IIs Your Child A Picky Eater?

If it seems like your child's eating only a few bites of plain pasta, you're not alone. Nearly 40 percent of kids under 6 are picky eaters, and while it can be frustrating for you, it's actually a normal developmental stage. At this age, kids' instinctual response to something new is suspicion and caution, and they may be asserting their independence by refusing your offerings. But picky eating won't last forever — most kids grow out of it by age 8 or 9. In the meantime, there are plenty of things you can do to try to expand his palate.

Encourage adventurous eating!

Food Quiz For Kids

When you're home and your stomach starts growling, where's the first place you go? The fridge, of course! But before you grab some ice cream or chocolate cake, try your hand at the "Healthy Fridge" Quiz to learn about some "better-for-you" food choices. We'll test your "heart smarts" and nutrition I.Q. And after you answer each question correctly, you'll fill the fridge with healthy foods.

Take the food quiz.

Peer Pressure All Over Agian!!

We've all experienced peer pressure. It's a part of life and there's not much us parents can do about it. My best advice for parents is to keep the dialog open with your children. I speak to my son about it all the time. Yes, he might think I'm nagging him but when the time comes he'll hear my voice and advice. My fiance always told me that the way he stayed out of trouble was his moms' voice in the back of his mind.
My son is at the age where his class mates are asking him to do the silly things that boys do. I make it a point to go to my sons' school and meet his friends. Children tend to respect their friends a little more when they know their parents. I found this article on the web and thought you might like it. If you have any other advice I would love to hear about it.

Young Student's Documentary Leaving Audiences Stunned

I found this video the other day when I did a search for inspiring news clips. I see it to show a certain mindset of these children. It's crazy how early some children learn this type of mindset. After watching the video I think that parents should be a little more aware of the information our kids are watching.

Jamie Oliver Cares About Kids

Jamie Oliver is a great chef from London, for his official bio click here.
His work with school lunch duty opens up new options for children. Check it out.

Exercise For Kids

In addition to the health benefits of regular exercise, kids who are physically fit sleep better and are better able to handle the physical and emotional challenges that a typical day presents - be that running to catch a bus, bending down to tie a shoe, or studying for a test.


Fun exercise ideas.

TIME Management

I know I'm not the only mom out there with time management issues. Like most things in life if you have a plan then your on the right path. I was looking for some help on time management and came across this website. It seems to be exactly what I was looking for. It has a bunch of free downloads from day planning to goal setting. Let me know what you think!

It's No Longer Monopoly Money.

OK, so the thought of using a contract for your kids' allowance is a little strange. Strange is sometimes a good idea though. Sometimes you need to know your budget so that you can plan. I think it's very important to give kids an allowance. This way they get familiar with handling money. Take a plan of action.

Is Your Kid A Healthy Eater?

Ever since my son was a baby, I always gave him the best of the best when it came to food. I buy mostly organic and we eat out, at the most, twice a month. Before working from home I would eat out like three times a week. My fiance, the organic gourmet chef, loves to cook home made meals with all the main food groups. Do you think your child considers themselves "healthy eaters"? This test is to see how much we know about our kids diet.

Is Your Kid Running Your KItchen?

Indeed, the pantries of adults with kids are far more likely to contain cheese, cookies, processed meats, pizza and bagged snacks than are those of their childless peers, and parents consume more total fat and more saturated fat than non-parents, according to the research.

So what are parents to do - choose between their kids and steamed broccoli?

I see a lot of my friend allowing their kids to make all the choices when it comes to food. It's fair to allow children to give input, but not to make the final choices. Nutrition should be at the forefront of meals. These days there is no excuse for making nutritional food taste yucky.

So take back the kitchen - and the grocery list. Guiding a child's eating practices is as much a parental duty as seeing that he's immunized or wears a seat belt.

No Tag For You!

Banning Tag
by Donald J. Trump

I know we're a lawsuit-happy society, but now I've heard everything. Some schools throughout the country are forbidding kids to play games like "tag" - anything that has them running around - because the kids might get hurt on the playground. And if the kids get hurt, their parents might turn around and sue the school for endangering their children. This is ridiculous. Kids have to be kids. They can't just sit at their desks all day with their hands folded, looking at the blackboard. When they go out to recess, children have to be allowed to run around and relax. They have to be able to get all that excess energy out of their system or they aren't going to learn anything when they go back inside. I can't believe schools are wasting their time even thinking about things like this. Forget the pushy parents. Forget the threat of lawsuits. Let the kids go out and play.

This is crazy stuff. Some of my best memories of my childhood friend are playing tag. Is banning tag just another way of taking responsibility away from teachers? So that they can take longer cigarette breaks. School Says Game of Tag Is Out an article from FOX News goes a little deeper into the topic.

What do you think?

The Price Is Right, or Is It?

If you're like most moms, you are always looking to get the most bang for your buck. I love to shop, I'm almost like a superhero(wonderwomen) when it comes to shopping. If I'm going to buy shoes, clothes, ect. it's going to be the best of the best. Take this test to see if the price is right for you.

Which Superhero are you?

Now this is a lot of fun. Try it out and find out what kind of superhero you are. I like the tights!

Superhero?

Big Blogging Gone Mad

It's crazy how blogging is everywhere! I went to the supermarket the other day and over the load speaker was a message regarding the A&P blog. So everyone is finally catching on. It's a great way to get your word out and bring YOU traffic. Blogospere is a good start for ideas and for blogs worth reading. A business associate directed me to blogging and since my business has benefited ten fold. Join the list at Live Journal to get your blog rolling.

List of blog communities for getting started:
Blogger
Live Journal
Xanga
Grey Matter
Word Press

Oprah is the Bomb with a capital B!

The other day on the Oprah show, she was talking about her privates. Wow! There's no topic too crazy for that show. I love her show, she's a strong women doing her thing. You go Oprah!!

Cyberbullying, Get A Life!

As a kid, I wasn't a fan of bullies; now I have to deal with it as an adult? There's been many occasions where I've been bullied on the Internet. Who knows what drives these people to do such things. I found a site to teach us and our kids how to deal with cyberbullies.

Kids, blogs and too much information

Children reveal more online than parents know....

I think we should inform our children from an early age of the risks and necessary responsibilities of the Internet. It's going to be a huge part of their lives and we should prepare them for the years to come.

The article on MSN NBC makes many good points. Our children are always going to do things when we're not looking (just as we did when we were young). But the internet makes it a different ballgame. My friends nephew had a sleep over and the kids were up all night on the net, getting into ???

The difference with the kids who got in trouble and the ones who didn't were their parents. So let get informed This link will take you to a site with lots of security tips.

My Top 5 Family Activties For 2007

1. 1. Sports - Keeps me active and my son burns off some energy.


2. 2. Traveling - Experiencing the world and different cultures.


3. 3. Arts and Crafts - Keeps the family unit together.


4. 4. Games - Helps to build bonds between family members.


5. 5. Movies - Good way to teach values.

At times a challenge to come up with daily activities when we have so many other things on our mind. I find that having a plan in advanced helps me through these moments. Why not plan for the year. I like to write down fun activities as I experience them. Having a journal gives me something to refer back to.

Keeping daily life is so important. A family that plays together stays together. We can pass these values down to our kids and their kids and so on.

Mom Blogs RockStar My World!

I thought I was the coolest mom before I saw this blog. Not that I'm not cool, but in a different way. This blog is HOT, red hot. I was on it for an hour today. Lots of fun stuff. It's mom with a rockin twist. ROCKSTAR MOMMY !!!

YUMMY For My TUMMY!

There's always the challenge of cooking. If you're lucky your kid loves to eat most foods. Most of have to deal with the challenge of finicky eaters. The priority is getting all those not so delicious vitamins into the food. There's many tricks for doing so. One trick is to start early. Give your child vitamin rich foods as toddlers. They learn to love or at the least tolerate. I found this website, it helps you make food visually appealing and fun to eat.

Click on the picture. Enjoy.