Archives for Positive Parenting Tips

Fun Games Your Babysitter Can Play with Your Kids

When you leave your kids with a babysitter, your top priority is to ensure they’re safe while you’re away from home. While worrying is just part of being a parent, since you’re the type of person who takes as much time as necessary to find the right babysitter, the reality is that your kids are going to be absolutely fine.

Although safety is your top priority for a babysitter, you also want to make sure that they’re able to get along with your kids. Once someone has sat for you a few times, your kids will actually look forward to seeing them again. But regardless of how great of a sitter you hire, when they come over for the first time, the odds of your kids immediately embracing the sitter’s presence are slim to none.

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Pregnant: 6 Ways to Avoid Getting All Hot and Bothered This Summer…

Whether it’s your first baby or your fifth, being pregnant in the middle of summer is never a huge laugh. Not only have you had to give up drinking, late nights, blue cheeses and your job (basically, fun), but your much-longed-for baby is taking up a huge amount of space behind your ribcage. Some days, you probably feel like getting in the car and driving to your parents’ for a cry and a meal that you haven’t cooked yourself. However, all is not lost. If you’re feeling like you’re living on the edge some days, here is a checklist of ways to chill out…

Be kind to yourself. You’re putting your body under a huge amount of emotional and physical strain – it’s perfectly acceptable to have days where you feel like you’re being ambushed by your feelings. If you’re finding that work is becoming an impossible daily strain, talk to your line manager/manager about the possibility of leaving early. As uncomfortable as this might sound, there is probably someone keen who’d love to cover your role over your maternity leave, so you might find this is easier to arrange than you’ve thought.

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6 Online Photo Editors: Which One Is Best For You?

An online photo editor is a tool that allows you to edit photos directly in your web browser, rather than in other graphic software programs. These online tools have improved greatly in the last several years. Many come very close to replicating a traditional software program with their complexity. Most of these tools can thank Adobe’s constantly-improving Flash programming for their widening capacity and new abilities to deal with the ever-larger pictures from digital cameras and phones.

Zoom in on HTML photo editors
One main benefit of using an HTML-based photo editor is that it does not require Flash to be installed on your computer. Lunapic has been around for a very long time, but over the years it has improved greatly, much like its neighbors. Lunapic uses an HTML platform for editing, supports pictures up to 4MB and a max resolution of 1330×1330. Lunapic offers some very creative photo effects, and it can run on computers without Flash. Phixr is another tool able to run on computers without Flash. It has no limit to the physical size of a picture, but is limited to 1440×1080 resolution. It assuages privacy concerns by not keeping a picture for very long, which allows edits to sensitive photos without worry. Pixenate also runs without Flash, supports a 10MB picture size, a 1600×1200 resolution and offers one of the better smile-whitening tools.

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10 Last-Minute Father’s Day Gifts on a Budget

Father’s day is a few days away and you are broke. Here are 10 gift ideas under $10 to make June 17th special without breaking the bank.

Golf App

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Father’s Day: A Gift to Consider, A Day to Remember

June is here and with that comes an important day. I’ve been wondering for the gift my dad would appreciate. It has been a custom to celebrate Father’s day, and we’ve been doing so for as long as I can remember. We would begin by cooking dad’s favorite meal, and end the day with a little something for dad, a token of our appreciation for all that he’s done for me, and for our family. Last year, I remember giving him a personalized mug, and he’s been using it for his coffee ever since.

I haven’t decided on what to give him this year, but I’ve got a few ideas in mind. I’ve always wanted to give my dad a gift that would remind him of me, even in just a small way. I try to make sure there’s that hint of “me-ness” when I give him a gift on father’s day. I want to be able to show him, through my gift, how much I appreciate him. Unexpectedly, pondering on what to give my dad made me think about how this particular celebration came about.

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3 DIY Ideas for a Nature-themed Birthday Party

Themed birthday parties are a lot of fun for the whole family and they create a magical environment no matter where the party is held. One of the best and easiest party themes that children of all ages love is a nature-themed birthday party. By using everyday items from home combined with random additions found outside, it’s possible to create a complete DIY party that even the children can help out with.

Signs and Banners

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First Live Lip-Dub Marriage Proposal (Video)

Two Reasons to Understand Family Law

What is family law?  Family law is a particular branch of the legal field that relates to families, home life, marriage, inheritance, child custody, divorce, and similar subjects.  Cases brought to the attention of a family law firm often encompass many of these subjects, which is why most of these firms will provide an extensive menu of services to clients like you.  For instance, if you are filing for divorce, it may be necessary to speak to a lawyer about how the divorce process will impact any jointly-owned property.  You can find out how your joint assets will be split and about how that will impact matters like taxes.  It’s also important to discuss issues such as alimony, child support payments, and child custody.  You might not have considered all these issues when you and your former spouse chose to divorce, but you can’t afford to ignore these questions for long.  You need answers and so you need the services of a family law firm.

A family law firm can assist you with the adoption of children.  Blended families often have one or more step-children that the father or mother’s new spouse would like to adopt.  Adoption is one of the most important parts of creating a blended family and there are many reasons why this process should begin as quickly as possible.  There are many legal rights that a parent has with regards to their children that a step-parent doesn’t.   Public schools usually have very strict rules about who is allowed to visit a child at school or pick them early from class.  If a step-parent has no legal ties to a child, the school may be prohibited from allowing the child to leave with them.  This could become a serious problem if the legal parent is sick, injured, or otherwise unable to get the child themselves.  Similarly, if one of the children in the blended family is in the hospital and needs care, it’s usually the case that only a legal parent can authorize treatment.  It’s clear that adoption is a necessary process that should be undertaken as soon as possible after a parent remarries.

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7 Ways To Give Your Kids an Early Edge In a Tech World

credit: gretchichi

As technology continues to advance at an alarming pace, it’s not just the traditional old folks who might be cut out of the e-loop, but children who don’t have access to changing technology might be far behind their peers. The term “digital divide” refers to any gap between people who have access to the latest technology and those who don’t, usually created by disparities in wealth, education or geography. For example, a study conducted in San Francisco last year found that out of 1,400 families, 47% of parents making $75,000 or more had downloaded apps for their kids, while only 14% of parents making less than $30,000 had done the same. However, it’s not just access to technology but a fruitful relationship with technology that can guide children to future happiness and success.

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The Best Mobility Devices For Children

For disabled children, mobility devices can mean a kind of freedom that would not otherwise be known. Mobility devices come in a range of forms however, with some, such as wheelchairs, being well-known, while others are more specific to certain conditions.

Walkers.

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Do You Know Where Your Children Are? Pre Play Date Advice for Parents

Since 1971, a nightly public service announcement has appeared on endless

Image credit: conversationsonthefringe.com

American television screens which poses the question; ‘Do you know where your children are?’ This announcement originated on the ABC-affiliate WKBW-TV network (but has been employed by many channels since its inception) and usually airs at 10 or 11pm, depending on localised youth curfews and each channel’s target audience demographic.

Do You Know Where Your Children Are? Pre Play Date Advice for Parents continued »

Music to Feed Your Mind

You’ve known forever that music makes your heart go pitty pat, right? Did you know it makes your brain do the same? It’s true. When we hear music with a great beat it’s all but impossible to keep from toe-tapping, finger-rapping, gum-snapping in time to the beat. The thing is, the brain likes to try to copy the rhythms that it hears. People have understood for millennia that music provides a way to manipulate your brain into different states of consciousness.

The problem is, the beats we use in even the coolest music aren’t at the right frequencies. The brain has its own natural rhythm, which can be seen in the brainwaves it emits naturally — those are the signals an EEG machine detects and records. When your brain changes mood, what really changes are the combinations of rhythms of the brainwaves it emits.  For example if you’re asleep — you do sleep, right? — the brain’s frequency is a lot slower than when you’re, say, playing some one-on-one on the basketball court.

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Virtual Schooling: Could It Be for You?

“Over just the past decade, online learning at the K-12 level has grown from a novelty to a movement.” – National Education Policy System, “Online K-12 Schooling in the U.S.”  October 2011

A movement is right! Recent numbers show 250,000 students were enrolled in full time virtual school programs last year. That’s a paltry percentage of the 56 million kids in Kindergarten through 12th grade in the U.S., but with a growth rate of about 40% over the last three years, we have more than a growth spurt on our hands. Indeed, this is a movement.

Virtual Schooling: Could It Be for You? continued »

Memorable Mother’s Day Gift Ideas for Your One-of-a-Kind Mom

As children, many of us took the love and care we received for granted. It was just expected that our moms would feed us, protect us, do our laundry, and listen to our woes. We may not have thought twice about how many times mom put her own needs second so she could focus on her kids’ needs. We may even have felt disappointed or deprived in our childhoods.  But as adults, we have an opportunity to appreciate our moms for everything they’ve been to us. We can step back and get it that our moms have poured so much of themselves into helping us develop into the people we are now.

One of the best ways to show your appreciation for everything your mom had done for you, is to give her gifts that are unique and personal. How about if this Mother’s Day you give back to your mom something she’s given freely to you for years and years — time, attention, and unconditional love!

Memorable Mother’s Day Gift Ideas for Your One-of-a-Kind Mom continued »

The Top 5 Places to Meet Mickey Mouse at Walt Disney World

One of the best parts of a Disney vacation is meeting the main mouse himself—but Mickey can be hard to find if you don’t know where (and when) to look. Walt Disney World offers several different ways that you can meet Mickey, so you can choose the location that best suits your schedule—or visit them all.

5. Town Hall in the Magic Kingdom

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