When is enough enough? For instance, kids these days may have karate, ballet, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, tennis lessons, piano lessons, soccer practice and yes, you guessed it — homework. How can you possibly manage your kids’ schedule (as well as your carpool one!) to draw the fine line between having your kids involved in activities versus reaching burnout — both you and them?

By Vicki Salemi

The Signs of Burnout
Here’s a newsflash: having a well-rounded child will serve them well. By incorporating activities into their schedule you’re doing right by them, but you certainly don’t want to overdo it. Too much of a good thing can definitely be bad.

According to Wendy S. Grolic, Ph.D. professor of psychology at Clark University and co-author of Pressured Parents, Stressed-Out Kids, parents should be on alert for signs of burnout. “You should look for the stress such as signs when they don’t want to go to the activity when they say, ‘Do I really have to go to soccer practice?’ It will manifest itself into physical signs as well like stomach aches.” In addition, they may start concocting excuses as to why they can’t or shouldn’t go.

Involved Kids Vs. Overscheduled Kids
As for the magic number of activities per week for each child? (more…)

We always stress honesty with our children. But, what about those times when your child enlightens everyone within earshot with their perception of someone’s ethnicity? Or, that they already own the same gift they just excitedly unwrapped? Find out how to deal when your child is too honest and the importance of teaching them to be truthful, yet tactful.

By Michelle Bruns

I have on occasion found myself trying to convince my four-year-old son not to hurt people’s feelings, but I’m having a heck of a time explaining the difference between telling the truth and telling a little white lie. According to Dr. Victoria Talwar, an assistant professor at Montreal’s McGill University, “In studies where children are observed in their natural environment, a 4-year-old will lie once every two hours, while a 6-year-old will lie about once every hour and a half. Few kids are exceptions.”

Who’s to Blame?
Research suggests that it is the parents who are raising their children to be liars, (more…)

Growing up on a hobby farm, the Fall months meant making preserves for eating in the long winter months. We used fruits that we either grew or purchased from local farmers. I learned at a very young age how to make jam, fruit butters and jellies with my Mom. Read on to find out how you can share a special bonding moment with your kids by making homemade preserves that are quick, easy and — most importantly — fun!

By Gloria Troyer

When I made preserves as a child it was very labor intensive. It involved long hours of simmering the fruit in a large pot, on top of the stove. Mom used lemons or apples as a natural source of pectin, which makes the jam set. After the jam thickened, Mom poured it into sterilized jars and then sealed each of the jars using hot paraffin wax. My job was to cut pieces of string and carefully place them into the middle of the hot paraffin. Later, it was used to pull the cold wax seal from the jar in order to access the delicious home made preserves.

Modern Day Preserves
Things have become a lot easier in our modern world. Today we have two types of jam that we can make and neither require long hours over the stove. There is boiled, which is stored in glass jars with sterilized two piece lids, and no-cook jam which requires no time over the stove.

Kids love being involved in the kitchen. Today’s conveniently packaged pectin makes jam making easy with the little ones. Even if you are a new cook, you will be in and out of the kitchen within half an hour.

How To Make Strawberry Freezer Jam
Here is a simple recipe for quick and easy Strawberry Freezer Jam. I chose strawberries because they are available year round at most grocery stores. (more…)

It’s easy to sit back and let the biological parents handle all the tough situations that arise with step-children. At some point, however, step-parents need to participate in enforcing the house rules. What’s the secret to successful discipline for step-parents? Read on for advice from the experts and from parents who have made it work.

By Sarah Caron

SET THE STAGE
Before you even walk down that aisle, a step-parent needs to begin building a relationship with their future step-children. Parenting author Bob Lancer, who wrote Parenting with Love, without Anger or Stress, says that foundation is absolutely key to successful step-parenting and disciplining.

“You really do have to earn that respect by first earning the child’s trust. You do this by empathizing with the deep and complex emotions the child feels in response to the essential change the step-parent brings into the step-child’s world. As a general rule, the better you connect with the child, the better you direct and correct the child,” Lancer says.

“Your attitude plays a crucial role in the effectiveness of your discipline efforts. If you feel resentful of the child for not listening to you or behaving as you expect, the child will close off and distance himself/herself from you, diminishing your influence. The emotional disturbance your negative attitude brings into the home prompts the child to demonstrate more problematic behavior.”

WHAT IS YOUR ROLE?
Many parents and experts agree that in general, discipline should be left to the child’s biological parent, with step-parents acting in a supporting role. Rosalind Sedacca, author of How Do I Tell the Kids about the Divorce? A Create-a-Storybook Guide to Preparing Your Children — with Love! says to keep the disciplining to the parent, and the stepparent’s role should be to use praise and positive reinforcement and to ignore negative behavior.

Step-parent Florinda Pendley Vasquez, who has a 14-year-old stepdaughter and 8-year-old stepson says that generally, the children’s father will handle discipline, but there are some situations that require a stepparent response.”I think the biological parent and step-parent need to work out ground rules between themselves for handling discipline issues - and they should do this at a quiet time when the kids aren’t around. If it becomes an issue between them in front of the kids, that’s a distraction,” Vasquez says. “Effective methods of discipline depend on the child and the behavior. I tend to favor taking away privileges, particularly for older kids.”

Kathy Lynn of Parenting Today agrees, saying that (more…)