes sick, he might throw-up on his outfit. When a messy accident occurs, you'll need a clean set of clothes ready for your baby to wear.

5. Save at The Clearance Racks

You can save a bundle at the clearance racks. Almost every type of store has these. In addition, if you wait for a big sale you can save even more. Some stores will also markdown the clearance item further at the cash register.

6. Accept Hand Me Downs

Your family and friends may want to give you their children's baby clothes. They may have new clothes that their baby didn't have a chance to wear. If you decide to accept what they are willing to give, you'll save yourself some money, especially if they have clothing you would have bought.

7. Exchange Old Clothes for Cash

Sell the clothes your baby no longer fits into on eBay. eBay is just an example. There are many other ways to trade your old clothes for cash. You may not make as much as you had originally paid for them, however, you'll at least earn some of your money back.

Summary

If getting the most use out of the clothes you buy for your child is important to you, then the seven tips in this article should help you accomplish this. Take these ideas with you the next time you go baby clothes shopping. You'll feel good about the clothes you buy for your baby and the money you're going to save.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=26764&ca=Parenting

What Does Your Newborn See In His First Few Days By Linfa Jenkinson

A young baby is aware of a lot more then we used to think in the past. In fact some of the capabilities of very young children are astonishing. In the “Good Old Days” people thought that a newborn was almost blind. They thought a baby couldn't focus and was more or less colorblind. Meaning that a newborn is only aware of a fuzzy colorless world. We know now that this is not the case.

A newborn is not that little being focused only on himself and his own needs, like hunger, thirst, and other discomfort. From day 1 a newborn is fairly alert, interested and aware of what is happening in his surroundings. He is capable of experiencing and very interested about what is going on is his world. Contrary to old beliefs a baby is able to focus on objects and people that are about 10 inches away. Things that are closer of further away are out of focus, if this were different our newborn would be highly intimidated by the multitude of stimuli. If a child can see color from the moment its born is still unknown, but chances are that he can. And if not he or she will learn in a very short while.

A natural preference for faces

So your baby sees the same things you see, but of course has no idea about its meaning. That's something he has to learn. Still very young children have a clear cut preference for certain objects. He or she will stare (or gaze if you will) to more complicated and will show more interest to moving then to static objects. This is one of the reasons your face is so enormously interesting to him. The eye contact that he is capable of during the first few days is very important for the development of his social skills.

Your baby is programmed so to speak to find your face attractive and inviting. As his interest in your face grows, his interest in the rest of the human species will grow with it.

It takes about 8 months before your baby is really capable of recognizing your face, at that point he or she will temporarily be scared by unfamiliar faces.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=26713&ca=Parenting