My 8 year old is dying to have her first pet. I knew she'd really start trying to get us to buy her a dog soon. And even though we've told her we would wait until she is 10 years old, I am thinking my husband is not going to wait that long. In terms of responsibility there is no difference between a goldfish and a guinea pig. If your child doesn’t fully understand the responsibility involved with a new pet you may end up with another chore every day. Pets can bring a lot of joy into a home … [Read more...]
Incorporating the Nonflict Way into Your Family
Guest Post by Stephen Hecht As a father of four kids and three step-kids, I often feel like my main job is resolving conflicts. Not just conflicts between the kids, mind you, but conflicts they have with me—and there are plenty of them. As parents, we have an obligation to be role models to our kids. They see the way we deal with fights (say, with our spouses) and imitate us, so we need to show them how to do it right, even if that means improving ourselves. Best of all, seeing conflict … [Read more...]
31 Ways to Say Thank You to Mom
Moms have always been there for us. From packing our favorite school lunches, to listening to our dating woes, we probably haven’t said “thank you mom” as much as we should have. It’s easy to take mom’s love for granted when you’re juggling a crazy schedule, so it’s time to show mom how much you appreciate her. Check out the list for some Mother's Day inspiration! 31 Ways to Say Thank You to Mom Be her chauffeur for a day for all those times she drove you Cook her favorite meal for … [Read more...]
Temper Tantrums: What to do About Your Cranky Toddler
Toddlerhood is a time of great change, growth, and development. Parenting these little humans and helping them navigate life as they transition from babies to children and beyond, is full of fun, adventure, and plenty of challenges. A certain amount of frustration, whining, and complaining is completely normal, but there are things to consider if you begin to suspect you are parenting a child with more tantrums than normal. Give Some Independence Tantrums come in all shapes and sizes, but … [Read more...]
How to Teach Children to Be Gentle to Others
If you've got young children, then you know that an occasional outburst is par for the course as they learn how to interact with their siblings and other kids. Developmentally speaking, children's immature impulse control often interferes with their capacity for empathy, which can lead to hitting, biting and bullying. Unfortunately, these infrequent emotional outbursts may become routine if they aren't taught boundaries and discipline early in their development. As a parent, however, you can … [Read more...]
The Importance of Female Friendships
A special thank you to Nicole Waggoner for this guest post. It feels like an entire lifetime ago that I relocated from Texas to Oklahoma, but I can still remember the overwhelming, terrifying feeling I got in that first year after the big change as I thought: “I may never have girlfriends again.” I came from a healthy and wide social net of female friends back in Texas. The lakefront community was close, and my female friends and I even closer. We were there for each other … [Read more...]
Spring Cleaning Tips You Can Use
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sam's Club. All opinions are 100% mine. We've been Spring Cleaning this last month. There is something wonderful and freeing about not only getting rid of clothes and toys in the home, but also organizing and cleaning areas that have been ignored for far too long. We've finished cleaning out our game closet, winter/summer closet, and I've even organized all the craft supplies! Now, I need to get down to the actual cleaning part. You … [Read more...]
