Want more..the more the merrier

My 2 kids are both girls and hubby wants a boy. My eldest daughter is now 12 years old and the youngest daughter is turning 6 this coming February 4. Me and hubby are thinking if its about time to have a new baby at the same time if we are ready financially. Is it really true that "the more the merrier".

Right now we are considering factors like children's needs, financial concerns, my health, and career stability.

Having a baby requires extra care and attention. But I guess it won't be a big problem to us since my youngest daughter is turning 6 years old. Getting pregnant and having a baby is sure punch a hole in our pocket. We asked ourselves if we are ready financially, we have savings but we are preparing for my youngest daughter's third eye operation next year. With regards to my health, I have not experienced any serious illness for the past 6 years. But I have talked to a pediatrician and she advised me that incase I plan to have another baby I need to have a Rubella vaccine months before getting pregnant. This is to protect the baby from congenital cataract like what happened to my youngest daughter.

I guess more conversation between me and hubby before we can finally decide. We need to carefully plan everything.

What to do when your child is injured

As soon as our child learn to walk, he is prone to accident. We start seeing cuts, scratches, and bruises either in his arms or legs. It would be best to be prepared and have a first aid kit within our reach.

The most common wounds to kids when playing are:

Abrasion - this normally happens when child love the slide at the playground. An abrasion is where the upper layer of the skin is rubbed as a result of friction. What to do: Wash injured area with soap and water. Put antiseptic ointment on the abrasion. To protect the wound from exposure to dirt which may lead to infection, cover it with a sterile fressing or bandage.

Burns - it is cused by heat. What to do: Let cool water run on burned area or apply cold compress. If it has redness, pain, minor swelling but without blisters it's only first degree burn and first aid is allowable. Never apply toothpaste which most Filipino usually do, it can cause infection.

Cuts and laceration - cut is an opening or breakage of the skin while laceration is an irregular cut. What to do: Before we inspect our child's cut make sure that hands are clean. Wash the area with soap and warm water. For cut wounds that are bleeding hold the injured part up higer that the heart. You may also apply pressure on the cut by using a clean cloth.

It is important to have a first aid kit inside the house or car. Here are the most basic that can be found inside the first aid kit.

-sterilize gauze

-adhesive tape
-antiseptic wipes

-bar of soap
-antibiotic cream

-hydrogen peroxide
-tweezers

-sharp scissors
-safety pins

-calamine lotion
-thermometer

-alcohol
-disposable instant cold packs
-adhesive and elastic bandage in different sizes

Reward technique for our kids

Does giving rewards motivate our childrento behave and do their best all the time? Some parents use reward system as their way to discipline their children. It can help develop good habits.

Personally, I give rewards to my kids whenever they earn achievement from school. Like if they belong to the top 10 of the class, they can ask anything as long as it's within the budget. We can still reward our children without spending money. For good behavior, I give rewards like hugs and kisses, encouraging words, or extending their hours for playtime.

Whether rewards are effective or not to our children, it's important that we explain why they have to behave so they'll understand the reasons why they have to follow the rules. As parents, we have to be careful that our reward system will not result into bribery. It is a challenge!

Shopping for a Preschool

Children of today are really advanced when it comes to learning. As young as 3 years old children can recite english alphabet, can count 1 to 10, can identify color and shape, some can even do addition and subtraction. Aside from those what else do we look into a learning center for our little ones.

I enrolled my four year old daughter in a learning center near us. It is not an expensive school nor they have a state of the art facility. Before she was a little bratty, but when I enrolled her she learned to get along with other kids and be creative, learned values such as sharing and cooperation. She can now tie her shoelace, she always say 'please and thank you', and has become more confident.

During the formative years, it's important that children is taught of values which will be building blocks of their character such as respect, self-confidence, creativity, and resourcefulness. As parents, we want our children to have an opportunity to explore their potentials.

Today's baby steps are tomorrow's leap of success.