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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

An Interview with Melissa Stanton

Melissa Stanton is the author of The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide: Field-tested strategies for staying smart, sane, and connected while caring for your kids (Seal Press/Perseus Books,) and founder of www.lifesupportformoms.com.

1. Many moms love the idea of being a stay-at-home mom, but in actually doing the work everyday women get burned out, lose their own [...]

Ten Tips for Saving Money for College

This year, more than ever, college bound students and their parents will want to spread their spending dollars as far as possible. Marie Carr, author of Sending Your Child to College  has sent three daughters to 4 different colleges. She offers these tips that will help parents save money.
1. Don’t pay for health insurance twice.  [...]

Mid Life Crisis Management: Avoid Sharp Objects

I confess, one of my favorite shows growing up was Little House on the Prairie. Anyone who knows me won’t find that too surprising. I have to confess I still watch it on occasion. One of the biggest differences I have noticed in reflecting on this time in history is that the concept of “Mid [...]

The Dangers of Over Parenting

In today’s world parents have to be more careful and more vigilant about our kids’ safety, activities and well being. It is a more dangerous world. However, in our zeal to protect and care for our kids we run the risk of going too far. We can protect our kids to the point of actually [...]

Healthy Eating is Not a Discipline Issue

Stress is an ongoing issue in most every household but nothing brings about more stress in my home than trying to get my kids to eat healthy.  As we pack their lunches it seems like it is a daily battle to get something substantial and healthy into their little bodies and let’s not even discuss [...]

An Interview with Al Jacobs

1.  There are so many books on personal finance and investing these days.  How is your book unique and why should people find it compelling?
Despite some notable exceptions, most books on finance and investment embrace particular techniques, topics, or advisors, where the reader relies upon some prepackaged program.  Nobody’s Fool: A Skeptic’s Guide to Prosperity [...]

An Interview with Nancy Carlsson-Paige

1.    There are so many books on parenting these days. How is your book unique and why should people find it compelling?
I don’t know of another book that describes the social trends that are impacting childhood today such as the media, consumerism, academic pressures in schools, and fast-paced lives of families, and offers suggestions [...]

Five Secrets to Setting and Achieving Your Goals

We so often start the New Year full of enthusiasm and certainty that this will be the year we will finally succeed.

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