7 Things Working Moms Can Do With Their Kids

By Erin A. Kurt

The one thing working moms have in common is that they're busy ladies with a lot on their plate. The second thing they have in common is that they feel guilty a lot of the time. One of the main sources of that guilt comes from the feeling that they don't have time to spend quality moments with their children; "life is just a race" moms tell me.

A very important thing for working mothers to understand is that it doesn't take much to satisfy their child's need for attention, and if just a few things are put into place, they can be guaranteed that they are giving their child all they need to.

What are those things?

Well, we all know that children need focused attention in order to feel loved. And, if they feel this focused attention on a regular basis, they are better behaved and happier kids to be around. The point then is to create moments of focused attention.

1.              Create a ritual. The definition of a ritual is: a series of actions regularly and invariably followed    by someone. With this in mind try to think of what small ritual you can create with your children that can happen everyday, without fail. Perhaps each morning you and your children light a candle (or turn on battery operated ones) at the breakfast table and you share your intention for the day. Perhaps you do and say certain things each night at bedtime. Whatever it is, keep it simple; the more simple, the more impact it has.

Here are seven ways working moms can give their child focused attention when they have little time to give:

2.              Schedule one-on-one time. Working moms need to be organized. Carry this organization through to spending one-on-one time with each of your children once a month. Brainstorm activities you and your child would like to do together then once a month pull one of those ideas and schedule it on your calendar. It doesn't have to be long; 30-60 minutes is all it will take. (Children who I surveyed told me this!)

3.              Plan a theme night. This is one of my favourite things to do. Choose a country and plan a family evening around the theme of this country. For example, if you choose Japan, your family can brainstorm costumes, music, dishes to cook, movies to watch, etc. Plan these theme nights every 4-6 months and just watch the bonding that occurs!

4.              Make reading together YOUR thing. What could you do to make reading a special event between you and your children? Could youread a chapter book out loud each night for 15-20 mins after dinner? Could you cuddle in bed each night and read them a story? Could you make up a story each night or save this for Sunday night?

5.              Bake on the weekend. Get a great cookbook (choose it together) and bake one thing each weekend from the book. Think, "Julie and Julia", the movie with Meryl Streep. How exciting would it be to bake through a cookbook (baking book) and experiment together?

6.              Make grocery shopping YOUR thing. Create a tradition that after the weekly grocery shop you all go for a hot chocolate or special drink.

7.              Go to the Library. Create a special tradition around the Library.How about Friday after the school pick being your time to go hang out at the library and collect books? Or, does your library have weekend reading, rhyme or story times? Be sure that your kids choose their books first so that they have something to look at as they respectfully give you time to browse.

As you can see, all of my ideas are based around keeping things slow, simple and meaningful. You don't have to have all the time in the world to spend with your kids, it's just about making the time you DO have, count.

Erin Kurt, B.Ed, spent 16 years as a teacher and nanny around the world. Now, she applies her expertise as a parenting expert and author of Juggling Family Life and The Life Balance Formula. 
You can learn more about Erin and her simple, loving parenting method, and subscribe to her weekly parenting tips e-zine at erinparenting.com. You'll also receive Erin's free video series "8 Secrets to Stress-Free Parenting", packed with parentings tips!

10 Ways To Build Your Child's Confidence

by Teresa, The CuteKid™ Staff 
A confident child is sure of his/her abilities, recognizing and accepting both his/her strengths and weaknesses. We all want our children to be confident. But for many children confidence does not come naturally. Confidence must be nutured even for the child who seems confident all ready. Read on for 10 ways to build your child's confidence.

1. Say you are proud Tell your child when they have accomplished something  and you are proud of them. Tell others about your child's accomplishments and positive qualities. Let your child overhear you praising them to others. I often tell others, in front of my son, what a great reader he is and how well he does at math. He thinks he's the best at math in his first grade class. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. The point is that he thinks he is good and that gives him the confidence he needs to keep trying and learn new things. 2. Give responsibility Giving your child jobs to do around the house helps them feel valuable. It also teaches them adult skills. Assign your child chores that they must accomplish everyday. As they complete their chores they will acquire a feeling of self-worth and confidence in their abilities. Have your child help you with the dishes. Even my two-year-old puts her plate in the sink after she is finished eating. My four-year-old loves to help me fold laundry. My six-year-old has to make his bed and keep his room clean. All of my children help me clean up toys. My children also love to help dad wash the cars. 3. Don't label One of the worst things a parent can do is to label their child. Yet it is so easy to do. I found myself often saying in a teasing tone that my youngest child was a "stinker" or "little monster." I realized my labeling was impacting not my daughter but my son when I heard him telling his sister that she was a "monster." As parents we need to be careful that we give our child positive labels that reflect inner personality traits. Sometimes parents focus on the physical traits of a child. Either saying that they are beautiful or a certain trait is ugly, like having big feet or a nose that is too large. Focusing on our child's physical characteristics whether good or bad teaches them that looks are what matter. 4. Encourage talents Write down all of the things that your child is good at. Then choose one thing that your child wants to pursue. It could be as simple as taking your child to the library each week because they like to and are good at reading. Or you could enroll your child in sports, child dance class, drama, art, or music class. The goal is to provide a positive experience for your child and allow them to excel at something. 5. Listen Let your child know they are important by really listening to them. Get down on eye level and give them your complete attention. If your child feels that you are not listening they will stop talking. They will feel that their opinions and feelings are not valued. And if a child feels that their own parent won't listen to them then they will believe that no one else will want to listen either. 6. Establish routines When you have set routines and a home that is predictable your child will feel more secure. Your child will be less likely to be afraid to venture out into the world when they know they can come home to a secure and loving environment. Having established routines helps your child understand what is expected of them and reach those expectations thus increasing their confidence. 7. Address your child by name Calling your child by name shows that you value them and that you feel that they are important enough to address by name. Using your child's name gives them a label that they can wear proudly. When my son was younger he would go up to people and proudly say, "I'm Tyler." He knew who he was. Children who are confident will address others by their name more frequently. They are unafraid to address others by name and will be better able to ask for help. 8. Play with your child Parents playing with children helps build their self-confidence because it shows them their parents enjoy being with them. Children learn through play and one of the many things they can learn is confidence. Play is a great time to role-play and praise your child. Playing with your child and allowing them to dictate the play gives them a feeling of importance and accomplishment. My girls love to play dolls or have a tea party with mommy and my son likes to pretend to go camping and play board games. 9. Set rules and consequences Children need to have set rules and consequences. This helps them feel valued and secure. A child who is required to follow rules will realize that their parents love them enough to set and enforce rules. Interestingly enough one study found that few teenagers wished their parents had established fewer rules, but many teenagers wished there parents had given more rules. 10. Be a positive mirror How your child perceives herself is based largely upon how you perceive your child. Do you reflect negative or positive images? Does you child know that her opinions matter to you? Does he think that you enjoy being with him? Providing positive reflections of your child helps him feel good about himself. It is also important to help your child realize that you value them because of who they are not just how they perform.

Sit-Down Games

Buy yourself some couch time with these easy games

By Melody Warnick 

You need a breather after chasing your child for hours -- but what if she's still raring to go? Buy yourself some couch time with these easy games:

Follow the leader. No marching required! Just have your child imitate upper-body movements, like clapping hands or waving arms. When she gets the hang of it, have her mimic a series of claps, waves, knee slaps, shoulder shrugs, and head nods.

Scavenger hunt. Draw pictures of household objects, like a cup, a hairbrush, and a pillow, then time your kid as she searches for the real things.

Sound off. Do your best impression of an animal ("Woof!") and ask your toddler to guess what you are. Once she gets it right, let her copy your sound, then move on to another animal.

Ball game. Sit on opposite ends of the sofa, then roll a ball between you, naming a new color each time one of you gets the ball. Let your kid chase after it if it falls.

Stick together. Draw a shape on a sticky note and have your child attach it to something that has that shape, like a plate for a circle or a book for a rectangle.

Sock it to me. Hold open an empty laundry bag while your child tries to score baskets using rolled-up socks. Gradually change the size of the bag's opening from large to small to keep the game interesting.

Don't wake the giant. Pretend to sleep while letting your toddler try to steal your blanket without "waking" you. Shift around and snore to build suspense, then roll over with a roar and tickle her silly. The only challenge? Not actually falling asleep.

Pregnancy, child behavior and beyond

So this week has been a tough time for me. On Sunday, at 6:30 am I went outside because I realized that we forgot to take the cans off the sprinkler heads of our rainbirds. We have already had to replace three this summer due to the dog trying to bite at them and the kids kicking balls and driving cars into the. So when we are outside playing we cover them with coffee cans. So I went outside while the sprinkler was running, because it is on a timer, I took the can off and tried to run away from the sprinkler the ground was so wet and slippery that I fell foward onto my pregnant stomach and slid forward like being on a slip and slide. I'm sure anybody who was watching probably could have got a good laugh. It hurt pretty bad and I went inside to realize that my husband who works nights was to tired to even care and I tried to lay down but then my three year old woke up and was ready for breakfast and to start his day. So my belly was achy and I did not feel the baby move for a while. My doctor the next day said everything was fine. The heart beat was fine and the baby was moving the whole time I was there.

My two children ages 6 and 3 have been fighting non stop and driving me absolutely crazy. My oldest, she has been so angry and emotional this week. She gets so frusterated and automatically hurts her brother, herself or breaks something. My three year old does not help much because he likes to egg her on and irritate her more. He thinks it is funny. So then I'm stressed out because they are fighting. Sibling Rivalary what to do.

This week for family day we went to a Zoo in Folsom. It is a animal recovery zoo. So they get animals that have been injured and help them out. My sons favorites where the tigers and bears.

We also went for a little train ride while we were there and played at the park for awhile. We came home and BBQ'd hamburgers, corn and salad. It was a wonderful day.

I am in the process of trying to get an internet marketing business running from home so I can stay at home after the baby is born and get my husband to hopefully switch his shift to days so we can have more time as a family. He works six nights a week as soon as I get home from work. Plus we have alot of bills to pay for, especially hospital bills and more to come.

If any of you are successful online with a marketing business please give me some tips. I would so appreciate it.