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Reading Nostalgia: Babar

By

ddd

Another favourite book of my sister and I growing up were of Babar the elephant who lived with his tres charmant famille in Celesteville. On our first trip to Paris, my sister had a rather large stuffed toy of him which she took to the top of the Eiffel tower, just like in the story – needless to say it was the highlight of our trip and a very fond memory for both of us.

Here are some Babar facts:

With over 100 licensees worldwide, the Babar brand has a multi-generational following. There are even 12 dedicated Babar stores in Japan.

Babar has eight points to his crown.

A global cultural phenomenon, whose fans span generations, Babar stands along side Mickey as one of the most recognized children’s characters in the world.

Babar made his debut in “The Story of Babar” published in 1931 by Jean de Brunhoff. Jean created and illustrated seven Babar titles before dying in 1937. Laurent de Brunhoff, son of Jean, continues his father’s work and is still writing Babar books.

In 2006 Babar will celebrate being King of The Elephants for 75 years.

There are now over 30,000 Babar publications in over 17 languages, and over 8 million books have been sold. Laurent de Brunhoff’s Babar’s Yoga for Elephants is a top seller in the U.S with over 100,000 copies sold to date. The Babar series of books are recommended reading on First Lady Laura Bush’s national reading initiative list. Babar has been a perennial favorite for years at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Originally posted on August 27, 2006 @ 11:35 am

Moms Unite For UN Day

By

ss

October 24th is United Nations Day, which means a big school program for us parents where we’ll be getting to see our kids dress up and do a dance number or two. It also can mean that the school will be roping us parents in for a (dreaded) “parent activity”, which is what happened to me.

So at the beginning of the month, we were told by the school administrator that my daughter’s Kindergarten class would be representing Mexico for the big UN celebrations this year. It was to be a pretty big event – several classrooms representing different countries, and there was to be a big show (where the kids and teachers did several song and dance numbers), followed by an international food fair where each classroom/country would be serving food from our alloted country.

At the first big moms-meeting, only 8 of us showed up, out of a total 12. Not a bad turnout. We broke up into pairs, and yours truly was put into the costume committee with my pal and fellow mom, M. The decorations were to be taken care of by an art teacher and an architect and food by a factory owner and a very Martha-esque type (much warmer though) – a very workable team, I thought.

Out of all the Moms, I only knew one of them well (meaning that I could call her for a coffee), two so-so, and the rest merely by “hi!” at drop-off and pick up times at school. But by the end of it, we were all friends and having a laugh in spite of probably not having too much in common except for our kids. I guess thats one of the reasons why teachers make us do these things.

[tags]United Nations,UN,school presentation,food,Mexico[/tags]

Originally posted on October 23, 2006 @ 7:58 pm

Preparing For The First Day Of Kindergarten

By

kk

With the new school year looming, us parents are getting our kids ready for school – and for those whose little ones are starting kindergarten for the very first time, things can get more than exciting not just for the student, but for us moms as well. After all, our babies are now stepping into the big world out there!

Here are some of our favourite mom-tested tips to prepare us all for the big K day:

Be Encouraging and Confident

The key here is not to transmit any fears or concerns you may have about your child being out in the wide world (and all the terrible things we hear in the news). Kids have a kind of ESP with their parents, so any fears could easily have an effect. Be confident for them and remember to enjoy this milestone in your child’s life, and not see it purely as the beginning of her academic studies.

Go Shopping!

Many parents like to take their child out shopping for school, which often turns into a fun activity for both. You can pick out a lunchbox, school bag, pencils, shoes, clothes and even pillows to prepare for the exciting new time ahead. I did this with my daughter, and it was a special trip for both of us, not to mention useful for stocking up on all the necessities she needed for the year.

Be Familar With The Surroundings

It helps if your child has friends from playgroup who will be going to the same school, or even relatives or neighbors. My daughter attended Nursery classes at the same school, so the transition to Kindergarden was very exciting for her (moving up to “big” class) and not at all a problem. If this isn’t the case for your child, make sure to visit the school a few times and let your child “sit in” to familiarise herself with the surroundings.

Most importantly, celebrate this time with your child and help her have as much fun learning as possible.

Originally posted on August 7, 2006 @ 11:44 pm

Sibling Rivalry

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sibling rivalry.jpgThey yell at each other, nag each other, bicker, scream, bully each other and basically go, “Mom, look at what he or she is doing”. It gives you a headache just listening to them. The never ending raised voices between your kids grates on your nerves.

Why do kids fight?

For one, they are competing for what they see as a limited resource: your time, attention and love. As each new child is added to your family, that is yet another person to take your attention away from them. As we all know, there is nothing like knowing our parents actively love us and having 20 minutes of your time if your time if you only have an hour to spend with the family just isn’t enough. This is especially true if there is a new baby in the house. They know that babies need more attention, but they need you too.

Another reason may be that they are trying to establish their own identity. Siblings too close in age tend to have to share too many things, from clothes to friends. It can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is very difficult to be an individual when you practically have no personal space.

So, what can be done?

Try not to play favorites and give everyone equal time. Don’t give just one kid a special treat. Make everything a family thing as much as possible.

Recognize their individuality. Praise each for the unique things that they are good at. Be aware of their individual strengths and emphasize the blessing that that uniqueness brings your family.

If possible, find a way so that each child has the necessary space and privacy. Everyone needs that, adult or child. We all need times of peace and quiet and time filled with our brand of noise…erm…music.

[tags]parenting,relationships,sibling rivalry,fighting,personal space,individuality,brothers,sisters[/tags]

Originally posted on July 19, 2006 @ 8:14 pm

Fever! Day 2

By

dd

My daughter’s fever had settled by the evening, and after her last big bowl of soup and rice and some ice cream (it was homemade!), I thought the worse was over and gave her a dose of paracetamol before bedtime for good measure.

But like most monsters, it wasnt. At nearly 2. am that night, the big scary fever monster struck one more, and my daughter was boiling with a fever of 39.6 degrees. After a hurried dosage of ibuprophen, she started coughing and promptly vomited in bed. Soupy rice, ice cream remnants and yes, ibuprohen. Oh dear.

After another dose of meds (this is what sucks about being mommy-doctor, you have to make a call on the right second dosage after puking and hope for the best), clean sheets and a story, we settled in for the night – but it was 3 am already! (explains my dire need for coffee today)

The next morning the fever came back by lunchtime, a much less aggressive monster to the tune of 38.4. After more Calpol, and even more of the Disney channel, by 4pm she heard her baby brother outside plaing with the neighborhood kids and pleaded to go outside.

I was apprehensive, but Daddy thought that “fresh air will do her good” (how typical!), so out she went, like nothing happened at all – albeit some coughing my Mommy-bionic-ears could hear from the kitchen.

Aren’t children such a miracle?

Originally posted on August 21, 2006 @ 9:48 am

You Call That Music?

By

band.jpg
You walk into your home after work and get deafened by the loud music blasting from the radio. The walls and the floor are shaking but your son is oblivious. He is absolutely lost in his music, jumping around and pretending to be a rockstar.

You find yourself shaking your head and saying that’s not music. That is noise! It’s just someone shouting and making no sense while others make even more noise with their guitars and drums. Hmmm…remember when our parents used to say that about our favorite music?

Every generation complains of a generation gap, especially in music. Our great-grandparents preferred listening to jazz music or the blues. Our grandparents were listening to Frank Sinatra. Our parents were listening to rock and roll. We listened to metal, wave and R&B. Now the kids listen to hip hop and rap.

Most parents object to the language used by the singers or performers of hip hop and rap. They are such angry music which calls to our teens. It matches the mood of our angst filled kids.

Still, there are other performers popular among the kids that are good and are actually pleasant to listen to. Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Westlife and many other artists have produced quite a number of songs that are danceable and easy on our ears. There is actually quite a variety available.

Take the time to listen to your kid’s music. You may be surprised to find some that you like and you may just surprise your kids if you sing along to one of their favorite hits. It may even be something that brings you closer together.

[tags]parenting,teenagers,music,hiphop,rock and roll,Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlanke, Frank Sinatra[/tags]

Originally posted on July 29, 2006 @ 10:20 pm

Tea and Inspiration

By

dd

Every evening after the children have gone to bed, I like to brew myself a nice soothing cup of tea – honey vanilla chamomile to be precise. Not only is it a delicious de-stresser after a hectic (meaning ordinary) day with my two rugrats, but inspirational too as I was about to discover.

While I waited for the tea to steep, I mindlessly looked at the tea’s packaging, and to my surprise found a lovely inspirational tidbit which actually made my throat rather lumpy. And more importantly offered some very good advice.

Ok, I plea guilty to being a sentimentalist. But I am a Mother, and as all you Moms out there know, anything that even slightly tugs at your heart’s overwhelming love for your children (yes, even the sappiest TV commercials) will get those Mom-emotions going – which should lead you straight to hugging your kids very tightly indeed. Just as I did.

Here it is:

If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again

“If I had my child to raise all over again, I’d fingerpaint more and point the finger less.

I’d do less correcting, and more connecting.

I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less, and know to care more.

I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.

I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.

I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.

I’d do more hugging, and less tugging.

I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.

I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.

I’d teach less about the love of power
And more about the power of love”

Diane Loomans, From Full Esteem Ahead

Originally posted on September 7, 2006 @ 12:27 pm

Lunchbox No-no’s: Foods That Pretend To be Healthy

By

dd

Before you start planning tomorrow’s lunchbox, I thought it would be useful to make a quick list on what SHOULDNT go into the lunchbox. This is because of the gross amount of things you can find in any supermarket today – things, which masquerade as “healthy” items but are actually NOT.

Here’s what to be wary of:

1. Fruit Drinks – if its not 100% juice, its got very little of the real stuff in and probably masses of flavourings, sugar and coloring. Better choices to give are homemade smoothies or pure juice.

2. Fruit Snacks – I plead guilty to this as seen in my last post’s mention of fruit roll ups (but my daughter loves them!). Anything that says “with real fruit!” on it probably has very little fruit and gargantuan amounts of sugar. Yikes.

3. Processed Snacks – Cheese strings, cheese and cracker packs, and obviously crisps (despite being wholewheat etc) can be loaded with salt and saturated fats. Not good.

4. Flavoured and Kid’s Yougurt – Kids yogurt tend to be sweeter or worse, with those add-ins like sprinkles, chocolate etc which mean too far too sweet. Think of it as 5 teaspoons of white sugar in each pot.

5. Cereal Bars – On the outside these do look convincingly healthy, but the reality is actually about 40% sugar, 30% fat and some major cavities tomorrow. Did I scare you enough?

Originally posted on September 13, 2006 @ 3:02 pm

Why Won’t My Baby Sleep?

By

sleep-whatcanudo_100.jpgThe phrase sleeping like a baby is one we’ve grown up hearing. Then you become a parent and you realize sometimes your baby won’t sleep at all! You’ve barely put her to bed and she’s crying again. You’ve fed, burped and changed your baby’s diaper. You checked if he’s running a fever, checked for any possible causes of discomfort yet your baby keeps crying and you are now frazzled and worried.

Naturally, being loving parents, the first thing we rule out is illness. Better to be overprotective than too late, right? Thank goodness for pediatricians who truly understand that we want our children to be well and don’t mind being bothered at odd hours when we truly are at a loss.

Now that you’re sure that you baby’s health is fine, it is time to check your little ones sleeping habits. You may need to make some adjustments if your child has developed some habits that contribute to the restless nights. Hopefully these tips will help you get your kid to sleep through the night.

  • Napping is normal for babies but try not to let them nap more than 3 hours during the day.
  • When bedtime comes around, as your baby gets sleepy put him in his crib. Get him used to associating his crib as time to sleep.
  • Avoid rocking your baby to sleep. Though we all love cuddling our kids, doing this develops a pattern where they need you to actually rock them to bed everynight. Get them used to quieting down in their crib instead, without the motion.
  • A lullaby is a favorite method to soothe your child to sleep. Put on some soft music for your baby. There is a vast collection available intended just for babies.
  • If your baby does wake up in the middle of the night avoid picking him up or playing with him. Keep your midnight visits short and soothing and encourage your baby to go back to sleep. It may be as simple as your child needs a diaper change which you can do quickly, quietly and get him settled in again.
  • Avoid giving your child a pacifier before sleeping. Babies used to this usually cry if it falls out of their mouth and you spend your night plugging it in. As we all know, none of us sleep with a pacifier so your child can do without it.

[tags]parenting,babies,sleep,tips[/tags]

Originally posted on July 27, 2006 @ 10:18 pm