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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Talk Time Tuesday with Ask Jo


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Hello my friends!
Welcome to another Talk Time Tuesday episode with yours truly~
I hope you find today's Q & A to be very interesting and informative. I know I did!


Our first question comes from Debbie Ward who asks, "What brand cardstock do you use in your die cutting machines? I seem to have a problem finding a good quality paper to cut without tearing.

Hello Debbie~
I am not sure which electronic die cutting machine you are using but I have a few of them and I can say that each machine has a mind of their own. It takes a bit of trial and error to find a good balance on pressure and speed to get the right cut to prevent your paper from tearing. I have used the following cardstocks in my machines and they have cut like butter on the proper settings:
Core'dinations, Bazzill Basics, DCWV, Cutmates, as well as some cardstock from Recollections which has worked very nice. My favorite to use in my machines is Bazzill and Core'dinations. Now if you are using one of these cardstock papers in your machine with the proper settings for pressure and speed and you are still experiencing your paper tearing, then check your blade. Take it out of the blade holder and make sure there is no small pieces of paper stuck inside as that can happen. If that doesn't work then I would suggest using a new blade. But always, always test your cuts on scrap papers of the paper that you want to use so that you aren't wasting full size sheets of papers. What I do when I buy cardstock is I take one sheet and cut it in half and then in half again to make a 6x6 sized sheet and on one of those pieces I will cut it down to a 3x3 and use that as my test cut. This way I am only wasting a 3x3 piece of paper if my cut doesn't come out the greatest. I hope this helps you Debbie and I thank you for writing in! Hope to hear from you again~


Our second question today comes from Margie T. who asks, "Hi there Jo. I know that you always give great advice with crafts so I decided to see if you can give me advice on discipline. The main subject of my scrapbooking is my 3 year old son Jeremiah. I love him dearly and he takes the cutest photos but he is extremely hard to handle and does not listen. I feel like I am failing as a mom because my 3 year old is running the show in our home and we are first time parents and do not know how to discipline him to get him to listen and behave. Any help or advice you can give would be so much appreciated! Thanks so much."
 
Hi there Margie~
Wow sweetie do you have your hands full! First time parents huh? Well first off, congratulations to you! Being a parent is a wonderful thing.. it is a blessing and there is no other love in my opinion, then the love of a child. It sounds to me that your little guy is going through the terrible twos at the age of three. I am not sure what type of techniques you have tried to use with your son to get him to listen or to know right from wrong but I will tell you what I did with my children when they were that age. The first thing to do is to not yell or scream, but to raise your voice slightly with a more harsher tone when speaking to him. He will distinguish the difference from your normal tone to the "Mommy means business tone".  Because he is 3, he is learning his independence and seeing just what he can get away with right now and it seems as if he's really done a great job at manipulating you if he is running the show at home. The first thing I would do is give him a warning when he is misbehaving and let him know that if he does not behave, that he will go in time-out. If he continues to misbehave after you have given him a warning, then take him by the hand and put him in time-out. With my son, I used to make him sit in a little chair facing the corner of the wall. You have to decide what "time-out" will be for him. It could be sitting on the couch, facing the wall, going to his room, whatever you decide and leave him there for 3 minutes. 1 minute for every year of his age. In this case since he is 3, then his time-out would be for 3 minutes. If he tries to get up and come out of his time-out, put him back in there without saying a word to him and keep doing this until he gives up and is too tired to fight you back. I learned this off of Jo Frost, the original "Super Nanny" years ago and her techniques really do work. It takes a lot of strength, tears and determination on your
 part but if you stick with it, little Jeremiah will learn to adjust and become the well behaved little boy that you want him to become.
At this age though, it is tough because as I said he is learning his independence and seeing how much he can get away with and its been working to his advantage. As a first time parent, it is hard to say "no" to those adorable faces but if you do not set boundaries and establish that trust and relationship with your son; then you will have more on your hands to deal with as he gets older. Bookmark the "Jo Frost" link that I gave you and reference her page and read some of her stories. She is a true blessing when it comes to raising children and disciplining them. I have learned a lot from her and you will too. Good luck to you Margie because I know that its going to hurt you to discipline him and watch him cry, then its really going to hurt him.
Stay strong and make sure that both you and your (husband/partner) are on the same page with the ways you discipline your son and stick to a routine and in no time, you will have a home that is ran by the adults and not the child. Lots of luck to you!!! 
 
 
Thanks for the great questions today Debbie and Margie!
 Well my friends that is all I have for today. I hope you have a great day!
Thanks for stopping by and until next time.... Enjoy life's blessings~
 


2 comments:

  1. Wow, what fabulous questions and Jo you have given such great answers!! And guess what? I agree with you on your answers!! lol It's not easy raising children, but you really do need to let them know who is running the show, once you do that you will have well behaved children on your hands. Nothing makes a mother prouder than to have people come to your table if you are eating out and tell you what well mannered boys you have. Or girls. I know it made me proud when my husband and I took our 6 boys out and people were so impress with their behavior in the restaurant. I watched all their faces when we walked in and I know people were thinking there goes their peaceful meal, but much to their surprise that did not happen because I always made sure that my boys knew that when we went out I expected them to act like the perfect gentlemen or else. I have to say that my boys were always gentlemen out in public. I still get comments on my adult boys, people love them because they are respectful. It makes a mother proud!

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  2. Great questions again this week. Thank you Debbie and Margie. I must say I have always been lucky with my cuts and a lack of tearing when using cardstock. The only times I have had trouble have been when my cutting mat has been too sticky and not wanting to let go of the cardstock when I apply the adhesive myself to mats - but that problem was easily sorted.

    Some great advice to Margie as well. Not having children of my own but raising a variety of other children over my many years as a Nanny consistency is the key. Both parents and any other important caregivers need to be on the same page. Children in many ways really seek boundaries and will respond when given limits. Of course initially the child may bounce off those new walls that are erected but in the end you get a calmer tranquil situation. "Time out" can do some wonderful things. I didn't ever use the bedroom as I didn't want that to be a negative area or a place where they could just go and play. For me time out was a place where they were away from things they could interact with but a place where they could (hopefully) think about why they are there. One darling angel I used to watch would decide at times that she should go there herself when she knew she had just taken it too far with her twin. It was NEVER the naughty corner but more a place to go take a breath and step outside any tension. At the end of time out the kids would always be given the time to apologise and in there own words tell me why they were in time out so that it was clear why things had progressed the way they did. If used appropriately time out is great. :D

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Your lovely comments always put a smile on my face! I love reading each and every one! Thank you for stopping by~
Hugs,
~Jo~