Preschoolers - develop healthy eating habits

Many things influence what and how much your child eats.

• Eat together. Eat meals with your child whenever possible. Let your child see you enjoying fruits, vegetables, and whole grains at meals and snacks.
• Share the adventure. Be willing to try new foods, and try to buy new foods together.
• Cook together. Encourage your preschooler to help you prepare meals and snacks. Cooking together can mean more "mommy (or daddy) and me" time on busy days.
• Keep things positive. Discourage older children and other family members from making negative comments about unfamiliar foods. 

Offer your preschooler small, easy-to-eat amounts to make eating easy and more enjoyable.

• Use smaller bowls, plates, and utensils for your child to eat with.
• Don't insist that children finish all the food on their plate. Let your child know it's okay to only eat as much as he or she wants at that time.
• As children are able, allow them to serve themselves.

Help your children keep listening to their bodies as they grow. Children who "listen" to their own fullness cues stop eating when they feel full and are less likely to become overweight. Give your kids a chance to stop eating when they feel full, even if you think they aren't. They'll feel more independent and you'll help them keep a healthy weight.

• Let them learn by serving themselves. Let your children serve themselves at dinner. Teach them to take small amounts at first. Preschoolers can practice serving from small bowls that you hold for them.
• Avoid praising a clean plate. Your child should stop eating when he or she is full, rather than when the plate is clean.  Reward your child with attention and kind words, not food. Show your love with hugs and kisses.  Giving your child sweets when they feel sad or as a special treat can teach your child to eat when he or she is not hungry. This may cause your child to ignore body signals of fullness and overeat. Rewarding with sweets also lets your child think sweets or dessert foods are better than other foods. For example, telling your child "no dessert until you finish your vegetables" may make them like the vegetable less and the dessert more. 

• Involve your child in conversation:
  • What made you feel really happy today?
  • What did you have to eat at lunch today?
  • Tell me one thing you learned today.
  • What made you laugh today? 

Remember: picky eating is often temporary. If you don’t make it a big deal, it will usually end before school age. You can do many positive things to deal with picky eating and help your child learn to try new foods.

• Let your children pick out fruits and veggies at the store.
• Children like to try foods they help make. It's a great idea for helping your picky eater try fruits and vegetables. Children also learn about fruits and vegetables when they help make them. And all of that mixing, mashing and measuring makes them want to taste what they are making.
• Try to make meals a stress-free time. If arguments often happen at mealtimes, your preschooler may learn unhealthy attitudes toward food.

• Offer choices. Rather than asking "Do you want broccoli for dinner?" ask “Which would you like for dinner: broccoli or cauliflower?”
• Offer the same foods for the whole family. Do not make a different meal for your preschooler. Your child will be okay even if they don't eat a meal now and then.
• Make food fun! Get creative in the kitchen .
  

Picky eating is temporary and there are many things you can do to deal with picky eating in a positive way. One way is to make food fun! Get creative in the kitchen:

• Name a food your child helps create. Make a big deal of serving "Peter's Sweet Potatoes" for dinner.
• Cut a food into fun and easy shapes with cookie cutters.
• Encourage your child to invent and help prepare new snacks or sandwiches.
• Have your child make towers out of whole-grain crackers or make funny faces on a plate using different types of fruit.

Choose smart, fun snacks and meals:

• Bagel snake: Split mini bagels in half. Cut each half into half circles. Spread the halves with toppings like tuna salad, egg salad, or peanut butter. Decorate with sliced cherry tomatoes or banana slices. Arrange the half circles to form the body of a snake. Use olives or raisins for the eyes. .
• Smiley sandwiches: Top a slice of bread with peanut butter and use an apple slice for a smile and raisins for eyes.
  
• Potato face: Top half a small baked potato with eyes, ears, and a smile. Try peas for eyes, a halved cherry tomato for a nose, and a low-fat cheese wedge as a smile. Be creative, you'll be surprised at how many foods can turn into eyes, noses, and smiles!

In case you have a nanny, do not forget to insist on healthy eating habits!

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Children and dogs: doing it right

When it comes to dogs and children, there's something special going on.

Thinking of getting a dog? You know your child wants a dog to play with but did you know that the love and companionship of a dog can have long lasting effects going far beyond their ability to entertain? 

 

There’s no doubt dogs are great companions for children − they provide unconditional love and in many cases, a whole lot of laughs. But when it comes to children, man’s best friend offers much more than simple friendship:

• Research has shown that children who spend time with dogs benefit both physically and emotionally.

• The current research into dog assisted therapy has turned the humble pet dog into an emotional, educational and physical resource. Everything from autism to reading ability has been tested with the use of therapy dogs. Excellent programs exist that have demonstrated a link between the interaction with dogs and improved social skills. This is mainly because a child who learns to care lovingly and patiently for an animal learns to treat people the same way.

• Scientists have found that if you grow up with a dog in the household you’re less likely to develop asthma and allergies later in life. Perhaps even more importantly, children with dogs are less likely to become overweight or obese.

• Owning a dog can also increase a child’s self-confidence and self-esteem and help prepare them for real-life scenarios such as illness and even death.  Dogs have the capacity to be great friends and they’re a lot of fun. They also boost morale and can teach children responsibility and respect for other living things. Those are all important life skills.

• Anyone who has owned a dog can attest to the relaxing effects of owning a pet. Studies have shown that petting an animal can reduce anxiety and tension. The companionship of a dog can also help children build self-esteem and ease social interactions.

• Dogs provide non-judgmental company and unwavering loyalty. To young children facing a world in which they are struggling to find their place a dog can help them develop a sense of themselves while also decreasing feelings of loneliness and encouraging empathy.

• Dogs demand a certain amount of physical play and care. Children may be more motivated to be physically active when they are with a dog than without.

The loss of a dog

Losing your best friend can be devastating, particularly for children and teenagers, but there are ways to soften the impact, if only a little. The first step is to be completely honest. If their pet is ill or nearing the end of its life, it’s best to be upfront and let your kids know. The same goes for when the pet does pass away. It’s important to be honest with children to avoid confusion, the loss of a pet is often the first experience a child has with death and how this situation is handled can impact on their future understanding of the dying process.

It’s also advisable to give your children the opportunity to grieve fully, even if they are very young. Let them ask questions and encourage them to talk as freely as possible about their pet and everything they loved about him or her. They may even like to draw pictures or place a framed photograph in a special place. If you're thinking about getting a new pet, at a short notice, a good place to start is on the RSPCA's rehoming website. You can search for the perfect pet from the hundreds of abandoned animals who are looking for a nice family to give them a home. The website also provides plenty of information on how to choose the right pet to suit you and your family.

Having a devoted dog in the home can contribute to a parent's efforts to raise their child into a caring and balanced adult.

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The role of the Governess in the 19th century

Governesses played part in nineteenth century fiction, and there is an abundance of journals, letters, and memoirs to validate those many fictional representations with real-life experiences. Employed in England since the reign of the Tudors, the Governess was initially associated only with aristocratic houses; by the turn of the nineteenth century, however, changing economic conditions gave rise to increasing numbers of middle-class families who could afford Governess. Factory owners and businessmen began hiring Governesses for the education of their children—a visible sign of the economic and social success of the family. Indeed, retaining a Governess served as a status symbol, signifying the power and wealth of the family. A Governess also helped validate a family's membership in the ranks of the leisure class, a station characterized by the fact that the lady of the house was truly a woman of leisure. In the past, the upper middle-class mother had been responsible not only for household duties but also for the primary education of her children. However, by engaging a Governess, the Victorian mother freed herself of her primary obligation to her children and could concentrate on her philanthropic obligations.

In essence, there were three types of Governesses: a school teacher; a woman who resided at one place and traveled to another home to teach (a “daily governess”); and a woman who lived in a household in order to teach the children and serve as a companion to them (a “private governess”). Governess was responsible for the education of both boys and girls and among the duties was the teaching of reading and writing. A Governess would then teach the girls subjects as English, geography, history, singing, piano, drawing, and needlework. Having been further schooled in the fine arts of dancing, piano, and singing, the girls, by the ages of seventeen or eighteen, would then be ready for their social debut, at which point their adult lives (and the search for a suitable husband) began. Boys, on the other hand, typically left their Governess at the age of eight, when they entered a preparatory school. This was in keeping with the Victorian belief that the education of boys was of vital importance, based on their future roles as supporters of their own families. Girls had much less need for a formal education, since their prospects for marriage were based primarily on their personal fortunes and secondarily on their personal appearance and manners.

Above all, a good Governess had to be a lady herself, in order to instill in her students proper morals and values. Moreover, a Governess could not expect any affection from her students in return. In this way, the mother was not ousted from her role as the principal figure in her children's lives.

The yearly salary for a governess ranged from fifteen to one hundred pounds, the latter figure reflecting the wages of a very well-educated woman working for an extremely wealthy family. Although a private Governess was provided with food and shelter, she was expected to either buy or make her own clothes, keeping in mind that she was required to look presentable at all times in order to avoid shaming her employer. She was also expected to pay for her own medical care, travel expenses, and laundry, and she could expect no security of employment. In addition, Queen's College was established in 1848 in order to provide a formal education for Governesses and help raise their marketability. Choosing to leave behind the crowded market in England, many women emigrated to British colonies in South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia, as well as to Canada, the United States, India, and Russia, hoping to find employment as Governesses overseas.

Any flirtation or attraction between a gentleman and a Governess was strictly forbidden, and a Governess was obliged to downplay her own sexuality in order to avoid any misperceptions; as a result, the stereotype of the stern and strict Governess was quick to emerge. Despite this popular image, which indeed has its basis in fact, there were many examples of happy situations in which the Governess was respected and well-treated by her employers and was loved by her pupils.

Literature

Toward the end of the eighteenth century, the Governess began to appear in role as a character in literature, exemplified by Jane Austen's Emma (1815). Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre also appeared in 1847, and became a bestseller almost instantly. Critics have suggested that the rapidly increasing levels of literacy among women, combined with an intense interest in the uncertain status of unmarried middle-class Victorian women contributed greatly to the immense popularity of novels like Jane Eyre, The Professor, and Shirley, as well as Agnes Grey (1847) by Charlotte's sister Anne. The Brontës themselves were obliged to find means to support themselves when marriage eluded all three girls, and their father's clergyman salary was insufficient to provide for all three daughters. Charlotte, Anne, and Emily each received educations that prepared them to be teachers, and all three spent some time as Governesses.

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