Include your child in getting things ready for the nursery. Continue to reward his or her hard work.

When you are grocery shopping make sure to go down the baby aisles. Ask your child what she/he thinks they will need for the baby. Tell him or her, "Mommy is lucky that I will have you to remind me of all these things." Also, say things like, "You are so smart. I can't believe you knew so many things a baby will need."

The key to parenting is to be honest. You do not need to give specifics, but it is important to answer your child's questions accurately. For example, if your child asks, "Where do babies come from?," it is not advisable to say that a stork flies in the sky and drops off babies to people who want them. Explain the concept at an age-appropriate level.

Your doctor's visit is over, and you can only hope that your husband has held down the fort. You will be really ticked if he spoiled your daughter. You enter to see your daughter is working on a card. "Look, Mommy. Daddy helped me make a sorry card." "Wow, it is beautiful. Thank you so much. If you make good choices tonight and Miss Beth tells me tomorrow that you were a good listener in school, then I will call Jessica's mom for a play date."

Beth Gewirtzman has been a school psychologist and teacher for numerous years, and her area of expertise is in early childhood education. Her true passions are children, teaching, collaborating with parents, writing, lecturing, providing small seminars for parents, and art. She is the author and illustrator of the children's book Allie the Alligator an A to Z Animal Alphabet Rhyme and is currently working on her second children's book. In addition, she wrote an inspirational poetry book entitled Passionate Words of the Heart. Both books were featured on NBC's South Florida Today Show. Beth can be contacted at earlychildhoodexpert@hotmail.com.