Monthly Archives: September 2019

Life, Lifestyle, Parenting

What Do Your Kids Think About You?

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kids, family, parenting
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Having kids can be a magnificent thing. The opportunity to bring new life into the world is one which a lot of people want to grasp, with the idea of being a parent being at the top of their list of goals. Of course, though, getting through a pregnancy is only the first stage in this process, and things can get more complicated as the little one gets older. As they get smarter, they will be able to develop an opinion and idea of who you are. As a good role model, you will want them to see the best side of you for this, and this post is here to help you out with it.

Knowledge & Intelligence

Kids will naturally look up to their parents, and will assume that they are borderline geniuses until they reach their teenage years. You will find their school work easy, will have knowledge of loads of subjects they haven’t heard of, and will have a lot of ways to demonstrate this. Of course, though, intelligence is a double-edged sword, as no one likes to be made to feel stupid, and this applies to your children, too. When you’re playing a board game, for example, it makes sense to give your kids an edge with something like Unscramble. While this will mean that you have a disadvantage, it will show your children that they can use tools to enhance their natural intelligence.

Empathy & Compassion

It’s not uncommon for parents to tell their children off when they are angry at them, and this can get worse and worse once a child reaches their teenage years. Along with this, throughout their life, your child will see you interact with loads of different people, and the empathy and compassion you show on this journey will have a big impact on your child. Acting compassionately isn’t always easy, with a lot of people finding their emotions leading the way when they get into arguments or conflicts. Being mindful is a big part of this, and can make it far easier to keep yourself cool and collected.

Strength

Physical strength is becoming less and less important in the modern world, with people using their wits and minds to do battle, rather than their bodies. Parents need to be strong, but it isn’t big muscles which they need; it’s a big heart. When someone passes away, a natural disaster occurs, or anything else happens which could make you upset, it’s worth being strong for your children. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t show your emotions, as your children need to see this side of you, too. Instead, you simply have to avoid letting them wrap you up, keeping your head strong and giving your little ones the support they need.

Living in a family can be a challenge when you haven’t had any kids before. There are a lot of little things you need to think about, and everyone will want to take the same approach. Of course, though, as time goes on, you will learn how to handle these areas, and this will give you an edge in your parenting journey.

Life, Parenting

Growing Pains: Helping Your Child With Their Teenage Anxieties

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anxieties, teenager, child, parenting, kids, growing up
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While you might think that once you get past the toddler stage, it is plain sailing! After all, the idea of a good night’s sleep went out the window when they were born, and you look forward to reclaiming that later on. But, you could very well struggle with this issue again when they become teenagers. Not because of the general day-to-day duties, but because of something far deeper. Teenage anxiety is, as you will remember, incredibly unique. And in fact, it can be argued that it’s worse today than it ever was. But what can you do to help your child with their teenage anxieties?

Pinpointing The Actual Problem

It’s not always about asking them directly, but it’s about casual observation. It can take time to get to the root of the issue but it may very well be a straightforward problem, like acne. In which case you might very well be able to help in this respect, by pointing them in the direction of the right medication, or take them to the doctor. Or in fact, make your own acne cream with RU58841 5% solution! It’s better to take a step back and observe so you can see what the main issues are and if it’s something that, in the grand scheme of things, is cosmetic, this is something we can aim to fix.

They May Not Want To Speak To You About Their Problems

If this is the case, can you point them in the direction of someone who can help? It all depends on the nature of the problem, but what you can help with is to give them a way to express themselves. This is something that as a parent we have to realize that we might not be able to directly influence the outcome. But what we can do is to point in the right direction either in terms of counseling, or giving them the opportunity to vent with someone else. But what they don’t want us to do is interfere. This might be a bit heartbreaking because you want to help your child, but if they don’t want to speak to you directly, it’s important to remind them that when they are ready to talk to you that you are there.

Be Careful With Positivity

Ultimately you might have been there before, and experienced all the same issues, but now you feel okay. But when you try and communicate this to your child, it’s important that you don’t hurry them along to get over it, because what they’re going through his seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. It’s difficult for them right now, and as much as you can tell them to be more positive, this might not be what they need to get to the core of the problem. Sometimes we have to just let them ride it out. But we can do as a parent is to ensure they know we are there. 

Maybe their problems are insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but they’re going through a huge state of anxiety. Whatever your opinion is this can be more stressful than you think. Keep your perspective, and remember, you were there once!

Health, Life, Lifestyle

Proper Budgeting To Deal With Your Family’s Health

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Your family means everything to you. They’re the people you love most in the world, and you’d do anything for them, to help guide them along in life, and keep them safe as you grow as a unit. 

But sometimes, our proper family budgets can fall by the wayside. It’s hard to budget the same way week by week – the more you spend to put food on the table, and to put toys in the toy chest, the less you have to put away each paycheck. And that might be where you’re going wrong; money is one of the best ways to guarantee your family’s future health, after all. 

And families can have a lot of health problems. As you’re growing, and going through such a huge developmental period in such a short time, all kinds of things can happen to you mentally and physically! And so, now’s the time to rethink your family budget, to deal with any potential mishaps.

healthy, family, budget, expenses, saving, money, finance
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Think About the Commonly Occurring Appointments

Your children (and you!) have a lot of doctor’s appointments to attend, on an annual basis. And when it comes down to it, any treatment that one of these appointments might lead to, and even the cost of keeping up with regular appointments themselves, can cost a lot. Year by year, Americans spend millions and billions on healthcare, and when you’ve got a large family, you’re going to be spending the most. 

Which is why it’s important to try and put away at least 20% of your paycheck, every time you receive one, into an account for later. The more money you have on the retainer, to pay for your children’s treatment, or even just to get a second opinion when you think something serious is wrong, the better you’ll keep to your necessary check-ups. Even if you can only head out once a year, saving up now will make sure you can keep to the bi-annual schedule. 

Invest in an Insurance Policy

Health insurance is one of the best policies you can take out for your family – if you can put all of the members of your household underneath a money-saving umbrella, in case of accident or emergency (or some much needed dental work!), you won’t constantly be burning a hole in your bank account. Hospital bills can get very expensive, after all, and you don’t ever want to be stuck with a medical treatment you can’t pay for, especially when there are kids involved. 

Do your research. Look into what kind of insurance policies are the most family-friendly; you might even want to start with the Health Reform Team, if you’re not quite sure what to tap into Google to begin with. And remember, it’s usually a lot better (and cheaper!) to buy a single policy your whole family can fit under, rather than trying to take out single policies for everyone you know and love. 

Is your budget family health-friendly? It might be time to change.