It’s amazing what kids can absorb about gratitude when they learn by example. Give Beyond Your Friends and Family. When giving gifts (such as Chanukah or mishloach manos or anytime throughout the year) to teachers, friends, and family, remember the people like the plumber, the store clerks, the handyman, and the neighbor whose kitchen you…
Parenting
Three Great Ways You Can Use Toys to Connect to Your Child
You don’t need to sit and build Legos for hours to spend time together. A parent and child can still connect. You walk into your kids’ playroom and marvel at the shelves that are literally caving in from the weight of the stacks of games they’re loyally storing. There are bins of colored blocks, Magna…
Sneaky Ways to Give Your Kids a Bit More Knowledge
All 50 States and Their Capitals? The Periodic Table? The Presidents of the U.S.? Your kids can soak all that knowledge up, and more. Our kids learn a lot. With a dual curriculum from preschool through high school, there is so much information taught to them daily. But with that very full curriculum, some of…
Why Make Your Own Baby Food? A How-To Guide
I thought I’d be the last person on earth to make baby food from scratch. But now I’m sold. When my second daughter reached six months of age, I was determined to make my own baby food. I had never done this before, never even considered it for my boys or my first daughter. The…
Why Do We Ask Children Questions They’re Too Young to Answer?
Parents often give their children too much choice. Keep the choices and questions age-appropriate. By Toby Brecher This week, I heard my niece ask her 4-month-old, “Do you want to eat?” The better statement may have been, “Now it’s time to eat.” It wasn’t a question; she was going to feed the baby at that…
“Why did she get the pink one?” 3 Things to Think About Regarding Sibling Jealousy
What causes jealousy? How can you avoid it among your children? Some people, children included, are born with a greater tendency toward jealousy than others. There will always be that one child in the family who’s bound to look over his shoulder when Mommy hands out treats. He’s making sure that no one gets one…
How to Swaddle a Baby
Wrap that baby tight! Learn step-by-step instructions for making the perfect swaddle from Artscroll’s new release, Baby’s First Year By Rochel Istrin, RN from Baby’s First Year The Baby’s First Year, by veteran nurse Rochel Istrin, RN, is the Jewish mother’s complete resource for any questions related to their baby’s development, following the baby from…
When the Kids Learned They Had Another Brother
When is it appropriate to talk about a baby that didn’t live? And how and when do you tell your children that they had another brother? I don’t think about my first baby, born 11 months before my oldest son, that often. Baruch Hashem, the next few children came in quick succession. I never had…
Temper Tantrum Brewing? Four Ways to Diffuse or Avoid ‘Em
There might be nothing you can say that will quiet that screaming child in the throes of a tantrum. But you can handle the situation, no prob. Some mothers, while in the midst of dealing with a child in a temper tantrum, resort to some desperate measures. I even once saw one other taping together…
Three Easy Ways to Teach Emunah to Your Children
The path to instilling emunah is simply leading by example For years, Mrs. Tammy Karmel gave emunah shiurim in my neighbor’s apartment in Yerushalayim. When her youngest baby was six months old, Tammy was diagnosed ALS and her shiurim took on a new meaning. Tammy’s body withered at a frightening pace. One week, she was…
