The arrival of a newborn baby is not exactly full of fun and excitement. First-time parents, most especially, have a propensity to experience mixed emotions about the whole thing. This is probably the reason why most people turn to experienced parents such as friends or relatives for some much-needed parenting…
While you don’t want to be a high-strung parent who is paranoid of danger lurking behind every corner, it is critical to your child’s safety and well-being that you educate yourself about your house’s danger zones. It’s a good idea to go through your home every few months and evaluate…
Watching a young girl hit, kick, and call her mother names I never imagined a 6 year old knew, engaged in an (ultimately successful) attempt to get dessert led to an enlightening luncheon conversation with a few friends last week. As parents ourselves, we had all dealt with incidents like…
Most financial experts believe that children should receive an allowance. The earlier children are taught financial skills, the better. Money management is a skill that many adults struggle with. By teaching children early on how to manage their money, it can go a long way into their adult years. Allowances…
One of the first things you have to figure out when you realize that you want to stay home with your kids is whether or not you can afford to do so. You are probably used to living on two incomes, so making the switch to a single income may…
Everyone benefits from a good night’s sleep. Children also need to learn how to unwind at the end of the day with an uninterrupted period of restorative sleep. For some children, this comes easily. For others, it may mean a night of counting sheep and difficult morning rises. Break the…
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…
When the Internet first came on the scene way back when, most of us were amazed at the way the new technology would bring so many people and ideas together. We may not have considered that having the Internet in your home was a bit like having an open house…
Several studies show that girls’ self-esteem and self-confidence tends to decline after about age nine as girls enter puberty. How do you encourage self confidence and increase self esteem during these early years? There are things that can be done. This article will review some of those things. Start with…
It is not a surprise to most people that health studies point to popular culture as a perpetrator of body image which has corresponded to the self image and well being of women AND men. What may surprise you is that this is not a new phenomenon. Is the rail…