Dr. Indira Mallya

It is possible to raise generous children by setting a good role model and consistently using simple ways at home to learn behaviours that comprise Generosity.

Generosity needs a warm heart, social awareness and a giving nature. Developmentally speaking, it is too early to expect young children to be generous. However a solid foundation may be laid at preschool level, when they can be coaxed to share things, albeit reluctantly. It is only at kindergarten level that they become smarter and learn to compromise and share their possessions, in order to avoid their friend’s displeasure or parting of ways.
As a mother, you can infuse the habit of sharing with others, whenever you feel your child is ready. Later, you can start including other behaviours depicting generosity. You should not feel burdened with this task nor worry about taking out time for the same. Let us enumerate some simple ways to help you fulfill this role.

Provide a good model

• Demonstrate your own giving nature and the habit of sharing things with family and friends, consistently.
• Appreciate and praise your children when they are generous with each other or with their friends.
• A warm hug now and then will also work wonders.
• Show disapproval to selfishness in a firm and consistent manner.
• Keeping your family values in mind, identify the most important behaviours of showing generosity, which your child can learn. Be practical and set simple goals which can be achieved by him, without any pressure.
  You may focus on behaviours such as sharing, showing kindness to animals and being sociable with family and friends. Slowly, you may advance to other behaviours, keeping your child’s pace in mind.

 

• Fulfill the behaviours with simple actions
  Following are a few examples:
  • Ask your child to help lay the dining table.
  • And, to say sorry if he has hurt someone.
  • Persuade your child to at least share one toy with his sibling.
  • Also seek his help in sorting out toys to be donated to his school or given away to the maid’s child. Involve him while handing over the toys.
  • Invoke family kinship as and when your child shows selfishness for instance, by saying “Our family believes in sharing, so let your little sister have that extra doll you have.”

 

• Or with simple activities
  • Help your child in making birthday or get well cards for family and friends. Encourage him to personalize them.
  • Read books or tell stories to your child on the following themes:
  • Children who look after their pet animals and nurture adopted plants at home.
  • Siblings and peers who help each other and happily share toys, books and other things.
  • Children living in less fortunate circumstances may need some help from others. Pictures will help illustrate the story.
  • Have free discussions with your child as to why some people are more fortunate than others. Show pictures and give lots of examples at his level, to better understand the concepts.
  • Take your child’s help when sorting out material for charity. Take him along with you if you can, when handing over the material. This inculcates the value of giving to the ones in need.
  • If possible show your child a less fortunate neighbourhood.
    Ask him some questions later, to gauge what he has learnt from the visit.

Be ready!
Be ready to answer your child’s questions as and when he is learning the behaviours comprising Generosity, set by you. Be sure to be consistent in your practice.
Once he picks up the initial ones, advance to other behaviours.
A little effort from you will go a long way in helping your child become a generous person as he grows up.

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Meta sentence: It is possible to live in a clutter free house by putting a system in place with the help of all family members

Moms always complain about their children driving them crazy with the mess and clutter they leave in the whole house. No amount of requests and admonishments faze their wards, so the mothers end up cleaning the mess and clutter themselves.
In such cases a system has to be put in place to make the house clutter free and relieve the mom of extra, clean up duties. Above all, the children themselves will be able to learn to pick up after themselves.
Do not fret moms! Here are some tips to help you work towards clearing up the clutter and mess in your house. Try them out.

Be a good model to your child.
Be systematic and clutter free yourself, as children learn by observing and modeling adult behaviours.

Use a democratic method of disciplining your child at all times.
This method will help your child understand that cluttering will always be frowned upon and invite some disciplinary action from you.

Purge one room at a time
Ensure that all family members work as a team at all times for cleaning up each room as it will save time and energy. First, select a room and gather all the redundant and useless materials from it. Segregate the materials that can be donated and throw away the rest without a second look.
Repeat this exercise for cleaning up all the rooms.

Have a place for everything
After you clean up the house of all the useless materials, designate a place for every category of materials such as, clothes, bags, toys, games and so on, in the given rooms.
If need be rearrange or install hooks, racks, cupboards and other storage items. After that ensure that everyone tries hard to stick to the maxim of “Place everything in its own place”.

Keep storage bins for temporary storage
To continue having a clutter free house, keep some bins at strategic places in select areas and rooms of the house. Each family member tosses things in the designated bin, for temporary storage. Stick a picture to help children identify the right bin .At a selected time all members can help put each material where it belongs. Repeat, till it becomes a habit.

Make a special system for your child

• Assign a place for your child to play and make a mess.
• Teach him to clean up from time to time and put things in their right place, instead of scattering them around.
• When you buy new toys and games, either rotate them or donate the old ones with your child’s help. Thus, your child will not be overwhelmed with the burden of keeping a pile of things, systematically.
• Store your child’s day to day clothing, toys, games and school materials segregated and within reach to promote self help. Label each category of storage place with a corresponding picture to the materials stored.
• Everyday, before going to bed, you and your child can keep together his packed school or daycare bag, water bottle and lunch box for the next morning, at one place, for your easy reach. Your child’s uniform, school badge, socks and shoes may be placed together in his room within his reach.
  Use a checklist if necessary.
  Your daily inputs will save you a lot of running around and turning things upside down to search for things at the last moment.

The article offers tips to mothers to remove the mess and clutter, especially created by their children at home. If all the family members participate in this exercise, it will help conserve time and energy of mothers and develop in others the habit of picking up after themselves.
With a little patience and lot of practice, mothers will be able to work out their own system for keeping the house clutter free.

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Help young children embrace the outdoors through creative use of space, play and related experiences. Your inputs will accrue benefits in different areas of their development.

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For most toddler group leaders life is busy – sometimes too busy. … could you do that would really go the extra mile in caring for and supporting your parents.

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A toddler between 18 to 30 months is frisky and temperamental needing constant supervision, care and mother’s nurturance. Therefore, toddlers may find it difficult to settle in a daycare centre for long hours amidst unknown adults and children of varying ages, many of whom seek attention from time to time. However, if you seriously want to send your toddler to a daycare centre, there will be trained staff in early childhood care and education and support staff to act as substitute caretakers to look after your child’s developmental needs and requirements. They will also help your child adjust to the group setting. Let us delve into the pros and cons comprising advantages and disadvantages, to help you make an informed choice about a good daycare centre for your toddler.

Advantages

• First of all, a formal day care centre is licensed and regulated by local authorities. Being a group care for children from infancy to middle childhood, it is affordable, unless flashing a huge brand name.
• A good daycare centre offers a daily program which includes meals, sleep time, play and co-curricular activities with close supervision both indoors and outdoors.
• There is the provision of nutritious meals, age-appropriate activities, and hands-on experiences for children. Sufficient space and materials are provided at all times.
• Facilities such as first aid and paediatric consultations are provided whenever needed. Most daycare centres are equipped with a hygienic kitchen, clean bathrooms and changing areas, and individual cubbies for children’s belongings.
• Nowadays it is mandatory to have a closed circuit surveillance to upgrade the children’s security.
• Many daycare centres maintain regular contacts with parents to discuss the health and welfare of their wards.

Disadvantages

• It is usually a challenge to find good daycare centres that meet all your expectations. For instance, the preferred one may be either full or far away from your residence, with rigid hours for dropping and collecting your child.
• If there are many younger children at the centre, the staff will be hard-pressed to meet their individual needs, especially as it is easy for little children to fall sick in group care.
• Many centres compromise on some aspects of their program which fall outside the ambit of the prescribed norms. For instance, on some days the support staff may bundle younger children together in smaller spaces, during nap time, for personal convenience.
• The holidays followed by the centre may not match with your holidays as a working mother, so you may have to make alternative arrangements on those days.
• You may have to drop off your toddler early in the morning with his extra clothes, munchies, and water, which may be very inconvenient for you.

The advantages of a dycare far outweighs the disadvantages at such centres.
It is important for you to study the pros and cons of daycare and narrow down a few choices. It is then advisable to visit these centres to observe the setting and meet the staff and parents before you make a final decision.