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Giant Size

February 23, 2011 By admin

Did you know that the average American family of four spends somewhere between $600.00 and $800.00 per month on their food bill? That’s a pretty good chunk of a family’s overall monthly budget. We all need to eat to survive, but do we really need to spend that much on food?

If you don’t want to end up overextending your prepaid credit card and busting your budget, there are a number of things that we can do to lower the monthly food bill. The quickest of these is to stop eating out so much. Eating out is always more expensive than eating at home. Prepared foods fall in this same category. If you cook it yourself, the money you save is kind of like paying yourself to cook it.

I love those little labels they put on the grocery store shelf with the “per ounce” price of things. I’ve lowered my family’s monthly food bill by over $50.00 per month, just by paying attention to those. Lots of things are less expensive when buying in the giant size package than when buying individual servings. Let me show you a few examples:

Potato chips – One large bag of potato chips (or any salty snack) costs about as much as three individual packages and contains enough for eight; re-bag it yourself.
Breakfast cereal – The large bagged cereals in the grocery store cost about 40% less per ounce than the boxed version.
Canned fruit – The individual packages for your kid’s lunches cost double what it would cost to buy large cans and put it in reusable plastic containers.
Salad dressing – My family goes through ranch dressing like it’s going out of style. I buy the large bottle, and pour it into the “squeeze bottle” for my kids. That saves me about 30% over buying the smaller bottle.

I think you’re getting the idea here. Bring a calculator to the grocery store with you. Take a look at those labels, you’ll find lots of ways to save money by buying giant size.

Filed Under: Child Care Tagged With: Grocery store

Teach Them to Pick Up

February 16, 2011 By admin

It’s amazing how quickly children learn the word “No.” At least, they learn how to say it, even if they have a little trouble understanding it. It seems like they can say no to just about anything, without you even having to prompt them.

Obviously, this isn’t something we want in them. So, we as parents need to break the habit of them always saying “no” when we tell them to do something. How? Simply by not accepting “no” as a response.

Let’s take the chore of picking up toys as an example. No child likes to pick up their toys, they think the world looks right when their toys are scattered all over the place. While we might be tempted to let them get away with that once in a while, we really can’t live like that. We need to train them to put their toys away when we tell them to.

Okay, so what should we do when they don’t obey? Aha, this is where it starts getting interesting. Let’s make a definition here; stating that putting toys away is part of taking care of them. Nobody deserves to have things that they can’t take care of. So, if our children can’t take care of their things, we need to “help them” by removing some of the things. That way, we make the job easier for them.

If you are going to do this, always pick something they really like to take away. Not the teddy bear that they cuddle up with at night, but some toy that they play with all the time. Make sure that your children see you take those things away, and explain to them that you are helping them, by making it easier for them to take care of what they have. Now they have less to have to take care of.

If that toy is really important to the child, they’ll quickly learn how to put their things away. Don’t give it back to them too quick though. You want to be sure they’ve learned how to take care of their things.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Learning

Success Starts Early

February 10, 2011 By admin

Success in life depends more on attitude than aptitude. One who has the right attitude can’t be held down, because they’ll get right back up again. It’s like a child learning to walk. None of them really have the aptitude when they start, but they all have a desire to learn how to walk. They try and they fall down; they get up and fall down again, the next time… yep, they fall down once more. But you know; they don’t stop trying.

Having the right attitude will make a person face the impossible, and come out victorious. So, where do these attitudes come from? More than that, can we positively affect the attitude of our children?

I have good news for you, the answer is that our attitudes, like our personality and character are mostly formed during the first five years of life; those years which are referred to as the formative years. Who has the greatest influence on the formative years of a child’s life? You’re right, you as a parent do. During those years you can instill a love for learning in your child, which will get them through all the years that follow. You can literally program them for success.

So, how do you do this? Really it’s quite simple. Children are the world’s greatest copycats. So, if you want your child to do something, all you have to do is do that thing. Without even realizing it, they’ll follow you, doing what you’re doing, as you’re doing it, even for the same reason you are doing it (without you having to directly tell them your reason).

If you have a home where all you do is sit in front of the television, vegetating; your children will grow up as couch potatoes. However, if you have a home rich in intellectual activities, such as reading, games, and interactive educational activities on the Internet, your children will grow up enjoying those things. You will have created the potential for success within their attitudes.

Filed Under: Child Care Tagged With: Aptitude, Child

You Don’t Need Their Help

February 8, 2011 By admin

Have you ever noticed how good your kids are at reorganizing and redecorating your house? It’s amazing the knack they have for finding new places to store things which you thought always had to be put away. You know, like storing pots and pans in the middle of the kitchen floor and removing all the toilet paper from the roll, so it can make your bathroom look like a plate of spaghetti.

How much time do you spend per day cleaning up stuff your kids left out? Never mind, don’t answer that question. Let’s just say that whatever time you spend, it’s too much. You’ve got enough to do, without putting things away, which had already been put away.

Child safety locks are one of the greatest helps for home organization ever invented. Yeah, I know, they really weren’t invented with that in mind; they were invented to protect the kids from danger. But, they can also be used to protect your things from the danger of your kids; specifically from the danger of your kids reorganizing what you’ve already organized.

Everyone knows that whatever a child can reach they’ll grab. So, we all take our breakables and put them out of reach. We put cleaning chemicals away where little hands can’t get them, and we put child safety latches on the cabinets under the sink. Okay, but what if we add child safety latches to the rest of the cabinets and drawers, including those in our bedroom dresser. Don’t forget the closet doors either. That will help keep the little kiddies from helping us with their redecorating ideas.

Bookcases are another area that need a little help. While putting glass doors on them might look nice, it can be expensive. We need a cheaper idea. So, buy yourself some spring tension rods for café curtains. Use these as “burglar bars” to keep the kids from pulling things off the shelf. They might complain for a moment that they can’t grab your books, but then they’ll find something else to do. Like I said, you don’t need their help.

Filed Under: Child Care Tagged With: Kids (House), Toilet paper

The World’s Best Budgeting Tip

February 3, 2011 By admin

Creating and maintaining a budget is one of the great challenges of married life. No matter how hard you try, and how careful you are, there always seems to be some extra expense to throw everything out of kilter. Many couples have said they don’t know how they’d live without their credit cards to bail them out.

Wait a minute! Living by credit cards? That’s a sure-fired recipe for financial disaster. Do you know that most families live on 110% of their income? They make up the shortfall with their credit cards. I’m not saying that they actually sit down and write up a budget that’s more than their income, what I’m saying is that they make up a budget for 100% of their income, with the assumption that they can take care of any problems with their credit cards. All that means is that they’ll be in debt forever.

The best single thing you can do to make sure you can live within your budget is cut your credit cards up and throw them away. That way, you’re not accumulating more and more debt every month. Then, because you don’t have the credit card to count on, use your hp laptop to create and write up a budget that gives you a little bit of slack every month. That slack is to take care of those unexpected expenses.

You’ll find that not having credit cards to depend upon will cause you to modify your thinking. Suddenly, you’ll find new ways to cut bills, save money, and do without things that you previously thought you had to have. You’ll be seeking ways to stretch your dollar, not ways to increase your spending limit. You’ll look at sales and say, “If that wasn’t on sale, would I still want to buy it?” instead of buying it because you can pay for it later.

The truly great thing is that once you pay off your existing credit card debt, you’ll actually have more money each and every month. That money you’ve been paying in credit card interest will become money you can pay yourself, for something you’ve been wanting.

Filed Under: Budgeting Tagged With: Budget, Credit card

Give Them a Head Start

February 1, 2011 By admin

As parents, we, not the school system are the primary educators of our children. The amount a child needs to learn, before entering kindergarten is much more than what they learn in school. At home, they learn to walk, talk, eat, dress themselves, and a myriad of other daily functions that as adults we take for granted.

The process of educating our children literally begins the moment they are born and seemingly never ends. But, how much should we teach our children at home? Are there limits? Or should we try and teach them everything we can, so that they will have an easier time when they start in school.

Studies have shown that the more a child knows when they start school, the faster and farther they can go in their education. While teaching your three-year-old their colors or the alphabet song doesn’t seem like a major intellectual feat, in fact it prepares them for the learning which they need to accomplish later on. The head start in the educational race which they gain by learning the basics at home will stay with them all through their academic years.

Nobody has yet determined the limit in how much a child can learn before entering formal education. Yet, there are numerous recorded cases of parents teaching their children to read before the age of five. There are even cases of non-genius children completing their high school education by the age of 12. How? By their parents starting to teach them early. While these cases may not be the norm, and may not be possible with every child, it is possible with some, possibly many children. The cost is one paid in time that the parents invest in teaching their child.

When you make that investment in your child’s education, you are making an investment in their future, increasing their chance of success in life. Just as in any other race, he who starts first has an advantage; why not give that advantage to your kids?

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Education

Smart Cookies

January 30, 2011 By admin

Pre-school offers children an exposure to school in a way that makes the actual reality of school reasonably harmless. In fact, many educators are able to see a major difference between children that have attended pre-school, and children that have had no exposure to a school like setting before. This is especially true of those students that simply have not learned the importance of sitting in a chair, putting away toys, or completing work sheets.

If you are considering a pre-school, or teaching your little one at home, here are some ideas to help you navigate the important things that your child will need to know. Teach your child how to listen before speaking, raising their hand when they have a question or a need, and putting their toys away. These functions will go a long way in helping your child transition to regular, or pre-school. This will also make the information they need to learn come through easier, and eliminate certain behaviors that can prohibit your child from learning many important concepts.

As always, you will need to reward your child for his or her efforts in the learning. One idea is to give them a smart cookie award. This can either be a certificate, or a literal cookie. Your child will look forward to this reward, and this will be a highlight of the day. This also re-affirms to your child that he or she has done a great job on their tasks, and they you think they are smart. Telling your child that they are smart is a good way of letting your child know that they are capable of learning, and that you are pleased with what they have learned. Establishing that early with your child is an important approval that you will find that you child needs later on during their first official years in school.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Learning, Preschool education

Proper Eating Habits In Pre-School

January 29, 2011 By admin

Pre-school offers your child a completely new world experience. Things that your child might have learned at home will change at school because there are different procedures or rules. This includes eating habits. For a child just starting pre-school, meal time is a new animal. All of a sudden a teacher is telling him or her when to eat, what to eat, and how to eat. This could come as a bit of a shock your little one because they might not be used to someone other than mommy telling them what to do. This is not a bad thing; it is just one that your child will need to get used to while being at school. Many children have the hardest transition with only have one primary meal at school a day, and this is not if they are eating breakfast at pre-school as well. Most children when they are entering pre-school for the first time, they are coming straight from the home environment, and they do not deal well with some of the changes and rules that they are required to follow, at least in the beginning.

Some children acclimate quite well to the transition. This is because many children do truly thrive in structured environments. As far as eating is concerned, the biggest change, other than the schedule, and when he or she is allowed to eat, would be that now meals have a time limit. In pre-school, which is truly the preparation prior to school, it is important that all events, including meals have a schedule. This is one more aspect that will help your child transition well into school. You may find a difference at home, during non-school days, as your child begins to adapt to the school rules, the procedures, and of course the schedule.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Child, Preschool education

Dealing With Fussy Pre-Schoolers

January 27, 2011 By admin

Once children hit the pre-school age, usually three or four years old, they tend to develop a fussier than normal behavior. This is largely in part to the change in their situation with attending pre-school. Combine that with exposure to new illness likes colds and flu, and top it with their natural growing pattern, and viola! You have one fussy child on your hands. Many times children are affected by the fact that their main caregiver has either gone back to work full-time, or is no longer caring for the child solely at home. This can be a somewhat scary transition for many children, as they have never had to deal with this before. If your child has never been in day care, or been with another individual for care during the day on a regular basis, this can be when parents see the manifestation of separation anxiety.

Separation anxiety is when a child is feeling very insecure with being left somewhere, and they’re afraid that their parents will not return for them. This last a short time, usually until they realize that their parents will return for them everyday. For some children this can interrupt their sleep schedules, which can create a fussy child due to lack of sleep. Many parents find that if they are able to prep their children for day care by introducing the idea is small steps, the separation anxiety tends to be slight, if at all. When this is the case, it will help ease the stress of a fussy child, because sleep and the idea of being left with another caregiver is not such a scary concept. If your child is remaining quite fussy, and you are not sure what to do, it may be in your best interest to investigate the facility that you have your child at, to see if there is something happening with the other children that can cause your child any undo stress.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Child, Preschool education

Your Child’s First Pet

January 27, 2011 By admin

There is nothing more enjoyable than watching your child play with his first dog. Even if he grew up around the family dogs, at some point in his life, he will ask for — and you will give him — his very own puppy. It may be one from the litter that one of the family dogs has bred, or you may take him to the pound and let him pick out his own, but it will be his dog.

Yes, for a while, the majority of the responsibility will be yours, but as he gets older, your child can take on more of it, especially the feeding and watering, and even the easier grooming, such as the brushing and combing. It will probably be during grooming time that you will notice your child — yes, little boys do this, too — checking to see how well Mr. Potato Head’s cowboy hat (if it’s a small dog) or the child’s own cowboy hat fits on a larger dog.

When you see this, you can take the opportunity to show your child all the cute pet costumes that can be bought online. When he sees that he can actually dress his pet up like a cowboy, complete with red bandanna and a hat that really fits, or even like a superhero, with the cowl and cape, he’ll enjoy dressing his pet up before taking him for his daily walk.

You’ll need to help your child choose pet costumes carefully so that they won’t be too heavy for the dog or made in such a complicated way that they actually hinder the dog’s freedom of movement. Once the appropriate ones have been chosen, though, your child will enjoy the attention his dog gets when they are running around and playing — something that dogs and children need to do often. You’ll enjoy the compliments, too, because you’ll be making these play and exercise times something the whole family can do together.

Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: Pet