# Help with young children



## tjohnson (Mar 10, 2010)

We found that advise we got from a book called "baby wisper" to be increadible and credit our partenting up till now on some level to what we learned there and in magazines. Overall our kids 3,4 and 5 are well behaved asside from a little freshness at times. I recognize alot of work lies ahead. We have benefited tremdously from advise from other parents. Some of which we have followed and other advise not depending on content/source. 

We allow allot of freedom at times but, expect alot. We have already had our children help with cleaing their rooms, set the table etc (nothing to much). They take great pride in this and think that when they are young if they learn to accept responsibilties as children as something that is part of life that they will not resent it like they may if they are not introduced to responsibitlity till later in life (PS i did not think of this i heard it from someone else and it made total sense. I think in the long run this will benefit them. I have seen what the alternative does and we want to go the other way on this. 

Above all i want my kids to be healthy, responsible, social and successful because ultimately without these 3 things they will likely not be happy long-term which is my ultimate goal for them both. 

I would like to hear what you think was some of the smart things you did retrospectively when they were 5-10 that you considered important. if you have read/wrote on other threads please let me know so you don't have to re-write them. 

thanks in advance


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## swedish (Mar 6, 2008)

Great idea for a thread & nice parenting ideas as well!

I think from 5-10 I tried to get them interested in various activities and supported them in trying new things. 

I also started a tradition with them on Thanksgiving where we would go to the store together and buy a cartload of non-perishable food and donate it, to reinforce the idea of giving.

We also eat dinner together (although not always now that they are teens) which is a good time to talk about their day. Even my shy son will start up a conversation if there's something on his mind. Open dailogue is so important when they are young because they trust thier parents' opinions and feel more at ease coming to me now that they are older and the issues are more serious. Although I am not naiive enough to believe they tell me everything, they know they have a safe place to talk if they need it.


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## tjohnson (Mar 10, 2010)

Good suggestions. 

We are trying to keep them as engaged in activities as much as possible where time permits. 

Keeping honest/or at the very least open. I can see being a challange. I am trying to stay a couple steps aheard. I read parenting magazine but, alot of that seems to be geared towards babies. Not sure if there are good sources that others have found.


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## Sadara (Jul 27, 2010)

We are making sure we do activities with the kids. At 5 and 6 our kids are old enough to get involved like they couldn't before. We have plenty of family outings that the kids enjoy as well. We are really teaching them to be active and social.

We also make a point to eat dinner at the table regularly. We don't do it every day, but most days. We talk and chatter with each other. By doing this we are teaching them to have conversation and that dinner time with the family is important.

We have a nightly routine with our kids that includes homework time. As kids my husband and I didn't get much help with our homework. It was always up to us without assistance to get it done. Both of our kids have special needs so we make a point to sit down and do homework with them and help them whenever they need it. We check their work as well. We also study with them, which is different than just doing a homework assignment. We study math, sight words, reading, etc. But, we take time to also be their academic teachers, not just their parents.

We are starting to teach our kids about money, they earn pennies for various things. When they earn enough money, they can buy something from the treasure box. Or thy can save it. But, we are just in the beginning stages of this. Unlike my parents did with me, when my kids are old enough I want to teach them how to balance a check book, create a budget, invest money and in general how to handle money. I was never taught that and have had to learn the hard way. I wanted to start young with this topic and we are starting slow with this one.


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