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Gen X Parents Raising Connected Children

The world has changed, in so many ways, between when you were a child and today. Parents who are part of Generation X are the first to raise children (and teens) in a world where the internet is so prevalent. Times have changed, in so many ways! The Washington Post has an article titled “Parenting as a Gen Xer: We’re the first generation of parents in the age of iEverything”. It was written by Allison Slater Tate and posted on September 19, 2014. In it, she comments on the difficulties faced by parent who can’t understand why their kids won’t … Continue reading →

How to Get Your Kids to Talk With You

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Are you tired of getting one word answers from your kids? Are you wondering how to get your kid to finally open up and talk with you? The solution might be one that Kenneth Barish, Ph.D., wrote about for Huffington Post. Give his ideas a try, and see what happens! Frustrated parents should take a minute to read over what Kenneth Barish, Ph.D., wrote in an article titled: “Why Won’t She Talk to Us? How to Have Better Conversations With Your Children”. In it, he explains some of the reasons why kids become uncommunicative with their parents. In short, there … Continue reading →

The Preschool TV Battle is Heating Up

Your preschooler may be more powerful than you think. At least when it comes to watching television. According to Nielsen Media Research, children ages 2 to 5 spend an average of 32 hours in front of a TV each week. For cable networks this means big business.  In the past five years, a slew of channels dedicated to preschool programming have inundated the market.  Since 2000, Nick Jr. has continually garnered the highest Nielsen ratings.  The Viacom-owned channel is dedicated solely to preschool children and is home of the mega-hit show “Dora the Explorer.” Riding the wave of popularity with … Continue reading →

The Bedroom TV

My father just offered to purchase a television for my daughter’s bedroom. I’m still waiting for John Quiñones to pop out of my hall closet because there’s no way my dad’s proposition can be legit. He’s testing me right? Like Quiñones does to all those unsuspecting individuals on “What Would You Do?” A new flat screen TV for my 8-year-old’s bedroom… riiiiight. From a guy who refused to allow me to touch our family’s TV, which didn’t move from its spot in the living room.  The same dad who mandated that an egg timer be set each time me and … Continue reading →

Is Your Home on Lock Down?

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Today, as I was walking to my daughter’s school to pick her up, I glanced to my right at the top of my street and noticed that there were about a dozen cop cars. I asked a bystander what was going on, and he didn’t know, but said that guns were drawn. I immediately worried about getting my daughter from school even though it was in the opposite direction. I soon found out that her school was on lock-down. As I walked to school, I just knew that everything was going to be fine. I said a little prayer we … Continue reading →

Do You Allow Your Kids to Watch TV News?

After reporting and anchoring local TV news for more than decade, I never considered tuning out the events of the day after giving birth. I’ve watched the evening news religiously since I was in high school and never dreamed there would come a day when I would be forced to wean myself from my 6 o’clock fix. However, that day has come. A few weeks ago, I was in the kitchen making dinner with the TV news on in the background when my 7-year-old came waltzing in. Typically, she’ll sit on a stool at the counter and try to snag … Continue reading →

Are Children the Key to Happiness?

Not when you are scrubbing Skittles remnants from your washing machine after your kid leaves a handful of the sticky candy in his pants pocket. Not when your four-year-old strolls out of Chuck E. Cheese’s restroom–naked– requesting help wiping his butt. Not when you are forced up at 2 a.m. to break up a fight over a night light. Ah, the joys of parenting. And by joys I mean daily doses of reality that leave you wondering whether procreating was such a good idea. Of course it was… right? Not so much, according to a recent survey of nearly 1,000 … Continue reading →

Don’t Let The Media Parent Your Children

Sometimes I let Hailey watch too much TV. It’s an easy habit to fall into, especially when you are a single parent and there are so many things to do. You plop your child in front of the television, just for a few minutes so you can get something done and a habit is started. All the media in our children s lives is like another influence in the house. Our children are bombarded with messages and even if we are diligent about what they watch they may still see things that go against our values. Many shows that you … Continue reading →

Ways to Spice Up Your Seasonal Celebrations

Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, there’s only so much eating, talking and TV watching that can be done before your guests start to twitch. Don’t let your holiday bash be the bummer of the season. Instead, pump up your party by planning a slew of festive activities that will keep boredom at bay. Some seasonal favorites include: Paper Bag Snowmen: This activity is ideal for young guests. Simply place some white paper bags, fiberfill, yarn, markers, crayons, buttons, glue and stickers on a craft table. Then, have the kids place fiberfill in the bags; tie off with … Continue reading →

Too Much TV

How much TV do your kids watch? What do they watch? I remember when I was first divorced, sometimes the TV was my lifesaver. Being the only parent of an only child meant that not only was I the only one doing housework and laundry, cooking and paying bills, I was also the only other person in the house to entertain her. I hate to admit it but many times I parked Hailey in front of the TV when she wanted me to play a game with her or read a book with her, anything, she just wanted my time … Continue reading →