3 Kids and Us

Getting Fit With Your Kids

by

Staying in shape is so important to a healthy life, and yet sometimes – more times than we’d like to admit – working out and exercising takes second priority. Everyone works so hard, hours are long, and downtime is precious. That’s why, when we want to spend time with our families, we don’t want to forsake them for the gym. What if you could do both, though? What if you could get fit and healthy and spend time with the kids? What if the kids benefitted too? Now wouldn’t that be awesome? Well, here are some ideas on how to do exactly that.

Get Outdoors

Getting fit and healthy doesn’t necessarily mean lifting weights or going for a run. You can take it pretty easy and still get some goodness into you. Going for a walk when you would have normally taken the car is a great start. Children spend a lot of time strapped into car seats, chugging along the road. Try something different and go exploring in your local neighborhood, or head out to the park and run around.

Join A Kid-Friendly Gym

If you do want to join a gym, do your research before picking the one that’s closest, or has the best deals. They might not be the best ones in the long term. There are gyms that are family friendly, and these are the ones you want to look out for. These gyms will have family days, with activities for everyone, or they might have kids’ classes which they can enjoy while you work out – afterwards, you can meet up for a healthy meal, and a debrief on how your various classes went! This is perfect for having a little bit of ‘me time’, which is something we all sometimes need. If you want complete solitude at the gym, don’t forget to find the best wireless headphones for working out so you can really enjoy it.

Another selling point can be whether the gym has a swimming pool – not only can this provide swimming lessons for younging children, but it’s also a great way to keep the whole family in check without it seeming like exercise!

Sports Night

For super busy moms and dads, organising a weekly sports night could be the answer to getting fit and spending time with your kids at the same time. It could be anything; you could even pick a new sport each week if that’s what you’re into. For the more competitive families you can tally up the scores and the monthly winner can get a prize. For those who prefer the taking part to the results, just go ahead and have fun. Swimming, tennis, soccer, baseball… there are dozens of sports to choose from, and all of them will make you feel healthier.

Around The House

You don’t even have to leave the house to get fit. Does the yard need tidying? Spend an hour out there with the kids and get it looking good. Working hard sweeping leaves or picking weeds is still exercise, even if it’s not a sport or a gym class. Washing cars, cleaning windows, walking the dog (okay, that one requires leaving the house, but you get the idea), anything and everything that means moving about is good. There will be a huge sense of achievement when the jobs are done, at which point you can reward yourself – and the kids – with a movie, a video game, or whatever else makes you all happy.

Tips For Mastering The Art Of Parenting

by

Most moms and dads strive to be good parents. That doesn’t mean all will succeed or that it’ll be a smooth ride. Remember the positives and focus on what keeps you going each day. What matters is that you hang in there and do your best.

The more effort and energy you put toward being a stand-up parent, the better you’ll feel about how you did, no matter the outcome. It’s not an easy job, and you’re going to face many challenges, so be careful about letting your guard down. Educate yourself and remain level-headed to give yourself a fighting chance. See tips for mastering the art of parenting.

Manage your Own Stress

It’s hard to be there for your children when you’re not taking care of yourself. Your health matters and the better you feel, the better equipped you are to attend to the needs of others. When you’re stressed out, you tend to yell more, make rash decisions and not have much energy for what truly matters in life. Exercise, eat right and get a proper amount of sleep each night. Schedule time for yourself and self-care activities that make you feel refreshed and joyful.

Teach, Demonstrate & Delegate

It’s easy to tell your kids what to do, but that doesn’t help them learn as quickly. Practice teaching, demonstrating and delegating tasks so that they can take on the responsibility themselves. For example, put your kids in charge of helping out with the family dog. Go over bathing, food and exercise requirements, so they know what to do when it’s their turn. Also, explain to them that it’s necessary to apply Advecta to prevent pests from clinging to your dog and being brought in the house. Understanding the health risks associated with fleas is very important in order to ensure that your dog or cat is safe all season long. The mission of the product is to keep your pet healthy by providing a fast-acting and long-lasting solutions to treat and protect your pet from fleas, flea eggs and larvae and chewing lice.

Take Charge

As a parent, you have to learn to say no and say it like you mean it. It’s important to tell and show your kids who is boss, so they don’t try to walk all over you. Be assertive and direct in your delivery and interactions. If you let them sweet talk you once, then you risk it becoming a habit. You’re the adult and one who should be calling the shots based on your opinion, even if your children don’t agree with you. Ultimately, you’re doing it out of love to protect them from harm and guide them to make better decisions.

Ask for Help

You aren’t expected to do it all alone. Whether you’re a single parent or have a spouse, every parent has a breaking point. Reach out and ask family members or friends if they’re available to help you out when you need it. Find a babysitter you trust and who you can call on when you’re in a tight spot. Organize a carpool in your neighborhood and switch phone numbers with other mothers in the area in case any of you needs assistance. The point is that you can’t be afraid to speak up and ask for help when you need it.

Be Patient

It’s critical you build patience as a parent. Kids are unpredictable and oftentimes a handful, so be prepared to have your tolerance tested. Remember that they’re children, and they all learn at a different pace. Your kids are going to make mistakes, and it’s your job to help them see what they did wrong and learn from it, so they don’t repeat the same mishap in the future. Have a ritual each morning that helps ground you for the day and get your mindset right to handle whatever may come your way.

Listen & Communicate Clearly

Master the art of parenting by being a good listener and not jumping to conclusions. Hear your children out and let them explain to you what they’re thinking and feeling. Practice communicating clearly back and forth when you have their attention, and you’re talking one-on-one. Repeat back to them what you hear and make sure you understand them correctly. Encourage your children to come to you with their problems and explain what’s going on, instead of bottling up their emotions. Prove to them you’re a good listener when they choose to come to you and open up.

Spend Quality Time Together

Don’t be afraid to have fun with your kids. Laugh, be silly and let loose as a family once in a while. This is a great way to destress and strengthen your group bond. Schedule family game nights, bike rides or dinners where you can all reconnect. Life gets busy, and it’s easy to let quality time slide when you don’t put it on the calendar as a regular occurrence. Use it as a time to have fun, talk about a serious issue or simply be together on the couch watching a movie. Be flexible and avoid forcing conversations that will only create conflict. Table it for a different night where you can discuss in private.

Don’t Give Up

Parenting is a full-time job that will take up a lot of your energy and always keep you on your toes. Whatever you do, don’t give up or stop trying. Keep all of the good times in the back of your mind and tackle each hurdle one at a time. Be open to hearing suggestions from other parents and trying different approaches, based on what’s working and what’s not. Walk away for a few minutes if you need to, but come back ready to face reality with a smile on your face.

Conclusion

Being a parent is rewarding, and it comes with many obstacles. Use these suggestions for helping you to keep a level-head and have a positive experience as a parent. These are tips for mastering the art of parenting.

Choose The Best Baby Food For Your Baby

by

When we talk about feeding baby food to babies, most mothers will desire for their babies to be fed home cooked baby food. For mothers who are not working, preparing home cooked food for their babies is of no big issue. They have the time to shop for the freshest natural food including fruits and vegetables. They can then prepare the food in batches, pack and store them in small portions in the freezer. There are some working mothers who will make extra effort to make their own home cooked baby food for their babies this way. This can be very tiring for mothers who worked long hours away from home.

For mothers who are not able to prepare home cooked baby food, they have no choice but to depend on commercial baby food. There are many brands of baby food displayed on the shelves of supermarkets or shopping malls for the mothers to choose from. Compared to home cooked baby food, buying commercial baby food is very convenient.

We all have heard or read that mass-produced baby food is not hundred percent natural. In order to produce baby food commercially, the natural food has to be processed, bottled or packed for distribution. Commercially produced baby food contains additives e.g. rice flour, water, citrus acid and etc. Salt and sugar are also added to the mass produced baby food.

With advanced technology and increase of knowledge, we know that manufacturers of commercially prepared baby food are aiming to produce baby food with quality as near as possible to the best natural baby food prepared by mothers. Amara is one of these baby food that is ranked 2nd this year. Amara baby food is known for using fresh and nutritious ingredients. The fruits and vegetables used are organic and pesticide free. The preparation technique used retains the essential nutrients and goodness of the natural fruits and vegetables and with the minimal addition of sugar.

For mothers who are looking for safe and nutritious baby food, Amara baby food is one of the best options. The baby food come in pouches and each pouches is enough for one meal. The pouches are packed in boxes. They are packed for easy storing and handy for travelling. The shelf life is around 12 – 18 months. Preparation of the baby food is simple. Just add breast milk, baby formula or water. Then mix into a smooth paste and it is ready for your baby to eat.

Keys To Teaching Your Children Responsibility

by

Responsibility is one of those words that every parent knows all too well. As a mother or father, you have a lot of obligations and tasks to attend to each day. You realize that your children are growing up and also need to learn more about taking charge.

While you want to help them succeed, you know it’s not healthy to do it all for them. There comes a time when they must learn for themselves how to survive in a chaotic world. There’s no magic formula, so it’s up to you to educate yourself on best practices. See keys to teaching your children responsibility.

Start Young

Don’t be afraid to start teaching your children responsibility at a young age. Ask them to make their bed, pick up their toys and soon they’ll be making lunch for themselves. Begin helping them to stand on their own two feet from a very young age. They’ll thank you for it later in life when they can function on their own and know what to do to take care of themselves. Springing this idea on your child when they’re in high school will be difficult, and you’ll regret not guiding them earlier on.

Delegate Tasks

Have your children help you with certain duties, but then start delegating tasks as they age. Assign them chores and have them help out with the dog. For example, have your children help you apply Pet Lock best flea control for dogs and explain why it’s so important for their health. Show them where the food is and how much to feed the pet each day. Let them own specific chores around the house that make them feel good about themselves and happy to have helped you out.

Praise them

Remember to continue to praise your children and tell them what a great job they’re doing. They won’t know it unless you verbally express it to them. Pat them on the back when you see your kids following through on a task and completing chores you didn’t even ask them to do. Reward them by letting them help you with bigger and more adult responsibilities that they’ll feel special collaborating with you on. Pay attention to what they’re doing around the house and have a conversation with them about how proud you are, instead of assigning your children tasks and brushing them off.

Practice Patience

Teaching your kids responsibility is a process. It’s not going to happen overnight and won’t necessarily catch on right away. Be patient with your children and let them make mistakes. Be there to model good behavior and invite them to try again without judgment. Teach and guide them to success by keeping calm and showing them what they’ve done wrong. You want your kids to come to you with questions, instead of hiding mishaps from you.

Conclusion

Teaching your children responsibility isn’t an easy task. Do your best and give you and your kids a break when it doesn’t go as planned. These are keys to teaching your children responsibility.

Balancing fatherhood with having a healthy lifestyle

by

You don’t need to be told that becoming a father is a life-changing experience. The fact is telegraphed from a thousand different directions. Your time will never be your own again, your sleep patterns will be messed up beyond recognition, you’ll have scant time to see your buddies, you’ll know more about children’s TV shows than what’s happening in the NBA or the NFL. But you already knew all that, right?

Of course, you did. But you probably didn’t know the 100 other ways in which parenthood changes your life. The good news is that most of these are incredibly positive, which is why most new dads reel off lists like the one above with a smile on their face – who cares who’s making the playoffs this year, you’ve got more important things on your mind now, and you wouldn’t change it for the world.

However, there are some things that can creep up on you that are not so life-affirming – for example, the dreaded phenomenon that the Brits have dubbed the dad bod. Let’s find out how you can keep in trim, particularly when there is a rapidly growing ankle biter to keep up with.

Eat properly

The problem stems from a combination of the fuel that you are putting in and the exercise that you are doing to keep in shape, but the single largest issue with new dads putting on some extra inches concerns diet. Many are quite certain that they eat less as they find themselves rushing off to work without having had breakfast due to lack of time, and then bolting something quickly in the evening.

Therein lies the problem. Skipped meals do not help – they just mess with your metabolism and increase the temptation to grab something fast and unhealthy to keep hunger at bay. The body likes routine, and by eating regular meals at regular times, you will metabolize food faster and more effectively.

The truth is that babies and kids thrive on routine, so there should really be more reason to eat properly and regularly than there was before.

Get out there

You have more in common with your kids than you might realize. Not only do you both need regular healthy meals, but you also need fresh air and exercise. The archetypal image of the dad out there kicking a soccer ball or throwing some catches with his youngster are great to put into practice, but the important thing to remember is that it is never too early to start.

Your three-month-old baby is not going to be throwing a ball like Joe Montana, but get out there every day with the stroller, take a walk, and get into the routine of venturing out together. The time will disappear faster than you know, and the transition from those first tentative steps to you struggling to keep up will happen in the blink of an eye.

Get checked out

A healthy diet and regular exercise will put you on the right course, but if you are still feeling less than 100 percent, it is always worth getting checked out medically. As we enter our 30s and beyond, there are a number of potential ailments that can crop up, and almost all can be alleviated quickly, just as long as you get them diagnosed.

Even the healthiest dads can find their cholesterol level creeping up as middle age approaches, while a testosterone blood test can be booked online and can identify issues such as calcium deficiency.

Don’t forget your social life

Despite all the tongue-in-cheek comments earlier, it is important for dads to have a little time out and remember that they are still one of the guys, just as much as moms need their girl time.

Schedule something, even if it is just a couple of times a month, and take the opportunity to do more than sink a few beers. This is an ideal moment to relive those youthful days and throw a ball around in the park for half an hour. Chances are, your friends are in a similar position to you, and they will love the idea – and you can always have a beer or two afterwards!

A schedule that works

Most things in life are about achieving a balance, and keeping fit in fatherhood is no difference. The most important thing to try to achieve is routine so that the good habits are convenient and become second nature. If they are a chore, they will end up being dropped, and that’s a guarantee. Good luck!

Recent Posts

Write For Us

Like What You See?

We left our home in Sydney, Australia many moons ago in May 2012 and, other than a brief stint back in Perth for Christmas and a wedding in early 2014, we have been travelling the world nomadically ever since, running a business from our laptops and we’re here to show you how to do it!