Activities for kids while on the road

"Are we there yet?"
"I'm bored!"
"Mom, he kicked me!"
These are the all too common cries of children when they embark on long car rides. Children get restless when they have to sit for hours in a car. Some children love traveling by car, while others with limited attention span constantly need encouragement and loads of entertainment.
Babies and toddlers who sleep throughout the journey do well during long car rides. When they are awake, singing and eating can keep them happy. When they get older, they grow impatient with extended car trips. They want more than just songs and snacks.
To make sure everyone is happy, including the driver, ample planning must go into the activity bag that is a must go into the activity bag that is a must have for the journey. Apart from the tangible items that fill the special bag, adults must have enthusiasm and imagination when it comes to managing children's activities.
Every family will have its won traditional car journey activities. I remember during our homecoming car trips, my mother would ask us to spot the number of families who were having their reunion dinners. Our tummies were growling with hunger, but we counted as we passed the houses along the trunk road. Try the following activities when going on a long car trip with children.
Baby animals: Young children like animals and are fascinated by the names of their young. A baby cow is called a calf (we also have a part of our body called the calf).
Throw in some humor to liven things up. Ask your child questions such as: "Is a baby horse called a horselet?" Or "B baby chicken called a chicklet?"
Counting scenes: Get your children to look out the window as you drive past different places. Ask them to spot a certain number of things when you call out the number. For example, when you call out "five", they have to say five birds (even when there are more than five). Accept anything more than your given number. Children will try to outdo each other with different things they spot.
Treasure chest: Several days before the car trip, gather a box with a lid and make an opening large enough for a small hand to through. Collect different household items that your children are familiar with. Store them in the box. when you are on the road, tell your children are familiar with. Store them in the box. when you are on the road, tell your children to take turns to put their children into the box. They can then play with these objects they pick out.
For example, two small teaspoons can be used as a percussion instrument for a sing-along.
Story starters: Children in their early primary school years enjoy making up their stories to share with others. The adults and the children in the car can take turns to make up stories. Start the story by saying: "Once a upon a time, there was a little girl/boy who loved to travel with her family. She liked all the places she visited. But there was one particular place that was her favorite. It was..."
Children can expand on the story. They can let their imagination soar to grreat heights with absurd characters and wildly fascinating places.
Clouded imagination: Look up in the sky. Ask your children what they can see. Younger children will probably describe the clouds and birds. Older children may talk about the different shapes of the clouds.
You can tell them that you can see the wispy mane of a horse in the cirrus clouds or perhaps kittens rough-housing with one another.
Color play: This is a typical "I Spy" game. You can say to your children: "I can see something blue," "I can see something green," and so on. Have your children name what they think you are describing. Reverse the roles and you can be the one guessing what your children are describing.
License plate: I remember playing this game as a child during our long car rides. Call out the number on the license plate and see who can add up the numbers correctly. This is more interesting than doing sums on paper. Ignore any letters and read the numerals out loud. For example, B 5177 will be five thousand one hundred and seventy-seven.

Jakarta Post, tuesday July 6 2010

Menjadi Ayah “Super”

Banyak anggapan mengatakan bahwa ibulah yang sangat berperan penting dalam pengasuhan anak. Padahal, pandangan itu bisa saja keliru.

Pasalnya, yang mengemban tanggung jawab pengasuhan tidak hanya ibu semata, tapi bersama sang ayah mereka “berduet” mengisi perannya sebagai orang tua.

Hubungan anak dengan ibu sudah terjalon saat si buah hati ada di dalam kandungan. Begitu eratnya emotional bonding si kecil dan ibunya bukan menjadi pesaing hunungan serupa dengan si ayah. Pasalnya, saat anak memiliki hubungan dengan ayahnya, adalah dasar untuk hubungan yang akan ia jalin dengan orang laon di masa mendatang.

Bahkan ada sebuah studi menyatakan 80 persen kaum pria yang telah menjadi ayah menganggap keluarga adalah penting dan lebih terlibat dalam hal pengasuhan anak.

Seperti informasi dari buku The Golden Rules to Raise Your Children,  karangan Dr. Alicia Christine, bagi anak perempuan, hubungan dengan ayahnya menjadi salah satu factor penting untuk kelak dapat menentukan jenis pria seperti apa yang akan menarik hatinyua. Dan di sisi lain bisa membantu menentukan jenis hubungan apa yang akan ia jalin. Dampak hubungan inilah yang akan terus tertanam di benaknya.

Lalu, bagaimana dengan anak laki-laki? Rasanya bagi mereka, menjalin hubungan dengan sang ayah menjadi factor paling penting untuk membentuk hubungan dan harapannya terhadap orang lain.

Intinya baik anak perempuan atau laki, kasih saying yang didapatkan mereka dari sang ayah dapat menjadi batu pijakan. Sebagai modal dasar untuk menjalin hubungan positif dengan orang lain di masa mendatang.

Oleh karena itu, para ayah jangan membuat tuntutan pekerjaan sebagai “kambing hitam” dalam pengasuhan anak. Kerjaan yang tiada henti, bukan berarti Anda tidak memiliki waktu untuk memberikan atensi bagi si kecil, bukan?

Sebagai pria dewasa, Anda bisa menjadi Ayah “super” terlebih bila sang istri pun mendukung penuh. Inilah beberapa kiat yang membantu Anda menjadi ayah yang dibanggakan buah hatinya:

·         Hindari konflik:

Berilah contoh pada si kecil bagaimana Anda menyayangi pasangan dengan tulus oleh karena itu hindari konflik dengan istri. Kendati konflik harus terjadi, hindari melakukannya di depan mata buat hati.

·         Belajar berempati dengan si kecil:

Dengan mendengarkan perasaan putera-puteri Anda saat mereka berkeluh, senang, atau dalam momen apapun, akan membuat si kecil akan merasa dihargai. Patut diingat, mendengarkan bukan berarti memanjakan.

·         Terlibatlah:

Sebisa mungkin Andaterlibat dalam kehidupan anak. Bisa dimulai dengan hal sederhana namun sarat makna, seperti menghadiri pentas seni yang diadakan sekolah putera puteri Anda, di mana mereka terlibat di dalamnya. Atau secara rutin, sempatkan memberikan cerita-cerita pengantar tidur setiap malam sambil menemani si kecil beranjak tidur.

Sleeples Tots

In a stressful world, being able to sleep like a baby is something to be envied as it connotes deep, restful slumber. However, it may come as surprise that not all babies sleep well and that young children can suffer from sleep disorders.
Babies who wail into the night, toddlers who snore loudly, perennially sleepy kids – these behaviors may indicate sleep disorders. Frazzled parents console themselves that their child will outgrow it.
However, in recent years, more Singaporean parents have become aware of pediatric sleep disorders, said Chng Seo Yi, a consultant pediatrician at the National University Hospital's (NUH) University Children's Medical Institute. NUH provides comprehensive screening and diagnostic services, including sleep clinics, for children with sleep disorders.
Chng said anxious parents invariably have this question: What is the best way for my child to learn to fall asleep on his own?
Parents of a newborn, especially, can expect sleepless nights. In the first year of caring for a newborn, each parent may lose on average around 400 hours of shuteye, wrote British consultant child psychologist, Diane Gumley.
However, some parents may unwittingly play a role in their child developing unhealthy sleep habits, Chng said. Sleep onset association disorder, for example, occurs when a child closely associates going to sleep with bedtime rituals such as bottle feeding or rocking. A child with sleep-onset association disorder, who wakes up in the middle of the night, will have difficulty falling asleep again if that learns association is absent.
A more unusual sleep disorder affecting infants is manifested in rhythmic head-banging, head-rolling or body rocking. This need not be a cause for alarm with infants aged nine to 18 months – often, they just find these repetitive, rhythmic actions soothing.
However, for those older than 18 months, it could be a sign of anxiety or stress. In mentally impaired children, such behavior may be much more frequent.
Head-banging can also become a reinforced behavioral pattern if an infant learns that he can get the caregiver's immediate attention. Chng's advice is to ignore him, unless the infant is inflicting serious bodily harm on himself.
There is also obstructive sleep apnoea, which may develop from infancy. In this common sleep disorder, the airway collapses or is partially blocked during sleep. The blockage causes shallow breathing or breathing pauses during sleep. "Corrective surgery, usually the removal of the child's tonsils and adenoids, can treat obstructive sleep apnoea," she said. The tonsils and adenoids are part of a ring of glandular tissue that encircles the back of the throat.
Narcolepsy, a neurological disorder caused by the brain's inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles, can also affect children. Narcoleptics can suddenly fall asleep for a new seconds to several minutes.
A child who is overwhelmingly sleepy during the day – called Excessive Daytime Sleepiness – may have narcolepsy.
"Many cases go undiagnosed, especially if they are relatively mild. Parent may just blame the child for being lazy and for falling asleep all the time," Chng said.
Some pediatric sleep disorders can be life-threatening. In one rare disorder – congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS), also chillingly known as Ondine's Curse – the autonomic (involuntary) control of breathing is impaired from birth.
Most patients afflicted with CCHS breathe normally when awake but breathe poorly or fail to breath at all when asleep. Untreated or misdiagnosed, children with CCHS can die or develop serious complications caused by periods of low or no oxygen.
CCHS is a lifelong condition but with the help of a portable respirator, such kids can lead normal active lives.
However, even children without sleep disorders may not be getting the quantity and quality of sleep that they need.
"Pre-school children should get about 12 hours of sleep a day, and school-age children, around 10 hours. However, due to the busy schedules of working parent, many children probably stay up late to spend time with their parents when they return home. These kids then wake up early to go to school the next day," Chng said.
For a growing child, being asleep is just as important as being awake.

Jovanda Biston/ANN/Straits Times
The Jakarta Post/Friday, October 3, 2008