Lessons in Parenting

Choosing a Baby Name: Tips for Choosing Baby Names

Whether you're a traditionalist family, a trendy one, or one whose tastes run classic, this guide will help you choose the perfect baby name.

How to Choose a Baby Name: Tips for Finding the Right Name for Your Baby Choosing a baby name can be harder than it seems. Several names may feel right for different reasons: one may reflect family tradition or sound good with the surname, and another may simply feel warm, clear, and easy to use.

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The Working Parent’s Guide to Choosing the Right Wraparound Care

If you're a working parent, wraparound care may be the key to your workplace success. Learn here what wraparound care is, and how to choose.

For working moms and dads, the hours before and after school are the ones that require the most logistical precision. Getting children to school on time while managing a work start time, and then bridging the gap between school finishing and the end of the working day, is the daily puzzle that most families with

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Teaching Kids That Not Every Career Needs a Four-Year Degree

A 4-year college is NOT right for all students, and isn't the only path to a well-paying, in-demand career. Does your kid know their options?

Now that both my kids are in high school (!), we’re starting to think about what they want to do after they graduate. They are so fortunate to attend a large regional high school, where each graduating class is about twice the size of my entire high school (!!). Because of this, they have opportunities

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Managing Life in the Sandwich Generation

Your Quick-Start Guide to Helping Elderly Parents: Sometimes it creeps up on us slowly. Sometimes there’s a crisis – one parent’s death, or a serious diagnosis – that makes it clear: Our parents aren’t getting any younger. And as they age, they may need more help from their adult children in taking care of themselves.

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Caring for Elderly Parents At Home

Considering caring for elderly parents at home? This aging in place checklist will help you weigh the pros and cons of aging in place.

Aging in Place 101: A Caregiver’s Guide to Aging in Place For those of us living life in the sandwich generation, we’re constantly balancing caring for our children with caring for our aging parents. To say it isn’t easy is an understatement; I’ve watched many friends and extended family members go through this process, and I’ve

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Family Guide to Residential Treatment for Teenage Depression

Does your teen need inpatient mental health care? This guide will try to break down the stigma and help families with what they need to know.

What Makes Residential Programs for Teens With Depression Different From Outpatient Care? If your teenager is experiencing a mental health crisis, the words inpatient mental health can feel overwhelming, not to mention super-scary. You want answers, not more confusion. Unfortunately, with depression among teenagers rising sharply in the past decade-plus, residential treatment for teenage depression

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What Your Baby Really Needs In The Nursery

Figuring out what Baby really needs in the nursery is easier than you'd think. Make sure these items are on your nursery essentials list.

Smart Nursery Essentials That Make Life Easier for Busy Mamas: Your baby has a lot of needs. They need feeding, they need burping, they need playtime and plenty of socialization, and they need lots and lots of sleep. And that’s just for starters! But what your baby really needs in the nursery is another matter. RELATED

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Raising Chickens: Why Raising Backyard Chickens Is So Popular

Why are so many families raising backyard chickens? From fresh eggs to green parenting, there are many reasons to raise chickens at home.

Raising Backyard Chickens 101: Why Is This a Growing Global Trend? Growing up, I regularly heard stories from my mama about the chickens her family raised, both for eggs and for their Friday night dinner each week. From America to Australia, raising chickens at home has grown in popularity in recent years. But why is

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Parenting Through a Heatwave: How to Keep Kids Cool, Calm, and Safe

It's not easy keeping kids safe and comfortable in a heatwave; this post offers harried parents crucial tips for when temperatures soar.

Picture this: it’s over 100 degrees Fahrenheit out (or 38 degrees Celsius, for those of you outside the US). Your kids are lolling around like sloths because it’s way too hot to play outdoors. Meanwhile, you’re trying to keep everyone hydrated, entertained, and not melting into puddles on your living room floor. Sound familiar? Heatwaves

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LED Gloves: The Fun Family Hack You Didn’t Know You Needed

LED gloves are a fun addition to family time. From parties and sleepovers to everyday moments, LED gloves can bring families closer together.

We used to think LED gloves belonged in only one kind of place. Namely, in dark rooms, with blasting, loud music, with someone yelling “three, two, one” right before the bass drops. They were never supposed to survive daylight, right? And definitely not family life. Definitely not kids, pets, or someone asking what’s for dinner.

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Memory Keeping Hacks: How 2×2 Photo Prints Help Busy Moms Preserve Family Memories

Capturing those fleeting moments of family life doesn't have to be overwhelming; this post covers easy hacks for family memory keeping.

How to Capture Memories: Memory Keeping Hacks for Busy Parents Micro-Journaling, 2×2 Photo Prints, and Other Hacks to Help Busy Moms Preserve Family Memories: With Kimmie’s sweet sixteen upon me (!!!), I’m reminded yet again how motherhood has a way of turning time into a blur. One minute you’re bringing your newborn home, the next

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What Insurance Coverage Do Families Need?

What insurance coverage do families need? Do you have all the bases covered? This post will help you see if there's anything you've missed.

Insurance is essential. You need it to protect yourself from large repair bills, and sometimes even from legal action. Some kinds of insurance, like auto insurance for your car, are a legal requirement if you want to be on the road. Others, like home insurance, aren’t required in all cases. But, that doesn’t mean that

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Positive Parenting Crash Course (The Stuck-At-Home Edition)

Have you tried positive parenting before? It's really helped our kids cope while stuck at home. If not, here's your positive parenting crash course.

Positive Parenting Principles for Stuck-At-Home Life: What the heck is positive parenting? And how can positive parenting principles make life cooped up at home easier? As parents, it can be hard to focus on praising our kids’ positive actions, rather than correcting undesirable behaviors. It’s easier to tell kids what they should NOT do, what

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Fun and Easy Ways for Kids to Learn Coding

Want to encourage your kids to learn to code? From free apps and games to kid-friendly bootcamps, there's a program for every budget.

In my last post, I wrote about the importance of imaginative play for helping children develop problem-solving skills, creativity, and the ability to collaborate with others. Likewise, when kids learn coding, they gain so many more valuable skills than you might think. Should kids learn coding? Absolutely! Coding for kids is a basic skill that

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