Frugal Indoor FunWritten by Nancy Twigg
Now that weather is so cold, kids can't go out and play for long periods like they can in summer. This means more hours to fill with fun indoor activities. Although temptation may be to entertain family by spending money (going to mall, renting movies, visiting a fast food restaurant or arcade), there are ways to keep kids busy without draining your pocketbook. Here is a list of indoor activity ideas that are all either completely free or cost very little.* Spend an afternoon writing letters or making homemade cards to send to out-of-state relatives. Let kids make drawings, finger paint portraits, or collages to send to Grandma and Grandpa to adorn their refrigerator. * Help kids make up skits or act out stories to perform for Dad when he gets home from work. Along those same lines, help children put together a family talent show in which they sing, dance or do magic tricks. For added fun, use a camcorder to record performances to watch later. The children will love seeing themselves on TV. * Pull out teapot and teacups and hold an afternoon tea party. Along with your tea, serve finger sandwiches and cookies. If your children are too young for tea, serve heated lemonade or hot chocolate. * On a cold afternoon, spread a blanket on den floor and have an indoor picnic. Eat same kinds of picnic foods you would in summer. * Go camping indoors. Pitch a tent in living room and let kids pretend that they are on a camping trip. Pull out sleeping bags and they can take naps in tent or
| | Breastfeeding - Handling CriticismWritten by Patty Hone
Feelings about how to parent seem to shift with every generation. A new way of parenting, sometimes called attachment parenting, has emerged and it challenges many of rigid teachings of our mother's generation. Although breastfeeding is on rise now, women are still dealing with repercussions of previous generations. Not too long ago mainstream women did not breastfeed at all and ones that did were taught to follow strict schedules. Some thought of breastfeeding as primitive. Formula was touted as being equal to or superior to breast milk. Only recently, has fact that "breast is best" been acknowledged. Other women were in workforce. They may have felt that breastfeeding was not an option for them. They did not have modern breast pump available to them. The medical community may not have encouraged breastfeeding at time. It is not hard to imagine. After all, even with all knowledge about benefits of breastfeeding there are still many health professionals today that are uneducated and unsupportive of breastfeeding. With all challenges in way of breastfeeding, it is understandable why many women of yesterday did not choose to breastfeed.Breastfeeding has come a long way but still many of old thinking still carries on. Women are more educated on subject; however, even with many books and other information available, people are often most influenced by their immediate family and friends. Having support of friends and family can boost chances of having a successful breastfeeding experience. On other hand, having to deal with criticism and misinformation from people you are close to can sabotage a new mom trying to breastfeed. There are many ways to deal with negativity of others. One of best things you can do is to try to understand why person feels way they do. Is it because they were taught differently about breastfeeding? Were they indoctrinated with ideas that breastfeeding is primitive or inferior? Or is it that they feel breasts are a sexual object? Maybe they have never seen someone breastfeed and it makes them uncomfortable. This is case with a lot of people. Once breastfeeding in public becomes more commonplace, perhaps, this will become less of a problem. Whatever case, finding out root of person's issues with breastfeeding may help to resolve tension.
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