German Easter Bunny gets 70,000 letters from children

The Easter Bunny in Ostereistedt, northern Germany, once again received tens of thousands of requests from children hoping to have their wishes realized.

The meaning of Ostereistedt loosely translates to "Easter egg town" in English, and children have been sending their letters there for the past four decades.

Where did the letters come from?

According to Deutsche Post, some 70,000 letters were received at the post office in the village some 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of Bremen.

A person dressed as an Easter Bunny was seen delivering the last of the children's requests.

More than a thousand letters came from abroad, from a total of 40 different countries, including Australia and Brazil. Ukrainian children living in Germany because of the conflict back home also wrote to the Easter Bunny.

The total is actually down 10,000 on last year's figure — and well short of a peak of 100,000 in 2021, when the coronavirus pandemic was at its height.

What did the letters say?

The tradition aims to encourage children to write letters. In response, Deutsche Post's Easter Post Office sends back colorful Easter-themed letters written by a team of volunteers.

Whether it was peace on earth, cinema tickets or more chocolate, the children were keen to let the bunny know what they wanted this year.

Some of the Ukrainian children who wrote said they were grateful to live in Germany and had already made friends. Some also mentioned that they wanted to learn German.

One letter writer, Lola from the southern state of Baden-Württemberg, asked what the Easter Bunny's favorite food was. Another, Fynn from the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, wanted to go to the movies with him.

"With every letter, I see the children's eyes light up when they find the answer in the letterbox," said Doris Kröger, head of the Easter Post Office.

-Deutsche Welle

Malaysia warns of rising number of COVID-19 deaths, cases among children

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian health authorities have raised concerns about a growing number of coronavirus deaths and serious cases involving children, after a surge in overall infections forced the Southeast Asian nation into a strict lockdown.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin declared a two-week "total lockdown" from June 1-14, as daily COVID-19 cases and deaths hit record numbers, with the government warning the outbreak may be linked to more contagious variants.

Malaysia recorded the deaths of three children aged below five due to the coronavirus in the first five months of this year, the same number recorded over the whole of 2020, according to Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah.

A total of 27 children, including 19 below the age of five, also had to be treated in intensive care between January and May after contracting the virus, up from eight cases last year.

"The health ministry hopes all parties, especially parents and guardians, play an important part in protecting those with low immunity, such as babies and children, from COVID-19," Noor Hisham said in a statement.

Noor Hisham did not say how many children had been tested for COVID-19 or if authorities planned to ramp up testing among minors.

Neighboring Singapore also warned last month that new coronavirus variants, such as the one first detected in India, were affecting more children.

On Monday, Malaysian Health Minister Adham Baba said a total of 82,341 children had been infected with the coronavirus between January last year and May 30 this year.

Malaysia's total caseload shot past 600,000 on Friday, the third-highest total in the region behind Indonesia and the Philippines.

It saw a record daily rise in cases of 9,020 on Saturday and its highest daily death toll of 126 on Wednesday.

The government may consider making vaccination mandatory to ensure a target of inoculating 80% of Malaysia's 32 million people is met and legal action might be taken against anti-vaxxers, state newswire Bernama cited the prime minister as saying.

"I hope we can speed up vaccinations. What is important is not to have people saying don't get vaccinated," he said.

About 2.2 million people had received at least one vaccine dose as of Friday, the health ministry said.

-reuters

Dengue taking its toll on kids in Bangladesh

DHAKA — Hundreds of children are among 5,500 reported cases so far this year in Bangladesh.

With dengue taking an alarming turn in Dhaka, Selina Begum did her best to protect her family members from the viral disease.


The mother of two applied sprays, used mosquito nets even during daytime, kept all her rooms clean and destroyed all the potential breeding sources at her home.

But still her son Tahsin Ibn Hasan, six and a half, got dengue fever. He was admitted to a city hospital on Wednesday.

“I was on alert. I was careful. Yet my son has dengue,” a distressed Selina, a housewife, told this correspondent at the hospital yesterday.

She suspects her boy was bitten by mosquitoes that bred somewhere in an under-construction building near her rented flat in Tejgaon.


Tahsin is among some 80 child dengue patients who were being treated at the Holy Family Hospital in the city’s Eskaton yesterday.

Talking to The Daily Star, Lutful Ehsan Fatmi, head of the hospital’s Department of Child Health, said the number of dengue patients was increasing every day.

The scenario there suggests that children, with their weak immune systems, were vulnerable to the disease, the physician said, adding that they never had such a large number of dengue patients at a time.

He termed the situation a dengue epidemic.

He also said most children were suffering from haemorrhagic dengue which means they would bleed from their organs. “It is quite dangerous,” he said.

On Wednesday, Dr Ezaz Ahmed, director of the private hospital, said they were treating 121 dengue patients that day.

Experts said the number of dengue patients in the city was on the rise due to various reasons, including a lack of awareness about the disease and its prevention.

The common symptoms include high fever, vomiting and abdominal pain. Child patients show the same signs as the adults, they said.

Data from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) show that some 5,546 people had been infected with the virus between January 1 and July 18.

Five of them died.

The DGHS has detailed information about 2,176 of the 5,546. Of them, 645 are children up to 11 years old, 857 adult men and 674 women, said Aysha Akhther, assistant director of the directorate’s control room.

Doctors and hospital officials, however, said the actual numbers would be higher as many dengue cases go unreported. Besides, a large number of those patients are children, they added.

Asked about the issue, Prof Abdul Aziz, a former director of Shishu Hospital, urged all to stay alert.

“Every family needs to be extremely careful as Aedes mosquitoes breed in clean water. Mosquito sprays have to be applied on a regular basis,” he said, stressing on the need for taking child patients to hospitals immediately as their immune systems are not that strong.

He also suggested giving them adequate liquid food.

Kinkar Ghosh, an epidemiologist at the public hospital, said 168 dengue patients had been admitted there since March and two of them died.

The DGHS, however, does not have any data on the two, according to its officials.

Kinkar said the pattern of dengue this year has been a little different from that in the past. He said the patients were becoming critical just after the first day of fever.

Earlier, doctors used to advise patients to come to hospitals three days after catching the flu.

This year, they have also found new symptoms and effects, including loose motion, pneumonia and renal failure, said Kinkar.

The serotype of the virus has apparently changed, he said, adding that they were yet to find why.

On Wednesday, the High Court said the dengue situation in the capital was nothing short of an epidemic and slammed the two city corporations in Dhaka for their failure to combat the mosquito menace.

A number of city dwellers also complained that they did not see any steps from the two city corporations in this regard.

“In recent times, I did not find any activity of the city corporation. Neither did I hear any sound of a fogging machine,” said Nishad Sabera, a resident of Maghbazar.

Her daughter, Audrija Shampriti Joyeta, 14, has been undergoing treatment at the Holy Family Hospital since July 13.


“My daughter could not take a test due to dengue fever,” she added.

Contacted, Chief Health Officer of Dhaka North City Corporation Mominur Rahman Mamun said they were planning to create some groups, which would encourage people to destroy Aedes larvae.

The groups would also supply medical kits to all the healthcare centers in DNCC areas to diagnose dengue fever quickly. “The move will help ensure treatment immediately,” he said.

Dhaka South City Corporation Chief Health Officer Brig Gen Md Sharif Ahmed said they were emphasizing on building awareness on dengue through campaigns involving educational institutions, NGOs and mosques.

He said they would soon form 57 committees in 57 wards of the city so that mosquito breeding grounds were destroyed.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Too much screen time is no. 1 reason for teenage sleep problems, says new survey

According to a new poll, nearly half of United States parents say their teens experience regular sleep problems, with many believing that too much screen time is to blame.

The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health at the University of Michigan questioned 1,018 parents with at least one child aged 13 to 18 years old on their child’s sleep habits, asking what they think may be causing sleep disturbances.

Nearly half of the parents (43 percent) reported that their teens have problems falling asleep at night or wake up in the night and struggle to get back to sleep.

Of these parents, around 25 percent said their teens experienced these sleep problems one to two nights per week, and 18 percent reported that their teens struggle with sleep three or more nights per week.


As to what is causing sleep disturbances, using electronic devices like social media was the number one reason given by parents, reported by 56 percent of those surveyed.

Homework and other activities causing irregular sleep schedules was the reason given by 43 percent of parents, while 31 percent say teens worrying about school is affecting their child’s shut-eye, and 23 percent say it is due to worrying about their social life.

Many parents added that they have tried a number of different strategies at home to improve sleep, including reducing caffeine intake in the evening, turning off electronics and cell phones at bedtime, and natural or herbal remedies, which were also the top recommendations given when parents consulted a doctor about their child’s sleep problems.

More than a quarter of parents (28 percent) also reported that their teens used some type of medication to remedy the problem.

“Parents whose teens continue to have frequent sleep problems, despite following recommendations for healthy sleep hygiene, may want to talk with a health care provider, particularly when considering which type of medication to try,” says poll co-director Sarah Clark, M.P.H. “Inadequate or disrupted sleep can have long-lasting health effects that go beyond moodiness and irritability for teens.”

“Sleep-deprived teens may have difficulty concentrating in school and those who drive have an increased risk of auto accidents. Inadequate sleep has also been linked to health problems ranging from obesity to depression,” added Clark. JB

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Pink takes on malnutrition as UNICEF ambassador

UNITED NATIONS, United States—Pink was appointed on Monday as UNICEF’s newest ambassador, pledging to raise awareness about malnutrition worldwide.

“As a mom myself, it’s devastating to know that children are suffering because they don’t have adequate nutrition,” said the Grammy Award-winning singer.

“All children should be able to grow up strong and healthy, with the opportunity to reach their full potential.”


“As a UNICEF ambassador, I want to use my platform to help end global malnutrition,” which affects one in four children around the world, according to UNICEF.

Pink has a three-year-old daughter, Willow, with husband Carey Hart.

In July, Pink traveled to Haiti to see how therapeutic food can have an impact on malnourished children.

She visited an infant care center where children are treated for severe acute malnutrition.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Toys talk to kids about Velvet Revolution

PRAGUE—The Velvet Revolution that kicked off in Prague 25 years ago Monday was a seminal event in the collapse of communism. Try explaining that to children who have only known democracy.

That’s the challenge tackled by two veterans of the uprising as the massive student protests faded ever further into the past. They wanted to capture the excitement of the rallies, the brutality of police beatings and the surreal repression of a nation that Vaclav Havel—later president—dubbed “Absurdistan.”

So renowned puppet designer Miroslav Trejtnar and filmmaker Tatana Markova teamed up to present the Velvet Revolution in a 30-minute movie that tells the story of more than a dozen children of the revolution—now parents—through the magic of animation.

“The parents are telling their children why they joined the demonstration, why they wanted a change,” Trejtnar said. “It’s about a turning point that they didn’t experience.”

“We used animation to present it in a form familiar to them,” said Markova, “so the story becomes lively for them.”

In the movie, the parents choose a toy—a small human figure or animal—and tell their own story by moving it on a big map of Prague. The toys are then animated to play out the drama of the events that toppled communism in Czechoslovakia.

On Nov. 17, 1989, fiery speeches at a university campus inspired thousands of students to march downtown toward Wenceslas Square. As darkness fell, police cracked down hard, beating demonstrators with truncheons and injuring hundreds in the melee. Unbowed, the students went on strike and the crowds mushroomed, something the authorities were soon unable to contain. On Dec. 29, Havel became the country’s first democratically elected president in a half-century.

“It’s really tough to explain to them the overall atmosphere—what we could do and what was banned, what could get us into trouble and how complicated everything was,” said Daniela Kramerova, who participates in the film with her daughter Mariana.

The film took about four years to make, and its creators raised the funds through a crowd-funding campaign.

Trejtnar said he hopes the movie will inspire children to take a larger interest in history. “If they don’t like something,” he said, “they should try to change it.”

One 12-year-old girl who learned the story of her parents through the movie organized a protest against billboards in her neighborhood.

“We didn’t encourage her to do it,” Trejtnar said. “She’s a clever girl.”

The film “What to Tell the Kids?” premieres on Monday. It will be screened in the open air on the same Prague street where police attacked the students 25 years ago.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Laundry soap pods dangerous for young kids – study

Washington – Laundry detergent pods could be dangerous for young children, researchers warned Monday, as reports grow of kids under six swallowing the capsules in the United States.

The detergent pods – on US shelves since 2010 – are just the right size for a single load of laundry, eliminating the need to measure out a liquid or powder.

More than 17,000 incidents from 2012 and 2013 were reported to US poison control centers of children under six being exposed to the detergent chemicals – equivalent to one child every hour – according to the new study.

“Laundry detergent pods are small, colorful, and may look like candy or juice to a young child,” said co-author Marcel Casavant, toxicology chief at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and medical director of the Central Ohio Poison Center.

“It can take just a few seconds for children to grab them, break them open, and swallow the toxic chemicals they contain, or get the chemicals in their eyes.”

In one case, the child died, while some 769 children were hospitalized, a rate of more than one a day.

Two-thirds of the cases were among toddlers – children just one or two years old.

Children who put the capsules in their mouths can quickly swallow a large quantity of concentrated chemicals, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital researchers warned.

Nearly half the children, 48 percent, vomited after ingesting the detergent, the study found.

Other effects included coughing or choking, eye pain, drowsiness and pinkeye.

Most of the detergent capsules are sold in clear, easy-to-open containers. One manufacturer last year switched to an opaque package with an additional latch and a warning label, but the study authors said this was not enough.

“It is not clear that any laundry detergent pods currently available are truly child resistant; a national safety standard is needed to make sure that all pod makers adopt safer packaging and labeling,” said senior author Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

He urged households with young children to use traditional detergent.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Should you or shouldn’t you spank your child?

In the film “Parental Guidance,” Billy Crystal plays a grandfather trying to reconnect with his grandchildren. But his parenting methods don’t mesh well with his helicopter-parent daughter. When one of his grandkids misbehaves, he threatens to spank the boy in public and sees onlookers gasping in horror.

In his frustration, trying to be a parent the way his daughter does, he exclaims, “I’m sorry! I can’t take this anymore… this whole ‘teachable moments’ of protecting their self-esteem and nobody gets punished and every game ends in a tie! All I hear is ‘Use your words. Use your words,’ but the word they never use with the kids is ‘No!’”

My sister gave my three-year-old Jack a book called “Hands Are Not for Hitting.” As the title suggests, it talks about all the things hands are for instead (hugging, helping, etc). I read it a few times to him but stopped for now. After all, I’ve given him the occasional swat, or threatened it.

I’ve never had a firm opinion about spanking until my son hit the throat-slitting threes. I thought I’d never be a parent who spanked her child, but I did.

Many articles ballyhoo spanking as passé and advise to use alternatives instead (redirection, ignoring, timeouts), while others espouse correct spanking (sparingly, privately) and even defend it as biblical, equipped with literal passages.

Most kids I grew up with were spanked. While some continue the tradition literally handed down from generation to generation, others purposefully chose a more pacifist path.

Why spank? 


A spanking should be “hard enough to be unpleasant but not hard enough to hurt.”

Proponents of spanking say it should be done within a certain age range only (1.5-5 years old or 3-7 years), never done out of anger, only in private so as not to humiliate, and to correct “mistakes of the heart” such as defiance and never “mistakes of the mind” (teachwithjoy.com).

I haven’t come across any long-term study that focuses on the unspanked and how they are much better off, perhaps because “gentle parenting” or “positive parenting” techniques are fairly new.

Someone’s ex-husband was reportedly undisciplined or di napalo as a child, and it was said to be why he grew up to become a serial cheat. Another friend wasn’t spanked and yet she turned out quite well.



Those who were spanked as children and “grew up okay” usually don’t hold grudges against their parents, and think that they might have turned out worse if they hadn’t been spanked, so they see nothing wrong with it; others employ it but struggle with the guilt and use it as a last resort.

Mel Gray, 38, has three boys ages 14, 11 and 9. Gray was spanked as a child for major offenses.

“Hurting my siblings, touching others’ stuff and breaking them, not listening to what I was told, lying, not waking up for school, not doing homework and getting caught, etc… for those, palo kaagad, using slippers or a belt on the butt. Tapos my parents would explain why they did it,” he said.

Alternatives

He said it was effective in keeping him in line, which is why he spanked his children, too. “Ayaw kasi makinig, and it worked. We tried other alternatives before, such as talking to them first. But that didn’t work too well,” said Gray.

He added that an acceptable age range for kids to get spanked is 5-7 years old. “After 7, medyo matanda na yung bata, and they would probably have remembered all the spankings and why… Before 5 is too young, I guess. Since my kids are old na, talking to them na lang and grounding them from stuff they like doing (TV, electronic gadgets, allowance, etc.) is how I discipline them.”

Allan Hizon, 38, was spanked for fighting, breaking valuable objects and being unruly.

“We would get warned sometimes, then spanked if we persisted with the behavior,” he said. “Sometimes we would be told that it was for our own good (but no explanation beyond that). We usually got hit on the buttocks with slippers, and with the belt for more severe offenses.”

He believes it was effective in disciplining him. “We were afraid of getting hit. I now have a hard time remembering if it was actually painful. It was more of the thought of being punished that kept us in line.”

His children Allen, 7, and Carlo, 5, are spanked. “But very rarely,” Allan qualified, “if they don’t respond to repeated warnings or verbal instructions to stop misbehaving, and if the offense is sudden and severe (i.e., hurting each other, rude words). But it works only at that moment. Spanking doesn’t work in the long term, and we feel bad when we do it.”

Has he tried other alternatives? “Yes. Timeouts, banning the use of their iPad and letting them slap their own mouths (for rude words),” said Allan.

He added that spanking is acceptable until age 9, though they generally avoid doing so.

Cindy Ngo-Co, 35, has spanked her eldest son Luigi, 6. “I spanked him a few times a couple of years ago but I’ve stopped doing it since, mainly because I can’t stand the guilt I feel after, and he gets the hint when I give him my warnings. I think at some level it worked because now he makes sure we don’t reach that point before he starts to listen.”

Luigi was spanked for playing rough and hurting his two-year-old brother Chance, despite several warnings, and for not being cooperative when reviewing his lessons.

Cindi recalled: “I remember being spanked when my siblings and I would get in fights that turned physical, and when we failed a test in school. For sibling fights, we would be asked to stop and were given warnings first, but if we continued the spat and hurt each other, we got spanked, but never in public.

“For failing tests, the number of lashes depended on how far our actual scores were from the passing score. My mom used a thin bamboo stick. I think it was the ‘weapon of choice’ then, as I remember my aunts and, sometimes, teachers having the same. Yes, our teachers in grade school spanked as a means of discipline, but always limited to  palms only. For other offenses, my mom would usually hit our lower body parts (legs), but for failing tests, it’s usually our palms.”



Facing the wall

She added: “I believe that spanking was effective because it made me think about the consequences before I did something my parents would not be happy about.”

Alternatives that Cindy also has in her discipline arsenal are facing the wall and taking away privileges such as watching TV, playing with gadgets and toys.

Lynn, 37, was spanked on her bottom with a slipper for being stubborn and not following her parents. “My parents explained why, and would leave us to think about it first, then they would come to collect us to prompt us to say ‘Sorry,’ then they say ‘Sorry’, too,” she said. “I can’t compare it with a positive approach, but it was effective because as a child it was easy for me to remember what I didn’t want to happen, so I avoided doing wrong.”

Lynn has two daughters, Marga, 5, and Cece, 20 months. She admits to spanking Marga. “Just lightly, to get her attention,” she clarified. “It has helped. I’ve also tried other alternatives like the positive approach, reward system, talking, explaining and involvement.”

She thinks that ages 3-6 would be an acceptable age range for spanking. Lynn added, “I think spanking is totally dependent on the child’s personality. For Cece’s personality now, spanking won’t work, it will just make matters worse for her—she will fight back—so for her it’s best to talk with gentleness and more affection.”

What is right for your family?

Many medical experts and studies have come out to discourage corporal punishment, citing how it has led to lower vocabulary scores, emotional and behavioral problems, and filling our jails with the aggressive. Unicef even came out with “Children are Unbeatable,” outlining reasons not to hit children.

They say spanking appears to work in the short term but leads to worse outcomes in the long run. Some question why hitting a “small defenseless child but not a full grown adult” is okay, arguing that if one is illegal, the other should be, too.

“Spanking is the opposite of discipline. Spanking, even with love, is meant to ‘shock’ into correct behavior. Discipline means to teach through example. Parents are overworked these days and don’t have time to teach, or discipline. Instead, they spank. These spankings turn into teachable moments, just not how the parents intended,” posted Lillian to an article on spanking that appeared on Parents.com.

“The kid gets into trouble. The parent punishes the kid by spanking in an attempt to discipline. The kid then is unsupervised again, and does the same exact thing but learns to make sure that he doesn’t get caught this time. Spanking does not teach moral values. These same kids then hit other kids to make them do what they want.”

Threat

Jay, 42, has not spanked any of his three girls ages 13, 10 and 6. “Maybe for gross disrespect or merely not following what I tell them to do, I would spank, but there has been no need yet. The threat of spanking still works. Normally, I just yell lang and they obey na, Awa ng Diyos.”

As a child, Jay was hit with a belt or a fly swatter, normally on the butt. “The degree of the spanking would depend on the offense,” he explained. “A minor offense would be talking back. Major was like when I once kicked a ball straight to my sister’s face!” He got spanked first before an explanation was given as to why he needed a spanking. “If we did it again, the spanking got more severe,” said Jay. Timeouts were not in vogue then.

Do you think it was effective in disciplining you? “Oo naman, I could have turned out worse,” said Jay.

Sharon, 38, and her brother were also spanked for disobedience and disrespect to their parents. She said, “It was very seldom. Our parents would always sit with us after, make us realize what it was for and ask if we learned our lesson. We understood for sure that what we didn’t follow or do meant a lot to my folks.”

Even so, Sharon hasn’t spanked her kids Piper, 10, and Peter, 7. “My husband and I don’t spank our children. We do not believe that physically hurting them will make them understand what they did wrong and teach them a lesson. We believe in the power of conversations.

“We have dialogues with them very often, so that they would understand the consequences of their actions, and dialogues may be sometimes calm and very productive, while others may be mixed with a little anger and disappointment and resistance, but talking with each other prevails. Sometimes we confiscate toys and gadgets for a period of time while they serve their timeout.

“I believe the children have learned from our way of discipline. It may not always be easy, but seeing them with a better understanding of such is evidence that we may be doing something right,” said Sharon.

Dr. Mia Almeda-Fernando, 37, was never spanked. “I remember being a ‘good’ kid, as it was my older brother who was always getting into trouble. But for both minor and major offenses, I just remember being shouted at, but never spanked. I did witness my brothers being punished, though: made to eat soap for cussing and hit with a belt for hitting each other,” she recalled.

“I guess I consider myself a disciplined kid. But now that I think about it, I’m not sure if being a witness to my brothers being spanked was equivalent to me being spanked myself.”

She has never spanked her three-year-old, Iñigo. “Yet,” she added. “I feel, at his age, he may still not understand the concept of why I would inflict pain on him. I do shout at him when he misbehaves.”

Does it work? “Well, he would initially shout back. Then, given a few minutes to calm down, he would say sorry. Then, I spend some time explaining to him why mommy was unhappy or angry. I have never seen my son hit another person, so I don’t know if this has something to do with how I reprimand him. But spanking or no spanking, I believe that after the whole fiasco, no matter how exhausting, it’s important to talk to your child to try to explain why things went the way it did.”

What is right for your family?

For every argument for or against spanking is an anecdote or example proving otherwise. Studies in favor of no spanking cite the purported ill effects directly correlated to physical abuse in childhood. Then the debate goes on to define “spanking” or “abuse,” if any act of hitting is abuse or just an overreaction because it should be taken in the proper context. Since a precise formula for how forceful a spank is cannot be ascertained, some choose to just do away with it.

I would probably go all kung-fu if I knew someone else hit my child, but why is it okay for me to do it?

I think there is a lot more to consider (environment, personality, etc.) and not just isolated spanking or lack of it per se that leads to how a child develops. Some people have everything against them and yet turn out fine, while others are given the world and yet still flounder in life.

My early experience with Jack made me realize that spanking was only partially effective—for us, anyway. Now he knows that when I threaten a spanking, I can follow through on it.

Lately, I’ve learned that humor works to diffuse the tension. This isn’t always easy for me as I can get pretty exasperated when tired of caring for a toddler all day, and I just want things done quickly. But when I suddenly act silly or burst into song, it is totally unexpected and Jack gets a laugh out of it and becomes more agreeable. Or at least it buys me time to strategize my next negotiating tactic.

This forces me to be more creative with my “methods.” I don’t always succeed and resort to threats or bribes when desperate, but I am trying to be more consistent. I would hate to hear about him strong-arming a classmate into doing what he wants, and hear that he learned it from me.

As Dr. Richard Rende put it, “Many will say that they see that spanking works. Many will say that spanking was part of their childhood and it taught them right from wrong. Research doesn’t speak to any one individual’s story. What I suggest, from the perspective of a researcher, is that parents revisit their motivations for spanking. If it’s reactive and emotional, we know that there is no lesson learned there for a child—and it could spiral out of control.

“If it’s purposeful and used as a form of discipline, I would at least say that you consider other methods that can be used that don’t involve physical contact, simply because, unlike spanking, they have all been shown in research studies to be effective in producing positive changes in children’s behavior over time.”

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Everyone is invited to Hi-5 House Party

MANILA, Philippines—Hi-5 debuts their new cast line up in Australia with a brand new stage show.

Stevie and Lauren welcome newcomers Dayen Zheng, Ainsley Melham and Mary Lascaris to the stage in a Dance Party extravaganza. Hi-5’s favorite friend DJ Chats will be the “party meister” spinning discs and keeping everyone on their toes.

This is Hi-5’s first live “concert style” stage show and after a big shout out to fans of over 100,000 on Facebook to find out their most loved songs, the show will feature Hi-5’s most popular song line up. It also features a sneak-peek at songs featuring in the new revamped series “Hi-5 House” due to have a world premiere in Australia and New Zealand on Nickelodeon on December 6.

Classic favorites such as L.O.V.E and “Ready or Not” will have audiences singing along and joining in with the new songs like “Dance with the Dinosaurs” and “Come On In” performed for the very first time on stage.

Look forward to joining in the familiar party games—with a Hi-5 twist of course with your favorite friends—there is even a limbo competition. And of course, there are lots and lots of music and dancing, because that’s what the Hi-5 House is all about – it’s a non-stop dance party.

With so many interactive elements the audiences are definitely part of the party fun. So put on your party clothes and dancing shoes and get ready for Hi-5 House Party!

Hi-5 is one of the top three most successful pre-school television shows in Australia and has held this position for 10 years. The series are classified within the educational requirements for preschool television by Australian, British and American Broadcast Authorities and is known for helping children learn through play, whilst bearing in mind curriculum requirement for early childhood education. Hi-5 reaches a global audience of 1,000,000 children.

Tickets to Hi-5 House Party in Manila on December 13 to 15 at the SM Aura’s Samsung Hall are now available at all SM Tickets outlets, visit www.smtickets.com or call 374-9999 and 470-2222. Presented by Hi-5 and Wilbros Live.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

You don’t want your toddler to have root canal

Caring for primary teeth isn’t important, since they fall out anyway. True? False!

Primary teeth set the foundation for the growth and health of permanent teeth, so it is crucial to start good habits early. But how early is early?

I had many cavities while growing up. But my husband Jason has a much better set of chompers, and my father-in-law still has all his teeth. I hope our son Jack inherits his father’s good dental genes.

As soon as Jack’s first tooth erupted, I had been fastidious in wiping it with a clean, wet cloth after each milk break. Each milk session also ended with a sip of water to rinse away any residue. And when he was 7 months old, there were no nighttime feedings. “Daytime is for nutrition, nighttime is for sleeping” was our mantra.

At that age, he was developmentally ready not to need milk at night. Also, without nighttime feeding, he didn’t wet himself so much in his sleep.

This I learned from many articles online and books like Dr. Ferber’s “Solving Your Child’s Sleep Problems.” Jack started taking milk from the sippy cup, and, later, from a glass, when he was 13 months old. I was glad we escaped bottle mouth.

But while Jack was effectively sleep-trained, he still had icky yellow stains on his teeth. I had read about iron supplements staining teeth gray, but yellow?

A few days after he turned 1, we took Jack to a pediatric dentist for the first time, not knowing what to expect.

The yellowing turned out to be an acidic reaction resulting from his favorite oranges and mangoes. I thought that feeding him fruit and healthy, no-sugar-added smoothies were good parenting moves. The dentist asked us to stop giving him these for a while; if he had to have them, a straw would be used.

True enough, the yellowing disappeared! Good thing it was just a minor problem; other children have different stories.

Root canals at age 3


When Andrea turned 3, her parents discovered that she did not want to drink milk from the bottle anymore, but was having difficulty drinking from a glass and eating food in general.

“We took her to a doctor, who recommended we see a pediatric dentist,” explained her father Alfonso. “We saw a pediatric dentist at Dentista Inc. in Shangri-La Plaza, who diagnosed Andrea as having teeth eaten by bacteria. Half of one of her front teeth was already about to break off. Dental surgery was recommended to root canal some teeth to remedy her pain and discomfort.”

The source of the bacteria? The milk she was given at night. “We were negligent in removing the milk bottle from her mouth when she fell asleep. As such, bacteria grew from the sugar (lactose) in the leftover milk she had in her mouth,” said Alfonso.

Andrea’s parents decided to get a second opinion and were referred to another dentist, who recommended the same thing and more: Andrea underwent a two-hour dental procedure—four tooth extractions, four root canals  and three pulp treatments—all done under general anesthesia.

Today, whatever is left of Andrea’s baby teeth are healthier and she is doing fine.

Her father said, “If there’s something to learn from our story, it’s not to be lazy putting kids to sleep. Don’t just stick a bottle in her mouth to make her doze off. Make sure you wake up and check if she’s already asleep, remove the bottle from her mouth, and wipe off leftover milk.”


First dental checkup


“Ideally, the first dental visit should be on the first birthday, by which time they would already have six to eight teeth—although in my private practice, I appreciate parents who bring their children as early as their first tooth erupts to educate and encourage them in cleaning their child’s mouth to prevent cavities,” said Dr. Mary Lynn Roxas-Abellera,   active member of the Philippine Pediatric Dental Society, Inc.

Should parents seek out a pediatric dentist, or will their general/family dentist do just fine?

“The oral health care of children should be handled by a specialist,” explained  Abellera. “A pediatric dentist focuses on the management of the behavior of the child to achieve a quality dental treatment. General dentists tend to concentrate on the procedure only.”

She added: “The first visit is just introductory, with icebreakers. Short, successive visits are meant to build the child’s trust in the dentist and the office.”

On Jack’s first visit,  Abellera gave us an overview, with visual aids, to illustrate just how we would  hold my son (he will not be reclined on the chair yet) and what he would most likely do (struggle and open his mouth wide, which is good).

After the first visit, parents should have learned the following: status of the child’s oral examination (teeth present, erupting, decayed, jaw, bite and gums); proper infant/child oral care, such as brushing techniques (what toothbrush and toothpaste should be used); a demonstration on proper teeth cleaning; awareness of the cause and prevention of early childhood caries or dental decay; diet counseling; caries or decay risk based on a general assessment of the child; if there are no cavities, cleaning and fluoride varnish application; and suggested visits to the dentist or possible treatments to be done on the child, if any.

Fluoride toothpaste: Do or don’t?

In the supermarket, the array of different toothpastes can be confusing. Should we get non-fluoride toothpaste, kiddie toothpaste in fun flavors, or will regular toothpaste do?

“Others believe that since children start to get permanent teeth at age 6, that’s the only time they need fluoride, but that’s a misconception,” clarified  Abellera.

“As early as when the child is 1 year old, fluoride applications can be done to protect his teeth against cavities or decay.”

Another misconception is that since children below 6 years old do not yet know how to spit, they might swallow toxic levels of fluoride or be plagued by the more common dental fluorosis from the overconsumption of fluoride.

But  Abellera countered that if proper dispensing of the fluoridated toothpaste can be ensured by the parent, the risk of toxicity will be decreased. After all, tooth-brushing should be fully supervised for kids under 6 years old.

Make sure, too, that the toothpaste tube is out of your child’s reach. Abellera then showed me an actual sample of what the correct amount looks like: a smear of toothpaste for 6 months to 2 years old, pea-size  for 2-6 years old, and almost full length (10mm) of the brush for 6 years old and above.

As for kiddie toothpastes, she said, “As long as they contain the recommended amount of fluoride (1,000-1,500 parts per million), I have nothing against them. But unfortunately, most kiddie toothpastes contain sub-optimum amount or no fluoride at all, yet they claim anti-cariogenic properties. Let us remember that for it to be anti-caries, the right amount of fluoride should be present, so parents should just be more vigilant in buying these products.”

Good oral hygiene habits in children

DR. MARY Lynn  Roxas-Abellera advised:

After each feeding, always clean the infant’s mouth, including the gumpads and tongue, with a sterile gauze wet with distilled water.

As soon as the first tooth erupts, begin brushing with a soft bristled toothbrush with a tiny smear of fluoridated toothpaste.

Avoid giving the child a bottle of milk, juice or sweetened liquids as pacifier during sleeping time.

Help the child brush their teeth. Parents can allow toddlers to brush on their own to build independence and self-confidence, but parents should still repeat the process to remove plaque.

Brush twice daily; the most important time is at night due to lower salivary flow, making the teeth most susceptible to cavities.

Ensure regular dental checkups (at least every six months) and proper application of fluoride varnish.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Choose the right pet for your kids

I grew up with dogs. I still remember Che-Che, my first puppy. I was very young and had no idea how to handle a dog properly.

I remember doing foolish things, like pulling the dog’s tail when I tried to get her to come to me, and I vaguely recall getting snapped at because of this. But that obviously didn’t stop me from developing a life-long love of dogs.

I was around five or six when I came home from the hospital after a bout of pneumonia, exhausted and down from the experience of needles and tests, and who should come running with a surprise to cheer me up? Che-Che.

She had had puppies while I was gone and there, in a makeshift little home in our garage, was a litter of adorable little Japanese Spitz puppies. They were all immaculate white except for the tiniest one, who seemed to have a touch of creamy pink, or at least that’s how I remember her.

I picked her up and named her after my then favorite storybook character, Beauty.

Then, just when I thought I had found my favorite, a little puppy came crawling out of a pile of junk, covered in black dirt. I picked him up to get him cleaned only to realize he wasn’t dirty after all. I called my new little baby Blacky. So much for originality.

As the years went by, my puppies grew up. Some passed away, while others had more puppies, so there was never a time when we didn’t have an adorable four-legged creature running around the house and keeping me company in my room, despite my mom’s nonstop reminder to not let the dogs come up.

Fortunately, I married a man with the same affection for dogs, and so it comes as no surprise that we have four in our home—three yip-yapping little ones and a big oversized baby that runs straight at me every chance it can get.

My kids are growing up side by side with their four-legged friends, as well as their swimming buddies in the aquarium and our “Boom-tarat-tarat” singing cockatoo, Marvin.

Furry friend

The pets have been wonderful for all of us, especially my 3-year-old son who goes straight to the kitchen to get “his” dog, Charlie Brown, as soon as he gets home from school. He’s got his friends, but even when he doesn’t, I can see he is never lonely as long as he’s got his furry friends.

Aside from companionship, you can also count on pets to help your child develop a sense of responsibility, or in the case of excited and eager little children, over responsibility! You might find them trying to feed your fish for the fifth time or give them the food right off their spoons!

My daughter is fond of our pets, too, but I can see it’s not the same kind of love my son has for them. But just the same, from an early age, I’ve seen how the dogs can stir feelings of concern and empathy from her when they get sick or, in one instance, lost.

Perhaps I am a little biased, but I truly believe that a pet makes a great addition to any family, but of course, there are many things to consider before bringing home a new family member.

The first and foremost consideration would be your and your children’s allergies. In every home, there always seems to be at least one member allergic to animals.

A quick trip to a doctor’s office can often tell you what kind of animal you or your child may be allergic to.

Some people think that if they are allergic to one cat or dog, they are automatically allergic to all types and breeds. More often than not, this is not the case. It’s just a matter of finding a hypoallergenic breed that won’t make your allergies act up.

‘Hypoallergenic’

Bear in mind, though, that “hypoallergenic” is not “nonallergenic,” because there’s really no such thing, other than the stuffed version. Hypoallergenic cats and dogs may still cause minor reactions.

If you find yourself still wanting to be a dog or cat owner despite a possible allergy, some good hypoallergenic dogs are the Bichon Frisé, Samoyed and poodle.

All are very cute breeds and, as a bonus, have a friendly and gentle temperament which is great for families with small children.

Schnauzers and Shih Tzus are also hypoallergenic, but might be better suited to older children due to their nippy temperaments. A Yorkshire Terrier is also supposed to be a hypoallergenic breed.

The only drawback is the maintenance of their hair. Some have long hair, which will need to be washed and brushed regularly to prevent matting.

If you prefer a cat, you can  try getting a Balinese or a Javanese, neither of which has an undercoat, and, therefore, produces less of the allergy-causing Fel D1 protein that other cats produce.

According to www.catster.com, the Oriental Shorthair is also a good option, but you will have to groom it frequently to keep dander away.

The Devon Rex, Cornish Rex and Sphynx don’t have much fur but you will need to bathe it regularly to avoid oil buildup.

The Siberian is supposed to have “lower than average enzyme” in their saliva, making it supposedly a reaction-free cat for many people with allergies.

If allergies are not a problem, some of the other child-friendly dog breeds are bulldogs and Bull Terriers. They may look intimidating, but these are among the friendliest, and are often strong enough to withstand a little rough manhandling from little hands.

Two of the world’s most famous pets, Lassie and Snoopy, or the Collie and Beagle respectively, are also very good choices for families with children, though the Collie will need constant grooming.

If you have enough space and time, you can’t go wrong with a Labrador Retriever or a Golden Retriever, both of which are full of energy to match that of your children and, above all, patience and affection.

Cats

For allergy-free cat lovers, www.healthline.com recommends the Abyssinian which is relatively “friendly and sociable,” the Burmese for its “affectionate and gentle” nature, or the Birman which is supposedly the “easygoing” one.

If you have a dog at home, too, try the American Shorthair, which is “known for getting along with dogs.”

Rabbits are a popular option, too. Find me a little girl who doesn’t think rabbits are adorable. They can live indoors and are generally mild mannered and, as social animals, get along with human beings but can also just happily hop around on their own.

As a mammal, it is susceptible to rabies, but if it will be an indoor pet, it is highly unlikely that it will get the disease. Just the same, a rabbit will need vaccines and other shots regularly.

However, allergies are not the only consideration.

Consider your family’s lifestyle. Do you have enough time to play with your dog and walk it daily? For cats and rabbits, is there someone who can regularly clean out its litter box?

If you and your children are very busy, opt for a cat which has a more “independent” temperament and will not need as much cuddle or playtime as a dog, or other pets which are in cages such as little mammals like hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils and rats.

However, teach your child how to handle them gently and carefully or they may bite. Make sure your vet keeps them rabies-free as well.

Birds

Birds are also delightful pets, which do not need as much maintenance as other animals but can provide a lot of fun, especially if you get an intelligent breed such as the cockatoo which can entertain your family with its singing.

However, some birds have a chalk-like powder under their feathers and wings which may cause minor irritation or allergic reaction.

For families who prefer non-cuddly animals, you can also try raising insects and arthropods, ant colonies or fish. But stay away from turtles and other amphibians which can carry the salmonella bacteria.

The US has had a ban against the sale of turtles as pets since 1975 due to the risk of spreading salmonellosis. Unfortunately, not many people know this, and many parents continue to buy turtles as family pets.

There are many reasons to get a pet, and perhaps just as many not to, but once you have one and it becomes a part of your family, you’ll never regret getting it.

Best of all, you will provide your children with an additional family member to love and care for.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

How to plan birthday parties your child will remember

This week marks another year for me. It’s just a few days away, but I still haven’t made plans.

I remember when I was younger, I truly looked forward to celebrating each birthday. My mom used to hold birthday parties for me in the village clubhouse, or in a nearby members’ club.

But my favorite was my Jollibee birthday party. I used to love the mascot Hetty Spaghetti, with her blonde spaghetti noodles hair. Never mind that she had hotdog bits and pieces mixed in—I still thought she was the prettiest thing ever.

I don’t remember much from those parties, other than a blackout in the middle of a magic show at one party (my birthday being in October means that typhoons and power outages are always part of the equation), and singing “Somewhere Out There” for my guests during another. But I do remember that they were always fun!

I loved trying to grab the last chair while playing musical chairs, and squeezing with my partner on a tiny newspaper for the newspaper dance. There was the ever-present pabitin, and the never-ending “bring me” game.

Giveaways were pretty standard things, a paper bag with candies and chocolates, though I do remember a time when live colored chicks became a trend, and I would bring one home from a party every now and then. We ended up having a few baby chicks for a while. Of course, none of them survived, and thankfully for the chicks, the trend didn’t either.

Nowadays, many children’s parties are on a whole new level, even rivaling those of grownups when it comes to the preparation and production involved.

There are so many options to make your child’s party special that it’s easy to get carried away, until you see the total cost and realize you’ll have to sacrifice her tuition for the year!

But in reality, we don’t even have to spend to make a birthday special. A birthday is special for what it is, whether you spend money or not.

Different ways

There are different ways to celebrate a birthday without having to spend too much.

For instance, children below 3 years old usually don’t even realize that it’s their birthday, so you can opt to simply have immediate family over for lunch and cake. And with everyone important being there to celebrate, it will be a special day, thanks to all that love.

If your child is old enough to know it’s his/her birthday and wants to do something special, you can always suggest other activities, aside from having a party.

Take the day off or reserve the whole Saturday and line up some of your kid’s favorite activities.

Prepare your child’s favorite food or make a reservation in a restaurant he/she enjoys. Depending on your budget, you can invite some of your kid’s friends or keep it as a special day just for him/her and your family.

A fun way to start the day and set the mood is to wake the kid up with a birthday song and some cake!

A lot of little girls, for instance, love princess themes, and there is a princess club at Bonifacio High Street in Global City where you can spend a few hours together. Or you can make your own princess day by getting creative at Carolina’s fabric and accessories shop.

Little girls also love art projects and all things shiny, so you can try going for an arts-and-crafts day at home after a trip to National Book Store. You can buy art materials, and with a little glue gun at home, your daughter, with or without her friends, can have a royal or arts and crafts day to celebrate her birthday.

If your little boy is anything like mine, his interests probably lie in animals and moving objects such as trains and planes. Spend the day with the party animals in the zoo!

There is the Avilon Zoo in Montalban, Rizal, which is huge! Or you can opt for the Avilon Petting Zoo in Tiendesitas, Libis, Quezon City.

You can also check out the Mind Museum at Global City for the dinosaur bones and some scientific facts and fun! It’s a wonderful learning experience, and the exhibitions, such as the ongoing Leonardo da Vinci exhibit, are world-class. I am really happy and proud that there is something like that in Manila.

Old planes

You can also visit various museums. My son’s favorite in Manila is the Philippine Airforce Museum beside Naia Terminal 3. The Aviation museum charges P20 per ticket, but the hour or two you spend there with your son and his friends, checking out the different old planes, is worth much more than that.

After a certain age, the appeal of princesses and animals starts to wear off. A fun option to keep in mind for kids who want to have a celebration is a swimming party.

Find a good friend or relative who has a swimming pool, make the necessary arrangements and, voila, instant party—just add water! The kids will be entertained for hours with hardly any effort, but make sure you or someone capable is around to keep an eye on them.

With some homemade rainbow bread sandwiches, barbecue, ice cream and a cake, your child’s birthday will be very happy.

Orphanage

Birthdays are also a good opportunity to teach our children to share with others and to learn the value of the real treasures in life. It would be a good experience for him to celebrate the day by going to an orphanage or shelter and, instead of expecting gifts, to be the one bearing them, such as food and other basic necessities.

You can try explaining to him that since God has already blessed him with the best birthday gift—a loving family and comfortable life—it’s his turn to give to those who are not blessed with as much.

If you decide to have a traditional children’s party, there are party suppliers and planners you can choose from. They can handle everything for you—from the party theme to the decorations, food, program, prizes and giveaways.

All you will have to do is show up. Give them your budget, and they will work around it. Some reputable suppliers you can contact are Party Perks (tel. 0917-8780877), Jelly Bellies (0917-5312433) and Clowning Around (0917-8424171).

You can also opt to go à la carte and choose different items from different planners, since they sometimes have different prices for almost the same things.

Or you can order the things you cannot source or do yourself (such as specific party acts) from the party planner and choose to do the rest yourself. It will take more time and effort, but will definitely save you money.

If you choose to DIY, head to Divisoria. You can buy everything there—balloons, decorations, supplies and prizes—and still have enough money left to treat yourself after.

My friend recently hosted a birthday party, and rather than ordering costly personalized bags/container giveaways, she bought the eco-friendly P10 bags in Divisoria and, with a glue gun, feathers, sequins and a little creativity, sent the guests home with cute loot bags.

You can hunt around 168 Mall for some goodies to put in the bag, but it would also be great to fill it up with homemade cookies and cupcakes.

A little Photoshop and a few minutes online and you can very easily find the characters and graphics you need for invitations and even thank-you cards to attach to your loot bags. Just don’t forget to check the copyright of the photos you use and acknowledge your source.

Then there is the cake, the centerpiece of your party. Nowadays, between Goldilocks and Red Ribbon, you can find almost any theme or character for your child’s birthday cake. Just give them a lead time of about five days.

Or you can also order from home-based bakers for special customized cakes. I love Mia Austria’s cute and yummy cakes (tel. 0917-4516531) and Emily Uy’s matching cakes and cupcakes (0917-5348074).

Or, if you are talented enough in the kitchen, give it a go and go homemade! I once saw a friend of mine posting photos of cupcakes on her Instagram account for days in a row. It turned out she was preparing for her daughter’s birthday.

She cooked and baked all the food, cupcakes and her daughter’s birthday cake for her party. It wasn’t a matter of budget, but rather, principle. In terms of budget, she really doesn’t have to worry about anything, but she wanted her daughter to experience the kind of parties she had as a child, simple and made 100 percent from a mother’s love.

At the end of the day, it’s not how much you spend that makes a day special. It’s how much you put yourself into it and how much love your child feels that will make your child truly happy, and make it a day to remember.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Why children should chew gum

The numbers are alarming. According to the 2006 National Oral Health Survey, which looked into the health status of public elementary schoolchildren, 97.1 percent of six-year-old children suffered from tooth decay (dental caries). It was, therefore, a bit of a surprise when a dentist recently suggested that children might benefit from chewing gum.

Dr. Fina Lopez said that the act of chewing gum promotes saliva production, which produces minerals that are able to “re-mineralize your teeth.” It’s not just any gum, however, but one whose main ingredient is xylitol.

Lotte Xylitol is the first dental health gum recognized by the Philippine Dental Association. It is marketed as a healthier option because it is sugar-free and contains over 50-percent xylitol that reduces cavity-causing bacteria, and helps remove stubborn tartar on teeth surfaces.  





Xylitol is a 100-percent natural sweetener first derived from birch trees. It is sweeter than sorbitol and just as sweet as sucrose, making it the ideal substitute for cavity-causing sweeteners.

Contagious tooth decay

Lopez said that tooth decay is contagious, and that the simple act of blowing on hot food to cool it down before feeding it to a young child can contaminate the food if the blower has tooth decay.

“In the Philippines, tooth decay is the most neglected disease,” Lopez said, “even if oral infections can lead to medical conditions and even result in death.” The dentist said that brushing with fluoride toothpaste is still the best way to counter cavities.

“When it comes to the brushing habits of children six years old and below, it’s best if a parent or guardian does it for them so they’ll know the proper way of brushing. More often than not, children go through the motions but don’t really clean their teeth,” Lopez said.

“Instruct them not to rinse their mouths out after they spit out the toothpaste,” she added, which many of us found quite odd. Apparently, if you rinse out your mouth after brushing, you also wash away the benefits of fluoride.

For maximum dental health, it is suggested that children and adults alike should chew on two pellets of xylitol gum four to five times daily. A word of caution, though: consuming excessive amounts of xylitol can result in bloating, flatulence and diarrhea.

Since 2009, Lotte Xylitol has been touring various schools nationwide to persuade  parents and children to embrace good oral hygiene and habits. This year, the brand launched its Make It Zero program that encourages Filipino parents’ commitment and support to zero cavities.

Lotte Xylitol dental health gum is available in bottles and blister packs, and comes in three flavors: blueberry mint, fresh mint and lime mint. Visit www.lottexylitolgum.com.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Britain to offer childcare tax breaks to parents

LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron will unveil a new tax break on Tuesday to help working parents with their childcare costs from 2015, the government said, seeking to placate families squeezed by austerity, a stagnant economy and weak wage growth.

The announcement comes a day before finance minister George Osborne is due to reject calls to abandon the coalition government's deficit reduction programme when he delivers his budget statement to parliament.




Trailing in the polls before an election due in 2015, Cameron and Osborne's Conservatives are accused by the Labour opposition of choking the economic recovery with a focus on austerity rather than growth.

Under pressure to do more to revive the economy and help hard-pressed households, Cameron will visit a nursery school in London on Tuesday to set out details of the tax break. It will be open to 2.5 million families and will be worth up to 1,200 pounds ($1,800) a year per child.

Britain's childcare costs are among the highest in the world, hitting parents already struggling with years of rising household bills and economic uncertainty.

"This is a boost direct to the pockets of hard-working families in what will be one of the biggest measures ever introduced to help parents with childcare costs," Cameron said in a statement.

A finance ministry spokeswoman said around 1 billion pounds had been set aide for the scheme, doubling the existing budget and taking in five times as many parents. The annual breakdown of public funding for the system will be announced later.

The Labour Party, which urged Osborne on Saturday to cut payroll taxes to boost growth, said many families had already lost money in government cuts.

"This announcement will not make up for the up to 1,500 pounds that families on middle and low incomes have lost in cuts to childcare support," Labour education spokesman Stephen Twigg said. - Reuters


source: gmanetwork.com

How to Keep Your Child Safe on an iPad

Child proofing is a rite of passage for parents with young children: locks on cabinet doors, gates on stairs and clips on book shelves. And this safety-first mentality needs to extend to kids toys, experts warn, especially the iPad.

“It’s very common for kids to use iPads these days more so than using computers,” says Jinny Gudmundsen, author of iPad Apps For Kids For Dummies. “Parents unfamiliar with the technology open it up, turn it on and don’t realize they can customize it to become more user friendly to kids.

Children as young as one are learning to swipe their way to fun and games on tablets, but parents need to create safeguards to make sure they aren’t exposed to inappropriate content.

Here are ways to ensure your child and iPad are safe from each other.

Safety Tip No.1: Disable In-App Purchases

Apps are the heart and soul of tablets and they can be easily downloaded in a matter of seconds—which is convenient, until kids starting buying apps without parent consent.  Not only can this expose young users to unsuitable content, it can also rack up a  big bill.

And just because an app is free, that doesn’t mean they can’t rack up a big tab. Gudmundsen says many of the free apps make money by giving players the option to spend real money on things in the game. Those little purchases can end up to a hefty bill. The problem has become so widespread that it sparked a class action lawsuit. Late last month Apple settled a class-action lawsuit related to app purchases made by children without the consent of the account holder. Apple agreed to provide a $5 iTunes store credit to as many as 23 million people who were affected, according to Reuters.  Those that claimed $30 or more were offered a cash refund from instead.

“These in-app purchases are frequently confusing to kids who have difficulty distinguishing between buying things with in-game currency and buying them with real money,” says Gudmundsen. To prevent in-app purchases, parents need to not only enable a password but close the 15-minute window where another purchase can be made without typing in your password.

Parents can even choose to block In-app purchases altogether.  “If you opt to let your kids explore these games, make sure the In-App Purchases option is ‘Off,’ or at least make sure that you set the password requirement to ‘Immediately’,” she recoommends.

Safety Tip No.2: Set Media Parameters

The Internet offers a wealth of information—both good and bad.  but it. To prevent a child from accessing anything they shouldn’t when using the iPad, parents need to set restrictions.

“The iPad allows you to set the age appropriateness of the media your kids use,” Gudmundsen says. “The setting you want is called ‘Allowed Content’, and you’ll find it under ‘Restrictions’.

Parents can restrict music and podcasts, movies, TV shows, books and apps. Parents can choose age categories for apps including 4+, 9+, 12+ and 17+. If the parent chooses 4+ it’s essentially a G rating while 17 + can be considered a R rating.   

Safety Tip No.3: Turn Off Location Services  

Many apps ask for or rely on a user’s location, but experts say not to allow this if kids use the device.

To disable this feature on the iPad, go to ‘Settings’ and then turn off ‘Location Services’’.  This prevents strangers from being able to locate a child user and retailers from sending targeted advertisements to kids.

This restriction doesn’t prevent using any app that requires a location, if an apps needs it, say for instance one for star gazing , Gudmundsen says the app will alert the user to enable the location feature. Just remember to disable it when you are done.

Safety Tip No.4: Buy a Protective Cover

iPads are expensive and kids can be destructive, so experts advise parents find a sturdy cover to protect the gadget. These covers cost anywhere from around $30 to $80, and can be found at electronics retailers and/or through Apple. “Children drop things,” says Gudmundsen. “A protective cover puts a lot of padding around the iPad.”

source: foxbusiness.com

Raising children with High FQ

QUESTION: Hi, I read your article on PhilStar.com. I have two questions: (1) At what age should I start teaching my child about money? (2) Do you have a program (excel file or whatever) on budgeting or monitoring income and expenses? Thank you. – from Aireen Canales via email

ANSWER:

1. When I throw back the first question to parents, I get answers ranging from three to seven to teenage. However, I treat Financial Literacy as a journey and I think it’s best to start this journey really early on because it is a way of life.

So I encourage all parents to start the Financial Literacy journey of their child as soon as he is born. Open a savings account for him. That’s where you deposit the cash gifts that he will receive from friends and relatives on his baptism, birthday, Christmas and other occasions. Anyway, these are his money and it’s best not to commingle his funds with yours from the very start. Since he is still a minor, open an account “In Trust For.”

Can you imagine how many Christmases and birthdays there are before your child starts asking about money? And when he starts asking wouldn’t it be nice for you to say, “Honey, do you know you that you already have something saved up and invested?” This will set the tone of abundance in your child’s financial life. Just make sure that you are able to impart the correct values as you teach him about money so that this feeling of abundance is not confused with the feeling of undue entitlement. Entitlement means he can just use his money just because he has it and didn’t even have to work for it. Feeling of abundance is knowing that when money is conserved, invested well and respected, there will always be enough. And of course, this cannot be done in any great lecture but only by example from his parents.

As soon as your child learns to communicate, you can tell him that he does not have to spend all the aguinaldo and the birthday gifts he receives in cash. Make it a habit for him to automatically save and invest these gifts. If your child has godparents who regularly give him cash, encourage your child to invest these gifts in higher yielding instruments like fixed income investments and stocks. You may not realize it but your child has a higher risk appetite compared to you. He is still a minor and hopefully, you are the one providing for his needs until he becomes an adult. He has a longer holding period when it comes to investments.

When he goes to school and starts receiving cash allowance, instill the habit of setting aside a certain percentage of his allowance, say 10% to 20%. Create a system that is regular and automatic, if possible. When my sons started receiving cash allowance, we gave them a “treasure box” where they put their savings complete with a small notebook that records the amounts. When their cash savings in the box reaches at least P500.00, they deposit it in their savings account. When their savings account balance reaches way beyond the minimum balance, they invest in either fixed income or stocks. In other words, there is no need for them to keep their savings in low interest earning savings accounts.

As your child grows older, expose him little by little to your actual household expenses. You may show your utility bills to make him more aware about conserving water and electricity. You can bring him along with you when you do your groceries. Make a guessing game out of your grocery bill, restaurant bill, etc. When making purchases, explain to him your choices.

Money is an abstract concept and a lot of families use transparent jars or cute piggy banks to illustrate the concept of saving to their children. Some label their jars with Saving, Sharing and Spending to make it easier to understand for their young children where their money goes.

Remember that time is on your side when you start them young, so the earlier the better. To show the magic of compound interest to your child – i.e. how much he can accumulate by regularly setting aside money for saving and investing, go to Chapter 6 Magic of Compound Interest of www.RaisingPinoyBoyc.com. This will give you a free excel file wherein you can plug in your own values using your child’s actual savings and which will give you the amounts he can accumulate at different age levels.

If you think you missed out on this “as soon as your child is born” timing, don’t worry because the next best time is NOW! So start now.

2. On the second question regarding a program or file that can help you monitor your income, expenses and budget, there are free apps to choose from. Check your phone, if it is a smartphone, chances are there are various apps you can download for free. I tried using iXpense Lite on my iPhone and it was good. Since you carry your phone with you all the time, you have the ease of recording each time you incur an expense. It gives you a visual indicator of monthly budget vs. expenses, an expense summary for the month, average per day, etc. It also allows you to store digital photo receipts, generates graphical reports, and a lot of more.

I used it for quite some time to test it but when I changed phones I didn’t bother to transfer the data and since I’m a creature of habit I kept using my old and reliable (but now quite complicated) excel file which I started way back during the early years of our marriage. It has evolved from a simple Income Statement into a massive file called Monthly Cashflow and Income Statement. In the beginning, Expenses came after Income, now Investments come right after Income and the last items are the Expenses – our way of practicing “Pay Yourself First.”

The idea is to use something that you’re comfortable with. As much as possible, try to make it fun, and not too heavy an ordeal to record your cashflows. What we also do is to prepare Balance Sheets so that we know where our investments go. This makes saving and investing fun because we see our assets grow and it somehow helps us in delaying gratification. But that’s a whole new topic on its own.

For the meantime, I wish you Aireen and all the readers an enjoyable, even if sometimes challenging, financial literacy journey with your children.

source: philstar.com

Maurice Sendak Dies at 83

Maurice Sendak, the curmudgeonly and wildly successful children’s book illustrator and author of Where the Wild Things Are, died at 3 a.m. Tuesday, a rep for the artist tells PEOPLE. He was 83.

He died at his Connecticut home from complications of a recent stroke, reports The New York Times.

Only last January, a frail but erudite Sendak made a memorable appearance on The Colbert Report, and said, "There's something in this country that is so opposed to understanding the complexity of children."

That is something Sendak, something of a big naughty kid himself, could never be accused of. For nearly 50 years, since the 1963 publication of his Where The Wild Things Are, Sendak has been part of growing generations.

In a 1988 PEOPLE interview, Sendak defended his lifelong view that kids are tough enough for the grimmest fairy tales. "Parents shouldn't assume children are made out of sugar candy and will break and collapse instantly. Kids don't. We do."

Born in Brooklyn to a Garment District worker father, "Murray" Sendak was a frail, often bedridden child who delighted in drawing to escape his own many demons. Described by The New York Times as "lower class, Jewish, gay," Sendak told the paper in 2008, "All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew."

An early job was doing window displays at the iconic F.A.O. Schwarz toy store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, which led to an introduction to the children’s books editor at Harper & Row. Sendak's first illustration for a book was 1951's The Wonderful Farm, and the first he wrote and illustrated himself was 1956's Kenny’s Window, about a lonely little boy.

Among his several awards were the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are, a 1970 Hans Christian Andersen Award for children's book illustration, and a 1982 National Book Award in category Picture Books for Outside Over There. Besides more than 50 books bearing his name, he also designed sets for operas, ballets, TV shows and stage productions.

The Times reports that his companion of 50 years, Eugene Glynn, a psychiatrist who specialized in the treatment of young people, died in 2007, and there were no other immediate family survivors.

source: people.com