A Few More Tips for Gladney Families

1) No matter the age of the child, take wet wipes and hand sanitizer everywhere you go. Many bathrooms in China do not have soap. Small bottles of hand sanitizer can be taken on the plane. There was no soap in the bathroom on our long flight.

2) We brought a first aid kit, like Gladney suggested, and added needle and thread and safety pins. Many families do not know the exact size of their child and their  clothes are way too big. We've used it to mend torn clothing. We've seen many small toddlers in the pool with their swimsuit straps tied in a knot in the back! :)

3) The long flight we took from Chicago only served two meals and one snack. On the way to China, I did not have enough snacks. I will include many more on the way home for Mia. (and me :)

4) Read The Connected Child by Dr. Purvis. Many of her examples are a bit extreme and hopefully you will not need that much information. The two things that have been very good for Mia have been eye contact and playing with her. Side by side playing like drawing and coloring as well as full contact like horse back riding on dad. Since Mia doesn't like to be told "no" and can be a little stubborn, we've used Dr. Purvis' idea of gently touching the chin, make eye contact, and tell her "no." Then we praise her when she obeys. This has taken a conscious effort on our part since we are used to traditional parenting where we expect our children to obey the first time we say it. I wish we could avoid telling her no while in country, but unfortunately all she would eat would be ice cream and candy and we would be broke buying her every toy she picked up. I'm not flying 14 hours with a 7 year old that has only eaten sugar!! :)

5) I didn't bring any workout clothes and there is an awesome workout facility at The Garden Hotel. Wish I would have. I feel so much better after walking a long way or swimming laps.

6) Practice Skype before you leave! Make sure everyone you wish to Skype knows how it works. It's easy, but both accounts (in China and at home in US) must stay logged in in order to hear the call. Your screen can be minimized on a computer screen and your ipad can even be closed, but you must be logged in to Skype. If, for some reason, your computer must be restarted or someone completely exits out of Skype, you won't be able to hear it ring. Make sure everyone knows this.

More to come, I'm sure. As I think of things, I jot them down on paper! (just like my mother!!)