A penny for your thoughts… and a dollar for your efforts. It’s the old allowance conundrum. We’re talking chore charts, compensation rates and more. For an allowance novice, it can feel like a real handful. The dilemma goes beyond what to give and what not to give to your children….
For many couples this isn’t a problem at least not at the beginning of the relationship but when children come along difficulties with partners’ families often crop up. Difficult decisions have to be made about parenting and a competition between ‘my family’ and ‘your family’ can arise. Often each of…
Many kids suffer from low self-esteem, which can lead to depression and other feelings of worthlessness. A child’s self-esteem forms early in life, even when a child is a baby learning to roll over successfully. The pattern of trying, failing, trying again and ultimately succeeding builds a child’s self-esteem intrinsically….
Next to rent or mortgage payments, childcare often ranks as the second-highest expenditure in a household budget. Working couples can pay a whopping 10-20% of their incomes on childcare while their children are small. Seeing the high cost needed to be expensed for their children’s care, some couples decided to…
A typical issue that parents face is dealing with their children’s behaviors. Let’s say you are a parent of a five year old child that has just started school. She was a polite, considerate, and helpful young lady at home and in front of her teachers. However, her behavior has…
After a long, hot summer, autumn is a breath of fresh air… literally. The temperatures are dropping, the leaves are changing and there’s a world of possibilities when it comes to fun fall family activities everybody is sure to enjoy. Team sports are always a good option. Between football, cheerleading,…
It’s every parent’s worst nightmare — you’re at a family gathering or birthday party when your young child drops the “S” bomb, or even worse, the “F” bomb. Your face is on fire, and you’re absolutely mortified. Surely everybody knows that they heard the expletive from you, which means you’re…
You may think of the kitchen as mom’s domain, but letting kids get a feel for the process of creating a meal teaches them more than how much work it really takes. When you let your kids help select foods at the grocery store, you teach them about nutrition. Discuss…
When it comes to our children’s happiness, less is more. That’s the surprising perspective of one Chicago psychologist concerned about the rising rates of youth depression and anxiety. “Millions of well-intentioned parents have made life harder for their children by shielding the kids from every kind of unhappiness,” according to…
Super foods are those foods that provide your body with more than just calories, protein, carbohydrates and fat. They are classified as “real” foods (read: unprocessed) that supply your body with disease-fighting components and support health. For example, many fruits are considered super foods because they contain antioxidants which neutralize…