Sep 26, 2022

How to Help Your Kids be More Independent

 Four children wearing rubber boots.



As we all know, raising children is challenging sometimes. But watching your children grow and leave the nest is even more difficult. However, you know that it will happen one day, and it’s better to have your child prepared for the world. As a result, you should help your kids be more independent as they grow. Kids don’t understand notions like punctuality or responsibility unless a parent teaches them. Therefore, it’s your job to ensure they enter the adult world having the information they need to become better people and make a good life for themselves. Furthermore, you won’t be there to solve their problems forever. So the sooner you teach them how to be more independent, the better it will be for them. 



Here are some tips on how you can inspire children to be more independent, one step at a time.



Give your kids responsibilities.



Your kid should be capable of performing age-appropriate home chores. For instance, they could clean the floors, wash the dishes, or fold the laundry. Also, depending on how reliable and attentive they are, you can give them more appropriate tasks. Preparing breakfast, walking the dog, or taking care of some plants can make them feel more responsible. Even young children can assist in setting the table and cleaning their rooms. Chores give a sense of responsibility to children and can increase their self-esteem as they observe how their efforts benefit their families. Furthermore, one task they do is one less job for you. As a result, you can also benefit from letting your kids work around the house for a change.



Mother and daughter working together in the kitchen.
You need to allow your kids to help around the house since they are small. It will help your kids be more independent, and it can also be fun.



Stop making your kids dependent.


It all starts with you offering to help your child get dressed, pour their water, or finish their homework. Then, even though your youngster is supposed to perform simple tasks alone, you continue to help. Soon enough, they either expect you to help them unconditionally or don't feel they can do it themselves. Yes. To a significant extent, helping our children is part of our work. We’re supposed to assist toddlers in brushing their teeth and get them to their beds when tired. Later, we're supposed to impose curfews on teenagers still learning to make reasonable choices. However, doing for children what they can do for themselves daily makes them more dependent on us. As a result, help your kids be more independent by teaching them how to do things on their own.



Involve kids in decision-making.


Kids will learn that their actions have repercussions only by trial and error. Therefore, use daily opportunities to let them make decisions that involve them or the whole family. Let them choose what to wear, what you will have for dinner, or what instrument they will learn to play. If you see they are responsible enough, you can even let them decorate their room or take part in preparing for moving day. They can help you clear the closets, pack the boxes and clean the rooms. You may also ask them to help plan some fun games for the journey to your new home. This is a good way of keeping kids entertained during a move and involving them in the decision-making.



Child wearing a Halloween costume and trick-or-treating
Allow your children to choose their own costumes for trick-or-treating this Halloween.


Let your kids make mistakes.


Allowing children to make errors may seem odd at first, but it will teach them how to succeed in life. When they make a mistake, let them know it's okay and help them figure out how to do better the next time. For instance, let them leave home without an umbrella on a rainy day. Or, let them learn that they will fail tests if they study just one day before. As difficult as it may seem to watch your child suffer, that will teach them an important lesson. Every problem is solvable if you know what to expect and understand that mistakes are not failures. We all need to make mistakes to learn how to improve in the future.



Let your kids care for each other.



Taking care of younger siblings is an excellent approach to teaching youngsters responsibility and maturity. Just look around for a babysitter. It will most likely be a teenager that has learned to be responsible, trustworthy, and compassionate by caring for their younger siblings. You can do the same with your older children by letting them care for their younger brothers and sisters. 



Of course, you will always be around the corner checking that everything is going smoothly. However, you can let your ten-year-old take care of a six-seven-year-old while you run to the market for ten minutes. Just make sure to leave the kids in a room where they are safe from any harm. For instance, you can take the advice of experts from Helix Transfer & Storage and remove some bulky furniture from the room your kids spend time in. That way, you will prevent unwanted accidents if your kids start pulling or climbing on the furnishings. You can keep the pieces in a storage unit until your children are old enough to be safe around them.



Little boy and girl walking in nature.
Siblings should take care of each other since they are young.



Let your kids socialize outside the house.



That task is especially difficult for parents because they should allow children to go on play dates and sleepovers. However, this will teach kids to be comfortable outside their comfort zone and learn how to interact with others. It's also a great time to have talks about safety, relationships with others, alternative parenting approaches, and other topics. Furthermore, it shows your kids you trust them to behave when you are not around. And if they avoid playing on their phones or watching inappropriate movies when they are not at home with you, you did a great job. It means you encouraged and inspired them to be responsible and independent, which is the best reward you can get. 



Independence is the best gift for your kids.



Allowing your children to do things for themselves does not suggest that you are a lazy or unsupportive parent. It shows that you care. And as you , how to behave, or how to take care of themselves, you also need to help your kids be more independent. It is a lesson that will guide them through life and help them overcome all obstacles. And they will have you to thank for it!



Images used:



https://unsplash.com/photos/iDCtsz-INHI


https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-woman-and-child-baking-4149023/


https://www.pexels.com/photo/little-child-in-halloween-costume-having-fun-in-garden-5859550/


https://unsplash.com/photos/DIZBFTl7c-A



Sep 13, 2022

A Less Painful Way of Treating Ingrown Toenails

As a child, I often had painful, ingrown toenails.


The corners of my big toenails were often red and inflamed, and wearing shoes put unbearable pressure on the tender skin. It was hard to have any fun, or to play with other children as I was in so much pain.



Packing cotton wool underneath the nail was a popular, if uncomfortable, home remedy of the time, but despite this, my nails remained stubbornly ingrown.


Image:trevorlanepodiatry.com.au/podiatrist-ingrown-toenail/


The solution was to have minor toenail surgery. 



A groove was cut at the side of the nail (the sulcus), then the nail bed was scraped.  The wound was then stitched and dressed in bandages. It was extremely painful and took ages to heal, which was no fun when I wanted to walk, run and play with my friends!



While it did work – as I’ve never had a problem with ingrown toenails since - I would not wish that surgery on my worst enemy!



Thankfully, today there is a much better way of treating ingrown toenails.



How To Fix Ingrown Toenails Permanently



When my daughter developed a chronic problem with one of her toenails, I took her to a podiatrist (or chiropodist as it is known in some countries) – a health practitioner trained to take care of your lower limbs, ankles, feet and toes.



The podiatrist told us about a minor procedure known as Partial Nail Avulsion (PNA), which involves cauterising the nail with phenol. 



It takes less than an hour, and unlike my traumatic experience, there is no cutting and no stitches required.



This means that not only is it a lot less painful, but recovery time is also much shorter - so my daughter was back to playing hopscotch in no time!



After a partial nail avulsion, it’s quite rare for the toenail to become ingrown again and so far, my daughter hasn’t had any problems.



I just wanted to share the good news about this treatment, as I was just so delighted to learn that it was no longer the horrible process that I endured as a child!


Sep 2, 2022

6 Ways to Motivate Your Kids to Help with Chores


Two kids in red shoes standing near a fence
We will teach you some fun and productive ways to motivate your kids to help with chores 



As any parent will tell you, parenting is the best and most challenging job in the world. There is so much a parent has to do to raise their child well and prepare them for the real world tomorrow. Taking care of your kids is a bit simpler when they are babies and toddlers. You need to feed them, bathe them, play with them, and love them. That’s it. But when kids get a little older and more capable, you have to teach them some important life qualities and skills. One of the most important things to do is to teach your children about responsibility early on. The best way to do that is through house chores. But the problem is kids are not huge fans of housework, and it’s hard to get them to do it. But thankfully, there are some exciting ways to motivate your kids to help with chores, and we will tell you all about them in this article.



A mother and daughter lying on the bed, talking
It’s essential to explain to your kids why they have to do chores 



Explain why it is crucial to help out with chores



It has been proven that communicating with your kids is one of the keys to good parenting. Just telling them, they have to do something without explaining why is not a very good or productive approach. Kids are more likely to listen and behave when you talk nicely and explain why you ask them to do something. Tell your kids they are getting older, which means they must learn about responsibility. Also, this is their home, and the whole family has to work on it and keep it clean and organized. If you approach it this way, kids will feel like they are doing something useful for their home and family and will be more motivated and efficient.



Make them feel included



Tedious everyday house chores are rarely fun for the kids, but there are some exceptions. For example, moving into a new home. Moving can be incredibly stressful for kids. They are leaving their old home, maybe even their friends. So they are not very excited about their new house. But there is a way to change that. Make them feel included in the process. You can promise your kids you will let them decorate their new bedroom if they help out on moving day. Keeping home clean while moving is very important, so use that. Give them a task, for example, to keep the dust away. Prepare a little dusting kit for them and show them what to do. This is one of the guaranteed ways to motivate your kids to help with chores. They will look forward to their new home and bedroom and also do their chores. Two flies with one stone.



Woman giving money to a child. One of the best ways to motivate your kids to help with chores is through allowance.
Kids’ allowance should be connected to how well they do their chores 

 


One of the best ways to motivate your kids to help with chores is through allowance



Yes, one of the best ways to motivate an adult to do something also works for kids - money. If your kids are of that age where you are starting to give them an allowance, you should utilize that. Their allowance should be connected to their chores. They will get their allowance if they do their tasks well and on time. If they slack off, are lazy, or refuse to do their chores, they will get less or no money. On the other hand, if they do their tasks efficiently and enthusiastically, you can raise their allowance a little bit. That’s a great motivational tool.



Stop cleaning their room



Don’t make a scene if your kids are not listening and refuse to clean their rooms or do other house chores. Don’t yell and punish them. It rarely has a good effect. Stop cleaning their bedroom. It would be best if you stopped doing their work for them. Don’t pick up toys after them, and don’t make their bed. After a while, toys and clothes will pile up, and the room will look like a mess. The thing is, your kids are used to having clean and tidy rooms. They are used to you doing that for them. And when the room is messy enough, and they notice that you won’t clean it, they will have no choice but to clean it themselves. It’s better when they decide to do it on their own and not you forcing them.



Reward system



It’s important that you show appreciation to your kids. So a reward system can be very helpful when trying to motivate your kids to help with chores. Give your kids tasks for the whole month. And tell them that if they are good and do everything right that month, they are going to be rewarded. That reward shouldn’t be something too big and expensive. Just something to keep them motivated and happy. You can let them watch tv for a little longer or stay up late a little bit more.



A notebook with the word Today written in it
Being prepared and organized is key



Be organized



Young kids need stability and a schedule in most areas of their life. That needs to be applied to their weekly chores as well. Make a fun chart with all the family members’ names and their duties for that week. For example, you can make your kids help you with decluttering and storing one of the rooms in the house that week. You can do it together. Decide what to keep in the house and what to store. Then you can take a trip to a storage unit and make it a fun experience. In this case, experts from Best Movers in Florida can be helpful with finding the perfect storage for you. Making a weekly plan has been proven to be the most productive way of doing housework.



Final thoughts



These were fun and productive ways to motivate your kids to help with chores. Chances are your kids will listen to you if you just nicely explain that they need to help with housework a little bit. That should always be your first approach. If that doesn’t work, you can try giving them an allowance, including them in the moving process, or any of the other ways we listed here.



Images used:


https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-children-standing-near-concrete-fence-35188/


https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-woman-and-girl-talking-while-lying-on-bed-4473774/


https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-giving-10-dollars-to-a-girl-4968392/


https://www.pexels.com/photo/notebook-1226398



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