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Saturday, December 8, 2012

How Reading Can Make You a Super Mom

How can I be a super mom? Don't we all ask ourselves this question from the minute we get pregnant and feel the soul of our loved one growing inside of us? Personally, when I conceived my first girl I wished someone could provide me with A to Z steps on how to be the best mother in the world but this is impossible. Even child psychologists haven't agreed on one unique method to raising our children. I have read so many parenting books and what I found is that the general methods are common but when it comes to practicing these methods scientists might disagree. Nevertheless, reading is, in my own opinion, essential for a good parenting adventure. Books will not only tell us how to deal with certain situations but they will help us learn how to find a suitable solution to our child's case since every child is unique therefore every child needs a different kind of intervention.

So, my number one tip for being a super mom is:

Reading:

Begin reading from the minute you learn you're going to be a mother. Fall in love with those parenting books because they might be your only way out. If you're a new-mom you cannot possibly imagine the twisted situations a child could put you through or go through himself. Therefore, you need to be well prepared. Choose two or three of the most popular parenting books; go through the suggested ideas and explained techniques and see how you can apply what you read to your actual situation.

I will recommend few books: How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen so Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber, The Baby Book: Everything You Need To Know About Your Baby from Birth To Age Two by William Sears, The No-Cry Sleep solution: Gentle Ways To Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night Foreword by William Sears, MD by Elizabeth Pantley, Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too by Adele Faber, Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason by Alfie Kohn.

Now after you have read so many books, you will have enough material to allow you to act well under hard circumstances. And as a mother you will be facing many, from the moment you give birth to the second you accompany your child to the altar.

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Memoirs of A Loving Mum - A Self Review

A true account based on the life experiences of a loving mother to her only daughter, this short story depicts the strong, yet contrasting emotions of a young inspiring lawyer on her mum, whom she thought was nothing but a loser in life. Yet circumstances have proven likewise. Read on and let your emotions flow.

The Story

It doesn't strike so much to me as a pure coincidence to see her again. And here she is, walking along the streets of Keung Siak puffing away with a cigarette in hand." Cold - calling for business, eh?" I thought to myself. The year was 2003. It was barely half-past five, a typical Wednesday afternoon. The sun was shining up high. It's certainly not the best time of the day for anything. But to her, the day had just begun.

She is my Mum. Or is she? I guessed so. It's hard to imagine myself being borne by her. Difficult it may seem I tried convincing myself umpteen times for so many years. Futile attempts after attempts. Things are not going to make any difference anyway. My maternal grandma meant the most to me, not her. It had always been this case. At least for the past 28 years she had always been in my mind. And perhaps for the rest of my life till my very last breath she will be the only one in my heart. Even years after her demise, I missed her terribly.

And who is this stranger again that I have just met?

I was told she absconded from the labour ward before I can even feel myself cradled in her arms way back in 1972. My grandma brought me home from the hospital only a week later. She came back home the very next day, asking for $2000. No one knew where she had been for the past seven days. Or simply, no one really bothered to question. Her just reward, she claimed. I didn't realised I was worth only two grand to her. This is a practical joke, isn't it? I couldn't agree more.

It didn't come to me as a surprise that she did not get what she wanted. We were poor those days. I was glad she didn't push her luck or create trouble. She simply stayed on with us. At times she disappears for a week or two. The longest I ever recalled was two months. But never once did she ever bring money home to supplement the house expenditures. She spends her time at home idling or drinking. Perhaps pinching my cheek or gave me a lollypop was the best thing she can ever do in a good mood.

Grandpa was a welder and grandma had to stop her laundry job to take care of me. Making ends meet with a total household income of barely $900 seemed a great challenge. But it wasn't impossible. I had 12 years of education, a computer, my favourite Disney toy, pocket-money and even occasional treats to Macdonald's. It was amazing with these meagre monthly bread and butter I can get all I ever needed and desired through my growing years. I didn't have many new toys though, perhaps one or two every year on my birthdays. That's enough for me. I simply hated lollipops.

Days were looking better for us when I got my Scholarship for Overseas studies. Everything was paid for and grandpa made a small profit selling our old house. It was during this time she ran away from home again, but for the last time. I never saw her again. Not even when I came back from England four years later with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Law.

I started my firm in 2000 after working four years as a corporate lawyer in one of the most established law firms in town with impressive staff strength of 20. I held a grand celebration for Grandpa's 70th Birthday at Ritz Carlton Hotel along with grandma and some other relatives. A month earlier I got us a private bungalow house after throwing a couple of millions taking over and renovation as his birthday gift. Both Grandpa and Grandma were envied by our relatives for who I have become now. There is nothing as strong as the love we had for each other. A real family is all that matters to me.

Since young I have perceived her as a missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle to our family. An unwelcome piece of the family puzzles to be stomped on and crushed like an insect. Not everyone is blessed with a mother's love and bondage. I have to admit this for a fact. But I don't need her at all. Not then, not now. Not in many years to come as well.

I was so deeply engrossed reminiscing the old memories as if it just occurred yesterday. I didn't even realised she was approaching and waving to me gently. If she thinks I may ever change my mind in letting her back into the family, that's clearly wishful thinking. Extorting money from me perhaps, I rather give it all to charity than saving a penny for her. Whatever it is, I just need to be on my guard for now and see what comes along the way.

It came as a big shock to me when she did not reacts the way I would expect her to. "You shouldn't be here, my dear." She said in an unusually calm tone. "It's not safe for a young woman like you. Since you're here, perhaps you can come over to my place for a little while. It's been ages since I last saw you." I was obviously dumbfounded. I was gearing up all my defences when she countered it so indifferently.

Suddenly she sounded like an old friend whom I have not met for a very long time. This feeling is over-whelming and I had difficulty resisting it. I simply can't bring myself to say no.

It was a briefly short visit though, lasting no more than ten minutes. The apartment was co-shared by six other women whom are her friends in the same profession. She had become a social escort since I last saw her. Paid sex provider, I thought to myself. Now this is the truth I have waited for all these years. And this filthy woman is none other than my biological mum. I couldn't take it anymore, and I left when she went off the kitchen to get me a drink. I took out a small stack of $50 notes and casted it on the coffee table. That's it. This is the furthest I can stretch my heart out to her.

I didn't tell anyone in the family I saw her. Not even my Grandpa. This part of my memory is so devastating that I just wanted to erase it off without a trace. Life will still go on forgetting unhappy stuff. Repression is the best and only thing that I could rely on. News of her death came two months later after I last saw her. It was terminal stage of liver cancer that took her life. She was only 46 then. Honestly I was a little surprised but certainly not deeply shocked. She had been an incorrigible alcoholic all her life.

Perhaps she had known right from the start that drowning her sorrows in liquor will eventually cost her own life.

As much as I was reluctant to break the news to my grandparents, I knew I had to do it. She was their only daughter. The funeral possessions lasted for a week and I had to make a trip to her old apartment, clearing all her belongings and make way for the new tenant. In fact, there wasn't much to pack. I guessed she knew she was dying and gave away most of her clothes and other stuff. But she left a letter and a rusty, old metal tin underneath her pillow.

I opened the box out of curiosity. And till my dying day, I wished I hadn't. I don't want my heart to melt. Yet it did. The rusty tin had nothing more than 28 sticks of lollipops in it, with an old photograph of her posing with a lollypop with my grandparents when she was a kid. It was her favourite sweet. Perhaps she thought it's mine as well. I opened up the letter as fast as I could. There were only a couple of sentences: "I knew you must have hated me. But if I could, if I still may, I would like to hold you for the very first time in my arms. I don't know how it feels like. But I knew it would be wonderful."

There was another message at the back of the old photograph that says, "Lollypops make me forget my unhappiness. May your life be as sweet as it can ever be? Love, Mom."

An old newspaper article that was slipped silently between the letters fell on the floor. It reads, "17 year old university law student raped on her way home from school. Depression caused her to attempted suicide when she knew she was pregnant."

She had it all along in her. She knew my existence is to realise her unfulfilled dream as a top lawyer. I never knew we had so much in common. But she knew.

For the very first time in my life, I want to remember that I have a mum. And I love her.

Review

Nothing evokes human emotions more than pure love. Inspired by this true life account, this story will continue to rekindle kinship between moms and their children more than anything else in this world.

Wanted Mom

I have read and heard much of mother's love. I have experienced the pure unconditional love from my mother, but have always not felt at par with the benchmark mothers. I have always felt I need to grow up in many ways, to reach the bench mark. Even now I am far from the bench mark, but have started realizing one thing, that I enjoy being a mom.

Grown up kids. You don't have to keep chastising and feel bad for the same. You can talk in the direct language, no simplification, no dilution needed in words and content. They can understand you. We should only know how much to tell, how long to tell. The longer your speech, the more tired they are to listen. Once you are precise in your diction and effective in presentation, you are heard, you are understood. What else you need as a parent. This doesn't need a training as such, but only pure love, unconditional love. When the innate love in you is full and vibrant, you won't complicate words and toughen your stands. Not all days are dark or the whole day is dark. Light and darkness do alternate each other. Hence when you feel a day was hard with your kid, don't try to resolve it the same day. Give it a day or two. It would be stressful to put up with odd behaviour patterns with children. But after you convey your dissatisfaction, wait, not only for them to melt down, but you to calm down and get the balance. Once we understand these intricacies we can pass this phase smoothly.

Tholukku minjinaal thozhan which means once your child grows above your shoulders they are your friends. They really are!!! Would anyone want to lose that friend? All parents need to remember this, that they are friends and not your children any more, share your ups and downs with them, that will urge them to share theirs with you. Give them the feeling that you are not going to bark and bite them for the worst of mistakes lest they should not open up at all. That is a bad state of affairs. Let them talk their heart, let them talk their mind. It may be shocking, you may not want to hear but you can't let them shut those emotions up. You need to know their mind, unless you let them talk how will they open up.

Let them have their privacy but don't let them develop secrecy. All these are not just ideals. These are possible, when you give them long rope and let them enjoy all they wish with in that rope. Once you lose control and shout or hit, they are not innocent enough to respect you still. The Generation Next has a lot of self-esteem, self-confidence and self-worth. It is not like how our parents who followed 'spare the rod and spoil the kid' formula.

Once all these are taken care of and you try to be a friendly parent, you are the most wanted. I bet you. The pure love that exudes from the heart's depth cannot be veiled, will not be distorted until it reaches the target - your dearest friend, your daughter or son.

Not only emotional support, they look upon you for a lot of physical support in the sense, they demand your physical effort, in terms of variety of food. The world now is full of junk food and ia also full of the knowledge that junk food is not good. Hence they know not to indulge in it too much. So they want you to attend to their palate lavishly. They demand openly. Feel good you are 'wanted'. Try and chisel your culinary skill. Your love will bring out the best in you I am sure. Don't feel lazy to explore your kitchen. Dont pick the word 'slog' to describe your status. Enjoy the chore. Your children (friends) will definitely give you a break when you need. Once in a while, when you are too tired they will adjust with the stuff you feed and will not forget that their mom is the best waiter for them. Giving them a break with ordered food will also help occasionally.

It is very important for a mom to be healthy- mentally, emotionally and physically to cope with the new age kids' needs. Hence appeal all my friends out there to keep a healthy mind, body and soul to give the best generation next.

The Economic Advantages of Digital Products

For creators of learning content products deciding to create physical or digital products is a key decision. There is no doubt that sometimes physical products are needed. This is especially true when your audience demands them.

However, there are a number of major economic advantages to creating only digital products.

Of course, there are many levels that you can consider when determining the economic advantages of anything. You may consider its effects on society in general. You might consider its effects on the country. You may consider its effects on the purchaser. Or you may consider its effects on the producer. Or you may consider all of the above.

For this article, I'm going to limit myself to the economic effects for the producer of learning content products. In general there are six areas that a learning content creator is economically concerned with when creating their products. Five are cost items and one is related to revenues. In this article I'm going to examine some of the economic advantages in those areas.

1. Cost to create a learning content product. At first glance there shouldn't be any difference between the cost of creating a digital and physical version of the same content. After all they both follow the same process. In fact, all media follows roughly the same process. However, depending on the media there can be a difference. For example, a book must be larger than an eBook. A physical audio recording must be less than eighty minutes long (seventy to be safe). But a digital audio recording can be any length. However, ignoring this difference there is no economic difference in the creation of the learning content.

2. Cost to produce a learning content product. Production includes those tasks necessary to turn a completed product into a manufacturable or salable product. Again at first glance, there is little economic advantage since they both require the same process. However, in the case of a physical product it is necessary to create a print quality cover as well as the display cover. This represents a minor increase in cost over a digital product. In fact, most publishers will automatically request this even for digital products since it allows greater flexibility in the future.

3. Cost to manufacture a learning content product. This is where the largest difference lies. The cost to manufacture a digital product is minimal. In fact it is generally no different that the cost to submit the physical product. On the other hand a physical product will cost anywhere from $1 per unit to $4 per unit. In fact, $15 and up per unit is the range for a hard cover book.

4. Cost to inventory a learning content product. In the case of a digital product the cost of inventory is negligible. In fact, it should work out to less than seven cents per day even using a relatively expensive web host. And of course, the number of units being kept in stock is irrelevant. Physical products usually require some form of stock maintenance even in the case of production on demand. While the actual cost will vary depending on a number of factors, it will definitely exceed $1 per unit per day.

5. Cost to market and sell a learning content product. This is where the biggest difference occurs. The cost to ship a digital product is minimal (less than one cent). The cost to ship a physical product runs from $3 to $15 or higher.

6. Selling price. Countering the cost of manufacturing and inventorying a physical product is the selling price of a physical product. It used to be that there was a considerable differential between a digital product's selling price and that of the equivalent physical product. Typically this would be in the fifty percent range. This began to change and the premium a customer was willing to pay began to reduce. However, with the arrival of the Kindle and other eBook readers, the differential has begun to reassert itself.

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Product Creation - Interviewing Experts Is The Simple Way

The best way to make money online is by creating your own information products. Many people know this already but really struggle to come up with that great idea that will make them their millions.

When you think of creating your first information product you initially think there is a lot of research involved which will also cost you a lot of time and money. It doesn't have to be this way and the method I will talk about will take a lot less time and money.

One of the best and cheapest ways to create your first information product involves interviewing an expert in your chosen niche. By interviewing an expert your product will gain instant credibility.

The first thing you need to do is draft 15 - 20 questions that you will want to ask the expert. You will want to make sure the questions are brief and don't include simple questions that only require a yes or no answer.

When constructing the questions put yourself in your customers' position. Think about what they are interested in and what type of information they would like to hear about.

Be sure to have your recording set up ready for the call. You can use the record function on Skype or the old fashion way of using a tape recorder. Test everything before you go live as this is the most important part of the whole interview.

Now you have your recording sorted you should get in contact with your expert ahead of time. Contact them via email or phone and go over the questions you will be asking them. This way the expert doesn't feel like they are on the spot and the interview can flow naturally.

You may also want to double confirm the interview time with your chosen expert. Things happen real fast online and you don't want to be left hanging by a missed schedule.

Once everything is set you can begin the interview. Ask some thought provoking questions that will really give your product added credibility. If you're asking questions your target market don't have answers to then you will be onto a winner.

Creating information products is one of the best ways to make money online. By using this method and interviewing an expert in your chosen niche you will have a creditable product right off the bat and it will not cost you any money and very little time.

How Banner Advertisements Work

Banner advertising is simply a form of advertising on the World Wide Web. Banner advertising involves embedding an advertisement into a Web page. Banners are designed so that when you click on them, they take you to the Web site of the advertiser. Typically, these ads have GIF or JPEG images. Flash and other technologies are also used. Banners are typically placed on sites/pages with relevant content. Banner ads load when the page they are placed on is loaded by the browser. When the banner advertisement is clicked on, a hyperlink directs the customer to the Web site advertised in the banner. This process is known as click-through.

The pay-per-click system uses software to track the number of clicks. Each click generates revenue to the provider of the content. Advertisers do not make any commission on the click-through. Instead they get direct sales if a customer buys from them. Banners simply notify potential customers of products and services being offered by the advertiser. Banner ads are flexible in that they can be changed at any time. Unique forms of animation can be added to banners to entice the customer into clicking on them. Many customers consider banner ads as spam and set their Web browsers to block pop-up banner ads.

There are several reasons why online businesses may choose to use banner ads to promote their products and services. Some of the reasons include:

To increase the amount of Web site traffic to their site To increase the sales of their products and services to customers. To let customers know about any special deals that they are offering or any new products or services that they are selling. To get your name on the Internet so that customers know who you are.

Banner ads are effective advertising tools when used properly.

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