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We all love to be free and independent. Freedom is something for which we ended up having a world war. But freedom at the cost of relationships! This is what parents are not able to relish.Family is the best school of social life. "A child grows under the kisses of his mother and cares of his father", said a famous philosopher.

We often recall the days when we were young. Being in our teens, we had faced many difficult situations which we couldn't handle at that point in time.The hormonal and the physical changes lead to an unpredictable behaviour. Do you remember the extent of depression we use to undergo due to a small fight with our best friend or a break up in a two weeks old relationship! At this stage, if teens do not get proper attention and support from their parents, they might end up choosing a wrong way and destroy their life. I have come across an incident when an adolescent attempted to commit a suicide just because his father had scolded him in front of his friends.
The teen years are often the most difficult part of a child's life. No longer a child, yet definitely not an adult, a teen is stuck in the middle. Compound this with an uncertain sense of self (because the self is changing), the angst and embarrassment that often accompanies puberty, and adolescent crush. These changes lead to sudden mood swings, outbursts, defensiveness, defiance and withdrawal.

For sure, we would not like our children to go through the same pains and worries in their teens. How can we help them?

• Relax; you are through with your teens and so will your champ. Only taking care of your child would not be enough at this stage. You need to adapt a different way of parenting attitude.
• As you support your child with a friendly attitude, don't forget to keep an eye on their activities.
• Start preparing your child well in advance about the expected changes in their body. Educate them about the reason of these changes.
• Communication is very important in any relationship.
• Try to give them as much time as you can. Speak with them about your own experiences when you were in your teens. Try to find out about their friends, their likes and dislikes. You will be surprised to know the sudden change in taste they have developed.
• Understand the difference between interfering and helping. Do not make unsolicited and/or negative comments about the changes in your teen's dress or physical appearance. Avoid commenting on their dressing sense. Children at this stage often get confused about their looks. Help them to choose the right outfit.
• If you feel disconnected with your child, consult with a therapist about the best way to reach him.

Above all, encourage your child to explore themselves. Try to become an essential part of their life and see them flourishing.

I read somewhere that a child should be treated like a king till the age of five. A Child's personality is influenced by his/her background, environment, physical, mental, emotional, and social needs. Their personal experiences are what makes them unique and help to mould the person that they are going to become. Closely observing your child at home and at play can help you have a better understanding of who they are and what their needs are.

After going through many studies and with my personal experience, I have found that the most crucial stage of a child is from 3 to 5 years of age. This is the stage when toddlers notice and learn different things. The age of a child till five is very challenging for parents as well. If your kid has spoiled the most precious thing of yours, there is no point shouting at him as he will not understand and might repeat the same later also. Keep your patience as life takes different turns at different stages and we just have to tackle it with care.

Important measures:

• The most important thing we have to follow is to leave behind our irritation and anger and tender our child with love and affection. Yes, my dear, you are thinking right-you need to change your behaviour when dealing with your toddler. Your life partner might take your attitude and understand your irritation but your child will not.

• Consider this age as basic and whatever you teach them at this age will remain with them throughout.

• Parents should avoid arguing with each other when the child is around. It has been observed that the child whose parents did not have better understanding with each other tends to develop a different personality.

• Make eating fun to avoid "food jags" and pickiness by preparing food in fun shapes or with different dipping sauces (e.g. cheese spreads, yogurt, etc.)

• Involve your child in completing little task like keeping their toys at place or arranging plates at the dining table and never forget to praise them while doing so.

• Tell them stories which teach them good lessons and increase their faith in God. This will boost up their confidence.

• Asking "why" is a favourite activity for your child during this period. Your child wants to know what causes the events around him. Try to answer to all his questions and as far as possible tell them the true reasons for the questions they ask.

• Be generous in expressing your love for your children. Spend time with them, nurture them, and teach them. Doing so will bring happiness to them and to you.

• Understand the meaning of child abuse. Every child at every age carries their own dignity. Do not try to hurt that. Never hit a child or shout at them in front of anybody.

• Children at this age often get irritated and try to misbehave to gain your attention. You might not understand the reason as they are not able to tell you the same. You need to handle them with patience. Be attentive to maintain their feeding and sleeping time. This will avoid half of the problems.

This beautiful time will never come back friends! I am sure you must have gone through many sleepless nights or given up your jobs and enjoyments to take care of your child. At later part of your life you would really want this time to come back...So enjoy the time and cherish the beautiful memories.

Do you remember first day of your school? Crying and shouting! Now it's time of your child. Make it special and prepare your child for the school. This is the beginning of new juncture of your child's life when he will be out of your protective lap and will face the challenging world. Initially it's very difficult for children to adopt an entirely different world and they get puzzled. This is the reason it's very important that you prepare them mentally so that they can face the world with confidence without any doubt.

• Before the term starts visit the school along with your child. Many schools promote the same. This is the best way to make them familiar of the place before the real start. This will be a good visual reassurance for your child and will help you to discuss things about the classroom, grounds, lunch area with your child in advance and during school year.

• If possible meet the teacher of your child and get your little one introduce. Once your child got to see a known face, they are comfortable on their first day.

• Try to understand the rules and regulations of the school and prepare your child accordingly so they never commit any mistakes. Clarify all your doubts from school counselor.

• Before school your child's routine must be very relaxing, waking late sleeping late. At least before a month of their school make a routine according to the school timings. Like early to bed , early rise, breakfast in time, this will make them used to of this routine andwill help when he starts going school.

• Kids enjoy shopping, so shop for school dress, books, colorful pencil, bag and other interesting items along with your child. This will inculcate the understanding of school life in your child and will be prepared for the first day.

• Always remember children are very good at learning. Whatever you will teach in childhood they will adopt the same for the entire life. So right from the beginning teach your child to be organized. Keeping the uniform, shoes and books in place or you can even let your child participate in packing the lunch.

• Sit with your child and explain everything possible regarding the school. Tell about interesting facts that child will enjoy like making friends, playing games, painting with different colors etc. This will increase the willingness of your child towards going school.

• On the first day be supportive , give lots of hugs and kiss to make them feel that they are special however also be balanced and let them go and start their world all alone without the shade of your love and protection. This is how you can make your child strong to face this world from the very beginning.

• Tell your child that you will be waiting for them at the end of the day and will come to pick them from school.So be on time, don't keep your little one waiting.

I personally feel when your child start going to school, lots of changes takes place in your life as well. You miss your child whole day but after school your baby needs most of your time to share all his thoughts regarding his first day. Appreciate them for all their good work and enjoy the childhood all over again.

Children are just like raw clay, depends upon you how to shape them. It's very important to develop healthy eating habits in your child from the very beginning. Whatever they eat in their childhood, they develop the same taste bud for their entire life. Let's talk about some best methods to improve nutrition and encourage healthy eating habits:

• Family Meals: Try to have regular family meals. Kids enjoy eating with parents. Children having family meals are more likely to have fruits, vegetables, and grains. This is how you can stop them from eating unhealthy snacks. Also family meals help to introduce kids to new foods and to act as a role model for healthy eating. From your busy schedule take out some time for your family. It's worth it.

• Healthy food choice: Kids generally eat whatever is available at home. So have a control on supply lines. Always keep fruits and vegetables on hand and ready to eat. Other good snacks include low-fat yogurt, peanut butter and celery, or whole-grain crackers and cheese. Also serve lean meats and other good sources of protein, such as fish, eggs, beans, and nuts. Choose whole-grain breads and cereals so kids get more fibre. Avoid deep fried foods. Limit fast food and low-nutrient snacks, such as chips and candy. Make them once in a while so that kids don't feel depressed.

• Be a role model: Always remember, children are very good at imitating things especially when it comes to parents. So they will always follow your style of eating habit. This is the reason the best way for you to encourage healthy eating is to eat well yourself.Another way to be a good role model is to serve appropriate portions and not overeat. Talk about your feelings of fullness, especially with younger children. You might say, "This is delicious, but I'm full, so I'm going to stop eating."

• Let your child decide: It's very important that your child realizes when he is hungry and when full. Try to schedule some fixed time for meal and snacks. When you want to show love, give kids a hug, some of your time, or praise. Don't use food to show love.

• Involve your kids: Ask them what they would like to have for dinner. Much better give them some options of healthy food and let them decide. This will inculcate the decision making power as well they will take interest in the meal as that was their decision. In the kitchen, select age-appropriate tasks so kids can play a part without getting injured. Make sure to praise your little chef.

A little extra effort and care and you will see your child growing healthy.

Source: Womensday

Are you also worried about the cold and cough your child is suffering from? Coughing is a very common symptom in children and usually accompanies an infection with the common cold virus. Cough can be of many types, whooping cough, dry cough, chesty cough, cough with vomiting or barky cough. However you need to understand the cause of your child's cough in order provide appropriate help and treatment.

How to understand the type of cough:

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Fulfilling the role of Mom while holding down a job is really tough but trust me it's not impossible. Little planning and family cooperation can balance your personal and professional life. Fortunately, the prevailing winds are beginning to change, and women are finding they can balance work and family.

Tips to balance your home and job: Mostly we thing kids are dependent on us but this not completely true. They are because we make them so. As a working mom you need to make your child independent. Teach them the basic routine things like cleaning up their rooms, getting ready for school and going alone to the bathroom etc. Trust me, your child will learn these small things very soon and this will make them independent in life which is really very good for their bright future.

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Raising a child is the most gratifying as well toughest job. It's the duty of responsible parents to create the awareness of all social issues among children. There are lots of complex matters all around that are difficult for children to understand and for adults to explain. Educating children about sex, HIV/AIDS is very important so that they don't get any erroneous information from wrong sources. Also look through our other AIDS article.

Here are some tips on how to start the discussion:

• Discuss peer pressure, and encourage your child to use his or her own judgment when making critical decisions. Even if you don't agree with your child don't pass any judgment
• Provide them with educational material or web sites where they can learn in private. Then discuss their experiences later.

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Hi-5 is a famous children's pop music group as well as a TV show that is popular mainly among children between the ages 2 to 8. Through music, movements and laughter Hi 5 offers a world of learning. Hi-5 an Australian children's television program, was first shown on the Nine Network in 1999. Child-development experts work with writers on every script and song. Each show is built around a simple theme like colors, music, animals, or numbers. This musical band was formed in 1998 which is associated with the children's television series of the same name.

Television producer Helena Harris, creator of Bananas in Pajamas, created "Hi-5" in 1998 when her two children outgrew Bananas. Along with her co-producer Posie Graeme-Evans she decided to create new show focusing at 2-8 year-olds, including educational trends as fun and games, and would feature music and movement to attract children's attention.

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Motherhood is a wonderful feeling that make every women complete. In the midst of hustles and bustles of life often a women forget to experience this beautiful feeling. Even kids are so busy with their school and friends that they miss to express the love to their mother. Mother's day is the way to celebrate your motherhood as a mother and for children this is an opportunity to say "Thanks Mom for all your love". But, it does not have to be Mother's Day for you to do this, I say it should be mother's day everyday and this is how!

• Start your day with a nice shower and intensive moisturizing session. We buy lots of scented lotion but never use them due to lack of time. Now this is the time use them and feel the difference. When you look good, you feel good. I know you have some lying around, so go and get ti and use it.

In the era of Internet, television and video games, it's really difficult to convince kids do exercise. Nowadays children have so many fun and interesting things to do indoors, that they are hardly ready to go out and workout. Exercise is extremely important as a child grows into an adult. The less exercise your child experiences, the less likely they will exercise when they get older. By following some tips you can motivate your children and get them moving!

• You need to set the rules in advance. Make a deal with them: for every half hour they surf the web or watch TV, they have to do half an hour of something physical. Physical doesn't have to be exercise per se. Your child can add physical activity throughout the day in a number of ways.

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