Category Archives: Parenting

Children can be a handful and difficult. As a parent, you need to be their guiding light and “molder” for them to become good persons in the future. One important value that we should teach our children is honesty. We all have lied at some point of our lives and even our children will eventually too, but there are ways for you to encourage them to become more honest. Here are some ways you could follow to achieve that.

1. Listen to your child
Whatever the circumstance (good or bad), you should always listen to you child. Listen to what he or she has to say. Since you are the adult, you have to adjust and understand why kids do things their way. If they lied, ask them why they did it and listen to their explanation if it’s acceptable or not. Then you decide after on what to do with the situation.

2. Praise your child’s honesty
If your child tells the truth, praise him or her if you can. When he commits a mistake and admits it, acknowledge his or her honesty. If your child made a noteworthy action through honesty, you can reward him or her in order to encourage your child more. If your child did something bad but told the truth, you can punish or ground him on your own terms but still don’t forget to recognize or call attention his honesty.

3. Don’t overreact
When your child lies, you should not lose your cool right ahead once you discover he or she is lying. We should chill and make sure they do not get taunted. We should not scare our kids in telling the truth through scolding them. It is important that we maintain the positive connection between parent and child especially as they are growing.

4. Be a good model to your child
We can always discipline our child on our own way or on how we want them to behave. They can also learn values in school but we have to take note that it is much more significant to let them learn these values at home. As parents, we need to understand that our children learn by watching our actions and on how we treat them and other people. They are observant and they will mimic what they see, hear and feel. It is your responsibility to be a role model and show honesty as well in order for your child to become honest too.

We do not want to put pressure on our kids but it is good if they start early so they will realize their own potential right away. Speaking of starting early, we can instil the value of reading to our babies. We can begin by reading to them. We have to remember that babies love to listen to our voice.

We only need one thing – books especially for babies. The good news is that there are plenty of bookstores here in Singapore. As we read, our babies will establish an association between books and what is most loved – our closeness and voice. This will surely deepen the attachment of our babies to books.

As parents, what do we do? Here are some tips that can help us read to our babies effectively:

• Singing lullabies: If our babies are about six months old, we should start singing lullabies and folk songs to them. We have to consider books that are simple yet brightly colored and contain lots of rhythm. If we want our babies to associate things, we have to put them in our lap so they can see the pages of the book.

• Touch and feel: As we read, the most important thing is to point out the objects in the books to our babies. It is crucial that they see all the things that are fun. If we want ultimate experience, we should look for touch and feel books. It is not enough for our babies to just see it, they need to feel and hold the card books or cloth.
• Vary tone of voice: Monotone will surely bore our babies. We can stimulate their attention by varying our tone of voice depending on the characters in the stories. If we need to sing nursery rhymes or make funny faces, we should do it right away especially if it catches the interest of babies.
• Keep it brief: When we read to our babies, we have to keep the sessions brief and simple. Remember that they will easily get bored if we consider long sessions. Even though it is brief, we have to conduct sessions daily and more often.

This should keep our babies interested in books. When they grow up, they will surely deepen their attachment to books. Even if our babies do not seem to understand it yet, they will be interested as time goes by. What are we waiting for? Let us look for books right now and read to our babies for better cognitive learning. 

How do single moms balance parenting and career? It’s all about good habits and smart routines. We asked successful single moms to share how they’re able to juggle everything without much downtime, and the responses were simple yet remarkably effective.

1. Go For a Work Schedule That Suits Your Family

If you usually work long hours in the office, you might want to take the chance to ask your boss for a more convenient shift. Don’t be afraid to express your needs and reveal that you’re a single parent to your employer. Most employers are understanding and usually provide what their valued employees need for better performance at work. Another option is to work freelance or do online jobs so you can have most of your time in your own hands.

2. Look for Good Role Models

Single parenting can also flourish, and there are plenty of examples to prove it. Look for these inspiring examples, list them down, and refer to this list when having a rough day. Seeing all these successful stories will inspire you and make you realize that single motherhood is manageable and possible.

3. Don’t Stress Yourself On the Things You Can’t Control

Nobody can control your child’s other parent if he wants to visit. You can’t stop it if the dad of your child promises to show up on his big game. This is the other parent’s issue—not yours, so don’t stress yourself over it. Rather than losing sleep over uncontrollable things, focus on what you can do to be the best parent for your child.

4. Be Prepared All the Time

Don’t leave the house without a bottle of juice and a snack. You may also want to keep colouring books and crayons, clean clothes, and some wet wipes in your car. Being prepared is important for all parents, most especially for single parents since it’s up to only you to pacify a tantrum or entertain your child while waiting for your turn to be seated in a restaurant.

5. Take a Break

Not the night-out-with-friends kind of break, but a kid-free-day kind of relaxation. It doesn’t harm to get a baby-sitter once in a while to free you some time to have your nails done or for a trip to the bookstore without going to the children’s section. Remember that even married couples have date nights, or at least hand the children off to each other for a well-deserved break. Single parenting is a tough job, so the more you deserve to pamper yourself every once in a while.

Single motherhood is no easy task, but it’s certainly possible to raise a successful child by focusing on becoming the best parent you can be.