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Guest Post: Preparing Your Home for Parenthood When You Live with a Disability

Nesting is the act of preparing one’s home for the arrival of a new baby or child. Typically, nesting involves things such as painting a nursery, buying a crib, baby-proofing the house, and making sure everything is as clean as possible as the due date approaches. However, when you are a parent living with a disability, your nesting process is generally more intense.

Encouraging Kids to Play Outside

It can be hard to get kids excited to play outside, especially with all the fun toys and screens we have indoors for them to play with. Previous generations spent their playtime almost exclusively outdoors, but that has changed dramatically in recent years. Today, only 1 in 4 kids plays outside on a daily basis, compared to 3 in 4 children one generation ago1. There are significant benefits to playing outside, so encouraging your kids to get outdoors can be a great way to support their development!

Why is knowing about Child Development Important?

Some parents tell me they are not interested in completing a developmental screening because their child is not behind. A common myth about these screenings are that they are only looking for delays in your child’s development. The Ages and Stages Questionnaire administered by Help Me Grow does so much more than identify delays. It also helps caregivers to see the strengths their child has and how much they are already learning even as young as 2 months.

Celebrating Grandparents

I have a lot of memories of spending time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house when I was growing up.  At that time, I was blessed to have grandparents that lived less than 2 miles from our house and the other grandparents within a couple hours.  I have many good memories of time spent with my grandparents.  We spent time together camping, telling stories, riding their 3-wheeler, etc.  It was never anything big, but it all came down to one thing they gave me, my siblings and cousins: Time.  They spent time with us.

Team Member Spotlight: Kammy

I was born in Kanab Utah. After my twin brother was born, at some point they realized I was also coming to be the 3^rd of 7 children to this wonderful family.  No one knew I was coming. Not my mother, father or even the doctor.  Looking back, my parents tell me that my grandfather gave my mother a blessing before the 26 mile trip to the Kanab Hospital. While giving the blessing he said. “Bless him”, then he paused and said, “Bless her”, then went on the finish the blessing. They thought, “…that’s funny”, but off to the hospital they went. To everyone’s surprise grandpa was right. My twin brother was born, and then the doctor thought he was finished, but my mom said, “I think there is another one.” He checked, and sure enough, I did not want to be left out. 

Team Member Spotlight: Tabatha

I was born and raised in Pocatello, ID and I could not wait to get out. After a couple year hiatus in Boise to get my graduate degree I came back to my hometown and fell in love with it. Someday, my sweetheart and I hope to go back to his family’s original homestead and build a house. My boyfriend, Tyler, and I have lived in five cities and three states together since we met six years ago. We moved to Utah for his job, and we love being closer to family and the mountains. 

Team Member Spotlight: Gentri

1. My greatest joy in life is in being a mother. I love my little toddler; her sassy personality brings a smile to my face each day.

2. I am the oldest of four children in my family, and I am 17 years older than my youngest brother. My sister is expecting her first baby in April, and I am so excited to be an aunt!

3. I grew up in American Fork, UT, and I had never moved until going to college. I’ve now moved 9 times in the last 5 years. During that time, I spent a summer in Los Angeles, California and another summer near Dallas, Texas.

Team Member Spotlight: Ilse

From the Dutch Lowlands to the Utah Highlands! 

When I landed in Salt Lake City for the first time in my life, on a beautiful spring day in 1999, I was pleasantly surprised by all the tulips! Seeing them immediately made me think of home, as tulips are the unofficial national flower of The Netherlands (aka Holland), my country of origin. Salt Lake is very different from The Netherlands in other aspects, not least of which are its mountains, towering over the city, while large parts of The Netherlands are below sea level!

Team Member Spotlight: Robin

Have you ever felt so sluggish that you could hardly put one foot in front of the other, your mind so dull that you could not remember what you were doing?

I have – after my first child was born.  It’s called postpartum depression (but I didn’t know that then).  After I had been home with my baby for almost two months I happened to turn on a TV program called “What Every Baby Knows” hosted by Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a well known pediatrician in Boston. 

Time In: An Alternate to Time Out

The idea of positive time out, or "Time In," is based on the understanding that children do better when they feel better. Time In can help children learn many life skills, like the importance of taking time to calm down until they can think and act more clearly. Time In is a form of positive reinforcement through a connected style of parenting, rather than withdrawing parental attention when a child is misbehaving.

Team Member Spotlight: Julie

As a teenager I was prompted by my church leaders to set a goal to write in my journal. Not long after starting this goal, I became addicted and discovered writing was an emotional release I had never allowed myself to have. The story of my life is rather ordinary, yet the details of many years are carefully hand-written and stored in my cedar chest.

Tips for finding (and keeping!) a great babysitter

I spent most of my free time in high school babysitting for people who lived in my town. At one point in time, I was busy almost every night of the week and even some days when I didn’t have school! When I moved away to university, I passed “my families” onto my little sister. I loved babysitting and even moved into a nanny position when I got to university. Here are some tips on how to find and keep a great babysitter that I have gathered from being a babysitter for over 8 years!

Helping Children Cope with Divorce

Photo Credit

Sitting on my couch with my sister, I start to cry as my parents tell us that they are getting a divorce. At 8 years old, I do not completely understand what divorce means and how my life is about to change. My mom hugs me and starts to cry. My sister asks if the divorce is her fault and starts to cry as well. All three of us continue to cry on the couch as my dad grabs his suitcase and walks out the door. After that, everything seems to start moving in fast forward and nothing feels real. I want my dad to come back, I want to keep living in the only house I have ever known. I want my old life back.

Dealing with divorce is difficult, especially when children are involved. Doctor Kevin D. Arnold, Ph.D and director of the the Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy in Columbus Ohio, gives 6 tips to help parents talk with their children about divorce.

Team Member Spotlight: Hillary

Family gathering

Hello! I'm from Southern California and I love learning about all that Utah has to offer, including a strong focus on the importance of the family. I love making connections with people and when I learned that Help Me Grow is all about helping families, I immediately became an advocate for this program! If you ever meet me, I will likely try to figure out some common connection between us.

Where Will I Deliver My Baby?

Congratulations! You are having a baby! Now comes the list of all the wonderful (and not so wonderful) things to plan for. One of the things on your list will be where to have your baby. My mom had all five of her children in a hospital. Each experience was different, but that was where she felt most comfortable. My Grandma had some of her children in a hospital and some in her home, but this was more because she had to rather than she wanted to.

Now, however, there are so many ways and places to deliver your baby. Today I’m going to focus on the places. They all have “reasons to do them” and “things that can interfere”, but they are all places that are common to have babies.

Adventures of Jodi the Scoot-girl

Scooting.  Not crawling, scooting.  That is how I began my major gross motor movements in my life.  I had little desire to crawl, or at least my mom says so.  She also comments from time to time that I didn't want to walk either. 15 months. That’s how long it took me to walk.  With three older siblings, who needed to move themselves?  Despite my lack of crawling and my lack of desire to walk, once I started moving, I didn’t stop.

Team Member Spotlight: Mackenzie

The Golden Temple in Amritsar, India

Hey there! My name is Mackenzie and I work in outreach support here at Help Me Grow Utah! I grew up in a small town called Kamas. It’s okay if you have never heard of it, but you may have heard of our neighbors Park City and Heber, which are each only about 10 miles away from Kamas. After graduating high school with my associates degree from UVU, I started my Bachelor's degree at the University of Utah. I am getting my degree in Business Management with a focus on Nonprofits, so Help Me Grow is great experience for me!  My main job is to show the state how awesome Help Me Grow Utah is by visiting with physicians and attending outreach events such as family fairs and libraries. I am so excited to represent Help Me Grow by sharing all the awesome things we do! Read below to find out some more about me!

How To Prevent Kindergarten Separation Anxiety

It's perfectly normal for a child, as well as their parents, to feel some form of anxiety during the transition from preschool to kindergarten. However, it has been shown that preschoolers have a smoother transition to kindergarten when their family, caregivers, and teachers take an active role in preparing them for this adjustment period. Here are 5 tips that will help ease this transition period for both you and your child!

Inexpensive Summer Activity: Giant Letters!

Summer is here! Kids are excited to have time off from school and parents are stressed about how to keep their kids engaged and learning through the summer - without lots of screen time! This idea from Constantly Lovestruck is a great activity for kids of all ages that can be used inside or outside - even adults can join in on the fun!