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Are you experiencing aggressive behavior in your 3-year-old? Is your 3-year-old calling all the shots? Do you feel exhausted and just don’t know what else to do? If your answer is yes, and I bet it is… As you continue reading this article, you will learn how to end the power struggles, the aggressiveness and gain back control over your child behavior.

Majority of children are not able recognize their own strength or even the full consequences of their actions; and in a world where they are often being told what to do, where to go and how to behave, it does not seem all that unreasonable that they may sometimes need to speak out and be heard.

-As you may already know, controlling feelings and emotions is a learned skill and can be very difficult to master in some adults, let alone children. For whatever reason your 3 yr old throw the outburst, one thing to always keep in mind is to not interact with power and anger of any sort or you will end up with a child that is very defensive and will fight whatever you ask him not to do.

-The good news is there are better ways to deal with this kind of aggressiveness that can create a win-win situation for both of you using proper child management methods. Nagging or punishing children for acting aggressively can make it more likely that they will act that way in the future. Imagine, if you will, a 3 yr old quietly piecing a puzzle together or even playing a video game. She/he has almost completed the puzzle/game but cannot get the final pieces/play to come together.

-Throughout this quiet half an hour the parent has been around but has said absolutely nothing. Nothing, that is until the child becomes obviously frustrated and throws the puzzle/game across the room and begins screaming or swearing loudly. At this point the parent intervenes by reprimanding the child and sending him/her to their room. You know where I am going with this right?

-It would appear that the parent has done everything appropriate in this situation, except for the fact that the only attention this child received during the time period was negative. If this is commonly the case, the child may begin to feel that any attention is better than no attention and as a result may continue to act out disruptively in daily activities.

-When dealing with aggressive children, it is worth the effort to praise even the smallest attempt at proper behavior, while paying very little if any attention to negative conduct. Praise can be a very strong motivator.

Research shows that aggressive and angry children are very likely to grow up as problematic teenagers and adults. And trust me; no parents would want that for their children. Let me show you how you can control your 3-year-old aggressive behavior by following 3 simple proven methods at http://www.goodparentingreviews.com.

Childhood and adolescence is a time of continual learning and development. Parents are filled with pride at each milestone, from the first smile to walking across the stage receiving the high school diploma. Much laughter, tears and joy have brought the child to adulthood. Part of a parent’s job during these years is to protect their children from being hurt.

You teach them when to cross the street, not to talk to strangers, when to study and what to eat. This is a natural part of parenthood. There comes a time when you have to release your children and let them strengthen their wings and do things on their own. When you don’t do this, your good intention of protecting your child is harmful.
?br>Too much protection is often seen when parents rescue their children from the discomfort, and sometimes severe consequences, of their behavior. A common example is when your child doesn’t begin the homework assignment in a timely fashion. To prevent a bad grade, you step in. After all, you don’t want a bad grade to jeopardize their future. Instead of history or science, the child has learned s/he doesn’t need to do what is required because someone else will bail her out. The result, the individual has little or no concept of the inner resources needed to live life. The supposed protective action can cause deep harm, and lead to more severe consequences in adulthood.

There are times the rescuing is beyond homework. This could involve lying, cheating, hurting someone. When the parent does everything possible to prevent their child from suffering consequences of their actions, the lesson of irresponsibility is reinforced. The result is the child, soon to be an adult, does not learn the lessons of maturity and life will be more difficult than it need be.
?br>As a parent, you need to stand your ground and set clear boundaries about what is expected from your child. This teaches lessons far beyond math and social studies. This teaches them how to manage life.

Cathy Chapman, Ph.D., LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker assisting people achieve their dreams of health, wealth and abundance through Mind-Body Psychology. She works from a spiritual and energetic model employing BodyTalk and Psych-K to balance the body and change beliefs. Go to => http://www.OdysseyToWholeness.com <= and click on Special Reports to download a special report on the mind-body connection and the immune system.

Reverse Phone Look Ups are a simple and very inexpensive way to find out who your teenager or other kids are speaking to over the phone. It is your job as a parent to protect them no matter the cost.

I recently knew of a family whose 13 year old girl was brutally beaten by an older, high school dropout boy. The parents never met the boy but they knew that their little girl was always talking to him on the phone.

When the parents would ask who she was talking to, she always said it was nobody. Typical teenager I guess. There were so many days when their 13 year old girl would get off the phone crying and other times furious. Her parents never knew how to get through to her and never found out who the boy was until it was too late.

It turns out, the boy that beat her was a troubled teen and already in trouble with the law. Had this girls parents known that she was talking to this troublesome gangster, I’m sure they would have taken steps to prevent the beating from happening.

A simple reverse number lookup online would have done the trick. Its easy, fast and the information that you can get by doing a reverse cell phone number search is undoubtedly invaluable especially in situations like this.

You can even find people using a people finders service online but a simple reverse lookup will do the trick.

Don’t let your teen shut you out. Sometimes as a parent you have to be proactive and take preventative measurements to protect your child. Know who they are involved with at all times!

See the #1 Reverse Look Up guide online.

Appearance becomes critical in adolescence, and for many, new development may be imagined worse than it really is.

Adolescents are extremely self-conscious and sensitive to changes in their appearance. They worry about the changes they notice in their bodies, so it is crucial for parents to talk to teens about normal physical development, so that they know what to expect.

Your adolescent’s body grows at different rates. At times, his or her arms, legs, nose, or chin may seem to be out of proportion with the rest of their body. Also, he or she may be acutely aware (or unaware) of the development of body odor and the need for frequent bathing.

Some teens imagine that the whole world focuses on these changes and may spend hours in front of the mirror. A sudden breakout of acne might be very distressing for them. Other body changes may even be scary. For example, a boy who has gynecomastia (transient enlarged breasts due to puberty) may be alarmed that he is developing breasts like a girl, or may fear cancer. A girl who has not been prepared for menstruation may believe that her first period is due to internal injury or serious illness. Talk with your teen about body changes so that he/she is prepared for them when they arrive.

Remember that your adolescent is also aware of the changes they see in his/her friends and may compare themselves to others. Not everyone grows at the same rate, nor do they enter puberty at the same time. This may affect the overall well-being of your adolescent. For instance, some boys who develop later than others tend to have poorer self-image, and lower educational goals than boys who progress through puberty earlier. Conversely, some girls who develop early tend to have poorer self-image than girls who develop later.

Make sure to praise and reassure your teen to prevent low self-esteem. To help your adolescent develop a healthy self-image, do not be critical. Provide helpful insight to support your teen and resolve problems.

Dr. Hillary is a pediatric nurse practitioner with a doctoral degree in health promotion and risk reduction. She works as a pediatric clinician and writes for Plugged in Parents. Plugged In Parents provides up-to-date info on pediatric health, safety and nutrition along with movie reviews, recipes, tech-savvy tips, and a parent’s only forum. You can also contact Dr. Hillary for personal questions related to health and nutrition.

Please visit http://www.pluggedinparents.com

As the generations rolled by, gone are the days of a stringent parent-children relationship. Well my mum always recalled how much she feared her dad and the methods her father would use to discipline the kids. It’s a fact, times have changed. Methods used in the past are virtually non-effective in this era. As people will lament on the gap and communication barrier between parents and child, below are perhaps some of the ways to take the bonding to another level.

1.Play Boardgames or Computer games together. All kids love games, you name it, they love it! Doing an activity together with them will enhance the relationship level, especially if it involves something which the child enjoy doing.

2.Casual conversation. It definitely pays to constantly communicate to the child often. One of my friends shared with me that she knew more about her child by asking her what is her dream profession and the attributes she would like to possess. She will never have known these information had she not taken the initiative to ask her daughter.

3.Bring the child to new places. Children are curious by nature, and it helps in their mental development to expose them to places which they have not been to. When I was young, my parents brought me to various parks, different hawker centres and shopping malls. In fact many of my current favourite places are those which I’ve gone to often in my childhood days.

4.Rewarding. In a competitive society like Singapore, it’s no surprise that we are results driven and orientated especially when it comes to academics. Kids often feel the pressure to do well, and when the standards are met, the child will want some form of recognition. It can be in the form of a compliment, an ice-cream treat or a choose-what-you-want at the toystore. One thing is for sure, kids want the appreciation and recognition. I would touch on the extent of rewarding in another separate post.

In summary, the four steps are just one of a wide array of methods to forge a more close-knitted parent-child relationship. Remember, it’s never too late. Have you done your part for your child? (: Enjoy the video clip below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vufjgrPaELM

Justine Lee contributes to articles as part of the committee of a parenting website founded in Singapore. She writes for http://www.mylittlesunshine.sg on a regular basis and likes to share her parenting experiences with other online readers. She is happily married to her husband Jason and have a boy who is eight years old.

Is it difficult to educate young children? Apparently not, because I’ve seen wonderful children every where.

Someone I know very well, Akang, has two teenage children. He often visits remote villages in the mountainous area of Sukabumi (west Java- Indonesia), his home town. His mission is to distribute charity money that he has collected from a list of his close friends in his office. One day, he decided to adopt a 6 year old girl from one of the villages. The girl is very happy to be able to live with him and never wants to get back to the mountain.

One day, the girl told Akang that she wanted to go to a restaurant, a place she’d never found in the mountain. It’s also one of the places where Akang visits once in a blue moon in his modest life. So Akang took the girl to eat out at a street food hawker. She enjoyed the food, took a time to look around and asked a question :” Is this really a restaurant?”. Akang answered: “Yes”.

My son, Aqmal, was also such a wonderful boy during his pre-school years (I didn’t send him to kindergarten). I remembered him as an independent young boy as he always managed to find something to keep himself busy.

At about the age of two, little Aqmal was crazy about toy cars and no wonder every one around him would give him a piece or two pieces of car miniatures. That’s why he had a huge collection of them. He also liked to collect pictures of car accessories. I helped him cut pictures from magazines and pasted them over his ‘cars’. There was also a time when he loved watching the film “Dare Devil” so much. He watched it over and over again and would ask me to draw the characters he saw in the film. At the age of four, he turned into computer games. It even made my trouble-free life with him a lot easier. There were other activities that we did together: visiting interesting places in town, reading books, counting, writing, etc.

Aqmal entered a primary school at exactly the age of six. My husband and I found a new and promising school not very far from our house. The lady who run a psychology test on Aqmal wrote down on the test report (I read it a few days later) that Aqmal looked as neat as an adult. On that same day, as the test was still being performed on other children, the school director spotted Aqmal and gave a remark to the father that he could be certain Aqmal was a smart boy by looking into Aqmal’s eyes. Then, surprisingly, he sent Aqmal together with the father to the enrollment room and gave an order to enlist Aqmal as their new student right away.

The school director also has a wonderful daughter. The two of them travel a long distance between home and school. The school is in Tebet (Jakarta) and their house is in Sentul area, about 50km away. The only vechicle they have is a motorbike. Every morning, the young girl sits behind her father, hugs his waist from behind and doesn’t stop reciting the content of Quran that she has memorized all the way to school!

The author was a working mother for years before she decided to stay home and to focus caring for her family with three children beside writing a real life parenting blog (http://www.parents-children.blogspot.com)

So your child wants a circus themed birthday party? Or maybe that’s the theme you picked for your daughter or son. For whatever reason you are reading this, be assured that you are in the right place. This article contains ideas for hosting the perfect circus birthday party.

Invitations

Follow these steps to hand out birthday party invitations that you can be proud of:

1.Buy a pre-made birthday announcement card from your local card shop (many grocery stores have a card section as well) or print one off of your computer. The invitation should include answers to the questions Who? What? Where? and Why?.

2.Now buy a roll of tickets that say something like “Admit One” on them. Tape one of these tickets to the inside of the birthday announcement card.

3.When a child comes to the birthday location on the day of the party, ask for his or her ticket, just like what is done at a real circus.

Entertainment

Party Games:

Try changing popular birthday games to fit the circus theme. Pin the tail on the donkey could become pin the nose on the clown, musical chairs could be played to circus music, and so on and so forth. Alternatively you could set up carnival booths (made from cardboard boxes or using your own idea), each booth having a different carnival game, which kids could play to win prizes. Every child could win a prize, and that would be their guest favor.

Have the kids at the birthday party do “circus stunts”, which could be anything from diving through hula hoops to attempting to juggle. Two other ideas for this are handstands and walking on a rope that is laid across the ground (tightrope walking).

Other Entertainment:

•Hire a professional clown, keeping in mind that many small children are afraid of clowns. Can’t find a clown? Check out http://www.ClownsForHire.com, a large database of professional clowns that you can search by location.

•Buy some long and skinny balloons for balloon twisting and try to teach party guests how to make balloon animals (you get easily get some books on this subject).

Decoration

Decoration sets the whole mood for the birthday party. So, when you’re decorating your house for you child’s birthday party, keep in mind that it’s the circus you are trying to imitate. This means that there should be balloons, banners, and streamers everywhere. You could use masking tape or rope to make a circus ring on your floor, and if you are really ambitious, you could even set up a huge circus tent (made from tarps) outside or even in your house. Lastly, don’t forget to play some circus music.

Food

•Serve common carnival foods like corn dogs, popcorn, and cotton candy.

•As a healthier choice, let guests snack on “circus monkey treats”, or in other words, sliced bananas.

•You could bake a cake or buy one. If you choose to bake your own, a good recipe for the occasion can be found at:

[http://www.kraftfoods.com/recipes/CakesPiesCheesecakes/CakesOther/BirthdayClownCake.html]

•If not, it won’t be very difficult for you to find a cake with a clown on it.

Guest Favors/Goodie Bags

Goodie bags are a great way of thanking guests for coming to celebrating your daughter or son’s birthday. In my opinion, no party is complete without them. If you are planning on using the prizes from your carnival games, you should give away things that you would win at a carnival. These are things like stuffed animals, blow up hammers, and other dollar store type items. However, if you’re not going to have carnival games at your party, put whatever you want in the goodie bags; it really doesn’t matter. Just don’t forget to give each child a balloon on his or her way out.

Whether you use just one of these ideas or all of them, I hope this article gave you some ideas to make your child’s birthday the best birthday ever. Good luck!

Quinn Spicker is the webmaster of http://www.Circus-Street.com, an online community for circus artists and their fans…

I wanted to write about something wonderful that my 14 year old son did for me yesterday. He bought me a bunch of flowers. Big deal you say. Well, actually for me it was enormous. You see, I am a divorced person with four children, three of them boys.

Did the boys ever see my ex husband buy me flowers? Possibly a few times but it was definitely not the norm. Did the kids see their dad treating me with respect? Not always. In my opinion the boys saw a pretty crazy interaction between husband and wife. And yet, three and a half years down the track, my 14 year old son voluntarily spends his own money buying his mother a beautiful bunch of yellow tulips.

It nearly bought me to tears. Not the fact that I received a present, but the fact that obviously something has been sinking in about the way that women need to be treated. The boys have a younger sister and I am very careful to let them know that women need to be treated with dignity and respect. Whenever the boys treat their sister in a rough way or rudely I let them know that it is NOT OK. I ask them to apologize and they do.

I also talk to my boys often about the need to treat their mother as they would want to treat a future girl friend. I think I saw a glimpse of that yesterday with the flowers that Kieren so lovingly picked out for me. They are absolutely gorgeous. Needless to say I made a huge fuss over him and told him how they made me feel.

I asked him why he bought them for me and he said that he thinks I am special and I deserve them. How sweet is that? I have no doubt that when Kieren gets a girl friend he will know how to treat her, as he is practicing on his mother and I think that is great.

It will become second nature for him and it will be so easy when he does get a girl friend. He makes me feel so proud. But more than anything he feels proud of himself which is even better.

So, that’s my story. Even though my kids might not have had the best role models prior to my divorce (now I am meaning both parties here), it is possible to turn things around by consistent hard work and lots of encouragement. I have a champion in the family and he knows it. On ya, Kieren. Keep up the good work. Love ya!

Kim Patrick is a single mum with four children who lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. She is author of the book, “Get Your Child To Behave In 30 Days Or Less.” For more information on how to get your child to behave, you can go to http://www.mychildcanbehave.com/main.html

We as parents are working very hard to earn good money to provide all the needs of our children. We make a lot of sacrifices including our health and sometimes the time to be with them. With this, we must teach our children to value money not only to save but also to prepare them when they are old enough to work. The earlier you teach them, the better. So when your child starts to understand what money is for, here are very useful tips on how to teach them to manage money properly:

Let him know your work. If your child sees you look tired from work, you can tell him that it is because you have to earn money for his needs. If you do this frequently, he will somehow be aware that earning money is never a joke. By explaining to him how a simple business works and grows, he will be able to conclude that money is very important to his everyday life. In addition, you are also making him feel that you are doing all your best to give his needs.

Teach him to how to budget. If your child is about 11 years old and above, you can start training him to handle his own money by giving his allowance on a weekly basis instead of daily. Let him control himself from buying unnecessary things even if he has money on his pocket. If he does so, do not give him extra money and let him suffer the consequences of his action. By doing this, you are also teaching him to be strong from temptation.

Require him to work for it. Yes, you read it right. Require your child to work so that she can feel how hard money is being earned. Teach your child about simple household activities like washing the dishes and give her money. But you must be careful in doing so because she might always demand for money before doing something. You should be clear in explaining that she is under training and the money for her salary and not a reward.

Show the negative effect. Let your child watch the news about poverty and the economy. He should understand how fortunate he is to enjoy living without working. Make him realize the good effect of handling money properly by showing to him actual street children and homeless families struggling hard to survive. These images will stick to his mind and he will be reminded that someday that he can be joining them if he will be wasting money.

Do not waste your money. Of course, you cannot teach your child to save money if you are wasting it. Explain to him carefully whenever you buy something that does not look valuable to him like jewelries and other accessories, and that can also be an investment. Although you have the right to enjoy the result of your hard work, you should show your child the difference between proper spending and overspending.

Although money is not the only source of happiness, it is still necessary for our children to understand its value and how to manage it.

I am a Filipino engineer who found himself more comfortable in writing letters instead of numbers, and interacting with humans rather than machines. For more tips about child care, health, growth and development, safety, education and all about effective parenting, please feel free to visit Effective Parenting Tips at http://www.whatparentsshouldrealize.blogspot.com.

Give your children the greatest treasure they’ll ever have, the gift of a “Can-Do Attitude.”

Be your child’s Number One Fan

A child who has at least one responsible parent truly in her corner is more likely to do well in school and have successful and fulfilling relationships.

Teach your child to have “True” Self-Esteem

Telling a child how special, wonderful or awesome they are without earning that praise can cause a child to have “False” self-esteem. He may start to believe the world owes him a living and become depressed when he gets out into the world and doesn’t know how to cope effectively.

“True” self-esteem comes from within and can never be taken away. Instead of being protected from failure, a child needs to learn how to bounce back from it. By teaching your child how to work at a goal and achieve it, she finds out she “Can Do It” through her own efforts. That gives her the confidence she can handle anything that comes her way. She is not dependent on others’ opinion because she has the most important person’s approval – her own.

Learn the dramatic difference “intelligence” beliefs can make on your child’s life

Which do you think is true? A) Your intelligence is fixed at birth, or, B) You can become smarter through your own efforts?

The answer may be one of the most important you will ever learn when raising a “Can Do Kid”

Children who are taught intelligence is fixed at birth tend to develop a “Helpless” mindset. They shy away from challenges that might make them look not smart, which limits their achievement and satisfaction in life.

Children, who learn intelligence grows with effort and knowledge, often develop a “Mastery” oriented mindset. They see challenges as opportunities to “Grow Smarter” which stimulates them to overcome hurdles and achieve what they want.

Give praise that motivates your child to excel

Judgmental praise can cause your child to become anxious, afraid of losing your approval, or even a “praise junkie.”

Taking time to give “Can Do Recognition”, where you describe what happened and the positive impact of those actions, teaches your child that her strategies and efforts are what make the difference. That knowledge motivates her to keep going until she reaches her goals.

Find out how to give criticism your child will welcome

Criticism often alienates a child, causing her to shut you out.

“Can Do Feedback” is more likely to have your child embrace your ideas:

a. Listen while your child explains the reasoning for her actions

b. Rephrase it back to her so she knows you understand

c. Give your suggestion for how it might be done differently

d. Explain the benefits of your ideas

Discover the dangers of the reward trap

Give your child a $5.00 reward for getting an A or a pizza for reading a certain number of books and they’ll likely do what you ask, but only as long as the rewards keep coming or you are around to enforce the rules.

When children enjoy what they are learning, the reward becomes the learning itself.

You can teach your child this by taking an active interest in hearing about what your child had learned. Talk about the relevance of what she is learning. Feel free to celebrate your little one’s new knowledge, just keep the focus on what has been learned and less attention on the reward.

Help your child learn the steps to solving any problem

Being an effective problem solver is one of life’s greatest skills.

By making good problem solving a part of your children’s skills, you will help increase their confidence, self-esteem, and wise decision making. They will also get along better with friends and do better in school.

Also, did you know that one type of praise can produce self-defeating behavior and anxiety, while another can move your kids to positive action? Changing a few words can make a night and day difference in your child’s life.

If you like to get started learning how to give praise that motivates positive action while building self-esteem and confidence in your child please download my FREE Report on “The Amazing Impact of Effective Praise” at: http://www.basiclifeskillsforchildren.com/amazingpraise