Below is a message from "Daily Strength", sent to me by my loving husband, that discusses ways to get your child to stop, listen and obey. I thought it was good. You can decide what you think.

Getting Your Child To Stop, Listen and Heed Your Warning

By Cyndi January 14, 2009 12:31am

Today I heard a story about a mom who, watching her small child walk dangerously close to the street, yelled "danger". The child stopped in his tracks and returned to his mother. Through your children's young life there will be many moments of worry, anxiety and even panic at the thought of your child getting injured. This is all part of parenthood. This story reminded me of how important it is to be clear with our children and to teach them to heed our warnings. Of course we can't protect them from all the possible mishaps in life but we can instill in them a sense of awareness and a healthy sense of caution. I emphasize "healthy sense" because we don't want them to become anxious or afraid of taking any risks. That is all part of being a child. But when the moment calls for an immediate response to your admonitions, how can you best prepare for your child's safety?

While there is no perfect answer to this questions there are some useful tools we can use from the very moments we start to use the word "no". So often I see parents gently telling their small child not to touch something hot or breakable and they do this with a loving smile on their face. This is confusing to anyone, let alone a being that is just learning the subtle nuances of communication. I have even seen parents admonish their child for some inappropriate or mean behavior with this same accepting and even cheerful smile. Their expressions belie their words and do little in the way of teaching. In fact, often facial expressions carry more weight than the actual spoken word. As children get older they become incredibly sensitive to a look or a glance that means Mom or Dad has had enough and sometimes a glance is all that is needed to redirect behavior.

Here are some communication tips to keep in mind when teaching your small children to respond to a serious warning you are giving:

1) Make sure your face reflects the seriousness of the message. Your voice doesn't need to be loud just firm and clear.

2) For very small children use a hand gesture like putting your palm up or shaking a finger to signal "no".

3) Role play what may have occurred if the child completed the action. For example, if they were about to touch something hot and you stopped them, pretend that you touched the item and then act as if you were hurt by pretending to cry and holding the supposed injury.

4) Be aware of how often you use the word "no" because it can begin to lose its meaning. Chose a word like "danger" for moments that you need an immediate response such as the mother who was able to stop her child from walking into the street.

Getting our children to listen can be challenging at times but in crucial moments there is no room for error. Obviously the best thing we can do is to keep a close eye on our little ones and help them learn what is safe and what is dangerous. As any parent can tell you, it only takes a split second for your small child to get into a precarious situation and having the tools to quickly redirect them could make all the difference in the world.

Stomach Viruses

Uggghhh, really...why do they have to exist? Nausea to me is just one of the most unpleasant feelings we can have. Of course....there's so many discomforts out there I haven't experienced...but out of the ones I know.

I saw my son throw up for the first time ever besides the regular spit ups they get as babies, on Sunday. He's now almost 21 months. I had just fed him strawberries and about 20 minutes later they all came up. I thought the strawberries were bad b/c they are out of season and were on sale at HEB. It's a terrible site to see someone or hear someone feeling the pain of throwing up. Especially such a little one.

I came to find out on Tuesday night that, that strawberries were not the case. I found out after my brother and his girlfriend showed up to surprise me. Almost 48 hours later, I'm pretty sure my brother was second guessing his visit. My dad also came. All of them have gotten this stupid bug and I've now figured out that it's air borne.

I spent most of this week cleaning which includes washing, drying, and disinfecting. Here's some info I found online about stomach viruses. There's a lot I didn't know. There's not a lot of preventing air borne stuff.

Hope this is helpful.

r Release: Tuesday, December 6, 2005

HEALTH DEPT. OFFERS TIPS ON FIGHTING STOMACH FLU

The Allegheny County Health Department is offering tips on how to prevent and control the spread of “stomach flu,” which occurs more frequently during the winter months and can be highly contagious.

The intestinal illness is usually caused by noroviruses, which can spread easily and rapidly from person to person in households and other environments where people have frequent and close physical contact.

Symptoms typically include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps. While stomach flu isn’t related to influenza, a respiratory illness, in some cases people with norovirus also have influenza-like symptoms such as a fever, chills, headache and muscle aches.

Stomach flu starts suddenly, but is usually brief, lasting only one or two days. It is generally not serious, however some people can feel very ill with frequent vomiting and diarrhea. They should drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration, especially the very young and the elderly.

Noroviruses are found in the stool and vomit of infected people and can be passed to others by consumption of contaminated food or water, hand-to-mouth contact after touching contaminated surfaces or objects, direct contact with an infected person and even through the air when virus particles are aerosolized in the process of vomiting.

Because people are contagious from the time they feel ill to at least three days after recovery, it is very important for them to use good handwashing and personal hygiene practices while they are sick and after they have recently recovered. Since there are many different strains of norovirus, recurring infections are possible.

Health officials offer the following tips to prevent and control the spread of norovirus:

• Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after using the toilet or changing diapers and before handling, preparing or eating food.
• Alcohol-based hand sanitizers and wipes do not kill certain bacteria and viruses, but soap and water can wash some of the infectious particles from the hands.
• Use disposable paper towels to dry your hands instead of re-using a cloth towel.
• People who are sick should not prepare, serve or handle food for others.
• Wash hands after caring for a sick person and handling items they might have soiled.\
• Clean surfaces contaminated after an episode of illness by rinsing the surface with clear water, swabbing the area with a bleach solution containing a half-cup of household bleach per gallon of water, and allowing it to air dry. Noroviruses can survive 3-4 weeks at room temperature, and many common disinfectants don’t kill them.
• Immediately remove and launder in hot water and detergent any clothing or linens that may be contaminated with virus after an episode of illness.
• Launder bath and wash towels in hot water and detergent after every cleanup and use.
• Wear rubber gloves when handling or cleaning up vomit or stool.
• Steam cleaning is recommended for cleaning carpets soiled with vomit.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces in the home on a regular basis. Spray paper or cloth towels with a cleaning agent or bleach solution and then wipe the surface, instead of spraying the surface first, which can cause virus particles to become airborne and settle on other surfaces.

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Sharing tips

Little discoveries are so exciting these days.

I'm always searching for parenting tips, techniques, and tricks. Here's a few of my latest. They may already be well known. # three I learned in school and from Suppernanny.

1. While clipping fingernails, set your toddler on the sink and let his/her feet dangle in. Turn on the water and let them be entertained while you clip.

2. Bungie chairs together at the table so they can't pull them out and climb on them. Our chairs are across from each other. 4 chairs, 2 on one side, 2 on the other.

3. Keep placing them where they need to be when they resist or fight it.

I'll explain three. When we were visiting Scott's family at Christmas, we had the luxury of having a bedroom at the grandparents house. This is quite an honor. There's three bedrooms and the families with little kids who need naps and early bed times get a room. So some people stay at a hotel or on the floor. Well, we always bring the pack n play for Zachary.

After I set him down for a nap one day, I went downstairs to read. A few minutes later Nanny, Scott's grandmother, came in the room carrying Zachary. She said, "he was coming down the stairs". Oh great. So now he can climb out of the pack n play.

So I went to put him back down. He was ready for a game. He would pop up everytime I laid him back down. So I was getting frustrated. I knew spanking him just wouldn't get the right message across. He wouldn't understand that. I don't want to do it anyway. I continued to lay him back down every time he got up. Eventually he quit fighting me and just cried while laying there. A few minutes later he tried it again and I did the same. Well it worked. I got the idea from classes and from Suppernanny. She used the trick getting kids to bed in the elementary ages. I was glad it worked. Behavior modification techniques are great to learn about.

Watering the Dog

Yesterday Scott and I went on a walk with Zachary and Sandy the dog. Usually, every time we take a walk with Sandy, he always ends up barking balistically at certain houses we pass with dogs in the backyard. And if we pass another dog being walked...forget it. One time there was a stray dog roaming. I was by myself with Zachary and we were two streets away from home. That was a disaster walk.

So anyhow, I had been meaning to buy a water gun that works and does not leak. I had bought one about a month ago and it leaked before we even took it outside. My friend Mollie suggested taking a water gun on our walks and squirting Sandy when he barked and went crazy at other dogs. She said it worked well with her dog. Sandy hates water. He always runs when I get the hose out to water the garden.

Well for some reason I haven't been able to locate water guns at the stores I happen to look at. Really, in San Antonio, TX??? So yesterday I filled my watering can with water and took it on our walk.

My advice to you. DO try this with your dogs if they don't like to be watered. It worked great!! Sandy would turn around and look at us if he saw that watering can coming near and resume the sophisticated dog walking model dog as opposed to frantically barking, running, turning in circles, and backing his rear into the stroller (I don't know why he does that but it leaves tire marks on him).

I wonder if some people would think it's cruel, but I prefer it over spanking the dog. And it works much better anyway. So if you have dog walking problems with a dog afraid of water, water your dog.


Here is Sandy's first day at our house after I found him roaming our neighborhood.