Please Explain “Anxiety” to Me! is co-written by the Feelings Doctor aka psychologist Dr.Laurie Zelinger who herself had gone through an anxiety phase when she was a kid. The book explains anxiety to the reader by using the characters of dinosaurs and then moves on to compare them to human reactions. The story, written in an easy to understand and simple language will benefit young children who are trying to have a better grasp of the biological reasons behind anxiety. I like that the author actually pointed out that anxiety is not ALL BAD. It’s when there is too much anxiety that causes some upsetting responses.

As a parent, I learned something new in the book too! Did you know that we have a “sympathetic nervous system” ? It’s like a switch in our body which gets turned on when we feel that we are in danger. This “switch” is NOT supposed to be on all the time. To counter this reaction, the authors have recommended some simple activities to relax the mind and body such as breathing more slowly, blowing a giant soap bubble, doing jumping jacks, playing jump rope or even daydreaming something fun. You can find four fun rhymes at the end of the book which will help children remember these therapeutic techniques.

I like that Please Explain “Anxiety” To Me! covers the “why” and “how to” of anxiety in a kid friendly manner. Knowing what causes anxiety in children is not enough as it is equally important that the child suffering from it, understands this as well. Just as important is the fact that as parents, we know HOW TO teach our children to deal with anxiety.  There is also a special page on “Notes To Parents” which I find pretty informative.

Overall, Please Explain “Anxiety” To Me! is a good book with beautiful and colourful illustrations which will serve as a useful tool for parents to help TURN OFF the anxiety switch of children who are suffering from it. You can get your copy from Amazon.

Disclosure : I received the above book courtesy of Parent Reviewers to facilitate my review. I was not compensated for this post and all  opinions expressed are 100% my own.

In the past few decades attacks on women and girls have escalated to an alarming number. Attacks in parking lots, deserted roads, at school and even at home have become almost the norm. Prosecuting assailants is also very difficult due to a lack of evidence or the victim being intimidated so much that she withdraws her charges.

It is therefore essential that women – and specifically girls – learn how to protect themselves. There are a myriad of ways that girls can prevent attacks but, more importantly, there are many things they can do when an attack is inevitable.

Learning self defence has a number of advantages. The first advantage is that it teaches the girl how to defend herself when under attack. It teaches her the skill to remain as calm as possible and think about what her options are and how to maximise any advantages that she may have. Being able to protect yourself, also leads to a higher sense of confidence in one’s own abilities which, in turn, leads to higher self esteem. The most important aspect of self defence is that the girl can leave an attack virtually unharmed.

When a girl knows how to handle herself in threatening situations, her parents can also feel more relaxed about her health and safety when she goes out for a party, on a date or late-night work. Self defence knowledge will take a lot of stress out of these situations and she can still enjoy life – safely.

Older parents can be as devastating as Hurricane Katrina. They are physically demanding, emotionally draining and psychologically dangerous. As much as we love our parents (or grandparents for that matter), there comes a time when roles switch and you need to become the carer.

In this situation you may find that your parent is becoming contentious, stubborn, difficult to communicate with, etc. When my mother started showing these signs, I knew immediately that I would need help. A good friend recommended “Coping with Your Difficult Older Parent: A Guide for Stressed out Children” and I gratefully bought it. The book showed me techniques to use, had little role-plays to help me prepare for the various situations that we might find ourselves in. It helps with specific words and phrases that you should and should not use, as well as helping identify the triggers to stress which cause arguments and frustration.

I’ve started using the book in a practical fashion and some changes are already evident. Just keep in mind that you have to take baby steps and have a lot of patience. Do not expect overnight changes.  Keeping those points in mind,  this book is a great guide and a must-have for all stressed out children taking care of their parents.

Social networking has become an important part of everyday life to many adults. It has also won popularity with children of all ages. Although Facebook restricts sign up to 13 years or older, they cannot police the site, nor can they check the kids legal ages. This opens the door for many potential problems.

Parents have expressed concern over who their kids ‘friend’ with on their Facebook page. If the parents aren’t ‘friends’ themselves there is no way of determining whether a ‘friend’ is appropriate or not. It is also very difficult to monitor the conversations that the kids are having with their ‘friends’.

Many parents like me are concerned about our children being targeted by unsavoury characters such as paedophiles and their lives being endangered by having encounters with such personalities. It has happened that children arrange secret meetings with people – so that the parents can’t interfere – and end up kidnapped, molested or worse. It is therefore not a safe practice to allow your kids uncensored access to sites like Facebook.

If you, as a parent, don’t feel happy about your kid’s participation in Facebook, talk to them and prevent further involvement with the site. Alternative insist that Facebook is only accessed with parental supervision. That way you can monitor who your child is associating with and what they are talking about. Also restrict the amount of time that they can spend on Facebook.

Social networking has its advantages for adults, but needs to be strictly monitored for children.

It’s your child’s birthday and the ritual of receiving gifts and presents is an exciting moment. The atmosphere, friendships, laughter, the cake, the ‘blowing out of candles’ and birthday songs are all fundamental ingredients of the simplest Birthday party. Whilst inwardly glowing at your child’s happiness on the day, it is also important to teach them about the necessities of ‘giving’ after ‘receiving’ a plethora of presents. As the birthday guests begin to leave, one little gesture goes a long way ~ a party bag! Light up the little mites’ faces as they say “Goodbye” after such an amazing day! A party bag is the perfect gift to illustrate the importance of the words ‘thank you’. As a parent, you should teach your child the reasons behind these customs. Explain why it is polite and courteous to send ‘thank you’ cards and other reciprocal gifts of ‘thanks’. You will be paving strong foundations towards your child’s future development. You will be instilling manners at an early age. These manners will go a long way during your child’s upbringing. They will serve your child through time and time again; through their troublesome adolescence and into adulthood. It could help them flower into a well grounded personality. You, yourselves will feel pride for your child’s achievements and their natural kindness; their apparent innate ability to be sensitive enough to understand and respect other people’s feelings – where warranted of course!

In the days leading up to your child’s birthday, invite them to assist with the preparation for their special day. Kids love to be useful and love to help. Take advantage of this innocent aspect – it keeps them out of trouble, trust me! This is one way that you can give your full undivided attention to your child whilst dealing with the domestic duties.

Let them help you prepare the food for THEIR Birthday! Pass on a sense of wonderment and achievement. Get them excited about the ’surprise’ Birthday cake. Let them be creative and write (or scribble) the names on invitation cards. Let them have ownership of THEIR birthday.

Explain to them that it is their special day. You don’t have to go into any deep metaphysical conversation as to why, keep it simple and explain that because iof the time of year, they will be receiving presents from their friends, and that because they will be receiving presents it is very polite to ‘give’ something back in return.
If the child asks “why?” – try and give them an example of a situation – one which could have been a prior experience – or perhaps a hypothetical role play scenario would be more appropriate? Play out a scene – paint the picture of an innocent misunderstanding whereby your child was not included in a given situation. Help them understand and reason how that situation would make them feel. Stress how important it is to be thankful for THEIR friends / guests arrival, to make them feel welcome, happy and appreciative and that sometimes, the best way to show this is with a physical gift. Explain to your child that the simplest gift like these party bag toys can be a perfect gesture for this. Let them reflect about how excited they were when they went to their friend’s party and received a surprise ‘party bag’. Get your child thinking generously…ask them “What do you think your friends would like?”.

Involve them in making the decisions as to what toys and sweets fill these party bags. Your toddler quite possibly has no concept of the value of money. They could ask for something totally impractical for their friends’ party bags. Perhaps they suggested a “space ship for Harry” or a “talking Lightening McQueen for everyone!” – some suggestions might surprise the parent, but this is pure innocence and should warrant a light hearted response. With the right guidance and direction from the parent, your child will soon be contributing a wealth of affordable ideas such as sweets, stickers, marbles, whistles and balloons etc. Let them contribute and put time and effort into the party bag. Take them to the shop. Let them choose penny sweets. If you have a really hectic lifestyle and work life then order pre-filled party bags online! Just make sure that when they arrive you let your child individualise these with name tags or by some other form of involvement. Maybe ask them to choose a really unique cheap toy to add to each individual’s party bag. Let them think about their friends ‘likes’ and dislikes’ Doing this can only help your child understand the personal needs of others. They will be thinking about their friends ‘likes’ (and as we are innately quite selfish beings – their own!) This could help your child associate with others in more depth and build more foundation to existing friendships. Let them discover and understand who they are associating with. Let them uncover the boundaries and various forms of etiquette that differ so vastly from person to person.

• ISBN-10: 0810979772
• ISBN-13: 978-0810979772

Greg Heffley, star of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has always wished he could race to the finishing line and get the awkward adolescence stage over and done with. He tries to get into things older boys do to get there faster – dealing with girls, bigger responsibilities, looking sharp among other big-boy things to do and be. He’s doing this without best friend Rowley so he’s for the most part alone.

I am certainly no boy but being a mom, I sure could appreciate how lessons and messages are sent to growing boys. The book is a valuable guide especially to boys who are growing up without their fathers or other positive male father figure in their lives. It’s also a great way for dads to get to talking about those topics that are sensitive or tough for growing boys to talk about.

It comes in form of a diary, so boys can pour out and sort out their feelings in this journal, an idea that boys previously balked at as writing in a diary is mostly a girly thing to do. The kids are asked questions like their likes and dislikes, their secrets, getting into and out of trouble and other aspects of growing up. There are ruled and plain spaces for them to write on. There are also full color comics of the characters for them to collect.

It’s recommended for kids aged 9 to 12. My son is already 11 and this book has definitely earned his two thumbs up.  You can get your copy at Amazon.

As far as mazes go, here’s one that my kids are finding a-mazing (pardon the pun): the Perplexus Maze Game. The only trouble I have with it is getting them to fold it away and go to bed. This is a maze game that has the players maneuvering a small marble around a series of barriers that are quite challenging. The sphere is transparent so the players enjoy a three dimensional view over the whole maze and barriers. One has to find their way through by twisting, flipping and shifting the transparent sphere to maneuver the marble past the barriers.

Apart from giving the kids hours of fun, I like the Perplexus Maze Game because it improves their motor skills and their hand-eye coordination. It also improves their thinking skills as they have to think about the best way to get out of the maze and into the clear or final destination. It is recommended for children aged 6 and above who can understand that they need to negotiate their way round the turns and bends rather than simply go over the barriers.

I also like the fact that no cleaning up is necessary and I don’t have to keep getting new batteries. Truth be told, am often at it after they have gone off to bed, determined to beat that maze in the shortest time possible.

WISHING EVERYONE A JOYOUS CHRISTMAS

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011