Parenting Resolutions

Are you thinking you would like to set New Year goals to be a better parent?  Pediatrician Vincent Iannelli gives some good reasons and suggestions at about.com focusing on habit changes, better discipline and understanding your children.  Being a good role model is one of the most important aspects of parenting and one you can improve by setting goals for yourself that will have a positive impact on your children.

New Year Baby

Wiki says: 

"The Baby New Year is an American personification of the start of a new year, commonly seen in various New Year's customs, especially holiday cards and illustrations for store window displays. The stereotypical representation of Baby New Year is as a male baby wearing nothing more than a diaper, a top hat and a sash across his torso that shows the year he is representing. Sometimes he is holding an hourglass or is otherwise associated with one. Often, he is not a complete newborn but is slightly older, because he is frequently shown standing on his own, barely walking, or having a small amount of head hair.

J.C. Levendecker's December 28, 1907 cover of The Saturday Evening Post depicting a stork and Baby New Year.

The myth associated with him is that he is a baby at the beginning of his year, but Baby New Year quickly grows up until he is an elderly bearded man like Father Time at the end of his year. At this point, he hands over his duties to the next Baby New Year.
In addition to being a mythical figure, the Baby New Year is sometimes a real person. The first baby born in any village or city in a certain year may be honored by being labeled as the official Baby New Year for that year. The official Baby New Year can be male or female, even though the mythical Baby New Year is nearly always male. Attempts to name an official Baby New Year for an entire country have sometimes been made, but generally there are multiple contenders and no single Baby New Year can be confirmed."

More baby talk...

"The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth. 

Although the early Christians denounced the practice as pagan, the popularity of the baby as a symbol of rebirth forced the Church to reevaluate its position. The Church finally allowed its members to celebrate the new year with a baby, which was to symbolize the birth of the baby Jesus.

The use of an image of a baby with a New Years banner as a symbolic representation of the new year was brought to early America by the Germans. They had used the effigy since the fourteenth century." (Wilstar.com)

New Year Resolutions?

This is the perfect time for planning!

Here are a few ideas for pregnant women:

• Start (or continue) to eat a healthy diet. Know your ideal weight gain amount based on your BMI (see left sidebar for a calculator) and only eat food with nutritional value so you avoid empty calories that will only add fat you have to deal with later! This is not to say you can't enjoy an occasional treat - just not a steady diet of junk food.
  
• Exercise daily - even a daily walk (in the sun if you can find some) will help reduce your risks, improve your circulation, help you in labor (really!), and improve your mental state through natural mood-elevating chemicals. Exercise is a wonderful preventive measure for a myriad of problems. Swimming is another good one, assuming your doctor says it's OK (not if your water has broken for example).
  
• Journal your pregnancy. If you have one of the keepsakes we offer you can log your doctor visits. Or use a calendar, journal or diary. This is a unique event in your life and you'll enjoy reading it one day. It also helps when you want to recall your health history in the future.
• Take pictures of your changing body. You may not feel you are at your best, but this too will be part of your past that will have meaning for you. You don't have to share them if you don't want to but pregnancy photography is quite popular these days. You don't have to use a professional for this unless you want to.
• Spend some time pampering yourself - once the baby comes, you will have a hard time even getting enough sleep, let alone time to read a magazine or novel, do your nails or have your hair done.
• Don't forget your daily vitamins. If you take a prenatal, that's great. If you gag with swallowing there are some chewables such as Nutrinate (generic, so covered by WeeCare). Some women take two children's chewable OTCs. Be sure you get all the recommended amounts such as 400 mcg folate or folic acid. One chewable would be a child's dose; not an adult's. There are now generic vitamins that contain DHA as well.
  
• Take a prenatal class, breastfeeding class, natural childbirth class, hypnobirthing or other relaxation method instruction. The knowledge you gain now will pay dividends at birth.
• Consider a mini "babymoon" if you can get away for a night or weekend with your loved one. If you have other children it will be easier to find a sitter now than after the baby arrives. Keep romance alive!
• Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration. You may find you like the taste of it better with lemon - keep a pitcher in the fridge. There's no advantage to using bottled water and the constant use of plastic bottles is not great for the environment, and is something of a health risk when left in a hot car, causing leeching of BPA and other chemical compounds, including endocrine disrupters. See article here.
• Don't underestimate the value of prenatal appointments. Monitoring such simple things as urine and blood pressure can be key to early recognition of impending problems. So, keep your appointments and let your doctor or midwife know how you are doing both mentally and physically!
• If you have other children, plan some special time with them before the baby comes, as well as including them in your plans for the new addition.

Having a new baby in the house will make this a great year for you. Enjoy it!