Kids Learn By Example

If you have ever noticed, your children like to do as you do. If you like to work on cars, they will want to see what it is all about. If you like to cook, they may want to join in. Children are small images of ourselves. What we do they will do and continue doing unless they are told and shown that it is wrong or not safe.

Small children who hit are generally doing so because they have seen a parent or someone who is close to them do so. This can be a very dangerous situation as they grow up and have not been told how bad this behavior is to do. Some children, who are spanked for being naughty, may see this as a way to show displeasure to someone who upsets them. This is where the trouble comes in. Children as small as two or three can learn from what they see and hear.

If you have a child who hits when they become angry, you should correct this problem as quickly as possible. As they get older, the behavior can escalate and cause them a great deal of trouble. If there is a home with domestic abuse, the children can see this behavior and eventually can become an abuser themselves. Parents never think a small child can be an abuser, but if they take after their parents who practice such behavior, yes a small child can display abusive patterns.

If you find yourself with a potentially dangerous and unnatural display of anger from your child, you need to give them the guidance they need. The first way to do this is to stop all abusive behavior when they are in the house and if you spank them, they should understand, it is a spanking because they are naughty. A spanking is considered one love tap, it is not meant to leave a mark or hurt.

Abuse is the number one problem with children today. They grow to do as their parents do. These is a reason why children should never be brutally spanked or watch it happening to someone else. If you stop the abuse early enough, these children can grow up to lead normal and non-abusive lives.

Some Safety Tips for Trick or Treating

The Halloween time for trick or treating is arriving again. Children are looking for costumes and the parents are shopping for candy to hand out to the neighborhood children. This is the time when the streets are full of children running around and going from house to house yelling “trick or treat”. Everyone hears some the stories that happen on Halloween night, but if you follow some safety tips, your child should be safe while out trick or treating.

Children love the dark and scary costumes, but if you have them wear a glow in the dark necklace or wristbands, they will be easier for cars and other people to see. Another safety idea would be those shoes that light up, a flashlight or a pumpkin with a light inside. Anything that will give them some light and visibility will work.

As the parent, you should plan the way the children travel around the neighborhood. There may be some houses that you do not want your children to stop at for one reason or another. You can suggest where they go and what way they take. If you feel your children are too young to listen, then you need to have an adult take them trick or treating. This is a good idea no matter what their age.

Avoid costumes that are extremely baggie and flow to the ground. Walking up stairs can become dangerous if they step on the bottom of the costume. They are going to protect their candy first. The costumes should be easy to remove and put on. Many kids are excited about Halloween and might have to make a bathroom break here and there. This is especially true since Halloween is normally cold and drizzly if you are in the north.

Emphasize the need to walk and not run. If they are wearing a mask or anything over the face, it should fit properly and have enough room to see and breathe comfortably. Most children today like to paint their faces to look really scary. This is a great idea, a bit messy but safer.

Children should only stop at houses that have porch lights on, they should not enter backyards unless with a parent or enter anyone’s house no matter what they say. Children seem to heat up in their costumes and should carry along some water in their candy bag to take a drink when they are thirsty.

The most important rule that all parents need to explain to their children, is “Not to Eat the Candy until You Check It”. This is the most important thing for trick or treating children to understand. If you are unsure of the candy or any other treat they received, throw it away immediately. There are people out there that ruin good times for everyone.

Things To Tell The Babysitter

Everyone has had to have a babysitter from time to time, but do you know what information to supply the babysitter with before you leave the house. Some parents think that a phone number where they can be reached and the bedtime is al that is needed. This might be true in a perfect world, but children today, need some extra thoughts about their care. What are some things to tell the babysitter before you leave?

List To Tell The Babysitter

The phone number you can be reached at

The address where you will be

The name of the child’s doctor

The hospital you prefer service at

Bedtime

Allowed snacks

What they watch on television

What they can and cannot play with

Where the list of phone numbers are for:

Family members

Emergency numbers

Closet neighbor

Current picture of responsible family memeber

If the child is allergic to anything

What medications they take and when

Feeding schedules

You as a parent might feel this list is unnecessary, but it is the most important information that any babysitter needs to have available. This is not only in cases something happens to the child, but what if something would happen to you.

The babysitter needs to have some contact information for relatives in the case she cannot reach you or if you are injured in an accident. Not only does the babysitter need the phone number of a family member to take the children, but also a current picture to ensure this is the person taking over the care of the children.

Children of Gay or Lesbian Parents

In this day and age, it is not impossible for people to be uninformed about gay and lesbian relationships. If you have kids, they are sometimes the brunt of horrible teasing and hateful comments. Not just by the other kids, but what happens when your child forms new friendships only to find out their friends are not allowed at your home because you are in a gay or lesbian relationship. This could cause your child to have issues about your lifestyle or it could cause them to become withdrawn from other kids. Kids of gay or lesbian relationships need to understand the hard facts of the world at an early age.

Some people are cruel and do not understand change. This can hurt the children, but parents and others in society feel this is an unwanted and unhealthy relationship and punish the children for their parent’s lifestyles. Unfortunately, if people do not take the time to meet the parents, they will never know they are just like them, except they sleep differently, they sleep with the same sex. That is the only difference. They can be busy executives with well to do reputations, but because they are gay, parents of other children forbid their child from entering the other child’s home.

Without the understanding that the children need to hear from their parents, these kids can grow to be as critical as their parents. This is where society fails the children. Gay and lesbian parents are just as good as being a parent than most parents. They have to deal with seeing their child come home with disappointment and the inability to understand why their friends cannot come over. This is when being a parent is the hardest. You have to explain your way of life compared to somebody else’s and hope your child understands.

Should you change your lifestyle and separate from your partner? The answer is simply, no, not at all. Society has to change. Life cannot be one way and one way only, it has to have variety or we will become like our neighbors. Nobody will be different and we will become bored with life. Children and adults alike have to understand that there is nothing wrong with gay and lesbian relationships. The relationship is the same loving environment that other children live in with their mom and dad. Once society accepts this way of life, the children will then be able to live a happier life with plenty of friends.

Parents Plan Your Disney Vacation

If you are planning trip to a Theme Park in Orlando, Florida, you want to plan ahead. Before you even consider making your reservations, decide on the theme parks in order that you plan to visit, check to see what they have to offer you and plan your time. If you see that one or two Theme Parks might require a little extra time, you may want to make reservations at one of the Disney Resorts that offer “The Magic Hour” passes. These passes allow you an hour before the parks opens or an hour after the park closes to enter the park and enjoy the things you may have missed during the crowds during regular operating hours. This not only gives you extra time in the parks, but saves you money because you do not have to add extra days to your vacation to enjoy everything.

If you are planning a trip to Walt Disney World, you should look for package deals that will include airfare, transportation, hotel accommodations, Theme Park tickets and meal discounts. With the savings, you will have more money to enjoy the rides and shows as well buy some souvenirs or do a little shopping in the many area boutiques. Many of the Disney Resorts offer transportation to and from the airport as well as transportation to the Theme Parks. The resorts also have meal discounts where you get a up to forty percent off a meal package that includes one snack a day, one quick meal such as a lunch and one serviced table meal. This is a great way to feed a family at Walt Disney World and the discounts are good at the resorts and the Theme Parks.

Teaching Children to Cook

The world of cooking isn’t just for adults anymore. Kids are just as interested in learning how to plan meals and prepare the actual meal themselves. Kids need a good place to go to learn some relatively easy recipes that they can start out with that will be nutritious and tasty.

The recipes should have step-by-step directions with pictures to guide you along the way. The first thing you need to learn about cooking is the terminology that goes along with cooking. In order to prepare a tasty meal, you need to know what a tablespoon is verses a teaspoon as well as other measuring devices. This makes a big difference in how your prepare foods will taste and turn out.

Kids can learn to make the simple things first, but as they graduate to larger meals, you want them to have all the advantages of having it turn out perfectly. They might start with scrambled eggs. Now yes, they have to use the stove, but that is where the parent comes in, you must teach them about safety when using the stove. This is very important before they start learning how to cook.

As they progress, kids get excited and want to make tasty treats, such as brownies or a cake. This is great experience and it also helps the bonding process with the kids and parents. Once you feel they have mastered the cakes and brownies, they might move on to main dishes. I find that Tator Tot dish or Poor Mans Casserole is the next meal that is relatively easy to learn and prepare.

There are so many easy things that kids can make and they have fun doing it. You do not need to do all the cooking yourself. You will find they actually enjoy helping out in the kitchen cooking than doing the weekly chores.

Family Computer Placement

Many parents today have a room especially for the computer. Is this the safest way to monitor what children are doing on the computer? More so, do you know what your child is looking at, or who they are talking to or what are they giving out as far as personal information?

If you answered no to just one of these questions, then you need a tighter hold on the computer your child uses. Parents should have a view of the computer screen to see what exactly the child does and who they talk too. Computer basics are an important discussion you need to have with your children before they even start using the computer.

Children need to be told about protecting their personal information. The best solution for children is that they should never give out any information without talking to you first. They should know what is acceptable to look at and what you expect from them while using the computer. Parental controls also help, but they kids can find a way around this as well. The only way to protect children, is to know what they are doing.

Understanding Some Divorce Terminology

The custodial parent is the one the child lives with for the majority of the time.

The joint custody agreement means both parents have a say in the major decisions concerning the child if consent or notice is required. The child lives with the resident custodian parent when not visiting the non-resident parent.

A non-custodial parent is one who does not have the child living with them.

Physical custody is with the parent who the child lives with.

A parent who has sole custody will make all the decisions and does not need permission from the other parent.

Emancipation is when a parent gives up all rights to the child and is know longer responsible for the support of the. This happens when a child reaches a certain age and requests the order themselves, enters the military, goes away to school or marries.

Spousal support is actually called alimony support and sometimes maintenance, which is monies paid to the ex-spouse so he or she can continue to live in the lifestyle they were accustomed to when married.

Marital assets are what has been acquire since the day you married.

Giving one valuable thing to receive something else of value is called Quid Pro Quo.

Pro Se is when you do your own representation in a divorce proceeding.

When you divide marital property and debts, you are doing an equitable distribution.

Interrogatory is when one party writes questions for the other party to answer while under oath.

When Your Child Hits Their Head

We never really think about concussions or head injuries when our kids hit their heads. The unknown is what the dangerous part about head injuries is. No matter what age you are, a child or an adult, a doctor should check any head injury that causes sickness immediately or an injury that hurts. What many people do not understand about a blow to the head is that it can cause death.

A recent death was caused by a ruptured cerebral aneurism. The young adult fell and hit her head on something. It did hurt but she attributed it to the injury itself. She felt sick the next day when she woke and attributed that to a touch of the flu. She was later found that night in her bedroom, she had passed away from a head injury.

We never think this can happen to our children or even ourselves, but it can happen to anyone. Children cannot always tell us what is wrong, even adults do not want to tell somebody how they feel. There are signs to watch for, but as a doctor will tell you, unless you do a head CT, you cannot always tell if there is a problem. It is so important to watch for head injuries. If your child does sustain a injury to the head, you should use good sense and decide if is cause for a trip to the doctor. It is always better to be safe then sorry where anyone is concerned.

What we cannot see is what can kill us. The young woman who hit her head never thought she would die, but she also did not know about a head injury and what needed to be done to see if there was a serious problem. The more children and adults that know about the dangers of head trauma, the more lives we may see saved and the heartache of the families avoided.