The best idea God gave me about traveling with children is: ask someone at our destination to find us a family to stay with that has children the same age as my children. That way, the house is already childproofed; there are NOT fragile curios that look like toys sitting around; there is NOT a sound system with interesting knobs, lights, and dials sitting at toddler level; and there ARE toys, children’s books, and playmates. So much less stressful for us; and so much more fun for our children! — and theirs!
Category: Parenting
Breastfeeding in public 出门喂母乳
Ideally a breastfeeding infant should be allowed to feed whenever it wants — in church, in a restaurant, even on a commuter train! I recommend clothing designed for that purpose, which allows Mom to discreetly feed in public. Such clothing can be found online by searching for ‘breastfeeding clothing’ or ‘喂奶衣服‘
吃母乳的婴儿应该随意吃。出去的话，我建议母亲穿喂奶的衣服。网上搜索“喂奶衣服”会找得到。（这是我1996年在香港MTR喂我的老三。老二站在旁边。）
Shouting “Share!” Isn’t Fair.
Children start fighting over a toy. A parent shouts, “Share!”
— but what does “Share” mean?
Does “Share” mean that the child who grabbed the toy gets to keep it for as long as he wants? That doesn’t seem fair…
Does “Share” mean to take turns? – but how long does each child get to play with the toy? To carry out this strategy fairly, someone needs to set a timer for each child’s turn.
With something like Play-Doh, maybe each child can have an equal portion of each color of play-doh. Again, the parent or caregiver probably needs to get involved with portioning out the dough. Better yet, sit down with your children and play with them.
Challenge the children to think of some way they can use the toy, or maybe add another toy, to play happily together.
“玩具问题”的解决之道
你有没有注意到你的孩子在家的时候他不会玩他的玩具，但当他去其他小朋友家里时他却玩得很开心？其实有些玩具和家里的是一模一样的。
你是否尝试过用一个玩具盒把所有的玩具装起来，但在盒子最下面的一些小的玩具 就从来没有被碰过？– 特别是一些纸质的玩具被压在下面，都被压坏了。
你有没有经常对你的孩子说，“把你的玩具收拾好”？但是如果你经常这样说的话，你的孩子就会认为他不可以再和他的玩具玩了。–但是当初为什么你要买玩具呢？
哦！在晚上睡前你还得把这一堆玩具全部给收拾好！
所以我开始问我自己，为什么我的孩子在别人家里时会玩玩具，却不会在自己的家里玩，呢？可能是因为家里的玩具老是看起来一样。或者是说玩具都被堆在下边，他看不见。当我开始思考这个问题时，上帝给我一个很好的主意：
- 把你的玩具分成六个小组，分别放在六个不同的袋子或盒子里面。
- 准备一个低一点的搁板或者茶桌，旁边留一点空间给他玩。
- 在每天早上，拿出一组玩具来， 把它们放在搁板上排放好。记住，要使它们看上去有吸引力的样子。
当我这样做之后，我真的发现
我的孩子每天都会开心地玩他的玩具，对他来说就好像每天都有新的玩具玩！晚上睡觉前，我就不用再像以前那样需要收拾很多的玩具了。孩子高兴，我也高兴。
Bed wetting: Get up for your child
All three of our children went through a period of bed wetting some time in their elementary school age. After unsuccessfully trying a couple of discipline methods, I said to myself, “I got up in the middle of the night when my child was a baby; I can do it again now.” When the child went to bed, I would set myself an alarm for the time when I thought my child’s bladder would be full. When the alarm went off, I would get up, get the child out of bed and help him to the bathroom to urinate, then help him back to bed. After a couple of months, the problem dissipated, and I didn’t need to get up at night any more.
A Solution to All Your Toy Problems
- Have you ever noticed that your child never plays with his toys; but when your child visits somebody else’s house, he plays with all the toys, even though you have the same toys at home!
- Have you tried a toy box, but the small toys end up at the bottom of the box and never get played with; and paper items get squished and crumpled?
- Are you always saying, “Put your toys away” to your children? — but if you’re always saying, “Put your toys away,” then it appears to the child that he can’t play with his toys – but why did you buy the toys? — so your child could play with them!
- Aack! What a big mess to put away at the end of the day!
…so I asked myself the question, “Why is it my child plays with the toys at someone else’s house, but not at home? Maybe because the toys at home always look the same, or he can’t see the ones at home, because they’re at the bottom of the toy box.”
As I was cogitating about this issue, God gave me a great idea:
- Separate your toys into six different groups: one for each day of the week. Put each group into its own bag or box.
- Have a low shelf for displaying the toys.
- Each morning, bring out one group of toys. Arrange them attractively on your shelf. To give yourself a break on your Sabbath, just leave the previous day’s toys out.
Wala! Your child will have new toys every day! He will actually play with the toys; and you don’t have so much to put away at the end of the day!
The most accurate children’s Bible
The Read-n-Grow Picture Bible, illustrated by Jim Padgett, edited by Libby Weed, is the most accurate children’s Bible I’ve ever seen. So many children’s Bibles change the stories! For example, in the story of David and Goliath, a lot of children’s Bible-story books say, “The stone hit Goliath in the head, and Goliath fell down dead.” That’s not true! The stone hit Goliath in the head and he fell down; then David ran to Goliath, took Goliath’s sword, and killed him and cut his head off! This picture Bible shows the accurate story, without getting too gruesome.
Two facing pages depict one story; you can read one story per day to your children.
My children’s Sunday-school teachers and children’s program teachers have commented to me that my children really know the Bible. That’s because I used this picture Bible with them!
You can find used copies on Amazon and other booksellers.
Jimmy Swaggert Ministries gives a discount price if you order on their Bible-thon date, which is usually the first of the month.
Picking Up Legos
“Ouch! I stepped on a Lego!”
“Yikes! It takes so long to pick up all those Legos!”
When your children want to play with the Legos, pour them out onto an old sheet. When it’s time to stop playing and pick up, just pick up the corners of the sheet, lift up the whole mass, and pour it into the Lego storage box!
Peace at mealtime — the 5-minute rule
Have you ever noticed that the first few minutes of a family meal are the most prone to quarrels? I also noticed that the children would ask their father questions when he would like to be eating. So I created the:
five-minute rule: during the first five minutes of a meal, no talking is allowed.
Of course, things directly related to eating are allowed, such as, “Please pass the soy sauce,” or, “Is this the right amount of rice for you?”
When the timer rings, I announce, “Okay– pleasant, edifying conversation may take place.”
Loaded questions, complaints, irritations and such need to wait for a family meeting.
Everybody’s food digests better this way.
Proverbs 17:1 Better a dry crust with peace and quiet, than a house full of feasting, with strife.
Exercise when you have small children
books, exercise, Life advice, parenting
If you have one baby, you can use a jogging stroller. If you have one toddler, you can put it into a child’s seat on your bicycle.
If you have more than one child, it gets harder to get out. Some spas and Ys have babysitting; HOWEVER, if one of your children is sick, you’re stuck. You shouldn’t put a sick child into a group sitting situation; and it’s better for the child to stay home, anyway.
So you need an exercise you can do in your home, while you’re watching your children.
Some options:
* running in place
* marching in place
* jumping jacks
* the Beaver Bounce (alumni of Patterson Co-op High School will know what this is).
* step aerobics: find some music with a beat of 120 beats per minute, and a stool which won’t slip on your floor. Step up, up, down, down. Alternate the lead foot every few minutes.
* calisthenics
* jumping rope
*my friend recommends this one, which dramatically lowers blood sugar: ten minutes of it lowered her blood sugar from 198 to about 100! She adds: “The instructional is about 4 minutes long. And the move can be done standing in the kitchen or dining room while little kids are slowly eating.”
* a treadmill, but make sure small children can’t get near while you’re on it — it’s dangerous to them. Put them in a playpen near the treadmill so your child can see you and have the comfort of being near you.
*One friend recommends weight training: “You don’t have to be a body builder to enjoy the benefits of lifting weights, and alternating weight training with aerobic exercises and stretching/yoga increases your gains in strength, endurance and balance significantly. Plus you feel like Wonder Woman when you don’t break a sweat rearranging the furniture or cleaning out the garage!”
A lot of these exercises also work for travelling. Pack your jump rope or stool, and put your music onto your smart phone.
Here’s a good book about step aerobics. I like all the pictures, colors, charts, and diagrams! It helps you design an individual stepping program with variety and proper rest. ISBN: 0-87322-835-9
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