Kids are not the only ones who need to drink milk. You’re probably getting your calcium without knowing it from the lattes you drink each day.
Drinking lattes is a ritual millions of Americans look forward to every morning. But at about $3 dollars for a small cup, it’s a luxury that could cost nearly $1100 [...]
As my children are older, I realize that much of our time together is merely “parallel” together. We are in the same room at the same time… each on our own laptops - I’m blogging, of course, my kids are doing homework, or updating their Facebook.
While I think it’s a good thing for us to [...]
Thank you all for participating my giveaway of activity toys and gift card sponsored by Subway, to encourage TV Turn-Off Week.
The winner chosen by Random.org is Rhonda Hoy!
I hope everyone is encouraged to participate in TV Turn-Off Week this week - April 20-26, 2009.
What do you do when the children says, “I’m bored!” ?
Here are [...]
Interesting Facts:
Number of 30-second commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 38.5
Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
Percentage of children ages 6-17 who have TV’s [...]
Parents want the best for their babies. Does that mean having to spend a lot of money on “educational” material such as “Baby Einstein” and “BabyGenius”?
CNN reported a study that shows TV viewing of educational DVDs have no benefits.
According to CNN, “researchers from Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and Harvard Medical School reached this conclusion [...]
I hope you had a chance to share a few special moments with your love ones.
Here are 14 things I love to do with my family:
1. Watching Mary Poppins while enjoying brownies with ice cream.
2. Playing video games together.
3. A stroll together after dinner under a clear night sky.
4. Staying up late playing a board [...]
One of the best gifts to give your children is a good marriage between you and your spouse. But it’s a common experience that after couples have children, they have less time for each other.
No doubt, children are demanding. We give them our time, energy, and affection. Then there’s nothing left for our spouse.
I am [...]
In Southern California, we are really feeling “winter” fast approaching…with high of 83 degrees today.
For the rest of those in the Northern Hemisphere, here is an inexpensive cool item to get for the holidays.
Set up and clean up is easy.
This makes a great family night for the holidays. Make a crockpot of chili, [...]
Today, my 19-year-old daughter Audrey is out with her little sister Amy for the day, to celebrate the little one’s 13th birthday.
As a present, Audrey is taking Amy to lunch, shopping at the mall, and then dinner. This present comes with $30 cash for Amy to spend at the mall!
Now that Audrey has a part-time [...]
I recorded 6 toothpick puzzles, just for fun. These puzzles are great for stimulating your mind and practice thinking out of the box.
Try them out with your children. Don’t forward too quickly to the solution.
Here is the first puzzle. Click here to see the other 5 puzzles. Forward it to your friends and see if [...]
Spring break is over! Tomorrow we start school again. Sigh!
We’ve had such a great time doing all the little things we don’t normally make time to do - play games, do craft projects, went to Griffith Park Observatory, my daughter stayed overnight at a friend’s house, and we stayed up late and woke up late, [...]
If you have a 16-year-old, I bet you’ve grown more than a few white hairs worrying about your teenager getting his/her driver’s license. I know I have!
My son was in a car accident recently, thank God everyone was alright. It could’ve been worst. But it’s one of those phone calls you don’t want to [...]
My friend just got a new Honda Odyssey minivan - fully loaded. It includes what they call the “DVD Rear Entertainment System” - a 9″ display and a 115-volt outlet in the third row that lets you plug in your video-game console, laptop or other electronics. “I won’t have to hear anymore fighting in the [...]
No matter what a great parent we may be, we all have one of THOSE days…the baby is hollering, the kids are fighting, the dishwasher overflows, there’s nothing for dinner…
We’ve tried all the usual tricks - bake cookies, play with Playdough, eat snacks, watch TV, eat another snack…
Nothing is working.
I just read a great idea [...]
My daughter came home excitedly today.
“I think I did well on my Social Studies test! Several of the questions were exactly what we studied together. I think you really helped me.”
I felt like I scored an “A” as a parent! Those are the kinds of things we parents live to hear.
Last night, my daughter made [...]
“I’m bored!”
“What can we do?”
“Why can’t I watch TV?”
This book has great ideas of what to do when your children need to keep busy:
You can probably come up with more ideas of your own. But for the price of less than 15 cents for each idea, this will save you time and energy, for those [...]
One of the most important aspects of parenting is creating an environment in the home where your family would want to come home to. We want to have a positive atmosphere of safety, love, and joy. Having fun together at home is a good way to build a happy home.
Today on Day 25 of our [...]
Is your family like mine where everyone is usually off in their own room or their corner doing their own thing?
I am on my computer, my husband is on his laptop, each of my children are doing something by themselves.
This activity brings the family for good clean fun, and is workable in any weather.
On this [...]
My daughter and I went to the Los Angeles County Fair yesterday, and we forgot to bring a camera! I wanted to kick myself for not remembering such an important piece of equipment that should be central in our lives!
You’ve got to take your camera with you everywhere.
You can never have too many pictures.
Now that [...]
I am generally not a disciplined type of person. I am what my sister nicely termed “fluid.” I don’t do well with setting goals because I lose track, then feel guilty for not keeping my goals.
For people like me, setting very short term goals is a good way slowly ease our way to a more [...]
I bet that for most of us, if not all, our family is what will mean the most to us at our death bed. We would say, “Oh, I wish I had told them how much they mean to me.”
Have no regrets!
Our task today on Day 16 of our 30 Days to Better Parenting Challenge [...]
Are relationships a little strained in your home?
Has everyone been stressed lately, pressured with work, school, and chores?
What you need is to get de-stress with a good laugh.
This will be a fun activity to do with your children today, on this Day 15 of our 30 Days to Better Parenting Challenge.
Go to the bookstore or [...]
Today’s task for our 30 Days to Better Parenting Challenge will seem strange. But trust me. I’ve done this before and it’s good.
Take the whole family to a cemetery.
You read correctly.
We usually go after a late breakfast on a nice Saturday morning. My family would walk around the gravesites, reading the epitaph. We see how [...]
Wherever there is food, good feelings go along with it.
Mealtimes are usually the best time for families to spend quality time.
To make the most of the time, instead of just eating together, you can also prepare the meal together. Don’t worry, no cooking skills are required for this activity I am suggesting.
The task today on [...]
Wake up, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, go to school, come home from school, do homework, and on and on it goes.
Life gets pretty mundane and downright boring.
Each day goes by, and before you know it, your life has just passed you by….
Stop!
We have to take a hold of life, and get it out of [...]
Photo by blmurch
Pictures are worth a thousand words! When we don’t know how to talk to our children, when words are misunderstood and relationships are frail, or when we just want to express our love that cannot be put into words, looking at old photo albums together speaks volumes.
Day 4 activity for today’s 30 [...]
When was the last time that one of your children had your full undivided attention with no interruption from other siblings, the computer, TV or phone?
A date night, not with your spouse, but with your son or daughter is what I suggest here.
Take one of your children, just one, out for a date tonight. Ok, [...]
I am posing you with a big challenge today.
Make today a NO TV day!
That’s right. Have the TV off for an entire day. And yes, you will live through it, I guarantee it!
According to Nielsen Media Research in 2006, the average American home now has more television sets than people! There are 2.73 TV sets [...]
Didn’t you use to play pretend when you were young?
My bed used to be a deserted island, and I had to jump on pillow “rocks” to gather “food” without touching the hot lava floor.
What was your favorite scenario that stirred your imagination?
One of the benefits of having children is to be able to experience that [...]
Want to do a fun and meaningful activity with your children?
Cooking or baking together is a lot of fun. Plus you get to eat your creations afterwards!
You can start cooking with your child when he/she is as young as 3 years old. And working in the kitchen is not for girls only! Boys enjoy it [...]
I am not big on getting toys for children.
Most of the toys are marketed to the parents. They look cute and pretty that parents think the kids will be entertained with the toys for hours. But frankly, kids don’t play with toys.
What children want is someone to play with. And since adults don’t really know [...]
