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…
It is important that we discipline in a way that teaches responsibility by motivating our children internally, to build their self-esteem and make them feel loved. If our children are disciplined in this respect, they will not have a need to turn to gangs, drugs, or sex to feel powerful…
Paying for college is one of the largest expenses a parent will face in their lifetime, other than paying for a house. Because of this, care needs to be taken as well as special planning and allocations of finances in order to take the burden away from this expense. Starting…
Do you know the difference between discipline and punishment with their Latin roots? Punishment implies inflicting pain, while discipline means to teach. Parents who use punishment are missing important opportunities to teach their children better behaviors and help them self-discipline. Children can actually be taught responsible behaviors to help them…
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…
Words can open up a world of knowledge and adventure for your children, and reading to them is so important in their development. Here are 5 ways to make reading to your child a habit. Read your child’s favorite book over and over… and over… (you know the drill). Choose…
If you haven’t taken a peek into your medicine cabinet lately, it might be time to take a look. Every home should have basic supplies to help with minor accidents or middle-of-the-night illnesses. A medicine cabinet should also have important phone numbers taped inside of the door to call in…
The mother-child bond is critical to healthy development. Love between the two is even biochemically hard-wired. We need to take note as society moves in a direction that assumes that so long as children’s basic needs are met all is well. It isn’t. Scientific studies conclude something mothers everywhere have…
Spring is the time of year when high school juniors are learning about different colleges and high school seniors are receiving their acceptance letters. Yes, and a great many high school seniors will receive those other kinds of letters as well: You’ve been waitlisted, or even worse, the rejection letter….
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…