The Art of Gift Giving

by Vered @ The Baby Bunch on July 21, 2010

GiftDo you like giving gifts? What do you enjoy more – giving gifts or receiving them? A surprisingly large number of people report that they actually prefer giving gifts to receiving them. There’s nothing like seeing the recipient’s face light up as they see your thoughtful gift.

Of course, we often find ourselves giving unthoughtful gifts. I once gave a coworker a generous Starbucks gift card. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside about giving such a nice gift, until I remembered that he once told me that he hates coffee and can’t even stand the smell of coffee! So much for a thoughtful gift.

What I had forgotten when I gave that gift card was that giving gifts is not really about the monetary value of the gift. It is more about finding an item that would fit the recipient, that would bring a smile to their faces and be useful to them. If you know the recipient well, you should be listening to them throughout the year, taking notes – and I mean that literally. You should actually write down gift ideas for the important people in your life throughout the year.

If you don’t know the person very well, it’s more difficult to find a truly thoughtful gift, but you should still try to avoid falling back on some kind of a default present. Try to find something that unites usefulness with style – those are the gifts that are most fun to receive. For example, if you’re going to a baby shower and need to find a unique baby gift, try to come up with a gift that is nicely presented yet contains items that the expectant parents can actually use.

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Get Your Kids to Read this Summer

by Vered @ The Baby Bunch on July 7, 2010

kids readingDo your kids read? Kids today don’t read as much as we used to, and as much as I hate how old this makes me sound, I really do believe that reading is incredibly important – and also very enjoyable.

I suspect that the more technology kids are surrounded with, the less they are able to slow down, sit down and read a book. I know that when I started blogging, something definitely happened to my attention span – when you get used to reading and writing 300-word blog posts, reading a 300-page book seems almost incomprehensible.

But we don’t want our kids to miss out on the magic of sitting down to read a good book, do we? It really is a magical experience – one of the best ways to escape into a different world, to relax, to forget your daily stresses. Of course, reading is also beneficial and educational becuase it helps children learn how to express themselves, develops their imagination and their vocabulary and of course their writing skills. All of these are very important even in a world that focuses more and more on technology.

This is not a list-type post with 10 great tips for getting your kids to read. There are tons of those all over the Internet – just google and you will find them. I do want to make a few points that I feel are important:

1. If you want your kids to read, you should be reading too. When it comes to reading, just like with anything else you want your kids to do, modeling is way more important than verbal instructions.

2. Although your ultimate goal is to get your kids to enjoy classics and quality literature, remember that reading online is reading too, and reading lower-quality chapter books still counts as reading and may just be the step your child needs to take before she proceeds to read higher-quality material.

3. A weekly visit to the library, where the kids get to choose their own books, you pick one classic for them and also a book for yourself, is crucial – and lots of fun in the summer. If your local library offers a weekly story hour, you can turn it into a fun outing, complete with maybe a stop at the ice cream parlor on your way back home.

Image by ThomasLife

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Links We Love: June 2010

June 30, 2010

Every year, before summer break begins, I stress about having the kids at home and breaking out of our school year routine. Then summer begins, and I love it! I love spending more time with them and I especially enjoy mornings that are not as rushed as the school year mornings.
I’ve been doing more reading [...]

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10 Things We Love About Summer

June 23, 2010

Summer is officially here – the official first day of summer was two days ago.
Do you love summer as much as we do? It’s such a fun season, provided you can SLOW DOWN a little. Fortunately, in many businesses, things do slow down a bit during the summer. Take advantage of that!
10 things we [...]

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The Wonderful Things Dads Do

June 16, 2010

Fathers today are more involved than ever in raising their kids. I love watching young fathers at the park or at the store. While moms are no doubt excellent caretakers, there’s something about dads’ attitude that is more relaxed and takes things more in stride.
I think it nicely balances out the way mothers raise [...]

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How To Survive Air Travel With Kids

June 9, 2010

Continuing with our “it’s almost summer vacation” theme, let’s talk about air travel with kids. I’m sure you’ve noticed that air travel is becoming more and more complicated. Near-bankrupt airlines are consistently lowering the level of customer service, while security concerns are making that security checkpoint a dreaded experience.
But many of us still have [...]

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Summer Activities for Kids

June 2, 2010

Summer vacation is almost here. Your own level of stress around summer will largely depend on your kids’ ages and on whether you work full time or not, but for most parents there is at least some stress involved.
Keeping the kids happy, safe and entertained for ten weeks is not easy, but it can [...]

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Links We Love: May Edition

May 31, 2010

We can’t believe it’s almost June. Summer is almost here, and of course summer break with its upside (fairly relaxed mornings, especially if you work at home or are a stay at home mom) and downside (bored kids!)
But before we head into summer, let’s take a look at the articles and blog posts we enjoyed [...]

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Spring Crafts: Flower Collage

May 26, 2010

Spring craft projects naturally focus on nature, and especially on flowers. One of my favorite spring crafts to do with kids of all ages is a flower collage. You can make it as simple or as sophisticated as you wish – and depending on your children’s ages, of course.
 
Materials
A sturdy paper to be used as [...]

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How To Get More Sleep Even Though You Have a Newborn

May 19, 2010

When you become a parent, you pretty much give up on the lifestyle you used to have. For most of us, only after it’s gone, we learn to appreciate it – sleeping in, taking long showers, spending time alone and as a couple.
Most new parents agree that one of the major challenges of parenting [...]

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