Holidays - Children Get Overwhelmed with Toys, Relatives, Food, Noise

Sometimes parents can be so happy being amongst adults that they lose track of time and forget that their fussy baby, cranky tween, and angry teen are simply tired.


Children are excited when they know they have a day filled with fun activities and that excitement may not come down for hours, sometimes days!  They rise early, talk much, do unusual things, and can drive parents insane due to all their energy.  Oftentimes, they will want to stay up on most nights even when they should be sleeping.


Parents will need to plan accordingly.  When children are starting to overwhelm parents, it is time to put things away and direct them to bed.  At times, adults don't comprehend this especially when they don't have children at home.  They will sometimes encourage mayhem, rather than help alleviate challenging situations.


If you are a new parent, speak up and explain to those who insist on keeping children entertained that enough is enough, there is always tomorrow.  Invite them over the next day if they want to spend more time with your baby or children.  Enlist the help of those who could put toys away, help with kitchen clean up, start a bath, read a bedtime story, or do something else.


Most parents enjoy the company of all, but even the best parents grow weary of family and all that comes with them, and so do babies and children.


Nicholl McGuire is a mother of four boys and the author of When Mothers Cry and other books.  She offers spiritual insight on a number of topics on YouTube channel: nmenterprise7.

Take Control of the Toys

If you want some peace during the holiday season, be mindful of those loud, noisy toys.  They are cute, fun and might keep a child occupied for awhile, but they also can be very annoying.  These loud items can try one's patience and bring out the worst in anyone who isn't use to so much sound.  Rather than be tempted to defend the toy, be rude to adults, swear at your kid, or run out the house, make plans for the loud toys.


When dealing with noisy toys, try doing the following:


1.  Rotate the toys.  Allow the child to play with one at a time.
2.  Don't put batteries in all the toys at once.
3.  Avoid bombarding small children with so much.
4.  Take away toys they aren't playing with and hide them away until you are ready to rotate them.
5.  Don't argue with a spouse or relative about a toy he or she has bought.  All will get played with eventually, just not at that moment.  If the issue becomes a big deal, resolve in your mind to rid yourself of the problem.  Remember the land of the broken toys in the movie, Toy Story?
6.  If a toy doesn't work, take it back to the store and exchange it for one that doesn't make any noise.
7.  Put a time limit on how long a child will play with certain toys, be sure to have quieter replacements.


The more ways you come up with regulating the toys, the better you will feel.  It is never a good idea to allow children to run amuck playing with everything all at once.  Noisy toys will drive you crazy!


Nicholl McGuire also maintains the blog, When Mothers Cry, see here.

Baby and Toddler Milestones, Dr. Lisa Shulman

Wayward Teens: Back-Talking, Nasty Attitudes, Sneaky Behaviors, Ungratefulness

You know when you have to turn up the discipline, teens will not hesitate to test a parent.  The back talk shows up when you tell them to do something.  The eye-rolls and deep sighs present a new character you didn't encounter when they were small and cute.  Things they once didn't mind telling you are now off-limits.  Buy them some gifts and they aren't too happy about your selections no matter how much time you spent getting them or how much money you paid for them.


Tough teens are not easy to parent especially when they were born into a tough atmosphere.  Parents were hollering (possibly fighting), grandparents were rude and ignorant, the environment in the neighborhood was challenging, and friends were at times wild and crazy. Throw in some alcohol and drugs and children were exposed to far too much then they should have.  So it isn't any wonder when a tough teen talks, walks and acts tough.


Violent and sexual media doesn't help matters when it comes to raising teens.  Parents who permit a child to watch and play with whatever will be faced with more issues than one who tends to monitor his or her child's activities on and offline. 


A wayward teen is one who may have started on the right path (being respectful, caring, loving, etc.), but has now changed due to any number of factors including a parent not making time to assist a son or daughter or failing to find and pay for necessary resources to help him or her.  Many teens suffer from lack.  A parent who lacks knowledge, wisdom, time, and money is most likely going to have trouble with a teen's behavior in and out of school.  The parent might be very good about buying things, attending sporting events, participating in school projects, etc. but have a bad attitude at home.  He or she could be impatient, rude, strict, or have a personality disorder.  Those who live with the parent know better including a child turned teen who simply can't deal with a parent's issues any longer.


Parents can make their lives easier by taking the time to learn more about what makes your teen feel the need to back-talk, (i.e) for a young girl could this be connected to her menstrual cycle?  Maybe there is a teen boy who finds it difficult to talk about a closet behavior he might have, why?  Whatever the issue, the Internet is the book that generations before us didn't have to help them raise us when we were teens, but we do have, so why not make the most of it?  Forums, blogs like this, videos and articles related to how to communicate with teens might provide you with the insight you need to deal with issues.


Nicholl McGuire also maintains When Mothers Cry, the blog. 

12 year old gets Whipping For posting Self Nudes on Facebook Commentary

Beating shown here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=494725310652887