Whether it is your child’s lunchbox or your work lunch you’re packing you need to include energy giving foods. Is it better to pack one big sandwich or a couple of little snacks and treats? Often the last thing you feel like doing in the evening is making lunch for the next day so next time you are at the supermarket be sure to pick up some easy, ready-to-go lunchtime snacks that are not only nutritious but are also delicious.

Stay away from…

Certain quick and easy lunchbox items include unhealthy ingredients that should be avoided. Healthy looking granola and energy bars can actually contain a lot of fat and added sugar so make sure you read the ingredients well – seed bars and oatmeal cookies with yoghurt or icing topping should always be avoided. Chips are also loaded with fat and do little to curb hunger cravings.  Obviously things like sweets and chocolates are best avoided as children, and even adults, will tend to eat these first and leave the rest if given the option.

Fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables should be included in any lunchbox as they provide you with energy while filling you up. Carrot, celery and cucumber sticks are easy to manage while sliced fruit like apples and oranges is great. If you are not a big fan of fruit and veggies try dried fruit as an alternative. Fruit blended drinks like smoothies are also a great idea; just make sure you don’t add ice-cream to your mixture.

Quick and easy

Some other quick and easy snacks include mixed nuts and popcorn. Whole-wheat crackers are also a great idea and can be topped with anything from salmon to low-fat cottage cheese. As an alternative to sandwiches try some homemade pretzels or rice or corn cakes. The best thing to remember is not to pack too much, a handful of everything goes along way especially with children as they will be playing and they tend to get bored of eating the same thing for too long.

Kids’ shoes are often bought without the child actually there to tell you if they are comfortable or not. Children outgrow shoes at a rapid rate and buying expensive shoes every six months can really make a dent in your bank balance. Make sure you’re buying the right shoes for your children without forking out tons of cash.

Shoes for babies

When we are born our feet are fat and chubby and very mouldable. As we grow older the fat wears away creating edges and bony feet. Until your child starts to walk they don’t really need shoes as stiff shoes can deform the feet. Simply keep your babies feet warm with booties and socks. Make sure there are no small pieces like bows, laces and accessories that your baby can pick off and swallow.

As your child grows

As your child gets older they will become more active and shoes with good soles are necessary to prevent bits of glass, stones and thorns from cutting into their feet. However, the more your child can be barefoot the better – uneven surfaces help to improve balance while strengthening the ligaments and muscles in feet, while shoes can actually curl toes and cause bunions.

The perfect shoe

In order to ensure your child is happy in their shoes make sure you get their feet measured regularly as they can quickly outgrow smaller sizes. Buy shoes that are comfortable right off the rack – kids don’t have time to break in a pair of shoes and this can cause painful blisters. Breathable materials like leather and canvas are best as they provide comfort and durability and result in less smelly shoes. Shoes that fasten properly and have a good tread prevent injury while slip on shoes can easily fall off and get lost. Heels are best avoided as they can cause deformity in the feet as they grow.

Perhaps most importantly, try and allow your child to have some input in their shoes, like picking the colour, or else they may never wear them.

There are many advantages to growing up with animals but buying a pet to teach a child about responsibility shouldn’t be the main reason for buying one. For example, children forget to feed their hamsters every day unless they are reminded by their parents. On the other hand, parents aren’t too keen on their toddlers picking up messes off the lawn. When choosing a pet, it’s important to consider the child’s age and temperament. Responsibility should be the main aim.

Children and responsibility

Teaching table manners is relatively easy if you keep an eye on a child at the dinner table. Teahing children to share may be more difficult but teaching responsibility may be harder still. Using a living, breathing and feeling animal to teach the basics of responsibility may not be the best starting point.

Responsibility comes with consequences and in the case of owning a pet, an animal is either negatively or positively affected. Children should be taught how to love and respect animals. They will learn kindness and empathy as a result. They should also be taught about the animals themselves.

But giving a puppy to a four year old, for example, isn’t going to help in terms of instilling a sense of responsibility. A child of that age doesn’t understand consequences and is therefore too young to take on the job.

What’s the best time to get a pet?

Having a cat or a puppy as part of the household can add to the richness of a child’s life. Err on the side of safety and get an age appropriate pet. Will your seven year old remember to change the dog’s water every day? Will your three year old possibly be bitten by the new puppy?

Perhaps the best age appropriate dividing line is this: when a child is able to sit down to do his or her homework on his or her own accord, he or she is ready to be taught about the responsibilities and consequences of owning a pet.

A pet should be seen as a member of the family. Learning responsibility should be seen as a side effect of owning a pet.

It becomes quite a thought process when decisions need to be made about the purchasing of home appliances and re-arranging space to suit. The decision becomes even more complicated when we have to think kid-friendly, as they also need to be considered in the day to day running of the household.

The eager beaver

Children get to a stage, some earlier than others, when they strive to help around the house, with mom in the kitchen or with dad in the shed. Parents should never see this as a burden, as this is a brilliant chance for kids to become responsible around the home and, in turn, all aspects of life.

The appliances in the home should be accessible to the children and also height friendly, carefully spaced out and safe.

Author, Annye Rothenberg of Perfect Parenting Press says that ‘By starting at this young age when they’re eager, you get them accustomed to pitching in, and by five years old they can start doing regular family tasks.’

Choices

Making sure that the kids are safe when assisting; makes them comfortable and makes adults less anxious in accepting the help. Nowadays many products such as washing machines, dishwashers and ovens are manufactured with locking mechanisms on the handles or doors to prevent little ones from opening it. Another fabulous feature is the heat indicator found on certain hobs, which shows mom and child that the plate is still hot or an induction cooktop that does not heat up at all, only the cooking vessel heats up.

The Hamilton electric mixer is a child-friendly, free standing mixer with a locking bowl that makes it sturdy enough that it doesn’t wobble yet still easy enough for a six year old to change attachments’ and add ingredients. Samsung launched a French door refrigerator which is completely child friendly with what they call an EZ handle which is at a height made for kids to reach and get their favourite snack.

Spacing and simplicity

Seeing as the kitchen is now sorted with appliances, it is a good idea to keep all areas around the home open and well-spaced. Thinking practical about the purchases you make for your home is the first step to ensuring simplicity. Megan Kane, interior designer and mother of 3, says “In order to make your house child-friendly, you could paint it dark and cover everything in plastic. But the better solution is to design the house anticipating all those little mistakes kids and husbands make—as in, make everything washable.”

Leave space for a wooden stool/stepstool so that kids can reach countertops or light switches. Have a cupboard or drawer for each child, which they can reach, for their own stuff like stationery, baking equipment or snacks. Keep a drawer in the kitchen as a ‘play drawer’ with plastic ware, bits and bobs to keep your little one occupied while you cook.

Putting it all together

Basically, kids need space to play and explore as the type of comfortability and independence they are allowed in the home will be a big factor in their development as adults. Don’t wait for the kids to be all grown up and moved out to buy new appliances and furniture, as they need to learn responsibility and respect for the things around them, now.

Losing a parent or a loved one is always difficult but the way the next of kin copes will depend on many different factors. Dr Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, expert on the subjects of death and dying, believed that the relationship between the child and the parent, as well as the age of the deceased parent and the child, plays a significant role. The child’s bereavement period will also be affected by loved ones giving him or her permission to mourn.

Babies and the loss of a parent

If a baby loses a parent in the first few months of life, it is possible to keep the baby happy as long as all the baby’s physical needs are consistently catered for.

‘If the child is very young and has had little time for bonding with a parental figure, almost any parent substitute like a grandma can relatively easily replace a young mother, and the infant will not suffer or show any signs of mourning – which takes place when the baby’s emotional quadrant has already developed,’ wrote Kubler-Ross.

A baby will show more physical symptoms of loss if bonding has already taken place with the mother. The baby may cry, may not be able to sleep, regress to earlier behaviour and cling to familiar people. Babies faced with the loss of a parent require dedicated nurturing and loving care.

Pre-school children and the loss of a parent

‘It is the pre-school child who will react worst when a mother and/or father dies suddenly,’ wrote Kubler-Ross. That’s because a pre-school child can’t perceive death as a permanent situation. The child may look everywhere for the missing parent or believe that they were the cause of the parent’s disappearance.

A child may become overly well-behaved and helpful to appease the missing parent. ‘It is important for grown-ups to become aware of this behaviour and neither compliment the child too much for “being such a good child,” nor discourage them. A repeated statement that one cannot cause mommy’s death by thinking or behaviour may eventually sink in.’

Permission to mourn

Kubler-Ross advised that ‘it is only when the surviving parent, or perhaps a grandparent, has had a good talk and a good cry over the death of a the child’s parent that the child can give himself permission to acknowledge the death of one of the parents and begin the actual mourning process.’

She wrote that relatives can do much to help a child get through the mourning process without scars. This can be done by sharing memories, laughing and crying together. ‘If families can cry and talk together about the happy memories they share of the much missed person, the real process of bereavement can be greatly enhanced.’

Anybody who has lost a loved should be encouraged to take their time to heal and mourn in their own way. A baby or child should receive consistent and dedicated physical care, warmth and love.

Reproductions are built in the style of a certain period whereas a fake piece is a deliberate attempt at deception. It’s unlikely that you’ll come across a fake antique – the chances are higher that you’ll cross paths with a reproduction though. An item may have started its life as a reproduction some time ago and eventually, after changing hands a few times, it may appear to be the real thing. Inspecting the wood may reveal the truth.

Weight, width and shrinkage in wood

Really old furniture was made with heavy wood, while more recent pieces would be ‘lightweight’ in comparison. Table tops didn’t always have same-width boards and the boards were wider than what we would see today. One wouldn’t easily find contemporary cabinet wood measuring 18 to 20 inches wide.

There are likely to be signs of shrinkage across the grain of the wood, too, although this will be more the case with softwoods than hardwoods. Splitting or cracks in the wood are a natural occurrence in very old pieces.

Old wooden pieces will not have perfectly even surfaces. Feel for valleys and hills by running your fingertips over the top and underside of a piece. Check the underside for evidence of tool marks – because craftsmen of old didn’t waste time planing unexposed surfacing.

Patina and colour in wood

Look out for that particular glow that age brings to wood. Old wooden pieces will have built up a patina over time and this is fairly impossible to duplicate.

Old wood is also darker than new wood. A small scratch with a knife on the underside of a piece can help identify how old a piece is. Old wood will be dark all the way through whereas a newer piece will be light-coloured under the surface.

Do you think you know everything there is to know about your little one? Have you read every single parenting book on the market and think there is nothing left to learn? Parenting can be an uphill battle and one thing is for sure – just when you think you have it all figured out, your child can prove you wrong. On a lighter note, here are some facts that will lend some comfort in what can be a time of great doubt.

Your child’s height

You can predict what your child’s height will be when they are fully grown at certain stages in their young life. It is said that if you take your child’s height at two years and double it then you get their height as an adult. Girls will grow faster than boys in a young age so at primary school your son may be shorter than your daughter but don’t worry – his growth spurt will come.

A wise child

Certain things can help improve brain function in children. Learning to play a musical instrument at a young age can help to improve your child’s motor and listening skills because of the degree of concentration and memorising that comes when learning to play the piano or guitar. On another note your child’simaginary friends are normal and provide a type of comfort blanket for your child that can help to build their confidence – imaginary friends can also keep your children away from television as they learn to play outdoors or share toys.

Your child’s personality

A lot of your child’s personality may be hereditary and you may find them developing some of your nervous ticks or habits. Some studies say that your child’s personality is fully formed by the first grade and is unlikely to change drastically throughout their life. This study broke down personalities into four main traits – talkativeness, adaptability, impulsiveness and humility – and examined the correlation between personalities of people as children and later on as adults.

So if you want to predict how your child will be as an adult or you just want to enjoy the ride the choice is entirely up to you, but enjoy each stage of their life because time truly does fly by!

If your little ones turn their noses up at broccoli and flee in horror at the mention of spinach you have to get creative when it comes to making sure they eat healthily. You may be surprised by some of the strategies that work – you’re not limited to sneaking vegetables into pasta sauce and blending. Getting kids involved in gardening, letting them eat raw vegetables like carrots with dip for a snack and adding sauces to broccoli and spinach can make all the difference.

Get gardening

Studies have shown that children who grow vegetables are more likely to eat them. A YMCA summer camp programme called ‘Delicious and Nutritious Garden’ had American children working in a garden growing fruit and vegetables. After the programme 98 per cent of the kids involved said they liked the taste of the produce they had helped grow. Growing baby tomatoes and salad leaves is a great way to get started. Both grow quickly and easily and they don’t need much space.

Go raw

Raw vegetables are packed with nutrients that can get lost in the cooking process. Choose sweet, brightly coloured vegetables, cut them into sticks and arrange them around a plate with something to dip them in. Most kids love the colour, the crunch and the taste of raw vegetables. Use sweet red and yellow peppers, carrots, cucumber (cut into fingers) and peas in the pod. Serve with healthy homemade hummus or cottage cheese.

Something saucy

While putting cheese sauce on it isn’t the healthiest thing you can do with broccoli and cauliflower, very few children will turn it down. And if the sauce is homemade, you can keep it healthy by using low-fat milk and some parmesan to add flavour rather than a huge handful of cheese. Creamed spinach is also a real winner and putting creamed sweet corn in gem squash will get the fussiest of children eating it.

If you are going the pasta sauce route, try this recipe. It packs in tomatoes, carrots, celery and courgette and you can’t go wrong serving it with alphabet pasta.

It’s been found that if mums-to-be stop smoking in the early stages of pregnancy their babies will be born at a normal weight. Women have as long as it takes for the pregnancy to be confirmed to give up smoking and dramatically improve the health of their babies. These findings come from the biggest study on smoking and pregnancy ever held, with 50,000 pregnancies and their outcomes having been observed.

Hard proof that quitting helps

Researchers compared the birth weight of babies whose mothers had smoked while pregnant with that of mothers who gave up in the early stages of pregnancy. The women who stopped smoking at conception or when the pregnancy was confirmed seriously cut the risk of complications that comes with a low birth weight.

‘Mothers who smoke are encouraged to stop smoking when they become pregnant but, to date, there was little evidence that giving up at this late stage could have a positive effect on birth weight, so we can now give couples hard proof that making the effort to stop smoking once pregnancy is confirmed is beneficial for their baby,’ said Professor Nick Macklon, a gynaecologist at Southampton’s Princess Anne hospital.

Premature birth risk lowered

Macklon said that if infants can develop healthily during pregnancy without being exposed to tobacco smoke there is also a lower risk of premature birth, which comes with complications like brain damage, cleft lip and illnesses later in life.

A smaller baby doesn’t mean an easier pregnancy

Macklon also commented on a ‘worrying trend’ where women choose to smoke while pregnant to give birth to a smaller baby. He said: ‘It is important that people who believe that a smaller baby means an easier birth take into account the increased risks of complicated deliveries in smokers as well as the risk of disease later in life which goes with low birth weight.’

Many of us hate the idea of going to the dentist or doctor so it is only understandable that children should feel the same. Many children are terrified of going to the health clinic and cringe at the possibility of getting an injection or having their teeth pulled out. As it’s vital that children see the dentist and doctor, it makes sense to help them get over their fears as early as possible.

Introducing the idea

Many children hear horror stories from their peers about the dreaded dentist and doctor and the only way to get rid of these notions is to counter them with positive ideas. Talk to your child about what they can expect from a visit to the doctor or dentist and show them pictures of what they might see when they get there. If you have the time, ask your dentist or doctor if you can arrange a small visit just so that your child can see what they will be experiencing as a patient. The more your child knows, the less fear there will be of the unknown.

Be honest

Most children associate going to the doctor or dentist with pain and they all fear the dreaded ‘shot’. If they ask about what they may experience, do not lie to them. If you promise that your child will not get an injection and they do, this will only make your next visit much harder. It is best to be honest and perhaps explain that the pain they might feel is nothing in comparison to what they may have already experienced. Reassure them and encourage them to be brave and face their fear.

It might also help if the dentist or doctor comes across as just another human being rather than being classified by what they do. Explain that like all other people, these men and women have families and can also feel pain just like their patients do. Try to reduce the difference between the two so that your child feels more confident.