Am I the only one in the world that has issues getting my kids ready for school in the mornings? Sometimes it seems to be an endless battle. I know that the dynamics in each family are different according to how many kids verses how many parents. But I thought I would share my ideas in the chance that they might help some parents.

There has been an ongoing issue with my daughter regarding getting out the door to school on time each morning. Even when I wake her up very early she still seems to muck around every morning. she is regularly late for school by a few minutes and this is a source of frustration for me.

The first thing you should do with a child reluctant to get out the door to school is to talk to them about what happens at school. Are they being bullied? Is there a reason that they don’t want to go to school ? Once you have eliminated anything there, then you will need to come up with a plan of attack for how to turn this problem around.

It is important to find a positive way to deal with the problem if at all possible. Perhaps a sticker chart or something that they can get every day to start off with, depending on the age of the child. But early on the rewards should be pretty immediate. Then as the child catches on the rewards can be a bit further apart.

You need to exhaust all the possibilities of positive consequences before thinking of turning to a negative consequence as positive consequences really do work better. Unfortunately for my daughter I had to use a negative consequence this morning, on account of her throwing a tantrum. That was something I would not have expected to see from a ten year old.

Becky has left for school now, about ten minutes late, and I am left to decide what consequence will help her to learn a lesson. Remember that a consequence should be given in order to help a child learn that it is simply not worth it. I am thinking of removing a few things from her room to go up into my top cupboard: some rather grown up earrings that Beck should not be wearing if she is still throwing tantrums plus a few grown up items of clothing more suitable for an older, more mature child.

It is important to make the crime match the punishment as closely as possible. I don’t know if I have got it exactly right today. But I figure that if a child of mine is still throwing a tantrum at age ten, perhaps she should not be wearing grown up clothes.

Even though this may seem harsh, I will give Becky a chance to lessen her consequence very quickly. Our job as parents is to help prepare our kids for the outside world when they grow up. Even convicts in jail have the chance to lessen their time behind bars for good behavior. So our kids should also be provided with this opportunity to lessen a consequence wherever possible. If Becky does the right thing for perhaps two days, she will get her earrings back and so on until she has earned everything back again. This way she fully understands that she is responsible for making things happen in her life. And that’s the way I want it to be.

As couples spend their wedded lives, one of both of them might ponder over this question at some point in time. Being wedded calls for a constant improvement that will always benefit both of you no matter how strong the relationship is. For marriage to be kept animated and active, both the partners should do their part in giving out the best efforts that they can for the relationship. Some easy things to consider that will help you and your spouse work through your issues are:

What Exactly Is The Trouble?

You and your spouse first and for most need to have a heart to heart and recognize what the problems are. This can tougher than you think, as this requires some amount of self-analysis. It is possible that we hate to see what we see, but if we can identify it, we can discuss candidly with our spouse, and that is the first step towards reconciling the issue.

Be Open And Interact With Each Other

Any relationship lasts when two people speak to each other meaningfully. Your busy schedule that is fully taken by your responsibilitiesduties to your work, babies and other family affairs may seem to be one of the reasons. It needs to become a daily habit of quality time and you need to make time for each other and communicate. Uprightness and integrity with one’s own self and the spouse is critically important here. Communication is important, as we ought to learn to be a good listener as well as stand by our spouses. Close and intimate communication with each other is the only way you can reach out to each other.

Do You Have A High Regard For One Another?

The kind of regard you have for each other is yet another major factor. Do you both quarrel often? Do you call each other names, abuse or blame each other all the time? candidly, it is not difficult to reach that place, when things are not looking too bright between the two of you. Previous damages inflicted in your relationship can still be easily repaired once you have high respect with one another which is truly a big thing in any relationships. Think of the first time both of you met and how much you loved each other since then - what went wrong and why?

Work On Tenderness And Intimacy With Each Other

When a marriage going through a bad patch often results in loss of intimacy and friendship and that is a big loss. Find time to be affectionate with each other once more, and this can be really helpful. One good way to restore the intimacy that was vanished is to start it off with your physical connection through making love with additional spice. sexual activity might seem out of the question at times like this, but with a bit of effort, if you can make it happen, things might start to look bright all over again. Keeping matrimony going successfully is difficult, but not impossible, provided both the partners are willing to give it another chance.

I have rules in my house and one of them is “no computer time before school”. However, this morning two of my kids asked me to bend the rules for them. They got together and schemed to get their way, by tidying their rooms, packing their lunches and being ready for school very early with all chores done. Then they came to me with the big question…

“Mum, we would like a go on the computer. We have tidied our rooms, done our chores and we are ready for school. Please can we have a turn on the computer?” I replied, “If you can tell me how you will split your time so there will be no fighting I will consider your request”. The boys went away and thought for a minute then came back with their plan. Sam first, Kieren second.

Now I was doing two things here. First I was letting my kids to practice their negotiating skills and seeing if they could figure it out for themselves. Second, I was getting them to police one another so I didn’t have to. The last thing I wanted to do was to say to the kids, “you have to get off the computer and leave for school now”.

The end result was that the kids were still out the door to school by 8am. So, what do you think may happen if the kids came back another day and asked for the same privilege? They have proven to be faithful once so I reckon I might even give them another try if they ask for it another day. We shall see.

Parents, this is what you need to know here: your kids, no matter what their age, need to learn that the quality of their life will be in direct relation to the effort they put into it. If you work hard your boss might give you a raise. If you don’t work well he will give you the sack. That is the way the world operates. And when we teach our kids how the real world operates they will be well equipped to function in the world as adults. They will also thank you later on life.

This morning my 10 year old daughter wouldn’t get ready for school. She woke up on time as per usual, however she seemed to potter around in her room for ages. I went and knocked on her door a couple of times, reminding her of the time, but to no avail.

At just before 8am I went into her room and started to get firm with her by saying, “we are leaving for school in fifteen minutes from now”. Then I walked away and left her to get herself organized as she knows how to do.

At 8.15am she came out of her room and started running around as if her life depended on it. I was just about to leave for work so I said to her calmly, “what a pity you won’t have time for breakfast this morning” and walked to the car in the garage. Becky was horrified but as she needed a lift to school came running pretty quickly when she realized that I wasn’t joking.

I drove her to school and there was not much conversation. I stopped at the gate, she got out and that was about all. Becky seemed to be testing me this morning to see if I would stick to my boundaries. I think she found out the answer to that one. Poor Becky had to go hungry until morning break as she hadn’t eaten any breakfast.

Sometimes kids will try to control adults by dawdling like this. We have no control over that. All we can control is our reaction to their actions. Becky knows now that there will be a sad consequence of no breakfast should she try to dawdle like that again. A valuable lesson for any child to learn.

I know it is sad to have to do that but if I keep on saving Becky she will never learn that the world requires people to be on time. I had to leave for work. I had to earn money to feed my children and pay the mortgage. And that’s the way life is. Becky had a responsibility to be at school on time.

Now here’s what we must remember: we need to stop rescuing our kids and let them learn things the hard way sometimes. I understand this is not always a pleasant thing but it is a necessary thing. The more we rescue our kids the more they will expect it. Remember our job as a parent is to make sure that our kids are equipped for adult life.

Becky had to go hungry until morning tea break to realize that the world doesn’t revolve around her. And I do hope that she chooses to learn a valuable lesson here. It would be hard for me to let that happen again in our house however kids need an opportunity to learn from their mistakes.

I understand that as parents we like to rescue your kids but we are doing them a disservice if we continually rescue them from themselves. Let your child experience the consequences of their actions today and they will be a better person for it tomorrow.

Burning calories can be hard when you don’t have enough time to work up a sweat. Trimming your tummy doesn’t have to include hours at the gym or simply subsisting on lemons and maple syrup. Here is a list of what’s Hot and what’s Not when you need to trim your tummy.

1. Cardiovascular Workouts

What’s Hot: Interval training is the best way to speed up your metabolism by speeding up your cardio. Instead of a stagnant Stairmaster routine to trim your tummy, try and spice up your cardio by sprinting up some steps and then speed walking around the block. The key to interval training is that it lowers and raises your heart rate during your workout so that your body is always working harder to stabilize.

What’s Not: Spending a tireless hour on the treadmill isn’t effective if it’s a habit. Keeping your workout status quo doesn’t trim your tummy. Instead your body adapts to the pace and your heart rate doesn’t increase within your cardio. Losing your tummy will be more effective if you have more variety of workouts or if you vary the intensity within a workout.

2. Eating Healthy

What’s Hot: The classics never fade and that is the key when choosing your life long commitment to eating healthy. Moderation is the best basis for your diet to trim your tummy. You don’t have to cut out an essential food item like carbs or sugars out all together, just keep them in check. Make sure you don’t substitute real raw sugar for high fructose cornstarch or whole grain bread loafs for simulated white loafs.

What’s Not: Extreme low-calorie diets is like taking one step forward and three steps backward when you are trying to trim your tummy. If you go on a fad diet like cabbage soup for a week, then you are depriving yourself of nutrients causing your body’s metabolism to slow down within that week. So when you finally return to eating normally your body stores the food you eat because it thinks it’s still in starvation mode. Starvating yourself with a fad diet usually ends up in you gaining more weight back more quickly than it took to lose it and messing up your metabolism.

No matter what is the current pulse of the public, just try and remember that old wives tales dies hard. Being able to trim your tummy isn’t a new invention like these fad diets or exercise routines - women have been doing it for centuries and they did it without signing up at that expensive gym or buying into that vogue diet.

Parents are always on the look-out for tools to help make potty training easier. One of the tools available is the potty training doll.

The Concept

Dolls that wet have been around for ages. The doll “drinks” a bottle of water and then wets into a diaper. The potty training doll is the same concept only it’s designed to “wet” when it’s held upright over a potty chair or toilet. The theory is, if the child sees the doll using the potty, she will get the idea and use the potty herself. There isn’t any hard and fast research either way on the effectiveness of the dolls in potty training a child.

Worth a Shot?

If the price of the doll is within your budget and you feel your child will respond positively to it, by all means give it a try. If, for some reason, your child doesn’t like it or is frightened by it, don’t use it again.

Anything that makes potty training easier should be explored and used if your child responds favorably to it.If you’re looking for a doll for your child, here’s just the one for you. Corolle has come out with a vanilla scented potty training doll called Emma. Emma is cute and cuddly to look at, dressed in pink and white, and comes with a potty, a feeding bottle and even a diaper. For those wishing to potty train a boy, there’s a doll called Paul - an anatomically correct boy baby doll Main features are:

- Corolle’s potty training dolls are of excellent quality
- There is a girl potty training doll Emma and a boy potty training doll Paul
- The potty training dolls come with lots of useful accessories
- The potty training process is simplified with the help of these dolls
- Both the potty training dolls are anatomically correct Both Emma and Paul are vanilla scented.

The potty training dolls come with their own feeding bottles and other accessories and has it’s own potty. Emma is dressed in baby pink and Paul is dressed in blue and Paul, the boy potty training doll, is anatomically correct Corolle dolls are of exceptionally good quality, and follow all the safety guidelines for dolls. I highly recommend Emma or Paul as a potty training doll for your child. If you are looking for ideas and options for your training, this might be the answer.

I had a great childhood! My parents were awesome. It wasn’t what they did - it was how they did it. The family income was small and looking back on those times I realize just how difficult it must have been to make ends meet. We did lots of things together. I remember camping, driving holidays, board games, hikes, visits to friend’s houses, reading nights, cooking and gardening days. My parents were thoughtful towards one another and they still are.

I want to be a better dad and be as good as my father was. We have two children already and another one on the way. I want to be a truly great father. I know that good communication and shared time is a good start. Unfortunately my work time seems to leave the little spare time for my wife and family.

Our new baby will be joining us soon and I want to make sure that I provide appropriate support for my wife. Despite the fact that we already have two children and I have been helpful, I think I can be a much better dad, father and husband. What I needed is some helpful tips to be a better dad.

We see pictures of great dads everywhere. The magazines show us how wonderful the celebrity fathers are. It leaves me wondering how they managed to do it. I presume, if they are really good dads, they have asked others, read books, and worked hard to show their family that they love them.

It doesn’t take much to keep your wife happy. Do unexpected things like bringing home some roses, having a romantic night out or bringing dinner home. Think of ways you can help your family and your partner without being asked, for example, get home early and supervise the children’s homework. You have to think of ways you can be effective as a father.

There are many simple things you can do to show that you love being with your children. Make a special time to do things with them, for example, spending time at the local playground. Try to do things that help their mother as well for example taken out early Sunday morning for a walk while their mother has a sleep in. You and the kids get her breakfast in bed.

Even if they aren’t very effective, most fathers try very hard to be good dads. If you are going to change, make sure it is a long-term change rather than just a week when you turn into this new fantastic father. You have to maintain being a super dad. Your kids will be very unhappy if you turn on good fatherhood for a few days and then become the old grouch that you used to be.

Learning to be a better dad is like anything else, you need to plan and set goals. One useful strategy is to think of all the better parenting strategies that are positive, negative, and interesting. This idea comes from the lateral thinker Edward de Bono. As you explore options, write them down. Try out the things that look as though they are positive and would work well, do not employ strategies that are negative, and keep adding to the interesting list. Try out the new strategies and see how they work.

Work through your planned list carefully and don’t try to do everything at once. When you do try a new strategy, find out if the family appreciates what you have done. You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you notice how much more positive they are about you. More importantly, you’ll know that you’re doing your job well and that you’re working hard to be a better dad.

There are a lot of kids who basically potty train themselves but there are a couple who are utterly resistant against potty training, and will actually turn it into a battle of wills. Because of this, experts suggest that the only way to deal with a strong willed child is to make potty training fun.

To help parents with this, “June was declared as Potty Training Awareness Month” and during this time, parents could call a direct line and talk to pediatricians and child psychologists and ask potty training questions from parenting experts.

This move was made to make parents realize that toilet training is really and that though it can be frustrating sometimes, help is available for them. According to experts, children develop control over their bodily functions at the age of 18 to 19 months but the fact shows that only 4% of children are actually potty trained at the age of two.

Experts agree that there’s no point in toilet training before children are able to control their bodily functions and forcing potty training can result to anxiety and fear of the toilet. It is best that parents prepare their kids for potty training so that they can start learning to be comfortable with the toilet and eliminate procrastination.

Starting potty training too late can allow incorrect patterns of behavior to develop so you too, wouldn’t wait for your child to become ready to potty train themselves, you will need to condition them but you need to start the training right.

Some parents prefer to start potty training during summer or spring since kids need to wear lesser clothes plus, the vacation affords them enough time to master toilet training. One mistake most parents make with potty training is that they become impatient for results.

Frustration can only lead to more mistakes so you better start learning how you can forget the failures. Punishing your child for accidents can only lead to more problems and even more frustrations - something you should definitely avoid. Potty training is more effective if you use a tailored approach. You need to find out what works for your child and focus on the things that your child does right.

It is important that you stay positive and chart your successes. This way, your child will be motivated to continue learning despite the many frustrations he may have encountered during potty training. Get your child to be comfortable with the idea of potty training. This means you need to introduce the potty chair and other potty training supplies early.

Have your child practice putting on his training pants, cleaning up the mess and washing his hands after using the potty chair.

Repeat desired behaviors and be aware of your emotions toward potty training so you don’t transfer negative emotions to your child. Also, be consistent with the training method you are using. Once you’ve stopped using diapers, make sure to keep your child out of them.

Don’t switch back and forth between diapers and training pants. Make everyone else involved with potty training advice - from grandparents to the daycare provider, make sure everyone knows what method you are using.

In search for the right gift for that very special lady? Buying gifts for someone can be quite a daunting task, more so if that person is a woman. No need to panic. During the holidays, a lot of stores sell popular gift items such as jewelry, chic watches, hand bags and those cute sweaters with complimentary cozy hats.

Items like these come in affordable prices so won’t have to worry about going over the budget. Of all the things to give as a gift, clothes make a wonderful gift and the best place to find them are boutiques and outlets. Its best to phone them in first so that you’ll know about discounts and special prices, saving you a lot more.

When it come to beauty products such as perfumes, lotions and the like, its nice to keep in mind that some women are allergic these products. To be safe, its better to get all natural cosmetics found on the market today. Treat her to a gift certificate if you don’t know what to get. It will be easier for her to buy the right one herself. A $25 gift certificate is readily available and can be given immediately.

If you are willing to splurge, electronics and computer accessories are always a big hit. How about an iPod, a digital camera, cell phone or a new lap top?

Jewelry is also a nice gift, too. Those sparkling gems you see in jewelry shops like those dangly earrings or elegant pearl necklaces will really captivate her eyes.

For an extra boost, just give her some cash. She’ll love you for it! Is the lady in your life (maybe your sister) a high-octane diva? Cash makes the ideal gift for women who have definite ideas on what they want for Christmas. Be creative! Maybe you can’t afford to tuck a pair of airline tickets to Las Vegas in her Christmas stocking, but what woman wouldn’t fall in love with a pair of Victoria Secret pajamas in flannel- $49.50?

Pondering still? Why not the ultimate gift? Like Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

For some children, nighttime potty training can be an easy and smooth transition from their daytime routine. For these kids, simply being able to conquer bladder control during the day develops their nighttime habits enough that they are able to stay dry the majority of the time. However, about one third of kids under the age of three still have accidents.

Proper Bladder Control-Give It Time

You may feel frustrated if your child is one of the many who have difficulty maintaining bladder control. But it’s not your fault, and certainly not your child’s fault. While they may have properly applied daytime bladder control, keep in mind that this is in large part a voluntary process. At night, however, despite the child’s best intentions, sometimes the signal from the bladder to the brain indicating that it is full simply doesn’t come through.

For this reason, a positive attitude is a must during nighttime potty training, just as it is during the day. Having a low-stress environment where the child’s self-esteem and well being are cared for facilitates the process of developing this communication from bladder to brain in the child. This means being ready to give positive feedback for every dry night and not holding them responsible for accidents-remember, children have no more conscious control over nighttime potty training than you have over snoring or turning over when you sleep. It simply takes time.

What Can I Do?

As a parent, you can create a positive atmosphere where both you and the child are taking action while the child is awake. This means limiting evening fluid consumption and checking to make sure they make a final bathroom stop before going to sleep. Synthetic sheets are also very useful for this as they make cleaning up after an accident a simple matter.

Having a no-fuss attitude about accidents-even if it’s in the middle of the night-is an essential aspect of proper nighttime potty training. You may not be thrilled to be up at 4AM changing sheets, but just remember that the child doesn’t want to be in that situation anymore than you do. You can mitigate any feelings of shame or embarrassment by staying cool and collected. Simply change the sheets, help them go to the bathroom one more time, and go back to bed. No big deal.

Nighttime Potty Training vs. Bedwetting

Did you know that it is considered a part of normal development to deal with nighttime potty training until age five? Because it is a matter of neurological development, most medical practitioners tend to distinguish between age-appropriate nighttime bladder control development and actual bedwetting. Bedwetting becomes the term used only when issues with nighttime potty training persist after age five, when you may want to explore other age-appropriate options.

Having consistently dry nights is usually the last hurdle of potty training. When your child reaches this benchmark, you both deserve a pat on the back and a celebration of your child’s final transition from baby to child.