Make a memorable Butterfly Bunch for Mother’s Day this year. Mount these amazing butterflies on mom’s bathroom mirror on Mother’s Day for a great start to her day.
Just wing it! No one will believe this wall art is made from toilet-paper tubes from Family Fun!
Biz Jones
April 7, 2018 – 9:22 am
These tips are not intended to scare you, but to make you aware of some simple things you can do to prevent being the victim of a crime.
Here are 10 tips to incorporate Positive Childcare into your day. These tips are written by: C. McCrory.
When a child begins to get bored, their little bodies wander, and often into trouble or mischief. It is important to make sure you keep the children busy with different things to do if they cannot occupy themselves alone, or until they are able to entertain themselves. Keeping a list of quick and easy activities or games is a good idea to avoid rushing to find something to occupy little ones. If they are busy with the right activities, you’ll avoid potential misbehaviour and mess.
Positivity leads to smiles, not sadness. Children look up to adults around them for approval and examples, which is why encouraging them is so important. When children do something right, well or good, make sure you awknoledge that right away. Your positive comments and encouragement will make them want to repeat that behaviour and act in a way which is pleasing to you. You will also be building their self-esteem and confidence, leading to stronger little individuals.
When children take positive and appropriate actions, rewards them where needed. In contrast, do not use a reward as an encouragement to do something. The reward should be a positive surprise, not an incentive to do something. This is in fact bribing, and it is not constructive. In addition, the reward is best to be non-material, such as an shared activity, not a ‘thing’ like a toy. You want positive actions to become first nature, without them expecting anything in consequence.
Be attentive to what children express to you, especially if they share something that is bad, negative, scary or worrisome to them. You want to react in a positive and supportive way so that the child continue to trust you and share with you. If you have a negative reaction, this will deter the child from coming to you in the future. A strong relationship of trust can be built with children and the importance of this in their live is significant and necessary.
Boundaries are essential to a child’s development and understanding. Setting limits serves the purpose of protecting a child, helping then understand rules and creating a sense of safety. By nature, as little as they are, they will still challenge these boundaries, and it is essential that you maintain these and remain consistent in what you say. Over time, children will challenge what you say and do less and less as they better understand that you mean what you say.
Children may have little eyes and ears, but they still take it all in. They are constantly watching you and listening to what you say to them or others. As adults are examples to them, they will mimic certain behaviours they see you do, which is why it is so important that you behave in way you would want them to behave. Be as attentive to your own behaviour as you are to theirs.
Also part of “teaching by example,” you do not want to let your anger cause you to react in a way you do not want children to mimic or witness. If you are angry in a way that is affecting your thought process and behaviour, then take a step back and wait before reacting. Conversation can occur once you have regained your calm and discipline can take place once you mind is clear.
Looking after children is not easy, in fact many say it is one of the most challenging job in the world. It can, at times, be exhausting, draining, frustrating and overwhelming. The best you can do is to do the best that you can, don’t try to be perfect because no one is. Parenting and caring for children is a challenge, one that you should not be afraid to ask for help with. Whatever you do, don’t get overwhelmed, and take it one day at a time!
Discipline is an amazing thing that will build good, well behaved and understanding children. This is not the shouting, screaming, violent or threatening kind of discipline, this is the healthy, constructive, clear and reasoned discipline. They key is to be calm, clear and consistent(the 3 C’s of Discipline) to help children understand the reason why they are being punished, how they are being punished and that this means you care about them. Find a strategy that works for your household and carry it out when necessary, following the 3 C’s.
Some people have a natural tendency to shy away from emotions and closeness, but this is an essential element of childcare. Children need love, comfort, warmth and protection. Do not be afraid of showing this to them by playing with them, taking time for them, hugs, kind words and holding their hand. Be aware and attentive of their emotional needs and do your best to meet them.
You can’t turn on the television news lately without hearing about the flu epidemic. The seasonal flu seems to be a particularly strong virus this year. Here’s some useful information from the Center for Disease Control about how you can protect yourself from the flu and how to treat yourself and your host children should you get sick.
It is NOT too late to get a Flu Vaccine. Au Pair insurance does not cover immunizations, but there are lots of places to get flu shots for $30 or less. Check your local health department or stores with a pharmacy such as CVS, Target and Walgreens. If a host family is insisting that their au pair get a seasonal flu shot and she agrees to get it, the host family would be responsible for the expense.
An Ounce of Prevention
There are steps you can take in your daily life to help protect you from getting the flu.
Symptoms of the Flu
The flu and the common cold have similar symptoms. It can be difficult to tell the difference between them. Your healthcare provider can give you a test within the first few days of your illness to determine whether or not you have the flu.
In general, the flu is worse than the common cold. Symptoms such as fever, body aches, tiredness, and cough are more common and intense with the flu.
Flu symptoms include:
Treating the Flu
You can treat flu symptoms without medication by:
Children are at higher risk for getting the flu because their immune systems are not fully developed. If your host child gets sick, always ask your host parents before giving any medications to the children. There are strict guidelines for dosages and they MUST be followed. Never give aspirin to children or teenagers who have the flu. Giving aspirin to children with the flu can cause a rare but serious illness called Reye’s Syndrome. Read ingredient labels on over-the-counter medications carefully to ensure they do not contain aspirin.
We live in a time of constant sharing through social media. We often share pictures, plans of somewhere we are going or rants about problems, without thinking much about who will see it and what could be the consequences.
Before clicking post, stop to think:
This will help protect your privacy and safety as well as that of your host family. It is important to respect your host family’s privacy and not share personal details and information. This applies to all kinds of situations, including: personal conversations, email and social websites.
For your own safety, it is a good idea to be careful what personal information you share about yourself as well. You should not give out information like your telephone number and address to people you don’t know. Safer to meet a new friend in a public place, than to give them your address before knowing them.
Once you post something on the internet (even if you later delete it), it can show up elsewhere. Unless you have specific permission from your host family, you should never post pictures of them, their children or their home on the internet.
If you have a blog or website where you post in your native language, remember there is translation software. So, even if you say it in your native language, be sure it is not something you will regret.
Make your own play dough! –Play dough is the perfect modeling material for children. Their small hands can pat, poke, pinch, roll and knead it into many shapes. Keep it in an airtight container to use another day, or let it air dry into favorite shapes.
Measure 2 cups of flour, one cup of salt and 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar into a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of oil to one cup of water in a separate bowl then add the mixture to the dry ingredients. For colored play dough, squeeze 10-20 drops of food coloring into the water before you add it to the mixture. Cook the dough at low heat in a wide pan, stirring constantly until it becomes rubbery. Remove the dough from the heat and knead it for a few minutes. When it cools the kids can play too!
Today is a great opportunity to say something positive about the people you come into contact with ~ tell a stranger you like his tie, or her nail polish color. Make sure you are sincere and smile.
What You’ll Need:
Use bags as favors/place cards at your next Halloween or Thanksgiving party. Simply print your guests names on cardstock, cut out, and attach to the fronts of the bags!
Au Pairs – Imagine for a moment that you went to the hospital and you were in the care of doctors and nurses. How would you feel if those doctors and nurses who were there to care for you were more interested in texting or using their personal computer than caring for you? How would that make you feel, about yourself and about them? Would you think that you were getting the treatment you deserved? Would you feel like paying the bill after your stay?
Life as an au pair, it is a fine balance between employee and family member. You live with your host family and participate with them as a member of the family, but you also have clear responsibilities as a childcare provider. Being a childcare provider is truly one of the most important jobs I can think of, because you are helping to shape our next generation. What message are you sending them when you would rather interact with a computer than with them? How will they feel about themselves and about you? Children feel as though everything is about them. They will see this as a rejection of them and they will be more likely to act out.
It also poses a safety concern when you are not paying enough attention to the children in your care. Accidents happen, but when an adult care giver is close by and appropriately supervising the chances of a major injury dramatically reduce.
During work hours, the following would not be considered acceptable:
-Texting*
-Talking to friends on the phone
-Chatting with friends online
-Using Skype or FaceTime
-IMing
-Emailing
-Updating your status on Facebook
-Using Snapchat, WhatsApp or any other app or social media site
-Watching videos on YouTube
-Tweeting on Twitter
-Uploading photos on Instagram
-Anything else on the computer unless it is going to Nickjr.com together with your host children
*you do want to be on the look out for texts from your host parents
Think about this — even if you work 45 hours a week, that leaves you 123 hours per week for all of that other stuff, or about 70 hours (if you are getting the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep per night.)
Host Parents – You need to be clear about what you consider acceptable during work hours to avoid misunderstandings. Also, please understand that you are dealing with a new generation of people who are very accustomed to being plugged in at all times. Their intention is not to be rude, they don’t necessarily realize how their actions will be perceived. Please use this information as an opportunity to begin a dialogue on the issue.
Click here to get the recipe for Animal Face Pizzas on Annabel Karmel’s BlogPizza is easy and fun to make and can be a nutritious meal for the children and is easy to make at home.
You will need a ready-made pizza dough or a ready-made crust, shredded mozzarella cheese and a jar of pizza sauce. First the dough or crust goes on a cookie sheet or pizza pan. Then spread the sauce, add the other toppings, and last of all, sprinkle the cheese. Bake as directed for the crust. Be careful, and keep the children away from the oven as the oven must be very hot to make a nice crusty pizza.
If you want to get a little fancier and try these Animal Face Pizzas, click on the photo to get the recipe.
Click here for a coloring page where kids can draw in toppings and make their own pizza.
