Just the beginning

Hello there! I am attempting to use Blogger as a way to capture my own thoughts and preserve wonderful family and parenting memories. Thus I will not be writing for an audience. However, if you happen upon my blog and have any tips or positive comments to share, please do so! I have decided to call myself the INSPIRED parent. I don't really read parenting books other than the terrific MY GREAT IDEA book from FamilyFun Magazine, or "11 Plus without the Fuss" which is realted to my sons future in the British Educational System (since I am American and have no clue about the system here in the UK). I am inspired a bit by the SUPERNANNY tv show (although Jo's techniques do seem uniform in application) and The Strictes Parents in the World tv show, my Sister-in-laws approach to parenting when her kids were little, and, mostly by Michael Landon in his role as pa on Little House on the Prairie. My approach has been to decide what skills or behavior I want my son to learn, taking into account a future perspective of what he will be required to know by his teenage or adult years, and adapt. Then, since all children really are our little social experiments, I try out different approaches to gauge their effectiveness and cultivate the reaction I most desire from my son. Digressing, I'd like to rant. Our children are born into a world where we parents are mostly clueless on what our newborns and the first 3 months of their existance, will be like. Just think of how much more prepared moms would be if the schools focused on teaching parenting tips and techniques and not birth control, sex HOW TO's and STD's. One thing I want to share thoughts on, jumping forward, are tips that have worked for my son Justin. What I have learned so far, randomly. 1) Your baby will learn to crawl BACKWARDS before they learn to crawl forwards. Why isn't this common knowledge? 2) Follow on Milk is VERY SWEET- taste it! Is this the taste you want your child to be turning to for primary or a major source of nutrition or vitamin d? Give them regular milk after 1! 3) Time outs will likely not be appropriate until between age 2-3, and should be used as a way to calm the child down - because otherwise before age 5, the child will simply come to expect time outs as an expected part of their daily behavior. Also, for time outs, use them sparingly and when giving a time out, leave the child with the timer on your phone, counting down to an alarm when the time out has finished. That way the child learns about the passing of time, learns how to count down, the numbers moving passifies the child, and is comforted by knowing that he is done at 0. Also, my own twist to time outs are to set an amount of time appropriate to the crime or misbehavior and not related to the age. Drawing on the sofa = 10 minute timeout or more whereas throwing something undesirable on the floor might be 2 minutes. This way, I am hoping that my son learns that some behavior is definitely more undesirable than other behavior just as sentences and penalties in real life differ. Thing for example how much you might pay for a parking ticket vs. penalties for filing taxes late. It is best to learn that consequences differ early on. My son Justin is now almost 3 (he will be 3 in 1 month and 2 weeks, and I have learned much from him already! I must end todays blog with bits I will chat about next- namely- my insight on diapers, toys that I have purchased and will therefore be reviewing, and thoughts on playdates, making mom friends, and unspoken social behavior of new moms. Later!