7 Tips For Moms Of Preschoolers
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If you’re a mom who has children in daycare or preschool, finding tips to streamline the morning or save time and headaches later in the day, can be thrilling. Moms naturally want their lives to run smoothly and keep stress down any way they can. Often, many small improvements will result in a big reduction in stress in your home.
Give children a warning that a transition will soon happen. If children are playing and then the parent yells, “Time to get in the car!”, children will usually whine, cry, or yell. It’s really helpful to tell them in advance that you will soon transition to another activity, whether it is getting ready for bed or school. Using an alarm or buzzer can make it something they hear, without it being the parent’s voice. It’s harder to argue with a buzzer.
Home isn’t school, so moms won’t give a sticker for everything their child does correctly, but it’s good to reward certain things that you expect them to do. You could have an age-appropriate list of chores that you want them to do daily. Stickers or something else can be a reward for completing the task. The younger the child, there will be less quantity of chores.
Teaching them to make some of their own decisions can start small and build as they mature. You could try offering them two choices of what to wear the next day. In this way, the parent controls whether or not the outfit is acceptable, but the child feels they are making a choice for themselves.
Mom to Mom Nutrition has offered a pdf with 50 lunchbox ideas on her blog. Moms of young children have to pack food as well as many other things each day. Children will need at least one change of clothes and outerwear. During fall and spring, a light jacket or rain gear will need to be handy, too. Sometimes, clothing items or jackets can get lost at school. It helps to make sure that doesn’t happen by using clothing tags. I love these waterproof clothing labels from Name Bubbles.
All parents want their children to get good nutrition, but often they don’t set the best example. If we want our children to eat the right balance of fruits, vegetables, protein, and grains, we must show them by example. Try to keep plenty of healthy snacks in the house. Many healthy snacks don’t come in individualized packages: large jar of applesauce, large box of raisins, bunches of grapes, large can of pears, etc. For convenience, the one-serving products are great, but for saving money it’s good to go with a bigger size.
Screen Time……we all have an opinion. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended no more than 1 hour of screen-time (and it should be high quality, educational screen-time). You may prefer at age 3-5 that they have even less of screen-time. If you do allow it, make sure that the screen is safe. Have a parental safety block or supervise them.
Keep children’s nap times, bed times, and eating times the same on the weekend as they have during the school week. This will help them to have better moods and not have a Monday morning child who is sleepy and grumpy. Keeping children on an even keel physically and mentally is very important for mom’s too. Enjoy the weekend with your child and make it all about family, not learning.
What have you learned that could help other moms? I would love to hear your tips!
@2021, copyright Lisa Ehrman
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- Lisa has been blogging since 2013, and loves sharing resources and ideas for living a simple life. To get free printables, bonus words, and more - sign up for the newsletter.
These are great tips for parents of pre-schoolers! Keeping their schedules the same on the weekends really helps them stay adjusted.
Thanks for sharing this one super informative.