Creative Ways of Announcing the Birth of Your Baby

This is a guest post by Lauren Roland. Lauren is a guest blogger on behalf of Expecting-Parents.com and PaperStyle. She enjoys spending time with her adorable baby boy and spreading tips for new mothers.  


 Nothing beats the happiness of new parents whose excitement cannot be concealed over the birth of their new baby. There are many ways to make birth announcements. It usually depends on the enthusiasm of the parents in showing off their new child to the world, but if you're someone who wants to make announcing the birth of your baby a big deal (and a special one) then here are some sure trusted ways to get everyone swooning over your baby love.

1. Blog about it
The topics you can read about on blogs are endless. It is not surprising that baby blogs are also very popular. There are ways in which you can kickstart your baby blog. Some people start theirs during pregnancy, the birth, and until the baby has his or her first experiences. You can also start the blog by announcing the birth of your baby and continue by making regular updates on your baby's progress.

2. Post a status about it on social media sites
If you're reading this on the internet, then it is impossible that you do not have at least one account on a social media site. Some of the most popular networks are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and many more. These sites do not only allow you to post simple text, but they encourage you to embed videos, post photos, share links and many more. With these exciting options alone, you are sure to not run out of ideas on announcing the birth of your baby. Plus, most of your friends, family, colleagues and all your other acquaintances are all on these sites. You would be able to spread the word to more people. Moreover, if you have accounts on the four biggest social media sites, you don't have to make the updates for each. You can just link the accounts and have everything covered.

3. Make creative paper announcements
Some couples want to make it traditional. This method will make the announcement special too. After all, weddings and other special occasions always have paper invites. So, why not make the announcement on a nice paper with your baby's picture on it along with some crafty and creative designs? Then, you can set aside one copy, frame it and hang it on the wall of the baby's room in your home.

4. Make phone calls and text messages
There are other couples who are keen with their privacy and rather conservative when it comes to their personal lives. Another traditional way of making the announcement to close family and friends is by personally informing them about the birth of your baby through SMS or through a phone call.
The birth of the baby is the most precious memory that parents will keep for the rest of their lives. It is only right that announcements are made to welcome the child into the world with much love and anticipation. The announcement is just the start. Pretty soon, there will be other major events in the succeeding months from his or her birth that you need to announce, like baptisms and other firsts.

Important Tips to Plan your Teenage Girl’s Birthday Party

Birthday celebration for a teenager is a joint venture. Your little one who was depending on you for all the things till a couple of years ago, suddenly starts trying to take control of all the things. Teenagers are as usually referred to as young adults and they perfectly fit this description. They form their opinions just like adults, but they need your help to make them work. 

So, if you are thinking about managing the birthday party for your teenage girl, here are few things that you need to take care of:

Giving due consideration to her plans

You may have some ideas about her birthday, but try to know about her plans. Does she have any ideas about the celebration? It may be a party at home or a celebration outside the house. Do not oppose outright even if you do not agree with the idea. Discuss the ideas with her, plan out the celebrations and take her suggestions. She might have better plans. If you think her plans are not acceptable, try to convince her gradually about it. Sudden or outright opposition may cause a rebel.

Going ahead with the plans

Once you decide on the celebration, there could be differences in opinions about the other plans too.  Especially if your teenager is stubborn, you may have a tough time. What seems trendy for her may turn out to be expensive or absurd for you. Do not lose your cool and work out options.

Assigning responsibilities

Give her due credit and respect for important tasks associated with her celebration. Let her take the call regarding the menu, the type of decorations and such other tasks. If she is a mature lady, let her go ahead and organize the party. You can be there as her guide or mentor. Girls are very sensitive and emotional about every little thing around them. It could be her friends, the birthday theme, flowers, or may be the cake too.

Avoiding family interventions in the party

All the family members may not understand your teenager. Teenagers prefer to keep their parties a private affair. So if you think dad is interfering by nature or her sibling is going to poke his or her nose into her party, make plans to keep them away. You might as well plan some outdoor task for them. If her folks are friendly with you and can connect with you easily, they’ll invite you occasionally to join them. But don’t be inquisitive about their intimate discussions.

Respecting her privacy

The D day for your teenager might start with text messages or lot of phone calls. Do not be over inquisitive about this. You can discuss about her friends later, not that day. Same rule applies for gifts as well. At this age they have special friends, boys and girls. And for a teenage girl, the gifts given by these special friends are always very special. She might not want to reveal everything to you. Give her the space she needs and she will come up with her secrets with you or with dad.

Thus, realize that your girl is growing up and you need to make a note of her opinions and emotions when planning her celebrations.

Exams, you, and your Kid

With the term end exams just round the corner, Moms have geared up with full energy and enthusiasm. Notes, question papers, important tips are the major discussions going around. Health awareness, nutrition, adequate sleep, less play, and control on gadgets are the items on the to do list. Starting right from Grade 1 to Grade X, the exam fever is heating up the atmosphere.

I have never understood the cause, but as a mom I can say that exams usually affect the Moms more than it affects dads. Dads are pretty cool about things and either act as silent spectators or peacemakers! And kids? They are entirely in a defensive mode.

Things are more complicated for working moms. I do not say they are simple for at home moms, but working mothers are aware of the restriction of time. Tutions are not enough for last week preparations. When you are away at office, you need to be well prepared to keep you kid engaged with a task related to his next day's exam. This task needs to be monitored over phone calls if necessary and follow up occurs in the evening. Evenings are again dedicated to a final revision and mom's strategical planning for the next day. I am sure every working mom wishes that she was a work from home mom during this week. Things turn out to be more strenuous if surprise meetings or calls pop up at office followed by extended hours.

Another challenge for every mom is health.These are the days when the kids are likely to come up with stress related symptoms like stomach pains, headaches, and even fever in some cases. Managing health and exams is a crucial thing.Then there are challenges on the home front as well. Your maid may not turn up or there could be some emergency related to a family member or some issue related to the younger one. Apart from all this the show must go on with the minimal daily chores.

Does this sound too much? But it is a fact. Every six months, there are a couple of weeks when Moms act as jugglers balancing numerous things. Finally it is the relief and satisfaction, that your kid has faced one more test in his life and you know he is surely going to emerge as a winner in his own way, irrespective of the marks that he gets on his scorecard. The numbers on the scorecard do not matter so much. It is the efforts, the understanding of challenges, the will power to face it and the courage to  accept the results is what matters to you. Isn't it true?

Kids and Gadgets

Are these synonyms? Well, in today's age the answer could be Yes. We can find very few kids around us who can really turn their back towards gadgets. Be it a cellphone, an iPad, iPhone or a tab, they definitely have some knowledge about it and basic skills to handle it.

When I brought my new cell, I realized that my young chap was eagerly looking forward to it. So now it belongs to us. The basic functions of call and messaging are handled by me and rest all by my kiddo!

Kids have adapted to this revolution very positively. But this poses a major challenge for parents. In this revolution of gadgets, we cannot avoid keeping our kids away from them. If I block his access to these he is going to learn about it from friends. The best option is to make sure that whatever he learns should be in a positive way. This affiliation for technology should develop as a skill rather than an addiction.

However, there is always the other side to a coin. When imparting freedom to kids regarding the usage of gadgets, there are two things that every parent should remember:

• A supervision in a correct way and required measure is necessary. Teenage kids do not like to be interrogated or supervised. But you need to find out ways to keep a track of their progress in this field.
• Giving them access to these gadgets does not mean satisfying undue or unrealistic demands for new gadgets. 

So, with all these sets of do's and don'ts get ready to enjoy the tech world with your kid. He will lead you there and guide you as well.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

My 12 yr old boy reminded me of this phrase last week.

 It was a weekend with the final exams going on. I was at home to receive my little devil. I love weekends as I get to play the role of a home maker.

He returned from school and after breakfast we were having a chat about his day at school. "It feels so nice to be at home and recieve you. You also must be happy to find Mom at home, right?", I remarked.

There was a moment of silence and my little smart angel (I take time to accept that he's growing up!) replied, "You know what, Moms who are housewives are dumb. Working Moms are smarter." Now it was my turn to be silent for a moment. I recovered from the moral shock and asked him, "Why do you think so? I mean its not really true." He replied, "You see, working Moms are in touch with what's happening in the outside world. They are conversant with computers, they know a lot about internet and can connect with their kids."

"But, then you don't get to connect to your Mom till evening if she's working. She is not available to pamper you." I took out another card. It was then maybe he realized that he has said a lot. He tried to make up for that. "Well, I think it is okay if Mom works for few years and then opts to be at home." That was possibly the best solution that his little brain could come up with.

This conversation indeed had something to take. It gave me a glimpse of the issues that these little minds discuss and the depth of it that can reach upto. Parents should indeed discuss a lot of topics to bring out these thoughts and perceptions and give them the correct direction where necessary.