This article describes proven and sure parenting tips that bring up better children for ourselves and families, and thus giving parents that peace of mind they so desire.

Now a research team has found that neglect in the first two years of life may be a more important predictor of aggression before age eight than physical abuse or neglect later in childhood.

The team, which included physicians from the medical faculties of the University of North Carolina and the University of Maryland, examined records of 1,318 children culled from local child protection agencies. All had come to the attention of authorities for suspected or actual abuse or neglect, which the law defines as a failure to provide food, clothing, shelter or adequate supervision.

The children’s primary caregivers were interviewed when the children were four, six and eight, and asked whether the youths displayed signs of aggression, such as destroying property or attacking or threatening others.

Their answers were analysed and compared with data about aggressive behaviour from a general population of children who did not have histories of abuse or neglect.

Analysis revealed that neglect before age two was a stronger predictor of later aggression than physical abuse in the first two years or neglect later in childhood.

Though child abuse gets more attention in the media, neglect is more common, “has gone largely unstudied” and appears to be an important contributor to youth violence, researchers say.

“Neglect may have profound and long-lasting effects on the child, particularly if it occurs early in the child’s development,” they conclude.

The study, which appears in the April issue of Pediatrics, was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Much before parents handover the car keys to their adolescent sons or daughters, they need to teach safe driving to their young ones. Parents need to address themselves to the driving skills of their children, mainly because rash driving is not a habit one can overlook. Like smoking, drinking and other habits that worry parents, unsafe and rash driving also needs parental attention, that too before it is too late.
Did you know? 

Unsafe driving by irresponsible teenagers is a menace in all countries of the world. It is found that four out of every ten teen deaths are due to driving accidents. Research shows that teens meet with accidents after they jampack their vehicles with friends. The risk of an accident is reduced if the young one drives alone, that too in the daytime. Teens are pre-disposed to taking risks and exhibiting reckless driving. Statistics show that teens are the most likely to speed a vehicle. And the combination of loud music, friends and recklessness proves fatal while driving. Parents therefore must discourage their youngsters from late night driving.
Limit your child’s time behind the wheel

While a parent must discourage late night driving, even morning driving must be fixed within parameters. For instance, never let the youngster drive after taking any intoxicating drink. Make it a rule, a value to be cherished all throughout life. Never ever listen to your teenager’s heroic tales of driving in tricky situations. If the youngster is inexperienced, do not allow him or her to drive for long distances. 
For example, if your son doesn’t want to wear a helmet, in order to keep his hairstyle intact, be firm and lay down ground rules in advance. Take away the motorbike if he insists on not wearing the safety helmet. 
Be a role model

Parents should also be responsible while driving. They should make sure they wear their seat belts, never drink while driving, never drive over the speed limit, never cut lanes and treat traffic rules lightly. If parents set the right precedent, children would be more prone to driving responsibly when they take to the wheel.
License should never be fake

Some parents even encourage their children to start driving early. They don’t mind if their teenager fakes his or her date of birth on a driving license, in order to start driving a year before the legally permissible age. Never allow such irresponsible and illegal behavior. For it is the question of your teenager’s life and of course many other lives he or she might play with. 

If you are at the point where you want to allow your child to learn to dress himself, you may want to allow for extra time. Therefore, if your mornings are generally a chaotic time, consider getting up a bit earlier. This will give both you and your preschooler that extra time needed, to allow him to dress himself, without the feeling of being rushed. It is important that you are there to assist your little one with getting dressed, without taking over and doing it for him.
When your little one is learning to dress himself, it is important that you keep in mind that it doesn’t matter what order he does it in. If he wants to put his pants on before he puts his socks on, it is ok.
In order for your child to master the skills involved in dressing himself, he will need the encouragement and opportunity to practice by himself. The more you allow him to dress himself and practice this skill, the better he will become.

Whether your little one is enthusiastic to take charge or simply uninterested, there are a variety of things you can do to make things simpler. Begin by purchasing simple clothing. Clothes such as overalls and pants with snaps, zippers and buttons can be set aside for special occasions. Pants with elastic waistbands and loose T-shirts are the best way to go in the beginning. If you have a daughter, consider purchasing slip on dresses with larger armholes or skirts with elastic waistbands. When purchasing socks, consider purchasing ones with fitted heels, this way, your child won’t have to try and figure out which way the sock goes on.

When your child is first learning to dress by themselves, consider purchasing clothes that are a size bigger. This is especially true if your little one is between sizes. You may want to let your little one practice with your socks, in order to get the hang of it. The larger the clothes, the easier it is for kids to get them on and off without assistance.
In order to lessen the stress of dressing routine, let your little one pick out what they want to wear. Preschoolers begin developing their own taste and personality and therefore will enjoy picking out their own clothes. Although your preschooler may come up with some extremely crazy combinations, he will quickly learn to associate the fun of picking out his own clothes with the pure satisfaction of putting them on.

One way of helping your preschooler pick out his own clothes, without it getting out of hand is to lay out two coordinating outfits. This way, he can mix and match between the different pieces, yet still feel like he made the final decision in what he chose to wear. Young children are often drawn to brightly colored clothes. This is generally acceptable, as long as the colors coordinate with one other. Therefore, pick outfits out that are easily interchangeable so that your preschooler will have an easier time attempting to match their clothes, while still displaying their own fashion sense.

Another struggling point for many preschoolers is learning to tie their own shoes. If possible, avoid the shoes with Velcro, so that your little one will learn how to tie his own shoes. This can be a very frustrating process for both parent and child. Therefore, be willing to try this in small steps. Do not overwhelm yourself or your preschooler.
There are a few tricks that will help your little one to learn to tie their shoes a lot easier. One of the most common tricks for teaching a preschooler to tie his shoes is the bunny ears method. Demonstrate to your child how to make the laces resemble “bunny ears”. Next, he will need to try and secure a knot through the bunny’s head. Make an X by crossing the bunny’s ears over. Then, pull one ear through the underside of the X and pull tightly. This example will help your child learn to ties his shoes on his own.

Another method is to pick up a book at your local library or book store on learning to tie shoes. There are books that have a shoe with laces so that your preschooler can practice learning to tie. The more he practices, the better and more efficient he will become. There are also some toys that can come with shoe strings so that your little one can learn to tie.

One of the most important things you need to remember when teaching your preschooler to dress himself and tie his own shoes is patience. Your little one will get the hang of this in his own time. Don’t push him into doing it your time. Before you know it, your child will be dressing himself without any assistance.

What is the best way to choose your baby’s name? Is there a rule? A guide perhaps? Is there a trend or is it just something that you can pick this instant?

For my second baby (coming real soon!), we already have a name prepared, well, at least I have. My wife still have some suggestions of her own. Important thing is we agree on it.

Personally, here are some things to consider when naming your precious baby.

Popular Names

There are some parents who like names that are popular and easy to remember. Although there are good, popular names, we have to consider that these names don’t stay popular forever.

Also, if you did choose a popular name, chances are you are not the only one who picked that name and it and your child could have a name that everyone else has.

Celebrity Names

This one I’m guilty of. Yes, i must admit that my first born was named after a famous fiction writer and a TV/comedy actor. Good thing about picking a name from celebrities is that most of them has common enough names that does not get worn out over time. A name Stephen will always be Stephen and will always remain a good choice for a name. Right?

Nicknames

When choosing a name, you can also consider the nicknames that comes along with the name. You may plan on your child never being called by a nickname, but you can’t always prevent this from happening.

You may want others to use your child’s full name (like Joseph), but there will always be someone who calls him by a pet name, (Joe or Joey).

If you really don’t like your child to be called by a name other than his real name, consider giving him a name that has no or are hard to associate a nickname. Examples are Jude, Adam, Blake, Carl or Ross.
Unique Names

What are these unique names? Well, that will definitely depends on you creativity. You could coined in a new name from your name and your wife’s. You could research a named from mythology or some old stories. You could use weather names or nature (summer, river, forest). It really depends on you and your partner’s creativity.

The danger of using a unique name, however, especially if it is very unusual, is that while it may make your child stand out from the crowd, he may stand out too much and can lead to teasing. Also,some unique names can be difficult to spell, so watch out for that.

And finally,

Find a name that both of you like and feel positive about. The most important thing is you and your partner agree on it.

A readers view

The major skin problem faced by many new mothers is stretch marks. Moisturizers or skin-soothing creams with zinc oxide or titanium oxide are great to treat dry skin and avoid uncomfortable itching where your skin is stretching.

The stretch marks can be reduced by regular massage with natural oils. Mothers do not have to waste too much time for this oil massage every day. They can apply the oil before half an hour before their bath and play with their baby for some time. The oil may have worked their charm within this half an hour.

Mothers may loose the charm of their face with wrinkles,pigmentation around the eyes and acne. Mothers can reduce the dark circles under the eye by placing a peel of cucumber, potato or cotton dipped in rose water. They do not have to search for more time for this eye care. Even 5-10 minutes before the sleep, they can apply this eye care method.

The wrinkles on the mothers’ face can be reduced with some easy face lifting exercises. Believe me your baby will find these exercises amusing!

Acne on mothers should be treated with the advice of a dermatologist. However mothers can try some homemade beauty treatments by washing your face with raw milk and maintaining a healthy diet to reduce acne.

Hair care is a major concern for many new mothers. Due to the hormonal changes hair may start to fall more than usual. However beauty experts say that there is no need to worry about this hair loss. Your hair will grow to the natural style after the initial maternity blues. Mothers can also keep their hair in style with the suitable hair cuts. However they must be careful that hair highlights, hair paintings, and chemicals to shine their hair do not touch their scalp or skin.

Most mothers are concerned about the lose of their body shape after maternity. Regular exercises and the practice of yoga can easily bring back the mother’s body shape into normality. The sagging breasts can be take back to the normal shape by regular breast massage. The sore and cracked nipples can easily be healed with prescribed tablets and hypoallergenic creams.

Keep your beauty ablaze with these easy beauty tips. Once your children grow up, let them be proud of your beauty.

When my oldest daughter was younger I struggled with potty mouth (me, not her). I substituted “Friggin”, or “Freakin’ ” for the well known street vernacular, and thought I had won the battle.

I didn’t realize how much I swore, or “fake swore”, until I took my daughter and her half-brother out for lunch one day. He was about 3 years old at that time. I took them to one of my favorite restaurants that served the best Chicken Fried Steak.

On our way to the restaurant I explained to the kids what we would be eating. The boy was perplexing me by the way he seemed worried about what we were having for lunch. I blew off the situation as a kid just being a picky eater.

After we ordered, and the waitress brought out our food, I watched as he looked at the meat and continuously poked, and flipped it over. I asked him what was wrong.

BOY: “Mike, Where are the eyes?”

ME: “What eyes?”

BOY: “The snake’s eyes!”

ME: “Why would there be snake eyes in your food?”

BOY: “Well you said we were having Freakin’ Fried Snakes!”

As I tried desperately to clear the stinging sensation of Coca-Cola in my nasal passages the trepidation I sensed in the car was made abundantly clear in that one instant. I also realized that I needed to do something about my language, specially around kids.