A South Paw? - #13

Easter was a great holiday weekend for the family. Angie and I spent it with her family and we had a great Easter dinner. Lenka had a great time searching for eggs, getting candy, and of course getting the annual visit from the Easter Bunny. It was also a special time for Janika. This was her first Easter and I think she handled it very well. But there was a highlight for Janika, well more for her parents. It looks as if our baby girl might be left handed. This sounded sirens in my head because now I felt that from now on everything would be backwards. Ranging from teaching her how to hold a baseball bat to cutting with scissors to even writing her own name. Both Angie and I are right handed. Sure there are things I can do with both hands, but I’m predominately a righty. We do have lefties in our family. Angie’s mom is left handed and I have two older brothers and an older sister who are left handed. But after looking into it we found that being left handed is not necessarily hereditary. In fact, what I found out was that no one really knows. One out of ten babies are born left handed and scientists say that it is purely natural selection.

When I first noticed Janika’s left handed tendencies if you will, my first thought was to work with her on using her right more. I then discovered that you should NEVER try to push right or left onto a baby. It can make them very frustrated and even lower their self confidence. It can be hard for lefties because they may want to fit in with their friends and they’ll try to use their right hand and it will be very difficult for them. So for the parents out there with babies in the six to twelve month age range, here are some tips to see if you’re dealing with a South Paw.

-The hand that is always closest, or in, their mouth when teething or eating
-The hand your child uses to hold a spoon when eating
-The hand they use to hold a crayon or pencil
-When standing on one leg, they feel more comfortable standing on their left

On a side note I realized that I’m going to see if I can get Janika involved in sports. If she takes to sports such as basketball, softball, or ultimate fighting (Just kidding Angie) being left handed will be a huge advantage. Just for fun I looked up some famous left handed people. Maybe one day the name Janika Dwight will be one of them.

Ronald Reagan
Barack Obama
Jay Leno
Richard Simmons
Matt Groening (creator of ‘The Simpsons’)
Kurt Cobain
Phil Collins
Judy Garland
Jimi Hendrix
Tim Allen
Charlie Chaplin
Tom Cruise
Matt Dillon
Whoopie Goldberg
Angelina Jolie
Julia Roberts
Oprah Winfrey
Larry Bird
John McEnroe
Ken Griffey, Jr.
Babe Ruth

Just A Little Patience (Yeah, Yeah) - #12

Two is a very difficult age, not just for parents but for kids as well. They want to do everything by themselves, but on the other hand they don’t. It seems like they look for opportunities to argue. If I could give any advice to parents of toddlers, or parents who have infants and will be experiencing this very soon, be patient. I consider myself to be a good dad. I do the stuff that a dad is suppose to do like take care of them, support them, and more importantly spend quality time with them. I feel good when I do these things because I’m developing a good relationship with my girls and I’m being a great role model. But what I’ve found to be my biggest problem is at times I lack the patience when dealing with Lenka, my two-year old. If I’m in a hurry, she may throw a fit of some kind and put me behind schedule. This gets me upset and very frustrated. When this happens I get a terrible feeling inside that I can’t stand. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t start whipping her because I’m running five minutes late, but what I’ve found myself doing is raising my voice and yelling for no good reason at all. All it does is put us even more behind. So what do I need to work on to be a better parent? I need more patience.

There are no concrete tips on how to work on this; it varies from person to person. What I’m going to do is just be vary aware of what is going on and keep myself under control. When Lenka is crying and screaming because she is having problems putting her shoe on and won’t let me help, I’m going to keep my voice levels down and speak very calmly. I’m hoping what this will do is convince Lenka to let me help and when I do I’m going to explain step by step what I’m doing, like I’m teaching her. Then I’ll laugh and cheer when her shoes are on to hopefully steer her to a better mood and we can start heading toward the door.

Wish me luck.

P.S. Only one more month until Lenka turns 3 and I hear that age is worse then 2. (Here we go…)

A Room For Two - #11

It has been ten months in the waiting, but Janika is now sleeping in a bedroom. When Janika was born Angie and I ran into a dilemma where we had a two-year old, Lenka, who when was put to bed would spend time playing while laying in bed in the dark. Then with Janika we had a little baby who would wake up at various times crying. Having these two girls share a room would be too stressful for us. Now that the girls are a little older we decided to go for it and I’m happy to report that they are now happily sharing a room. Lenka still says that her sister is sleeping in her room rather than sharing, but it’s cool. So now Angie and I have our basement back. Another bonus is that since Janika goes to bed first, Lenka is forced to be quiet when she gets into bed; no more playing or reading. That has made for a happier, and less sleepy, little girl. Now Angie and I can look forward to the day when we move into a bigger house where the girls will have their own room. Then again there has been talk about turning the basement into another bedroom for Lenka when she gets older. Only time will tell.

When looking for a tip for this week most of the stuff I could come up with was bonuses for kids sharing a bedroom with a sibling. The hard part of course is getting to the benefits. There will always be waking each other up in the middle of the night and the fighting depending on how old they are, but that does go away. So below I’ve listed the benefits I’m looking forward to now that I’m a parent of two girls that share a bedroom. We hope that if you are in the same situation we are, you can feel a little more comfortable.

- When they are young, your children will learn to fall asleep on their own much easier. Not only that, but once they are woken up at night, they will learn to fall back to sleep much more quickly.
- They will likely sleep, and wake, more peacefully knowing that they are not alone. They will often call to each other gently to make sure the other is there. Also, when they wake in the morning, they will usually talk to each other and play quietly until the parent comes to get them.
- Your children will likely develop a closer relationship as siblings. Many children who share a room spend time talking with each other about thoughts, feelings, and so on, especially once they are school aged. If the children are the same gender, they will share things with each other that they may not share with you. This will add stability to their lives and make your home a happy and healthy one.