I have been telling my daughter from the day she was born that she should be a doctor.

No pressure there, though.

But apparently I am not the only parent with such designs.

Over at Hip Mama’s Place, I saw the most adorable scrubs for kids. For wee little ones.

They look like THE most comfortable duds around.

Hop over and check them out - if only for the cuteness factor!

I generally write about parenting advice and parenting tips. But one member of our families that I don’t give enough attention to on this site, is our pets. If you have a a pet then you know it is part of the family.

Not only does little Rover get its share of love and attention but it is also likely that he uses up more than his fair share of the family income. I see all of you moms nodding your heads in agreement.

Anyway, whenever a good offer comes across my desk - I am compelled to share it with you. Parenting help covers pets too!

PetSmart coupons are always useful and here is one that Parenting Tips at NeenMachine.com readers can use to save money. Gotta love that! Just shop through the following link for a little summer bonus:

Save 15% off your order of $70 or more and Use code: JUNEBONUS (expires June 30, 2008)

photo credit: bravenewtraveler

As I mentioned before, one of main sources of parenting help when I had a newborn were parenting magazines. They contain tons of useful, up to date parenting tips - and you can rip the pages out for reference.

Now that my kids are growing up - I still keep up with my Parenting magazine subscription. It seems a little odd, being that I should know everything by now ;). But most magazines for parents have articles that pertain to kids of all ages - and I certainly don’t want to head into the uncharted waters of adolescence unprepared!

I also, especially like the sections on product recalls and new products. Keeping up to date with what kids like make me a kind of “hip” mom - at least in my kids eyes (which is all that really matters!).

My Parenting Magazine subscription continues to serve me well. But another one of my favorites is Parents Magazine. Years ago I cut a soup recipe out of this one and it is still one of my family’s favorite meals. If you are having mealtime issue with your toddler - many of these magazines provide step by step instructions for fun and healthy foods that kids find appealing. Sometimes the recipes are a little over the top and you have to wonder who really has time to prepare such an involved meal with an elaborate presentation. But on the whole the ideas are good.

In addition to a Parenting Magazine subscription, you might be interested in the following parenting magazines that are geared towards families:

• Cookie Magazine - I recently picked up a copy of Cookie Magazine and was very surprised at how much I liked it. There was lots of articles and information geared towards moms (not just kids). This was nice because it is so easy to lose yourself in your role as parent. The issue that I read seemed like it had more articles relating to kids as opposed to just baby.
• SportingKid Magazine - I have not seen this one, but given the emphasis that we put on sports, this is one magazine that I would like to read. Like many others, I am finding it hard to strike a balance between sports, schoolwork, and free time for the kids.
• FamilyFun Magazine - I love Family Fun Magazine! There are lots of ideas of things to do with kids. But I especially like the family vacation suggestions. Picking the right destination can make a family vacation fantastic.
• American Baby Magazine - American Baby was the first parenting magazine subscription that I ever had - so I have a soft spot for it. I even sent in a blurb about something when my oldest son was a baby and to my surprise they published it! I still have a copy of that issue.

So that is my short list of the many choices that are out there!

photo credit: Photo Mojo
Parenting Question: My toddler is a picky eater, how do I get him to try new foods?

What toddler isn’t a picky eater? Oh, of course there is always that one child in play group that eats everything, whose mom just raves about how her child will finish whatever she puts on his plate. And once again the mommy guilt kicks in. Well then, I MUST be doing something wrong because my child won’t eat anything!

You can just send that inner monster away right now! No one ever said that parenting toddler is easy. Especially when it comes to food. Some toddlers are more adventurous than others but the bottom line is that - to a little one - trying new foods is a scary proposition. There are many factors at work here - texture, color, smell - some kids just reject these off the bat. Here are some parenting tips for toddler that may help to get junior to eat those brussels sprouts (or at least a little broccoli):

• I know it’s a pain, but continue to introduce the offending food to your child on a continuous basis. Sometimes they need to see it a few times before they are willing to try it. Let’s use broccoli as our example, steam a large batch on Monday, store the extra in the fridge and present your toddler a few small florets every evening that week with dinner.
• Make sure the rest of the family is eating the same food too. An older brother or sister (or even dad!) can easily sabotage your operation by loudly stating “I hate broccoli - it’s yucky!”.
  My best parenting advice in this situation is to enlist the family’s help before dinner. Tell them that you are trying to get toddler to try broccoli so you will be putting some on everyone’s plate. If the older ones don’t want to eat it (and it’s ok with you) then give them permission to ignore it but refrain from any negative comments.
  And another parenting tip for toddler: if you know the rest of the family really hates this food then have your toddler try it at lunch or another time when they are not around. If both you and your toddler eat broccoli together every day for breakfast or snack or whenever you can squeeze in a quiet moment and you continue to tell him how yummy it is, he just may be willing to try it.
  One last note on this tip, I use a week as an example, but it could take months or even longer. No, I’m not suggesting that you eat broccoli every day for years. What I am saying, is that you should continue to serve broccoli (or whatever other food) on a regular basis - say, once a week. You can’t expect success if your toddler only sees the food once a year.
• To state the obvious - make sure and serve other food that your toddler likes with the new food. Don’t dish out a plate of broccoli for dinner with nothing else.
• Use small portions. Toddlers tummies are rather small. Many parents, with good intentions, will dish out adult sized portions and then wonder why their child won’t eat. Really small portions work best, and the child can ask for more if they want seconds.
• Never force your toddler to eat. Always encourage. Sometimes promising that they only have to eat one bite, and if they don’t like it then they don’t have to finish it is enough incentive for the toddler to give it a try. But make sure you keep your promise!
• And a final parenting tip for toddler - make sure your child is hungry. If she just had a snack before mealtime, she will be less likely to try the new food because she wasn’t hungry anyway. Try and space out meals and snacks.

Many a parenting book has been written around the topic of picky eaters. Some, like Food Chaining: The Proven 6-Step Plan to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems, and Expand Your Childs Diet, take the straightforward approach to tackle this issue head on. Others like Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food take the “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach.

Other things that a parent can do is to make meals more comfortable and fun. I have discussed the KABOOST Portable Chair Booster before. And it is still high on my list of parenting resources for mealtime.

No one ever said that parenting toddler was easy!

Parenting Tips for Toddlers: Bathroom Battles

Along with successful potty training comes a whole new level of independence.

I was recently at my 4 year old daughter’s soccer practice (more like soccer activity) and I overheard a little tiff between a mom and her preschooler. We had hardly been at the field for more than 5 minutes when the little girl had to use the bathroom.

Now you must understand that on an open field bathroom means Port a Pot. You can imagine the mom’s reaction - “I told you to go potty before we left the house!” in not a very nice tone.

In all honesty this particular facility is pretty clean, but still…..

So, I got to thinking - how do you give a child independence and control over their bathroom use but still avoid unpleasant situations?

It should come as no surprise that children don’t always like to be told what to do. Being told when to use the bathroom definitely falls under that umbrella. And really, as parents you want your toddlers and preschoolers to be independent in this regard. They need to learn their body’s cues as to when they have to go.

So, as a general rule (once my kids were reliably toilet trained) I did not hound my children about using the bathroom. Rather, I let them decide when nature was calling. But on the other hand I mentally kept track (mom’s are good at that) of when the time between my toddler’s bathroom visits. If it had been quite a while, I made the suggestion that they should give it a try or at least asked the question.

If we were heading out the door I considered our ultimate destination. If we were going somewhere close by that had, shall we say, an acceptable bathroom, then I didn’t push the issue - if the child refused to use the bathroom before we left. However, if we were driving a long distance or going somewhere where the only facility was a Port a Pot then using the bathroom before we left was non-negotiable. As was bedtime.

Using this approach, I generally was able to avoid bathroom battles. Because I generally didn’t dictate when the children needed to use the bathroom, they seemed pretty willing to listen on the few occasions that I insisted.

Now, years later, I love that my kids know these rules and follow them without being told.

Turning bathroom use into a battle of wills creates stress where none is needed. Every child is different and these parenting tips may not work across the board. But if you are having bathroom battles with your toddler give your child some space and he may become more cooperative.