|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
||
HOMEBOOKMARKNEWSLETTERJoin our newsletter to receive news of offers and discountsSearch
AS FEATURED IN...Lucy Siegle On Eithical Living: Sunday March 5, 2006 The Observer
Navigation 3 Wheeler Twins And Tripples
3 Wheelers
9 Months To 11 Years
9 Months To 4 Years
Baby Bags
Bath And Changing Units
Bedding
Birth To 12 Months
Birth To 4 Years
Boori
Buggies
Buggy Accessories
Buggy Boards
Cot Accessories
Cots
Cribs
Grobags Sleeping Bags
Heritage Range
Highchairs
Monitors
Moses Baskets
Nappies
Nursing Chairs
Portable Highchairs
Rocking Horses
Starter Beds
Tandems
Travel Cots
Travel Systems
Twins
Walkers
Parening Books |
Featured Article on Parenting: The Power of Belonging
Search for Assurance: The Power of Belonging The job hunt is on, as is the quest to find another great preschool and neighborhood to be part of. After feeling out of place, hearing over and over that an item I'm searching for is not available, or a pretty basic procedure I thought I had a grasp of is "done differently here. You must be from overseas," I'm really glad to be back. It's as I suspected-we each have a checklist of things we rely on to assure us that all is okay. For my elderly aunt, reciting the family tree mentally anchors her in the family, and strengthens her sense of belonging to it. I never understood before, but she has actually memorized the biographical details of most of the family members. She orients herself by acknowledging aloud who's married to whom, who's building, and how many children they have, where they graduated from, and the names of all of the grandchildren. I used to search for mention of myself in this Roll Call of Impressive Achievers. This year, I decided that establishing my own checklist of anchoring events was more important to me than being named on someone else's. I started by writing and compiling a book with my daughter. Another important step in my ongoing orientation was hearing the words "Welcome Home" when we cleared customs on our way back to Massachusetts. It was hearing the airline pilot comment on seeing my Red Sox cap the night we flew in: "They won the World Series, you know." I don't follow baseball, football or any team sport for that matter, but at the moment I cherished the sense of belonging conferred by my symbolically significant headgear. That sense of belonging is especially important during childhood. It meant the world when my friends and I were choosing teams. I always dreaded being the last one picked, because it made me feel like I had no enviable skill in throwing, catching or running, and therefore nothing that either team really coveted to ensure its victory. Truth is, I didn't have any such skill, but that didn't curb my wanting to be a part of things. Everyone likes to belong, whether it be as part of a family, part of a culture, or as everyone in Boston can tell you, part of a winning team. But back to the search, the beauty of it is simply having something to choose from. Not lots of products and services, but endless variations on each, and always an emphasis on the consumer's convenience. I've been to the mall three times, and always leave in a state of amazement. Part of that is mall-induced exhaustion, but it also comes from feeling overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the structure. For the first time in months, I am not apologetic about being a foreigner, nor am I fearful of ridicule for being an American. It's good to be home, and back to a search mode I can look forward to. Tricia Wellington is the mother of one toddler. copyright little-turnips.com 2003-2005. All rights reserved. Tricia Wellington is the mother of one toddler.
MORE RESOURCES:
babies - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Spend Time Not Money With The Kids This Winter Spending quality time with your children doesn't need to cost a lot of money. What's most important, is that you take the opportunity to bond with them. Create a Story Book with Your Child A fun way to build your child's imaginationWriting is still one of our major forms of communication as well as a great way to express ourselves. Creating a storybook with your child is a fun way to introduce him or her to creative writing. Attaboy! Encouraging Phrases That Build Confidence Home, home on the range, Where never is heard A discouraging word And the skies are not cloudy all day!Oh, that would be wonderful but most parents and bosses tend to feel that criticism and pointing out what is wrong will make others want to do what is right. However, people cannot improve unless they feel good enough about themselves to believe they are capable of improvement. Busy, Working Parents --- 22 Ways To Homeschool Your Kids If you're a single parent or a married couple on a tight budget so that both parents have to work, you may worry about finding the time and energy to homeschool your children, but it can be done. It comes down to planning and scheduling your time. Twins - Double The Trouble Or Double The Pleasure? Both! If You're Having Twins.. Its OK to Say No In the last 20 years we've all been introduced to a new style of parenting that is much more democratic than most of us experienced, growing up. Families are more child- centered than they were before, we no longer advocate spanking as an effective form of discipline, we often allow children to negotiate for privileges or things, and we're much more involved in our children's lives than most of our parents were in our lives. Teach Your Children - Without Them Knowing They Are Learning! The great thing about children is they absorb knowledge like a sponge. The downside to this is that they are typically wise to the fact that they don't want to sit down and be taught, fortunately as parents we can think of ways around that! Here are some great ideas of ways to promote learning with your children. Marriages May End But Families Are Forever It was at that time when our marriage was falling apart and we completely hated each other when we needed to work constructively as parents, as our child's world was crumbling too.I have been divorced for over five years now and have a beautiful eleven year old daughter. Sharing Books with Children One of my first memories of childhood is that of my mother reading Dr. Seuss books to me in a big brown recliner in our living room. Teaching Your Child Safety Q. What is the best way to teach safety awareness to young children?A. Preventing Obesity in Young Children Do you have a young child whose weight or eating habits are out of control? Need some real world help with 'taming the cookie monster'? Here are some things that worked for our family.Our daughter, now 14 years old, was plump from birth and thrived happily for her first year on a combination of breast milk and formula. Beyond the Words, a Childs Voice Voices have a way of falling into a pattern, not unlike the sound of constant rain. At first, the rain is obvious as it dramatically announces its arrival, and for a brief moment, you acknowledge the intrusion. The Theme from MASH - Suicide is Not Painless The Theme from MASHI flipped the button on the remote control, pausing mindlessly at each channel to see the picture on the screen; I could not motivate myself to do anything else. I had worked all day and was too tired to move. Educational Jigsaw Puzzles, How Educational Are They? Many companies advertise their products as being educational. How much of this terminology is sales promotion and jargon, and how much is fact?As an educator for many years, I can say with authority, that there is educational value in all types of jigsaw puzzles. So You Want to Adopt? Many reasons will cause some people to feel the need to adopt a child. Sometimes it is because they have exhausted every other means of having children. Anti Scooter Media Frenzy An estimated five million scooters will be sold this year and according to the U.S. Would You Hire This Teacher? Imagine you were the principal of the school that your child would be attending. Imagine that you were authorized to pick out which teachers to hire. Parents --- Homeschooling Can Take a Lot Less Time Than You Think The time you will need to teach your children the essentials - reading, writing, and arithmetic - is much less than you think. Let me quote author and former public-school teacher John Gatto from his wonderful book, Dumbing Us Down:"Were the colonists geniuses? [i. Teenagers Taking Risks It can be hard being a parent with a teen going through what I term the 'I'm Invincible' phase. This is the phase when teens start doing scary and dangerous things (according to us parents) as a way of testing out their physical limits. Should The Dad-To-Be Attend The Birth? Not so long ago a dad-to-be would pace up and down outside the labor room and would be admitted only after the birth. Modern practice is to assume the dad-to-be should be at the birth to offer support.
|
