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How to Instill the Love of Reading in Your Child

January 22, 2018 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

When does your child read? A) Every single day – he just loves learning and letting his imagination run free, B) Read? He uses his books to reach the TV dial or C) When I make him, come hell or Lambchops Play-along!

If your answer is ‘A,’ congratulations: Your child will grow pup with initiative, creativity, and knowledge needed in today’s competitive world. If your answer is ‘B,’ welcome to the club; many other mothers get the urge to throw the TV and computer games out the window. And if your answer is ‘C’ – well, it is a step in the right direction. Sort of.

Here are six ways on how to instill the love of reading in your child:

1. Get together with other mothers. Some kids, even if they grow to like books, might eventually abandon them because their friends want to play, or they cannot keep up with the neighborhood discussions on Barbie. Organize some reading group, or at least encourage other parents to fix their own children’s reading habits. Then you can throw back an argument your child has used for most of his life: “other kids are doing it.”

2. Don’t make reading a chore or a punishment. It is easy to tell a hyperactive or underachieving child to “Keep quiet for half an hour and just read a book.” Or “Your grades are low because you do not read enough…from now on I want you to keep books and not to play!” But this will give negative reading connotations that no amount of Brothers Grimm can erase. Separate the situation from the solution. If you do want your child to sit still, tell him to go his room, where books will be waiting for his quiet enjoyment. Or if his grades are low, limit his play, then at another time; gently explain to him how reading can help him in his studies. Books then become the friend, not the enemy, and friendship is the first step to love.

3. Do not criticize his reading. So what if he reads slowly, or if he reads the same books over and over again? The important thing is that he is reading, and if he needs correction, be sure to sandwich it with lots of his effort. “Son, I’m proud that you’re reading a lot, and writing stories of your own too! But don’t write on the books, okay?! Here, I bought you a nice notebook. If you want to write after reading, you can put it here so everyone can read your beautiful stories.”

4. Cultivate a general interest in learning. You have taught your child to love reading; now you have to teach him to take the initiative. Organize nature trips, collect bugs or flowers, or just place him in any situation that will expose him to new things. Now that his senses are stimulated, he will naturally turn to what suggestions number 1-9 have drilled into him day after day. “Hey, didn’t I read a book on that some time ago? I think I’ll look it up again when I get home.”

5. Make books available. Rarely does a child plan to read a book. It is spontaneous, like everything else he does, a hungriness that springs on a sleepy Saturday afternoon or after a wonderful discovery in the garden. So do not keep the encyclopedia set behind a locked glass case, or the fairy tale books on a shelf too high for him to reach. And most importantly, do not cripple him with the fear that he might “ruin the book.” Books are to be read, and if the pages get a little crumpled, then they are beautiful books indeed. Haven’t you read The Velveteen Rabbit?

6. Set him free. After you have instilled the love of reading in him, let him explore its realm for himself. You have given him the most beautiful gift possible, but he will never be able to know this until he discovers this on his adventuring own. If he likes Sherlock Holmes, well and good. If he prefers Ghosts and Goblins, then step back and let them be. After all, your child is A) reading every single day – he just loves to learn and allowing his imagination run free!

Author Bio: Sohail is a content marketer and a blogger, currently he is associated with Smiletutor.sg. His hobbies include writing, reading books, traveling and gardening.

Smartphone Apps to Keep your Children Safe

May 16, 2017 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

Children are easily distracted by people and activities around them which can lead parents to lose children in small crowds or where there are engaging activities taking place. Parents are always concerned about what their children are doing and their current location. It is, however, impossible to keep track due to various commitments. The good news is that different apps in the market can help paranoid parents monitor their children from wherever they are. With these apps, it becomes easy for parents to know the exact location of their children and the various activities that they are performing with their smartphones. Some of these phones are installed in the children’s phone without their knowledge while others are agreed upon especially when they are in a new neighborhood or traveling so as to alert the parents in case of danger.

Family Locator

The Verizon Family Locator app allows parents to monitor the whereabouts of their children as they go about their day’s activities. The app is in a position to alert you via email or text message when it recognizes an abnormality in the location of your children. When your child, for example, skips a lesson and decides to go out with friends, you can get a notification, and her smartphone signal will pinpoint the current location on an aerial map or photo.

Family Medical Info

The health of a growing child is one of the biggest concerns of a parent. Having the vital medical information of your baby stored in an app is a perfect way to stay stress-free regarding your child’s medical condition. This app stores some relevant medical history which includes the child’s vaccinations, allergies, blood type, a list of prescriptions, and other complicated conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. With this kind of information, you can contact your insurance rep or your family doctor with a tap of a button regardless of the distance between you and your child.

FamilyBase

Digital interactions via social media have become rampant among the young generation. Children are in a phase where their curiosity might lead them into accessing sites meant for adults. This app aids you in controlling how, when and with whom your child communicates with at all times. It also has an option where you can restrict the service hours, limiting the child’s text messages, calls, and purchase options. The FamilyBase app will also help you in controlling your internet bills by limiting your child’s data usage.

Child ID

According to the FBI, more than 400,000 are reported missing annually. The thought of losing a child in a mall without a trace is a nightmare for every parent. With this app, you can store some vital data that can help the authorities in identifying your children when you accidentally lose them. The app can be used to store your baby’s current photos, height, eye colour, weight, mannerism, and birthmarks. The information saved in this app should be able to distinguish your child from the rest for easier tracking by the security agents. This app also comes with advice and safety on what parents need to do when a crisis occurs.

Lassy Project

Most children disappear without trace due to the extended time taken by parents to realize that their child has gone missing. This app provides an instant alert when your child goes missing so as to facilitate an immediate rescue mission. Lassy Project provides an updated image of the missing child and a real-time map displaying the coordinates of the last recognized site. This app makes a perfect alert tool for notifying when a child goes missing as only relevant people in the immediate area are informed.

5 Natural Remedies to Cure a Kid’s Earache

March 2, 2015 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

This is a sponsored post…

An earache can sound like serious business for a parent: their kid’s in pain and while the cause may be something benign like Otitis (either of the middle ear or the outer ear), it still looks worrying. When a child complains of pain inside their ear, either because of a swelling of the eardrum (Myringitis), a cold, an infection, allergies, eardrum blisters, or injury, it’s time to look for remedies quick. Sure, a lot of ear infections that occur in children aged 2 or older will go away without the need for treatment – but what can a parent do in order to alleviate the pain caused by the earache in question. There’s always the option of calling a doctor or using pain relievers, but if those solutions are not accessible to you, or you would simply like to avoid them for whatever reason, we’ve got a handful of natural earache remedies for you to try out. No doctor needed! Bear in mind that if the pain persists, you are best advised to seek out professional medical advice.

Tip #1: Warmth + R&R

Since a lot of ear infections don’t necessarily require medical attention, one of the best ways to handle an earache is to simply encourage your child to rest. If you can get them to lie quietly in bed while you read them a story, color a picture book, or play a video game with them, that’s great. Do your best to engage the child in quiet, relaxing playtime activities. It’s generally not recommended to allow your child to go outside during bouts of ear pain, especially if the weather is cold. Furthermore, try to avoid or postpone travel at this time, most of all by pain. High altitudes may aggravate earaches caused by ear infections. In all of the above scenarios, whether they entail travel or rest and relaxation at home, it’s a good idea to apply a warm cloth to your child’s ear. The heat may help reduce the intensity of the pain and you can use anything from a washcloth to a blankie, a heating pad, a favorite toy, or a towel. Just make sure to have a replacement at hand when the first thing you’ve used has gone cold.

Tip #2: Help those ears feel better

Here are a few ‘tricks’ that have been tested by healthcare providers in soothing and/or alleviating pain caused by an earache:

Let gravity work its magic. Since most earaches are caused by inflammations, which, in turn, create pressure via an accumulation of fluid against the eardrum, gravity can help reduce some of that pressure. Try to get your kid to lie on one side while in bed, with the ear that hurts facing toward the ceiling. Some of the accumulated fluid and/or mucous might drain away from the eardrum.
Wiggle those ears. This tip especially works with kids who often get earaches because of chronic sinusitis and a stuffy nose. Pinch the lobe of the ear that hurts between your index finger and thumb and lightly tug at it. If you do this right, the Eustachian tube which has become clogged might pop open and have the fluid drained right out of it. Alternatively, you can encourage the child to yawn or swallow, much like they would when their ears need to be ‘popped’ when flying.

Tip #3: The important link between the ear and the nose

As mentioned above, sometimes kids can get an earache as a direct consequence of sinusitis. If it’s not that serious or a chronic ailment, if it’s simply a cold, try to get them to blow their nose. That, of course, may not be possible if it’s really stuffy, but you can always help them by squirting a drop or two of saline solution up one of their nostrils. As mentioned in the first tip, if only one nostril is clogged, try to get them to lie on one side, with the stuffy nose hole to the ceiling.

Tip #4: Sometimes you don’t need antibiotics

Sometimes an earache is as painful as to warrant the use of over-the-counter painkillers, or even prescription analgesics, antibiotics, and eardrops. But this is not always the case. When you can safely rule out the possibility of an ear infection, try to drip a drop or two of olive or vegetable oil into your kid’s painful ear. Since this is not always an easy task to complete, try to do this as they are about to go to sleep, or even after they’ve fallen asleep. Have them lie down as soon as you’ve applied the drops, as you don’t want them leaking oil all over the sheets. It’s a good idea to slightly warm up the oil before applying it – just make absolutely sure the temperature is appropriate.

Tip #5: Nature’s miracles

If your child can tolerate any of the following solutions, with all their funny tastes and strong scents, then consider using them:

Ginger. It’s a great natural painkiller, which can also alleviate inflammation. Pour a few drops of ginger juice into the afflicted ear, or apply a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger root rubbed with ¼ cup of sesame oil and lightly heated around the ear with the ache.
Basil leaves. Crush a handful of fresh basil leaves and pour a couple of drops into the aching ear.
Onion or garlic. Both are great antiseptics and can substantially reduce an inflammation inside the ear.

How Mobile Software Helps in Monitoring Kids (Guest Post)

June 25, 2012 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

This is a guest post by Cynthia from Mobile Spy Software. If you have a child who is at the age to have their own cellphone or you allow them to use your cellphone for web browsing and other things, then this post is for you.

Have you found that your kids are involved in exchanging porn messages? Do you think that your kids are duping you by lying about where they are going and what they are doing? Are you of the opinion that your kids are being abused through calls by strangers? Well, all these are dangerous mobile activities, which call for your active monitoring. A straightaway solution is to track the mobile phone of your kids to stop these activities and catch hold of the culprits. But how will you do so? Well, this is exactly where a mobile monitoring app comes to your use.

What is a Mobile Monitoring App?

A mobile monitoring app is like a secret detective that works in an invisible mode on the target phone to track and record a myriad of activities. It records activities, converts them into logs, and uploads them to the remote server so that you can view what your kid has been doing on the phone from your online account through the app’s official site. This means that you get the freedom of viewing kids’ activities on the phone from any remote place as long as you have access to an Internet-enabled device. So, now the question is which phone activities you can view or what the software can track, right? Okay, here is the reply to your question!

What a Mobile Monitoring Software Can Track?

For parents, mobile protection of their kids is one of the top-most priorities! This is exactly what a mobile monitoring ensures by tracking the following phone activities.

Made and received calls along with their duration and time stamp, even if a particular call information was deleted from the history
Sent and received SMSs even if they were removed
Posts exchanged through social networking sites
Messages exchanged through chat messengers
Images and videos viewed, downloaded, and captured from the phone’s camera
Websites visited and bookmarks made
Events added, to-do lists prepared, contacts added, memos made, and notes taken down
GPS location

With the ability to track so many activities, the mobile monitoring app acts almost like a parental control by keeping a remote eye on the activities of your mischievous kids. For example, if you doubt that your kids are sending and receiving wrong messages, the app will record the messages and will disclose them to you with the exact text! This will easily help in identifying with whom were the messages exchanged and what kind of text was written in those messages. This is even helpful in finding out whether your kids are breaching traffic rules or not. To do so, just look at the time of the message sent and map it to the time of driving.

Similarly, if you think that your kids are lying to you about the place where they are going, you can easily identify the location where they presently are, by viewing the GPS logs through your online account. Most mobile monitoring apps update the GPS location of the phone at an interval of 30 minutes. Furthermore, if you doubt that your kids are visiting adult sites, you can confirm the same by opening the log that reveals the bookmarks and sites visited.

Thus, in this way, mobile monitoring software can help you in monitoring your kids for ensuring their security.

Cynthia loves to write on latest parenting software. To know about Cell Phone Spy Software — Reviews And Ratings visit her blog.