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Cutting Grocery Costs without Cutting Nutrition
Simple, healthy, and affordable ways to weather the rising price of food
Karen Collins, R.D., American Institute of Cancer Research
Grocery prices are projected to increase again in 2008 – that’s following 2007’s highest annual increase in 17 years. But surviving these tough economic times doesn’t have to mean sacrificing good nutrition. Some simple strategies can help you cut food costs and eat more healthfully, too.
read more...
8 Ways to Connect with Your Teenager
By Sandra Magsamen
...Hug, sing, dance and tell your child you love them. Even if your teen acts as if they can't stand it, she promises you it's something they love and need. Use these other suggestions as ways to connect with your teenager...
read more...
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
by Jeff Kinney
It’s summer vacation, the weather’s great, and all the kids are having fun outside. So where’s Greg Heffley? Inside his house, playing video games with the shades drawn...
Make the most of your weekend
by Charlotte Latvala
• Too much free time can be just as nerve-racking as an overload of scheduled events
• If you run errands over the weekend, make them enjoyable with silly games
• Put your children to sleep at their weekday bedtime
• Have a sitter take the kids while you enjoy an afternoon alone in your own home
read more...
It’s playtime! The best of big outdoor toys
Get active! These fun toys will appeal to both parents and kids this summer
by Stephanie Oppenheim - TODAYShow.com contributor
What was your family’s favorite summertime game? For my less-than-athletic family, it was badminton. While we probably weren’t very good at it, I can still hear the laughter and it remains one of those happy “every summer” childhood memories.
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Single Moms - find here resources on financial aid, scholarships, help with basic needs, food, prescription drugs, health care, housing, legal info, and much more...
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Whatever your age, the Internet is a great place to hang out. It’s not only fun, but it lets you keep in touch with friends and family and provides an enormous amount of information.
If you’re the parent or guardian of a teenager, you may feel teens don’t need the same restrictions and controls as younger kids. You may be right, but just because they’re older doesn’t mean they’re out of danger. Teenagers are actually more likely to get into trouble online than younger children. Teens are more likely to explore; they’re more likely to reach out to others besides their peers; and, sadly, they’re more often preyed upon as victims by child molesters and other exploiters.
"House pledges" or "acceptable-use policies" can help provide clear guidelines for safer Internet use. NetSmartz recommends using the "Internet Safety Pledge" to promote safety discussions and create safer boundaries. The pledges correspond with pictures of the NetSmartz villains for their age group. This will assist children in remembering the Internet safety principles even if they are not able to read the words of the pledge.
Clear, simple, easy-to-read house rules should be posted on or near the monitor. Create your own computer rules or print the Internet safety pledge. The pledge can be signed by adults and children and should be periodically reviewed.
Grades K-2
Internet Safety Pledge
• I will turn off my computer monitor right away and tell a trusted adult if anything makes me feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused.
• I will tell my parents or guardian if anyone online asks me my name, my address, my telephone number, or the name and location of my school.
• I will tell my parents or guardian if anyone online asks to meet me in person.
• I will not use rude or mean language on the Internet.
Real World Safety Pledge
• I will check first with my parents, guardians, or other trusted adults before going anywhere, helping anyone, accepting anything, getting into a car, or leaving with anyone.
• I will take a friend with me when going places or playing outside.
• I will tell people "NO" if they try to touch me or do things in ways that make me feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused, because it's OK for me to stand up for myself.
• I will tell my parents, guardians, or other trusted adults if anything happens to me.
Grades 3 - 6
Internet Safety Pledge
• I will talk with my parents or guardian so that we can set up rules for going online. The rules will include the time of day I may be online, the length of time I may be online, whom I may communicate with while online, and appropriate areas for me to visit while online. I will not break these rules or access other areas without their permission.
• I will tell a trusted adult if I come across anything that makes me feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused. I will not download anything from anyone without permission from my parents or guardian.
• I will never share personal information such as my address, my telephone number, my parents' or guardian's work address/telephone number, or the name and location of my school without my parents' or guardian's permission.
• I will never respond to any messages that are mean or in any way make me feel uncomfortable. If I do get a message like that, I will tell a trusted adult right away so that he or she can contact the online service. And I will not send those kinds of messages.
• I will never meet in person with anyone I have first "met" online without checking with my parents or guardian. If my parents or guardian agrees to the meeting, it will be in a public place and my parents or guardian must come along.
Real World Safety Pledge
• I will check first with my parents, guardians, or other trusted adults before going anywhere, helping anyone, accepting anything, getting into a car, or leaving with anyone. I will remember to check first with a trusted adult if I decide to change my plans and if someone needs my help or offers me anything.
• I will take a friend with me when going to the store, movie theatre, public restrooms, playing at the park or playground, or walking to and from school. By sticking together with my friend, we can help look out for each other if one of us is in danger or gets hurt.
• I will tell people "NO" if they try to touch me or do things in ways that make me feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused, because it's OK for me to stand up for myself. If someone tries to touch me in a way that bothers me I will scream "NO" in a loud voice and then run away from that person and tell a trusted adult.
• I will tell my parents, guardians, or other trusted adults if anything happens to me. Trusted adults are people who respect my opinions, ideas and feelings. Trusted adults will listen and help me work out a solution to any problem I may have. I will tell a trusted adult when something is bothering me or when a problem becomes too big for me to handle.
Middle and High School
Internet Safety Pledge
• I WILL TALK WITH MY PARENTS OR GUARDIAN ABOUT THEIR EXPECTATIONS AND GROUND RULES FOR GOING ONLINE
• I WILL KEEP MY IDENTITY PRIVATE
• I WILL NEVER RESPOND TO ANY ONLINE COMMUNICATION THAT MAKES ME FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE
• I WILL NEVER MEET IN PERSON WITH ANYONE I HAVE FIRST “MET” ONLINE WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT WITH MY PARENTS OR GUARDIAN
• I WILL RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE’S RIGHTS WHILE ONLINE
Real World Safety Pledge
• I WILL TAKE SOMEONE WITH ME WHEREVER I GO.
• I WILL TELL A TRUSTED ADULT WHERE I AM GOING AT ALL TIMES.
• I HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY "NO."
• I WILL TELL A TRUSTED ADULT IF I FEEL SCARED, UNCOMFORTABLE, OR CONFUSED.
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Top 8 Tips for Reducing Kids Screen Time This Summer
Reducing time spent in front of televisions and computers is one of the easiest ways to improve your family's health. Here are eight simple ways to limit screen time so you can help crank up your kids’ energy, re-charge their minds, and improve their health.
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What would you change?
Weekly Column, by Annette Bridges
Change -- some people dread it, and others can’t get enough. It may be much like the idiom, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” When it comes to what we would alter or why we would make a modification, the answers vary because we all have different things we value, want, need and consider important.
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Being a Role Model
by Laurie Cesario-Overton
If I had to choose one sentence that would best describe what I feel parents need to learn, it would be this: Be your child's BEST ROLE MODEL in all the ways that truly count. Be your child's HERO. Whatever you do, do it for all the right reasons.
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How to Find the Best Car Loans for Single Moms
Financial Advice for Single Moms
The best car loans for single mothers might be just around the corner at your local car lot.
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3 Money Rules for Stay-at-Home Moms
As we all know, life is unpredictable. We lose jobs, get divorced and even become widowed...
Here are three steps stay-at-home parents should take to better manage their own and the family’s finances.
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You May Have Too Much Debt But You Also Have Options
How Life Works
If you feel like you're in over your head with personal debt, you're not alone. Millions of Americans have become overextended, many as a result of easy credit and the recessions. Credit cards, medical bills, personal loans and raising interest rates do not make a good financial mix.
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Could fat babies mean fat toddlers?
A new study from Harvard Medical School found that babies who gained weight quickly had a sharply higher risk of obesity. The study followed close to 600 babies and found those in the top quarter of weight for their length at 6 months had a 40 percent higher risk of obesity by age 3 than smaller babies.
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Crystal Bowersox - A Single Mom And A Real American Idol
Read how the amazing Crystal Bowersox. the runner-up of American Idol Season 9, handles fame and life as a single mom, raising her 17 month old son.
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5 Ways for Single Moms to Save Money
Single moms are always looking for ways to save money, and for good reason... It’s important to find ways to cut corners on the little things that perhaps you don’t think about too often, because those are usually where your biggest money drains are.
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Suze Orman's Recession Rescue Plan - helps you survive in times of financial crisis
OPRAH.com
Do you know what your family would do if you lost your job - or worse, your home? Financial expert Suze Orman is ready to help you devise a recession rescue plan to survive - and possibly thrive - during this deepening financial crisis...
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Your Just-in-Case Emergency Plan
by RealSimple
Who do you call if you can't make it home in time to meet the kids' bus? Who do
you trust to take in your mail when you're on vacation? Who do you trust with
the extra set of keys to your house?
read more...
How to save $10,000
By Liz Pulliam Weston
If you were hoping for a list of small tweaks you could make in your spending to save $10,000 a year, sorry.
The reality is that $10,000 is a lot of money. And saving big money usually means making big changes in the areas where we spend the most, such as: Housing, Transportation, Food.
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The Super, Sexy, Single Mom on a Budget
by Renee Rayles
A quick reference guide designed for the busy, single mom who has
little time to read while running the mom taxi, cooking dinner, helping with homework, and trying to fit in a date night every now and then.
read more...
Single Mothers &
Male Role-Models / Mentors
Single mothers carry an enormous load of responsibility, especially those having sole and/or primary custody of minor children. They nourish, they nurture, they teach, they discipline, they shelter, they protect, and they provide… all without the assistance of another equally-invested adult.
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Mom's Obesity Raises Newborn's Heart Risk
from the National Institute of Health
The more obese a woman is when she becomes pregnant, the greater the likelihood that her newborn baby will have a congenital heart defect, a new study suggests. The finding raises concerns because 1 in 5 women are obese at the start of pregnancy in the United States.
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The 10-Ingredient Shopping Trip
By Tara Parker-Pope and Mark Bittman
... In his latest “How to Cook Everything” segment on the Today Show, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman makes it surprisingly easy to cook a week’s worth of dinners with just a 10-ingredient shopping trip.
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Your 5-minute guide to protecting your identity
20 steps to protect yourself from identity theft, and seven ways to clean up things if you become a victim.
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TheOnlineMom.com offers parents and consumers a guide to the top-rated, age-appropriate, kid-tested and parent-approved tech toys and gifts.
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Single Moms in the News
6 Best Celebrity Single Moms
Read about Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Williams, Reese Witherspoon, Kimora Lee Simmons, Mary-Louise Parker... read more
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
by Jeff Kinney
For those wondering why tween boys don’t read very much, the answer is that more books aren’t like this...
read more...
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