Before you burst out laughing and saying something about Yogi Bear, nope, it doesn’t have anything to do with him. Yogi parenting is something that I recently read about and it seems pretty interesting. Yogi is the noun used to refer to someone who practices yoga. So basically, yogi parenting is applying yoga principles to parenting.

I have heard of yoga so many times – my friends are so into it right now – but I have never really tried it for myself. When I read this article on yogi parenting, though, I started to have second thoughts. Maybe it is a good idea!

Amy Bertrand at StlToday writes about Suzanne Tucker, a yoga enthusiast, who is practicing yogi parenting:

“For me, yogi parenting is a way of being more than a thing you do, it’s a place to come from, an approach to parenting.”

That approach includes allowing your children to make mistakes to help them grow and being in the moment with them as much as possible.

“It’s about understanding the mind of a child,” Suzanne says. Yoga, with its breathing techniques and teaching you to be “present” in your mind, help with that.

For instance, when a child scrapes her knee, the parent’s natural reaction may be to say, “Oh, tell me what happened.” In yogi parenting you pull the child into the present and say, “Let me see it, let’s work on helping this now.”

“You bring that child into the present instead of letting them relive the past,” Suzanne says.

Though I am sure this is but a small part of the whole concept, it does make sense. What about you, have you heard of yogi parenting? What are your thoughts on this?

We have been seeing, reading, and hearing a lot about organic food lately. Just this weekend, I was planning on going to the supermarket to do my regular grocery shopping. Before I could do that, though, a friend of mine called me up and invited me to go to a local specialty market with her for a change. She was raving about the organic food that we could buy there instead of the regular stuff at the supermarket.

Probably like you, I have an idea what organic food is all about. I am not so sure as of yet as to whether there really is a need for organic food, especially for babies and children. Countless other children have grown up to become healthy adults and they probably didn’t have organic food. Why should I make that shift?

Colleen Hurley, a certified kid’s nutrition specialist, wrote an article about this at Baby Mum-mum. She is a firm believer in going organic. I found some of the reasons she gave to be quite convincing.

Protects children: babies and children are far more susceptible to toxicity than adults. Little one’s have more skin surface are per body size, have still developing detoxifying systems, and have more sensitive skin. Many side effects of toxins can take several years to develop, so starting your baby on organic foods from the start can ensure a healthy future.

It tastes better: if you don’t believe us, try your taste test with an organic piece of fruit and conventional one to see for yourself.

I think that next time, I shall give organic food a try and see for myself. I still am not sure about going organic all the way, though. What about you, what do you think of feeding your babies only organic food?

Photo courtesy of svanes

I recently received a review copy of Fiona Neill’s latest novel The Secret Life of a Slummy Mummy, and I’m looking forward to some light reading!

For Lucy Sweeney, motherhood isn’t all astanga yoga and Cath Kidston prints. It has been years since the dirty washing pile was less than a metre high, months since Lucy remembered to have sex with her husband, and a week since she last did the school run wearing pyjamas. When Husband on a Short Fuse is no contest for the distractions of Sexy Domesticated Dad; Yummy Mummy No 1 has more cash flow than parenting advice; and Alpha Mum is putting a slur on your questionable domestic habits, it’s hard to remember exactly why anyone would give up a career and their sanity for three raucous sons and less than blissful domesticity. Lucy is living in a state of permanent emergency and the white lies to cover up the trail of chaos and illicit desire are about to be exposed …This is an irresistible first novel about the dilemmas of motherhood and modern marriage for those who never discovered their domestic goddess within.

I haven’t started to read the book yet, since I asked my wife to check it out for me first. But I’ve scanned through the pages, and went to the Slummy Mummy site over at Random House, and I feel I can relate–perhaps more with Sexy Domesticated Dad (minus “Sexy”) given that I hold office at home, and every morning I bring the kids to school and fetch them in the afternoon. I’m not exactly a homebody, but running a SOHO, I can say I’m probably more domesticated than most dads out there (and now I feel like a cat for being labeled such).

What exactly is a Slummy Mummy? Perhaps you can answer the Slummy Mummy quiz to see if you are one. Oh, and I took the quiz myself. And guess what! I’m a slummy mummy! LOL!

Fiona Neill is a features writer for The Times magazine and creator of author the Times’ Slummy Mummy column. Previously a foreign correspondent in Latin America, then assistant editor at Marie Claire and then The Times magazine, the author was brought up in Norfolk, she now lives in London with her husband and three children.

The Secret Life of a Slummy Mummy is published by Random House in the UK and Penguin in the US.

Here are a couple more unique rules that I found interesting – and applicable to my own situation – in the article from CNN that I talked about in the last post.

I can’t understand you when you speak like that
Goal: Stopping whining, screaming, general rudeness
This one requires almost religious consistency of application to work effectively. But, essentially, you simply proclaim incomprehension when your child orders (rather than asks) you to do something, whines, or otherwise speaks to you in a way you don’t like. Whispering this helps; it takes the whole thing down a notch on the carrying-on scale. This is a de-escalation tool, so calmly repeat the rule a few times and don’t get lured into raising your voice. A child who’s whining or being rude is clearly seeking attention and drama, so use this as a way to provide neither.

I think that this one will really work – even with adults.;) More often than not, when someone starts whining, grumbling, or demanding rudely, the tendency for me is to strike back. The result is often disastrous, with the situation escalating to something that is harder to control. I think I shall try stating this in a calm manner: “I can’t understand you when you speak like that.”

There’s no such thing as boredom
Goal: Prevent your child from saying “I’m bored”; teach her to entertain herself
A friend of mine says this is one of the few things he got right with his kids. The first time his older daughter claimed she was bored he simply denied that the thing existed. Now he sometimes adds: “There’s no such thing as boredom, only failure of the imagination” or “…only mental laziness.” Surprisingly he’s never gotten the “There is too boredom!” argument, only an exasperated “Da-ad.” Regardless of the phrasing, the result is the same: The burden of amusement lands directly on your child, which is precisely where you want it.

If you think about it, this statement is so true! There is no such thing as boredom as there are countless things that a child can do. He can read, he can clean up his bedroom, he can listen to music, and so on. What would be limiting is his imagination and creativity and by “forcing” him to use these, you would actually be helping your child.

Any other quirky rules of your own?

Everyone has their own set of ground rules that govern the home. Many of us pick up these rules from our own parents while other rules are perhaps learned along the way. I found some interestingly unique rules from CNN that (apparently) work. Care to read about them?

You can’t be in the room when I’m working unless you work, too.
Goal: Get your child to help, or stop bugging you, while you do chores.
I found this rule really interesting and to be honest I have not thought of it. How many times have you tried to finish your chores around the house only to get interrupted countless times by your child? Mommy I want some water. Mommy what are you doing? Mommy let’s play. So on…If you enforce this rule, you can solve this problem. Not only will you get more things done, your child will also be more productive.

I don’t work past 8 p.m.
Goal: Regular bedtimes and time off for you.

This is actually a twisting of the bedtime rule. Our bedtime is 8:00 pm. Oftentimes, though, the kids do not want to follow this rule. The CNN article suggests taking the focus away from the kids and putting it on yourself. Instead of restricting their activities, restrict yours. YOU stop working at 8 so they cannot rely on you for anything after than time. As such, they should go to bed instead. It’s all in the perspective, isn’t it?

There are a couple more of these rules with a twist and perhaps we can take a look at them next time.

I was browsing through some of my favorite parenting blogs earlier when I ran across an article talking about “sick” manners. Naturally, the post’s title caught my eye. What does the blogger mean by “sick” manners? Kori Rodley Irons says:

“Cover your mouth when you cough” is just the beginning of the manners that can keep an ill person from being a complete horror in public. Ideally, of course, we wouldn’t leave the house when we are sick but that just is not the reality. It is up to us as parents to teach our children what is appropriate manners for coping with an illness while out in public.

Ah, I see what she is trying to say. As I read on, I realized that indeed, there are many children who do not know how to conduct themselves properly when they are sick. On the one hand, children should not really be out of the house if they are not feeling well. On the other hand, minor illnesses such as a cold or cough are sometimes not enough reasons to keep a child cooped up. This is especially true when the illness is not so serious.

Do you teach your child to cover his or her mouth or nose when he or she sneezes? When he or she coughs? This is something very basic that sometimes it is overlooked. I have seen countless children at the mall or the park who do not seem to know about the concept of covering their mouth or nose.

Then again, as Kori said in her post, it is not only the children. Adults are also guilty of the lack of manners! Again, it is by example that we can best teach them.

I was watching TV last night – a very rare occurrence to be sure – when I something caught my eye. Oprah was featuring several families who were challenged to change their lifestyle and to live on less what they normally did. The idea appealed to me so I set the remote control down and tuned in.

The idea was for all the members of the family to abide by the rules that Oprah had set. These rules were varied, some of them were to only have 1 hour of television or computer in a day. This included video games. Lights that were not used were to be turned off. The whole family was not to spend on anything except for food. The challenge lasted for a week.

As I watched the footage of the families trying to live up to the challenge, I felt a mixture of emotions run through me. I felt irritation at the children who acted like brats. I found myself blaming the parents for raising their kids that way. Then I felt admiration for them for wanting to live up to the challenge. I felt sad because the kids were miserable without their gadgets and they felt that they didn’t have anything to do. In the end, I felt challenged myself.

The whole idea was more than about living on less. It involved setting limits as a parent and setting a good example. There was this mom who couldn’t control what her children did because she herself could not help but break the rules – she needed to shop online. She needed to watch a movie.

I realized more than ever that raising kids is such a huge responsibility. We cannot afford to spoil them and let them do whatever they want if we want them to be responsible adults. Again, teaching by example is something that we all have to do.

I was browsing the Internet for news today when I saw a compelling headline. It read “Where were the parents? Children accused in deadly beating.” Needless to day, I immediately clicked on the link and proceeded to read the piece of news.

Apparently, five children have been accused of beating an old man to death. Some of the children are as young as 13 years old and the victim was 81 years old. He was viciously beaten to death in an alley at 5 a.m.

Based on the news report that I read, when this incident became public, residents of the area were all asking the same question: “Where were the parents?”

I have mixed reactions to this kind of question. On the one hand, why were the parents immediately to blame? On the other hand, these were children and indeed, their parents should have been responsible for them, especially since they were out of their homes at 5 in the morning. They should have been in bed, sleeping!

This is perhaps an extreme example but just imagine where your children could be and what they could be doing in the wee hours of the morning if you were as lax with them as the parents of these children were. Your kids may not go around beating old men to their deaths but there are so many other things that could happen to them.

I believe in giving children a certain amount of freedom but I do believe that I have to draw the line when it comes to certain times of the day or night. Of course, this example goes much deeper than the children being out at that time. It goes much deeper. When I read such news, I realize once again the very important role that we play in our children’s lives. It still scares me sometimes.

I was eating at our office pantry the other day when some of my female colleagues started talking about their children. These two colleagues are relatively new moms, with kids aged around 2 or 3. They are quite young and are very much hands on parents. One is even majored in psychology in college and knows a lot about child development.

So anyway, I heard them talking about putting their babies on a diet. I heard a pretty explosive WHAT? in my head. Why on earth would you put your 2-year old kid on a diet unless she had some condition that necessitated it? I couldn’t keep my curiosity in reign so I asked.

The answer was that babies at that age should only have so and so amount of milk in a day. Apparently, her baby is used to consuming more than that so she decided to limit the amount of milk that her baby is consuming. This is so to avoid any negative effects of overeating – or drinking in this case.

My thoughts? One, what if your baby does need more than the recommended amount? Even if there is a suggested amount, babies are unique. Two, isn’t it a bit too early to put a two-year old on a diet?

I don’t know. I just may have a different perception of the situation. What do you guys think about putting toddlers on a diet?

Photo courtesy of Reini68

The problem of drinking and driving has been around for as long as I can remember. This problem is not limited to a certain age group but spans all generations. Of course, as parents, we should be concerned about our teenagers drinking and driving. I believe that the most basic of measures that we can take is to set a good example. If we go out for dinner, we should not drive if we have had a drink too many. Actually, I make it a point to NOT allow anyone who has drank more than 2 beers to drive.

Still, some things may be out of our control when it comes to drinking and driving. As much as we would like to bank on our children to stick to their values, there are times when their peers may not. Nancy Shute – you may remember her from a series of posts we had not long ago – recently wrote an article on how to curb teen drinking and driving.

She writes:

Yanking teenagers’ driver’s licenses if they’re caught using a fake ID to buy alcohol may be one of the most useful new tools in reducing the risk of drinking and driving, according to a study of state laws aimed at discouraging teenage drinking.

“Almost everyone knows that it’s illegal to use a fake ID,” says Jim Fell, a researcher at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Calverton, Md., who conducted the study, published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention. Six states suspend licenses for using fake IDs, and those states saw the only significant reduction in drunk-driving fatalities among teenagers from 1998 to 2004, a drop of 7 percent, based on federal accident data.

I am all for this law. Though some may say that the law is too tough, I would rather have them be tough early on than show some leniency and then have my kid suffer from a drunk driver accident. What do you think?