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There’s no doubt about it; parenting is tough most of us are simply making it up as we go along and trying our hardest to bring our kids up as best we can.

When those demanding toddler years ended you probably breathed a sigh of relief and relished in the happy, kind, and caring child you were raising; then it happened – your baby turned into a teenager. Whereas once you were woken up bright and early by your child bouncing into your room, full of infectious enthusiasm for the day ahead, now you probably struggle to even get them out of bed to go off to school each morning.

The teenage years certainly aren’t the easiest of times as a parent, and while it is incredible to see your child grow into a young adult, and gaining their independence, it can also be a challenge to parent them. Although your teenager may look grown up, and act grown up a lot of the time, the truth is that underneath it all, they are still a child and you are still responsible for them.

Be a Good Role Model

No one likes a hypocrite, and there’s no easier way to wind up an angst-filled teen, than by adopting a ‘do as I say, not as I do attitude’ toward their behavior.

Instilling your child with values, and being clear on your expectations gives them boundaries to work within. However, if you are not modeling this behavior in the way you live your own life, you can’t then expect your teenager to take notice of your expectations.

Of course, no one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes, but by doing your best to set an example of behaving with compassion, understanding, and fairness you will be parenting by example, and this should filter down to your children.

Pick Your Battles

There are likely going to be lots of things about your teenager that you disprove of, including both things that they do and things that they say. While of course, you don’t want to enable them to act as they wish all the time with no consequences, it is also essential to pick your battles.

By criticizing everything that they do, that you disapprove of you will escalate situations, and turn them into much more than they need to be. Calling out your child on absolutely everything is likely to leave them feeling alienated from you, and like you don’t understand them. Constantly battling with your teenager will also leave you feeling incredibly stressed and probably resentful of the amount of time that you spend shouting at them.

Freedom

Deciding when to let your kids out and about on their own is, of course, a completely individual one, and is often down to how mature the child is, and how comfortable you feel about the situation.

When your kids are going out without you, it is only natural to feel a little concerned and worried about where they are and what they are doing. As much as you may have tried to instill good values in them throughout their childhood, as well as trying to make them as street smart as possible, the worry can remain. One way to get around this is to have a cell phone tracking app added to their phone. The app will enable you to see where they are and where they have been. Having this kind of information will help to prevent arguments even starting when your teen arrives home, as you will already know where they were. It is a good idea to be open with your teenager about the app; that way, everyone is being honest and showing that no secrets are being kept.

Build Their Confidence

Self-confidence is something that everyone needs and is an essential part of being an adult that knows their mind, and feels comfortable in their skin. Building your child’s self-confidence doesn’t mean making them precocious, but it does mean that they are less likely to follow the crowd and do whatever their friends tell them to do, which could result in them getting into trouble. Having a teenager that is easily led by friends can often cause conflict at home, as you may not approve of their behavior. Having a child that is self-confident and resilient should help them to avoid being pressurized into doing things that they don’t want to do by friends, and be guided by their values and beliefs rather than succumbing to peer pressure.

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Self-care is important. It’s one of the most important things that any of us can practice. Self care also comes in many forms – be it a day at the spa, reading a book, or indulging in some Vapes N Smoke at the end of the hectic day. It could be that cutting off a negative social contact is just as healthy for your stress reduction than meditating for an hour each day. Recognizing a need for self-care isn’t always easy, however. It can often take us by surprise if we’re not fully equipped to handle and manage it.

But that’s not the end of the world. All we need to do is take a few moments out of each day to partake in a little ‘self-review.’ How are you feeling today? How are things going? What is troubling you most at the moment? Is there a chance you could rectify that issue ahead of time to prevent something from happening? If you do so, what would be the best means forward from here?

All of the above questions are worthwhile in their own way. But to begin with, you need to try and recognize how you feel. Otherwise, you’ll likely just be flying blind.

But how are you supposed to progress from this point on? Let us consider:

A Regular Issue

If something is bothering you on multiple days in a row, or quite frequently at least, it might be that further efforts in this direction could be worthwhile. A regular issue that you feel annoyed with is often a good indicator that something needs to change. For example, it might be that you always have trouble waking up in the morning at your set time. You get enough sleep, so you don’t know what the problem could be. But then you realize that your late-night social media usage, such as checking your phone upon waking, is leaving you feeling somewhat tired and strained when you wake up. A regular issue like this can leave its mark on you, and often feel quite tiring to deal with. Don’t be afraid to put a plan into action in order to rectify this issue.

Vices

It can sometimes be that you feel powerless to your addictions or vices. For example, smoking. It could be that you’ve been meaning to quit for some time, but after repeated failed attempts you just feel exasperated with the whole thing. This is where it might be worth alternating to something a little healthier, such as vaping starburst E Liquid or chewing on wholesome snacks to keep your fidgeting nature busy. Seeking help for an issue or replacing it with something healthier is always the best way forward. But be sure to be honest with yourself if you have a vice like this in your life.

You Know You Should

We often know that we should practice self care. But it’s not the easiest thing to take care of. If you know that you’ve wanted to lose weight for some time, or you’ve been meaning to go on that run for months, subvert that thought process. Just do it! You’d be surprised how this can alter your viewpoint and help you move forward as you have been intending to for some time.

With these tips, we hope you can better recognize a need for your personal self-care.

For a kid, nothing beats summer break. No more pencils. No more books. You know the rest.

But while you are planning a summer full of kid friendly beach vacations, you need to remember that summer will soon end, and your child will return to school in just a couple of months. Although it may be tempting to allow your child to bend the rules during the summer, it will make your job as a parent that much more difficult when you have to put your foot down in the fall.

You also need to be aware of what teachers call the “summer slide.” Talk with any grade school teacher, and he or she will tell you that the first several weeks of school are spent reteaching material that students forgot over the summer break. Make sure your child stays sharp and ready to learn when school comes this August. Encourage your child to learn during the summer, even while on vacation.

You may be rolling your eyes at the idea of doing schoolwork while on vacation. While you may not want to bring a fractions workbook with you for your child to do on the plane, there are several strategies that you can try, especially for younger kids, that will trick them into learning when they didn’t suspect it.

Say for instance, if you are going to Greece through Greece vacations packages or similar others, you can take your kids to the museums- Greece tends to have a lot of it. It might help them learn a few new things about Greek culture and civilization. Besides, you can also teach your young ones a few Greek phrases that may come in handy when there. This might also spark their interest in learning a foreign language. The goal anyway is to encourage learning and self-growth so they do good for themselves and for others.

Here are some more strategies to help your early grade-school-aged kids learn while on vacation.

Sing Songs

When trying to determine pre-reading readiness, reading specialists test children on their ability to rhyme. Studies show that children who can rhyme are more ready to read than those who can’t.

How do you teach rhyming? One fun way is to sing fun songs such as Down By the Bay, where kids are given a chance to come up with their own rhyming lyrics. Look up YouTube videos if you aren’t familiar with the song.

Even songs with set lyrics, or nursery rhymes, are excellent for children to predict rhyming sounds.

Singing a wide variety of songs and repeating nursery rhymes also increases your child’s vocabulary. What is this “pail” thing that Jack and Jill are carrying up the hill? Miss Muffett sat on a tuffet. What the heck’s a tuffet? You can use the opportunity to show your child that you are always willing to learn too.

Read!

Try not to let your child spend the entire car ride engrossed in Netflix or YouTube videos. Instead, listen to an audiobook that your whole family will enjoy. Grab a printed copy of the book so you can continue to read it before bedtime at the hotel. Or, you can also read from it to your kids that may help cultivate their interest in reading.

Take a break from media and encourage your child to look at the outside world. You could take them on a bike ride, renting a bike from Motorcycle Rentals West Virginia, Florida, Australia, wherever you are vacationing. As you ride, you can take little halts at different places, to familiarize your young ones with different signs or symbols. You may also make them read the street signs and billboards. Your children will gain confidence as readers as they read McDonald’s, Home Depot, and Target signs. Sure, they are probably not necessarily understanding the actual words, but understanding visual clues is a pre-reading strategy.

Read signs at museums and zoos – maybe not every sign, but make sure your child is given a chance to read about subjects appealing to him or her. If your kiddo loves giraffes, spend time at the giraffe exhibit. Read small bits of information, and then ask casual questions to determine if your child understands what has been read. They should learn that reading is an appealing task because it unlocks the mysteries of the world around us.

More than anything, parents should try to present the idea of reading as an enjoyable activity that brings pleasure. It’s not something that should be checked off your child’s daily to-do list, such as feeding the dog or taking out the trash.

Pay Attention to Nature

If you are traveling this summer to a location that is a separate region from where you live, talk about the similarities and differences of the birds, trees, animals, and weather from your home to your vacation destination. For example, if you have made the trip overseas to England and you are staying in a Yorkshire Dales pub with accommodation or something of a similar type, you will be surrounded by nature completely different to your own as well as sights that are specific to certain regions, so you’ll be able to see and do so much more that your kids can learn from.

As you enjoy the great outdoors, talk about how particular trees thrive in different climates. Discuss how paying attention to droppings and broken limbs may indicate that there is an animal nearby. Try to determine what types of clouds are in the sky.

You won’t know all the answers, but your child will learn to pay attention to the wonders of the great outdoors. If you spend all your time during your visit to a national park or a beach taking selfies and checking email, your child will not learn how to investigate their natural surroundings.

Enjoy your summer, and remember if you want your child to keep learning over the summer, you need to keep learning as well.

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Yes, we may be rubbing our hands with glee at the thought of summer coming, but on the other hand, maybe you are in full-on panic mode. Having our children at home for the summer means that we are going to struggle to work as well as arrange suitable childcare. So, while it may be too late to prepare for this summer, what we can do right now is learn from our mistakes and get ready for the next summer, so the children are occupied in the best possible ways. Let’s give you some ideas.

Plan a Trip

Going away takes a lot of planning, so it’s better to start early than to leave it too late. This way, you’ll have something to look forward to whilst also knowing it’s all planned and all you have to do is wait for it to happen. Ask your family members where they would like to visit–the mountains, deserts or beaches. If they choose beaches, then look at the destinations that can be the most affordable and easy to travel to. Additionally, look for activities that can be taken up as a family when you are at the beach– perhaps you can go sailing. Firms like Kai Kanani are known to offer sailing tours in Maui, Hawaii. So, you can look for such firms at your vacation destination as well.

Anyway, if you can afford an all-inclusive trip, even better! All-inclusive trips save you effort and stress, making them perfect if you struggle to find the time to sit down to do the online shop let alone book a holiday. Consider a cruise to somewhere like The Galapagos Islands, or even just book a hotel by the beach with meals included. The earlier you do it, the easier it will be to book time off work too.

Put Them In Summer Camp

Maybe money is a constant issue in your home, and as such, summer camps are something you’d consider to be out of your budget. But if we start to put a little bit of money aside now, we can make sure that our children get a beneficial summer, even if we have to work. On americafinestsummercamps.com there are plenty for you to look at so you can get some inspiration. Summer camps are a great way for your children to make the most of the summer vacation. And yes, while you may not be spending time with them, if you have to work anyway, it beats them lying around the house watching TV!

Prepare Their Learning Materials

There are two sides to this debate. Maybe you think they spend a lot of time under academic pressure, and as such, they have earned some downtime. But if you think they would benefit from the next academic year, it is worth putting some things in place, not just so they are stuck in their rooms studying, but they are engaging with learning materials. As boring as a museum might be to a 13-year-old, if you can expose them to a wide variety of learning materials, from documentaries to museums, and anything in between that you can think of, perhaps it will set off a spark in their mind. After all, it’s about engaging with learning material in a way that they will benefit. It’s not just about sitting down, forcing them to read a chapter at a time.

Improving Their Life Skills

There are so many social skills that our children learn in a school environment, but once the summer comes, they may very well retreat to their rooms. But if you feel there are parts of the school curriculum that should teach more beneficial life skills, it’s down to you to do this! On selfsufficientkids.com there is a list of life skills to give you inspiration. Perhaps your children don’t know how to cook, or maybe they don’t know how to entertain themselves without their smartphone. Look at these things and see what they would benefit from to become a well-rounded individual.

In the meantime, make this summer all about having fun. You can throw a summer party on occasion, and go for walks. But if you think about this time next year, and the direction you want your children to go in, you had better start preparing right now!