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Fun Times All the Time: Making your Parenting Cool

October 5, 2018 Luke Pitcairn Cool Parents, Parenting 0

When you already have children, how would you like to be—a friend but not a parent, or a parent but never a friend?

It is puzzling, especially if you want to be present in your child’s life and see them close to you. It’s possible to become their friend without compromising the firmness and authority you have as a parent. Here are a few tips to raise your children without seeing you as ‘the enemy.’

Create a time for bonding

Once you’re a parent, you want to enjoy as much time as you can with your children. It could be hard, however, to create an aura of respect if you let them have too much fun at the cost of your authority. What you can do is to set aside a time when both of you just have to play and have fun, without any fear of repercussions.

Be consistent with punishments

When your children do something wrong, it’s your responsibility as a parent to punish them. Be fair and lenient in your punishments, however; remember to explain to them the reason you’re punishing them. Remind them that the reason behind the punishment is your love and to show them that what they did was wrong, and they need to take responsibility.

Set down rules

You can have fun and be close with your children all you want, but you should keep enforcing rules and regulations. Let them know that your rules are final and, even when you have a close relationship with them, you should set some rules that are unbreakable. It’s one way of being close with them without compromising your job as their parent.

Point out what their mistakes are

When a child makes mistakes and gets punished for it, there are times when they’re wondering what the mistakes are. Be consistent with explaining to them what is wrong and why they’re being punished. More than that, point out to them what they did wrong. If their room is messy, tell them what is messy about it; don’t leave them hanging.

Remember to recognize their achievements

A child loves it when they’re praised. Aside from making them feel good, it gives them incentive to keep doing the right thing. Rewards can evolve as they grow up, but while they’re young, they can usually be satisfied with a hug and kiss. Scholastic achievements can usually be praised with the right food or toy for their success.

famm - Fun Times All the Time: Making your Parenting Cool

Being a parent is hard. Sometimes you become the enemy while oftentimes you’re their protector. Becoming a mix of the two is hard but that doesn’t mean you can’t try to work at it.

The Good Parent: Tips to Become the Legend and not the Myth

August 31, 2018 Luke Pitcairn Parenting, Tips 0

Parenting is something that comes naturally to some people. While some struggle at it, others seem to know the right things to do and the right buttons to push. However, when it comes to good parenting, there comes a time when even the best parents take a sit back to look at what they’re doing and figure out what makes one good.

To be a good parent, you have to keep trying through mistakes and successes. Having a few tips like these below helps too.

Hold your child in the highest sense:Good Parenting

This doesn’t mean you’ll start carrying your child high on your arms. This means that you always look out for what’s best for your child or children. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to struggle to meet it—you’ll make a way. Good parents always find a way to give only the best their children deserve.

It’s okay to make mistakes:Good Parenting

As much as your children make mistakes, you’ll also make a few of them yourself. Even the best parents have made wrong moves one way or another. The thing with mistakes is that you learn from them. Make mistakes, but always aim to learn from them and use what you learn to better yourself for your child.

Be a good role model:Good Parenting

When a child learns, they’ll always look to you to give them a template on how to do things. Therefore, when you have kids, you have to watch out what you’re doing. Always be on your best behavior. It’s okay to fail at times, but you should strive to be as best you can be if it’s possible.

Not overprotective:Good Parenting

For the first few years of their lives, children will always look to their parents for support. It’s easy to get attached to them because of this, but there comes a time when they’ll stop looking for you all the time. Learning when to let go is the mark of a parent that has learned how to become good.

Not too serious either:Good Parenting

Another mark of a good parent is someone who hasn’t let go of their inner child. The best parents are the ones who know how to have fun and takes their children seriously, but not too much that they can’t bond. Learning to like what your children likes is a good way to become a good parent.

Has unconditional love:Good Parenting

Most of all, it is important for a parent to always love their children, faults and all. These little ones look up to you most of their lives; it’s a sign of gratitude to always love them for their faults and successes. The mark of a good parent is one that doesn’t discriminate and loves all their children equally.

Being a parent is a daily job. When they say it’s a thankless job, that’s probably true as well. However, the greatest success for a parent is to see their children grow to become great adults because of them.

Celebrity Parenting: Celebrity Parents with the Weirdest Child-rearing Methods

August 6, 2018 Luke Pitcairn Celebrity, Celebrity Parents, Parenting 0

From strange punishments to asking their kid to join cult-like organizations, celebrity parents have run the gamut of parenting from strange to weirder. Even though celebrities are still people, they do find ways to separate their child-rearing ways from normal methods.

It’s not just asking their children to join Scientology or letting them eat vegetables when they misbehave. Naming their children strange names is only the tip of the iceberg when talking about celebrity parenting.

Alicia Silverstone and Bear Blu

Perhaps Ms. Silverstone may have watched a little too much Animal Planet. It’s not enough that she named her son Bear Blu; a viral video circulated where Ms. Silverstone masticated her son’s food and fed it to the child through her mouth. It’s not unheard of—in nature—but when you’re talking about real-world parenting, it comes off as strange.

Christina Applegate and the NoseFrida

It could be a reaction toward hard-core, hands-on parenting, but you can’t say Ms. Applegate doesn’t take her child’s health seriously. Apparently, the best parenting advice she’s received was using NoseFrida on her kid. A NoseFrida is a device that sucks the snot out of a baby’s nose—by using the suction of your mouth. Hard. Core.

Jamie Oliver’s fiery love

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s love affair with food extends beyond the kitchen and into parenting. He resolved an incident with his 12-year-old daughter Poppy by giving her an apple pie rubbed with Scotch Bonnet, a chili that’s renowned for its stinging hotness. Perhaps it would be effective to remind his daughter not to cross him again.

Lisa Fitzpatrick’s version of ‘stand in the corner’

If her children knows a family vacation is coming up, that’s the time when they behave their best. Ms. Fitzpatrick’s unique approach to parenting includes having her children earn their own money for their own stuff, but her stern bit of parenting leaves the children with a baby-sitter—usually their grandmother—while the rest of the family go on vacation.

Mayim Bialik and the 3-year-old infant

It’s not unheard of in the real world, but when you’re a celebrity, everything gets magnified ten-fold. In Mayim Bialik’s case, she still feeds, clothes, and carries her 3-year-old as if still an infant. It might be her own unique way of bonding with her child; in an interview, she also admitted that she might wean them from breastfeeding sometime before high school.

The methods might be weird and the ideas might be crazy. Celebrities are still people though; what seems crazy to others might be their own way of checking up on their children, as much as their schedules would allow.

The American Family: Places in America to Raise a Family in

July 12, 2018 Luke Pitcairn Family, US 0

As a parent, you only want the best for your family. You are always on the lookout for the best prices, the best clothes, and it goes without saying that you’ll want the best place to live in for your family—especially when you have children. Everything changes when you have kids. Your lifestyle and those of your closest relatives are affected by having children.

In the US, some places stand out above others as places where you can raise your family with safety and security in mind. Here are a few of those places.

North Arlington (New Jersey)
Good for Literacy

If you work in the Big Apple, North Arlington is not a bad place to settle your family in. With a high school graduation rate of 95%, it’s a good thing for kids if you’re planning on enrolling them in school. If you want your kids to read more books, you’ll be glad to know that it has a lot of libraries.

Clarendon Hills (Chicago)
Safe, Educational

If you’re the type to settle down without a thought for your lifestyle (nightlife, day out), Clarendon Hills is the place for you. There are a lot of schools in the area; perfect if you want to settle down and raise children. It’s one of the places in the US that’s very friendly for a family just starting out.

Glenwillow (Cleveland)
You Won’t Go Hungry

For a family that’s scared of going hungry, Glenwillow offers a very nice place to settle in. People say everything is within easy access, wherever you choose to live here. A wide variety of restaurants and shops guarantee that you won’t go hungry here.

Carmel (Indianapolis)
For the Artistic

Carmel has grown to become a suburb where all kinds of families can live in. Whether you’re moving in for college or are relocating to a place where you want to raise your family in peace, Carmel is that place. Aside from the growing arts movement, everything is within walking distance of each other.

Glendale (St. Louis)
Safe and Classy

As a fair warning, there’s not much diversity if you’re going to raise a family in Glendale. Choosing this place, however, is as much a choice for you as it is for raising a family in a safe environment. You’ll find a home here easily. But if you and your wife value your time as a couple, the nightlife in this place will surely give you the chance to do that.

Ashburn (Virginia)
A Young City

It can get pretty fast and furious in Ashburn as it also houses the headquarters of the Washington NFL team. However, the main reason to live here is that it’s a safe city to raise your family in. It’s low crime rate, relatively young populace, and economy makes it one great place to set up roots.

You only want the best for your family and that’s understandable. For family, you should only seek the best the US has to offer. Aside from education, safety, and security, a lot of other factors may also govern your choosing of a place to settle down in.

The Homestead: Tips for Finding the Best Place to Raise a Family

June 2, 2018 Luke Pitcairn Family, Home, Home Search 0

It’s probably true when they say that ‘home is where your heart is’ or ‘where we are, that’s home.’ However, homes is still where it’s safe enough to raise a family; near enough to shops and restaurants; and close enough to schools or where you work. In short, home is where a good site is.

Location is just one of the many factors people consider when finding their next home. Let’s explore the other factors.

1: Combined household income

One thing that people consider when looking for a home is the price—not just the price of the house, but the price of living in that area. You have to live in that area without breaking the bank. That’s one of the biggest issues families are facing now, which is why people tend to move into the suburbs instead of choosing urban living.

house - The Homestead: Tips for Finding the Best Place to Raise a Family

2: Housing availability

Many houses in the suburbs are mostly taken by the bank during the years the Recession happened. However, prices in the urban centers have gone up in recent years. This is partly the reason people are moving into the suburbs from urban centers; hence, the lack of housing for others who want to move here.

3: The daily commute

When you’re searching for a home you might have considered how you’re going to get to work or to school. If you find that the transportation in that place is terribly lacking, you should consider other alternatives. Sometimes, the price is not worth it if you’re going to sacrifice location, which should be on the top of your list if you’re searching for a new home.

schools - The Homestead: Tips for Finding the Best Place to Raise a Family

4: The schools

This is important if you’re raising a family. Fortunately, there are many places across the US where education is high priority. If you don’t find a school near where you live, the next thing you should look out for are bus stops and transportation. If not, the school nearest you usually has transportation in store for your children.

5: Safety of your family

Far too many children have gone missing and a lot of families have fallen victim to criminals for you not to consider this as an important factor. There are some places in the US where crime has gone down. If you’re looking for a place to settle down, find a place where you won’t be scared for your family when it gets dark.

There are still a lot of other things you should consider if you’re building a home for your family. These are on top of your mind when you’re looking for a home. It isn’t that hard to find a home if you value their safety, security, and ease of living first.

Happy Kids, Happy Life: How to Raise Happy Adults from Children

May 8, 2018 Luke Pitcairn Happiness, Happy Children, Kids 0

One of the many things parents want for their children is to be happy or, specifically, to live a happy life. This is not as easy to achieve, not if you don’t know what to do. Many people have different ideas of happiness and with that, they also have different ways and stuff that they want to make them happy. Children, albeit simpler, are the same.

What exactly do children need to be happy? We break it down to these few simple tips.

First tip: For them to be happy, their parent has to be happy

Happiness is infectious. Haven’t you heard of the saying that a happy person infects a room of persons with normal feelings? If you want your children to have happy dispositions, you have to be happy yourself. A large number of happy adults owe a happy, memorable childhood to parents who know how to have fun.

Second tip: Be friendly yourself, and they will be friendly

Do you have relationships both in and out of work? This is an important question to ask because it is a trait that may be imitated by your child. Generally, a friendly parent will always have a child who emulates the same friendship they see. Therefore, it’s important to guide your child in this by being friendly and cordial yourself.

hap - Happy Kids, Happy Life: How to Raise Happy Adults from Children

Third tip: Teach them about real life

Life has its ups and downs and often, you find yourself in more downs than ups. It’s how you get through these down times that define your happiness. If you know how to get through the hard times, it tends to reflect off you and on your children. If you already taught them how to be happy, you should also teach them that life gets you sad at times, but it’s okay.

Fourth tip: Praise excellence; cheer them up even when they fail

Everybody loves a winner. However, children who are no strangers to failure have a hard time if not for parents who support them, faults and all. If you want your child to grow up happy and confident, don’t instill in them the fear of failure. Instead, teach them that it’s okay to fail, but make sure that they know what they should learn from it and instill in them the need to be better next time.

Fifth tip: Let them be children

Child celebrities often suffer when they grow up because they had a strange, adult-like childhood. When your child is young, you should always let them be children. Don’t make them grow up too fast by stifling their play time; that’s when they learn how to explore and develop their thinking. More play time means more time for discoveries and a childhood fulfilled.

It’s not that hard to be a parent. It’s okay to fail, but always remember to think of your child first before yourself. It’s only then that you may be able to call yourself a good parent.

The Secret to Happy-ness: Tips on Raising a Happy Family

April 3, 2018 Luke Pitcairn Family, Happiness 0

When summer arrives, as an adult, what do you remember? Do you remember going to the beach, playing games, and swimming with your parents? Do you remember visiting your grandparents and playing games with your cousins as well as the family?

Well, if you do, you’re lucky. You’ve had a complete childhood and your family was happy.

While you don’t need memories like those to say that your family is happy, having them is a sign that your parents did their best to raise you to be happy. It’s also one way of keeping a family happy, as is seen in these tips below.

play1 - The Secret to Happy-ness: Tips on Raising a Happy Family

A|Set a Family play date

Some families don’t feel happy at all because they’re always at odds with each other. A big reason for this is because they don’t really know each other at all. If you want to get closer to your children, set some time for them. You can set family playtime where you huddle around and play a board game or spend some time at the park, playing ball or anything of the sort.

B|Acknowledge discoveries, no matter how trivial they are

A big percentage of adult knowledge stems from experiences in their childhood when their parents tried to explain things to them. When you find your child curious about the stars and the planets or the birds and the bugs in the garden, encourage this. You can try to explain them to the best of your abilities. It’s another way of bonding with your children.

play2 - The Secret to Happy-ness: Tips on Raising a Happy Family

C|Make family meal time sacred but fun

Another reason children grow up to be disconnected from their parents is because they lack connections. One more connection you can create is to have meals where everyone sits at the table but talks to each other. You can also add a little spice to it to make it memorable for the children when they’re young. It’ll be another happy memory for them when they grow up.

D|Be friends with their friends

Strictness and authority is important when dealing with your children, but not so much that you shut them out from discovering who you are. This is another way of creating a bridge to connect with them. Learn what they like, and support that. If they’re into sports, try to install or build spaces for that. If they’re into art, support that. It’s also important because they might invite friends over; when you discover who their friends are, you discover who they are too.

play3 - The Secret to Happy-ness: Tips on Raising a Happy Family

E|Teach them to be grateful for everything

Children might turn out spoiled and bitter in life, but not if they know why they have what they have. Instill in them a sense of gratitude and they’ll turn out fine. One way of doing this is to have a time in the day when they thank someone for everything they have. This is usually an activity where you come together in faith or when you just complement each other.

Parenting can either be very hard or very simple. When you know your children and teach them how to be good, that’s when you make parenting easier for you.

Watch what you Eat: Raising up Healthy Children through Food

March 19, 2018 Luke Pitcairn Food, Kids 0

Children are notoriously picky eaters.

That’s not an understatement. When given the choice between junk food and celery, children will almost always choose the junk food. It’s important then to have a diet that instills health in them, but one that they will also choose on their own to each.

This is one way of letting them develop an appetite for that food on their own. Here are the other ways on how you can do it.

Idea/ Grain on Pizza

No kid in his or her sane mind would say no to pizza, but they might think twice about this one. Instead of purely meat, you substitute that with healthier choices—like say, vegetables, leafy greens, as well as fresh tomatoes on to of tomato sauce. You can also replace the crust with a grain base and the sauce with pesto.

grain - Watch what you Eat: Raising up Healthy Children through Food

Idea/ Grain Cookies

Children will always choose cookies over anything else, so incorporate something healthy to those sweets. Instead of the usual chocolate chips, you can change it up with raisin or oatmeal. Just make sure that your kids aren’t allergic to raisin; otherwise, you can always have them eating with oatmeal on your cookies.

Idea/ Healthy cake

It’s sin without the extra sugar. You can bake a cake using cinnamon, nuts, whole wheat flour and yogurt. When it’s done, it looks like and tastes like the real thing without all the calories. You’ll be feeding something healthy to your kids and at the same time, you won’t feel guilty about feeding them junk food. Talk about hitting two birds with one stone.

buergers - Watch what you Eat: Raising up Healthy Children through Food

Idea/ Mushroom burgers

Try to wean them in with some vegetarian burgers made with mushroom. If your child plays Mario or is a video game fanatic, you can get in some bonus points and say that the patty is created using the same mushroom in that game that makes Mario grow. Serve them between buns made of whole wheat and you can also add in some sweet potato fries on the side.

Idea/ A coconut and banana mix

If they’re really craving for sugar, give them a treat by using fruits rich in natural glucose. Marinate and coat the banana and the coconuts with sea salt and lemon. You can also substitute honey for caramel and glaze the mixture with it. The kids will surely love the sweet, sugary flavor of honey and you won’t feel guilty since it’s au naturel.

Isn’t it a delight when you know you’re feeding your kids something healthy that they love at the same time? Make them grow and glow with these food choices and you’re well on your way to understanding what it takes to be a better parent.

Parenting with the Stars: Top Parenting Tips from Celebrity Parents

March 4, 2018 Luke Pitcairn Celebrity, Family, Parenting 0

Do you remember your first day at school or in a job? There were a lot of doubts you might’ve felt and one of those feeling could have been fear. That’s the same feeling you get when you’re a parent. Being a first time parent can seem intimidating that you’re willing to gobble up any parenting advice you can read.

From Tom Cruise to Barack Obama, here are some parenting tips from celebrities themselves. Some of them could be sensible, the others—well, here they are.

From Elizabeth Banks

Elizabeth Banks thinks that parents should know when they can still do things on their own and when they need help. Being a parent is overwhelming most of the time but there are some times when overwhelming becomes too much. These are times when you should ask for help, as parents did during the golden days.

From Heidi Klum

Heidi Klum can be truly hands-on when it comes to parenting. In their household (shared with estranged husband Seal) she says that there is just pandemonium, but that’s a good thing. Klum says that to be truly happy, you just have to roll with the punches and adjust as the challenges come along. As a result, their children truly live their childhood every day.

jolie - Parenting with the Stars: Top Parenting Tips from Celebrity Parents

From Angelina Jolie

Children are creative enough to know what they want and what they do not want, and in Angelina Jolie’s case, she lets her children figure out how they want to express themselves. She believes in the power of letting children figure out who they want to be in life—with a little help from their parents, of course.

From Tom Cruise

Speaking about his daughter Suri, Tom Cruise says that he lets the child ‘dress herself.’ This is a good thing in most cases. When children learn to dress themselves from an early age, it lets them learn independence and fending for themselves at an early age. They also learn to express themselves earlier.

From Ewan McGregor

The advice from Ewan makes it seem like he’s a very hands-on parent. He says that the secret to being a good parent is being there—even when you’re tired from work or, in his case, tired from an all-day shoot. Connection between a parent and child is important and Ewan McGregor says you should immerse yourself entirely in their world, even if for a short while.

There you have, from the mouths of the stars themselves! It might seem overwhelming at times, but being a parent takes a lot of work—it’s okay to fail, but pick yourself up, and learn from your mistakes.

I Don’t Wanna Go to School and Other Unhappy Signs: How to Deal with Them

February 17, 2018 Luke Pitcairn Depression, Kids, Unhappiness 0

When you’re hands-on parents, you hear lots of things both interesting and alarming from your child. There’s the constant tantrums, craziness, and strange sadness a child can display. If they’re more sad than happy, sometimes you have to check if you’re doing something wrong to them or they’re lacking attention.

If, however, you find that the problem lies not with you, you have to figure out which of these they’re suffering from.

kid2 - I Don’t Wanna Go to School and Other Unhappy Signs: How to Deal with Them

Problem:Too many tantrums

You might notice them playing a little rougher than usual with their siblings or with other kids, and when you scold them, they throw more tantrums than usual. This could be a serious sign of an underlying problem. Usually, positive actions like kisses and hugs for good behavior solve this.

Problem: Feigning or suffering from ‘sickness’

Some children suffer from frequent sickness that also affects their schoolwork. The problem is when they seem to get sick more than usual. When this happens, they might be feigning sickness to get away from going to school. You should not tolerate such actions but do understand what makes them do it.

Why it Happens:Depression, or otherwise…

If any of these happens, chances are they might be suffering from something serious like depression. A study revealed 25% of children suffer from it, but it doesn’t happen automatically. You should have a hint of it if it happens; after all, parents who suffer from depression tend to pass the same problem on to their brood.

kid - I Don’t Wanna Go to School and Other Unhappy Signs: How to Deal with Them

How to Help:Figure out solutions

Just as adults like you need help, so do your children. It’s even better when you figure out the early warning signs. Take your children to the doctor as soon as the earliest possible sign surfaces. Do not wait until it’s too late or until they grow up.

Depressed or not, children need all the help they can get from people who can support them the earliest—their parents. You, as a figure of authority, can do so much more than just be a parent to your kids.

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