Mommy Has to Work

Four Ways To Share Your Values With Your Kids

October 10, 2022 By Anne

The teenage years are a time of a lot of change and growth. Teenagers learn very quickly. Changes are happening very quickly. We can see the changes in our bodies and feel the changes in how we feel. We are amazed by how much more teens are able to think things through and understand how complicated the world is. Their morals and sense of right and wrong are also growing. Parents can help teens develop this way by letting them figure out their own values while showing them the values that are important to the family as a whole.

Photo by Melissa Askew on Unsplash

What Values and Morality Mean

Morality is the set of rules that help us decide what is right and what is wrong. That tell us what to do even when no one is watching. Values are everywhere, and each family may have its own set. Some of the values we teach our kids are honesty, fairness, integrity, kindness, tolerance, compassion, and respect. Both what we do and what we don’t do shows what we value.

We learn about morals and values from a lot of different places and things, like religion, society, the government, cultural and ethnic traditions, and our own lives. But our families and other important people in our lives teach us the most. You should also talk to them about petty theft.

Parents’ Role

Parents need to set limits for their kids that they can’t cross. Setting rules about safety and morality lets young people make mistakes and learn how to get back on their feet. But the way we decide what is safe and what is right is not the same. Safety is a fact that can’t be changed. We need to make sure that our kids are not in danger of getting hurt. On the other hand, you can’t make someone have morals. It’s something we encourage when we teach our kids to think about what they value and what their actions might lead to.

These are not lessons that start in middle school or high school. When they are toddlers learning to share, we start to teach them about values. As they get older, we try to help them understand how what they do affects other people. We act in ways we want them to copy and put them in touch with people whose values we want them to notice. We sometimes show them the bad things that are going on in our communities to make them want to help fix the world.

All of this is done to help them grow up to be good people.

Communicating Your Values

It’s fine and even better for your teens to know what you think is important. The key is to explain why you believe what you do. Make it a conversation, not a lecture that says your way of thinking is the only right way. Ask what they think. Find out what’s important to them. Help them think about how they want to be seen over time.

Many of us make choices based on how they will make us feel in the moment or on how they will make us look to others. But this kind of attention doesn’t last. When we think about how our friends, coworkers, and family will think of us in the long run, we make different decisions in the present. Teens will be more likely to stick to their core values if they understand this.

Getting Clear On Their Values

Not every value your teen has will be the same as yours. Even if you are similar, it’s likely that you think a little bit differently than your parents. Our kids will learn to follow their own moral compass best when they know they are safe, but we also let them figure out what matters most to them in life. They need to know why you care so much about how they learn right from wrong. Your goal is for them to be the best versions of themselves and care deeply about other people.

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

Getting Your Children More Active In Their Community

October 4, 2022 By Anne

There are things we impart to our children beyond their education and health habits alone. There are values that we can teach them, too, such as caring for their environment or being diligent about their work. Here, we’re going to look at some of the ways that you can help your child be more community-minded, which can help them contribute and be an asset to their community, as well as be more connected to it when they need it.

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Encourage them to get involved in sports

Sports, especially team sports, play an important role in the school’s community. Talk to your child about whether they want to get more involved in sporting and, if they do, see what you can do to facilitate that, such as helping them train or get the gear that they need. Sporting throughout high school can be just as important to much of the local adult community, and can be great for teaching your child a sense of local community spirit. Those who aren’t especially sporty can still play a role in helping the school sports team.

Get them involved in the school paper

The vast majority of schools have a school paper that they can get involved with. This can include taking a look at changes that are happening within the school, liaising with the faculty for the sake of communicating changes with the student body, as well as community events, as shown in the Park Tudor School newspaper. Getting your child involved in this will have them managing contacts with the community, as well as working with their own mini-community of other writers and editors.

Start volunteering with them

Of course, your community may be in need of some real help that you and your teenager could provide. Use sites like Kids That Do Good to find volunteering opportunities near you and talk to your teenager about getting involved. Aside from providing some very real and practical help to local initiatives, volunteering can look great when it comes to school admissions time and it may even teach them some of the skills that they will need later in the working world. They may be hesitant at first, but the benefits really do outweigh the time it takes.

Do donation drives with them

You don’t necessarily have to get involved with non-profits in order to do some good. You can encourage your child to do donation drives, whether it’s doing certain activities for a monetary goal or going around and collecting donations of items that might be needed by the less fortunate. Start with those at home, such as friends and family, before you tap into the wider community. The feeling of seeing just how much you can gather to help those in need can be hard to beat.

A child who is better connected to their community can become independent from their parents more easily and will be more confident in navigating relationships with those around them as they grow up. Those are two good reasons to get them involved now.

Anne

How To Make Screen Time Educational

October 2, 2022 By Anne

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

We’re constantly being told that kids are watching too much TV or having too much screen time. It can affect their overall development, and social skills and lead to the health problems that come with a sedentary lifestyle.

But screen time isn’t all bad and in today’s world, children need to be familiar with accessing resources on tablets and computers. During the pandemic, many children completed their lessons on virtual platforms and this is becoming a very popular way to learn.

Striking a healthy balance is difficult when you’re in a busy family, but these tips might help you make screen time more educational and fun.

Limit Passive Screen Time

Most of us have fantastic memories of our favorite films and TV shows we watched as kids. But this type of screen time is known as passive, meaning that children are really learning of developing from it, it doesn’t activate the same areas of the brain that things like reading or interactive learning do. It’s a good idea to limit this type of screen time so it’s not the dominant hobby of your child.

Make It Educational

A child’s brain is built to learn. They love it. So nurturing this should be a priority. Find online interactive educational platforms that you can use. One that’s particularly popular is ABCmouse, that you can take advantage of a free trial to see if it suits your child.

TV production companies have also realized that parents want more educational content in their programming, so there are many TV shows that are designed to teach children and get them to join in at home.

Incorporate Movement Where Possible

As a society, we’re getting bigger and this is starting earlier in life. Sedentary lifestyles in children can cause all sorts of physical and mental psychological conditions that could affect them for the rest of their lives. While playing and outdoor exercise should be encouraged as much as possible, there are also ways to mix screen time with movement. Watch programs that kids can dance or move along with, or instead of letting them game sitting down, buy some games that require them to move around in order to play them.

Get Involved

Rather than just leaving your kids to watch things, sit down with them and watch it do. Discuss what’s going on, ask them questions, and talk about the subjects that are on the screen. Not only is it a great way to spend quality time with your child, but it will also help them to develop their speech and language skills as they learn to talk about what they are seeing and communicate it to you.

Takeaways

Kids and screen time is often in the press for all the wrong reasons. While it can become a problem if children are constantly watching screens rather than doing other activities, there are ways to change this and make what screen time they do have as educational as possible for them.

Anne

Dental Health Tips For The Whole Family

September 30, 2022 By Anne

There are many aspects of your family’s health that you have to look out for as a parent, But one that cannot be ignored is their dental health. Happily, there are some easy ways to make sure your family’s teeth stay in tip-top condition. Read on to find out what they are.

Do watch your sugar consumption

Have you ever tried shopping at the supermarket for things that don’t contain sugar? If not, you should try it, as it’s surprisingly hard. Of course, as you already know, too much sugar, especially refined kins is bad for our family’s teeth because it encourages bacteria, plaque, and cavities.

With that in mind, taking action to reduce the amount of refined sugar that your family consumes is a good idea. This may mean shopping online for sugar-free sweet treats that are better for their teeth or making your own version of things like pasta sauce as the jarred options you get from the supermarket often have a great deal of sugar in them.

Do set a good example around going to the dentist

Regular dentist visits are a crucial part of good oral health for the whole family. Yet they are also something that many adults and kids can struggle with. Indeed, dental anxiety can be a real barrier to getting regular checkups and cleanings that will keep your family’s teeth healthy over the long term.

The good news is there are ways to minimize dental anxiety. The first is to find a practice that specializes in kids and family dentistry in your local area. Then you can be sure they will be used to dealing with patients of all ages and will be able to give your kids a great initial experience that will keep them coming back as they grow.

Do teach kids about dental care

Another way you can promote dental health in your family is to teach kids about it. That means going behind just showing them how to brush their teeth, and instead explaining to them why brushing and flossing are important.

There are all sorts of ways you can do this, from explaining it yourself to using a fun video from youtube with cartoon characters. You may also like to introduce them to the tradition of the tooth fairy. Then you can encourage them to have great dental hygiene by placing special emphasis on making sure that their teeth are as clean as possible for when she comes to collect them!

Do make tooth care a regular part of your routine

Last, of all, young kids learn primarily by watching what their parents do. That means you haven’t to show them that tooth care is part of your regular routine. With that in mind, it can be very helpful to brush your teeth as a family before the kids go to bed.

Yes, I know that that means you’ll need to do yours again before you hit the sack, but that shared experience can be very valuable to your little ones. After all, they spend so much of their childhood wanting to do what the grownups are doing, so why not use it to help them get better dental health?

Anne

Cooking Quality Meals Around Busy Family Life

September 29, 2022 By Anne

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Managing a family is no mean feat. Most parents find themselves running around doing something constantly. Whether that’s trying to balance work, the school run, chores, getting your kids to their clubs and hobbies on time or anything else, you’re going to be kepy busy most of the day, every day. This is manageable for most, but you do need to make sure that your family’s meals aren’t declining in quality in the process. Nowadays, a lot of busy parents find themselves leaning towards convenience foods for main family meals on too regular a basis. Junk food, fast food, takeaways, drive thrus, ready meals… sure, these may all allow you to fill your little one’s stomachs with minimal time and effort, but they’re not ideal. These types of foods lack nutrition and can contain too many saturated fats, too much sugar and too much salt. Instead, here are some ways that you can make quality meals around your busy family life.

Meal Plan and Meal Prep

The key to successfully providing your family with healthy meals, day in and day out, is meal planning and meal prepping. Meal planning involves coming up with what you’re going to have for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the week ahead, allowing you to head out and get all of the necessary ingredients in. Meal prepping involves preparing certain elements of the meals when you have time, helping to make cooking them easier and faster when the time comes to actually make the meal.

Make Do With Ingredients You Have

All too often, parents will go to make a delicious, healthy, wholesome meal, but find one ingreident is missing and don’t have time to head to the shops to pick it up. This can often result in the whole meal being thrown out of the window and the parents opting for something delivered instead. Avoid this. Instead, you can often replace particularly ingredients with something else you may have in the cupboard, or modify the recipe to make do without. You can find plenty of replacements out there, from chia seed mixes replacing eggs to sweetener to replace sugar or these are the top brown rice flour substitutes.

Have Healthy Snacks on Hand

If you’ve been out or busy all day and collect your kids from school, chances are, dinner isn’t going to be on the table as soon as they walk through the door. They are also likely to be hungry. So, instead of handing snacks that may overly fill them (causing them to leave their healthy dinner), or junk food that isn’t going to be good for them, you should make sure that you have plenty of healthy snacks around. This will allow you to temporarily satiate their hunger while you get on with making their main meal.

As you can see, you don’t have to compromise when it comes to feeding your family well around your other commitments and responsibilities. Hopefully, the guide above should help you to find a good balance that meets everyone’s needs!