Parenting
by gleefulblogger

Teach kids Gratitude and real joy of Being Thankful

April 24, 2018
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“No matter how good or bad life is, wake up every morning and be thankful that you have one”. – Anonymous

Golden rules or words is our top motive when it comes to teaching good behavior to kids. But ‘please‘, ‘thank-you‘, and ‘gratitude’ is much more than just a few good words. Being thankful and kind is a mindset with the right approach towards life.

Being Thankful – have a big heart, pray, and say thank you

Granny always taught me to be humble and use right words. Every wrong word popped out of mouth called repentance. Especially with the works which I never liked, say cleaning road lead to the home entrance. Trimming outgrown bushes, watering plants and being gran’s company at ‘gurudwara‘. As a kid, I never understood why is she so keen on good/bad behavior? But yes, all those ‘punitive activities’ refrained me from being mean or using foul words for anyone.

Another valuable lesson from her is that do not ‘ask almighty for grants’, that’s being mean and greedy. Instead, pay thanks for giving us everything that we have. She told me a story a long time ago about the man with a golden egg. Every morning his hen laid ‘one golden egg‘, which was quite sufficient for them and their wealth increased. So is his greed and he decided to cut open tummy of the hen to get all ‘golden eggs’ in one go. Next day morning when he butchered his hen, neither he found the golden eggs, nor is his hen alive now. Moral of the story – Be happy and thankful for what you have.

Her lessons stuck with me for life, even though I never liked those ‘strict instructions’ in childhood. But I thank my stars for blessing me with a gran like hers. She is still keeping an eye on me from up above, as I am using all her strategies with my daughter today.

Being Thankful is a blessing, teach kids ‘gratitude’

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, ‘thank-you’ is just not a word. It’s an expression of mindset. Teach kids the real value of being thankful, tell them how to appreciate happiness. Children are like wet clay, mold them with caution and right principles. Teach them to ‘appreciate‘ things life has given us – water, air, sun, moon, stars, nature and many more.

be thankful

Gratitude pie – ask children to draw a pie-chart and mention five things they are thankful for. The answers or mentions would be outright hilarious but this will give them a chance to understand happiness. When I asked my daughter to draw one such pie, her third mention was – ‘eggs‘. She loves eggs in her breakfast and thankful to God and hen for giving her eggs. Didn’t I tell you hilarious 😉

P.S. I learned about the gratitude pie from a dear friend, and a wonderful blogger Upasana Sethi.

Children learn it from You – I have learned it from my family and my child will take it from us. Children pick smallest of the things looking at us. They try to imitate us, and in the pretense of aping, they get lessons of life. I have seen this with my daughter, who imitate her Dad in morning prayers. He never forgets to pay homage to almighty supreme one. She enacts exactly like her dad, comes out fresh from the shower in a bathrobe and straight away walks to pay her respects. This has become her ritual, and everyday morning after bath we can hear her saying ‘Gayatri Mantra‘ with joined hands.

I recall my mother’s favorite lines – ‘ati sab ki buri‘ which means an excess of anything is bad. An old adage is – “everything in moderation“, we must include this in parenting and teach same to our kids. Explain them the value of minimalistic lifestyle. Giving in to their demands everytime is not right, and gives a bad precedent in terms of utility and advantage. Let them understand the need and alternate of their demand. A new toy comes only when you give away your old toys to those who need it. Or what else ‘needful’ thing can be bought in the same amount of money as the toys or dress. Recycling is another such wonderful thing and goes well with current situation of saving mother nature.

Certain things in life are good to be taught in young age, they stay with you for life. Like ‘Gratitude’ and ‘Thankfulness’.

This post is written for #BlogchatterA2Z series by Blogchatter, and my theme for this challenge is Gleeful Parenting.

PREVIOUSLY FROM THE SERIES –

R for Respectful Parenting.

S for School Safety.

COPY-WRITE NOTICE –
@Dipika Singh Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Dipika Singh (Gleefulblogger) with right and specific direction to the original content.
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safe internet for kids

Happinetz helps keep my Daughter Safe on the Internet

August 29, 2023
20

Is there a way to provide safe internet for kids without snooping or spying on them?

We are living in a world that is connected digitally with numerous threads of data transfer and technology, something that we never even imagined in the early 90s or 2000s. Technology is a force we all abide by, be it checking our vital fitness statistics on a smartwatch or monitoring blood sugar using a small health wearable. Technology today supersedes everything else and the internet is the core of it.

I see my child using computers and the internet more than before, and this shift is tough to reboot. As they grow, their interaction with technology is bound to increase. But, I am worried about safeguarding her from the harm online interaction poses. My single proposition in this whole online learning scenario is to create a safe internet for kids.

Hence, I decided to install the Happinetz Box to keep my daughter safe on the internet.

Time to learn how Happinetz provides a safe internet for kids.

What is Happinetz, and how does it help keep my daughter safe on the Internet?

Let’s take a simple scenario of online gaming. Most of us enjoy the fast and fantastic virtual world of gaming. Many of us allow kids to play online games on websites or apps. For rewards or extra lives, we sometimes have to bear with in-app ads. Sometimes these ads are not appropriate for kids – which is always my concern area. I wish to let my child enjoy her gaming time uninterrupted but do not want her to watch unsolicited ads.

Hence, a crucial need to provide a safe internet for kids. This is where the Happinetz Filtering System comes in.

Happinetz is an expert Internet filtering system that enables your child to use the Internet safely. Happinetz Box safe internet for kids directly connects with your home router to filter out age-inappropriate content.

The internet filtering box allows you to change/edit settings or modes depending on the age and content that is right for your child. A special Games for Kids category in Happinetz ensures only age-appropriate games are open for kids.

For the online safety of kids, we need a solution that doesn’t interfere with their personal space, and at the same time filters any unwanted stuff that pops up on their screen.

As a mother, I do not believe in scanning everything my child does online. But, we all know how sneaky ‘unwanted content’ is.

Just a few days ago, I was reading a Twitter thread on ‘inappropriate content addiction among teenagers’, and it got me really anxious. Teenagers are so addicted to their phones and social media that they are distracted in studies, social life, family, and most worrisome of all – emotions. As a parent, this would be the last thing I would want my child to fall into.

Happinetz provided a handy solution. All I had to do was install the Happinetz Box to provide safe internet for kids.

How to Install the Happinetz Box with your Home Wi-Fi Router?

What if I tell you that installing Happinetz Box is a kid’s game? Oh yes! It is so easy that anyone can just install and plug in the box with a home router.

  • Buy your Happinetz Box from here.
  • Unbox and read the instruction manual properly. Check the illustrations to connect your home router with the Happinetz Box.
  • Download the Happinetz App on your phone to activate and connect your children’s devices with the box.
  • Switch off MAC Randomization on the devices except laptops and connect only to Happinetz WiFi.
  • Once in the app, you can select the modes between Kid (below 13 years), Teens, and Parent.
  • That’s it, your device/s connected to the Happinetz system is active and is all set to provide safe internet for kids.
  • There is an option to connect Happinetz Box wirelessly to the home router too, however, I have used the LAN/WAN cable provided with the box.
safe internet for kids

Features – Filtering Internet to provide a safe Internet for kids – Happinetz Box

In my previous article, I shared the Effects of Social Media on Body Image and Mental Health. Read it to know the reasons and understand how a digital boon called the ‘internet’ can make our children vulnerable and fall prey to online predators. At my home, this social media fix brings a lot of anxiety, tantrums, ego clashes, and emotional meltdowns.

While we have an ‘open dialogue’ relationship and I specifically focus on ‘thoughtful parenting’, it becomes important to sometimes pull your parent-socks up and do what’s right for them. In my case, I was looking for a safe internet solution and I found it in Happinetz.

Happinetz makes the Internet a safe place for kids and provides a wide spectrum of functionalities.

Filter Apps and Websites – There are numerous positive aspects of the internet and online learning, for example, during the lockdown years, my daughter learned primary Spanish language from a native-Spanish tutor residing in the UK, via online classes.

But, it is not always a happy or a gleeful space for children. The Internet also poses threats and a toxic environment and we need to understand the cause and effect of wrong usage on children’s mental health.

Below are the most common risks for children using the internet.

  • Online bullying,
  • Inappropriate content,
  • Identity theft,
  • Invasion of privacy,
  • Emotional and physical well-being,
  • Misinformation.

The Happinetz system monitors 110 million plus websites and apps on a daily basis and has blocked 18 million plus adults and 4 million plus unsecured websites and apps to provide safe internet for kids.

Happinetz Box filters apps and websites by categorizing them according to the content and age-specific usage. Parents can decide to allow or limit by simply switching off the content from these categories.

For example – you can allow WhatsApp chat but restrict other chat forums for your teenager.

Set Internet Schedule – The Happinetz system provides you an option to set an internet schedule for your child’s device. So, now no more long faces when you ask them to hand over their devices during exam time. You can simply set an internet schedule that will allow them to unwind and mitigate the preparation stress without giving away the device.

The internet schedule can be modified as you wish. You can also Extend Internet Timings to provide them extra time as a reward or on some special days.

Pause Internet – is another excellent feature provided by Happinetz Box. You can pause your child’s device’s internet connection anytime until you resume it.

Happinetz works like your own personal screen time manager, that provides 24×7 monitoring and updates you while keeping your children safe online. An experience we all wish our kids to have.

Whitelist or Blacklist any specific domain – The Happinetz Filtering System allows you to block or permit any particular domain, using the advanced feature. Though the system has blocked numerous inappropriate and insecure sites, you can still add any particular domain link in the whitelist or blacklist section.

SOS Alerts, Device Disconnect Alerts, Time Alerts, and No Filter Alerts notify the parent whenever the system identifies an anomaly in the connection or usage.

You can also scan through the Internet History of browsed websites and apps on the Happinetz system. This feature will enable you to view the device history, but won’t track any particular activity done on the website or the mobile app.

These are a considerable amount of features that help you employ a safe internet for kids and let your kids enjoy their personal happy and safe online space.

Conclusion –

Technology is power, the beacon of growth for any country, economy, company, or individual. We cannot keep our children isolated due to the fear of unsafe practices, but provide them with a solution. Happinetz Box is a handy internet filtering system to does what it does best – create safe internet for kids.

COPYRIGHTS

©Dipika Singh. The unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links are used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Dipika Singh (Gleefulblogger). With the right and specific direction to the original content.

Be an Active Listener Parent

April 2, 2018
29



Listening is an art; and we as parents must excel in that.

An active listener parent exhibits a balanced understanding of the problem and then reacts accordingly. Our kids need to learn this – but with examples and not narration. Are you a good listener parent? Oh yeah! I am. Let’s do a small quiz here to see if we are?

  • You do not STOP your work completely to listen to what your child is saying? – Yes/ No
  • You ONLY listen completely if it affects you directly. – Yes/ No
  • You only listen to the first part of the statement and guess the aftermath. – Yes/ No
  • Do you notice the tone difference in a child’s ‘usual conversation’ ALWAYS? – Yes/ No
  • You ALWAYS communicate with your child while making an eye contact? – Yes/ No
  • It takes more than one attempt from your child, to get your attention. – Yes/ No

Be sincere in your replies, and introspect are you an active listener parent?

Prerequisite for being an active listener parent –

Situation one –

Mom: What took you so long?

Child: When he (friend) pushed me, I fell on the ground and …

Mother: What!! How could he? How dare he push you so hard? Let me go and talk to his Mother.

Situation two –

Mom: What took you so long?

Child: When he pushed me, I fell on the ground and my clothes got dirty. He took me home and cleaned me up. His mother brought me some juice and candies.

Mother: That’s so nice of them, but you should be careful next time while playing.

These are two different ways to handle the same situation, hyper-reacting or not listening to the conversation completely can lead to serious confusion. Children look up to their parents for every action and reaction. It is our responsibility to bring the best out of them with exemplary behavior.

active listening skills

Why Listening to children all the time is important?

Firstly, good listening enables efficient communication skills in children. Communication is a two-way process; Speaker and Receiver. Unless the receiver can comprehend the message completely the process will not be complete.

Read Top 6 Parenting Mistakes that Push Teens into Rebellion, here.

Listening completely to children brings them out of their cagey cocoon. Kids often keep some feelings to themselves and create a cocoon around them to hide from mingling with others. Eye contact and sensitive listening help them break the ice.

Consistent speaking holds back listening and understanding in kids. When kids with higher verbal tendencies, talk consistently they are deterred from understanding the message. Which could lead to issues while studying in later stages.

Concentrated listening in children brings a better understanding of concepts. School is the best place to meet new people and grow beyond the comfort zone of home. With good listening habits, children easily learn new concepts and display a sense of belonging to the educator and surroundings.

Bring better listening conditions by example, be an active listener, and exhibit the same to children. With efficient listening, we set a stage for our kids to learn and comprehend properly. So, be a good listener parent 🙂

This is the 2nd post in the series of “Gleeful Parenting“, that I have undertaken for #BlogchatterA2Z 2018 challenge by Blogchatter.

If you missed reading the first post from Gleeful Parenting series, no worries here is the link – A for Acceptance.

Copyright

©Dipika Singh. This article is the property of the site’s author. Any unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links are used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Dipika Singh (Gleefulblogger). With the right and specific direction to the original content.

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