Make food more fun. Serving dinner that your kids can adapt to their own tastes makes dinner more fun, and gets them to eat better. Try taco soup with a base to include tomatoes and pinto beans and let them add their own ingredients: cheese, sour cream, chips, olives, corn, etc. They probably won’t notice that there were tomatoes in there. Read the rest of this entry »

Try to take as few children with you as possible. This is a great time to invest in a babysitter if you have little kids that aren’t in school yet. Nothing makes shopping a drag like a whiny, tired child.

Start your shopping trip by going out to breakfast or lunch. Besides giving your kids an extra treat, it will give you the energy to make it through the day.

Give your children a budget amount to shoot for. Allow them to make the choice of buying the jeans that they really love but are expensive, or getting two other kinds of pants and a shirt for the same price. This is a great opportunity to teach them about money and how to get the best deal.

No matter how many children you are buying for, using these tips can make back to school less of a chore. You might find that shopping for your kids can be fun.

If there is an emergency in the home, do your kids know who to call? Do they know how to dial 9-1-1? Can they tell their address to the operator on the phone? It is a good idea to have emergency information posted above the phone in your house. Write down the emergency numbers, and your address. Even adults have forgotten their address in a crisis.

When you have an emergency, it is too late to plan. Make sure that you and your children have a plan in place to protect your family in an emergency. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Set a limit on computer time. Experts advise that children have no more than two hours of television, electronic games, or computer use in a day. Monitor their time on the computer to try to keep within these guidelines.

Show them how to search for things they are looking for. There are several great search engines for kids. Some popular search engines that cater to children include www.yahooligans.com and www.ajkids.com. If you allow them to search for information through a search engine, monitor their web browsing to make sure they don’t end up where you don’t want them.

The internet can be a great tool for children, and provided a wealth of information, games, and other fun activities. Monitor their computer time, and watch where they are surfing. Always make sure that your kids are following safety rules when on the internet.

Now that they are earning some money, teach them about saving it. Many banks have savings accounts for children. Help them decide how much money they want to have to spend and how much to put away. Make them a chart that keeps track of their money so they can watch it grow.

Let them spend some of it and be silly. Part of the fun of having money is spending it. I had a friend who would not allow their child to spend any of his money. He had over $100 in the bank but couldn’t use it. Letting your kids spend their money teaches them the value of things and how to use money wisely. Make sure your kids only spend what they have. Don’t loan money against the allowance they will receive. Our boss doesn’t give a paycheck advance, kids need to learn this too.

Teaching your kids about money will provide them a valuable tool for when they are older and get their first job. Make spending and saving money a success for them.

Make a game out of cleaning. Set a time limit for different items and see what they can clean up the fastest. Write down the times and find out which items was the easiest to clean.

Pull everything together in one big pile. Have your child pick out the biggest item from the pile and put that away first. Or find everything that is the color red and put that away. Sometimes just cleaning up in a different way is all it takes to get the job done.

Setting rewards and punishments can work sometimes, but helping your child learn how to manage the mess and get it cleaned timely is the key to success every time. Teaching them how to clean their room saves you from harassing them every day to get it cleaned. And it can give your child a great sense of accomplishment once they are done.