Following are a few tips to keep in mind while you babyproof the house: <ol><li>Keep the bathrooms locked at all times.</li><li>Lock and hasp on doors in rooms and bathrooms should be shifted up (at the height of an adult’s head).</li><li>Keep the cribs at the lowest height because as children advance developmentally, they tend to launch themselves out of the crib.</li><li>Change the positions of electrical boards, keep them high so that they are out of a child’s reach.</li><li>Check the sharp corners and cover them with soft rubber. Stick rubber cover at the corners of kitchen tables, beds, dining tables and TV units.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>If you are living in a double storied house, fix a small door on the staircase. This will ensure the baby doesn't crawl and climb up.</li><li>If the child is using a walker make sure there is no bump or slope on the floor.</li><li>Keep the heavy objects, sharp objects, glass objects and such hazardous objects out of reach of the child.</li><li>Keep the use of rugs at a minimum as children tend to slip because of them. If you do use rugs, put non-slip pads beneath them.</li><li>Unplug all electrical appliances when not in use.</li><li>Put all the sharp objects of the kitchen in cupboards.</li><li>Remove table cloths if any.</li><li>Install safety guards on windows and doors.</li><li>Make sure there's no water spilt anywhere in the house.</li><li>Do not paint or renovate the house immediately after the baby arrives home. The chemicals are harmful to the baby. Wait a few years and then make the required changes.</li></ol>

Children are curious by nature and they will explore everything you have in the house. So it's better to keep a check on all the things you have in the house before the baby arrives.

How to baby proof your house: 15 baby proofing tips 

Children are curious by nature and they will explore everything you have in the house. So it's better to keep a check on all the things you have in the house before the baby arrives.

15 Tips to baby proof your house

Are we exhibiting what we want our kids to be? Call it a harsh reality but children rarely learn from what we preach, they learn from our actions. Take this for an example, an anonymous user on the internet confessed that her child would hit her younger sibling while playing. Her explanation in defence was, “We are playing ‘mommy”. We all aspire to become perfect parents for our kids because we want to inculcate values in them that would make them better human beings. But the larger and the more significant question is do we exhibit that kind of discipline in our behaviour? We expect our children to use modern-day gadgets judiciously but do we supervise our use of these products? We want our kids to watch their words and actions when angry but do we manage our anger appropriately? We want our kids to show decorum and discipline with their daily routine but are we exhibiting ourselves as an example to do the same? Dr Haim Ginott, a renowned child psychologist, pointed out, “Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.” If we give the child an environment of hostility he is more likely to learn to fight. An environment of ridicule and shame can lead to the child resulting being shy and guilty. But similarly, if the child had always lived with tolerance, he learns to become more patient. If he has always received praise, he learns the virtue of appreciation. What is important during the child’s growing years is that we model the kind of behaviour we expect our children to be. It is impossible to not be stressed or angry under circumstances. But when the parents manage their stress and anger appropriately, the message is loud and clear to the kids that it is normal to feel negative at times but it is only the positive attitude towards solving these problems that reap good results. Parents should ‘speak’ and ‘do’ what they expect out of their children. Saying statements like. “I love all kinds of food”, “I love playing outdoors”, “Let’s clean up the mess together”, “Let’s help little brother/sister with eating the food”. These kinds of statements bring about assurance in the kids and before indulging in the wrong they are forced to do what think what they have been taught. The brains of children are like sponges. They absorb everything without discriminating information into right or wrong. Let's set ourselves as better examples for our children. Let's exhibit what we want our children to be.

Are we exhibiting what we want our kids to be? Call it a harsh reality but children rarely learn from what we preach, they learn from our actions.

Children See Children Learn - The pillar of parenting

Being a positive role model for your child can help instil the right attitude and habits from an early age for your child to nurture a healthy lifestyle.

Children See Children Learn ~The pillar of parenting

Before guiding your child towards the spiritual path, accept it in your life first. Children can feel when parents fake something. So it is important to be completely true to what you believe in before nurturing your child’s spiritual side. Developing spirituality is a lifelong journey towards self-discovery. What is spirituality?The dictionary defines it as being concerned about the human soul and spirit as opposed to physical and material things. It does not matter in which religion you believe. It is important to believe in the energy that is greater than us. Spirituality is developing life values like gratitude, compassion, sharing, acceptance, faith, etc. Being spiritual is respecting life, respecting the rights of others, and appreciating the environment. For example, teaching ‘sharing’ to children is important; be it sharing their toys with other children or sharing their time and energy with elderly people. It is important to let our children know how these actions make other people feel good. Not to mention when we help others, we are truly helping ourselves. Spiritual kids are happier and healthier and have a better sense of values and morals.Spiritual well being leads to fewer chances of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Spiritual well being also leads to emotional well being in children. There is no particular age when you can start instilling spirituality in your children. You can teach your babies and toddlers too. At this age, they might not understand it mentally but they will feel the energies, vibrations, and love and will know that this is a state of being. Here are a few ways to nurture your child spiritually:<ol><li>Set an intention:&nbsp;First thing in the morning have everyone in your family set their intention for the day. Have your children state their intention, for example, their intention for the day could be something like: I intend to be mindful in school today, or I intend to have a happy day.&nbsp;At the end of the day, ask them if their day turned out as they intended it to. If not, ask them where it went off track and what they could have done differently.</li><li>Gratitude journal: Make it a habit that everyone in the family writes down at least one thing they are grateful for every day in the evening. It can be anything from being happy for being alive to thanking another family member for something they have done for them. Alternatively, if you as a family eat dinner together, have everyone at the dinner table state what they are grateful for.</li><li>Guided visualisation: Children are visual learners so guided visualisations or meditations work great. Guided visualisations can create healthily, thought-provoking images to transform negativity into positive affirmations. Guided visualisations provide relief from stress and anxiety, decrease panic attacks, boost self-esteem, and provides opportunities for children to connect with themselves on deeper levels. Guided visualisations are best to use before bed so as to calm your baby down and put them in the space to have good dreams.</li><li>Martial Arts:&nbsp;As odd as this sounds, martial arts actually emphasises self-control, respect, and compassion. Apart from teaching self-control and discipline, martial arts boosts self-esteem and confidence, it provides a tool to channel anger. It is also a great exercise</li><li>Yoga:&nbsp;Yoga brings about inner peace, is a good way to increase children’s awareness of their own bodies, aids their sense of balance. It also reduces stress and lowers anxiety levels in children.</li><li>Arts and Crafts:&nbsp;Arts and crafts provide children with the opportunity of being creative and use their imagination. Hence, art and craft is great way to explore spirituality. Art also helps children in expressing their deepest feelings for which they don’t have the words to say out loud. Children tell the truth through their art.</li><li>Explore nature: Exploring nature helps in self-discovery. You can teach several aspects of life using the elements of nature. For example, you can teach your children about transformation by talking about butterflies; teach them about the interconnectedness of life by talking about ecosystems while hiking in the forest; teach them about conservation by picking up trash wherever you are; take them for stargazing. There are endless ways to teach children about the universe and its place in it through the exploration of nature.</li><li>Community Service: Volunteering for a community service project can provide children with a broader understanding of how they fit in the world. It helps them develop compassion and empathy for others and find gratitude that their own circumstances are different from others.</li><li>Encourage your child to share his or her dreams with you: By showing a genuine interest in your child’s dreams, the child will learn to value them. Encouragement to share will build their self-confidence and in turn create an optimistic and cheerful approach to life. By encouraging a child to share aspirations we are ultimately supporting them in believing and achieving them.</li><li>Listen to your child with full attention and concentration: When children try to communicate but aren’t heard and honoured, they try to guard their feelings over time and keep to themselves most of the time. Take time out to sit and listen to your child’s joys, achievements, frustrations, and dreams.</li></ol>

Children can feel when parents fake something. So it is important to be completely true to what you believe in before nurturing your child’s spiritual side. 

Nurturing your child's Spirituality

Spirituality keeps one grounded and helps an individual live an emotionally and mentally content life.

Nurturing your childs Spirituality

Are there any psychological effects on children watching cartoons on TV or mobile?Cartoons are the most popular entertainment for children. Earlier children would spend time outside playing with their friends, compared to now where they choose to spend time in front of the TV, watching their favourite Cartoons for hours. Ever since the emergence of the cartoon industry, it has been noted that watching cartoons can have both negative as well as positive impacts on a child's psychological growth along with their physical growth. Positive Impacts:<ol><li>Early Education: Preschoolers can get help to learn alphabets, shapes, numbers, and colours while watching TV. Undoubtedly, television can be an excellent educator and entertainer. The moving, talking pictures and colourful visuals make learning interesting and fun for kids.</li><li>Cognitive development:&nbsp;Watching TV and cartoon can help in the development of cognitive skills in kids. Skills such as logic and reasoning ability, visual and auditory processing, and sustained and selective attention of a child are developed and enhanced in kids.</li><li>Linguistic skills:&nbsp;Watching cartoons in different languages can assist children in not just learning different languages but can also help them improve their pronunciation and their manner of talking.</li><li>Creativity:&nbsp;watching cartoons enhances creative thinking in children. They may start thinking of new creative ideas like stories, characters, situations, etc on basis of cartoons they watch.</li><li>Morals and Culture:&nbsp;Mythological cartoons can introduce children to their religion and culture. Many cartoons end with good lessons of morals like kindness, caring and compassion.</li></ol> Negative Impacts:<ol><li>Violent Behavior:&nbsp;Kids who watch violent acts are more likely to show aggressive behaviour and also may fear that the world is scary and that something bad will happen to them. Also Because Cartoon characters display no more than little harm during violent scenes, children may believe that no one gets hurt or feels pain since cartoons escape unscathed after experiencing violence or an accident.</li><li>Less-empathetic behaviour:&nbsp;Few cartoons characters display a lack of empathy and rude/ disobedient behaviour towards others. Kids might mimic this behaviour and challenge their elders when they are disciplined for bad behaviour.</li><li>Rough Language:&nbsp;Few cartoon characters make use of rough language, as a result of which children begin to use foul/ rough language in their day to day life.</li><li>Anti-social behaviour:&nbsp;Several cartoons encourage antisocial behaviour and give wrong messages to kids. Cartoon characters often display risky behaviour, such as smoking and drinking, and may also reinforce gender-role and racial stereotypes. These can affect a kid's behaviour and make them believe it is normal to be aggressive, spoiled, or violent. cartoons may be the reason for many children to even become bullies in schools.</li><li>Health Issues:&nbsp;Children who consistently spend more than 4 hours a day watching TV are more likely to be overweight. They watch cartoons even when they eat because many parents believe it gets easier to feed babies watching television. Health issues arising due to sedentary lifestyle and inactivity for hours include obesity, vision problems, and nutritional deficiencies due to bad food habits.</li><li>Role models:&nbsp;From a very young age children start to mimic their role models. A role model is someone who either inspires and motivates the kids or discourages and admonish them, thereby shaping their character and personality as adults. Children often idolize their favourite cartoon character which could be Often a misleading role model that encourages the wrong habits or displays insensitive behaviour towards others. This kind of impact of cartoons on children’s psychology can often lead to devastating outcomes and result in kids being withdrawn, uncommunicative, antisocial, or unruly.</li></ol> Tips for parents: <ul><li>To make cartoons a healthy entertainment and a good and effective source of learning for kids, parents should pay more attention to providing selected cartoons to their kids that could positively influence them.</li><li>Parents must control the time children spend watching TV. They can choose appropriate cartoons for their kids. It would be better if parents also regularly watch and discuss the characters of cartoons with children. This way they will not only keep their kids away from violence but also direct them to different activities.</li><li>Lastly, it is recommended for parents to avoid placing their kids in front of screens while they’re eating.</li><li>Let's protect kids from the negative impact of Television media! Because healthy kids mean a healthy future!</li></ul>

Watching cartoons programs had a significant effect on the behaviour of children. Cartoons can have both positive and negative effects on cognitive and behavioural development.

Influence of watching cartoons on children

Watching cartoons can both negatively and positively influence children. Along with being the best educator, Watching TV can surely encourage children to become aggressive and violent. Hence, the cartoon industry is believed to influence a child's brain as well as physical development.

In a joint family, every member takes their turn to nurture and nourish the child. Joint families are a boon to working parents or otherwise too. Children get to learn to respond and interact with others, adapt to changes and people. Raising a child in a joint family also becomes a bit easier on the mother because of the whole support system. Like every coin has two sides, bringing up a child in a joint family also has its own set of pros and cons. <ul><li>A joint family has too many authoritative figures which usually can give contradicting signals to a child. In a joint family, the same message should come from all the adults in the family. If jumping on the bed is not allowed, then the same message should come from both parents and grandparents.</li><li>It Is given that the parenting styles of grandparents and parents are going to differ. And when the differences arise, children are quick to catch those. So whenever you feel conflicts arising, it is better to sit down and talk about the differences when the child is NOT around. Set ground rules about raising your child.</li><li>In a joint family, a child learns good family values from the elder family members.</li><li>Children in a joint family are less hooked on gadgets as everyone in the family is ready to cater to their needs, be it emotional, social, physical, or in academics.</li><li>Making decisions for a child might get conflicting in the joint families as the grandparents tend to impose their thoughts and opinions. Sure, at times the help and insights are great but at the end of the day, it is solely the right of parents to decide the best for their child.</li></ul> In the end, it is up to parents to weigh the pros and cons of raising a child in joint and nuclear families and then decide what’s best for their child(ren).

A joint family is a large family where the grandparents, father, mother, uncle, aunt and their children live unitedly under one roof.

Parenting in a Joint Family | Types of Family

A joint family is a large family where the grandparents, father, mother, uncle, aunt and their children live unitedly under one roof.

Parenting in a Joint Family

Dr Ajab Primuswala

<ul><li>When you say that your child is lying, there are two aspects to it. Whether the child is lying to save himself/herself or whether the child is lying for fun sake.</li><li>If the child is lying to get away from punishment for something which they did, it is their defence.</li><li>Make it a point to make them realise that their behaviour is unaccepted. You can do this by telling them, “Irrespective of whatever you have lied, I know the things you have done. You can’t hide it from me.”</li><li>If they are lying for fun, make them realise that there are consequences for this lying habit.</li><li>Lying is something which they are using as a defence mechanism or as a method of manipulating and altering the truth.</li><li>Here, being calm is the most important requirement for the parent because as parents we feel, “Oh! How can my child lie to me?”</li><li>You have to be very sure that your child is lying to you. You will have to talk to them and give them a solid proof that you know they were lying.</li><li>You have to be sure and be thorough with the facts because children are very smart. If you just say, “You are lying and I know”, they will not agree to it. So keep your facts ready and then confront them.</li><li>Confronting your child has to be an immediate action after the episode. If you know that your child has lied to you today, then confront him/her there and then. Do not keep it hanging.</li><li>Lying tendency also comes with the concept of fear. Maybe your child is too scared of sharing his or her stuff with you and that's the reason they might be lying to you.</li><li>Here, what you can do is, try and gain that trust and develop a rapport with your child where the child doesn’t want to lie to you. It is just that they are scared of your behaviour towards them and this is motivating them to lie.</li><li>So first check for yourself that whether you are the reason behind your child’s lying. If yes, you can rectify yourself and go ahead and reassure them that they can share anything and everything with you. Tell them, “It’s okay, I will handle it and you can trust me completely, you don’t need to lie to me”.</li></ul>

Children lie when they feel they actions will not be accepted by their parents. Assure your child that you will be there to support them when things go downhill.

Dealing with child's habit of lying

Ravina Sewani

When a part of the body is injured and blood from the damaged capillaries, with no place to go, gets trapped under the skin, forming a red or purplish mark called as a bruise. Bruises can happen for many reasons, but most are the result of bumping and banging into things. Fortunately, the mark isn't permanent. How long do bruises last?<ul><li>Bruises usually fade away in about 2 weeks. Over that time, the bruise changes the colour as the body breaks down and reabsorbs the blood. The colour of the bruise can give you an idea how old it is:</li><li>When a child first gets a bruise, it is reddish as the blood appears under the skin.</li><li>Within 1 or 2 days, the haemoglobin changes the colour to bluish-purple or even blackish.</li><li>After 5 to 10 days, the bruise turns greenish or yellowish.</li><li>Then, after 10 or 14 days, it turns yellowish-brown or light brown.</li><li>Finally, after about 2 weeks, the bruise fades away.</li></ul> Who gets bruises?Anyone can get a bruise. Some people bruise easily, while others don't. Bruising depends on several things:<ul><li>Toughness of the skin tissue</li><li>Certain diseases or conditions</li><li>Whether your child is taking certain medications</li><li>Elderly people bruise easily as the blood vessels tend to become fragile as people get older</li></ul> Treating a bruise:<ul><li>Apply a cold compress to your child’s bruise to help slow down the blood that's flowing to the area, which decreases the amount of blood that ends up leaking into the tissues. It also helps keep the inflammation and swelling down. All you have to do is apply cold to your child’s bruise for 15 to 20 minutes every hour for a day or two after the bruise appears.</li><li>If you are using ice instead of a cold pack, wrap it in a cloth or a towel and place it on the bruise; don't apply the ice directly to the skin.</li><li>To reduce swelling and bruising, elevate the bruised area above the level of the heart. If the bruise is on your child’s knee, make them lie down on a couch or bed and prop their leg up. This will help prevent the blood from pooling in the area because more of the blood will flow back toward your heart. If your child keeps standing, more blood will flow to his/her bruised knee and the bruise will be larger.</li></ul> Minor bruises are easily treated, but talk to a doctor if:<ul><li>A bruise isn't improving after 2 weeks.</li><li>Bruises seem to develop for no known reasons.</li><li>A bruise is swelling and is very painful for your child.</li><li>If your child can't move a joint or if they have a broken bone.</li><li>The bruise is near the eye and your child has difficulty moving his/her eyes or seeing.</li></ul> Prevention:Bruises are kind of hard to avoid completely. Make your there are no pointed furniture in the house to limit bruises for your child.Make them wear protective gear when they are playing sports, riding a bike, inline skating.

When a part of the body is injured and blood from the damaged capillaries, with no place to go, gets trapped under the skin, forming a red or purplish mark called as a bruise.

Bruises in children

<ul><li>Normally babies stop wetting beds when they are 2 or 2.5 years old. And if any child is wetting beds even after 2.5 years, the parent can wait till 5 years.</li><li>If bed wetting continues after 5 years, then in the beginning, the doctor will usually give them behavioural treatment and by following that most of the problems get solved.</li><li>But if the child continues to urinate in bed at 6 or 7 years also, then the parent should consult a specialist and do as per doctor’s advice.</li><li>If the family has a history of such a condition, there are more chances for the child to have this problem.</li></ul> As per the behavioural treatment given by the doctor:1. The child should not be given any fluids or liquids after 6 PM including sweet drinks, water, lassi, soda, buttermilk, milk etc.2. The child should be asked to urinate just before bed and even after sleeping, the parent is supposed to take the child to the toilet after 1- 2 hours. <ul><li>Urinating in bed is a combination of both physiological and psychological issue.</li><li>Child should be made mentally strong by counselling and talking to them. They should be asked to wash their undergarments or bed-sheets which they had spoilt. By doing this, they will feel conscious and stay aware about it.</li><li>You can appreciate your child by putting star-marks in the calendar for the nights (s)he didn’t wet the bed. The child can be asked to use the affirmations like “I won’t urinate in bed tonight” for 20 times.</li><li>If the problem continues even after these efforts, the doctors might suggest an alternative treatment.</li></ul>

Urinating in bed can be avoided by not giving fluids before bed but sometimes it has underlying psychological reasons as well.

Urination in bed

Busy schedules and responsibilities often keep us tired. Sometimes as a parent we don’t realise if the child is being neglected. It is not just about attention; a child can feel neglected in different ways:<ol><li>Physical neglect: neglecting basic physical needs of a child like hygiene, clothing, combing or food and nutrition.</li><li>Medical neglect: neglecting medication or delay in treatment of basic illness like common cough and cold.</li><li>Emotional neglect: child being exposed to domestic violence or feels deprived of affection and love from parents.</li><li>Educational neglect: failing to visit child’s school during meetings, allowing child to skip school or ignoring special needs of a child.</li></ol> A parent's neglect can stay with a child for life and the child then forever looks for validation outside the house. Before it gets to your child needing therapy for neglect, this is how you can ensure that your child does not feel neglected:<ol><li>Be present with them with your body and mind, whenever they need it. Express love and affection for the child, it may be in any form but make sure that the child feels and acknowledges your love for them.</li><li>Talk to them often, their innocent talks may not make any sense to you, but never neglect them. Talk to the little ones and understand what they are trying to say, this will make them feel confident.</li><li>You don’t have to make any extra efforts; just spend quality time with them by playing blocks, puzzles or reading stories to them.</li><li>Eat with them, feed them sometimes. Dinner time is the best time to discuss about the day and&nbsp;bond with each other.</li><li>Plan outings once in a while, attend their school meetings, be present at their school functions.</li><li>Teach them to love themselves and who they are, let them know about their capabilities and they will surely work better on it.</li></ol>

Neglect is most of the times unintentional. So keep a check on yourself and also on your child to make sure your child is not getting sidelined because of your other responsibilities.

Ensuring the child is not neglected

Juhi Mishra

It common for parents to wonder about which schooling system to got for their children. Following are some of the major differences between the two to help you decide which one to go for: <ul><li>Academic Environment</li></ul>In a regular school, children are exposed to an environment which is majorly controlled by the school.Homeschooling gives an opportunity to control the learning environment by minimising distractions. <ul><li>Individualised attention</li></ul>In a regular school, one teacher is there to attend to 20-30 students at one time.In a homeschool set-up there is an opportunity of one-on-one lessons. <ul><li>Curriculum</li></ul>In a regular school, the curriculum is pre-set.In a homeschool set-up, the curriculum may be designed as per the requirement of the child. <ul><li>Health and Safety</li></ul>In a regular school set up, the children are exposed to various kinds of germs and illnesses. Also the safety is a concern as the parents are unable to be around in such a set-up.Children in a homeschool set-up are saved from direct contact to diseases and germs. Also the safety of the child is under the parents’ control. <ul><li>Social aspect</li></ul>In a regular school, children get to meet, connect and socialise with children of their age.In a homeschool set-up, the children may miss out on the socialisation component, if they are not made to mingle in group activities on a regular basis. <ul><li>Travel</li></ul>In a regular school, there may be very limited opportunities for the children to travel and learn.Homeschool families may opt to travel together as a part of their education. <ul><li>Mastery vs. grades</li></ul>While in a regular school, grades may seem to be more important than the learning of a concept, hence, leading to mugging up of the content taught.In a home school set-up, mastery is given more importance hence leading to life-long learning. <ul><li>Religion</li></ul>Religion may not be the focus of teaching and learning in a regular school.Families may decide to take up religious studies as a part of their daily routine and also discuss science, literature and current happenings in the light of their religious beliefs in a homeschool set-up.

Conventional or regular schooling is when children go to an authorised school with other children to study as per the school norms and curriculum. While homeschooling is when the child is educated in the comfort of his/ her house.

Homeschooling vs Conventional Schooling

Early years of childhood have a great impact in grooming stable and successful adults. Mentally strong children are prepared to tackle complex problems, fight with failures and cope up with challenges as they grow-up. However, mental strength should not be misunderstood, it does not mean the child will never cry or always be an obedient toddler. It means raising an independent child who can deal with self-doubts by identifying the consequences of one’s own decisions. Here is how you can raise mentally strong children: <ul><li>Help them to manage their feelings. Instead of saying “It is okay to get angry, not a big deal” say that “It is normal to lose temper, but hitting your friend is not right”. Feelings are natural; parents should teach children about how to deal with those feelings.</li><li>Teach them to cope up with their emotions. When the child is sad – instead of distracting them through means like giving chocolates, try to help them identify what makes them happy. Children may find happiness in painting/colouring or music or outdoor play.</li><li>Let them solve their own problems or learn from their mistakes, for e.g. if the child has a problem while playing with friends, do not interfere, let them have disagreements. Discuss about the problem and jot down 5 solutions and let the child choose the best. If the child is trying to learn a sport, for e.g. cycling or skating let them fall (in a safe zone) and identify strategies to ride safe next time. Let them forget their books or homework for a day and be responsible for their mistakes, natural consequences of mistakes can be the best teacher.</li><li>Be the change you want to see in the child, say “I feel upset with my bad day at work, but let me figure out how it can be normal and exciting tomorrow”. You might be tired after a hectic day at work but you can say “I know I am tired but let me quickly prepare dinner and play with you rather than sitting idle or checking messages on my phone.”</li></ul> These small practices will go a long way a develop a stable emotional and mental state for your child in the long run.

Early years of childhood have a great impact in grooming stable and successful adults.

Raising a mentally strong child

Helping your child to cope with moving anxiety:<ol><li>Prepare your kids by proper information beforehand.</li><li>Let them ask questions and answer patiently.</li><li>Answer them honestly and be prepared for a variety of reactions.</li><li>If the place you are moving to a new place, take your child there and let them explore the new place.</li><li>Encourage their opinions and participation. For example ask them which plants they would want in their new house.</li></ol> Helping your child cope with stress:1. Stop over scheduling their day:Limit your child’s activities as per his age. 2. Make sleep a Priority:See that your child has enough sleep, let there be quiet time in the afternoon where they can read, or listen to music, rest and relax. 3. Teach them how to listen to their body:Consider asking them questions about how they feel whenever you see their energies are going down. This way they also stay aware about his body. 4. Prepare your kids to deal with mistakes:You can prepare them by narrating your own experiences of how you made mistakes and how you deal with it, how you solved it or handled it calmly. They always model you. 5. Limit the use of technology:Set time limits for using phones or watching television or playing video games. Overuse of technology makes child irritating. 6. Schedule relaxing activities:You can also enrol your child for music, painting, sketching, swimming or yoga classes as per his choices and preferences. 7. Get help:Any time you feel that your child looks over-stressed and none of the things are helping, take expert advice and consult a counselor.

In times of stress, it is important to let your child know that you are there for them.

Helping a child cope with stress

Friendship is one of the pillars of living a happy life. If your child is not able to make friends in general, it might be because (s)he is an introvert. But if your child is choosy about the gender of his/her friends, it is a different issue altogether. <ul><li>Parents also have an influence on children when it comes to making friends of the opposite gender. A lot of times parents pass comments like “You are a boy, why are you playing with girls?” and vice versa. Hence, consciously or unconsciously parents are responsible for developing gender bias in their tiny minds.</li><li>Be open-minded and let them be free.</li><li>Let them explore the possibilities and consequences rather than you imposing your learning on them.</li><li>Do not constrain their thinking and let them choose their friends on their own.</li><li>Avoid passing comments like “blue is the colour of boys and pink of girls” or “girls cry a lot but boys do not”. Such statements unconsciously make children bend towards their own gender.</li><li>Without your constant inputs, gradually they will learn to make friends of both the genders.</li><li>Friendship is about understanding and comfort. Everyone has a natural tendency to be comfortable around men, women, or both. So for the child also it's the same.</li></ul> Unless you or the society doesn’t put this gender bias in their head, they treat everyone (either a girl or a boy) as equal.

A child's thought process is majorly influenced by the people around him/her.

Child does not make opposite gender friends

It is a very common human stratum that we always have rivalry with our siblings. This happens in every family. But with certain families, it becomes very strong and gets difficult to handle. Sibling rivalry can be as simple as- siblings who are not ready to share things or can be extreme like - physical or verbal abuse and cooking up stories so that the other one gets the scolding or punishment. Common factors of sibling rivalry are: <ul><li>Age difference: It is very common to have sibling rivalry when the age difference is very less. So it's both ways , they like each other’s company, want to play together and still can’t play as they have the same levels of maturity and same kind of issues. If one of the siblings is quite older than the other, there’s less communication, their schedules are different and so in short when interaction is less, there are less issues and their maturity and understanding is also different. The elder one can handle things maturely. When there is a non-violent sibling rivalry between your kids, you can avoid them by saying, “This issue is between the two of you so please take care of it on your own, I am sure you both will resolve it beautifully.” You can escape this scene by making them responsible and showing your trust in their skills to resolve issues among them.</li></ul> <ul><li>Gender of your children: Well, It is observed that children of same gender have more common issues to fight with each other. Though they can grow as close siblings in later stage but in the initial years, it can get difficult to resolve their sibling rivalry because there is direct competition and comparison between them. On the other hand, a brother and a sister of the same age generally get along well. It is important to note that when it comes to sibling rivalry, there is no guarantee as to whether the siblings will fight or not. It depends on individual bonding between siblings.</li></ul> <ul><li>As a parent, if you are paying more attention towards one and neglecting the other or if one or both of the children has this feeling then this can brew into a sibling rivalry. You have to verbalise and assure them that you love and care equally for both of them in the same manner but depending on their individual needs your priorities might change. You should be aware and should keep in mind to take care of all your children’s needs and requirements one by one.</li></ul> Talking about the solutions: <ul><li>The first thing you can do while your kids are fighting over something is walk away, when it is not so serious or dangerous. Tell them: “It’s your matter, you handle”. In case if it gets severe and is happening frequently, you can ask them to maintain a diary about the issues. Decide the day to read the diary and solve it out.</li></ul> <ul><li>If you ask them to write it down, they are going to avoid such stories or situations where they will require you to come and solve it.</li></ul> <ul><li>This is a strong perspective where you are not avoiding them, instead giving them importance and proving a point that you have many other things that need to be taken care of.</li></ul> <ul><li>Sibling rivalry can be very dangerous if it continues till the later stages of life. Siblings can be either the most supportive or the most opposing depending on the kind of bonding they have had over the years. We, as parents, at times give rise to sibling rivalry by comparing our children with each other. So the key to not develop sibling rivalry is to stop comparing. Tell them whatever you want to, without giving each other’s examples. This can be more productive and progressive way of dealing with sibling rivalry.</li></ul>

Sibling rivalry is an age-old problem and get can be addressed easily if done at the right time.

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Child does not make opposite gender friends

Sibling rivalry

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