Authoritative Parenting For Proper Results

It is commonly believed that authoritative parenting, which is devoid of physical punishment, has positive impacts on the psyche of children. Children who are raised in authoritative parenting households score higher on social developments, competence, mental health, and self-image.

This difference is evident in varied aspects like psychosocial development, better behavior modification and academic achievement. Authoritative parenting usually sends a positive message. It leads to nurture the confidence level of kids and results in proper grooming of attitudes and skills.

The first step to authoritative parenting is to be demanding but also responsive when your child needs you. You should be flexible with your children but also ensure that they get their chores done. You can tell your children to complete their chores first and then become involved in leisure activities. By doing so, you will allow you children to exercise their own choices and teach them time management as well. You do not need to involve any kind of punishment in such a method of authoritative parenting.

When engaging in authoritative parenting, you must learn to control your children without being restrictive. You should give your kids a choice between a set of activities, which are very similar in nature. If both the activities have to be done, you can ask them which activity they would prefer doing first. This is an authoritative parenting method, which will yield fruitful results.

You need to be involved in your child’s activities if you are going to conduct authoritative parenting with success. You should go shopping with your children or consider making dinner for them on a regular basis. If you are bringing your work home, then you should do it in the presence of your children while they do their homework. You should utilize the time that you have with your children to impart values. This is a crucial authoritative parenting method. You should also ask them about how they spend their entire day and what new incidents are occurring in their lives.

When taking part in authoritative parenting, you should show your children that you are very interested in what they are doing. You should try to attend the extra curricular events and activities in which they take part in school. You should check their homework on a regular basis. If you take interest in your children’s lives then they will also take note of this fact. This will have positive results on both the home as well as school front.

You must teach your children how to make the most of their own potential. Authoritative parenting involves discussing problems and finding solutions together. You can talk to your children about how you make your own decisions in this process. You can for example, reveal your thoughts when you are negotiating play time versus homework time, during authoritative parenting.

You need to tell your children what you want in order to arrive at a fair solution. You have to tell them what they need to do and the deadline by which they have to finish it. You can ask your children how they are going to accomplish their goals, guide their decision-making process, and remind them when they need to change their activities.

The art of authoritative parenting requires keeping the communication channels open. Authoritative parenting involves listening to the viewpoints of your child and letting him explain how or why he did something. This will help you to build a communication with your child that is guaranteed to last for lifetime. When your child’s reasoning or explanation does not appear to fall within the behavior rules you set for him, then you can give him a better choice, which he can exercise the next time.

You have to teach your children how they should focus their passion. This is a very important aspect of authoritative parenting. When your children begin learning rules, they will spend their entire childhood testing these rules. So you have to be alert as to what sort of rules are being tested when they occur. You have to help your child build acceptance, trust as well as a fantastic self image.

You need to enable your children to go ahead and explore new things. A few of these new things could be your choices and a few could be their choices. As your children grow up, more and more choices ought to be theirs. You must prevent them from committing themselves to these activities for the long term. You will not really teach them to stand by something. Rather, you will teach them to do things that they do not really feel like doing.

You must teach your children to respect themselves. Authoritative parenting involves teaching your child personal safety. Your children must be able to tell what clothes a particular person was wearing, how family members can be reached as well as the time by which they are expected to be back in their homes. This is quite easy, given the wide range of modern communication devices that are available.

You should live by what you say. This is an integral part of authoritative parenting. You cannot talk about how you fooled your boss and then expect your children to be upright and virtuous in their ways of live. If you are experiencing particularly difficult choices, you need to talk about why you followed a specific path.

By doing so, you will help your children to see the ethical and moral decisions that you make along the way. You can discuss the songs that you listen to with your children and the movies that you watch with them. You can discuss the content of the movies and the lyrics of the songs that show models of bad as well as good decisions.

Thus, various ways are there by which you can go about the task of authoritative parenting. If you keep these authoritative parenting tips in mind, then you will be able to raise your children successfully. Your authoritative parenting methods will result in your kids becoming balanced and well-developed individuals.

Photo Credit: All-about-motherhood.com

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Tips To Follow For Successful Single Parenting

The task of raising a child all by your self is very challenging. You might feel intimidated when you realize that you do not have another support system for helping you with the various demands of bringing up a child.

However, bringing up a child all by your self is not an impossible feat. It is something, which you can do successfully if you have faith in your parenting abilities. When you are raising your child on your own, you need to keep certain important tips in mind.

An important single parenting tip is accepting that you do not have enough time to participate in other activities as when you were not single. However, you also need to realize that you now get to spend more time with your child.

Spending time with your child alone could be a fantastic experience as no one is likely to distract you from paying attention to your child. You can spend quality time with your child by singing, dancing, talking, playing games and anything else that you feel like. You have to embrace the opportunity of being able to do fun things together with your child.

You must speak with your child about how you spent your entire day and ask him to tell you about his day. When you are single parenting, you can plan out daily rituals with your child such as evening dinners and talk to him about the best part of the day. Also, allow your son or daughter to do the exact same thing.

Sharing is believed to create a strong bond especially if you are a single parent. By sharing each other’s experiences, you can become really good friends with your child that bad days are a part of life and should be taken with a pinch of salt. The two of you will also be able to give each other support through communicating. At the end of the day, both of you will end up feeling much better and much more lighthearted.

To be a stern disciplinarian is very important for single parenting. When you are single parenting, you will need to respect your child but also avoid being a bit too easy on him. You should refrain from feeling guilty for having to bring him up alone. There are many parents who try to compensate for the mistakes that they have made by giving their children free reign. They try to give their children everything they wish for.

This is not an advisable thing to do when single parenting, as the child can become thoroughly spoiled. Consequently, he will be very difficult to handle. You must realize that it is all right to discipline your child when single parenting, even though your child has gone through a lot. Some of the common forms of punishment that you can use to discipline your child while single parenting, are taking away rewards, grounding your child or enforcing time outs. In the process, you will help your child transform into a well-rounded and strong individual. You will not be a bad parent because you will not be giving into your child’s demands.

A good single parenting tip is to talk to your friends and other single parents. You can get them to give you advice about how you should handle certain situations. When you talk to other people who also are single parents, you are able to relieve a few of the fears commonly associated with single parenting. You should not feel weak or inadequate just because you are speaking with other single parents. It is important to reach out and take help from others in order to carry out the task of single parenting.

When you are a single parent, you have to make peace with the fact that you are not perfect. This is a very vital single parenting tip. Parents do not hurt their children when they make minor single parenting mistakes. It is right if you have raised your voice unnecessarily or forgotten to pack your child’s school lunch, or bought your child the wrong shoes. What matters at the end of the day is your love for your child and whether or not you are making your best effort at single parenting.

Your child will turn out fine if you are deeply motivated to impart a proper upbringing to your child. You need to cut yourself some slack and come to terms with the realization that you are not super human. In addition, when accepting your own mistakes you will train your child to accept his mistakes and help him to move on.

You need to have complete faith in yourself when you are single parenting. You need to take good care of yourself and eat right, do fun activities and get lots of rest. Good health is very essential for the task of single parenting. When your child is able to see you feeling healthy and happy, he too will be able to feel happy.

Kids are usually a lot happier when they see that their parents are happy. You should not feel you are selfish for looking after yourself. You have to understand that there is not really anyone to care for you when you are engaged in single parenting, other than yourself.

One of the most important single parenting tips is to draw up a to-do list. This can be a good reminder for whatever needs to be done during the day. You can attach your to-do list to your kitchen door or to your refrigerator. You must write on your to do list all the appointments, events and bills which require being paid.

By doing so, you will not forget to pay your bills or miss any important appointments. You can wipe your to do list clean every day in the evening and draw up a fresh one. Thus, there are several effective single parenting tips, which you can consider for single parenting. If you keep these single parenting tips in mind, you will be able to conduct your task of single parenting extremely well.

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Dont Ignore Kids With Autism – Parenting Autistic Kids

Being a parent of a healthy child is a dream of every couple. We all want our child to cross mile stones of his or her life. But what if this dream turns into nightmare and after two years you find your child autistic. Well with faith in God and in today’s medical awareness we can fight with the problem called autism.

Most of the parents are not even clear with the fact of autism. They do not know which way they should move on. But the thing which parent of autistic child should bear in mind that with little bit of more endeavor and love your child will be able to face world.

Autism is a disorder which can come out in first three years of child’s life. Autism is the result of a neurological disorder that effect performance of brain and effects communication and common interaction skill. It basically distress three areas of child’s development.

Social, behavior and language. Autistic child is not able to communicate properly even though, they are not able to give proper eye contact while interacting with others. Most of the times they are not even able to express themselves. Autistic kid’s senses are also affected.

Do not find yourself unaided in this path, as many children are found autistic. This is the most common development disorder found in children. Investigation shows that most of the autistic children are boys. You can find autistic child all over the world.

Autism is a considered as wide spectrum disorder. As symptoms of autism vary significantly. Two children with the same analysis of autism may respond in different way and have clearly different abilities. Autistic child looks like any normal child.

But his or her activities you can make out the difference. Parents if aware of word autism can make out the symptoms at early stage.?An autistic child can have high IQ. But at same time they can have difficulty in communication and making friends.

Autism effects differently in every child.?Here are the lists of some symptoms which can indicate parents about autism.?An autistic child does not respond to his or her name. Many times parents get false impression that child is deaf.?Due to delay in language they face complexity in conveying there desires. In this case they generally feel agitated.

At time of toddler they do not jabber. Even though many autistic children start walking very late.?An autistic child will not give an eye contact.?Many autistic children are noise sensitive.?Many of autistic children are texture sensitive also. Like they do not like to wear specific type of clothes or they do not enjoy eating certain things with different textures.?An autistic child never likes to answer your questions.

They do not make friends with that ease. They prefer to be alone with their toys and books.In many cases it has been noticed that autistic child throws extreme tantrums.?Many autistic children love toys with some motion. Like moving train, moving airplane.?Autistic children does not do pretend play.

An autistic child will keep on changing her or his activities very fast.?Normal child always develop in all areas at regular pace. But an autistic child will not show this consistency in his or her development. Their cognitive skills may develop faster than language or social skills or vice a versa. They may not be able to jump from a height but may be able to solve quiz in fraction of seconds.

Many of us are surrounded by so many delusions about autism, due to which we are not able to focus on areas of expansion in autistic child where we should.?The biggest delusion about autism is that an autistic child will not be able to speak in her or his life time. But this is not true to certain extend. An autistic child speaks but little late as compare to normal child. You can find talking to yourself while interacting with an autistic child.

Many parents think that their autistic child will not be able to go to proper school like other children. Research shows that many autistic children enjoy regular school with their friends. The only difference which comes in their way is that they need more care and attention than other children.?Do not make an impression that autistic child doesn’t have feeling. They do have feelings like us but they can not express them.

Usually when family finds an autistic child in their family, they start blaming mother for the child’s condition. But it is very important to know that autism is not caused due to gloomy environment at home or mental stress during pregnancy or if both parents are working and not able to spend nice hours with their child or by imbalance diet or due to depression during pregnancy. A mother or father can not cause autism in child. Autism comes naturally from birth. It will be wrong to blame one person for autism in child.

Parenting of autistic child becomes little different from regular parenting. Deciding about the activities which can help them to develop is very important. Parents should involve their child in only those activities in which they enjoy. Parents should balance their activities in such a way that they can enjoy both indoor as well as outdoor activities in a day. Activities should be inclined towards learning or some basic values.

Autistic children can be benefited a lot from music. Repeating notes or even humming them, exploring different musical instruments like tambourine, drum or even key board can help them a lot for their sensational development. Even mimicking each others notes are also enjoyed by them. Playing with big blocks or legos also help autistic child with eye and hand coordination. Parents should introduced lots of challenges to autistic child. This will help them to develop their thinking power and they will be able to use their skills in proper way.

Colors are other way of expressing them selves. With drawing or even with colors they can express themselves nicely. In this way the level of frustration in them is also reduced. Reading in another important way of their development. Parents should read a book to them and also try to find out what they think about the characters in the story. This will help them to bring out their expressions.?For outdoor activities parents should go back to their childhood and try to introduce all the basic plays which they have enjoyed. Besides this baseball or golf, skipping, swimming, basket ball, making castles etc should be introduced to them.

Whiling arranging outdoor activities make sure that they are conducted under proper supervision.?Be patient with autistic child, wait for their response, their liking and disliking. Do not force your preferences on them. This will suppress their expressions even more.?Parents of autistic child should be more cautious and loving towards them. Parents should be ready to work more with their child as contrast to regular child. Autistic children look forward for your love and motivation like other normal kids, to face this world.

Photo Crdeit:?.The-parenting-magazine.com

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Parenting A Child After Divorce And The Legal Aspect Of Child Custody

Mostly it is even that when there is a fight between the parents the child is the main target which gets affected the most. In order to settle their own scores or to take revenge emotionally form each other they make their child the main issue in divorce cases.

This has a severe impact on the child emotionally. Whether the parents stay with each other nicely or take divorce, a child needs love and care of both father and mother in order to become a healthy child both mentally and physically. This lies in the hands of court to send the child in the safest hands.

What does a child normally need; it’s just the love and care of both mother and father but in India we do not have the option of joint custody. In India although the court takes a balanced decision after keeping all the issues related to child custody in mind , but only one parent gets the custody of the child. So obviously the child gets devoid of love and attention of one of the parents.

Child Custody means that the court has to decide the guardianship of the child who is less than 18 years of age in case of separation amongst the parents of the child. Generally such situations arise when the parents are going through the divorce or are already divorced.

Mainly mothers are keener towards taking custody of their child as compared to men and generally the decision of the court is also in favour of the mother only. The reason being they are more attached to the child both mentally and emotionally as they give birth to the child.

But now the laws in India are also going through a revolutionary trend so courts and legal bodies are trying to decide upon laws of Joint custody. The reason being now men are also trying to get their child’s custody after divorce. In case of couples where women are working and have night shifts then the father is given preference and he gets the custody of the child. But in cases where both men and women are found incapable of handling the child nicely, the child is given in the hands of someone more caring and for the child. In such cases the custody is given to a non parent and is called non-parental custody.

Be it the mother or father who so ever gets the custody the main job of the court is to see that:

What is the financial position of the custodian? Whether the in charge of the child is in regular employment or not? What kind of living conditions does he live in? Main things which are considered while giving the custody: Good atmosphere both emotionally and physically for the child. Self security of the child and the atmosphere of the house should be cultured and devotional and the child’s age.

Physical and the mental state of the parent’s of the child should be sound.
The decision of the court is the final and last decision about the child custody. Only the court has the right to decide that who will get the legal and the physical custody of the child. If the person who gets the custody is not able to take care of the child properly and there are complaints then the court has full rights to change the custody of the child.

Unnecessarily pressurising the child, to stay with them, even before the decision of the court is out. If both the parents are staying in the same city then always let the child meet the other parent if he/she pays a visit to the child, you should never interrupt. The parents should not compete while spending and buying gifts for the child after divorce.

This will create mental pressure on the child. It is bad to involve the child in the battle of ego after divorce. It is better that the parent who has the child custody should bury the hatchet and just concentrate on both emotional and mental needs of the child. Instead of fighting even after the divorce and stopping the child from getting close to the other parent you should do your own job and stay connected with your child.

It is very important that both the parents should be counselled after the divorce about the child custody and how to move on in life. This will help in maintaining respect for each other after divorce too. The relationship should remain friendly after divorce too, for the benefit of the child.

This will help the child to enjoy the company of both the parents. Even in parents teacher meetings or any other school function he will enjoy with both the parents if you will have cordial relation post divorce with each other.

After the death of mother if the father is not found to be perfect enough to take care of the child then the grandmother of the child and that too maternal grandmother will get the custody of the child., despite father being the natural inheritor of the child.

According to the Guardian and wards act of the Supreme Court the immediate parents should get the custody of the child, but then took the court has full right to check and investigate that with which the child will live comfortably and will be in safe hands. But if the court finds that the mother is not able to keep the child comfortably then the child will not be kept in her custody, even if the child is below the age of five.

The child is allowed to spend time with the father if the wife gets the custody of the child. So it is against the law if a mother stops her child from seeing his father and that will be taken against her in the court. Thus it is very important for the parents also to understand the needs of their child and child custody when they are planning for a divorce so that the child gets both emotional and mental support of both the parents in life.

Photo Credit: Divorceanewstart.com

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Jim Carrey Talks Parenting Guilt

When invited to interview Jim Carrey, I pretty much had to tell everyone I know… and didn’t know. Hipster in line at the coffee shop –yep. Long haired dude at Trader Joe’s check out –yep. Random lady in the Target parking lot –yep… (okay, kinda kidding). So there definitely was a moment when I wondered is it really going to happen? It did. Oh REALLLLY!

In fact, sitting at a table with other mom/dad bloggers to interview the uber talented comedian and father to a 23 year old daughter (who had her first child last year) about his role in Mr. Popper’s Penguins in theaters June 17th, we got to ask away and I can’t stop talking about some of his answers since. From opening up on parenting guilt, to how he was changed from an out of hand student to a nurtured talent in 6th grade, his take on grandparenting, and what he REALLY thinks of the parents of child actors and more, Breezy Mama got the scoop.

I loved the whole theme about [Mr. Popper] and his dad who was also very busy.

That’s what really drew me to the movie other than the fact that I love penguins — and I’ve said it so many times before I ever did this project — but the theme of somebody who is an adventurer but doesn’t explore his relationship with his own son is an amazing theme for me.

Certainly there have been times in my life when I was so crazed with Hollywood and everything that was going on that I missed time with my daughter. So, I understand that and how important that is. That’s a theme that I’m ready to play. We’ve certainly mended anything that was going on between us. We’re closer than ever.

So that reminded you that, “Oh, I should probably be doing more stuff with my kid” or…

Yes. Well, I was already in a good place with my daughter. We’ve done really well together.
But, yes. I mean, it’s definitely a recognizable theme and certainly something that’s really prevalent for everybody nowadays. Everybody has to work and everybody’s got that kind of guilt feeling, “Am I spending enough time,” and, “Do they have my full focus?”

The most important thing in the world is to make your kids feel like they’re the most important thing to you.

There was a time in my life where I felt like that was slipping a little bit. I took a year and a half off. I didn’t work, and I took those two years off to make sure that she knew.

Do you get a lot of time in with your grandson?

Yes. I just hung out with him yesterday.

Hangin' with Jim Carrey and an awesome group of mom (and dad!) bloggers.

What does he call you, Grandpa?

Right now? No, no. He is starting to mimic and stuff like that. It’s so funny.

But, he’s about a year and two months. So, he’s just kind of “gah blah,” [for "grandpa"] or whatever. But, he does definitely mimic. And the great thing about him, you can see with kids, before they get squashed by anybody in school or anything like that, is there is this confidence of knowing that they are it. You know what I mean?

He walks into the room and he says, “Hi!” He’s got this mischief on his face [mimics his expression] and stuff that you can just tell that he knows he’s going to be completely accepted in every way, you know? There’s no rejection in there at all. It’s just full on, “I am it. I know you want to see me. I know whenever I say hi, everybody’s going to laugh, everybody’s going to do their thing.”

But, he’s very funny, too. Yesterday it was the sunglasses, putting the sunglasses upside down and putting them on and then, “Ha ha ha.” And that totally reminded me of me because I used to get out of eating every day — this is what I’m told. My mother said that I got out of eating — I was a very finicky eater — by just making everybody laugh and everybody howl at the table. When I was an infant, I was doing weird faces and stuff until the food got cold.

What was it like working with your younger costars?

Great. They are really talented kids, super talented, more so than you even see in the film. Madeline’s going to be a great actress.

I always worry for kids when I work with them that they’re going to make it through okay, because it’s a really tough thing for an undeveloped ego to handle that attention and that extra energy like that coming at them.

I always wonder about people who adopt kids from Africa and then there’s these cameras in their face. They go from a hut to a paparazzi line and they think, “What?” How can they handle that? I worry about fame with kids.

I know a few, and Ron Howard is this wonderful guy. He made it through because he had parents, again, who made him the most important thing.

There’s a book called Drama of the Gifted Child. Steve Martin gave it to me, actually. He said, “This is a really good clue into kind of where you might have come from a little bit.” And I don’t think it totally applies, but I think it’s really an important thing for parents to realize that they’re there to love their kids, their kids aren’t there to love them.

They will, if you love them. But, it’s not their obligation. It’s up to us to love them and let them go and do their thing and not go, “You’re not making me feel good — Why aren’t you making me feel good?” Well, because I’m not here to make you feel good. You’re supposed to do that for me.

So, it’s an interesting thing. These kids, when I see them, I just hope that the whole Hollywood acting thing is about what they love and not what their parents want or how their parents what to be seen.

I literally have, in films, seen a toddler being spoken to by a parent saying, “Your dad and I talked about this. It’s going to be a lot of money.”

Wow.

And I’m sitting there pulling my face off going like [imitates pulling off his face], “That child doesn’t have a chance”. That’s the main gist.

Growing up, did you have comedians that you admired that inspired you?

Yes. Well, the funny thing is, one of the people that I really loved was Dick Van Dyke. I used to watch reruns of the Dick Van Dyke Show and Mary Tyler Moore. And they were just sublime to me. To me, that was flawless comedy.

And recently, he was on Rachael Ray and he said some really nice things about me. It was like Christmas. I was out of my mind with joy. I really loved it. And he said something about if somebody was going to play him or play, you know, the Dick Van Dyke Show now or whatever as a movie or something that he would want me to do it.

Oh, that’s cool.

And I was like, “Hmm” [smiles].

I thought that in Mr. Popper where you were dancing with the penguins it was very Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

Well, exactly. That’s not a mistake. That comes from my love for him. And I invited him to the premier and he’s coming to the premier.

That’s great.

Pretty cool.

I’ve seen you from In Living Color– in those days. And it’s been a long time and a lot of pressure to keep up. Comedy is not as easy as people think. It’s work still. But, it’s–

–It just gets harder. It’s crazy, I just did Saturday Night Live, and they had me flying off walls and stuff like that. And I said to Lorne Michaels, “You realize that every sketch is me carrying someone on my back? Do they know that I’m 49 years old?” And he said, “No, they don’t. They love you and they grew up with you, and they want you to be that guy.” I got to keep my butt in shape.

Who was your favorite character to play — from Ace Ventura, Cable Guy, all those amazing characters?

I love all of them. It’s like Sophie’s Choice trying to pick them, you know? I love them all.
And every new one is a challenge. Every new character you got to fall in love with. So, I look forward to the next one I play.

At what age did it hit you that, “I need to be an entertainer?”

Since I was a little tiny kid — since I can remember — because I used to look at my dad and he used to command the room. And he was one of the funniest human being you’ve ever met in your life. I mean, seriously like a file of jokes and funny stuff, but off the cuff funny.

Rodney Dangerfield used to just be blown away by my father. I’d bring him down to see me in Vegas opening for Rodney Dangerfield. And, Rodney would just be sitting there saying [imitates voice and mannerisms], “Who is this guy? This guy’s incredible, man. Where the hell have you been?” You know, that kind of thing.

And he’s Percy, Percy Joseph. He was just one of these characters that when he told a story, he was so incredibly animated. The character I played in Truman Show was my father.

Love that.

You know, “Good afternoon, good evening, and good night,” the old standup guy.

He’s deaf in one ear, so everything you said, he didn’t really hear you. He’d just go, “Eh?” But, he was one of those guys you felt like you knew for 50 years if you talked to him for only a minute.

I saw him early on and I thought, “That’s me. That’s who I’m going to be.”

Did you get in trouble at school a lot for energy?

I did until I had one teacher that was so smart in the sixth grade, Lucy Dervadis. She sent me back a lot of the pictures of her being assassinated in several different ways that I used to draw at the back the class. She confiscated them in school, and then she sent them back to me when I got famous. You know, the missiles hitting her and stuff like that.

And she kept them?

It’s unbelievable. She knew because I would always finish my work first. I was really smart in school. And I would finish and then I would disturb everybody by being funny and doing disruptive things in class. She had the brilliant idea of saying, “Jim, if you just sit there and be peaceful, be calm, don’t bother anybody after you finish your work, I’ll give you 15 minutes at the end of class to do whatever you want in front of the class.”

I would finish my work and then I would start writing routines. And I would write, “Okay, today I’m going to imitate the principal in the boy’s locker room looking at their underwear,” and stuff like that. And I was completely politically incorrect and all of that stuff.

But, she came up with an idea. It’s like such a clue into kids. Instead of giving them drugs for ADD, find an outlet. Find something to do with that, because it’s just that they’re special.

Had you read the book [Mr. Popper's Penguins] before?

Yes. I’m surprised how dear that is to people because I didn’t read it growing up in Canada. So, I was amazed, now that the movie has been made, how important it is to people, which is great. I love that.

The movie is great.

It’s sweet, isn’t it? I’m not the guy who really wants to go out of his way to do something soft, like without kind of a rock and roll edge to it. But, I really kind of felt touched by it. It was really nice. And being in New York kind of had a Home Alone feeling to it.

Yes.

And it was all warm and toasty inside.

Except the set [that was maintained at 40 degrees for the penguins] was freezing.

Horrifying.

How was that, to act in those conditions?

It’s anything for the show. I’ll suffer greatly to do anything creative. But, I found out it wasn’t even necessary. It’s just that the penguins are method [actors]. Their Stanislavsky thing.

So, in that way that the book is a classic, what is it that you think makes movies stand the test of time in that same way?

What makes movies classics? Wow, it’s such an odd little space in the world when something becomes dear to people. Who’s to say exactly what it is? I have a feeling that it’s about an energy that people want to see. I always felt that about myself. It’s not as much what I do. I mean, I’m creative and different and I have a lot of guts to do certain things. But, I think the bottom line is I’m somebody people want to hang with.

And that’s what it comes down to. There’s something I haven’t screwed up there inside me that’s still there that people don’t mind being around. It makes them feel all right.

Certain movies have a soul to them, that we just feel warm with. The old Jimmy Stewart, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, there’s a soul in that movie that you just don’t want to give up. You want it to be a part of your life, you know?

So, I’m really lucky. I feel super lucky that a lot of things that I’ve done are now just reintroducing themselves generation after generation it seems. And I still have little kids coming up to me about Ace Ventura and The Mask. And I say, “Well, thank you. Wow, what a wonderful place to be.” I’m going to be like 90 years old and 30 year olds will be coming up to me going, “Dude, a thousand times I’ve watched that thing,” It’s a pretty great place to be.

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Tags: Ace Ventura, child actors, Drama of the Gifted Child, Jim Carrey, Jim Carrey Black Swan, Jim Carrey's ido, jim carrey's idol, Jimmy Stewart, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Parenting Guilt, parents of kid actors, Saturday Night Live, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mask

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Tips For Parenting A Child With Autism

One of the most devastating moments in the life of a parent is to know that their child is autistic. You might feel that your whole world is falling apart and there is nothing you can do about it. But before you sink into your feelings of depression you will have top realize that a big responsibility has been bestowed upon you.

It is the responsibility of the parents to care for their children till they grow up. But you have an added responsibility of being there for your child for a lifetime. It sure must be very disappointing to accept the fact that your child might not grow up like normal people. But you can make sure that your child leads a normal and independent life by grooming your child the right way.

An autistic child is incapable of communicating well and developing interpersonal skills. It does not mean that an autistic child’s brain does not develop. Its just that they might not get familiar with things around them as fast an as a normal child.

Impaired communication skills, repetitive and restricted behavior etc. are few traits displayed by an autistic child. No permanent cure has been devised for autism as of now. But you can choose from vast number of therapies to help your child cope with this condition. Here are a list of tips and methods to deal with your autistic child.

It might be the most difficult time of your life but you will have to move on for the sake of your child. Your child is a part of your life and is entirely dependent on you and deep inside your child does expect your support and love. So you will have to get over your feelings of anxiety and depression and help your child deal with his/her condition.

Cursing yourself or blaming yourself for the fate and destiny of your child will not help you in any way. It might only lower your self-confidence and make matters worse. Nobody in this world is flawless and likewise your child has some flaws. Learn to accept your child with his/her flaws and perform your deeds and responsibilities selflessly.

It is very important that you gather plenty of information about autism. Meet your doctor, surf various related websites, read plenty of books and educate yourself. It is very important that you know every bit about autism and how it is gonna effect your child’s life.

The degree of autism varies form person to person and it is very important that you know where your child stands. Most autistic people are known to develop some skill at which they usually excel. Discover any such skill of that sort, if any, in your child and encourage him/her to work towards his/her interests. So do your homework about autism to help you child better.

You will have to make efforts and set a particular routine for your autistic child. Set fixed timings for sleeping, eating, going to school etc. This will regulate their life and even they will get used to the same. It might take a while but they will get so used to this routine that they might start following it themselves.

Ensure that you stick to your routine and do not make much changes in it as any sort of alteration can confuse an autistic child. If you have no choice but to make some changes in your child’s routine then prepare your child for the change by constantly reminding your child of the change by any means of communication he/she is comfortable with.

It sure is difficult to teach an autistic child to communicate effectively but it certainly is not impossible. Autistic children do not learn by experience as they forget things fast. You can try using crafts, colors and charts to teach them. For instance, using charts displaying human pictures showing various emotions works wonders for helping them learn all about human expressions.

Likewise, using models of alphabets helps them learn letters and words. Over a period of time your child will learn the art of communication. Make sure that you maintain eye contact with the child while trying to teach them and also maintain a calm and composed front.

Some parents end up feeling too bad about their child and shower all their love and affection towards them. Every parent in this world loves their child selflessly. But it is very important to maintain a balance between love and discipline. If necessary, do scold your child. The reaction of an autistic child towards harsh behavior from parents will be just as same as that of normal children.

Your child might not talk, eat and might confine to himself/herself. But like normal children, they will be alright after sometime. Your child must know his/her limits and they should also know that their tantrums will not be tolerated all the time. Treating your child normally will help him/her become more independent in later stages of his/her life.

As important it is to induce the qualities of discipline in your child, it is just as important to reward your child. Rewarding your child when it does something good, makes your child realize that the deed that he/she has performed is good. This way they will learn to differentiate between good deeds and bad deeds. However, do not go out of your way to reward your child to avoid spoiling your child. But always remember that appreciation and rewards play a very vital role in the development of autistic children also.

A vast variety of treatment options are available for children suffering from autism. The degree of autism might vary from person to person and based on the severity of the condition your doctor will suggest treatment for your child. Behavioral therapies help a great deal in most cases. Some medication and drugs also help suppress the symptoms of autism. Regular visits to your doctor are a must as that will help you gauge your child’s condition. Make sure that you follow these tips for parenting a child with autism.

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Parenting Tips Before Sending Your Kids To Summer Camp

Summer camps are the most enjoyable period in any kid’s life and many schools organise them as soon as summer vacations start. After the pressure of studies this is the time when they have fun and feel fresh in summer camps.

Some camps are organised within the school campus and some are adventure summer camp trips where they take kids out for an outing. Here kids can have unlimited fun and can learn activities related to their hobbies. Summer camps boost their self confidence and they become more mature because of the experiences in the summer camps.

The summer camps organised by schools within the campus are becoming more popular and in these camps various activities like sports and cultural activities, counselling sessions and arts and painting workshops are being held. There are various sporting activities too like football, basket ball, swimming and skating etc. There are yoga and aerobics classes too in these camps. For parents there is separate counselling sessions and parents of nursery students to teenager students can come for counselling.

It is not necessary that the child should participate in each and every activity; the child can choose the activities according to his interest and the time available. If you are sending your child to the adventurous summer camp then there are separate activities like rock climbing, rappelling, flying fox, Night safari, Tracking and hiking, rope course (commando crawl, commando net, Tarzan swing), hurdle, treasure hunt, bird watching, bon fire etc. These activities are chosen according to the child’s age and before these activities the children are taught yoga and warm up exercises.

The child should be registered on time. They should take full information about the activities that are part of the summer camp. They should choose the activities according to the child’s interest. According to the selected activity they should take the list of the things that will be required by the child from the school.

If the child is getting enrolled in an activity like swimming then the parents should know about how many coaches and teachers will be there around the pool while the swimming training is given and they should check the safety measures too around the pool and check whether the swimming coaches are well trained or not. Always give a Tiffin box and water bottle to your child when he leaves for the summer camp. Since it is the responsibility of the parents to pick and drop the child so they should have proper transportation facility to send and pick the child on time to the camp.

Parents should know that which camp institute is taking their child for the adventurous summer camp. Never leave your child totally in the hands of school or camp, take the important phone numbers like the number of the camp and the website address. Take all the information related to the camp and the site where child will stay. Try to find out from website and experienced people about the best camping institutes. Check out what all things are important for any good camping institute. Find out who are the director and the instructor of the organising camp.

Good institute should have a certified instructor; it should not be like a cook of the camp is training your child. Try to know about all the activities they will organise and the safety measure they take for the child in all these activities. For a group of 8-10 children there is one teacher , so if total 80 students after going then there should be around 8-10 teachers accompanying them. Check the instruments and tools used during the activities; they should be of good quality and strong enough to support your child’s weight.

If your child is going to a cold place for the summer camp then check out the night temperature of that place. According to the weather keep clothes and other things in your child’s suitcase. The camping institutes send a list of things that will be required during camp; like torch, knife, warm clothes, socks etc. are there. Keep all the things mentioned in the list in the suitcase. Buy good quality tracking shoes for your child, otherwise there are chances of falling due to slipping while climbing. While tracking the longer the shoes the better it is for the child. Before stacking a lot of food to eat in child’s bag check out whether they have a canteen or not.

Find out if the canteen has good supply of food or not , if it is there then do not put too much eating stuff in the bag and increase the weight of the suitcase your child has to carry. Parents should ask for the whole day’s menu from morning breakfast till the dinner time. If your child does not like or is allergic to some food then tell the camp instructor and make the child also understand to stay away from that food. Tell the child that while tracking he should take small resting breaks in between and not to take off their sweater immediately after sweating.

Ask him to wait for some time and then if he still feels warm then only he should take off his sweater otherwise he will fall ill. Ask your child to follow all the rules and regulations of the camp religiously and do not fight with anybody in the camp. Give then some cash also so that if they want to buy something as a token from that place they can buy. If your child has heart problem or is scared of heights or water then let the camp instructor know about in advance, because the child might hide it from him to have fun and it might prove risky for the child.

After sending their child the parents should stay in touch with child through phone or website. If mobile does not work then they can talk on landline phone. Thus summer camp can be treated as the first step towards their carer as it tells us about their interest and hobbies and their hidden talents too. Children learn about team work, develop leadership skills and they learn how to boost their friends confidence too. SO this kind of fun is very useful for your child.

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Problems Occurring When Parenting A Child & Ways To Solve Them

Every parent wants to set themselves as the role model for their kid. They wish and want to adopt the best parenting style for their kid. It helps in shaping the brain, physical and emotional development of the kid.

Thus parenting style contributes towards future development of their young ones. This requires building a healthy and quality relationship between the two. A kid undergoes a lot of emotional and physical development at every growing stage of their childhood and adolescent .His perception, thought and habit, keeps on changing from time to time. That is, as he grows, he exhibit different attitude and behavior.

His approach is different for the same thing during different stages of his life. So, it’s very important for parents to understand their kid behavior and act accordingly.A parent is always surrounded by their kid’s problem. This is one of the major challenge faced by every parent and is termed as parenting problem.

Parenting problem is a series of different situations faced by every parent. It is different at different levels and can be thus categorised into initial parenting problem and later parenting problem. Every parenting problem needs to be dealt carefully by parents. They must involve their child to know the root cause of the problem and solve them with the right approach.

During early years of childhood, kids may pick up wrong habit like lying,fighting, becoming picky eaters , speaking loudly etc.This wrong behavioral problems developed in kids ,make them behave in an unacceptable manner. Solving such parenting problems requires, developing a better understanding by parents. Parents should try and know the real reason due to which their kids develop such wrong habits. Beside this, parents must practice what they preach.

Lying is one of the major parenting problems faced by every parent. So, when parents realize that their kid has developed the habit of lying, they must try and focus on factors which compel their child to lie. The reason may be many like lack of attention, fear, peer pressure etc.So, in, in such situations parents must ponder their unconditional love and attention to their child.

Developing good hygiene habit starts from the early age of childhood. So, kids must be taught the habit of washing their hands before and after eating their meals. They must be encouraged and motivated to do so. Parents should themselves practice this habit to set an example in front of their kids. Such practices performed by parents, encourage and help their kid to learn and pick up the habit from home.

Kids must be taught the habit of keeping and arranging their toys and other stuff once done. This habit once inculcated, will always help them to be arranged in later stages of their life.However, while developing such habits, parents should also involve themselves and extend their helping hand to their kid.

Many kids, when start going to play school or creche, develop the feeling of separation anxiety. This is another very common parenting problem faced by almost every parent. For this parent must try and boost the confidence level of their kid. They must keep their kid informed and updated about the up coming changes. They must be introduced to the school and teachers well in advance. Kids must be assured that their parents will be always there for them when needed. These activities performed by parents, build the moral of the child and help to relieve the stress developed due to phobia of separation anxiety.

Many kids have the habit of speaking loudly and arrogantly. These tantrums increase all the more at public places. So, instead of shouting and throwing instructions on them, parents should focus on the reason for their kid’s behavior .First and foremost, parents must evaluate themselves or other family member who speaks loudly. If they find it’s their fault, parents must correct themselves and develop the habit to speak politely and softly. Second reason, may be that the kid has developed the habit to shout and speak loudly to grab the attention of their elders. In such cases, parents must pay attention and unconditional love to their kids.This helps to boost confidence in them.

As child grows, in addition to the above mentioned parenting problems, kids start facing other problems related to their school and social situations. Kids spend maximum of their time in school. It is the place where they meet and make new friends. They interact with them and learn good as well as bad habits.Therefore, its important for parents to keep a regular check on their kid’s habits and their behavior.

Smoking, drinking alcohol, drug abuse etc are few parenting problems faced by parents. These wrong habits attract kids and make them their easy prey .They some how appeal to kids especially in their adolescent age and trap them. So, as kids grow parents must keep a check on their teenager’s friend’s list and their changing behavior .Parents must keep their child aware of the wrong and bad habits .They must provide them sufficient emotional support, encourage playing games and spending quality time with them.

Peer pressure is another major parenting challenge. Parents must groom their kids in a way that their kids are ready to face all the hurdles in their life strongly. They should not bow down to the problems rather they must take it as a challenge, stick to their family values and strive towards their goal.

Parents are not perfect creature’s .Knowingly or unknowingly, they have their own share of issues which are reflected in their behavior. These habits or behaviors are picked up automatically by their kids.So, every parent must try and correct themselves before correcting their child and thus set themselves as the role models.

Every parent must not over expect from their kids.This hampers their growth and development. So, allow the kid to behave in accordance with their age. Allow them to enjoy life and learn from their mistakes

Thus, every parent face their share of parenting problem .All the parenting problems can be solved .Some take long time, some take short time and some can be solved instantly .The major issue is to understand and recognize the problem. Solving parenting problem involves following steps:

* Identify the problem
* Determine the goal
* Chalk out all the possible solution
* Choose the solution
* Re evaluate

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