Pacifying Ideas for the Sick ChildBy Jennifer EllisA sick child is a stress producer for both the child and theparent. The child is irritable and bored and the parent isat wit's end trying to keep the child happy. The doctortells you to keep fluid in the child, keep him nourishedand keep him away from other children. None of thesethings is what the child wants to do. Here are a fewsuggestions to try to keep you and your child happy whilerecovering.To keep fluid in your child, try freezing Kool-Aid or foodcolored water in an ice cube tray. Drop these into yourchild's drink and watch the colors melt and swirl. Combineblue and yellow cubes in your child's water and let your childwatch it turn green. Try drinking it with a crazy straw.Snow cones, slushes and popsicles will also deliver fluid toyour child without objection. To make a sport drink slush,freeze your child's favorite sports drink into ice cubes.Place them into a blender or food processor and crush themslightly. Pour the crushed ice over a glass of sport drink orwater.White popsicles are now available. They are called"Great White Shark" popsicles www.popsicles.com and arein the freezer section of most grocery stores. Because they arewhite, they don't stain when dripped v perfect for eating whilein bed or stuck indoors. You can also make "dripless popsicles".The recipe can be found athttp://www.recipesource.com/misc/kids/00/rec0086.html .Applesauce, Jell-O, and soup can be made more fun by sippingthem through straws. It's best to use a wide straw when tryingto get food through.To get nutrition into a sick child, try offering small portions offinger-typefood in a muffin tin. Carrots sticks with dip, cheesecubes, apple slices, corn kernels, green beans, and grapes makegood choices. A large variety is available this way without seeminglike a lot of food and overwhelming the child who is not hungryin the first place.TheraPatch (www.therapatch.com) has cooling "Band-Aid" typepatches for fever and vapor patches for coughing. Both aredesigned for children and are available at most drug stores.Breathe Right (www.breatheright.com/kids) has a nasal stripfor congestion and TraxIt (www.medicalindicators.com)has wearable underarm thermometers.Good toys for sick children are the Kelly Chicken Pox doll byBarbie (her chicken pox appear and then disappear), a doctor'skit and doll, choose-your-own-ending books, and make-your-own-paper-airplane directions and a stack of paper for the older kids(http://www.zurqui.com/crinfocus/paper/airplane.html).If your child will be sick or hospitalized for a while you can get apre-packed activity-filled backpack from Freckled Fish Activities(www.freckledfish.com). They have a specifically designedbackpack for children who are sick or in the hospital. They alsohave games to print for your child to play while surfing on thetelevision v TVSurfer's Bingo, TV Surfer's Scavenger Hunt, andTV Surfer's Letter Find.Hopefully, this will help you with ideas to keep your child happierwhile he is sick. Good luck!Jennifer Ellis is a former elementary education teacher and now astay-at-home mom. Visit her website at www.freckledfish.com to seeher activity-filled clear vinyl travel, restaurant and hospitalbackpacks for kids.
There's No Such Thing As A Difficult Situation
There's No Such Thing As A Difficult Situationby Bob CollierFor me, maintaining a child's natural enthusiasm forlearning is a parenting essential and it definitely helps ifwe pay attention to how we present new learning situationsto them.It can work against our children's ability to learn if wegive them the impression that a new task is intrinsicallydifficult. For example, we might say something like, "I knowthis is hard to understand, but try your best anyway."These are words that can suggest to them they would dowell to anticipate failure or a poor performance - or leasta lot of very hard work.However, it's equally unhelpful to give our children theimpression that a new task is intrinsically easy. Forexample, by saying something like, "Oh, this is reallysimple. You'll sail through it."Words such as these can suggest to them that, if they don'tfind it simple, it's because they're not clever enough orsomething similarly damaging to their self-esteem.Any new learning situation is nothing more than what it is.There's no such thing as a "difficult situation" or an "easysituation", only a situation that we personally finddifficult or easy.What we find difficult, another person could find easy. Whatwe find easy, another person could find difficult. We allhave our individual interests, preferences, talents, skillsand aptitudes and these all come into play when we learn.And, anyway, the future hasn't happened yet.If we're going to make judgements on our children's behalfabout what might happen in situations that are new to them,we ought to at least make sure that they're honestjudgements and not coloured by false assumptions or by ourown past experiences, either negative or positive.Far better to be neutral about the situation itself and payattention to helping our children develop their potentialfor dealing successfully in their own way with whatever newsituation they encounter.Copyright (c) 2002, Bob Collier------------------------------------------------------------POWER UP YOUR PARENTING SKILLS!Parental Intelligence brings you the positive ideas andtechniques that every parent on Planet Earth should knowabout.Read a sample issue of my FREE weekly newsletter at:http://www.topica.com/lists/pinteland subscribe today!============================================================
The Hand
THE HANDAt first it sounded like a thanksgiving story, but the more Ireflected on it, the more appropriate it seemed for any time ofthe year. The way I heard it, the story went like this:Thanksgiving Day was near. The first grade teacher gave her classa fun assignment -- to draw a picture of something for which theywere thankful.Most of the class might be considered economically disadvantaged,but still many would celebrate the holiday with turkey and othertraditional goodies of the season. These, the teacher thought,would be the subjects of most of her student's art. And theywere.But Douglas made a different kind of picture. Douglas was adifferent kind of boy. He was the teacher's true child of misery,frail and unhappy. As other children played at recess, Douglaswas likely to stand close by her side. One could only guess atthe pain Douglas felt behind those sad eyes.Yes, his picture was different. When asked to draw a picture ofsomething for which he was thankful, he drew a hand. Nothingelse. Just an empty hand.His abstract image captured the imagination of his peers. Whosehand could it be? One child guessed it was the hand of a farmer,because farmers raise turkeys. Another suggested a policeofficer, because the police protect and care for people. Stillothers guessed it was the hand of God, for God feeds us. And sothe discussion went -- until the teacher almost forgot the youngartist himself.When the children had gone on to other assignments, she paused atDouglas' desk, bent down, and asked him whose hand it was. Thelittle boy looked away and murmured, "It's yours, teacher."She recalled the times she had taken his hand and walked with himhere or there, as she had the other students. How often had shesaid, "Take my hand, Douglas, we'll go outside." Or, "Let me showyou how to hold your pencil." Or, "Let's do this together."Douglas was most thankful for his teacher's hand.Brushing aside a tear, she went on with her work.The story speaks of more than thankfulness. It says somethingabout teachers teaching and parents parenting and friendsshowing friendship, and how much it means to the Douglases of theworld. They might not always say thanks. But they'll remember thehand that reaches out.Steve Goodier Publisher@... is a professionalspeaker, consultant and author of numerous books. Visit his site formore information, or to sign up for his FREE newsletter of Life, Loveand Laughter at http://LifeSupportSystem.com.
