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One of the most important things you need to do as a parent is have life insurance. This is so imortant for your protecting your kids. Things Happen you just flat out need to realize it. Its not to say your signing away your life, it is so cheap these days to cover an average family. Even if you are older and have not done anything about this. Here is a great site that I have found you should check it out www.profam.com.  You may be surprised at the number of companies offering special rates on term life insurance for people over 50. It is a common misconception that insurance companies do not like to insure people in their fifties and older. This is not true. With people’s lifespan increasing every year, insurance companies are more than happy to cover those 50+. AARP is perhaps the largest of these companies. AARP offers memberships for $12.50 per year. The membership is for both the person who is 50 and his or her spouse or partner. Membership with AARP offers many benefits including discounted policies for term life insurance for people over 50.

http://www.profam.com/insurance/over50.asp

No doubt that you, like most parents, have quite an arsenal of parenting tips and techniques. It does not seem to take long for the average parent to get quite a toolbox to access whenever something pops up with one of their children. Many of us don’t think of ways to shake things up, however, and we can become quite predictable. This can give our kids a better chance at figuring us out and getting a step ahead. Instead of always pulling out the same techniques and consequences for the same misdemeanors, how about mixing things up and combining techniques for effectiveness and the element of surprise?

For example, your child comes home late or forgets to call so you ground him or her. Or perhaps you use grounding and restriction as the end-all disciplinary technique for everything from a messy room to missed curfew. How about shaking things up? What if the child had to do a chore for every minute he or she was late or had to spend time doing extra-credit work to make up for an infraction. Maybe doing the grocery shopping or helping clean the garage could be a consequence of something else too?

Instead of always using consequences, you might consider other techniques-a surprise reward for doing something that you didn’t have to harass him about or a trip out to dinner for no reason at all. You can also combine different techniques if you are feeling really creative. Keeping an element of surprise in your parenting techniques not only helps you stay a step ahead-but it may also help you to feel more effective or at least keep you (or your child) from getting bored and feeling ineffective. Instead of allowing yourself to be so predictable, explore some new ways of combining techniques and see if your parenting isn’t more influential.

http://parenting.families.com/blog/combining-different-parenting-techniques

Parenting is a tough job, no doubt about it. Parents face many situations that they are not familiar with and don’t know how to handle. Is this the child’s fault? Of course not. Society is quick to place blame on “bad kids” and the “problem teenagers.” Using the example of the somewhat recent phenomenon of a very disturbingly high number of children/teenagers being diagnosed with ADHD/ADD, if we examine the situation closely it is truly the parents that are the “problem.” Children simply display the behavioral symptoms of a chaotic family life.

Most kids love pets of all sorts; dogs, cats, hamsters–they want all of them and, regardless of age or ability, they promise to take care of them. If you are parents I’m sure you’ve heard this plea from your kids. Pets are great for kids; they learn a lot from having them. They learn what it is like to have someone or something depend on you. That is a big responsibility for a child and why it is crucial, before agreeing to the pet, for parents to educate their kids on how to care for their animal. Most of the time that means the parent needs to do research about the pet. Take your time when deciding on a pet for your kids and family. This is very important for both you and the pet. Some things you need to consider are:

- Can I afford it-not just the initial purchase but the ongoing needs (i.e. food, vet bills, etc.)

- Where will it live?

- Does it need care daily (during working/school hours)?

- Does it fit our lifestyle?

- How long does the animal live?

It is important to remember that your child’s promises to care for the pet are authentic.  They believe they can, and will, follow through. We know better and must be willing to take on the majority of the responsibility.  It is important however, to assign your child age-appropriate tasks such as putting food in the dog bowl each morning or making sure the hamster’s water bottle is full.

Perhaps the greatest learning and growing experience pets can offer a child is that of experiencing loss and grief.  Pets do not live as long as we do.  Many use this as a reason for not having a pet; they don’t want their child to go through the loss.  Learning to cope with strong emotions and life events as a child makes for an adult who typically experiences less fear and anxiety about life.  They have experienced loss, cried, felt sad and learned that they made it through.  This is a benefit animals provide even during the most difficult time of having a pet.  This being said, please don’t bring a pet home simply for the purpose of teaching your child about death.

1. Children really should be active contributors to the household. Get kids involved with taking out the trash, setting the table, cooking meals, cleaning up after themselves, or raking leaves. It’s even better if these chores can be done in conjunction with family time so all members contribute in some way. Kids won’t always do the job at same quality as adults, but they need to start somewhere, and will improve with positive encouragement and reinforcement. This is how they learn especially when they are side by side with other family members.

If you’ve forgotten, you have the perfect teacher in your child. Let your child guide and teach you through their world of fun. Something they like will re-ignite that child in you; and then, just go along with their games. As you play you can add your ideas as well. I have found this is a great way to bond with your kids and to mix your imagination with theirs. Even if this is not your favorite thing to do, taking time to play with your kids on a daily basis is essential to their development and your relationship with them. Playing is a kid’s whole life; this is what they live for. Being involved in your child’s play will also tell you what they are interested in. This always makes for a happy child. Playing with your child is also key in supporting self worth, as you, the person whose approval matters most, is interested in and actually likes that which your child holds so dear-their play. It can be equated with approving of your teenager’s friends; when you like what they like they feel validated.

While you should be willing to let kids change from interest to interest after all, that’s how they really learn what they love and what they don’t do not let them be quitters. Many teams accept a certain number of kids or build programs based on participation, and kids should be taught that they need to stay committed for the season. After that, they don’t have to return. But kids should commit to activities and agree in advance not to whine about practice, getting up early or yet another game. That type of behavior creates negative family time issues. If you’re in doubt that your child will like a year-long baseball program, for example, then only sign them up for summer training camp that maybe is only a few weeks long. If they exhibit enthusiasm and commitment to the sport, then next year you can always decide on increasing participation levels. Just because a child has natural talent in an area (i.e. baseball), it doesn’t mean they will “love” the sport and want to play on a select (hand-picked) group, even if chosen. Be honest, be fair, and allow your kids to say no before you agree to yet more practice and events. It’s there time let them decide.

Some kids want to participate in everything, and are perfectly happy to have structured activities each night of the week. With other kids, parents have to push and prod to get them to willingly participate in even a single activity. Balance is the key for happiness and overall family time quality. Consider a child’s age and interests and be sure to weigh those against what your own dreams of what you hope your kids will thrive in. Accept that your kid’s may not share your passions or interests, and then find out what does make them excel. Let your kids chose what they want to do if you think they might really like something but don’t at first. One of the best ways to get them to like something or become interested it’s best to educate them on it, then their interest might grow.

1. Dot all your “i”’s with a circle.
2. Read books by memory.
3. Dunk your cookies.
4. Play a game where you make up the rules as you go along.

5. Step carefully over sidewalk cracks.

6. Watch your favorite movie over and over.
7. Try to get someone to trade you a better sandwich.
8. Eat ice cream for breakfast.
9. Kiss a frog, just in case.
10. Blow the wrapper off a straw.
11. Have someone read you a story.
12. Do a cartwheel.
13. Wear your favorite shirt with you favorite pants even if they don’t match.
14. Take a running jump over a big puddle.
15. Get someone to buy you something you really don’t need.

If your baby is not napping well during their first few months of life, you may want to try to cut back on the time that they are awake by 15 minute increments. If your bay is getting overstimulated, then they will fight sleep and it may be difficult to get them to nap. The way to prevent this is to watch their “sleepy” cues to make sure that you put them down for a nap when they are beginning to get sleepy.

Some parents believe that letting their child cry will harm him or her. Fifteen or twenty minutes of crying will not harm your child physically or mentally. Babies will learn to self-soothe and fall asleep on there own, but only if you let them. It is very important that babies learn to fall asleep on their own so that they can self-soothe if they awake in the middle of the night. Otherwise, you may have a child that will not sleep through the night for years.