Now that my kids are getting to be college age, I'm starting to see the paths of various kids diverge as they enter the real world. I've seen some kids transition from childhood to adulthood with ease, while others are clearly struggling. It's become increasingly apparent to me that there is one major thing dividing the easy breezy transitions and the struggle transitions. The Key Differentiator Kids that struggle in the real world all seem to have the same reliable characteristic to their home Keep Reading
Simple 30 Day of Gratitude Challenge for More Thankful, Appreciative Kids
Every day I try my best to instill gratitude in my children. I'm not a perfect mom by any means, but I try my best. Something I've started doing recently to teach thankfulness to my kids (especially my youngest, who is in Kindergarten) is talk to them about how wonderful it is to say THANK YOU to others. The simple act of going up to someone and saying thank you makes a huge difference to a young child. Not only do they get to experience someone smiling at them for something they did, it also teaches them good manners! A total bonus! How to Raise an Appreciative Child I Keep Reading
Free Alphabet Printables – Letters, Worksheets, Stencils & ABC Flash Cards
In our house, we are full steam ahead with letter recognition. I was excited to share recently that my four-year-old was able to learn her letters and sounds using the Leap Frog Letter Factory. When kids learn a new skill they are so excited. Just as excited as we get watching them do it. Seeing the light go in behind their eyes is such a rewarding experience. Now that she can recognize the letters and recite their sounds, we are breaking out as many alphabet learning activities as possible. Before she learned her ABCs, she didn’t want to do any sort of Keep Reading
The Best Thing You Can Do for Your Finances
As a CPA, I know how important it is to have your finances under control. Even though I have been trained to use complicated strategies to managing money, I don't actually do anything complicated when it comes to my money. In fact, there is one thing I recommend that everyone do that is quite simple, but I don't think many people do it: Open a second savings account Before you say, "That's stupid" and leave because you're angry that I made you come read this post to find out my super secret tip, hold on a second! Let's look at the reasons why I recommend this. Why Keep Reading
7 Summertime Daddy Daughter Dates She’ll Remember Forever
Daddy / Daughter bonding is so important to our family. My husband already spends a lot of time with our son by default – they are just into the same things (working with tools, doing jobs around the house, loud things, anything involving a water hose, etc). But finding things that my sweet, girly, sensitive daughters want to do with dad takes a little more planning. They don’t want to hang out while he nails two-by-fours together or fixes the weed eater, but they do want to hang out with him nonetheless! I came up with several daddy/daughter date ideas we’re going to Keep Reading
How to Make Saving Money & Making Money Fun!
I often find myself worrying about money. Do you? Do you wish you could have a life where you weren’t under financial strain? I can go weeks without really worrying about our family finances, but then I realize that I’m spending too much in one area or find myself wishing I could go on a trip I can’t really afford. That’s when I realize that we’re sometimes cruising along for the ride, not really having a full picture of our finances. And then I start to get stressed about it. This stress spills over into my relationship with my husband and taints the time I spend with my kids. My Keep Reading
7 Valuable Lessons to Teach Your Kids About Money
Today I am honored to have a guest post on the blog from personal finance writer, Anum Yoon. Take it away Anum! Without question, we want the best for our kids. The highest rated schools, the safest cars and even the healthiest lunches. We want to know they are prepared for life after high school or college. But financial education isn't included in most student curriculums. Do you know if your kids know how to budget their money? If you want your children to go to college one day, or even just have a financially sound life, prepping them for a world of real household finances should be Keep Reading
Free Printable Summer Before Kindergarten Reading List
This summer, my middle child will start Kindergarten. I'm a bit sad (for me) and excited (for her) at the same time. Before my oldest went to Kindergarten, I made a point of starting a reading program with her. She loved it and continued what we worked on when she got to school. My next little girl was a little different - she didn't want to sit still for more than 2 minutes at a time to work on ANYTHING until recently. I was basically convinced she would be entering Kindergarten without knowing more than 5 letters. Luckily, she turned things around last month and all of a sudden LOVES Keep Reading
How to Teach Your Preschooler Letters & Sounds the Easy Way
My husband and I have a running inside joke. We always joke that we're making our kids better people by employing lazy parenting. :) We aren't truly lazy, we just called ourselves lazy any time we choose to take the easy route out of a parenting situation instead of struggling to work against our kids. We much prefer to work WITH them than struggle against them. This post contains the story of how I struggled and struggled to make my preschoolers sit down and learn their letters before Kindergarten and how it became a complete breeze once I found the most perfect video about learning Keep Reading
7 Children’s Books About Vegetables & Good Eating Habits
If you have been reading the blog lately, you know that I am knee deep in a vegetable war in our home. I have had an overwhelming response to my first post about getting my kids to eat their vegetables. Many readers have asked me if I can recommend any books about healthy eating habits or eating veggies in particular other than the one I recommended in that post (Good Enough to Eat by Lizzy Rockwell). As a matter of fact, I do! We do a lot of healthy eating reading around here! Here are a few more recommendations as well as some awesome reader suggestions. Hopefully you'll be able Keep Reading
#1 Trick for Getting Kids to Eat & Enjoy Vegetables
Find out the best way to get kids to eat veggies! As a continuation of my post How to Get Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies, I'd like to share my #1 tip that has helped me get my kids to try (and LIKE!) many new vegetables. After many years of trial and error, I found one foolproof way to get my kids to try and eventually like new vegetables. It's so simple, yet it really works! Here it is: >> CREATE A FAMILY SLOGAN REGARDING VEGGIES << In addition to telling kids we aren’t allowed to say a food is yucky, I told them that, in our family, we follow the general Keep Reading
How to Get Your Kids to Eat Vegetables – Tips & Tricks That Work!
I have something earth shattering to share with you today. Ready for it? MY KIDS DON'T LIKE TO EAT VEGETABLES What?! Your kids don't either?! I'm glad we found each other. :) Joking aside, I feel like I'm fighting a constant nutrition battle around here. With all the non-nutritious treats and "food" my kids have access to at school and are exposed to by the media, I feel like I spend an unreasonable amount of time making sure they have good eating habits. Ever since my oldest was born 7 years ago (my other kids are 4 and 2), I feel like I've developed quite an arsenal of tricks to Keep Reading
Simple Way to Help Others – Hold a Winter Coat Drive
Everyone remembers to give to charity during the holidays, but we sometimes forget that January is one REALLY COLD month. A friend of mine recently held a playdate with an awesome theme. It was a winter coat drive for children at a local elementary school. She set up a normal park playdate (we were to all meet her at the park at 10 a.m. on a Thursday), but added the option to bring a coat or two with you that she would then pass along to her sister who is a teacher at the school. Winter Coat Drive & Playdate - Fun and Charitable If you'd like to hold a coat drive of your own, Keep Reading
