The Benefits to Raising Early Readers Reading is one of my greatest pleasures, so I was pretty serious about my children learning how to read at an early age. My stepson Ryan was in a Montessori school when my husband and I started dating, so he was an early reader in their program. My middle…
Pretty typical picture isn’t it? Not just for teen boys, but for everyone. Seems like all of us are spending major amounts of time staring at electronics of all types these days – not just phones, but iPads, computers, video games, and TV’s. It’s to the point where it is getting a little scary. I…
When you have a kid who has ADHD or is just plain disorganized, basic school stuff can be a real challenge. These are some tips to make it much easier for BOTH of you. It’s more of a Brain Problem than a Motivation Problem, (but it’s also a motivation problem) To me, the advantage of…
Just a quick one today. I don’t know about you, but getting my kids to clean their rooms is one of the most stressful and annoying things I ever have to do as a parent (although teaching my teen to drive is definitely in the top ten!). Sometimes it takes half the day, many times…
Our family is into Boy Scouts in a big way for 3 generations. Our youngest son was a bullied kid and we feel that Scouting really helped him overcome that situation. So I was quite delighted when BSA approached me and requested that I do a sponsored post for them on behalf of their BeAScout…
If there were ever words that could strike fear into the heart of a parent, these are the words “Mom Can I Have a Puppy?” Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE animals of all kinds. We’ve always had anywhere from one to numerous pets during our marriage. In fact, it’s not usually the boys…
This is a sensitive subject for every family. I think every family handles money slightly differently with their teens. But on the other hand, I think it is something we all need to get a handle on if you are raising teens. The decisions you make during these critical years are going to have a…
I’ll just say it – sometimes trying to teach a teen to clean is like teaching a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig! One of the toughest parenting tasks is how to get teens to clean up their messes. Let’s face it; teens are so busy these days –…
When we tend to think about our clutter issues, we mostly think in terms of how it affects us or our spouse. We don’t often think about how it might be affecting our children. However, their home environment clearly has an affect on our children. This can follow them throughout their lives. My Experience…
I’m glad that bullying is getting a lot of attention in the news lately. I’m hoping that all this publicity will do some good for once, and maybe it will trigger some useful solutions to the problem. I’ve got a few ideas on the subject. My friend Jyl over at MomItForward started a discussion on…
I’m watching the Dog Whisperer and I have to say, this show really gives me hope as a parent. Do you know why? At the beginning of the program, they show these dogs with all these issues – barking, biting, misbehavior of all types. These dogs just seem so out of control and completely hopeless,…
Do you think your teen is awesome? It may be more important than you think. Think back to when your teenager was a tiny baby and you used to get so excited about the simplest things – their first step, their first word, or how cute they looked sleeping with their little butts in the…
As a finance blogger and a Scout leader, I am passionate about teaching young people about money. To me, it isn’t just a one-shot deal. It is a string of opportunities to both teach them and show them some easy ways to manage their money. It’s not just being thrifty, though that’s part of it….
College IS the golden key, but there’s also a silver key, a brass key, and an aluminum key.
One of the biggest conflicts between parents and children of any age is to keep their room clean. It’s exhausting and demoralizing for all parties involved. So, what if there were a way you could painlessly teach your kids keep their rooms clean? It’s going to require some big changes, but it can definitely be…
Some moms were talking the other day about how their kids fight so much. The discussion was about what is normal sibling rivalry or sibling fighting? Is it was normal for siblings to have such a hard time getting along? I don’t think so and I’ll tell you why. If you’ve been reading my blog,…