When a Parent Adandons a Child: How to Cope

As hard as we try to give our children the best life possible, sometimes things are just out of our control. It can be devastating and confusing for kids when life doesn’t go as they think it should. In our home we have had to deal with some very difficult issues following a divorce and [...]

Getting Over the “Its Not Fair” Syndrome

Life is not always fair, but we can learn to roll with the punches and make new choices along the way. We always have the choice to change.
By Anne Mattos- Leedom
I remember so clearly sitting next to my dad as we drove through town. I was discussing some injustice I had suffered and he [...]

Money Matters: Who Pays What When Adult Children Live at Home

Adapted from: Under One Roof Again: All Grown Up and (Re)learning to Live Together Happily By Susan Newman, Ph.D.
Living with a relative solves many financial problems, but you will want to straighten out the details in the beginning and adjust them along the way so everyone feels the arrangement is fair. It may be that [...]

Ten Ways to Be A More Positive Person

We are all feeling uncertain these days. Rather than give in to fear and worry, it is important to learn new ways to cope with change and invite inspiration and positivity into our every day.
Emotions run high when our lives are in crisis and when the world seems to be teetering on the edge. Developing [...]

Six Flags DISCOVERY KINGDOM Promises More Value, More Flags, More Fun!

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom kicked off a new year of thrilling family fun on Saturday, March 6 with a three-week long celebration – Birthday Adventures – and my family was there. The event honors Taj, the park’s popular female Asian elephant, who turns a remarkable 70 years of age this year.  The party continues all [...]

Will Our Love Last?

Raising caring, responsible children in today’s world presents many challenges. We hope as parents that our kids will grow into strong adults who can care for themselves and for others with their whole hearts and minds. We gauge their success as adults on many external factors, but from what I have seen in my many [...]

Want Healthier Kids: Serve Dinner For Breakfast

Nutritionists tell us how important it is to make sure our children eat a good breakfast each and every day. But many American children are used to eating sugary breakfasts such as pancakes, waffles and cereal.

Get this. A bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats contains three teaspoons (12 grams) of sugar; some raisin bran cereals contain [...]

The Best Kept Secret in South Lake Tahoe

The Best Kept Secret in South Lake Tahoe
Northern California offers a wide variety of adventure, family escapes and incredibly beautiful and scenic get-a-ways. After living in the region all my life I was delighted to discover one of the area’s best-kept secrets nestled on a spectacular Sierra Nevada ridge high above Lake Tahoe.

The Ridge Resort [...]

When Mental Health Issues Touch Your Family

Divorce rates continue to rise and families can be destroyed. In some cases, couples can move forward and handle child rearing and financial issues with minimal disruption. However, when mental health issues are involved it can be truly devastating as the healthy family members try to cope with the ongoing issues that are constantly brought [...]

Getting Your Kids to WriteThank You Notes

The holidays can be a wonderful time to enjoy our families and share so much love and joy with our children. However, all the fun and excitement can either be something that will be meaningful for the rest of our kids’ lives or it can be quickly lost in the rush of the gifts and [...]

Four Ways to Raise Financially Responsible Kids

Allowances are a great tool when used properly to teach kids how to manage money. Its critical to set allowances up as an ongoing process for earning money, not as a method to demonstrate love or to reward kids for actions that are naturally expected in a family unit. Here are some guidelines to help [...]

Traveling on a budget with kids…

We are very lucky..we live in California so we don’t necessarily need to hop on a plane to get to a world-class, kid-friendly destination. Normally we include Southern California in our summer plans but with the economy being what it is, we needed to look for other options. We decided on the Central Coast. A [...]

Cliques, Peer Pressure and Fitting In…

I’ve done the math…there are 6,570 days in my daughter’s lives from the day they are born to the day they turn 18. Many of those days will be filled with so much joy….but others will be filled with heartache and frustration. It is a great feeling to be able to help my kids learn [...]

Hours of Fun for the Entire Family!

Whether you flip forward or flip backward, you will definitely flip out for Sky High Sports! You can free-bounce and do tricks all day, or you can join us for some of our organized activities, like our trampoline dodge ball. As long as you like to bounce, Sky High Sports is for you. Everyone is [...]

The Value to Volunteering

It is never too early to encourage our kids to care about others. Dr. Erik Fisher gives us some great advice on the cycle of giving and receiving.
In today’s society, so many of us feel that children are growing up with unhealthy values and unproductive attitudes. Children and teens are sometimes viewed as self-centered, seldom [...]

The Do’s and Don’t of Teaching Kids Self Control

Experts tell us that self control is one of the most important virtues kids need to do well in life. Here are some great tips from author Dyan Eybergen on the Do’s and Don’ts of this crucial life skill.
Self-control is a skill that enables a person to discern what is right from wrong. It is [...]

The Three Pillars of Being A Good Role Model

Experts are consistent that being a great role model is one of the most important factors in raising strong, responsible kids. It is pretty clear that if you want to raise caring kids, you need to show them daily what that looks like. If you want your kids to be responsible, clean, whatever it might [...]

Help Wanted: Mother…Classified Ads For All You Do

Author Melissa Stanton offers a great look at what being a stay-at-home mom would look like if you had to hire one!
Here’s a sampling of the job postings that would be needed to cover all you do for the children—and significant other adult—in your household.
NANNY: Patient, loving woman who requires limited sleep and adult interaction [...]

Protecting Our Kids: Where Should We Draw the Line?

In today’s world there are so many threats to our kids’ physical and emotional well being that it is almost overwhelming. Cyber-bullying, kidnapping, too much violence and sex in the media and of course, the scars and damage that can occur in marriage and divorce. If these issues have kept you up at night, stay [...]

Cellphones: Should I Say Yes?

Dear Mr. Dad: My daughter turns ten next week and has made it known that she expects, needs, yearns for, and won’t be able to live without a cell phone. “Everybody has one,” she says. Is she too young? I’m not even sure I know what the issues are, but it seems like opening a [...]

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