What Is The Greatest Gift We Can Give Our Children?

By Kevin (Shooting the Breeze)

The greatest gift we can give our children is ourselves or more specifically our time and our attention!  Sadly, too many parents think that as long as they give their kids everything they need and want materially that their children will be satisfied.  The truth is that this does NOT work.  This may work temporarily BUT it will NOT work for the long haul.  Our children want us first and foremost.  They want our attention.  They want our time.  Here’s a general principle, whatever we pay attention to is going to grow. If I pay attention to my garden, it’s going to grow. If I pay attention to my kids, they’re going to grow. Here are two simple ways we can give our children our time and our attention:

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When I Fail... Again

By MAD21

The last few weeks have been a learning experience in our home. I'm not sure which one of us is being stretched more; my kids, who are adjusting to being students and classmates, running and being tired all the time (moods reflecting it); or myself. As a parent you dream of doing what's best for your kids, teaching them to make good choices, and love one another. You try your hardest to do and say the right things all day everyday, all the while keeping your cool when they make all the wrong choices. You are, of course, the biggest influence of who they will be when they grow up. No pressure at all.

I have been failing all over everywhere all week. It's been a real mess. The harder I try to do the right thing, the harder I fall when I don't live up to my own expectations (there's a hint for ya). The harder I push my kids, the harder they push back. It did finally get to the point when I just had to stop and say... SERIOUSLY? The peek of my week I'll call, "The day of POO," but I'll discuss that in a post another day.

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Can Eating Candy Lead To Crime?

By MAD21

Ok. So my hubby sent me this story last week and when I saw the title, I was like, "Oh, common! Seriously?" I've had a few of those reactions this week, like here.

Yahoo News posted the story, "Eating Candy in Childhood Linked to Adult Crime." I almost didn't read it because it seems like just another one of those articles full of quotes from people/researchers who have gone off the deep end. But I was intrigued.

There seems to actually be some legitimate research to back up their claims. Even the researchers were skeptical at their results so they tried to eliminate and switch around their control factors. No matter what factors they changed, the results were the same.

"The research was led by Simon Moore, a senior lecturer in Violence and Society Research at Cardiff University in the U.K., who specializes in the study of vulnerable youngsters. Moore had been investigating the factors that lead children to commit serious crimes, when, during the course of his work, he discovered that "kids with the worst problems tend to be impulsive risk takers, and that these kids had terrible diets - breakfast was a Coke and a bag of chips," he says.

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Fingerprint Friday: Our Beloved Teddy

By MAD21

Years ago, in another lifetime one might say, I managed an arcade as a second job. It was easy pay and I could do my college homework while working. They loved me there because I actually didn't like playing the games, therefore I paid more attention to my job (as if there was anything to do anyway except unjam the machines and give out change).

On one particular day, it was really slow. Some friends had come to visit and were all playing around. I was standing by the 'claw machine,' you know, the big machine where you move the claw in hopes it will land on something, hold it long enough to then drop it into a shoot where you can retrieve it.  Knowing first hand how things in this machine are crammed in specifically so people can't get anything, I had never once even tried it. Big money waste.

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Enforcing Bedtimes Improves Kids' Health

By MAD21

CNN reports on the latest findings for studies done on the sleep patterns of children. Their outcomes are rather obvious and expected to me, but it's still interesting to read about their studies and the conclusions they came to. The experts stated:

"Setting bedtimes can improve sleep quality and quantity for infants and toddlers, according to a growing body of research. Not getting enough sleep affects children's behavior, memory, attention, and emotional well-being, experts said."

The article also lists the appropriate amount of sleep people should be getting based on their age. It's good to know so we at least have a baseline for how much sleep our kids should be getting. As with everything in life, it takes discipline to keep to a bedtime routine, both for the kids, and for the parents. I know I usually plan to go to bed at a certain time, but always find myself with "just one more thing to do."