I left a career as a corporate executive to focus on conceiving and raising my daughter. With this dramatic lifestyle change, I made a conscious decision to raise my daughter with innovation. Children today have too many toys and gadgets which they don't use or appreciate. What they really want and need is their parents' time, attention and help in fostering their natural curiosity.
I never considered documenting the daily activities I do with my daughter until I started hearing the same comments over and over again from people who met my daughter for the first time:
"She is so aware" "Wow. She really looks you in the eyes." "She is following everything I am doing."
I focus on very practical simple activities with my daughter each day. There are many simple things parents can do with their infants which will provide significant benefits and require little else but time.
Look your baby in the eyes. Alot. This sounds simple, but we don't do it as much as we think. It is very easy to put your child in the swing or, in front of a video, while you try to get things done. It doesn't actually take that much time to look your baby straight in the eyes and talk to her. Talk to your baby in his language and yours. My mom actually encouraged me to talk to my daughter in "her language". I had read in developmental books that babies view it as a compliment and reinforcement of their value when you answer their sounds with the same sounds. I tried it and it has been quite fun and rewarding for both my daughter and me. She is starting the shrieking and babbling phase so I try to answer her shrieks and babbles sound for sound. She loves it, smiles, and generally answers me back. We do this several times a day and it makes us both happy and smiley. I also talk to her throughout the day in "my" language. Show her how you are doing things. Starting first thing in the morning, I talk to my daughter asking her questions and explaining what is going on. I tell her that we are going to change her diaper and then I am going to get dressed and make the bed while she plays in her crib. I show her the pillows before I put them on the bed. One of our favorite times of the day is when I am washing my face and putting on my make up. My daughter has gotten accustomed to "helping" me and sits and smiles in delight as we go through the process together. I take cleanser and tell her what it is. I bend down and show her the bottle and she smiles. She watches me wash my face. I explain the face cream I am using and show her the bottle. I squeeze a bit of the cream into my hand while she watches. I show her each type of make up and tell her what I am using it for. I tell her the color of the tube of mascara "orange". I do the same thing while preparing breakfast. It is a delightful and wonderful time for us each day. I am constantly amazed at how attentive she is and how excited she gets when I show her what is going on. Let her do what you are doing. When I am cooking or baking, I try to have my daughter with me in the kitchen. I believe this has many short term and long term benefits. Long term, I hope she is developing a love for cooking and feelings of happiness associated with being in the kitchen. Short term, we are spending time together and she is learning about food and how things work in the kitchen. This holiday, I made several holiday cookies and candies. My 5 month old daughter was in her swing or stroller with me. I showed her the sugar and flour and explained as we measured them. I gave her plastic measuring cups to hold while I was using the metal ones. To my surprise, she was very interested in the entire process and didn't get fussy for quite some time (usually almost long enough to mix and cook a batch of cookies). Another example is eating breakfast reading the newspaper. Every morning, we sit together and have breakfast. My daughter "helps" me fix breakfast and then sits in her swing while I eat and read the paper. I talk to her and explain stories or ads. She plays with some basic toys. Once I am finished, we "fix" her cereal together. She loves watching the water heat in the microwave. She squeals in delight when I open the door and she sees the bowl. She watches in fascination as I mash up a banana. When she is done eating, I put her in my lap and let her "read" the paper. She joyously grabs a section, crinkles it up, waves it, rips it and squeals in delight. I wouldn't trade these mornings for anything.
These simple things take a little extra time each day but will pay benefits as you begin to see your baby respond. The list of activities you can do with your child is limited only by your imagination and most of these activities require little or no financial investment. Most importantly, have fun! Use your imagination and share some innovative time with your baby today.
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Deborah Lynn, the founder of Innovate Your Baby!, is a former fortune 200 executive who left the corporate world to stay home and raise her daughter with innovation. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Education from the University of Kansas; a Master's degree in Kinesiology from the University of Northern Iowa and conducted doctoral work at Indiana University in Physiology. After observing disturbing trends in many children and parents today and seeing these trends translate into increasing issues in the young workforce, Deborah began identifying the problems and building an innovative method for minimizing them beginning at infancy. Deborah's new techniques for helping her infant daughter learn, grow and thrive combine awareness activities, demonstrative learning and lots of time and loving attention. http://www.innovateyourbaby.com
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