One Simple Secret To Your Kids’ Happiness!

Fact: 99.99% of parents spend at least 99.99% of their time worrying about the same thing – their child’s happiness. Well, at least I think those percentages are correct. Ok, ok so I made them up, but they feel about right. Right? In truth, it’s probably even closer to 100%, but how can we know for sure that our child is truly happy? And if we suspect that they’re not, how can we change that? It’s one of the biggies we parents have to face.

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Careful Now America…for They are Watching You

With the election now over and our new president announced, we find that the country is divided in an extreme manner- we’re fighting, arguing, blaming – and the whole time our children are watching…and learning from our actions. We need to remember that how we act – now and always – should demonstrate good values and morals. We want our kids to be happy and get along and work together and avoid hatred. In the following post, Kristin McCarthy discusses the importance of being a good role model and how she’s talking to her own kids about the election results.

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Beyond “Please & Thank You”… 3 Ways to Raise a Polite Toddler

The importance of saying this or doing that is figured out over the course of a lifetime, but there are some fundamentals we can try to teach our kids to get them off on the right foot. The days of children being seen and not heard are long over, so I’m working hard to make sure what comes out of my toddler’s mouth only makes me cringe about half of the time. Here are 3 ways to raise a polite toddler.

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Everything You Need to Know for the First 15 Years of Motherhood: An Extremely Abridged Guide

The best advice I got on my wedding day had nothing to do with the vows, the flowers or the groom for that matter: A friend who had been married years earlier whispered in my ear that I should make sure to pee before putting on my dress. It hadn’t crossed my mind before, but I did what she said and once I was strapped, locked and loaded into 50 pounds of lace, silk and crinoline, I realized that it would have taken an army of bridesmaids to help maneuver me through that otherwise unremarkable activity. That was 20 years ago and I have always been grateful for those simple pearls of wisdom that helped me to avoid unnecessary difficulties and frustrations. My children are teenagers now so I’ve collected quite a few of those pearls over the years. Here are the ones that I’d like to whisper in every mom’s ear:

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A Child’s “Special Time”: Giving Individual Attention

If you have more than one child, it is sometimes hard to give each child that individual attention they need and crave. One mother found a way around that obstacle. Because I think it’s such a wonderful idea, I am dedicating today’s entire column to this one suggestion. Read on to see what this mother did.

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3 Character Traits to Instill in Children

Character Education is a structured program to teach children good behavior traits. The usual traits include respect, caring, self-discipline, honesty—typical characteristics that most people would agree are indicative of a “good” person. I would like to propose a few more “soft” traits that I think should be included in every program of character education. I believe these traits are important because they create well-rounded children who are fulfilled.

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3 Simple Steps To Guilt-Free Parenting

Ah Guilt – a parent’s constant companion! From morning until night, it follows us around like a bad smell. And when I say bad, I mean smelly-nappy-left-for-days-in-a-bin-bag-already-filled-with-rotting-meat-smelly. Just so we’re clear. No matter how good a job we do or how hard we work, we just can’t seem to shake the feeling. It’s as if we’re always accompanied by an old judge banging his over-used gavel (not a euphemism) and shouting “Guilty!” at every possible opportunity.

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Other Mothers’ Regrets: Tough Lessons from Which We Can Learn

‘Regret.’ What a sad-sounding word — and for good reason. Gosh, if we could just avoid some regrets, “What a Wonderful World” (as Louis Armstrong sang) this would be. But relax, a couple of mothers have shared some of their regrets with us; if we take heed, maybe we can avoid making the same mistakes.

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