Happy Chinese New Year!

Understanding Your Children

We are uniquely created by God. Isaiah 44:24 says, "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb..." God molded uniquely, so our children have unique and different attitudes or personalities from us. It is important to understand these attitudes to help us motivate our children and
raise them to be the best that they can be.

You may have a spirited child or what is commonly referred to as difficult or strong-willed child. These kids exhibit great energy.  They are quick to understand and notice change and are uncomfortable with change. They are sensitive and persistent. Or you may have the extreme type - the easy one or the more predictable child who sees new experiences in a positive way.

A child’s reaction to his environment is strongly influenced by his temperament, his innate or unique quality. A difficult, strong-willed (and therefore challenging child to raise) child responds to his environment in a negative and intense way. As a baby, he can be described as a fussy infant. As a toddler, he is prone to temper tantrums and is difficult to please. Adapting poorly to changes and environment, these kids may have trouble adjusting in school. Be prepared to hear complaints from teachers or even parents as these kids will have difficulty adjusting in the new environment – classroom and school playground. If you have such a kid, it is very important to spend more time with him, explaining things to him and helping him adjust (slowly) to his new environment. Because of the tantrums that these kids have, you may get a stare from other parents and their classmates may not like them. It is at this stage that you need to teach your child the importance of the change. Your child must understand and agree that change is necessary for his growth, development and his future.

Children are blessings. But if you have an “easy”child, you have a blessing and a bonus. The easy child reacts to his environment in an easy manner. He has a positive mood and is calm. He easily adapts to a new environment so his first days in school will be a “walk in the park”. He is excited in his new environment and the new people that he meets. Like everyone else, he may encounter a frustrating situation but he would normally respond to it with very little anxiety.

It is important to understand your children and their temperament so you can choose the right words and motivation that will impact their life. In raising children you need to choose your words wisely as these growing years of these delicate ones play a vital role in what they will become in the future. As Frederick Douglass said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

Simple Living

 

The Christmas and New Year’s Eve festivities have just ended.  Because of the commercialized celebration, most of us were stressed (though we believe we had fun).  Thus, it is very important to distress ourselves and be reminded that we need to live a simple life.

Living a simple life can help reduce your stress and enable you to have an overall good attitude in life. We end up with so many to-do lists everyday. Because of this, anxiety kicks in. The ability to cut the anxiety that comes with the endless daily to-do lists will put you on your way to simple living. We all want to accomplish more with less stress, so hear some of my cut-out secrets to kicking anxiety out of the endless daily to-do lists and live a simple life this 2014.

Set a Routine.  Some people would say that routines are boring.  This may be true in some situations but if you are talking about to-do lists, then setting a routine will help you become an expert and enable you to accomplish more without the anxiety. Schedule a day or time to clean your house, go to the supermarket, pay bills or run errands.  Keep to this schedule and soon you will find that the task becomes automatic and you don’t have to put much effort or thought about it; thus, it lessens your anxiety.

Be Organized.  You will spend some time to do this, but once done it will be almost perfect and it will be easy to stay organized.  You likewise don’t have to spend time thinking where you kept things.  It thus saves you time and the anxiety of thinking and never finding things.

Pray and Exercise. For us, single moms every penny counts and every time with God is a precious gift.  Thus, we can combine both by walking daily for about 15 minutes and use that time to commune with God.  This is an exercise of the heart, mind, soul and body.  It will help you clear the clutter that may come your way. 

Spend Time with Family and Friends.  If you still have little ones, this is a must.  Your children need you more than they need your money.  Keep this in your daily schedule and enjoy the moment while it last.  Kids grow very fast and soon they will have their own company but if they grew up with you spending time with them, they will do the same with you even when they’ve grown up.  Keep connected with the rest of your family and friends especially with those from whom you get the gold nuggets of life; those you learn from and give your encouragement.

Focus on What is Important, quit being materialistic. Don’t work your heart out trying to get a big house, buy branded clothes, designer bags, go on a Caribbean cruise.  Remember, you don’t need these to live and enjoy life.  Life is simple joys spent with your kids.

Stop and Smell the Roses.  Enjoy nature; appreciate the refreshing wind on your skin, the warmth of the sun, the blue sky and the colorful flowers.  Nature has a magical way of distressing us.  Appreciation of nature is an antidote to loneliness and stress. Nature brings hope and peace to our soul.  Appreciation of nature brings a smile on our face.

Say What You Feel.  Be open with your emotions.  Do not try to hide it. It is easy to see when people are happy but it is sometimes difficult to know if a person is sad because most people try to hide bad feelings.  Never do this as this causes anxiety in your life.  This will cause you to feel overwhelmed and could lead to depression.  Be open and say what you feel and get it over with.  Do not stay long in a pity party.

Think Positive.  Start the year right with positive thoughts that you should carry starting now till forever.  Should negative thoughts come to mind, erase these immediately with thoughts of happiness, prosperity, love, joy, peace.  Soon you will realize that you are attracting these positive things and are being mirrored in your daily life.

Start the year right, live a simple life free from stress!