Coping With Toddlyertoynitis August 28, 2008

Your baby rolls over and reaches for a toy – suddenly you realize that your baby will start to play with some of the presents which he or she was given at birth. It is all very exciting, you get a toy box for the corner of the room and at the end of play you put it all away. So easy!

Suddenly your toddler has more toys than a toy shop, they all seem to have a thousand pieces and the thought of putting them away has become a horrifying nightmare. Every book and every professional nanny will tell you that the way forward is to get your child to do ‘tidy up time’. Tidy up time is great – when it works you feel that you both deserve a reward and suddenly you can see how parenting should work – unfortunately you have a couple of bad days where things end up in the wrong boxes, then all of a sudden you realize that nothing has a proper home anymore, it all just gets put away so it is out of sight! On close inspection you realize that there are cars in every box and drawer, the train track which you used to so lovingly put away is missing a handful of pieces ….

Now you have several options, you could diligently go through them all, sort them out and then try to get tidy up time to become more efficient. In the mean time it will be down to you to try to keep all the relevant toy pieces together.

You could be firm and go through the toys, work out which ones are now too young for your toddler and pass them onto a child of a more suitable age.

There is a third way, this is one of the hidden secrets of parenting, it allows you to succeed at tidy up time; to keep the toys in order, and to be able to see the floor if you have unexpected guests, also you can keep the toys so they can be used by a younger sibling.

It’s easy, you find a space where you child cannot go without you; a room where they cannot open the door or a cupboard they cannot open. Inside here you carefully arrange the toys in boxes. You need to leave something accessible, a general toy box full of the bits and pieces of toys which don’t have a home anywhere else, and another toy which you will need to choose quiet carefully. The second toy needs to be something that several children can play with in case you have children to visit and you have not planned anything. It also needs to be a toy which your child will not get bored of too quickly, perhaps a box of Lego, or stickle bricks, something with lots of different applications. Now comes the important part – if your child wants to play with any of the toys in the cupboard then you just have to make sure that the toys from the general box and the other toy have been put away before the special toy comes out of the cupboard. The good bit about this is that you should never have more than two toys boxes worth to clear away, even if tidy up time at the end of the day completely fails.

Don’t get stressed about the chaos of a toddler, just get a bit tough and you will all find life a lot easier, and you will suddenly discover how much more space you have created for your child to play in.

 

All Nannies Are Not Created Equal July 24, 2008

All nannies are not created equal, however, nannies are employed by parents to care for their children in the family home, and they will be suitable for parents who need flexible childcare. No, nannies are not registered and their work is not inspected as they work at your home. Many nannies are mainly motivated by love the struggle for power usually does not exist between mother and nanny. Nannies are paid a salary or hourly wage and the family is responsible for paying the employers share of her taxes and social security. Nannies are back in vogue and people will pay anything for a good one.

Professional nannies are usually between the ages of 18 and 50, and may hold some advanced degree in early childhood development. There are a number of national and international professional associations representing nannies and nanny agencies. Both students and professional nannies will benefit from reading books on nannies. Many of today’s professional nannies attend workshops designed for parents and / or professionals who work with children. Many of the professional nannies take care of the laundry, cleaning tiding up which related to the child and some even cook for the children.

A nanny is someone experienced and/or qualified in childcare. Providing a professional and friendly service designed to offer adaptable childcare solutions to families and nurseries. There are a number of options when it comes to childcare. Family childcare providers have flexible hours and daily routines, but may work long or unusual hours to fit parents’ work schedules. Training for children is usually not required for someone to be a nanny but sometimes nannies do have some type of childcare qualification.

There are many advantages to using an Agency for both parents and Nannies if the Agency is of a high standard and reputable. When using a nanny agency, you must find out exactly what type of screening process they use to hire nannies. Working with an agency is a good option for nannies. If you’ve avoided using an agency altogether, it’ll be up to you to screen the nannies. You could also use the internet and connect with an agency that specializes in placing nannies.

When you hire a nanny they are almost like a substitute mother that will teach and nurture and keep them safe and out of harms way. Nannies are full-time caregivers that either live in your home or travel daily to your family. Many nannies are happy to work part-time. But since nannies are in very short supply, and it also cuts down on the paperwork, many employers also pay the nanny’s portion of that tax. In most cases, professional nannies are not responsible for general housekeeping. Nannies are mostly female and traditionally, the nanny was a servant of the house, who used to report directly to the lady of the house.

Citinannies.net was created for finding exceptional care for children and elders alike in a secure environment.    The website service offers “prescreened” users the ability to locate each other from the comfort of their own home, 24 hours a day from our secure website.    The online recruiting process is designed to offer users a high quality recruiting experience at an affordable cost.     Find your trusted nanny today at www.citinannies.net.