{"id":835,"date":"2014-12-23T20:55:18","date_gmt":"2014-12-24T03:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/?page_id=835"},"modified":"2015-08-20T09:19:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-20T15:19:00","slug":"stop-teasing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/stop-teasing\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Bear Hugs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_3978\" style=\"width: 381px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3978\" class=\"  wp-image-3978\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/3babies.jpg?resize=371%2C278&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"My very sweet grandbabies: Abigial and Rebekah and their new baby brother Isaac\" width=\"371\" height=\"278\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/3babies.jpg?w=320&amp;ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/3babies.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 371px) 100vw, 371px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3978\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">My very sweet grandbabies: Abigial and Rebekah and their new baby brother Isaac<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>We all need physical touch!<\/strong> It is essential to our well-being, just as much as good food and sleep and other components of health. Research has shown that monkeys will choose physical contact over food, if they are being &#8220;touch-deprived&#8221;. In another study, babies in overcrowded orphanages had a greater chance of survival if their cribs were near the doorway where workers might pat them as they passed. Touch is critical to our well-being.<\/p>\n<p>Pestering, poking, tickling and teasing is sometimes just a way of begging for physical contact. It&#8217;s a way of inviting to be touched and touching others. We all need touch, but poking and tickling isn&#8217;t exactly the best method for getting our needs met. <strong>What is an acceptable way to get the healthy, nurturing body contact that we all need?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When pestering got to be a big problem at my house, I decided we needed to institute some morning bear hugs! So as everyone came out to our morning devotional, I had them line up and give the person across from them <strong>a big l-o-n-g bear hug<\/strong>. I told them to keep hugging until I said &#8220;stop&#8221;, which resulted in giggles. Then we rotated around until everyone had given everyone else a cozy extended hug.<\/p>\n<p>I loved to watch my babies with my teenagers. A baby needs to be held and touched and played with. One of my sons would take the baby into his room regularly to just talk to and hold. Teenagers benefit so much from physical contact, and may feel awkward with hugs and kisses from parents, <em>even though they still need them<\/em>. A baby and a teen are a great combination!<\/p>\n<p>What else have we tried in our family?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Letting the kids roll and wrestle<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hand massages (great while you are sitting together)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Goodbye and hello kisses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Arm wrestling (or leg wrestling!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Family dancing together (boy with girl, or girl with girl or any combination works!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Teach your kids some acceptable ways to get that much-needed physical contact, and the poking and pestering will diminish.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you want to tone down the pestering, try starting the day with a big bear hug!<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: 0 !important; background: transparent;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/signatures.mylivesignature.com\/54490\/257\/E095ED040C4EDD3E333135FD5DD62823.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>May I recommend:<\/b><\/p>\n<table width=\"600\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.happyhomeschooling.com\/first-a-relationship-2\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Louisascooter.jpg?resize=106%2C144&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"106\" height=\"144\" border=\"1\" \/><br \/>\nFirst a Relationship<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.happyhomeschooling.com\/mad-kids-work\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Photoxpress_276653.jpg?resize=144%2C144&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"homeschooling-work\" width=\"144\" height=\"144\" border=\"1\" \/><br \/>\nMad Kids &amp; Work<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lovetolearn.net\/The-21-Rules-of-This-House\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/image4.png?resize=144%2C144&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"The 21 Rules\" width=\"144\" height=\"144\" border=\"1\" \/><br \/>\nThe 21 Rules of this House<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We all need physical touch! It is essential to our well-being, just as much as good food and sleep and other components of health. Research has shown that monkeys will choose physical contact over food, if they are being &#8220;touch-deprived&#8221;. In another study, babies in overcrowded orphanages had a greater chance of survival if their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14,3],"tags":[35,40],"class_list":["post-835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeschooling-concerns","category-how-to-homeschool","tag-boredom","tag-child-discipline","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/3babies.jpg?fit=320%2C240&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IrRN-dt","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":661,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/using-muscles-for-memory\/","url_meta":{"origin":835,"position":0},"title":"Using Muscles for Memory","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Wiggles! Kids seem to be full of them and they can make sitting still, learning, focusing, and concentrating extra hard! If you can't fight 'em, join 'em. Time to use those big muscles to help kids learn! I have a chin-up bar hanging over a doorway near where we do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;How to Homeschool&quot;","block_context":{"text":"How to Homeschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/were_gonna_get_you_daddy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2123,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/letter-confusio\/","url_meta":{"origin":835,"position":1},"title":"Is it a &#8220;b&#8221; or a &#8220;d&#8221;?","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My kids are having a hard time in reading and writing lower case \"b\" and \"d\" and are always mixing them up. \u00a0How do you help kids keep this straight? Answer: I teach them \"b\". \u00a0Leave \"d\" alone\u2014it will take care of itself once they learn \"b\". Have your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Reading&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Reading","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/reading-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Photoxpress_1306365.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Photoxpress_1306365.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Photoxpress_1306365.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":183,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/family-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":835,"position":2},"title":"The Family Bible","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"The Family Bible Old Brother Higgins built a shelf For the family Bible to rest itself Lest a sticky finger or grimy thumb Might injure the delicate pages some. He cautioned his children to touch it not, And it rests there still with never a blot . . . And\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Molding the Heart&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Molding the Heart","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/why-homeschool\/molding-the-heart\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"October 1696","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/October-1696-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":807,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/what-do-preschoolers-need\/","url_meta":{"origin":835,"position":3},"title":"What Do Preschoolers Need?","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"What do preschoolers need? That's an easy answer: #1 they need YOU! Yep: they need Mom, in all her constantly loving glory, with lots of hugs, snuggles, toe-kissing, hand-holding, hair-tousling, kisses, pats, holding-on-her-lap and listening. That's the #1 need. And in your moment-by-moment interaction, be sure to lead them to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Preschool&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Preschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/preschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/rebekahpuzzle.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":841,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/self-sufficient-little-ones\/","url_meta":{"origin":835,"position":4},"title":"Self-Sufficient Little Ones","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"\"I want to do it myself!\" Sound familiar? Starting at about one-and-a-half years old, children yearn to be capable and strongly resist any attempts to do things for them. You can launch your little child into feelings of healthy self-sufficiency and capability by making life a little easier to manage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nurturing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Nurturing","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/why-homeschool\/nurturing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rebekahpuzzle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/rebekahpuzzle.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1025,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/locker-room-comparison\/","url_meta":{"origin":835,"position":5},"title":"Communal Comparison","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been so long since I was in junior high and high school that I guess I forgot what P.E. was like. Our family attended an evening performance of the symphony in a local public high school auditorium. Afterwards, a trip to the restroom gave me some surprising insights.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Molding the Heart&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Molding the Heart","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/why-homeschool\/molding-the-heart\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Emilyinaspens","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Emilyinaspens-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7893,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835\/revisions\/7893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}