Category Archives: Family

Family

Importance Of Family Rules In Developing Child Self Esteem

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As a mom, we have two very important objectives to achieve with our children. One objective would be to provide a loving and peaceful family environment. Another would be to raise our children to be happy and productive adults. If you think about it, most moms would agree they want these things for their children.

When you think of all the factors that can prevent us from achieving these two objectives, it can seem quite overwhelming. We live in a fast paced world and finding time for everything can be a challenge. The more family members we have, the more complicated family dynamics become. And I think the most difficult factor we face is the external pressures and the outside influences of the world. It is not easy raising children in this day and age.

The good news is you can raise great kids if you are equipped with the right tools and information. The root focus of raising happy and responsible children is developing their self esteem. And to develop their self esteem, children need three things: attention, autonomy, and limits. Children need to know they are worthy of love and they need to be taken care of. They need to gradually develop so they function independently from their parents. And children need boundaries so they learn proper behavior and develop healthy self esteem.

To give children attention, you play with them on a regular basis, give them lots of hugs and kisses, and take care of their most basic needs. Children gain autonomy and limits by having structure in their lives. One very important part of your child’s structure is the family rules. The family rules teach your children proper behavior, as well as the necessary skills and character traits they need to develop healthy self esteem and independence. Not only do rules give your children a sense of security, but they also provide order and peace for your family.

Kenneth Kaye, Ph.D., in his book Family Rules, provides a six step process for setting family rules:

1.Make a list of behavior problems or important concerns you are dealing with in your family.
2.For these problems or concerns, together as parents, create and write down the rules that will enforce the behavior that you want to see. Start with just a few rules in the beginning.
3.For each rule, think of and write down a logical or natural consequence for breaking the rule.
4.Formally present the rules to your children.
5.Follow through with consequences if they test the rules.
6.Amend the rules as necessary and amend or escalate the consequences as necessary.

One of the most interesting discoveries I made in Dr. Kaye’s book was the difference between rules and preferences. Let me give you a few examples of each and then I will explain the difference. Examples of rules may be “You may not hit, kick or call your sibling names” or “You must be home at the time we set for you”. Examples of preferences are “We prefer you use your manners” and “We prefer you spend your money wisely”.

Here are the major differences between rules and preferences. Mom and Dad have to agree on the rules, but they do not have to agree on preferences. Mom may allow only one friend over at a time, but Dad may enjoy a house full of children. However, when it comes to borrowing a sibling’s belongings, if the child is required to ask first, then Mom and Dad must be prepared to enforce this rule.

Rules require consistency and must be clear and specific. Preferences can be vague and do not require consistency. If a rule is broken, a consequence is issued every time. With preferences, you prefer your child do something a certain way, but it’s left up to your child’s discretion. There is no consequence if your child does not do things the way you would prefer. When my four year old has a playmate over, I prefer he says hello and goodbye to them. I encourage him to use his manners and I explain why I think it’s important, but there is no consequence if he doesn’t. On the other hand, if he hits or pushes his playmate, there would be an automatic time out. Generally speaking, rules provide structure, peace, safety and convenience, whereas, preferences teach children moral education, social skills and positive feelings about themselves and others.

Now that you understand how best to set family rules, I would suggest you post your family rules so everyone can see them. Remember, enforcing the rules requires issuing a consequence every time the rule is broken. The best consequences are ones that restrict privileges. The more natural and logical the consequence, the better it is. If a child behaves responsibly, he is rewarded with privileges, and he loses his privileges if he breaks the rules. One thing I have found that helps take the emotion out of issuing consequences is the Better Behavior Wheel. This is a great tool for teaching kids about the consequences for their actions.

Think about your children as they set off on their own. What kind of adults do you want them to be? How are you, as a parent, going to instill the healthy self esteem that’s needed for them to be successful at life? By utilizing the principles you’ve learned in this article, you’ve got a good jump start. Give your children everything you want them to be. Teach them by example and with family rules that will reinforce lifelong character traits, healthy boundaries, and the life skills needed to thrive in this world.

Family

Meal-time Preparation Kept Simple With Your Autistic Child And Family – How

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When you come home, you are tired, your child with autism is tired, your family is exhausted, everyone wants to eat. You want to prepare the meals that are to be kept simple for your autistic child and the whole family. But, how?

You may not want to eat off of good china, but having the family set a time for dinner brings the whole family together. It creates closeness, conversations, connecting in the days events and it encourages the family to understand one another in a positive way.You are concerned about meals that you want to keep simple and can be prepared easily. In addition, the concern for proper nutrition and time saving effort.

Parent(s) and caregiver(s) have to decide what would be enjoyable for meal-time preparation, that can be kept simple for the whole family to enjoy. Having a child with autism may be challenging for the family at meal-time.

In order to fix healthy good meals for your family and your child with autism, is to understand the needs of your child and the rest of the family at meal-time, this will allow you to keep the preparation for meal-time simple.

One of the things you can do, is, create an environment for your child or children, by being aware of the different ages and what each individual child can eat. By you understanding how they grow and develop, this will educate you on the appropriate foods to serve them. Keeping the preparation for meals simple, will bring your family together easily.

Remember, to keep in mind and be observant with your child who has autism, for his or her eating habits, so you can try to coordinate it with the rest of the families schedule, or make changes to prepare meals that are kept simple.

To keep your meals simple in preparation, present your children with a variety of nutritious foods. Encourage favorable attitudes toward food, good eating habits, and not being afraid for them to try new foods to taste and evaluate.

Be sensitive to the needs of your autistic child, of his or her dislikes of certain foods. Each person in your family has a unique personality and may react to foods in a different way. This can be an education for you and your child.

Remember, that you are feeding children, so they should have their portion as a child and not as an adult within the family. Do not put too much on their plate. They can always ask for more if they desire.

It is wise when preparing simple meals with an autistic child in your family, to try to encourage them to participate in helping you at meal-time, with your supervision. For example: bringing food to the table, setting the table, clearing some of the dishes to the kitchen, when you are finished. Educate your child as to what foods you will be eating at meal-time and perhaps, tell him or her, what the foods contain as nutritional value.

Keep your meals simple for preparation and fun. Serve your meals in a bright and attractive room that is not dull. Be creative, arrange the foods on the plates in interesting and attractive designs, according to their textures colors, shapes and flavors.

Eat with your children and let them know how good the food tastes, or what their thoughts are about the foods that are on their plate, and what they think of the taste. Join in on their conversation. Respect them if they say they do not care or like the foods that they have received, and try to introduce another kind at a better time, or prepare it differently.

Give positive input and feelings to your autistic child and family. Allow your child to leave food on the plate if he or she does not want it. They have choices too. Sometimes if you make your child clean up his or her plate, they may become overweight or rebel against those foods in the future.

Enjoy your child by keeping your meal-time preparation simple with fun and filled with enjoyment.

Family

Camping Family Fun

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Camping has always been a favorite of families for fun and get together. Times have changed and teenagers go not like camping anymore, there are no computers and internet signals in the woods and sometimes they even lose their cell communication. Modern camp grounds are not like this, of course you need to roughen it up a bit to enjoy camping, but this does not mean you have to be totally isolated from the world.

Summer camping with all the family is a great opportunity to bond and have fun. Even teenagers will go for it if you chose the camp carefully and make sure that they have wireless computer access and that they are within cell phone communication too. This does not mean that the kids will spend the day hooked up to the computers or phones all day. It means that they can feel safe and comfortable because they can still communicate even though they wont be doing it all the time.

It is important that you and your kinds define and set the communication with the outside times so you do not have any confusion later. The idea of the trip is to share with each other outdoor activities and not to go somewhere else to use the phone and computer. Schedules for this must be set and respected, if they are not the trip will end up in failure. Family activities should be agreed upon by all those involved. Canoe rides and swimming or hiking, horseback riding, any activity that involves the whole family must be agreed upon by everybody.

The children will not have fun if they are forced to do something they dont want. Get everybody involved in the planning and preparing of meals, everyone should also have chores to do, collect wood or wash the dishes. Get the family together for at least one hour at night around the campfire and talk to your children, listen to them talk about their friends or what they do or want to do. It may seem stupid to you or worthless to you as an adult, but their worries and problems are very real for them and they need solutions for these problems.

Forget about work and school and all the problems you have at home during thee few days. Concentrate on sharing as much time as possible with your wife and children. Make it a point to have individual activities with each one alone too. This will help you get closer and learn more about each other in a one to one conversation away from the normal environment of home pressure.

Talking and having family fun with teenagers is not easy. You must have patience and you must have a canny instinct to know and feel when it is time to approach them and when not to. Taking them out of their environment for a couple of days is good because they will be relieved of their everyday pressures and stress much in the same way you will also be relieved of these. It will be easier for both of you to communicate and talk about irrelevant stuff. Be patient and follow your instincts, this can be a great bonding experience that will stay with them forever.

A family camping trip is always a way to bring the family closer and to enjoy nature together. Take advantage of the time together and get to know your children better.

Family

Theme and Amusement Parks in Majorca – Family Holidays For Thrill-Seekers

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When youre on holiday, you want to find activities that the whole family can take part in and enjoy thoroughly, and theme and amusement parks of course offer fun and excitement for those of all ages. With something to suit a whole range of tastes in Majorca, family holidays which take in the islands theme parks, zoos and aquariums can be an absolute blast and will certainly keep the little ones entertained.

Looking for Something Wet And Wild?

If there is one thing that Majorca is not short of, it is water parks, and in the heat of summer what better way to cool off and enjoy the thrill of the rides? Western Park, located close to and directly west of Palma, offers one of the best experiences on the island for water-loving thrill seekers. The Kamikaze water slide, which plunges from a height of over 30 metres, is sure to take your breath away, but if you prefer to experience your thrills en famille, the 260 metre-long Mega slide lets the whole family jump in a raft together. These and a whole range of other water slides are not the only attraction of Western Park, however, as it is also based on a Wild West theme. With Wild West shows offering the chance to watch everything from shoot-outs to singing, and the spectacular Wheel of Death and Western Divers shows, a day simply isnt long enough to take in all the great attractions. Aqualand Magaluf is another of the islands water parks and this, along with the Hidropark in Alcudia, offers hours of fun and entertainment for children and adults alike during their stay in Majorca. Family holidays just wont be complete without taking in at least one of these wet and wild attractions.

From the Wild West to Wild Animals!

Whether monkeys or piranhas are your thing, youll be able to find these and many more exciting animals at the variety of wildlife parks, zoos and aquariums in Majorca. Family holidays with small children certainly wont leave you scratching your head for ideas and the Mallorca Aquarium, located in Porto Cristo and covering an area of over 2,000 square metres over two floors, on its own offers one hundred and fifteen displays of species from all over the world. Marine Land in Calvia meanwhile, will have youngsters captivated by the spectacular dolphin and sea lion shows and you can even watch the dolphins frolicking underwater from the underwater tunnel. If a safari is more up your street, then the Auto Safari Zoo on the outskirts of Sa Coma should be ideal. Whether you choose to go by car or to hop on the zoos mini train, you can experience the thrill of seeing everything from giraffes and elephants to zebras, lions, tigers and a whole host of other big cats oh, and windscreen wiper-eating monkeys too of course!

Bring Out the Competitive Spirit in a Round or Two of Mini Golf!

The fantastic thing about mini-golf is the fact that the whole family can join in and have fun. Located at Palma Nova and set in a tropical parkland with waterfalls, caves and lakes, Golf Fantasia offers no less than three 18-hole mini golf courses and the opportunity to spend a full and fun-packed day in Majorca. Family holidays in the area certainly shouldnt miss out on this wonderful attraction; but Dads, just make sure that you let the kids win every now and again!

Family

Selling To Friends And Family Is It Necessary For Making Money In Network Marketing

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A lot of us have heard the promise of opportunities to earn extra money with network marketing. The concept of how it works sounds great, and for a minute it appears to be something we can do. However when we are told that we will need to sell to our friends and family, we somehow lose interest. Well, the good news is that you can make money in network marketing without ever “pitching” your family and friends. A few decades ago, it was customary to do business with friends and family, and even going to sell door to door was acceptable. However, nowadays things have changed.

The truth is that, chasing around your friends and family are old school techniques. With the internet being so popular these days, connecting with people is a lot easier to do. You can connect with people through online social networks, blogs, forums etc. With the opportunity to connect with people so easily, you no longer have to depend solely on friends and family. Utilizing the right type of internet marketing strategies will cause interested prospects to seek you out.

Many times when you’re new to a network marketing company, the first thing your sponsor will ask you to do is to make a list of all of your friends and family. This may be company policy and the same strategy that was taught to your sponsor. Your sponsor may not be skilled in any other way of conducting business. You must take responsibility for learning newer methods yourself. Sometimes the methods that you’re taught work for you, and other times they don’t. You have to use your own judgment to determine what exactly fits your personality.

Your friends and family should all be aware of what you do for a living. All of your friends and family have needs, and and your product or service may just fill the need that they have. Just be sure to take the pressure off of them when you tell them. Let them know that you will only ask them to help you with referrals. In the meantime, if they choose to patronize your business, they will be sure to let you know; there will be no need for you to ask.

In conclusion, you can make money in Network Marketing business without bugging your friends and family. However, you must be diligent in investigating the methods of doing so yourself. There are a number of sources online where you can learn online and offline marketing. A good idea is to at least let your family and friends know what you are doing. They may be able to help assist you in growing your new business.

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