A Fine Parent

A Life Skills Blog Exclusively For Parents

How to Keep your Toddlers Distracted on Long Journeys

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(This article is part of the Simplify Life series. Get free article updates here.)

Traveling with toddlers - mainDreading long trips with your toddler? This is a concern for most parents all around the world. Nobody wants the embarrassment of apologizing to the entire plane for the endless shrieks, or the headache of being trapped in a car with a screaming child – and of course, no parent wants to see their child in tears.

Fortunately, there are a number of different techniques you can use to keep your toddlers distracted, without simply using bribery or negative reinforcement. Who knows: you might even find the journey becomes an enjoyable part of the trip.

1. Fill Them In

This might sound obvious, but giving your children a heads up on the length of the journey will help to minimize the “are we there yet?” style comments. Try to fill them in on all the details that you know will distract them. For example, if you’re catching a long flight, get them excited for the movie that will be shown. Or if there’s an amazing pizza place en route, plan to make a stop so that they have something to look forward to. Most importantly, explain exactly the behavior you expect to see from them during this time so that everything is laid out in advance.

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6 Tips for Parenting a Child with Chronic Illness

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(This article is part of the Healthy Families series. Get free article updates here.)

Respectful Kids - Protect Their DignityThere is nothing pleasant about being told you have a chronic illness, and the situation is much worse when you find that your child is the one with the chronic illness.

Most parents would trade places in a heartbeat, but that’s not usually an option. As a parent you need to be able to find a way to deal with the issues your child is facing and to be strong for them, and that’s not always an easy process.

These 6 tips for parenting a child with a chronic illness will help.

Common Types Of Chronic Illness In Children

A chronic illness is anything that lasts longer than 12 months and is likely to have some impact on daily life. What may surprise you is that between 10-30% of children will be affected by a chronic illness. 

The most common examples include cystic fibrosis, asthma, congenital heart disease, diabetes, attention deficit, and even depression.

Of course, physical disabilities can also be classed as chronic, such as cerebral palsy or hearing impairments. 

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4 Ideas for Saving Money on Family Essentials

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(This article is part of the Wisdom From the Trenches series. Get free article updates here.)

teaching_kids_about_money_8660182.jpgImagine how your life could change if you were to discover extra money in your family’s monthly budget. What would you do with it? Could you pay down debt?  Start, or add to, a savings fund for your children’s college educations? Get a pet?

Let’s discuss 4 smart and viable ways you can save substantially on everyday family essentials, freeing up money you could better allocate in other ways.

1. Stop Using Disposable Items

Have you ever stopped to calculate how much your family is spending on disposable items? If your family is like most, you’re spending a bundle on these conveniences.

If you have two children wearing diapers, you might be spending anywhere from $100 to $200 a month or perhaps even more just for their diapers and baby wipes. Cloth diapering can save you hundreds or possibly even thousands of dollars in the long term. Your total savings depends on how many children you have and how long they’re in diapers before successfully potty training.

Cleaning wipes, paper towels, paper napkins, tissues and other paper items can all drive your grocery costs up. Going paperless in the kitchen can create substantial savings.

Here are a few suggestions for a variety of disposable items you can easily replace:

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Empowering Your Kids to Develop Skills Future Employers Will Covet

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(This article is part of the Wisdom From the Trenches series. Get free article updates here.)

Preparing Kids for Future Career OpportunitiesA significant percentage of today’s workforce is now working at jobs that didn’t exist twenty years ago. Technological advances have provided the greatest drivers prompting the changes in the nature of work. Considering that technology is always hastening to advance, there’s a high probability that the nature of work will also continue to change. This means that many of our kids will need to figure out how to train for jobs that don’t even exist yet.

This isn’t even the greatest challenge facing kids today. An even greater challenge: Experts at some of the world’s most prominent organizations, including the World Economic Forum,  are predicting that automation technologies will most certainly reduce the numbers of employees required to do the world’s work. That means it is likely to be increasingly difficult for today’s kids to find viable work in the future.

We’ve already witnessed the rise of self-checkout service at retail stores and self-service food and beverage kiosks at casual dining establishments. By all appearances, we’re in the beginning stages of an automation revolution that will transform the entire way the world does business.

It’s unclear what the results of all this will be. Some experts predict that human workers will inevitably no longer be needed in the future. Many predict that the nature of work will simply change – and that in the future, humans will be able to focus on creative, compelling work, leaving the dangerous or tedious tasks for robots to handle. This will be the likeliest outcome in the near future as today’s kids transform into adults and enter the workforce.

So how do you empower your kids to gain the skills she’ll need to be successful at a job that doesn’t yet exist? This is one of the major challenges facing today’s parents.

This is a question that has been on my mind as I help my daughter prepare for her future. I’ve become uncomfortably aware that many of the historically “safe” career choices such as accountant, lawyer and paralegal are likely to be automated out of viability soon.

I find this to be a scary thought, and I won’t lie; I’m anxious for my daughter. It would be all too easy to fixate on my fear that she will choose the wrong career. Instead, I’ve decided to focus on the things I can actively do to help my girl develop the mindset and skills she needs for navigating an uncertain future. Here are some of the action items we came up with:

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The Science of Flowers as Gifts, and Its Impact on Family Happiness

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(This article is part of the Uncategorized series. Get free article updates here.)

bloomsybox_1_dsThere is something very special about receiving flowers. For generations, they have been seen as a traditional gift to make people feel better when they’re ill, to say sorry or simply as a sign of love and affection.

Of course, the giving of flowers on Valentine’s day is a well-publicized event. However, they are actually given throughout the year because it’s an easy and effective way of showing affection. It doesn’t matter if this is to a partner or a child; to celebrate a birthday, or even to simply show you care.

In fact, you shouldn’t underestimate the power of children giving flowers to parents, or other family members and friends. It doesn’t just make the receiver feel good, watch your child next time you do it; they’ll light up.

Whether flowers are a one-off gift, or you give or receive flowers every month, they spread happiness and a feeling of well-being. But, why is this the case?

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