INFOGRAPHIC: How to Teach Your Kids to Be Prepared...For Anything!

We've got a great guest post today from Mike's Gear Reviews. Many thanks for this great information!

When it comes to survival skills, it’s sometimes hard to know where to start on your learning journey. Information can be obtained easily but is it always correct? You need to ensure that the right knowledge is being taken in and then cascaded down to your family, particularly your children.

Kids are impressionable and able to soak in new lessons like a sponge. Therefore, it’s important to get across key ideas from an early age and then gradually build upon this with further education as they become age appropriate.

If you plan well and get things organized, there’s so much to be gained from long term preparedness. Your kids will be able to take the lessons on-board and carry the crucial survival tips with them throughout their lives. The way you go about this can be executed with fun and adventurous games that can be played in the garden or your local park, through to family meetings and discussions.

Below you will find a helpful infographic provided by MIkesGearReviews which details numerous steps and ideas that you can implement to keep your family safe and secure and give your kids the tools they need to succeed and be prepared for anything.

Source: https://www.mikesgearreviews.com/teaching-kids-survival-preparedness/

What Can You Eat While You're Pregnant?

Many thanks to Vanessa over at New Mom Vintage for putting this infographic together and contributing this valuable information. 

A woman goes through a lot of phases when she is pregnant, morning sickness, mood swings, food cravings, et al. And none of it should ever be ignored since pregnancy is an important phase, and nothing should be ignored.

Take care of every small thing, make sure you are comfortable at all times, and have everything that you need. While I talk about this, I should also talk about something that is very important for a woman and her child's health. Food. While a pregnant woman wants to eat everything she craves, this should not be the case.

There are a lot of things that should not be consumed, no matter how much you crave it.

And we are here, with the complete list of things you can and can’t eat when pregnant to help you make safer eating decisions for your baby and yourself.

Don't miss our healthy recipes for sweet potato chips, energy balls, and almond maple popcorn.

Thanks again to Vanessa from New Mom Vintage for contributing this great information!

A Conversation About Postpartum Depression with Author Megan Cyrulewski

Mothers of infants and young children experience a lot of highs and lows. They don't get much sleep and can feel overwhelmed with all the new responsibility. On the other hand, watching a precious baby learn and grow is one of the most satisfying, joyous events a person can experience. Sometimes, in the midst of these highs and lows, mothers can get stuck in the very deep lows of postpartum depression. A babysitting co-op can be instrumental in helping a mother suffering from postpartum depression to cope with this difficult condition.

Author Meg Cyrulewski has taken the time to answer some of our questions about postpartum depression. Many thanks to Meg!

Co-op 101: How do you view postpartum depression now that you've been through it yourself?

Meg: I used to have a very narrow-minded view.  Coming from a law perspective (because I’m an attorney) I honestly thought that postpartum depression was a terrible defense like when Andrea Yates used it. Now having been through it myself, I can’t say I condone what she did but I can understand how she could have done what she did.  It’s just one of those things that you can’t really explain it to someone unless they’ve been through it.

Co-op 101: What advice do you give to women who are experiencing postpartum depression?

Meg: Never be ashamed to seek treatment.  I went to the psych ward in the hospital because I needed treatment ASAP so I could take care of my baby.

Co-op 101: What advice do you give friends and family members of women who are suffering from postpartum depression?

Meg: You may not understand what she feels, but just be there to support her.

Co-op 101: How can a community of friends support one another as they welcome new babies into their families?

Meg: Every child is different.  Just because my friend’s child started walking at 9 months doesn’t mean mine will - and there’s nothing wrong with it.  Just have fun with each other’s kids.  It’s a whole new relationship because we’re all parents now!

Co-op 101: How have your recent experiences changed you as a mother and friend?

Meg: I see the world through my daughter’s eyes and I love it.  Madelyne had her first dance recital this past June and I bawled like a baby.  I used to dance too so it’s just such a joy to see her love something as much as I did when I was her age.  As a friend, it’s nice to be able to give advice.  Like today, my friend’s 1-year-old has a really bad cold so she asked me for advice.  I like that I can help.

You can learn more about Meg Cyrulewski and her new book Who Am I? How My Daughter Taught Me to Let Go and Live Again at her website.

"Caramel" Fruit Dip

Do your kids need a little motivation to eat their fruit? This "caramel" fruit dip ought to do the trick.

"Caramel" Fruit Dip

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer and serve with a variety of fruit. It's extra good with

• apples
• grapes
• strawberries
• peaches
• pears

Cost to Raise Today's Kids: More Than $250,000?

According to a Federal report released today, raising a child in the United States now costs more than $250,000. If you look at the details of the report, you'll find that child care costs exceed the cost of food.

As we know here at Babysitting Co-op 101, creative parents working together can significantly reduce or even eliminate child care costs while offering other important benefits to neighborhood families, such as

•  Friends for kids and parents 
• A greater sense of community 
• A spirit of cooperation 
• Free time for parents 

It's easy to feel overwhelmed when reports like this surface, but these reports are based on the gathering of economic data and generalizations about how household finances operate. Child care doesn't have to cost more than food. In fact, it doesn't have to cost anything at all.

Pick up a copy of Babysitting Co-op 101 today to learn how you can eliminate child care costs from your budget while securing quality child care for your kids from adults you know and trust. This book contains everything you need to get your co-op up and running. It's full of resources, encouragement, and success stories.

A Virginia Babysitting-Cop, 50 Years Strong

I thought it was so fun to see a Washington Post news story about the Aurora Hills Babysitting Co-op earlier this month. This co-op has been in operation for 50 years! Just think of that. The original kids who were babysat by the organizers of this co-op could have grandchildren who are currently involved in the co-op. What a great testament to the power of neighborly cooperation. Take a few minutes to read the article, and then get inspired to start your own co-op. Who knows? Maybe your grandkids will be participating someday in the group you organize.

Bettina Lanyi/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Parenting Resource: Learning at Home

Did you realize that you're building your child's cognitive foundation as you read bedtime stories and talk about your day? Our guest blog poster today, Rhonda Cratty, helps us to understand the importance of helping children learn to summarize. Below is an excerpt from Rhonda Cratty's Learning at Home. You can find links to the book at the bottom of this post. Many thanks to Rhonda for sharing her expertise with us.

Teaching your child to summarize is an excerpt from Learning at Home by Rhonda Cratty.

Teaching your Child to Summarize

Teaching children to summarize is no small task. Summarizing is one of the hardest strategies for children to grasp because it requires time and lots of practice. Your child needs to see and hear summarizing modeled. Summarizing is such a valuable strategy it is well worth a few small moments as you read those good night stories.

What is Summarizing?
Summarizing is how we take the gist, the key ideas, the main points that are worth noting and remembering out of a text.

What are We Doing When We Summarize?
When we summarize, we focus on the heart of the work. We try to find the key words and phrases that manage to capture the main idea of what we have read. 

What are Reasonable Summarizing Goals for Children?

-Pull out main ideas

-Focus on key details

-Use only key words and phrases

-Write only enough to convey the main idea

-Take succinct but complete notes of larger ideas

Strategies for Practicing Summarizing

-Have your child practice verbalizing summaries of familiar or interesting topics, such as "What I did during a sport or music practice," or "What I did at school today."

-After you finish reading picture books, use key words or phrases to identify who, what, when, where, why, or how in the story. Who is the story about? What did the characters do?

-Keep a reading diary. If parents do the writing and children do the thinking, this should take just a few minutes.

-Write the title of the book, date and a headline for the story. By summarizing in a headline, your child will begin to sort out main ideas from details of the text. Do not require sentences. Keep it under six words each evening.

-As you read non-fiction, help your child to recognize that sub-titles are summaries. 

-Summarize the lyrics from a favorite song or poem.

-Summarize a movie, field trip, party.

Summarizing is more than retelling it is a higher level of thinking. It involves analyzing information, distinguishing important from unimportant elements then translating large chunks of information into a few short cohesive sentences. Fiction and non-fiction texts, media, conversations, internet information, and events are sources to practice summarizations. Summarizing is an important skill. With the digital age, and the speed at which our children receive new information, summarizing will be imperative to the adults of tomorrow.

Working with summarizing is truly about equipping your children to be lifelong learners.

Learning at Home by Rhonda Cratty is a new parent resource filled with ideas to help children become the best they can be. Daily activities for family fun, that make subjects become more than pencil and paper, moving learning into everyday life. Learning at home can be purchased in print ($8.48) or eBook($4.48) form through http://www.amazon.com/dp/1494917203

For more information please see http://famfunlearn.com/.