Parenting Guide 101

I wanted to share this parenting tips that has been viral on Facebook for quite sometime ago but never got the chance to really share it. 

It's a good initiative coming from this parent who shared the knowledge she received upon checking her son with a child psychiatrist. Some may have condemned her for not being knowledgeable. I guess, those who made the negative comments really being insensitive and arrogant.

Who would want to be a bad parents to their child. I'm sure everyone wants to be the best for their children - giving them the best that they deserve but sometimes, we overlook on things that we think is not important. I personally thank this parent who have the guts to share the knowledge. It's a reminder to me too. After all, knowledge is to be shared especially to us the new parents. 

You can read the full article here. It is very useful and please, share it with your friends.

Biasakan dan kerapkan bawak anak main pasir, buih, rumpur dan plastesin

This is to stimulate the brain and develop the child's sensory skills.

Don't expose to much things in the box 

TV, iPad, Phones, games & etc which I think is true. One example the she puts in her article is really an eye opener. A 4 year old boy seems to look unnormal especially his hands and legs because he was exposed too much to computer lights and touch screen. This has damaged the brain cells which lead to being unnormal. This is really a slap on my face. Iman plays with the iPad most of the time. She learns a lot - dancing, talking, ABC, Alif Ba Ta but I guess, I have to reduce the amount of time she spend on it. Although, it helps at some point, but I guess the exposure has to be limited.

Another way of addressing this is to watch and play the iPad (or any gadget) with the child. This will help to develop the interactions and NEVER leave the child and the iPad unattended. This will stop the child's development especially to their cells and nerves. 

Stimulate their imitation skills

According to the child psychiatrist, this is the biggest problem kids facing right now - lack of imitation skills which leads to low in vocab developments. There are few ways to overcome this - one of it is by saying a word and let the child imitate or drawing exercise.

Crawling is very important in child's development. Often we push our child to walk fast instead of crawling which is wrong. The longer period that one child crawls, the better it helps in her/his development. So, don't worry if your child never walks but be worried if your child crawls in just a short period of time. 

Iman crawled for a long period of time before she can finally walks which worried me much. I guess, it is not a bad thing after all. But if you experience this, don't worry. It is never to late to let your child crawls. They can still crawl even though they are in the walking phase. Just let them crawl like a tiger. 

Toys - It's Ok but NO superheroes or Monsters

ABC, lego, shapes, vehicles - they are fun and good for your child but not the superhero types. The way kids see things is different from us. They may take this literally and build a negative imagination through this superhero games unlike the actual toys which help a lot in building their vocabs.

Word first, sentences later

Elephant instead of This is elephant. Zoo instead of Lets go to the zoo. You get the idea!

Dealing with strangers.

Often, we hug our kids when they face fear when meeting strangers. Other way of dealing with it is to make it looks fun instead of not doing anything. Make them "High-5" the stranger and make it looks Ok! to do it. This will change the child's perception that the stranger is not a stranger after all.

Never scold you child.

This is the one thing that I always tell myself. Never to scold Iman if she did something wrong. Explain to her in the nicest manner on the reasons of her behaviour - right or wrong. They are still small and they don't understand things. Explanation helps!

Overly-attached to one person is not a good sign.

Something is wrong with your child's self-esteem. They need to mingle well especially with the other family members.

Follow your child's interest - Not Yours!

If you child wants to play ball, let them be. Don't change. It will confuse them much. 

Last but not least, bagi pilihan jawapan to enhance communication skills

Never let your questions being unanswered. If you ask your child why she/he doesn't want to eat, don't just let your child keep quiet. Instead, give them options - are you still full? You don't like the food? something like that. It will eventually help them to develop their communication skills.

But of course, there are other ways that you can see and check based on your child's behaviour. This is just a simple tips and guides on how to deal with your growing up kids. It's a reminder for me to always check on Iman's too. Check and balance.