Potty Training Reloaded

children, children learning, parenting 101, potty training,
Jared’s blue potty

I bought the little man a little blue potty last year with plans of potty training him soon. He was showing keen interest on the toilet bowl and I reckon he is big enough to tackle this. our first few tries were quite impressive. I simply told him to ask mum for the potty whenever he wants to poop and off he did! His very first foray into potty training was real success. Our next few attempts were also successful and I thought we’re heading straight to diaper freedom. But it seemed like the novelty of his new potty wore off and after a few weeks we were back to soiling his diaper again.

This year, though, he started showing interest on the potty again. Of course, I made sure to put it in a spot in the bathroom where he can easily see it and be reminded of it. We might have missed on  a couple of occasions but I think my little man has mastered the art of pooping in his potty down pat! He now automatically asks for it whenever he feels like going.

Teaching him to pee in the potty may seem like a different story, though. He’s probably too accustomed to peeing in his diapers that he is having a hard time adjusting to the new method. I’d experiment on getting rid of the disposable diapers during daytime and used cloth diaper inserts instead, or dress him in one of his Cars underwear, reminding him to ask for his potty when he feels like peeing. The results were disastrous at best. Instead of telling me he’d go to the potty to pee, he’d tell me he is wet when he’s already peed on his underwear. I’d end up with a mound of peed-on underwear, not to mention the bed and the sofa, too! And don’t forget the mess on the floor!

I guess Jared still needs to get the hang of peeing on his potty and I do hope he learns it soon. He will soon outgrow his current diaper brand, which is the biggest size available, and I do not want to start trying another brand. I’d also want to give his skin a rest from all the diapering. Hopefully we learn this soon enough.

Any tips on potty training your tots?

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Practical Ways to Help Your Kids Learn More about Nature

children learning, spending quality time with your children, parenting 101, tips + tricks

One of the best things you can do for your child during their formative years is to get them out into the great outdoors. Often it’s hard enough to pry them from their games consoles, let alone convince them to run around outside, but with these practical approaches, you can get your kids closer to nature:

Go Hiking

Even from a young age, you can take your child out for small hikes or walks in the forest. Maintain this as an unshaking tradition, even when they grow up and start calling your treks “boring.” When you can’t motivate them to put on their walking boots, create incentives such as a nice lunch out or a small ice cream.

Get Enthusiastic About Nature

If you’re enthusiastic about nature, it’ll rub off on your kids. Don’t lecture them on wildlife or the outdoors, but share your wonder at the world. A great way to do this at home is to cultivate a garden. By growing your own vegetables and flowers, your child will learn about the importance of plants. They’ll also get excited when they grow their very fist pumpkin or bean.

Create your own compost pile and emphasise the importance of taking care of the environment. Encourage your kids to muck in where possible and give them their own patch to look after. Create soups and stews from vegetables your kids grow for a delicious reward!

If you’re not green-fingered already, it’s a great time to learn, and gardening can provide exceptional exercise. Tuck a small person’s gardening set into your child’s stocking this Christmas and start making your back yard wildlife friendly. By planting flowers, you’ll be supporting the dwindling bee population and setting up a bird feeder will encourage feathered friends to appear in your garden.

Encourage Animal Care

Your child will start to show a liking for certain animals, so encourage this with cuddly toys. Buy them books to read about their favourite creature and organise trips to see them in their natural habitat; whether that’s through holidays abroad, zoos, or aquariums. These educational tripscan really get your children interacting with animals; especially if there is a petting area.

You can even “adopt” a wild animal, establishing a personal connection between your child and their favourite creature. You’ll also be supporting conservation through zoos like Knowsley, which are working to make sure some beautiful species are still around for your grandchildren to enjoy.

Get your children a pet to look after. Not only will this promote a love of animals, but it will get the kids outside when the pet needs a walk. Dogs are ideal for outdoor activity, as they need lots of exercise.

Camp Out

Your back garden is a free campsite. When the days are warm, encourage your children to spend a few nights in a tent in the garden. Make this more special by setting up a small campfire or barbeque in the evening and toast some marshmallows. For a real camping experience, forgo the kitchen and cook breakfast on a small stove.

This guest post has been written and contributed by Zoe, a travel blogger from the UK. She is currently writing on behalf of https://www.knowsleysafariexperience.co.uk.

image is from www.freedigitalphotos.net

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Mentoring Minds: An Effective Tool to Raise Critical Thinkers

online resources for mums, reviews, site review

It ought to be one of goals to raise critical thinkers who will be part of solutions in the future, instead of the problem. Children who will be forerunners of change and growth when it is their time ~ luminaries and trailblaizers. Critical thinking, after all, plays a signifacant role in one’s success may that be in school, at work, or in life in general. Raising our children to be such is no easy feat, in fact, we needed all the help we can get. With the dawn of technology and the birth of gadgets, short attention span and people’s tendencies for instant gratification,  this task will actually be no walk in the park.

It was a good thing, that because of the very same technology, materials and tools to propagate critical thinking among young children is also at the tip of fingers. With MentoringMinds.com, we gain access to valuable tools and instructions on how we can raise our children to be forward thinkers  with one click of a button.  Get guidelines on bullying prevention, behavior strategies or on ADD/ADHD. The Mentoring Minds team developed that yield real results in real classrooms, by utilizing decades of academical experience. These proves beneficial to both teachers in the classroom and for parents who educate their children at home. Choose from a wide array of products for Reading and Math and get the help you need in raising your children and your students to be critical thinkers.

To know more about their products, request a catalog now. You can even choose between a Texas K-12 Fall 2012 Catalog and National K-12 Fall 2012 Catalog.

image from mentoringminds.com

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