Your teen has reached that all important milestone of graduating high school and it’s time to start looking at colleges. What types of things should the graduate and parent consider when selecting the right college for the student?
One of the first things to consider is a community college or university. Community colleges are a great starting place, especially if the student has not selected a major. They are also more cost effective than a four year university. If the graduate knows exactly what they want to do and is ready for the challenges of a four year university, explore those. Be …
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Preparing for College
Giving Your Kids a Good Life
For a parent who has been through a divorce, it’s easy to get your priorities mixed up. There are parents who get lost in the anger and resentment of divorce rather than getting back to what really matters, and that’s giving your kids a better life. If you are serious about giving your kids the best life possible after a divorce, here are some steps to help.
First, you have to make sure you are financially stable. That means that if you have primary custody, you should be getting child support. Child support laws are different in every state, so check the laws of your region. For …
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First Time Car Buying Tips for Teens
It seems like it was only yesterday when you were teaching your baby how to walk, then he was driving his plastic car around your driveway. Now, your child is taller than you are, and he is ready to take off in his own wheels.
Buying a car is an exciting, important step in the life of a teen. Just as you helped him learn to walk and were there to protect him as he rode around your driveway, now you can guide and protect him in the land of car dealerships. If, like most teens, your child is lacking for funds, he might want to consider obtaining a loan for his vehicle. This is perfect for …
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Talking with Your Teen about Divorce
One of the hardest things to do when raising a teenager is talking to them about a divorce. Even if the teenager has known or suspected for some time that the marriage is in trouble, when the decision to divorce is finally made, you will still have to break that news to your teenager.
There are several ways you can approach the subject, but the timing is just as important as how you give the news. So, the first thing you want to do is make sure that your teenager hears it from you, and not someone else. This can be especially true if you live in a neighborhood or community that operates …
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Navigating Through Teenage Dating
It’s exciting when your teenager is old enough to date – for her! It’s not always so exciting for the parents. Fortunately, there are parents who have been in this stage of life before…and survived…so there’s definitely hope for you too. Follow these simple tips below and you and your teenager will be able to emerge from this new stage of life relatively unscathed.
1. Give your teenager limits. She may be old enough to date now, but she still needs some rules and boundaries. Keep a strict curfew and make sure you meet every boy your daughter goes on a date …
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The Perfect Gift for Your Teen’s Birthday
Most parents of teens know that shopping for your teenager's birthday can be a stressful, frustrating time. Teenagers will often give you either a huge list of everything that they want (many of the items costing way more money than you can afford, of course), with exact details on what they can and can't have, or they won't tell you what they want at all. Either way, shopping for a teenager can be a frustrating thing for a parent.
One option that many parents are starting to consider for their teen's birthday is the Tom Joyner Reach Card. This allows your child to get what they want, and …
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Communication and Compassion: Addressing Substance Abuse
It was once the easiest of exchanges: words were traded across the breakfast table; smiles were offered; and the days were born to gentle communication. Now, however, only silence reigns. Your teen has forgotten his own tongue, has shaped himself to a grimace. He doesn’t whisper secrets. He doesn’t offer laughter. Instead he just ... stares. It’s a causal dismissal, and far too worrisome.
There was a time when your child’s most pressing obligation was to find clothes -- such as Dereon pants -- worthy of his schoolyard adventures. Now he's withdrawn, unwilling to ask for …
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Smoking á la Mode
Lately, a new fashion trend is hitting the younger generations hard. It’s more hardcore than any “Beiber fever” out there. It’s the uber-cool act of smoking.
As of late, there has been a steady increase in the number of teens smoking, and one of the reasons for this is the romanticized glamour of it all. Half the time, teens aren’t even sure how to inhale the smoke properly – just the physical act of doing it is enough to generate the “cool” factor. But then there are those sad cases, which start of as smoking as a fashion statement, which then later turns into an …
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Handling Physically Aggressive Children
Some children no matter what the situation is have a first line of defense to hit or push. At a young age this is a case of, I will hurt you before you hurt me self-defense move. Later on, it develops into a bad habit that is socially unacceptable and has dire consequences for the child’s life.
Here are some ways to deal with the physical aggressiveness.
It is important you provide maximum supervision until the child has enough social tools in their possession to deal with their physical reaction.
Rules need to be short and concise. You will need to repeat them often and repeat your …
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Getting Engaged with Children/Teens
If you are a parent and will be getting engaged soon, it is important to be careful in how you deal with the situation. Your children can become upset and confused in situations such as these, which makes it important to do what is necessary to make it easier for them. Here are some considerations to address in this process.
Before engagement rings come in the picture, your soon-to-be fiancé should already know your children. It is ideal that your children know and have a decent relationship with your fiancé before that title is added. This will improve the comfort level from …
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