How Can I Work From Home?

Tags: cloud commuting, stay-at-home mom, work-at-home mom, working from home, working mom

<!–google_ad_client = “ca-pub-4097298935831766”;/* In Post */google_ad_slot = “6687079443”;google_ad_width = 468;google_ad_height = 60;–><!—->

• Tweet

• Tweet

Formulas for Making Working at Home Work

Are you caught in the middle of motherhood and a career? Maybe loving staying home with the kids but needing or wanting to bring in a fairly regular paycheck without going back to work outside of the home? I was in your shoes for several years – staying at home with my four young children by choice and loving it, but knowing that consistent work for me in addition to staying home with the kids – work that comes with a cashable paycheck at the bank – would help so many things. It would mean that as our family expenses grew (seemingly as quickly as the kids’ shoe sizes) that I could contribute to the bank account each and every month, and it would also mean that as the kids grew I would be able to transition my skills and my own future. Let’s face it, as much as we love to share special moments with our kids every day, they really aren’t going to think we’re very cool if we follow them everywhere when they are teens. Trust me. I know. I have 3 teenagers in my house.

Like so many stay-at-home moms turned work-at-home moms, I used to consider myself really only a stay-at-home mom, even though I would occasionally have editing or writing work I managed to fit in between chasing toddlers and saving stuffed animals that went swimming in the toilet. But I never really considered myself a work-at-home mom until I felt like I could count on, with some degree of confidence, regular, paying work. If you have a talent or passion your friends tell you to market, or if you have that occasional work you do, you can take it to the next level and find yourself transitioning to another hat to wear – work-at-home mom.

Your Talent = Saving Their Time

Take your talents and passions and market them to people and businesses who loathe what you love to do. For me – this works as an editor and writer. I can go to people who have to write as part of their job description (filing reports, etc.), and offer my writing or editing skills to take the pressure off of their assignments. Maybe you love to sew, and you can offer your skills to an interior designer who loves to decorate but can’t thread a needle.

Your Job + Their job = Prime Partnership

Give one or more professionals the edge by partnering with you and your skills. You will all benefit from a broader customer base. I occasionally write for a professional photographer who partners with caterers and other wedding planning professionals. The photographer and the wedding planners both benefit from sharing customer bases and professional referrals, and each has a unique skill set so there is no competition between them. You don’t have to share any money or sign any contracts – it is an informal way to cheer each other on and both reap the benefits. Customers like and want one stop shopping – make that your edge your partnership can offer.

Your Product/Services + Cloud Commuting = Future with Freedom

Statistics show that cloud commuting (where most of my business happens) is one of the fastest growing areas of business. Most of my clients I’ve never met in person, a few I’ve seen live on Skype, I speak with many on the phone, and communicate with all of them online or via texting. And somehow in some, strange way I do feel that I am able to build strong business relationships with my clients.

• Look for a way to see how the work you like to do fits into an online market. Maybe you’ve been doing in-home daycare, but now you want to expand to something online. You can’t be an online nanny, but maybe you can contribute to lesson plans for preschoolers or conduct product tests for toddler toys and gadgets.
• Read reviews of broker houses – sites such as Elance, ODesk and Freelancer.com are becoming more popular and safer for users, but you still need to protect yourself by reading the fine print – always.
• Utilize things like escrow accounts to help guarantee payments.
• Build your resume and digital portfolio. What you present online will most likely take the place of your firm handshake and looking your potential employer or client in the eye – and as the saying goes – you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Your Passion + Like-Minded People = Increased Success

When I decided I wanted to get a little more serious about my work-at-home endeavors I knew I needed to connect with more people who think like I do and wanted to reach some of the same types of goals.

• Check with your city’s Chamber of Commerce for a list of industry groups and networking organizations. Even if your business endeavors will be more in the form of cloud commuting, local groups like these can connect you with other professionals who might have valuable resources, such as tax advice and ideas for expansion.
• Use the Better Business Bureau to investigate any groups with which you think you might want to become affiliated.
• Find support groups online and in your community. I joined boards and discussion groups for writers and editors. This is where all of the good dirt gets shoveled about – where you learn which cloud commuting brokerage houses are worth it and how to spot a client that is too good to be true.

There are no easy steps to becoming more self-sufficient as a work-at-home mom, but I do firmly believe that this generation has the best opportunities yet to be able to both stay at home with the kids and work from home for a paycheck. I’m not saying those two are always easy to do (I’ve had my share of exhausted days), but for me the rewards are numerous and I’m able to set and reach goals personally and professionally – a strong lesson for my kids to witness.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetterParenting/~3/l_PvLNZuifI/

• Tweet

• Tweet

We hear a lot about keeping our kids safe from the perils of technology – texting, social media, internet predators. However, I recently had a new mom ask me: What do I do to keep my baby and toddlers safe in the home? There is so much emphasis on older kids and computers and phones and iPods that I feel like those basics are being forgotten.

So started a great conversation about home safety – and none of it really had anything to do with computers or Facebook. It was about getting back to the basics, keeping kids safe, and teaching them how to make safe decisions. While there are things parents can do to extremes when keeping their children safe from peril, there are certain safety tips my household probably couldn’t have survived well without.

Safety Check-List for the Home

The precious first years can also be the years that try parents’ patience and energy, as exploring hands want to try everything. Just because a decorative plant your Aunt Sally gave you isn’t intended to fly or be eaten does not mean that your toddler won’t explore these options.

Remember the golden safety rule for kids under 5:

If it can be chewed, licked, torn, shoved up a nose, thrown, climbed, hidden, smashed, or lost – it will be.

• Explore on your belly and crawling. This is how your little ones are going to be seeing the world for a while, so get down on their level and make sure that their perspective is free of dangers. Look for things like cords that are under tables, breakables on low shelves, unsecured cabinets and drawers, etc.
• Set your water heater to below 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and until your kids are old enough to know better, test the bath water before they do.
• Use plastic electrical safety plugs to cover unused outlets and invest in cord guards like these for groups of cords that you just can’t tuck away easily, like in your home office or near the TV.
• Install cabinet and drawer locks. I kept two cabinets without locks – the Tupperware and pots/pans ones – so that my toddlers had the unfettered joy of banging lids and “helping” in the kitchen. If you have Lazy Susan cabinets, locks like these will help protect against smashed fingers.
• Use doorknob safety covers for entryways to rooms and stairs that just aren’t safe for kids. You can find lever lock covers like these, but we found that the safety covers for round handles were easier for our older kids (who still needed/wanted access to rooms) so we just switched out the lever handles and temporarily replaced them with round ones in order to accommodate.
• Secure tall or unstable pieces of furniture to the wall. I used to think this was extreme until I had 3 boys under the age of 5 – who climbed. Everything. Bookshelves and dressers become miniature Mount Everests, and these little monkeys can be severely injured, or worse, when those objects fall.

Safety Plans

There was no magic age when we introduced our kids to safety plans around the home. These are just things that we always practiced and reviewed with them, in age appropriate terms.

Have a fire safety plan. For our family this meant showing the older kids how to take the screens off of windows, and for all of the kids, how to stop, drop, and roll, move low to the ground, and touch doorknobs first before entering a room to check for heat. One of the most important things we also established is a Safe Meeting Zone – the place where we all meet outside if something happens inside the home (such as a fire). This way we aren’t all running around looking for each other. We also took our kids to a practice run held by local firefighters. This included a miniature home that was filled with “smoke”, and the kids learned to maneuver along the ground and not panic in the dark.

Create a weather safety plan. For us this means tornados, thunderstorms, and blizzards, but maybe it means tropical storms and hurricanes for your family. Teaching even very young children about the safety precautions you can take during bad weather gives them control over the situation and can reduce childhood fears. As part of our weather safety plans in our home, the kids:

• Know where the flashlights and batteries are located
• Know to select 2 comfort items to bring to the basement during tornado warnings
• Understand the importance of staying together and listening for directions from Mom and Dad

Keeping our precious children safe is not always easy, especially on our hearts and minds. But we don’t need to roll out the bubble wrap – we just need to take a few deep breaths and remember how to think like a kid. Remember:

If it can be chewed, licked, torn, shoved up a nose, thrown, climbed, hidden, smashed, or lost – it will be.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetterParenting/~3/ChYIpe1oXZc/

Senior Year Check-List

Tags: college, graduation, graduation from high school, high school, senior, senior in high school

<!–google_ad_client = “ca-pub-4097298935831766”;/* In Post */google_ad_slot = “6687079443”;google_ad_width = 468;google_ad_height = 60;–><!—->

• Tweet

• Tweet

Planning for Senior Year of High School

I truly can’t believe I am here, sitting on the precipice of my first-born child’s graduation year. It sounds cliché, but I do remember looking into her eyes for the first time. Those moments of snuggling with her baby soft brown curls against my cheek and holding her tiny fingers in my palm. Now, like so many parents, I am entwined in a mix of hand-holding yet watching from afar as my child prepares for her official entry into the world of adulthood. Senior year has really just begun, but already the clock is ticking on so many things. Time for my hand-holding mom-side to at least map out a checklist – are you seniors ready (and parents, too)?

Steps for High School Seniors

Make Two Lists of Goals

College is definitely not for everyone, especially for those who are unsure what exactly they would want to actually do with a college degree. Sit down and make two separate lists – one for what you hope to accomplish your senior year, and another for the goals you want to meet after graduation. College doesn’t have to be on the list, but just make sure there are some goals that will help you propel your life forward. Then talk with your parents, guidance counselors, coaches, teachers, and role models so you can get as much advice as possible about how to meet those goals. Your goals for during your senior might include:

• Make the honor roll each semester
• Write an article for the school newspaper
• Attend at least 2 college fairs
• Attend at least 3 careers fairs
• Interview people who are doing the jobs in areas I’m interested in pursuing
• Buy a used car
• Volunteer at least one hour each week
• Reach athletic team goals (i.e. letter in a sport)
• Find a job/work “x” many hours each week

Know the Deadlines

Keep a calendar just for the deadlines you will be facing your senior year. Depending on your goals after high school, your calendar might look very different from the calendar of a classmate, but consider the following things that might need to land on your own calendar.

• Deadlines for standardized tests – If you haven’t already taken the ACT or SAT and you plan on academics after high school, sign up for one of these tests, now. If you have already taken these exams but you want to try to improve your scores for scholarship or admission purposes, sign up now.
• College admission deadlines – These start in the fall and usually only continue for regular entry until mid-winter. Don’t wait, though, your options will be greater if you start sooner.
• Deadlines for financial aid for school – Knowing how much money you might get in grants will definitely help you narrow down your college selection process.
• Deadlines for scholarships – These can come and go in the blink of an eye, so make sure you write down the deadlines of the ones for which you think you are most qualified.
• Deadlines for
• Taking and ordering senior pictures
• Ordering yearbooks
• Ordering class rings
• Ordering graduation announcements
• Applications for internships, apprenticeship programs, and the military – even if you’re headed in a direction other than college there are still going to be deadlines to meet in order to be successful

Learn (or Practice) Some Practical Skills

As a parent now is the time I reflect on all of the things I intended to teach my child, and all of the things I never did. It is a scary and sobering thought, and I desperately feel like I’m running out of time. Here is an incomplete, but good start, on life skills our kids need by the time they graduate (still working on a few of them in our home).

• Balancing checkbooks
• Budgeting and saving money in the most effective ways (our bank offers a special savings account just for older teens with a higher interest rate)
• Laundry, including the reds, delicates, and dry clean only items
• Vehicle maintenance
• Write a resume
• Smart shopping (grocery, clothing, personal items, and bigger ticket purchases)
• Healthy cooking – something that doesn’t have to come from a frozen meal or package of processed foods
• Time management – balancing work, school, and a bit of fun
• House cleaning – I never realized how many steps there are to adequately clean the toilet until I had to teach that art to my kids…
• Home maintenance – checking the fuse box, hot water heater, water softener, air conditioner, furnace, and smoke detectors to make sure that they are working, as well as to take care of minor issues independently

So many of these skills we can teach our children by just doing them with our children – instead of just doing them for them. These might seem like the small stuff that just gets in the way of homework and sports, but most of them can just be integrated into daily routines. I’m not certain who worries more about senior year – parents or their kids – but I do know that we both look forward to it, even if in different ways. It marks a point that changes the dynamics of our lives. (Even if for parents we’re not quite sure how we made it this far already.)

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetterParenting/~3/xfpAk2i46oI/

• Tweet

• Tweet

10 Minute Pick-Me Ups for Tired Parents

Last night was glorious. My husband and I sat for one entire segment of a sit-com from one commercial break to the other – without any interruptions. Except, that is, for the occasional banging of any of the 5 pairs of children’s feet on the floor above us. But that was OK – no one came downstairs. My husband worked on matching socks from the sock basket (yay!) – and I just sat. We could hear what the actors were saying, laughed at even the inappropriate innuendos, and I ended up crying because during a scene when parents are taking their child to college because, well, I’m a mom. Those 10 minutes of uninterrupted adulthood gave me enough oomph to get me through the rest of the day with a smile on my face. And they reminded me of how we do just need to sometimes give ourselves a 10-minute-time-out to recharge.

1. Write a Letter

We are all probably texting and emailing throughout the day, but nothing compares to actually hand writing a letter to a friend. Take 10 minutes to pen a note to someone who you think about, but don’t always have the time to chat with over coffee. When your note arrives in your friend’s mailbox, those minutes she takes to read that surprise letter will be her own pick-me-up for the day.

2. Do Karaoke

I was not blessed with a voice for singing, but my face can’t help but smile when I belt out a tune on the Wii sing-along game, especially if it is old school rock. If you’re not up for a video game version, find your favorite CD and sing along – loudly (yes – you can listen to something other than nursery rhymes or whatever Bieber song your tween has on looping play mode).

3. Have a Secret Stash

Your stash should be something that lifts your spirits – chocolate, a basket of favorite magazines, a pocket Sudoku game – anything you reserve just for you. It might be a few good books that are easy reads and support your busy life, like Creating a Charmed Life: Sensible, Spiritual Secrets Every Busy Woman Should Know. Or it can be like my secret winter stash of flavored teas, perfect for sharing with girlfriends when they stop over for their 10-minute-pick-me-up.

4. Hide in the Closet

Yes – I really do this. When all else fails, I walk in and lean against the soft stack of sweaters and close my eyes. I don’t have to turn on the light, and for a few minutes I feel invisible. The closet also does an amazing job of blocking out the sounds of the house enough so that I can hear myself think. Your quiet zone doesn’t have to be a closet, but try to find a place in the house – just a little corner – where you feel like you can breathe.

5. Homemade Spa Kit

Keep a basket or bin with homemade spa kit supplies you can use to take a break from stress, right in your own home. The goal of this is to calm and refresh your senses, so include things in the kit that will address your various senses in ways that make you feel better. Some of my favorites are:

• Ear plugs
• An eye mask
• A lotion that smells really good
• A small, soft pillow I can place behind my neck or lower back.
• A package of peppermints

This is also a great gift you can make for a girlfriend!

6. You Shall Not Pass!

If your home is like mine, doors are like revolving turntables – people are in and out faster than the wind, and privacy is almost as rare as a spring day in Chicago without wind. Hang a Door Not Disturb sign on your bedroom door and close it. Don’t forget to tell the kids that when the door hanger is in place that means 10 minutes of quiet behind the door for you. Last weekend I even got to nap for those 10 minutes.

7. Duo Dessert

Family dinners around here are usually loud, elbow knocking, ketchup dribbling events as my husband and I sit at opposite ends of the table, corralling 5 children between us. Save a special dessert for just you and your partner to share in a 10 minute quiet moment, after the dishes are done and the kids have scattered. Even if it is just the last cookie you found hiding in the jar, sharing a sweet treat can help slow things down in life, if only for a few minutes, and remind you that you are partners in the journey.

8. An Outdoor Chore

For whatever reason 3-year-olds must think that parents will drown in the toilet without their toddler supervision. Even though my kids are growing older and outgrowing the need to follow us everywhere, some of them still think that while parents do their business in the bathroom that is the most opportune time to have a conversation – right through the bathroom door. I’ve even had notes slid under the door while I’m showering. Come on, people, it can wait! So when I’m getting kid-claustrophobic, I head outside to do something I know the kids won’t want to do – put the garbage cans away, sweep the garage, etc. – and I get instant private time. If I plan it well, I can spend 10 minutes talking with my husband in peace and quiet while it looks like we are contemplating the gutters that we don’t have installed.

9. Pray

Praying, meditating, and reaching beyond our immediate chaos of parenting really can help us get recharged. I recently inhereited a book of meditations and prayers from my great-grandmother. As I was flipping through the book I found a quotation she had copied on a scrap of paper from 1972. It reads:

Shhhhh
We pray to God for all our needs
In faith we go on seeking!
But do we listen long enough
To hear if God is speaking?

– D.A. Hoover

As parents let’s give time for ourselves, and time to hear what we might be missing. Chances are the things we are so worried about missing – the PTA meeting, the art class, the ringing phone, the doorbell – are the things we can set aside to make room for our lives.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetterParenting/~3/W_2eV4IYBgo/

• Tweet

• Tweet

Teaching Stranger Danger in a Whole New World

I made a parenting mistake (one of many, I’m sure). I had gotten so wrapped up in making sure that my kids are safe online, that I didn’t give due diligence to safety in the real world. It’s not like I encourage them to run with scissors or run into the crosswalk without looking both ways before crossing the street. But I didn’t give the same attention to their “stranger danger” skills in the real world. Parents today are so inundated with safety concerns about the online technology world in which our kids live, that suddenly the real world is so much more comfortable. I got complacent. And then I hear of young girls missing like this precious girl in Colorado, and I look at my own children and wonder just how safe they are.

Stranger Danger Redefined

Sometimes my brain feels like it is about to implode with all of the parenting information I feel like I must not only acquire, but somehow intelligently transmit to my children. I grew up in a generation that was told to not take candy from strangers. Sound advice (yet I allow my kids to be pelted with suckers at parades). Now I am a parent and I have to know as much as parentally possible about all things related to technology. Instagram, Facebook, digital reputations – these advancements haunt me.

I’m also most likely not the only parent who has been worrying more about online dangers compared to real-world dangers. In fact, when I went searching for resources about “stranger danger” I found what I thought would be a great piece of information put together by the National Crime Prevention Council. It is advertised toward parents to help them help their kids “boost street smarts.” But the guide (as good as it is), is about online safety.

Defining “Stranger” for Kids

It is vitally important that kids know that strangers are any people they don’t know. Strangers don’t have a special look about them, smell differently, or wear armbands that signify they are strange. Perhaps one of the most important things we can teach our children is how to recognize dangerous situations, instead of focusing on trying to determine who might be a dangerous person.

• Strangers can be very nice, like the same hobbies, and have cool cars.
• Strangers might ask for help looking for lost items, figuring out how to get their cell phone voicemail to work, or need directions.

Dangerous situations can more easily have telltale signs:

• adults asking kids for help or assistance (finding a lost pet)
• adults asking kids to do something that kids aren’t typically equipped to do (giving directions)
• adults asking kids personal questions when parents aren’t with them (How old are you? What do you like to eat?)
• adults asking kids about their parents (When will your parents be back?)
• adults asking kids to keep secrets (beyond birthday gifts that should be a red flag for kids)

Tools for Teaching Kids about Personal Safety

Not all strangers are dangers, and that can be hard for kids to understand. We need to give our kids the tools they need to distinguish between safe and questionable situations and behaviors.

Role Play – Use some seemingly harmless examples of how strangers might approach them for conversations. Focus on the conversations, and not the attributes of the stranger. Most conversations are safe – but because not all people are safe for our kids, we need to let our kids know that it is OK to disengage from a stranger. Even though we so often tell our kids to be polite and converse with people (and get away from that computer screen!), we also need to give them permission to walk away from a conversation that has red flags.

Talk about safe boundaries – I use the yardstick bubble rule (my younger kids love to measure – and sometimes whack – things with a yardstick, so this is a good frame of reference for them), but you can choose any object that makes sense to your child and is about 3 feet. Teach kids to avoid being in the personal space of strangers within that bubble, and to guard their own bubble. This is especially important when there is obviously enough large, open space and the stranger doesn’t have a need to invade that personal space.

Develop signals – I have developed with my own kids certain code words and signals they can use within our family to alert each other to an uncomfortable or possibly dangerous situation. Keep your codes private, and review them when you review things like your fire escape plan (feel that implosion rumbling, again…).

Give them permission to scream – Kids need to know that they can yell and it is going to be OK. Our daughter tested our teachings when she was much younger and shrieked in the mall because she thought she was lost. We praised her for using her voice (instead of chastising her for making so much noise in the store).

Additional guidelines to teach kids from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children include:

1. Always check first with a parent, guardian, or trusted adult before going anywhere, accepting anything, or getting into a car with anyone.
2. Do not go out alone. Always take a friend with when going places or playing outside.
3. Say no if someone tries to touch you, or treats you in a way that makes you feel sad, scared, or confused. Get out of the situation as quickly as possible.
4. Tell a parent, guardian, or trusted adult if you feel sad, scared, or confused.
5. There will always be someone to help you, and you have the right to be safe.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetterParenting/~3/P5BHoC0bE9I/

8 Fun Halloween Recipes

Tags: Halloween, halloween party, holiday, holidays, kids’ party, recipe, Recipes

<!–google_ad_client = “ca-pub-4097298935831766”;/* In Post */google_ad_slot = “6687079443”;google_ad_width = 468;google_ad_height = 60;–><!—->

• Tweet

• Tweet

Creepy, Gross, and Slimy Treats to Please the Kids

Olive eyeballs on meatballs and red goo blood frosting that oozed from the cupcakes. Pretty gross – but what else would you expect at a kids’ Halloween party? I have one very excited boy when it comes to holidays, and even though the edible eyeballs are almost too much for him, he can’t help but stare right back in excited glee. This year he is already planning the green slime we will eat and has the spooky caution tape all ready to hang on the front door. If you and your kids are planning a spooky night with friends, try some of these easy Halloween recipe ideas that have left my kids and their friends with chills on the spines, but smiles on their faces (and full bellies).

Easy Recipes for the Halloween Party

Do it with Green Goo – Everything is a little bit better with green goo!

• Make green Jell-O and add gummy worms after it has partially set.
• Serve homemade mac-n-cheese for the younger crowd, but add green food coloring to the cheese sauce. You can even substitute noodle shapes and serve Gangrenous Intestines (spaghetti noodles) or Moldy Brains (rotini noodles).
• Make deviled eggs and add green food coloring to the egg yolk mixture.
• Pistachio salad can become Slime Surprise Salad, and vanilla pudding colored with green food coloring magically changes to Pond Scum.

Easy Eyeballs – Green olives make the perfect eyeballs with those red pits among the creepy green olive skin. We had them baked into the top of mini meatballs, and they can also be added onto crackers that have cheese spread, or spread along the top of a pile of angel hair pasta noodles that have been drizzled with browned butter and garlic.

Black Web Icing – Grab a few tubes of the black frosting gel, or take a container of premade vanilla or cream cheese frosting and add black food coloring, then use a frosting tube applicator (these frostings taste much better than the gel if you are going to use a lot). Apply frosting spider webs to make easy and festive treats on a variety of foods:

• Cupcakes
• Small sugar cookies
• Slices of fruit such as kiwi, apples, or melon
• Graham crackers
• The entire pan of Rice Krispy Bars
• You can even add the spider web frosting to serving plates – covering the entire surface with one web, then place chunks of fruit on top in small sections.
• Or, cover a small plate in a thin layer of white fruit dip and draw the web on top of that. Guests can then use this as their festive fruit dip.

Swamp Juice – My dear friend brought the ingredients to make this last year for our kids and it was an absolute hit! It looks so authentically creepy, that it is almost more fun to stare at the glass than actually taste it! http://spoonful.com/recipes/swamp-juice

Reese’s Pieces Perfection – Sprinkle these colorful candies on cookies and cupcakes, or mix them in with mini pretzels and raisins for a Haunted Trail Mix.

Candy Corn Candy Bar – Mix equal parts of salted peanuts (not in the shell) with candy corn and serve in a snack dish with a small spoon. The combination tastes just like a Salted Nut Roll candy bar!

Eyeball Cupcakes – Bake 24 white cupcakes according to any easy recipe – box or from scratch. After the cupcakes have cooled, take a frosting applicator to inject the cupcakes (from the top) with vanilla frosting that has been colored red with food coloring. Don’t overfill the inside, or the red will leak through the white cake (you can use Halloween cupcake liners if you like). Cover the hole in the top of the cupcake with a gumdrop, and then drag small, red frosting squiggle lines across the top to look like bloodshot eyes. The eyes on top of the cupcakes make a great effect, but when the kids bite in they squeal even more!

Pretzel Bones – Dip pretzel rods in white, melted almond bark to coat and let dry on a sheet of waxed paper, and then serve these as Leftover Bones.

For the final touches, take a child’s black chalkboard and write the menu or type on up and print it to hang on the kitchen wall. The creepy, gross, and hair-raising names you give your creations helps to add to the fun mood. Dollar stores usually have lots of fun cups, plates, and serving dishes that you can use to serve your ghoulish menu.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetterParenting/~3/jGj7sNtkAWw/

• Tweet

• Tweet

Strategies for Learning and Life from Dr. Selznick

I often refer to parenting as a journey, built upon roads that wind and traverse, that are as smooth as silk and as bumpy as craters – just make sure to buckle up for the ride. The way in which I view parenting is most likely what drew me in to Dr. Selznick’s new book, School Struggles – A Guide to Your Shut-Down Learner’s Success. His own goals resonate with me:

“How can we better help the child traveling down the rough road, whether it is for academic, social, or behavioral reasons, or all of the above?”

Even if you don’t think that your child is on a rough road – maybe the road just gets a little narrow or challenging to climb at times – there are likely some tools in Selznick’s book that you can add to your parenting toolbox.

Practical Points for Parents: Tools to Help Struggling Learners

I am not intensely drawn to books that doggedly drag on and tell me how woeful the situation is, why I must take a stand, or why I need to try an approach, if they don’t actually give me real, tangible tools for accomplishing anything. Dr. Selznick got my attention in his book when I flipped through the pages before ever reading more than a sentence. At the end of sections and chapters there are Takeaway Points and Try This strategies.

My attention perked up like the hairs on the back of my neck do when I find a healthy recipe that everyone in my home loves – good information for parents is food for the soul (and my family). But would these points and strategies prove to be helpful to me? Not all of the verdicts are in, but there are several key factors that have me nodding in agreement and being willing to continue trying some of Selznick’s methods and suggestions.

According to Selznick, reading, spelling, and writing challenges are at the root of many of school struggles that children go through on a regular basis. Before you dismiss this idea because you think your child can read well enough, but you are still watching him struggle with something, consider these 3 points that Selznick highlights throughout the book.

Teach children how to recognize their own strengths.

After reading about this particular topic in Selznick’s book I had the opportune moment to put it to the test – a frustrated child who was feeling inadequate. I used the strategy suggested by Selznick of creating with your child a chart of strengths (not just academic), as well as addressing weaknesses. I included my own chart for my personal strengths and weaknesses to demonstrate that we all have both – a humbling process. This tangible tool really clarified for my child how to acknowledge strengths and feel proud of them, but also how to recognize weaknesses and develop plans to improve those weaker areas.

Pay attention to your gut instinct.

My grandmother and Dr. Selznick would probably get along quite amicably together – as their philosophies seem to mirror each other. Grandma always said that if by the time you’ve raised your children you haven’t learned enough to be a teacher and a doctor, you weren’t doing your job well. When we pay attention to our instincts, even when faced against the odds of school testing administrators who don’t see much more than black and white lines on scales of learning, we are champions for our kids. Selznick gives many suggestions for working with doctors, schools, and other professionals who are involved in your children’s lives to develop a solid plan worthy of your child.

Look for opportunities for your child to problem solve and weigh the options.

Children seem to naturally be inquisitive about the world – but sometimes we are moving too quickly through our days to allow them enough time to explore their options. I know I have been guilty of rushing through a task or activity for my own personal goals and needs and forgetting the patience that is required, leaving one or more of my kids as a passive participant (when I know in my heart of hearts I want to be raising actively participating kids). Ask your kids questions, get them thinking about answers, and take the time to listen to those answers and provide genuine feedback.

Learning Disabilities – Dangerous Territory

One of my favorite things about Selznick’s approach is his lack of bandwagon riding. He doesn’t push for labels such as ADHD and regimes of medications, because he sees kids as more of a mixture of skills and abilities, along with struggles, and labels and drugs don’t always offer help for those challenges.

• Be wary of expensive, quick fixes.
• If you seek professional guidance for your child, make sure you understand the goals the professional is establishing, and that those goals meet your concerns (remember – pay attention to gut instinct).
• Give your struggling child support – dedicating time together not focusing on the struggles, but just enjoying each other’s company.
• If you seek a 504 plan for your child’s education, make sure that it is tailored specifically for your child and is not just a generic check-list. * Don’t jump into a plan without considering how the interventions will impact your child’s self-esteem and emotional well-being. Will it make him feel like he stands out even more?

More Help for Struggling Learners

If you’re looking for strategies to help your children grow, especially if they are struggling with reading, writing, and basic executive functions, take a few minutes to review School Struggles by Richard Selznick. The more tools we add to our parenting toolboxes, the better off our families will be.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetterParenting/~3/CVp9CFWXHT4/

• Tweet

• Tweet

The App that Kids Love – and Some Parents Loathe

Are you raising a budding photographer or just have a social butterfly who likes to take myriads of pictures, or just likes seeing the pictures that other people take? If so, chances are that your child has seen, used, or downloaded Instagram. Do you know what Instagram is – and why it might pose a danger to your child?

Instagram is an app for devices such as iPads and smart phones, and is one of the fastest growing products by use on the market. And it is free – making it perfectly marketable for kids. Users – our children included, take, download, and modify pictures using special filtering software. Then these pictures can be shared via Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr.  Instagram claims the app is, “photo sharing, reinvented.” Even though it is promoted as a photo sharing application, in reality our teenagers are using it as a social media site for networking among peers (and too often strangers).

Why Does Instagram Pose a Danger to My Kids?

Instagram, according to Nielsen, is one of the most popular photo sharing sites in the world among teens, with more than 1 million kids using or visiting the app site in July of 2012. If your teen hasn’t been there, he or she is likely to find it soon – and the dangers grow as the audiences and user numbers grow. On the outside it might seem like a harmless and entertaining way to share pictures, but in reality it is very similar to other social media sites like Facebook and MySpace – it connects people in open forums of conversation and expression.

• Just like any other social media site, Instagram cannot accept applications for accounts for children under the age of 13 years. However, the sign-up process is not authenticated, and children simply have to choose a birth year that makes them “of age”.
• The default setting for privacy is set to public, meaning that unless your child intentionally changes the setting, anyone, anywhere can see pictures your child takes and pictures of your child.
• Reports of fake accounts established by bullies who use Instagram as a way to tease and degrade classmates are emerging.
• Viewers of the photos can leave comments. Inevitably there are users who don’t follow the rule my mom always preached – if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
• There is a geo location feature that allows the photographs to be tagged according to geographic location (geotagging). If those pictures of your child at her birthday party are posted via Instagram on the public setting, and then tagged as occurring at your home, your daughter’s privacy has just been seriously compromised, and perhaps her safety as well.
• While there are rules against it, it also seems inevitable that people will use the app for posting inappropriate and sexually explicit photos and comments. Your child can be easily exposed to these.

How Can I Keep My Kids Safe on Instagram?

There are no fool proof ways to use any software or app program, so the first line of defense for parents is to keep open lines of communication, have family rules for technology use, incorporate security software as needed, and practice due diligence. Beyond these basic rules for technology safety, you can take a few steps with Instagram settings and procedures to help keep your kids as safe as possible.

• Don’t allow your kids who are younger than 13 years to get an Instagram account. Those safety and security parameters, no matter how weak, are there for a reason.
• Tie your child’s iTunes account into your own so that you are aware of the apps being downloaded.
• Make sure to have the privacy setting changed from the default of public to private. Then the photos your child posts can only be seen by her friends. Go to your child’s profile page on Instagram and look to the bottom of the page to find the switch that is labeled “photos are private” and turn the switch to ON to reflect the changes.
• Talk with your kids about the geo location feature and explain the dangers of using it, and make it a rule that they can’t, and that they should monitor who tags their locations on Instagram (they can ask friends not to geotag them).
• Don’t be afraid to report abusive or inappropriate pictures or comments. On the profile page of the offender that is an option you can tap in the upper right hand corner of the screen and either request to block user or report user.

If you’re like me, you might be sighing and thinking – what else am I going to have to worry about with my kids and technology? I think the truth is: a lot. While our kids are living in a world that just can’t compare to the environments in which we grew up as kids, as parents we are also parenting in a new world that our own parents have a hard time envisioning. It is not realistic or even productive to shelter our kids from all of these apps, sites, and technology related advancements. Instead it is time to buckle up, put on my big girl pants, and get ready to go along for the ride. If I’m lucky I’ll get to navigate some, but I’m not going to just sit back and close my eyes, waiting for it to be over – there is too much scenery to miss along the way. Arm yourself with some facts, get ready to protect your kids from one more online danger, and keep two hands on the steering wheel.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetterParenting/~3/hd5H0qtBitc/

21 Great Parenting Quotes

Tags: funny quotes, funny quotes for parents, inspiration for parents, inspire parents, inspired parenting, quotations, quotes, quotes for parents

<!–google_ad_client = “ca-pub-4097298935831766”;/* In Post */google_ad_slot = “6687079443”;google_ad_width = 468;google_ad_height = 60;–><!—->

• Tweet

• Tweet

Some days are just harder than others. We get sucked into the schedules, we snap at our spouses because our kids snapped at us, and even the dog seems on edge. No sock has a match, the sink is full of dirty dishes, and you just don’t have two ounces of energy left. It is time for a quick pick-me-up – and sometimes a pity party crasher. I love great quotes that inspire, make me think, and give me something else to contemplate while I search for those stray socks.

Inspiring Quotes for Parents

Post a new one of these on your desktop, refrigerator, and as a Facebook status to remind you and your parenting friends that life is OK – and life as a parent might be hard – but it is the most amazing job we are fortunate enough to acquire. If your friends are also missing their socks, snapping at spouses, and are completely out of inspiration for parenting, send them one of these quick reminders (even just as a text) to help put things back into perspective.

1. Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. – Elizabeth Stone
2. It’s not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself. – Joyce Maynard
3. Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you. – Robert Fulghum
4. Children have more need of models than of critics. – Carolyn Coats, Things Your Dad Always Told You But You Didn’t Want to Hear
   
5. There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings. – Hodding Carter, Jr.
6. Do not ask that your kids live up to your expectations. Let your kids be who they are, and your expectations will be in breathless pursuit. – Robert Brault
7. What a child doesn’t receive he can seldom later give. – P.D. James, Time to Be in Earnest
8. Give me the life of the boy whose mother is nurse, seamstress, washerwoman, cook, teacher, angel, and saint, all in one, and whose father is guide, exemplar, and friend. No servants to come between. These are the boys who are born to the best fortune. – Andrew Carnegie
9. The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them. – Frank A. Clark
10. If I had my child to raise all over again,
    I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.
    I’d finger-paint more, and point the finger less.
    I would do less correcting and more connecting.
    I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
    I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.
    I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.
    I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
    I’d do more hugging and less tugging.
    – Diane Loomans, from “If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again”

Funny Quotes for Parents

Sometimes heartfelt hugs and sweet messages of inspiration aren’t exactly what the doctor orders. Some days call for more laughter than introspective thinking, more snickering and snorting (yep – that’s how I laugh). Keep these humorous quotes around for just that moment when you think you can’t take it anymore. The truth is that seeing “the funny” in our lives keeps us grounded and reminds us that laughter can really be the best medicine. And sometimes parenting requires a big ol’ dose of something strong.

1. Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry. – Bill Cosby
2. Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. – Phyllis Diller
3. You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they are going. – P.J O’Rourke
4. Children seldom misquote. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn’t have said. – Unknown
5. Raising a teenager is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. – Unknown
6. Parenting is like being pecked to death by a chicken. – Unknown
7. Young people don’t always do what they’re told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment. – Rick Riordan
8. Schizoid behavior is a pretty common thing in children. It’s accepted, because all we adults have this unspoken agreement that children are lunatics. ― Stephen King
9. When kids hit 1 year old, it’s like hanging out with a miniature drunk. You have to hold onto them. They bump into things. They laugh and cry. They urinate. They vomit. ―Johnny Depp
10. Having children is like living in a frat house – nobody sleeps, everything’s broken, and there’s a lot of throwing up. Ray Romano

I love the language of these quotes. I love how words can inspire us, make us laugh, and heal us. We can use words the same way with our children – we can lead them, teach them, humor them, and place in their hearts the love we have for them – if we are careful enough with our words. Maybe if we try to speak to our kids as if the world is watching, waiting for inspiration, faithful that we can pull off this thing called parenting, we might actually do a bit better every day. And on the bad days, when we can’t think of anything to other than, “Because I said so!”, sometimes words just aren’t enough and it’s just best to skip ahead to your favorite chocolate and a hot bath.

One last one – top on my personal list of parenting inspiration…

Your children are the greatest gift God will give to you, and their souls the heaviest responsibility He will place in your hands. Take time with them, teach them to have faith in God. Be a person in whom they can have faith. When you are old, nothing else you’ve done will have mattered as much. – Lisa Wingate

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetterParenting/~3/oY4sxlmEFcU/

• Tweet

• Tweet

Great Books for Both Learning Styles

The world must be a uniquely beautiful view for one of my kids. He sees things many just walk right past, hears things in a different way, and finds the humorous, perplexing, and inspiring in what we might consider the mundane. His learning styles are unique to him, but I consider it my job to help find tools that will enhance his learning. If you’re the parent or teacher of a child who thrives on visual or linguistic learning strategies, you know that their view on the world is intriguing, and that it is not always easy to use typical teaching tools.

You don’t understand anything until you learn it more than one way. ~Marvin Minsky

I treasure that quote by Minsky. It reminds me that just because things have been taught in certain ways for so long, that it doesn’t mean those are the only effective ways to learn, especially not for every child. Visual and linguistic learners often have similar traits – they enjoy stories, both through pictures and words. The following learning ideas incorporate both of these in unconventional, yet successful ways.

Language Arts Learning Tools for Visual and Linguistic Learners

Study Idioms

We use idioms often without thinking too much about them. They are a natural part of the English language. Some people, however, struggle to decipher idioms, usually taking them literally (which would be a very confusing way to spend the day). One of the markers of kids on the Autism spectrum is an inability to comprehend idioms, where instead these kids take everything very literally. The phrase, “I’ve got a frog in my throat” is construed in a very unintentional way.

Teach your kids about idioms using books like my son’s favorite, Horsing Around – Making Sense of Everyday Idioms, by Katherine Scraper. In the book there are 50 common idioms, each illustrated with funny interpretations and a story passage using the idiom in a dialogue situation (a few short paragraphs). This book appeals to both visual and linguistic learners. The pages also each give space for kids to write their own interpretations of the idioms.

Understanding idioms improves language by

• Helping with oral language development, especially in the early preschool and elementary years
• Building reading skills
• Developing creative writing skills
• Improving speech for ESL students (English as a Second Language)

Mathematics Learning Tools for Visual and Linguistic Learners

Math doesn’t have to be just rote calculations. Perhaps it is my love of the written word that draws me to these next two math tools, but I’ve also seen my kids relate to numbers and mathematical theories in a different way.

Life of Fred

• The Life of Fred books are a series of “story” books, ranging from elementary all the way through high school, that are designed to get students thinking about math. The unconventional approach uses humorous stories to teach kids how to apply mathematical concepts – and it does this all of the way through high school Algebra and Geometry courses.

Charlesbridge Math Adventures

• This series of math adventures, perfect for early elementary students (even my older kids love to listen to these, too), is a fun, engaging way to introduce and reinforce math concepts. Colorful and wonderfully illustrated tales of characters experience adventures that are all intertwined with mathematics. Some of our favorite titles include:
• Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter (a tale that teaches kids how to calculate things such as the area of a circle)
• Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi (yep – a story about calculating with pi)
• Alice in Pastaland (an adventure centered around problem solving skills)
• Cut Down to Size at High Noon (ratios and proportions set in a western story)

Social Studies Learning Tools for Visual and Linguistic Learners

Do you remember memorizing the list of presidents when you were in elementary school, the names and locations of countries, or the capitols of states? If you were like me, it was simply based on rote memorization, grouped by perhaps 10 names at a time. And the memorization lasted long enough to pass the test – and it was usually not an entertaining experience. If you’re looking for a new way to help your kids memorize these basic (and sometimes boring) facts, try some of these books.

Yo, Millard Fillmore!

• This fun and engaging book helped all of my kids not only learn the names of the US presidents, but their memory of these facts is long lasting, and they really enjoyed the illustrative approach. Each president has a picture and short description as to how the picture fits with that name. Then, each picture (president) is somehow linked to the following one, helping to reinforce the order of presidency.

Yo, Sacramento!

• Just like Yo, Millard Fillmore!, this book engages readers through humorous illustrations that teach kids how to relate the capitol names to the state names.

The Scrambled States of America

• You might be familiar with this title of the book that teaches about the US states. I also use the board game (by the same name) to reinforce the illustrative concepts presented in the book.

Visualize World Geography

• I admit that when I first saw this book I raised an eyebrow. The graphics are – unique – and I wasn’t sure I would be able to get past their uniqueness in order to actually learn from the materials. But then my kids and I started using it and we realized that these mental maps that the book creates really do work. There are short bits that go with each graphic to help tie the mental map together, appealing to both my visual and linguistic learners.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned as a homeschool parent is that learning styles not only influence academics, but they transcend our personalities. It is more than learning about reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is about learning what makes each one of us tick – what gets us excited to try new things, and helps us overcome failures. When we tune into our kids’ learning styles, we give them tools that go far beyond their report cards.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetterParenting/~3/9tf14Od3LIA/