Today's Parent | Parenting Resources… Articles, Advice, Help & Tips

While adults everywhere are shifting toward a more health-conscious approach to diet, parents are left with many questions as to what is the correct approach to take in improving their children’s diets. Obesity rates are on the rise, and many children eat too much junk food, never mind eating fruits and vegetables regularly. Therefore, it becomes essential that parents take an active role in helping children to make healthy dietary choices. There are plenty of ways to do so without forcing kids to load up on brussels sprouts and broccoli.

· Fill the house with healthy snacks. One of the easiest ways to start is by setting a good example for children in the foods that you enjoy. Make sure that a well-balanced array of fruits and vegetables is part of the mix, as these foods are rich in the nutrients and vitamins that bodies need to maintain health and fight illnesses. Leave a bowl of fresh fruit on the counter so that apples, pears or oranges can be snacked on after school or when kids have the munchies. By offering healthy options over sugary and fattening snacks, kids may be more likely to kick old habits of looking to sweets to satisfy cravings.

· Monitor drinks as well as food. While many people are quick to blame snacks as the main culprit in a healthy diet, some fail to recognize that beverages – particularly soda and sugary soft drinks – can play a major role. A single can of soda typically contains 150 calories, and when three or more cans are consumed during the day, that equates to as many calories as an entire meal. You may not be aware that many juice drinks on the market today aren’t any better than the sugary sodas and sports drinks that many parents wouldn’t dream of packing in a school lunchbox – with many brands only containing a minimal amount of real fruit juice.

However, kids heading off to school with a boxed drink can enjoy varieties that are healthy – if parents ensure that the only juice boxes that they send their kids off to school with are made from 100% pure fruit juice.

· Keep track of diet away from the home. Many parents think that monitoring what their children eat away from home is a lost cause and worry that what children eat outside the home might be negating the healthy diets they enjoy under their folks’ watchful eyes. However, parents can take steps to ensure their children eat just as healthy away from the home as they do inside it.

Lunch is one of the biggest areas of concern for parents when it comes to children’s diets. In lieu of handing out money each day for typically unhealthy school cafeteria fare, parents should pack leftovers from the previous night’s dinner for their children. Leftover chicken cutlets, for instance, can be made into healthy and delicious chicken wraps for the next day’s lunch.

There are many unhealthy food temptations lurking at school, whether vending machine snacks, or fattening cafeteria food selections. That is why it is important to send kids to school with a healthy lunch, one that includes a juice box with 100 percent fruit juice.

· Encourage activity. While a well-rounded diet is a start to a kid’s health plan, parents should realize that exercise is also an important component. Encourage your kids to engage in physical activity each day, whether playing with the dog in the yard, starting a pick-up game of whiffle ball with the neighborhood kids or participating in a team sporting activity sponsored by school. At least 30 to 60 minutes of sustained activity each day can ensure a healthy weight and peak physical condition.

To learn more about encouraging healthy food habits in your children, go to www.appleandeve.com.

Another tragic example of parental corporal punishment that spiraled out of control occurred recently in Phoenix, AZ, when a six-year-old boy named Jacob was beaten severely by his parents. Because of the extent of his injuries (which were likely caused by a belt buckle and possibly a wire hanger according to the police), Jacob isn’t expected to survive.

Over the years countless innocent children like Jacob have been disfigured, maimed and even killed by their parents who believed that such harsh physical discipline was somehow justified.

Physical punishment of children is never justified and is more than an occasional pat on the behind.

Corporal punishment includes pinching, shaking, slapping, punching, spanking, hitting, and beating children with an object. Unfortunately, national surveys have shown that over the past twenty years, more than 90 percent of parents with small children admit to using one or more of these forms of corporal punishment.

Studies have shown that using these methods can result in serious and tragic longer-term effects such as the children becoming abusive parents themselves, which may well be the situation with the parents involved in the Phoenix case.

So what can be done instead?

1. PREVENTION – Probably the most effective alternative to hitting a child is prevention. By creating a “child proof” environment, where things are out of reach, children are less likely to get into trouble

2. SHOW DISAPPOINTMENT - Let the child know that you are disappointed in his or her behavior. Explain what your expectations are. Make sure he or she understands right from wrong and what the rules are. Explain the consequences if the inappropriate behavior continues.

3. TAKE AWAY A PRIVILEGE - If a child misbehaves after being warned, a privilege such as watching television or playing on the computer can be taken away or restricted. Other privileges include playing with a certain toy. Never withhold food.

4. GIVE A “TIME-OUT” – Sending a child to his or her room is not an appropriate “Time-Out.” Instead, select an area that is isolated from others, such as a certain chair in the corner of a room or hallway. Make sure the child knows why he or she is being given a “Time Out” and how long it will last.

5. CATCH THEM BEING GOOD – Whenever a child does something good (helps set the table, brush teeth, speaks politely, etc.) be sure to react with praise and other forms of acceptance of those behaviors. The more parents respond positively, the less likely children are to misbehave.

6. CREATE A CONTRACT (especially with teenagers) – Write down what you want your teen to do (clean up his/her room, etc.) and indicate what you will do in exchange (stop talking about his friends that you don’t like, etc.). Be specific in indicating what you want to see and what you will or will not do. Sign the contract.

7. BE EMPATHETIC - In words and actions, show your children that you understand the difficulties they are facing (other kids calling them names, the loss of a pet, etc.). Feeling understood helps children feel good about themselves, and such feelings lessen the times they misbehave.

8. TAKE A PARENTING COURSE - All of these alternatives to hitting children have fine tuning points, which are best learned with other parents who are trying to do the best for their children and create harmony in the home. Take the time and effort to sign up for a parenting skill-building course at your church, college, school or local agency. It’s the best continuing education you can get and it sets a great example for your children.

Let’s give our children the same right to be free of physical punishment that we adults have been reserving for ourselves. Human beings – young or old – are not for hitting.

Kerby T. Alvy, Ph.D. is a clinical child psychologist and the Executive Director and Founder of the Center for the Improvement of Child Caring (CICC). He is the author of two recent books, “The Soulful Parent: Raising Healthy, Happy and Successful African American Children” <http://ciccparenting.org/CatalogItemList.aspx?c=121&cid=> , and for all parents, “The Positive Parent: Raising Healthy, Happy and Successful Children, Birth-Adolescence” <http://ciccparenting.org/catalogitem.aspx?ci=659&cid=&c=94> ; for more info, see www.ciccparenting.org.

It’s 5:00 p.m. Do you know where your dinner is? Most moms would admit they don’t and so begins the weekday kitchen “rush hour.”

Use these tips to introduce fun and organized ways to eat as a family. With the following tips, time-management tricks and technology aids, easier meal preparation can help the whole family get a great dinner report card.

Breakfast For Dinner

A leisurely breakfast of omelets, pancakes and sausage is more often seen in the movies than at your busy breakfast table. Try these as a dinner dish when family has time to enjoy them.

Finger Foods

Make appetizer trays of fruit, vegetables, cheese and crackers, mini sandwiches, hot dogs on sticks-anything that can be tackled by hand…literally. Mimic your favorite family restaurant’s best appetizers as a starting place.

Pasta Presto

Let your kids pick the pasta shape; you pick the sauce and, presto, you can check a weeknight off your list.

Some Assembly Required

Whether it’s pizza, tacos or baked potatoes, set up a topping bar where family members can create their own version of each. Meal assembly franchises give families the ability to prepare a month’s worth of healthy meals in advance. Try this at home by setting up your own little assembly line by loading up ordinary plastic storage containers with all of the necessary ingredients. This way everyone can pitch in.

Soup & Sandwich

So many restaurants offer a soup and sandwich special-it’s a hearty, healthy and wholesome combo. Many brands offer nutritious soups and recipes on the back of the can, making dinner a snap.

Sunday Expressway

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. Treat Sunday like the main event and make as many meals as you can in one afternoon to fulfill an entire week’s menu. It may sound ambitious, but it’s amazing how cooking when you’re relaxed is a great deal more enjoyable than during the midst of a weekday “rush hour.” Prepare two, three or even five meals in one afternoon in between watching the kids play in the backyard, reading the Sunday paper and cleaning the house.

Kids Cook

Place your kids’ 10 favorite meal menus in a clearly marked folder and let them choose what to make. Making life even easier, the appliance you trust most for children to use-the microwave-has received an update to cook like an oven, many have a no-brainer kid’s menu with preprogrammed menu items such as chicken nuggets, pizza and hot dogs.

Busy parents know the school year means a packed planner filled with everything from recitals to soccer games to parent-teacher conferences. As time gets stretched, they often fall back on routines, one of which is what they pack for lunch.

Everyone needs some shortcuts to help during the busy school season, especially when it comes to packing a lunch. But it’s important to give your kids variety, make it fun and filled with favorites so you can feel confident your kids will eat their lunch and stay nourished throughout the day. Kid-favorite sandwiches always do the trick.

Following are some tips to help parents pack a lunch they know their kids will love and they can feel good about sending in their backpacks.

Get Kids Involved: Help your kids get excited about lunchtime by including them in the process. Invite them along to the grocery store and have them pick out nutritious foods from each food group. They’ll be more likely to eat foods they picked out, and they might just learn about the food groups during the process.

Support the Sandwich Standbys: Remember the sandwich classics that your kids love and you know they’ll look forward to eating. The nutrients it provides will help your kids feel full throughout the day.

Save Time: Use the weekends to think ahead about packing lunches. Cut up vegetables and fruit, pre-make sandwiches and stock up on healthy snacks so there’s minimal preparation in the morning.

Make it Fun: Break out of a lunchtime rut by brainstorming creative ways to capture your kids’ appetites and attention. Encourage them to “play with their food” by using cookie cutters to create sandwiches in fun shapes or wrap their sandwich in a whole grain tortilla and cut into bite-sized pinwheel pieces. Of course, including a quick note or joke will brighten any child’s day.

Take a Dip: Kids love to dip their foods, so let them have fun with it. First combine an assortment of veggies like carrots, grape tomatoes and red bell peppers. Then include a dip of your choice like low-fat dressing, hummus or yogurt for some dipping fun.

Follow these great tips to help make your children’s back-to-school check-ups better, simpler, and safer.

1. Get your forms in order! Have all the school, daycare, and athletic health forms you need for each child so you know which doctors to see and what paperwork you will need to have signed.

2. Call ahead to schedule the appointments. If weekdays are a problem for you, find out if the doctor is available on weekends.

3. Give your child a head’s up. You may want to prepare him or her for what will happen (or not) at the doctor’s office.

4. Make a list of important information and bring it with you.  This includes:

• What medicines your child is taking. Include prescription and over-the-counter medications, vitamins, herbs, and supplements (such as protein drinks).

• Important facts about your child’s health. Include allergies, chronic illnesses, and any past surgeries, broken bones, etc.

• Questions or concerns that you – or your child – may have about his or her health.

Hint: Make three copies of this list: One for you, one for your doctor, and one to give the front desk for your child’s file updates.

5. Check that your child’s records are correct and up to date. The lists you just made should square with what is in your child’s file.  This is especially important if your child sees more than one doctor or has been to a hospital or an emergency department.

6. Communicate with your child’s doctor! Speak up when you have something to say — you are your child’s advocate!  Ask questions whenever you don’t understand something, whether it is a medical term or medication directions.

7. Take notes so you don’t forget what your doctor tells you.

8. Make sure you (and your child if he or she is old enough) understand important information such as medication directions, how to use an inhaler or other medical devices, or what to do if your child is referred to another doctor.

• Ask your doctor to repeat instructions if you don’t get them the first time.

• Check your understanding by saying, “Okay.  Let me make sure I’ve got this right,” and repeat back to your doctor what he or she just said in your own words.

• If you go home and realize you have a question, contact your doctor immediately and ask for clarification.

9. Get your child’s weight and height. This is great information to have as many medications are often given by weight.  NOTE: these numbers can change throughout the year, so use them only as guidelines.

10. Finally – don’t forget to get those school, daycare, and athletic forms signed!

Bonus Tip: Do you know your child’s blood type? If not, this is a great time to find it out!

Copyright © 2011 Say Ah!, Inc.

Contributed by Say Ah!, Inc. Visit www.justsayah.org for more tips and information. Stay in touch on Facebook and Linked In at Say Ah! Follow us on Twitter at SayAhOrg.

As all parents know, going to college is a huge investment – in many cases, as much as buying a house. Along with the costs come a number of financial risks.

Imagine that your child arrives on campus and soon has their wallet stolen – and, along with it, his or her identity. Or that a few weeks into the fall semester, he or she contracts the flu and needs to leave school.

The following list highlights key risk areas for students:

Property loss: Many students and their parents assume that the students’ property is automatically covered by either the college’s or the landlord’s insurance policy, or under the parents’ homeowners insurance – this is not the case. Homeowners insurance only fully covers students living at home, and student property insurance usually only covers on-campus property.

Medical withdrawal: Many colleges and insurance providers now offer tuition insurance, an insurance that can reimburse the costs of attendance if a student is forced to withdraw for medical reasons, as well as protect the ability of the tuition payer to maintain their tuition or student loan payments in the case of unforeseen disability, death, sickness or involuntary unemployment, depending on the policy. Many policies, however, are either limited in what they cover or expire early into the semester.

Identity theft: Young adults between 18 and 24 are the group with the highest risk for ID theft, according to a recent survey by Javelin Strategy & Research. The average amount of money stolen per victim comes close to $5,000. Affordable insurance products are available to protect against this risk as well and are another smart buy college students should consider.

Health insurance: All students are now required to have health insurance. If the students aren’t already covered under their parents’ policy, this can be a lengthy and expensive procedure. And more often than not, the off-the-shelf plans colleges offer are not competitive. The right product can save students time, grief and money.

Contributed by NGI, a national specialty insurance marketing firm based in Boston, MA and Phoenix, AZ, focused on the collegiate market, offering a range of products to meet the needs of students. More information is available on their website at www.nextgenins.com.

Parents, children and motorists should be aware of proper school bus safety protocols to make sure the children riding on school buses have a happy and safe school year.

Here are some safety rules children should follow:

School Bus Safety Tips

• Leave home early. When you rush, you tend to forget traffic safety rules.

• Walk on the sidewalks wherever available.

• When waiting for the bus, stay away from the street. And don’t play around because you will be distracted and may not follow traffic safety rules.

• Have no drawstrings, toggles or key chains on clothes or backpacks. These can get caught on bus handrails and doors.

• Grab the handrail so you don’t trip on the stairs.

• Find a seat and sit down immediately.

• You can talk quietly to your friends and laugh but don’t scream-it distracts the driver.

• Don’t put your head, arms, papers or anything out the window.

• Wait for the bus to stop completely before you stand up.

• Take 10 giant steps away from the bus when you get off.

• If you drop something near the bus, don’t pick it up. If you stoop down to pick something up, the driver may not see you. Instead, ask the driver for help.

• If you have to cross the street, wait until the driver signals to you that it is OK.

• Stay away from the bus wheels at all times-especially the back wheels, where it’s hard for the driver to see you.

As hundreds of thousands of parents send their kids off to college in the coming months, many of them will be wondering if it marks the last time their children will be living under their roofs.

According to a study conducted by Twentysomething Inc., a consultant firm specializing in young adults, 85 percent of the class of 2011 will wind up moving back in with mom and dad once they get their degrees. The cause? A combination of a shrinking entry level job market and crushing college loan debt.

The average student accumulates over $23,000 in student loan debt and $4,000 in credit card debt during their years as an undergraduate student. All these stats basically tell the same story: our next generation of college graduates will enter the next phases of their lives in a personal finance hell composed of a combination of crushing debt and poor credit.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Below you’ll find a few tips aimed specifically at helping those who are just entering college or about to graduate establish and keep a good credit rating. They include:

· New Credit Cards – Credit card companies love to hammer new students and new graduates with seemingly generous offers of unsecured credit cards. Don’t take the bait. There are other ways to establish credit without opening yourself up to the slippery slope of introductory interest rates that change after 6 months or the temptation to use that credit to live above your means.

· Authorized Users – If your parents are financially responsible (not always the case sometimes) and pay their bills on time every month, I suggest that you be added as an authorized user on their credit card. Make sure to provide your personal information and social security number to the credit card company so that your credit history report will reflect transactions performed on this account. In about six months, after you’ve learned with the authorized user training wheels how to manage your credit reliably and maintained a responsible payment history, you will receive your own credit card offers.

· Secured Credit Card – The temptation will be to apply for an unsecured credit card, but that’s still not wise or necessary to establish good credit and good habits. Instead, apply for a secured credit card at your local bank. With a secured credit card, you place a nominal amount of money in a savings account that cannot be withdrawn as it is used as recourse to pay back your debts in case you do not pay them yourself. In essence, your spending limit on your secured card is exactly the amount you place in the linked savings account – hence, your debt is secured by the money in your account. Just like a normal credit card, you will receive a monthly statement to pay off a portion or all of your debts but meanwhile your payment history will be reported to the credit bureaus. Within months you will receive offers for other unsecured credit cards. It’s not necessary to have more credit cards than you need, because not only will it present temptation, but it may also lower your credit rating.

The bottom line here is that once you have use of a credit card, you want to pay your bills on time, keep your balances low, don’t take on more credit than you need and if you’ve missed a payment you should get current and stay current. Good credit can be your best financial friend as you go through life and bad credit can be the ball and chain that drags you down.

Gabe Albarian, a 28 year-old businessman has worked in real estate sales, finance, and investment for nearly 10 years and has done extensive consulting work in personal finance for both individuals and groups. He earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles and is currently pursuing his Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

Most people have a preferred way to learn. Some learn best by listening, some have to observe every step, while others have to do it to learn it. The fact is that individuals need all three modalities to truly commit information to memory: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. While most are typically stronger in one area than another, the trick is figuring out the preferred modality and capitalizing on strengths. Take a few minutes to complete this informal inventory. The answers may surprise you.

Learning Styles Self-Assessment

1. In order to memorize information, such as the spelling of a difficult word or locker combination, you:

1. Practice over and over again.

2. Recite the word or numbers out loud.

3. Visualize the word or numbers in your head.

2. When you want to learn new song lyrics, you:

1. Dance around and play air guitar to the beat.

2. Sing along to the radio.

3. Download the lyrics and read them.

3. While you study, you like to:

1. Walk around and review your notes.

2. Discuss the material with your parents or friends.

3. Read your notes or textbook independently.

4. When preparing to go somewhere new, you prefer to:

1. Walk, drive, or bike the route ahead of time.

2. Listen to someone tell you how to get there.

3. Look at a map.

5. When you get a new gadget that needs to be assembled, you:

1. Just start putting it together.

2. Ask someone to read you the directions.

3. Read all of the steps before you begin.

6. If you have to work on a project with others, you would rather:

1. Help to build and construct a model.

2. Participate in group discussions and brainstorm ideas.

3. Draw graphs or scribe group notes.

7. You tend to like classes that include:

1. Hands-on experiments.

2. Lots of lectures.

3. Reading assignments.

8. When studying a play in English class, you prefer to:

1. Act it out.

2. Listen to the play read by others.

3. Read the play silently to yourself.

9. When you are able to choose a project and present it to your class, you’d rather:

1. Create a working replica.

2. Give a presentation.

3. Create a poster.

10. When you are distracted, you most often find yourself:

1. Fidgeting or playing with your pencil.

2. Listening to or participating in conversations.

3. Doodling on your notebook paper.

11. When you work at solving a challenging problem, do you:

1. Make a model of the problem or walk through all of the steps in your mind?

2. Call a few friends or talk to an expert for advice?

3. Create a list of the steps you need to take and check them off as they’re done? Read More

Back to school is just around the corner. For many toddlers, it’ll be the first day of preschool and the very first day they’re away from mom and dad. My oldest daughter is starting preschool in the fall and just the thought of her going off to school for the first time gets me teary eyed.

How will I handle dropping her off at her first day of preschool? Better yet, how will she deal with her first day? If I know my daughter, I won’t be the only teary-eyed person at the classroom door. Not only will there be some weeping, but possibly a tantrum or two while I peel her off my leg and try to make a get away.

To help make a smooth transition into the school year, I sat down with veteran moms and asked them how to survive the first day of school.

1. Tour the school with your child before the first day.

A tour will help your preschooler become familiar with her surroundings before getting dropped off by mom or dad. While visiting, meet the teacher, visit your child’s cubby, and get introduced to other children in the class. Make sure to act excited about everything you see. Your enthusiasm will help your child become more enthusiastic about school.

2. Go shopping with your child.

Yes, brave the toddler tantrums, grab your coupons, and take her to the store. Getting your child involved in picking out their own school supplies, backpack and clothes will help her mentally prepare for school. Give her the freedom to choose those gaudy, pink, sparkly shoes she loves. Tell her that she can wear them to school and show them off there. You can also have your child help you cut out or search for coupons for her school supplies. She’ll enjoy finding coupons for her items and will learn a simple lesson in savings. For a full list of places you and your child can search for coupons click here.

3. Let Her DIY

On the first day of school, allow her to pick out her outfit, help pack her lunch, and prep her school bag. Remember to be over enthusiastic about all her choices and be super duper EXCITED ABOUT EVERYTHING BECAUSE IT’S HER FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!!!

4. Saying Goodbye

Now for the hard part — leaving your precious, screaming, teary-eyed child at school. Give her a hug, kiss and a big smile at the classroom door. Wave goodbye and walk away. Don’t show any hesitation because, if she sees your uncertainty, it’ll make her uncertain about staying there.

5. Take It Easy Afterwards

The first day of school is over, but there’s one more tip for surviving the first day. Don’t plan on doing anything after school. Your child will likely be exhausted, so take it easy. Plan a nap and put together an easy dinner. The rest of the day, talk about what she experienced during her first day. Be upbeat about everything she tells you; remember she’ll have many more school days when you’ll both want to share the excitement.

Maisie Knowles is the founder of BestBabyStuff.com, a website reviewing only the best baby products. She earned a B.A. in Communications from the University of Colorado in 2003 and currently spends most of her time at home with her two young girls.