Kids
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Money :: Saving On Summer Fun
Saving On Summer Fun Those long, hot, lazy days are just around the corner. Have you planned how your family will spend them? Maybe more importantly, have you figured out the cost of your plans? There are about two months of days to fill during summer time off from school and kids want to be entertained every waking hour. No matter the size of your family, entertainment can be costly. With the average price of a movie ticket around $10 a family of four can expect to pay nearly $100 for a trip to the theater. I chose the movie theater example because it was a lower cost example…
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Inspirational Mom :: WordGirl Creator Dorothea Gillim
I love how life can be so serendipitous (a word you would find on WordGirl). While walking to breakfast at the PBS annual meeting that I attended this month as part of their PBS Kids Ambassador Program, I happened to be walking next to a woman who was also going to breakfast. We started talking and turns out she is the Executive Producer of Curious George but she explained that her “baby” is WordGirl. I literally stopped in my tracks as we are big fans of WordGirl! I told her how my sister-in-law dressed up my niece as Captain Huggyface and her older daughter as WordGirl one year for Halloween. It was…
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Three Things to Teach Your Kids About Being Mindful
Three things to teach your kids about being mindful “Mindfulness” is about being in touch with the present moment — paying attention to what is happening now – your thoughts, your feelings and your way of being. Practicing mindfulness is a powerful tool for creating a sense of well-being, for managing stress, and for creating overall good health. Therefore, it is an important skill to teach our kids. There are three things to teach your kids about being mindful: First teach them to look for the “grungies”. Grungies are “negative feelings” such as fear, anxiety, frustration, and worry which often come from thoughts about the past…
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Recipe :: Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers
Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers: As a kid, one of our family’s stand-by dinners was stuffed bell peppers. My mom learned how to make them from my dad who learned from his ma so this is a true family recipe passed down not by written recipe but by lessons in the kitchen. The peppers were green and stuffed with a ground beef, onion, white rice and chili powder concoction. While the stuffing itself was tasty, especially because of the grated cheddar on top, the bell pepper for me was merely a throw away container. In typical picky eater fashion, I wouldn’t touch it. The meal wasn’t complete if there wasn’t…
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Community :: Honoring Memorial Day
Many of us will be celebrating Memorial Day with our friends and family and enjoying some down time. I plan to relax, pick up a bit (if I am so inspired) and enjoy this time with my family. But I also plan to talk to my daughter in an age-appropriate manner about the true meaning of Memorial Day and why we celebrate the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. We are fortunate that the men in our immediate family who fought in previous wars (WWII Veterans, Vietnam War Veterans) came back home, but it is so very important to honor all those who did…
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Wellness :: Kids and Healthy Food Choices
Being a parent can a frustrating struggle, especially when you are engaged in a battle to get your rambunctious toddler, child, or preteen to eat healthier foods. We’ve all been there at one time or another. At the end of our rope and still the little tyke screws up his nose at the nutritious peas that you have provided him. Then comes the demand for curly fries cooked in the deep fryer. Fear not—if you begin young enough—there are methods to instill a healthy eating mindset. Below I will provide some methods that can be used to guide your children toward healthier foods—as well as a few methods that…
