Lead by Example

Watch this Australian public service announcement video posted on Youtube to see just how much your actions (or inactions) can rub off on your child. The PSA was created by Childfriendly Australia, an initiative by the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) in Australia.

Forget sports figures and Hollywood actors, you are the role-model for your child. If they are looking to emulate you, what are they going to learn? How are they going to act?

The video sends a pretty powerful message.

Picture credits: cesarastudillo
Thanks to Jake McKee for the video link

She’s Expecting, Now What?

She’s expecting, congratulations! And now that the euphoria has worn off and you are done fielding calls of congratulations, what next? What do you do? Let me make it simple for you, the answer is: everything! Everything you can do to make life easier for her. It may seem like a lot when you have to start doing a lot more around the house but keep in mind, you have easy part.

This whole process amazes me everyday. From the ultrasounds, to the doctor’s visits and feeling the baby move it is absolutely mind blowing. This article is a summary of my life as a dad-to-be so far and I hope it can help you out too.

Some days are better than others
Especially in the beginning your wife will have good days and bad. Doing even the littlest of things can help her cope in the beginning. I must have lost 5 pounds in the first 2 months walking up and down the stairs every time my wife needed something. If your wife currently does the grocery shopping, jump in and get it done. Check out my grocery shopping tip here. Don’t complain about it, just do it!

Read the Book
There are plenty of pregnancy books on the market and I did a short review of the book I found most helpful. The book explains the changes that your wife is going through week by week. It also details what she should and should not do, what drugs she can’t take, how best to exercise and much more. There are plenty of tips in there for you too.

Go to the Doctor’s Visits
If you can, go to as many office visits with your wife as possible. I have found it very insightful to hear the progress from the doctor and also to hear about what to expect in the coming weeks. Also, there are plenty of times where she will have to get blood tests done and I know I felt better being there with her then if she had to go to the visit alone.

If you are going through this for the second time, what did you learn the first time around? What tips can you share with me or with the rest of the readers? I’d love to hear your comments!

Deal with the Bully

Bullied children show signs of depression, anxiety, isolation and are at risk of suicide. Researchers in England have set out to prove that bullying alone is responsible for these feelings and not the social settings (poverty and poorer neighborhoods) in which these children live.

The research team looked at over 1,000 twin pairs from a nationally representative group of children in England and Whales and found just over 100 where one child was bullied and the other was not. In that subsection of twin children, the bullied child showed significantly more signs of internalized issue. Read more on the study here.

Here are some great resources for dealing with bullies:

• Dealing with Bullies
• How Kids can put Bullies in their Place - without force of violence
• Dealing with Bullies and How Not to be One

Music for Young Ears

Portable music players have advanced so much in recent years that we are listening to them a lot more frequently and for longer periods of time. Improved battery life, rechargeable batteries and increased storage space allow us to listen for hours on end. This can lead to irreversible hearing loss if the listening volume is set too high.

This is especially important for children to realize as they may not understand the damage that can happen. As well, they are listening to music in noisier atmospheres which leads to increased listening levels to overcome the background noise.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has adapted the government standards for workplace noise to say that the safe listening levels is 90 decibels for 8 hours a day. If the listening level is raised by 3 decibels, the safe exposure time drops by half. By contrast, research has found that an iPod at peak levels is 115 decibels which is equivalent to sandblasting or a loud rock concert.

Apple provides a volume limit control on their iPod product line to allow you to set the maximum volume for your child’s iPod and lock it with a combination so they cannot change it. Also, Apple has applied for a patent that will further help control the volume level on their iPods by reducing the volume over time during a listening session.

Noise canceling headphones will help offset the need to increase the volume while listening in noisy surroundings. Combined with setting the max listening volume, you can help protect the young ears in your household.