Focus on Better Behavior

Every parent does their best to teach their children some important life lessons. How do you know what you are teaching them has stuck? When you find your young child mimicking you cleaning up or saying nice things to others or please and thank you, it's a good sign that they are learning what you are teaching. If someone lets you know that your child or teen is pleasant to be around, consider yourself congratulated. What's most important is that your actions are being observed carefully, practice what you preach.

More about: Are Your Kids Getting Your Life Lessons?

Night time can be a special time with your kids. It's a time to relax and take some time to share about your day and theirs and read stories and maybe even sing some songs. Establishing a routine can make the time for sleep a lot easier. Helping you to make bedtime for your children just got easier. You can find tips and support at this site. You could even win a bedroom makeover! You can also share your own bedtime moments with others.

More about: Bedtime Moments With Your Children

Spoiled children are the result of indulging parents. Many parents are so worried about their child's immediate gratification rather than teaching them values that will be useful for them as adults. The longer the indulgence has been going on the harder it is to break. Something to keep in mind that after a while your child feels entitled and knows that throwing a tantrum will get them what they want. Simply, let them know that screaming, yelling, and whining will get them nothing. No rewards, no attention will be given for that behavior. All of this will take time, but spoiled children will have difficult lessons later in life if it doesn't get handled early.

More about: Undoing Parenting Mistakes

I had not heard of this approach until a few days ago reading an article about it. Taking Children Seriously or TCS has the philosophy of not making kids doing anything against their will and not doing anything to kids against their will. Examples they give are if a child doesn't want to eat broccoli they can eat dorritos instead. Or if they want to wear shorts and a t-shirt in the winter, let them. I can see letting children have choices about the world around them, but they don't always know what is dangerous or harmful to them. I think having rules is important, a two year old doesn't get that running into the street is dangerous to them ...

More about: Taking Children Seriously

When children are very young they don't often share and are just starting to learn that hitting and pushing are not ok. Parents usually need to intervene at this point to be sure no one gets hurt and that they learn to share. As they get older, around the age of six and older, it's about time for them to learn to resolve their own problems with other children. By now they should know that it's not ok to take something from someone without their permission. They should know it's not ok to hit someone. We see very often parents rushing to their children's aid to fight their fights, when really they should be handing it themselves. They will not ...

More about: Children Should Learn to Resolve Conflicts

The job of a step parent can be a challenge. How do you know when it's appropriate to discipline your step child? The biological parent may not be around at all times and discipline may be necessary at those times. First of all there needs to be an agreement made between parents about how to handle situations involving the children. Both parents need to be on the same page and back each other up. You want the children to respect the step parent as an authority and not be seen as the "bad guy". It's important to make some ground rules with your spouse on how to handle situations regarding discipline.

More about: When Should Step Parents Discipline a Child?

When I was a kid in the 70s and 80s it wasn't uncommon to play down the street with other kids without supervision. Nor was it uncommon to walk to school, or ride your bike a fairly far distance from home to go buy ice cream. Nowadays it seems that many parents would not let their children do the same. With stories of abduction and missing children parents have more fear of letting their kids do these things without supervision. The age that children should be in order to have this freedom is really a tough call for parents. It's important to give them their independence but at what age? It differs for several, at the age of 8 or ...

More about: How much Independence do Your Kids Need?

This is a very controversial issue, but one I found to be kind of silly. More and more it's being found that children with gay parents are just as educated and well-round as other kids with parents who are not gay. It's important to note that many gay parents provide a stability that has become lacking with heterosexual parents. Often there is only one parent raising the children. There is also no evidence that gay parents will raise gay children. It seems that it would be better for the kids for them to be in a stable, loving home no matter what their sexual orientation.

More about: Children Raised by Gay Parents

All parents want their kids to grow up to be respectful of people. You want to encourage discovery as they grow. You may want to ask yourself if their interests match your own or if they have created their own. You don't want to box them in to liking the same things that you do. Of course what do want to pass on are good values, not prejudices. It's the parent's job to explain the difference. You want to be sure your children are educated in attitudes and intolerances and they can make informed decisions.

More about: What Do You Pass on to Your Children?

There are pros and cons to having an only child. Some of the pros are that they get undivided attention and care from their parents and don't have to share their toys. Some of the cons are that they can become lonely or bored. They may not develop good social skills and have trouble interacting with other children.  Try involving them in activities where other children their age are present. Invite their friends over for play dates. Teach them sharing and negotiating skills. You want them to grow up and have sufficient social skills which will help them in adulthood.

More about: Parenting an Only Child