LoveToKnow Kids

Souvenirs?

2009-11-21T21:17:05-08:00

We’re on the go a lot, trying out different activities and shows so the kids can experience a lot of different things. Usually we allow the kids to pick out one souvenir when we go somewhere new and interesting, but sometimes my jaw drops when I see the price. Tonight we went to see Cirque Dreams Illumination (which I fully recommend, by the way) and it wasn’t until after my kids each picked out a teddy bear that I found out it was $25 per bear. Yikes!

Moral of the story: Ask how much something costs before announcing that the kids can pick out any souvenir they want.

Growing up, we never did souvenirs. Do you allow your kids to pick up souvenirs when on outings?

“Half” Birthdays

2009-11-13T22:30:37-08:00

A friend of mine is thinking about celebrating her daughter’s birthday in June instead of when her actual birthday, which is around December 20th. She’s concerned that her daughter may get less of a birthday experience because of Christmas.

My daughter’s birthday is on the 29th of December, but it never ocurred to me to celebrate her birthday in a different month. It may be easier for us, though, since her birthday is after Christmas instead of right before it.

Have you ever heard of this before?

Holiday Traditions

2009-11-20T23:51:53-08:00

We have certain traditions we hold to year after year and other things we’re quite flexible. We always read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and the Christmas Story from the Bible every year. We always open one gift on Christmas Eve and Santa still stuffs the stockings, even though my girls are 13 and 16. We put out a plate of cookies still, which Santa of course takes bites out of and drinks the milk. We always watch It’s a Wonderful Life, even though we’ve seen it a gazillion times and we start watching Elf around Thanksgiving and on through to the New Year.

Now that our girls are teens, there are other traditions we’ve adopted that are new. Since our family is so small (4 of us and my mom and dad if they are not in Florida), we no longer cook a huge meal for Christmas Day (we still do for Thanksgiving or go to friends or family). Instead, we go have Chinese food and go to see a movie. It has removed a huge stress from me, because I felt I had to cook a huge meal and it had to be picture perfect. Now, I just relax and enjoy time with my kids and my husband and my parents if they are here. It is also fun to see others who have a twisted plan like mine and are out eating Chinese food. We always have a great time doing this.

What traditions does everyone else have?

Cultivating Thankfulness

2009-11-07T08:47:13-08:00

Okay since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, I thought it was a good time to ask what you all do to cultivate Thankfulness in your kids? I think the real key to having thankful kids is that it’s not an attitude that’s cultivated just during the holidays. . .but with that said ‘Tis the season. . .

Clean Plate?

2009-11-08T13:17:34-08:00

When I was a kid I was taught to finish the food that was presented to me, regardless of my hunger. My parents were probably taught the same thing growing up, and I think it’s one of the reasons the whole family has weight problems.

With my kids, when they say they’re full I never urge them to eat more. I figure they need to learn to listen to their own bodies and know when to stop eating. Sometimes I feel like it’s a shame that we’re wasting food, but on the other hand I don’t want them to think that every plate needs to be cleaned.

What is your stance on this with your kids?

Too Many Activities

2009-10-30T00:19:22-08:00

Okay parents, fess up. Is your child doing too much? I just sat down and looked at my daughters’ schedules. One daughter has a really easy schedule, but is job hunting, so that will add a few hours a week. She is doing yearbook, a book club, school and job. Not too bad. Pretty balanced really. She has time for friends, church and still is doing what she enjoys.

But, my other daughter is just like I was at her age. She is in far too many things. She is doing cheerleading (practice 3 or 4 times a week right now and then when games start 2 times a week), three clubs, tumbling and asked this week to try out for basketball and to take guitar lessons. I told her I had to think about those last two because I felt she was adding too much and it would depend on when basketball starts (i.e. is cheer over then). Granted, she is too young to work yet, but I do feel she could work on her grades a little more. She did say she was going to stop going to one club, so that will help a little.

Does anyone put a limit on activities for their kids? I am thinking about telling her no more than three things at a time. On the other hand, if she is busy she won’t be likely to get into trouble or hang with the wrong crowd. On the other hand, I thought about telling her that her grades have to come up to As and Bs for the most part (instead of sliding by on Cs in some classes) before she adds any other activities. Thoughts?

Swine Flu Vaccine

2009-10-07T18:19:39-08:00

Well it looks like the Swine Flu is going around again. One of my son’s friends in Marching Band had it and she was out of school for over 1 week. A new vaccine, H1N1, has been approved by the FDA. Do you plan on giving this vaccine to your kids?

Discipline

2009-04-27T13:27:39-08:00

When your child misbehaves, how do you handle it? Do you use time out, grounding, lectures, or something else?

When my kids were younger, we experimented with time outs, but never really had much luck with it. My kids respond better when I use lots of positive reinforcement and discussions about bad behavior. When they really misbehave, we do ground them, but that hasn’t been necessary many times.

Daycare for Sick Kids

2009-10-17T19:29:38-08:00

I’m really lucky to not really have to deal with this issue since I work from home, but I have often wondered what parents do when their kids are in daycare but get sick. I’m guessing daycare facilities won’t allow sick kids in, and if the parents can’t get the day off from work, where do the kids go?

Girl Slapped My Daughter and Made Her Nose Bleed

2009-10-27T16:20:21-08:00

My daughter was playing around with a girl she thought was a friend. Not a close friend, but they’ve always gotten along okay. She tried to pop the other girl’s bubble gum bubble. The girl looked at her for a minute and then smacked my daughter hard enough to make her nose bleed.

The principal doesn’t seem like he is going to do anything about this incident and now I’m concerned about what this girl might try next if she is allowed to get by with this. I really felt they should have given her in-school suspension for the day or SOMETHING. Instead, they just took the girl’s word that she didn’t “mean to hit Hailey that hard” and she said Hailey bumped her arm, so they are taking “no action”.

I’m pretty upset. If my daughter hadn’t pleaded with me to let her stay, I would have been going tomorrow to withdraw her and homeschool again. I just can’t believe they aren’t going to do anything about it. Also, the principle asked if Hailey was just trying to get out of class. Hello! As if someone would bloody their own nose to get out of class. I really don’t even know where that question came from, since my daughter likes school and never wants to mis.

Has anyone else ever run into this type of problem? I’m so frustrated right now.