Parenting: Fundamental Guidelines

While parenting was never considered as an easy job, but following few fundamental guidelines always help a great deal in handling kids. A child needs to be handled with a mix of care, caution and essentially discipline. Sense of discipline must be instilled in a child right from the beginning. This will go a long way in shaping his future life. Few guidelines are;

Keep a strict check on television watching and recreation time. Children's company must also be thoroughly watched.

Children learn by their mistakes so allow them to grow and learn through the route of mistakes.

Expressing your love is equally important than loving someone. When parents express their love in form of hug and peck, it makes kids feel special.

It always pays to keep alcohol and drugs away from the house,. Children feel curious about these things and parents should either restrain from taking these or must keep them in moderation.

Always, always believe in your children and teach them to believe in themselves as well.

It is said that a child is the father of man. Humor aside, conversating properly with your children can teach a great deal. So, go ahead, have a chit-chat with your little angels.

Nothing is more pleasurable than maintaining a happy and loving home environment. Remember, a smile and love is always infectious.

Children always love to have company of their parents so it is only natural to give them a lot of your time to kids both quality and quantity.

Laughter and more so humor goes together well in strengthening the bond between parents and kids.

Always try to communicate gently. However, your communication should also be firm and clear.

Teach your kids importance of courage and dreams.

Few Rules for Parents

There are few basic rules every parent must follow if they want to see their kids growing in an ideal way. Those few rules can be summed up in following points-

Kids must be taught basic values like patience, honesty, patience and self-control etc. these values should be ingrained in their mindset with utmost care and in a steady way. The best way to teach is by presenting your own example. Making them realize the importance of words like self-confidence and self-esteem goes a long way in chalking out their personalities. These are the virtues they will carry for the rest of their lives.

Children must be praised openly. Their inappropriate behavior also needs to be reprimanded in an appropriate fashion. Parents should also strive to maintain a happy environment at home. Nothing is better than a happy family.

Always, always believe in your kids and also teach them to believe in themselves.

Art and Child

A child must be introduced to the magical world of arts. Not that, he or she should be forced to take any particular form of art but depending upon his choice and inclination kids must be encouraged to let their imaginations go wild. It not only helps in increasing self-confidence but also improves creativity. Art is often used to get rid of boredom and stress. For example, if a child is sitting idle and getting irritated, the best way is to encourage him to doodle. It’s an effective solution to his boredom. We can expect a miraculous art work from a kid but no one is born genius. Let the kid go wild with his creative imagination. Provide him with sufficient art material and let him draw whatever he or she is willing to. It would be better if parent is sitting alongside the kid and drawing as well. This way, child will get extra motivation and parent will get to spend quality time with kid.

There are several media available for the kids to discover and indulge in his artistic side. Let’s take painting for example. A kid can be encouraged to play with pastels initially. With the passage of time he can switch to water colors. If he is found to be interested in painting, parents can encourage him to go for oil paintings. Also push him for out of the box thinking. Encourage him to indulge in any form of paintings through whatever means. Let him draw whatever he wants to and with any color combination. A kid can also play around pot painting or dough and similar activities

Child Safety

Parents need to ensure that their children are safe especially when they play out. Safety tips for parents when children play outside are: Do not let your child go out of the building compound without your permission. Warn your child not to play alone in isolated areas. Empty houses and construction areas should be avoided when playing.

Your child should memorize the address and the telephone number. Many children feel ashamed to say no to strangers. Make your child learn to say ‘no’. Also tell your child not to accept any kind of sweet or food material from any stranger. Teach your child traffic rules and symbols. Maintaining personal Safety at home is also an important factor. Do not talk to strangers on the phone. It is better not to encourage salesmen especially with children around. All the plugs should be beyond your child’s reach or should be kept covered. Do not allow your child to go anywhere close to the bathroom. Balcony doors should be kept shut. In case there are table fans at your house ensure that they are out of your child’s reach.

Maintaining safety is an important element in taking your child’s care. If as a parent you cannot devote extra attention to your child, then it is better to hire a caretaker. But again you have to make sure that the caretaker is genuine and credible enough. If possible hire a recommended caretaker. These are some of the safety tips that should be taken care of while upbringing your child.

Lying Problem in Children

Lying is a common problem found in children. Many kids are afflicted with this problem and parents find it difficult to accept or to deal with such issues. Lying and stealing are sensitive issues and parents should be very careful while handling these matters. Quite often, the case of lying is merely a work of child’s overactive imagination. This can not be considered as lying because most often than not, child is not able to differentiate between his imagination or a realistic dream and what has actually taken place. So what might seem like a lie can just be a case of perception and anxiety.

Parents should make sure not to brand their children as liars. It stunts their emotional development. If parents keep calling child a liar, soon he will lose his self-confidence and that will create lots of problems in his future growth. Child being a child will sometime exaggerate things but that does not mean that parents should misunderstand him. Parents should be careful in putting their child down in public or in asking kid’s friends or siblings to verify his statements. Such conditions should be totally avoided.

The fact is no child is a born liar. Child often turns liar because of high expectation or pressure from the parents. He tries to please his parents and once the first attempt goes successfully, lying becomes his second habit. Parents should not be strict or rigid in handling lying issues. That will further aggravate the problem. Talk it out with the kid, make him understand the implications of his actions and provide all the mental and emotional support. Right dosage of love, understanding and compassion will help parents in tackling the problem of lying.

Building Self-confidence in child- Beginning

Self-confidence! A very essential element in life of any human being. It not only determines our movements in life but also every step taken by us during the course of life. Career, success, inter-personal relationships, value system and thousand other things which are determined by the level of our self-confidence. It all begins in childhood. It’s extremely imperative for parents to instill that small dosage of self-confidence in child. But remember, this is not a one time process. Confidence level of any kid is determined and developed by several solid steps taken by parents.

 So often we have seen, a child who is all chatterbox and involved in several activities like dancing, mimicking, acting, singing but he does it only at his home in the comfort of his parents. But once, he is in school, he is all quiet and does not participate in any activity. That’s a sign of lacking self-confidence. He performs at home where he does not care about opinion of his parents but when in school he starts doubting his own capabilities and competence and that in turn robs him of his self-confidence.

There are several steps which need to be taken by parents.

Creating a set routine for child. It develops discipline and child starts enjoying that.

A very critical step is exposing him to the world. This needs to be done with proper care and in a slow way. Once parents start playing with their kids, they should encourage them to play with their family members, friends and other children. Similarly, he can be asked to act, dance or recite some rhyme in front of others. Once he starts getting appreciation then, his social skills and confidence will automatically develop.

Building Self-confidence in child- Conclusion

 Parents should ensure a certain time limit for watching television and playing computer games. These things tend to diminish social communication and conversation. Excess of these also make child aloof.

Asking your kids to help in household chores and other works will make him feel wanted and important. He will also feel competent. Apart, a sense of partnership and responsibility also starts developing in child.

Another crucial step is preparing a list of things your child is good at. Also create a list of the things he or she likes to do. Encourage the kid to create a list on his own. Afterwards, match the two lists and find if the kid has missed anything. If he has, make him aware that he is also good at other missed things as well. In hindsight, if parents have missed anything, they would be more aware in future.

Whenever a child is starting a new thing, parents must encourage him or her. Support them, assure them of their capabilities, show them your confidence in them and you will be surprised with what they manage to achieve.

Parents must push kids for extra-curricular activities like team sports, music lessons or art lessons. One of them may find his true calling or at least realize that he has got talent for certain activity. Apart, in the process he will meet new people and new kids and will learn new skill as well.

At the same time parents should never doubt on their kids’ ability. Interfering in his work according to your way might not be such a good idea. Last but not the least a child should never be compared with other kids.

How to Identify Child Learning Disability

Learning disability has been a growing problem in children, not because there is a higher incidence, but because of earlier and much more elaborate diagnosis. Earlier diagnosis and interventions can help child obtain the level of education tailored to its needs and capabilities.

Learning disability cannot be equated to mental retardation. It means that despite the child having an average IQ, he or she is unable to learn at the expected rate, compared to the children of his/her age.

Learning disability can be of various categories such as writing, reading, listening skills, mathematics, or spelling etc. Any one of these or more can be affected and they will all be termed as learning disabilities and not mental retardation. Due to the learning component involved, usually they should not be diagnosed until school age, and even then the first couple of grades are not enough to diagnose a child having a disability issue.

Usually teachers recommend the children to repeat the grade if they find them slow in math or reading, and sometimes that’s all the child needs, as he/she may need time in maturing. If the child doesn’t improve in a specific time period, the teacher may recommend a professional child psychologist. Only he is licensed to officially diagnose the child.

There are several signs that may indicate a learning disability. Child may have a problem with attention span. He may get frustrated easily. He may stare in the space with no specific reason or have problems learning new words. These symptoms may point to a learning issue, but it cannot be diagnosed by a teacher or a parent.

Based on the diagnosis, it can be decided whether the child needs to be in a mainstream school or a special education school program. Special education schools help in aiding the child to work on his learning disability and acquire education at a comfortable pace. If possible, the child may join back the mainstream schools if he/she is able to cope up with the learning disability.

Enhancing child’s IQ- Tools

Enhancing child’s intelligence quotient (IQ) should be parents’ top most priority. The competition is getting tough in today’s brutally competitive world and all parents must think of the way a child’s IQ should be focused upon right from the beginning. IQ plays a major role in future prospects of any person. There are several friendly and exciting ways to boost the IQ level of a kid. Few of them are;

Sleep cycle of a child is quite important factor in child’s proper development. It is recommended that a kid must get minimum of eight hours of sleep a day. Proper sleep ensures that child’s day time learning remains integrated in his brain cells. Improper sleep cycle adversely affects a child’s recall power.

Games; experts recommend chess for growing kids. It helps in activating brain cells and different moves and strategies used in the game gives children an idea about how to look at a particular problem from different perspectives. Chess being a strategy based game helps in making brain more flexible and pushes for more thinking using logical reasoning as well. Other benefits include, improved problem solving abilities, and critical reasoning abilities. Other recommended games are, solving puzzles and general knowledge, memory games etc. all these games improve memory of the kid apart from forces him to think quickly and ultimately helps in betterment of mental skills. Strategy games are also considered more suitable for kids because throw sudden moves whereas other normal skill games have a fixed pattern.

 How to Handle Rude Teens

Is your teenager rude and bad-mannered? If the answer is yes, parents need to pay close attention to this problem because it is not a normal behavior for teens. Teenage is always considered as a difficult stage for both parents and teens but some teens are best friends with their parents. Occasional incidents of fight and trouble are normal but if it is taking place too frequently, parents need to find the cause and nip the problem in the bud. If your teen is rude to you, it is the duty of parents to let him/her know that, this is not an acceptable behavior. However, parents should also ensure that they are not treating their teenagers in a negative way.

 If parents fail to warn teens about their behavior, teens will take it as granted. They will assume that their behavioral pattern is acceptable. Parents should take concrete actions. No child or parent wants to hurt each other, however, there might have been incidents that would have caused pain and hurt. The idea is to find those reasons and explain them to the child. Parents should not ignore teen’s desires again and again as that will lead to feelings of frustration in child.

It is important to check rudeness and disrespect at every step. Teenagers are quite vulnerable to the influence of peer pressure. Parents should never underestimate the peer influence. Communication is the key here. Parents should talk about all the problems faced by child and make him understand the causes and effects. Keep your cool and calm intact while interacting with your teen.

How to deal with Temper

Children’s temper tantrums can be a dreaded thought for any parent. Being responsible parents you must find ways to reduce these temper tantrums as they can happen anywhere or at any time without warning. The best way to handle this kind of situation is to be prepared. You need to be prepared with knowledge of how to cope and handle your child, and go a long way in dealing with their temper tantrums. The reason for that being you can easily predict when your child might lose his/her temper and throw a tantrum.

The first tip would be to understand the behavioral nature of your child. Some children are adjustable, while many are non-cooperative and whine at the drop of a hat. The second tip would be to ensure that your child has had ample sleep.

In case your child is feeling sleepy and is throwing a tantrum inside the house or outside, it is better to put him to sleep. The next step seems funny but works. When your child is throwing a tantrum, do not react. Just take deep breaths and wait for your child to calm down. Once your child calms down explain to him/her that throwing a tantrum is wrong. Remember not to hit your child or scold them when they are throwing a tantrum. You can handle the situation pretty well the next time with these simple tips

Your Child Computer Savvy?

Computers have started to play a very important role in our lives. They are wonderful educational tools. Parents should try to familiarize their children with the computer. Enrolling your kid to computer classes is one option but there are other options also that you can try at home. For instance, teaching use of word processor can be quite easy. Everyone needs to have a basic knowledge of word processor. Parents should show kids how to open and save files and delete words, and let them figure out the rest. Child can be encouraged to keep a personal diary on the computer. Give him a reason to experiment with MS Word.

Parents should encourage child to keep in touch with friends and relatives by email. We all know how important and preferred mode of communication email has become. A child will need to learn emailing sooner than later. Teach him how to send birthday cards or write a letter through email. He will also enjoy the process.

To make computer learning more interesting, introduce your child to different games. However, keep an eye on time limits. Outdoor sports are far healthier but you can introduce your kids to play mind games like Chess and Scrabble, or general games of skill like Packman. Help him to find general knowledge sites which will prove very beneficial in his studies. Bookmark few sites that offer interesting mind games and contests. Encourage him to participate in interesting games. Keep an eye on violent sports and adult sites. You can block such sites with the help of different software.

Child and Music

 Music does wonders. Science research often tell us about magical effects of music and how fruitful is, using music as a treatment tool. So how about, letting our children learn a few tricks of this divine thing! Most kids are fascinated by musical instruments. Few like to play violin, few others with guitar and few more with piano or Tabla or some other instrument. It’s always advisable to allow your children to learn any musical instrument. So many kids are willing to learn an instrument and the least we can do is to help them with learning. It is also believed that music has been the origin of several traditional Sanskrit and Indian baby names .

One of the known scientific fact is most of the children are born as average and not as geniuses. One definition of genius is, they learn faster than others. Learning is not a difficult thing. Anyone can but speed of learning differs from person to person. Making a child learn some musical instrument helps him in learning fast in other aspects of life as well. Considered as an able tool of increasing child’s intelligence, allowing a child to learn music does wonders for him. It helps in kid’s problem solving ability, thinking pattern and above all his logical reasoning ability.

Learning music or instrument also helps a kid in his or her social skills. It enhances confidence among his peers. A musical performance boosts child’s self-esteem as well. It will also keep his busy in a creative pursuit. Lastly, music having a soothing effect, will also help a child in relieving his stress during school days.

Kids and Junk Food

With the changing times, our food habits have also changed. Gone are the days of healthy nutritious food. We have a new favorite and that is junk food. The hustle bustle of life has made us focus on junk foods. Junk food is defined as anything which is tasty, fashionable, quick and convenient. The craze of junk food is common across all the genders and age. Junk food like pizzas, wafers and colas are engulfing our lives in a negative way. Most of the hard core junk food addicts are not realizing negative side of junk foods. Children have also been affected greatly from this craze. It’s common to see kids munching upon colas and wafers. New age kids are so fond of junk foods that even parents are succumbing to their taste buds.

Children must be made aware of healthy food and eating habits. They should also know harmful side effects of junk food. Junk foods are known to cause several diseases like obesity, clogging of arteries by the age of 30 and it also increases the chances of breast and prostate cancer. Hypertension and osteoporosis are also known to be result of bad eating habits of childhood. Ignoring proper diet and relying more upon junk foods can also cause decaying new teeth, debilitating disease, slow growth and infirmity which can wreck havoc in lives of kids when they grow old. The reason being, these junk foods consist of inedible colors which can cause hyperactivity and learning disabilities.

Junk foods have managed to replace regular diets. It’s upon parents to instill good fooding habits in their kids’ right from the beginning. During the process, children should also be made to understand the importance of Healthy Indian recipes and eating together with balanced mixture of diet.

Making Your Children Vegetarian

Turning vegetarians has become a buzz word all across the globe. There are movements taking place to make vegetarian food more acceptable. Growing number of people in different countries are turning vegetarians because of reasons including, environmental, ethical and medical. Meat and other non-vegetarian products are being avoided. Already, there are substantial numbers of people who are vegetarians because of their social, religious and cultural backgrounds.

It is natural for vegetarian parents to want their children to follow suit. But then, everyone has different opinions about nutrition. Parents are more concerned about whether a vegetarian diet can fulfill the dietary requirements of their growing children. There is no doubt regarding the immense health benefits of a vegetarian diet. There is a strong co-relation between vegetarian diets and reduced incidence of many diseases. People who are non-vegetarians are more likely to suffer from hypertension and heart diseases. They will also have higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels. It’s important for parents to instill the habit of vegetarian diet in their kids’ right from the very beginning.

 If parents are aiming for a non-vegetarian diet for their kids, they should also ensure that children are not having any sort of junk foods such as potato chips and aerated drinks else the overall benefits of vegetarian food will be nullified. Diet should be nutritionally complete. Parents should make children a part of turning vegetarian process instead of forcing the vegetables down their throats. They should explain why vegetables are necessary and how they stand up against non-vegetarian foods. They should be given their favorite vegetarian diet. Parents should lead by example if they want their children to grow on a vegetarian diet.

Vegetable Juices for Child’s Health

 A child’s health is of paramount importance for any parent. Parents should always check whether their kids appear listless or tired and always low on energy. If that is the case, that’s a sign of trouble. It has often been seen that, most of the kids while still in their early age are always active, running all around and having fun. But when the same kids reach adolescence, lethargy sets in and they don’t appear active any more. In fact, they just try to hang around, chatting, or eating or plain sleeping all day. So, what’s the solution? My answer will be lots of vegetable juices. It’s magical the way it builds a child’s health and increases his or her energy level. Vegetables are loaded with anti oxidants and nutrients, are unprocessed, and are great for health. Normally, kids don’t prefer vegetables that much. In those cases, vegetable juices are of great help.

Vegetable juice is quickly perishable, so care must be given to drink it drink it immediately after juicing the vegetables. A child should be given different types of vegetables on an alternate basis. If he is drinking same juice every day, he might get fed up of it and secondly it’s medically recommended to rotate the juice diet. That provides balance in the diet. Another recommendation is mixing pulp with juice. Pulp provides much needed fiber and roughage. Vegetable juices are not known for fat and protein. So the child should also keep getting his protein from other sources besides good indian recipes.

Holiday Bonding With Children

Kids love the thrill in holidays and look forward to action packed fun, drama and yummy treats. There is only one side-effect of such pleasure trips and that is emotional bonding with your child. One is much at peace during holidays as the chores are not routine and there is time to unwind. Enhance the enjoyment by partaking in activities as suggested by your child. Hectic lives and standardized everyday patterns seldom let us look for the special things in our own lives. Unknowingly we also ignore our children’s ex-pressions. It is certainly a prudent idea to make some savings particularly for holiday trips. All holiday plans need not necessarily be exotic locales. There should be an element of relaxation and participation.

Visits to historic sites may excite you and it is necessary for the child to know about art and culture. If this constitutes your itinerary then include adventure trips to add zing to the trip. At all times, children look for support from parents. A slight encouragement to learn rock climbing or boating will only kick start pure mischief and appreciation. Bond further with long walks on sunny sands and making a castle. Sand sculpturing is loved by all and it is normal that you seem to be more excited than your kid. When your toddler sees that you are equally excited then he joins the fun. Capture each moment in pictures. Holidays are not apprehension times and go easy on meal and sleep times. Over indulgence is not a virtue but being overtly strict is a mood spoiler. Little planning is necessary to avoid travails of travel. Make necessary arrangements by carrying the right clothing and spare garments. Firstly on identifying the luxury home, make enough enquiry on the exact facilities offered by them and the fares. Please indicate clearly if the kids are allergic to certain items. Carry adequate seasonal items like raincoat, woolens and beach wears. Weekend trips to nearby islands and places of tourist interest are an excellent idea offering an alternative to long vacation plans. This sure breaks the monotony. Plan a visit to the botanical garden, Water Park or nearby beach.

Participate well as this is important. Plan group picnics with lot of munchies, trinkets as hampers and interactive family games. Inculcate sharing and organizing skills in children as they naturally will emulate your virtues. In case the children go overboard which they naturally will, state the limits in private. Teenage is full of mixed emotions. State your holiday dates and you will be surprised at their skill in managing events. Let them free and they will respect you. Include your parents and in laws for a super family entertainment bonanza. More the merrier surely works!

Eating Out With Kids

I have seen a lot of young parents avoid going to restaurants and hotels because they have to ‘manage’ their kids. However, on the contrary, it is very essential that you take your kids out to restaurants to teach them good table manners and etiquettes

As a parent you do not want to get embarrassed and hence most parents do not wish to go out with their kids. What can perhaps be done is to involve your kid into some activity while you have your dinner or lunch. Carry some toys along with you. Especially those that your kids love to play with. They will sure get engrossed in playing with them while you can easily dine in your favorite restaurant.

It is also essential that you choose an appropriate restaurant. There are some restaurants that allot special place to you in case you come with your kids. You can also go to casual restaurants that can take in the noise that your child is likely to make. Keep in mind that a reservation will always help and that you do not have to wait for long.

Another option to try for is going to places where buffet lunch or dinner is offered. Buffet with children can be quite fun. In case you have a full time maid for your kid, then going to restaurants that have games and rides for children is the best way to keep them engaged. The maid can take care of your children while you relish your food.

If you reinforce your child with gifts and toys for good table manners, then be sure that he or she is going to repeat this behavior. Positive reinforcement is the best way to teach your child good manners.

If you are ok with finishing your dinner a little early by seven or eight, then one should visit the restaurant during those times. Managing your child while there is less crowd is indeed beneficial!

Disciplining the child

It has been said that when a child is born his or her mind is like a blank slate. Thereafter, it becomes the responsibility of parents to fill that slate with best of everything whether it be, education, manners, learning, sanskaras and so many other things. It’s true that, when a kid grows up he or she is destined to create his own destiny but it must not be forgotten that parents create that special foundation for the kids upon which they carve their future. That takes us to the point of laying a strong foundation. One of the brick of this foundation is discipline mantra. A child must be taught the importance of discipline since his childhood. Because this is one of those important things which make a huge difference in what the kid actually becomes and turns out to be as a human and as a professional once he grows up.

Disciplining a child is a tough as well as delicate task. It must be done with proper care and thoughtfulness. There is a fine line between oppression and over indulgence. But in general, most parents make a mistake in while treading the path of discipline. First and foremost parents must be disciplined themselves and probably more than that they must act disciplined in front of their kids. Parents must set an example for their kids by following disciplined life themselves

Few guidelines for parenting in public

Explaining the rules to kids in advance. So often kids tend to get stubborn for particular things. They must be informed in advance about how many toys or books or things like that, they would be allowed to have. Any further demand and it will be totally rejected.

Children have this uncanny habit of wanting to have attention at all times. One of the tip to tackle this is to make them feel involved in the decision making process. For example, if a family is out on a vacation in a place like esselworld or wonderland, children must be asked about their preference for rides or swimming. It will make them feel special that they are being asked about their choices and those will be followed.

Parents are advised to observe any signs of boredom or restlessness in their kids. Kids normally have a short attention span for any particular thing. So the moment, they are found bored, it is suggested to take them out for a break or for a little bit of chitchat.

Just like every normal person, kids also love to be complimented. It pays to compliment for every small good thing, howsoever small it may be. This is not only good for their self –esteem but also for overall feel good factor in their fragile psyche.

Finally kids must be treated with a mix of care, caution and firmness as and when required. Rules once explained must be followed at cost.

Following these guidelines definitely go long ways in laying the good foundation for good parenting skills.

 Parenting Manuals in Public

Parenting is a serious business. Probably one of the biggest responsibilities of a person in his/her lifetime is raising the kid in most appropriate and effective manner. A kid is said to be like clay and how you handles him/her, results into how he/she turns out to be as a person. It’s about molding the kids using kid gloves, literally! One of the major concerns of parents is how to handle kids in public place in case of their throwing tantrums.

To begin with, it does not take knowledge of rocket science to figure out ones’ kids’ psychology. Parents have more knowledge of their kids than anyone else. Knowing kids’ sleeping pattern, restlessness, his or her being stubborn about certain things, behavior in crowd are few things a parent must be aware of. While going out, parents must be prepared for any such eventuality.

Another method is to have the child entertained by giving him toys, books, colors and such things. This helps in keeping the kids occupied and proves useful in preventing any potential tantrums. Shouting and beating child in a public place is a complete no-no. It also pays to inform the kid in advance about the situations he would be most likely to face in public. Things like, noise, rush, pollution, temperature etc need to be explained to kids in advance. Child should also be explained things with utmost patience and care.

Parents as friends in the lives of children.

 Roles are always pre-decided by the society. A child is expected to be sister to a brother, a sister to a sister, a friend to a friend and so on. In the similar fashion, a parent is definitely placed as a role model, support system in the life of a child. But have we ever thought how important is it to have our parents as friends in life?

All of us definitely have a large set of friends with whom we share our joys and sorrows. These friends are an integral part of our life, but little do we realize that parents are our best friends. Friends, who give unconditional love, a welcoming shoulder, always there to share our joys and guide us to a approved path leading us to success and happiness. Parents knowingly or unknowingly understand what the child goes through. This makes it very easy for them to help the child in dealing with the situation in the best possible and accurate manner. Experiences that the parents have gathered in the due course of life, when passed on to the child, make the child well aware of life and its proceedings.

Parents are undoubtedly the child’s best friends but little do they realize this fact. We tend to take parents as figures of authority and power, forgetting the fun and friend like side to them.

It is very important for the parents as well to help the child by being a friend and not a ‘parent’ all the time. This not only makes life easy for the child and saves the child from the difficult situations of life. Many a times the child is in turmoil and feels the need of a friend. This is the time when parents must lend their shoulder and advice to their kids and be a ‘FRIEND’ to them.

Bed time stories for children

Which child is not fond of bed time stories? I have seen parents finding it difficult to find stories to narrate it to their kids every day. Nursery rhymes are usually narrated to their kids by their grandmas or moms themselves. Though I haven’t seen many fathers being good at the art, one can always try!

It is not necessary that you tell your child only about Cinderella and three bears’ stories. If you know about something that you want your child to improve on, develop your own stories in such a way that the story has a moral from which the child can learn. Make sure that you do not narrate stories that involve ghosts and devils because this may affect the child and he or she may not be able to sleep well. Some may even complain of evil dreams.

Short stories are also a great way to spend quality time with your children. It is very important that you spend such time with them because only then a child will open up to tell you about the daily activities of his life.

There are a lot of books too that are available in the market that tell wonderful stories. Your child may not be able to read them but they will definitely help you in narrating a good story to your kid. Gifting story books to children is also a great idea. Story books contain attractive visuals in it and hence when you are narrating a bed time story to your children, you can show them the visuals of the story and they will be able to imagine the characters of that story in a better way.