Health, Fashion, Parenting and Women Related Issues

Although it’s unreasonable to expect to agree with your partner on every possible parenting issue—you will, after all, have made thousands of parenting decisions by the time your child grows up and leaves home—it’s important to come up with a game plan for managing those differences. Here are some tips on managing the types of day-to-day disagreements that can lead to marital meltdowns:

Accept the fact that you’re each going to have your own unique parenting style. Not only were you raised in different households, but you’re also entirely different people. Perhaps your partner feels most comfortable taking a boot-camp approach to parenting, while you prefer a much more laid-back approach—or vice versa.

Identify those areas where you actually are in agreement. Chances are you and your partner don’t go head-to-head on every conceivable parenting-related issue. It can be reassuring to discover that you and your partner are on the same wavelength with big-picture parenting issues and that your disagreements tend to center on relatively minor points, like how to handle your 2-year old daughter’s recent conversion to nudism. Read more

Having a baby can turn the most social parent into something of a homebody. (Hey, it can be a lot of work to get that little baby out the door!) And while you really should do your best to get up and at ‘em when you can, sometimes you really do end up stuck in the house. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of it!

We’ve got some tips for making your time at home beneficial, productive… and fun:

If you haven’t yet, join our online community of awesome parents. Get tips from celebrity moms and dads, find expert advice on everything from diaper rash to baby sleep issues, check out cool baby products and laugh your butt off as other new parents regale you with the trials and tribulations of parenthood!

Forget window-shopping, it’s all about online shopping when you’re a new parent. You can get great deals on diapers, books, toys—anything you ever dreamed of (and a ton of junk you never did!). Just don’t spend your kid’s college fund on Amazon!

If your feeling cooped up and baby is a little fussy, entertain him with some fun stay-at-home activities. Try educational singing games, tummy time games, gentle newborn neck stretches and baby massage.

Now if only someone would baby you and give you a little rubdown!

Here are some things you will want to know if you have a negative child:

When it’s a good thing:You’re likely to be very tuned in to the needs of a child who displays a consistently negative attitude. Given how much complaining a child like this tends to do, what choice do you have but to hear her grievances?

When it’s not such a good thing: A consistently negative kid can be a major challenge for any parent. No matter how much you do to try to make her happy, you may not be able to turn her negative attitude around. You also may find that this particular child demands more than her fair share of the attention in your family—something that can cause conflict within the family.

Bringing out the best in your child: Accept the fact that your child’s mood may be hardwired and you may not be able to alter this aspect of her temperament, no matter how hard you try. That doesn’t mean you should abandon all efforts to try to encourage her to see the sunnier side of life; it simply means that you should stop blaming yourself or your melancholy baby for her down-in-the-dumps moods.

Despite our best intentions, most of us find it’s pretty hard to measure up to the standards that we set for ourselves on the discipline front. The result? Truckloads and truckloads of mother (or father) guilt. Here’s how to cope with parenthood’s most abundant yet useless emotion:

Accept the fact that you’re a less-than-perfect parent. Where is it written in the parenting job description that perfection is required? Cut yourself a little slack and don’t demand anything more of yourself than you ask of your own kids; in other words, progress, not perfection.

Don’t be afraid to apologize to your child if an apology is warranted. It won’t undercut your authority as a parent if you own up to the fact that you were wrong; in fact, it is likely to enhance your credibility. Your child will have a lot more respect for you if you admit that you blew it than if you try to make excuses for your own bad behavior. You’ll also feel a lot better yourself. Read more

Parenting a toddler is not for the weak of heart—to say nothing of the weak of stomach! But fear not, it’s not just your toddler who’s acting this way! Most toddlers possess these wonderful (and challenging) qualities:

Toddlers are fiercely independent. If toddlers had their own theme song, it would have to be Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” Whether they’re prepared to admit it or not, they still need a lot of help from you. Unfortunately, that help may not always be welcome.

Toddlers are easily frustrated. At the root of this frustration is the fact that their abilities can’t keep pace with their ambition: Your toddler is determined to make a tower with his blocks and becomes enraged when he lacks the manual dexterity to do so. The upside to this drive to achieve is the fact that toddlers are extraordinarily persistent. One day soon your toddler will amaze you with his tower-building abilities. Read more