Can you outsmart a toy

Look for the following:. Use this as an opportunity to teach your children online responsibility. Educate your children about the importance of safeguarding personal information and the potential dangers lurking online. Encourage them to speak up if a questionable situation occurs.

Avoid using public connections, which may easily allow unwanted access to toys if there are security flaws. Be aware of parental controls and safety measures the toy has in place like limiting who your child can communicate with. Always install software updates and security patches in a timely manner. Have your children use their toys in family areas of the home so you can closely monitor usage.

Review any video or audio that is recorded by any device. Kids are brilliant when it comes to technology but it can be dangerous for them. Remain engaged; be aware of who they are communicating with and what content is being shared. Ever heard the term helicopter parent? Turn off all connected devices when not in use to ensure personal information is not inadvertently collected.

Talk to your child about appropriate online spending. If you allow your child to make online purchases, educate them about the responsibility. You may want to consider restricting purchases to prepaid cards to avoid overspending.

Monitor Have your children use their toys in family areas of the home so you can closely monitor usage. The right words can lessen the blow of letdowns and make mundane tasks seem interesting and fun. For instance, the day 3-year-old Josh Boswell had been looking forward to going to the playground, it rained.

Rather than let him sulk and stomp angrily around the house, his mom, Sue, of Pepperell, Massachusetts, said, "This rain is wonderful!

Now we get a chance to have that indoor picnic I've been planning for you. You just have to learn to point it out. If things don't go right the cupcakes fell on the floor or his best friend isn't at preschool that day , ask him to think up something good about the bad situation.

He might say he's looking forward to using a different icing color or that now he can draw a "get well soon" picture for his pal you might need to coach him at first. Play this game often and your child will automatically learn to look for the silver lining. You say "yes," she says "no! There's even an official name for this stage. The solution? If you want your child to do something, like put on her socks, pretend you don't want her to do it.

One strategy I used to get my daughter, Kaylin, then 2, to try new foods was to deny her first few requests for them. At dinner I'd put two foods on her plate and four foods on the grown-up plates. She'd stare longingly at our full plates and say, "Me want that!

These foods are for grown-ups. She couldn't eat her broccoli fast enough. And when I want Kevin, now 3, to get ready quickly, I pretend I'm in a big rush. Why don't you stay here with Daddy instead?

When he returns, I say, "I'm not sure you can get ready in time to come with me. Say goodbye to the old capture-Kevin-and-yank-his-clothes-on-while-pinning-him-to-the-floor maneuver. Reverse psychology works by using your toddler's natural desire for independence also known as defiance to get what you both want.

Just be sure to use it in a playful way -- and not so often that he gets wise to you! Amanda Paolucci of Newington, Connecticut, loved playing outside when she was a toddler. She'd press her nose against the screen door and plead to go out. But once Paolucci learned the "Yes, but Instead of saying no all the time, Paolucci now says, "Yes, Amanda, you may go outside, but after dinner.

Toddlers are a lot more cooperative if they just know when they can do whatever it is they want. The younger your child, the less patience she'll have to wait. So sidetrack her opposition by offering up another activity with your "Yes, but. Although most toddler battles are caused by hunger, fatigue, or frustration, it's easier to recognize those things after a tantrum starts -- and after a few slices of apple would have saved the day. So staying a step ahead of your child is not a quick solution so much as a smart way of thinking.

It comes down to consistent routines and reasonable expectations, so you don't have to be a toddler mind reader. Keeping your child on an even keel can be relatively simple: Try to make his basic needs -- food, sleep -- a priority, and not something you squeeze into a busy day. But also think twice before you make life unnecessarily hard on him.

If you're thinking of braving the mall with a tired child -- don't. The notion "maybe I can just squeeze in one more errand" has been the downfall of many otherwise rational moms. Some of my finest parenting moments and by finest I mean horrifying and humiliating have had me half-dragging, half-wrestling my thrashing, wailing, screeching toddler out of Wal-Mart. After public tantrum 36, I finally caught on to the idea of setting limits -- for me. I now limit toddler-accompanied outings to less than two hours.

Of course, if you have a toddler, you've already learned that life rarely goes as planned. So, here's one last trick to try on yourself: Act as if you know what to do -- and soon enough, you will!

All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Member Center: Sign In Register. Outsmart Your Toddler: 5 tricks for getting yours to do what you want. By Deborah Carpenter Parenting.

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