Toddlers
These are the years of going from lalalalalala to 'dog' to learning to speak in complete sentences (and saying 'no')
Jasper Juul offers Danish wisdom on parenting, very popular in Europe. Heard much praise for his book Your Competent Child: Toward New Basic Values for the Family
What about manners?
"Encourage polite greetings. At two years old, your child can certainly learn to say "hello" when arriving for visits or meeting new people, and "goodbye" when it's time to depart. She will be wildly unreliable about it, saying "hello" very sweetly on one occasion then collapsing into shyness or bursting into tears the next. But in general it's a good move to teach these salutations because they pave the way for the more advanced greetings such as "Nice to meet you" and shaking hands. Some preparation will help: "When we get to Granny's, we're going to say, 'Hello Granny!'" go to Babycentre
"One day, I (jkz) observed a young father in a restaurant trying to eat dinner with his four-year-old daughter. The food had taken too long to come. By the time it arrived, his daughter was no longer able to sit still. She was frustrated, tired, demanding. He just couldn't eat. She was all over the place. It would have been easy so easy for him to become hard in that moment; to resent her, or to be angry that the food had taken so long to come, or that he couldn't get to eat it even though he was hungry, and probably tired himself. But he maintained his composure and saw what needed to happen. After one or two attempts to have a bite, he had the food packed up, paid the bill with her on his shoulders and pulling on his hair, and left. I smiled to him as he passed us ... as I sat there with my girls, old enough now to wait patiently for the food to come, remembering with wistfulness the era when my own mind was finely tuned to "toddler mind" and my choices from moment to moment mainly ruled by their so strong and so rapidly changing needs. That period often feels like it will never end when you are in it. It helps to tell yourself that it is over in the blink of an eye, and that it is worth surrendering to -- however trying at times -- as a gift to both your child and yourself." Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting
Advocates of spanking may have once argued that parents such as described above are somehow lacking in courage and responsibility. They have a character flaw. All the child needs is a swat. Their critics reply that though spankings do 'work' in some situations, causing the child's behavior to conform to what the parent wants, it is effective because it is based on fear. The true meaning of discipline is to teach children the lesson of self-control rather than to bow down to power. In the example above, the father respects the realities of his young child's limits. [View source ]
from Davis, Phillip W., "The Changing Meanings of Spanking," in Skonick, Arlene S. and Jerome H., Family in Transition, New York:Longman, 1997, pp.278-289
10 Ways to Reduce your Toddler's Carbon Footprint"
1. use cloth diapers
2. make or imagine toys, don't buy them
3. buy secondhand or use hand-me-downs
4. give clutter-free gifts, like a trip or an activity
5. Unplug
6. few pre-packaged foods
7. buy organic and local
8. no plastics
9. teach recycling
10.help your toddler be a role model to friends
Sibling Rivalry
by Katherine Ozment
"At the turn of the twentieth century, sibling rivalry among the middle class heated back up as families had fewer children and an even stronger focus on maternal-child love developed. No longer steeped in messages of cooperation or required to pitch in to raise the youngest of the brood, children started competing for their parents' love and affection. Sibling relationships continued to evolve in the twentieth century, as closer age spacing and longer time spent in high school meant older siblings were even less able to care for the younger ones. Instead, they were more likely to turn on each other in jealousy. By the late 1900s, the prevailing parenting philosophy led parents to foster a strong sense of individuality in their children via such things as private bedrooms and separate toys." go to Brain Child
Interested in more? Here are other articles:
spanking | social rules |
manners | green living |
good discipline | environment |
Diapers | Denmark |
cloth diapers | child development |
carbon footprint |