Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site

If you have trouble getting your little boys to go to sleep, you might want to try this cleverly written bedtime story of the construction site machines. Each one, using describing details, gets ready for bed at the end of a long hard day on the construction site and then goes to sleep. This will not only provide education, but something little boys will love looking at and reading over and over again. When he sees the crane cuddled up with his teddy bear, he may not be so afraid to go to sleep after all.

Meadowlands

Meadowlands provides an educational, yet non-preachy view on the environmental situation in Northern New Jersey’s wetlands. Even though this book is best for ages 7-10, it can be understood by younger children and provides both humor and education. Parents, you can enjoy the fact that your children like reading this book, while knowing that they are learning something important.

That’s Not My Series

A touch and feel picture book series, this creative set of books allows children to learn by touch and feel about their world around them. Books include That’s Not My Truck, Train, Car, Tractor, Monkey, Plane, Dinosaur, Puppy, Lion and more. Each book teaches about a different texture or shape and ends with something that is theirs.

These are just a few of the many wonderful, educational books available to you. These books provide a great way to educate your children while giving them something you can both enjoy and a way to spend time together.

You may even still have the very first pair of booties or stuffed animal. Maybe you received a special baby blanket from a relative. These are all things precious to you that you never want to forget. However, as time goes on, and more children are added to your family, memories of those first moments may fade and become jumbled.

In addition, children themselves may begin asking questions about when they were born, what their first word was, when their first tooth came in, etc. This is the time when a Baby Memory Book can come in handy. You can make the books on your ownor purchase a personalized book for each child.

Purchased Baby Books

Most of the purchased books include information for important and memorable events that occur from birth to age 5 and include room for pictures, hospital tags, birth certificate, foot and hand prints, first Christmas and birthday memories. You could even include baby shower memories, a family tree, firsts, growth charts and doctors visits and immunizations.

Homemade Baby Books

The beauty of homemade baby books is in the fact that your children know how much time you spent on this project and you can include the things that you remember or like the most about your baby’s first few year.

You can make it as long or short as you’d like and add a personalized touch to every page. Homemade baby books can usually save money, however they will take lots of time and dedication.

No matter what you decide to do these baby memory books are something both you and your children (even though they may not have many actual memories of these ages) will be able to treasure for life.

If you’re reading this article, chances are likely that someone has told you recently that your baby is cute enough to model, and they weren’t saying it just to be polite. With all the commercials, magazines, and advertisements you see featuring children that don’t hold a candle to your Samantha or Alex, then it surely there must be a way to get that adorable freckle face in front of the camera for all the world to see.

Luckily for you, there is.

Although baby modeling isn’t for everyone, it may very well be the beginning of a college tuition fund for your child or another way to pay those hospital bills after your latest C-section. And the following steps may point you in the right direction.

What You Need to Know

1. It isn’t Easy : Just because you simply point and shoot with your camera whenever the opportunity arises doesn’t mean that a professional photographer will do the same. Clients are often looking for a specific shot whenever they hire an agency, and sometimes this requires extensive setup and careful preparation. Keeping your baby smiling and cooperative for hours on end can be a difficult task, and if you child is sick or fussy, then your whole trip may turn into a waste.

Additionally, finding a good agent, scheduling yours and your child’s time, and finding a good way to every schedule photo shoot takes a lot of work in addition to the baby wrangling you’re already doing on a regular basis. A child’s success depends primarily on the parent’s ability to cope with the stress rather than how adorable the child actually is.

2. Your Child Should Have a Little Extra Something : It’s a fact of life: beautiful babies are born every day. However, photographers aren’t just looking for a beautiful child, they’re looking for a child with a “little extra something.” Whether it’s a devilish grin, a gorgeous lock of red hair, or a smattering of freckles, these little extra somethings can help your baby stand out from the crowd of happy toddlers. It’s the little differences that photographers like to play up and design their shots with.

3. You’ll need Connections: A good agency can make or break your child’s career as a model, and finding a right agent can be difficult if you don’t know where to look. Be cautious of scammers claiming to help you get in a commercial only to have you pay for additional photos or lessons. A good majority of these agencies are in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami, and though you might get lucky and find one close to home, most child models live closer to these four cities.

Start by looking in the yellow pages and investigating what kinds of photos are needed to qualify your child. Many agencies require a closeup of the child’s face, a full body shot, and picture of the child in a pose but without props such as toys or hats or sunglasses.

4. A Portfolio Should be Current: Children grow up fast, especially infants. A photo you took last summer will be outdated, so it would be a good idea to keep your child’s portfolio current by taking new photos every 3 to 6 months. Although not all of these photos have to be taken by a professional top-notch photographer, the higher quality the photo, the more likely your child will be accepted by a client.

5. Remember the Rewards: Baby Modeling can be a rewarding career financially, and depending on the client, your child could be making anywhere from $30 to $75 dollars an hour (and some photoshoots last all day). Some advertisements dish out as much as $600 to $1200 for a full day, and some commercial contracts can pay out up to $8,000.

However, the financial rewards may not be as wonderful as you might think. Baby modeling can put a lot of extra pressure on both the parents and the child, and the constant criticism may be more than your child can handle during this important stage of their development. Just because you have the cutest kid on the planet doesn’t mean you should expose him or her to world simply to make some extra money. Be aware of your child’s needs and wants, and if they align with yours then it can be a rewarding experience. If not, then Baby Modeling might not be right for you.

1. A Designer Nursery
Unless you’re J-Lo, can you really afford to do a designer nursery once, let alone for future babies? After all, while the first baby is definitely more exciting, your kids will have every right to resent you for not giving them the same perks. The truth is that you don’t need to have personalized monograms on everything, you don’t need Tommy Hilfiger or any of the other designers. Just go to Target or even Walmart.

2. Bedding
As cute as they may be and as basic as bedding may seem, bedding is actually completely unnecessary. Bedding can cost up to $200 if not more, and bumpers, matching quilts, and other added perks are actually choking and suffocation hazards. Just get a tight fitting sheet which will probably run you about $20 to $30.

3. Changing Tables
I wouldn’t recommend changing your baby on the kitchen table, because food…baby diapers….no. However, you don’t need a specialized changing table to change a diaper for a few months or however long it takes to get the baby potty trained. A cheap card table or frankly speaking just about any normal tablet hat you might already have suffices just fine.

4. Bassinet
Every movie and every movie star has a bassinet, but you can literally use a bassinet for all of a few months….total, and they cost thousands of dollars. Yes, bassinets are attractive, but are you really getting the bang for your buck? No. Playpens are much more useful for longer periods of time, and playpens cost a fraction of that.

5. Designer Newborn Clothing
Scratch that. You don’t need designer baby clothing in general. They literally grow out of every size in most cases in a matter of weeks, and you spent $40 on what? Newborns, babies, and toddlers all get dirty fast, grow out of clothes fast, and don’t need designer clothing.

6. Video Monitor
You may lay awake at night listening for your baby’s cry, or you may be half asleep ready to wake up at any moment. However, chances are you aren’t going to sit there all night watching the dark picture you get or sit there watching the video when you are supposed to be talking to friends or family. A basic monitor costs a lot less, and it is not lacking in what you need.

7. A wipe warmer
I actually thought that this was a joke when I first saw it, but there is such thing as a wipe warmer…..babies have survived just fine for years with room temperature wipes on their bottoms. Enough said.

8. A Diaper Genie
There are plenty of people who say that the diaper genie has saved their life. Whatever happened to just wrapping up a diaper and walking a few feet out to the garbage can? It’s a $40 diaper pail that has “specialized” bags that cost you even more over time. A set of just 3 refill bags costs $19.99. Really? Diapers aren’t that toxic, and it’s a few feet to get outside!

Most people have their favorite books or teachers that got them into reading. Or there’s usually a book that kept you reading all the way through the book in the first place. Passing the love of reading on to your child is how he or she is going to learn to love reading and how she or he will learn to love learning.

Most children have books they force (ask) their parents to read to them daily. Sometimes several times a day. But having those favorite books that your child knows so well and could probably recite without you near is how they’re going to get the learning bug. It’s how they’re going to enjoy reading and want to do it even more.

One thing we’d suggest is finding a book your child will want to read over and over again. It might even be a good idea to pick a book you’ll enjoy as well.

We’ve found some of the most popular baby books so you can start early in teaching your child to love to learn and to love to read.

1-Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, ISBN-13: 9780694003617
A beautifully colored book, this child’s book is often a favorite. It follows a rabbit around his nightly habit of saying goodnight to each of his favorite things in his room. It includes the perfect words to help your child get into the mind to go to sleep and includes beautiful pictures.

2- The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle ISBN-13: 9780399226908
This cute picture book follows a caterpillar’s journey from a tiny egg, to a hungry little caterpillar, to when he shuts himself up in cocoon for a nice long sleep. This book is entertaining and is loved by children. The brightly colored pictures go a long way as well.

3-The Real Mother Goose by Blanche Fisher Wright, ISBN-13: 9780590225175
Don’t forget the classic, rhyming stories of Mother Goose. This book includes touch and feel elements to make the stories come alive even more as they follow along through Mary had a Little Lamb, The Cat and the Fiddle, and others.

These are just some ideas to get your collection of your favorite stories started. Good luck!

Books are an important part of life. It’s how adults break away from their busy lives and imagine being someone different for an hour or so. It’s how we teach our imagination to keep on dreaming and think ahead to the future. Books are a way to escape into a wonderful fantasy land.

They are also a way to learn exciting new things and teach us important lessons in life such as history, math, or science, new business ideas, and computer programs. Books give us knowledge and let a few lucky people share their knowledge with the rest of the world.

As a child, books are even more important. They teach you how to read, and by doing so teach infinite depths of truth, discovery, and how to think. Books teach the brain to think and how to learn. They build on our creative sides, and on our analytical sides.

Use Your Knowledge

Just as important as reading a book, creating a book with a child is a great way to explore a child’s imagination. It’s an excellent way to see what they’ve learned, what they like learning, and what matters the most to them. Creating a book, as in a scrapbook, builds a child’s knowledge by letting them think for themselves. It lets them create what’s in their imagination, in art and in words.

People build scrapbooks to not only preserve memories, but to create new ones as well. Having a child preserve treasured memories with you as you build upon their knowledge of life by creating your own book is a precious memory in itself.

Imagine looking over photos of times when your child, or one you know, may have cut their own hair, or broken into the cookie jar, forgetting the crumbs they left all over the kitchen and all over their faces. Getting the reaction in picture form is great, but what about what they remember of the incidence? What they remember might not be what the picture shows, and getting their memories along with the picture in a book is important. Sometimes capturing their thoughts after the event is just as significant as what you caught them doing in the first place.

Learn, Create, Preserve

If your children help you create a scrapbook, they are building upon the lessons learned in school. It’s as good as or better than reading a different book to you or to themselves, because they are creating the words and phrases which make the book. They would also use their art skills as they cut, paste, glue, tape, stencil, and write their own memories.

Books Books Books

There are fantastic books out there that we’d all like to have the benefit of reading and letting our children read. Unfortunately, money doesn’t grow on trees, and not all of us are able or willing to buy all the books that we’d like. So what are we to do about getting our books?

There are alternative ways to get the benefits of books. Here are a few tips to keep yourself and your children entrapped by lovely literature.

Go the the Library

Most cities and towns have public libraries. Getting a library card is free. You may spend an afternoon at the library reading, or you may check out your resources for a few weeks with your library card. You do have to return your library books on time, or else you must pay a fine. The great thing about libraries is that you can get whatever you want that they have! This is literally books for free. Public libraries have books for babies, children, young adults, and adults alike. You can also check out musical CDs and audio books at most libraries.

Alternate Used Book Sources

If you’re looking to build your own home library, but funds are short, you don’t have to go to the bookstore to buy a brand new copy. A lot of used books are available out there to purchase at places such as second-hand stores, and yard sales. This isn’t as reliable as buying a new book, because you never know what’s going to be available, or what condition it’s going to be in, but you can get lucky buying used books.

Online Sources

Websites near and far sell books new and used. These online listing prices are also usually less expensive than buying the book at a store (depending on how much you buy and how much shipping costs). The internet is your friend. Use it to maximize your book buying dollar. Compare prices at different stores and websites. Get the best deal you can on the books you want.