Parenting OS tips

FZwanab

Lyndsay_21 wrote:

i am guilty of letting my 2 watch too much tv, they normally have it in the morning when their having breakfast and getting ready for nursery then when we get back from nursery sometimes at 12 sometimes at 2 depending on wether they've been to toddler group i normally put the telly on then whilst i'm having a tidy up/ making dinner, then its off. i still feel its too much but i also feel sometimes they need a bit of 'unwind' time to just relax.
On the subject of chores trying to get my 4yo DD to help with tidying upo is like trying to pull teeth she is a very 'willful' child and if she doesn't want to do something its very nearly impossible to get her to do it, Am i the only person with a child like this!! DS who's 2 is an angel and will pick up toys anytime i ask!

I get the response "I'm too tired to do that", so I have started making games out of chores, like who will be the fastest to do xyz, timing them to do something, lets see who can get the job done before dad gets home etc... I hope that helps, but sometimes it is impossible, I know.

thriftlady_2

We got rid of our Sky package a few months ago. The kids missed toonami, boomerang etc for about 2 days :rotfl:. I have to admit that me and OH resubscribed to Sky (much reduced package) because we wanted to see the last series of The West Wing which was on E4 The kids still have CBBC and Cbeebies.

Ginger_Girl

I've got 3 little ones. DD1 (8), DS (4) and DD2 (2) and we limit TV time too. DH has a play station in the dining room but I take the controllers out in the week so it can't be played on school days. We do however have the radio on from the minute we get up until bedtime. Sometimes we listen to Fun Radio on DAB (with a great nap time at 1pm!) - otherwise it's Radio 2 all day! I do have to censor the Jeremy Vine show but otherwise they sing along with all the music and DD1 already cites the Rolling Stones as one of her favourite bands!! - (Not sure if I should be telling you that!!!):rotfl: Our other key is routine as DS has had some behavioural problems and routine (together with no white bread at all ever ever ever!) is the easiest way to a stress free life! DD1 earns marbles in a jar for helping and getting her school bag ready etc, these can also be lost as a consequence for bad behaviour. At the end of the week each marbles equals 10p. Amazing how careful she is now with 'her' money!!

maryb

helenhugs wrote:

Children are fantastic & sometimes it is hard to remember that when they are doing the things that wind you up. That is when you need to stop think about why exactly it is bothering you so much & more often than not its something that on a good day you wouldnt mind at all, maybe you are tired, had a bad day or just feel a bit grumpy for what ever reason.
My 2.5 year old daughter constantly asks WHY? at the moment, I know you know what I mean & it really got to me earlier & i snapped back at her because it is. I felt so guilty after I NEVER did that to my eldest, but then I only had him to worry about, not 3 other children aswell. He's very patient loving & kind & i think me always giving him a proper answer helped him to understand the world better. I just have to keep reminding myself of that when my daughter asks the same questions.
Children ask questions to learn, not just to irritate you,(although I'm sure they do that sometimes aswell).
So my OS tip is to try & be calm & remember that they are learning about the things around them & you are the best teacher in the world for your child.

hugs
Helen

what helped me to keep my sanity was realising that small children don't actually mean it when they say 'why?' they mean 'how interesting, tell me more'. So just chat around the subject and don't let it drive you mad

ashli_2

Hurrah!!! There is a name for me....I am an OS parent......I thought I was just mean :rotfl:

My priorities with regards to parenting my 2yr old ds are...

1) Food.... children don't need to eat junk. I don't buy sweets, biscuits, cake, crisps or squash...not just for ds but for OH and I too. If I don't buy it, we can't eat it What we do eat is lots of fruit and veg and simple HM meals...and I agree with Gingergirl...no white bread ever ever ever!

I am not draconian about this, if we are out in the summer we might all have an ice-cream but I can do that guilt-free because I know that for the rest of the day ds has had nice wholesome food.

2) Babies need bedtimes!!! We were the first of all our friends to have a child and several times our friends have asked us why ds goes to bed so early. If he went later, surely we could get out more? I would rather be at home with ds tucked up in bed then out after 7 with an over-tired toddler thank you very much! :eek:

3) Manners. I won't stand for snatching or any kind of violent behaviour, and I am teaching ds to say please and thank you. Manners don't cost anything and they make the world go round

Mermaid

I've got a 3yo and a 1 1/2 yo. I find that now I can get them to cooperate with me by:-

Using a lot of reverse pschology: "You're not going to eat all your dinner are you?", "I bet you can't get those shoes on all by yourself"...

Making things into a competition: this is even better if Daddy is around as we then have boys team vs girls team, but even without him they will race each other up the stairs, which saves loads of time.

Regular snacks during the day. I find their behaviour deteriorates with the level of their blood sugar. A mid morning fix of cheesy cubes (ordinary cheese cut into cubes) or mid afternoon snack of raisins can help deal with this.

Other things we do:

I try to limit TV to watching Cbeebies or a DVD while I cook dinner. As soon as we've all eaten together they have a bath, story and bed. If we let them stay up later than 7.30, they are fine that day, but we tend to pay for it the next couple of days.

Plenty of sleep. I suspect a lot of toddler bad behaviour is because of them getting too little sleep. My toddlers seem to get swapped for two raving psychopaths if they don't get their normal amount.

We don't have set sweet days, but we do limit the amount quite severely: they both have perfect teeth now and I want them to stay that way. I've shown the oldest pictures of rotten teeth on the internet (do a search for dental caries in Google using the images tab), to convince her that cleaning her teeth is important.

We have masses of different books for them and also use our local library, it's important to have lots of books, otherwise you get tired of hearing the same stories even if they don't!

HTH

Mermaid

buxtonrabbitgreen

Well having read through the thread, I am def not as os as most of you, and my kids are teenagers, so tv is not restricted. But a customer came up to me today in the supermarket where I work and asked where the kids ready meals were and only the fact that I NEED my job stopped me from going off into an os rant. So I showed her, thinking all the while don't buy that stuff your kids dont need it, it is BAD

helenhugs

maryb wrote:

what helped me to keep my sanity was realising that small children don't actually mean it when they say 'why?' they mean 'how interesting, tell me more'. So just chat around the subject and don't let it drive you mad

That is so true. Children are inquisitive little munchkins and they do take great interest in the world around them. Things we know & take for granted fascinate them.
hugs
Helen

Queenie

Quoting your post merely because you've given some good headers there

ashli wrote:

...
1) Food.... children don't need to eat junk. I don't buy sweets, biscuits, cake, crisps or squash...not just for ds but for OH and I too. If I don't buy it, we can't eat it

2) Babies need bedtimes!!! ...

3) Manners. I won't stand for snatching or any kind of violent behaviour, and I am teaching ds to say please and thank you. Manners don't cost anything and they make the world go round

#1 - My childrens peers thought I was an evil parent because I also don't buy squash/cola's, sweets, cakes, biscuits, crisps ... until they discovered ... I *make* them It's not those items per se, which can cause problems, but a number of the preservatives in them. By making our own, we control how much sugar goes into them etc.

#2 - It's not *just* babies who need bedtimes! Toddles do, school children do and despite them telling you otherwise, teens most certainly still do:-
Teens Sleep Problems and also Sleep/Teens, Teens/Sleep from the National Sleep Foundation

#3 - I've always been complimented on "how polite" my children are. But it's two way traffic; it's natural in our lives to "please", "thankyou", "excuse me" ...
... the trouble is, it's soooooo natural that even when they are in the dog house you're likely to hear: "Excuse me! Go to your room, think about your actions, thankyou!" :laugh: Or if they were doing something they shouldn't: "Excuse me! No thankyou!!"