Kids Ain't Cheap

But They Sure Are Worth It

Archives for November 2013

My Best Advice For New Moms

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best advice for new momsThree of my friends are either pregnant or recently had their first babies. 18 months in for me, and they’re looking to me for support and advice. Though I hardly feel like I’m an expert, new moms like to talk, read and connect with other moms regardless of their ”expertise”.

Being a mom is, without a doubt, the hardest thing you will ever do. It will challenge you emotionally, physically and spiritually in ways you didn’t know possible. I don’t want to sound like I am excluding fathers from this but being a mom is different. The relationship your child has with you, will be different then the relationship they have with their father. Not good or bad, just different. Mom is mom and the challenges that face us are different. We will also face challenges united, as a parenting team, but you as a mom will face challenges with your child that the father will never truly understand (reciprocal is also true).

 

Take Care of Your Emotions

The relationship you form with your child is quick and intense. You grew this baby inside you for nine months. For me, after she was born, there was an awkward adjustment period of getting over the fact that I was no longer pregnant and nurturing this baby inside me. Sure she was now on the outside, which is all I wanted, and I was caring for her, but it took me a week or so of getting over not being pregnant. I can see how easily some women could fall into postpartum depression, for me it was weird and sort of sad. I was not at all prepared for the emotional changes that took place in the first day or so.

I can say without a doubt that breastfeeding helped me keep these emotions in check. I know there are circumstances preventing some women from being able to breastfeed, but if you can, do it. Breastfeeding is a hard skill to master but once you get a hang of it, it is an amazing experience. Once you can relax it becomes almost meditative. Breastfeeding is what helped me bond with my baby and move past the ”I’m no longer pregnant” emotions.

 

Nurture Your Marriage

Give your spouse attention. Married or not they need attention. The first year or marriage is a cakewalk compared to the first year with your first child. Talk about it all you want but until you become parents you have no idea what the other person will be like as a parent. My husband continues to surprise me and I’ve known him almost 15 years.

My experience is that my husband felt sort of useless the first few months. I was breastfeeding which meant me doing all the feedings and since I was off on maternity leave for the year, I was doing almost all of the child care duties (diapers etc). He was working full-time and supported us in other ways (breaks, even just for a shower, helping with meals, laundry) but not being directly involved with the child duties, especially feeding in a breastfeeding relationship, is tough on dad.

Dad needs reassurance that you’re still his wife. He will see you flourish as a mom but he also needs to be reminded that your his wife too. Don’t let your marriage (or relationship) get put on the back burner when you become a mom. Get a babysitter, even for an hour during a nap and be with each other, without baby. It’s hard at first but you both need it. Trust me.

 

Roll With The Punches

Before becoming a mom, I would admire all the mothers in my life and think, how do they do it? How do they have all the answers and know so much? I’ve learned very quickly that there’s a lot of rolling with the punches, making it up as you go and most importantly, being in tune with your child.

Only you as parents will really know the exact distinction between cries and understand their non-verbal language. You see a baby crying in a store and all you hear is crying. A mom knows the difference between pain, frustration, overtired or want/need something. This innate skill is what makes parents look so informed.

Being a parent is hard but so rewarding. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Give the Gift of Experience This Holiday Season

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snowboardingWhen you’re a child, you can’t wait for Christmas.  You count the days until Christmas, and the night before, you might have trouble falling asleep because you’re so excited.  Christmas morning you likely got up bright and early ready to tear through your presents.  Christmas was so much fun!

As you age, the joy can go out of the holidays.  You know you’ll need to spend both time and money to find the perfect gift for someone.  Others buy you gifts, but often, the items are things you really don’t want or need.  If you have the means, you might return the items for something you do want, but often, the gifts just join a pile of clutter somewhere in your house.  Sound familiar?

Let’s be honest.  By the time we’re early middle aged, we can buy most of what we need.  Getting presents isn’t nearly as exciting as it was when we were younger.

But what if we could change that?

How, you ask?

Simple.  Instead of giving “stuff”, give the gift of experience.

Do you know someone who loves to snowmobile?  Why not book a night or two at a cabin where he can spend the day snowmobiling with friends?  If he doesn’t have a snowmobile, make the arrangements to rent him one.  If you still want to give a traditional gift, why not buy a top rated snowmobile helmet to wear while enjoying his experience gift?

You can also give the gift of your own presence with your experience gift.  Kids usually receive way too many toys during the holidays.  Instead, give your child  a gift that expands on her interests and talents.  If you have a child who loves to cook, why not sign her up for a kids’ cooking class?  You could take the class with her and give the gift of your presence, too.  A nice accompanying gift might be her own cookbook or apron for cooking at home.

The gift of experience also works nicely for parents in their sixties.  Parents this age are often retired and have more time to pursue their own interests.  To pick the perfect experience gift for them, focus on their interests.  You could buy them tickets to a musical or theater performance.  If your parents are very adventurous, you could buy them a skydiving package.  You know best what they would like.

When buying a gift of experience, you can search the web and find businesses that offer already prepared gifts of experience.  Or, you could make the arrangements yourself, contacting the business and purchasing the items needed for the experience.  The one advantage to buying an already prepared experience through a business is that you may be able to return it if it is an experience the person would rather not have.

If you’re looking to spice up your holiday gift giving, try giving the gift of experience.  It’s a gift your recipient will likely never forget.

Christmas Shopping the Right Way

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Christmas ShoppingChristmas can be expensive. As well as trying to put money aside for Christmas parties, food, cards and wrapping paper, there are the Christmas presents to think about. Shops now try and provide us with as many offers as possible to make it easier and cheaper to give people the gifts they want.

 

Understand Your Credit Card

There are a few ways you can save a bit of money when shopping for Christmas presents. One of these is Section 75. It is a piece of legislation that basically states that you should buy things with your credit card and not a debit card. With a credit card, you can get your money back for things you buy if they have broken or there is something wrong with them. It also guaranteed you get your money back if they don’t turn up. For example if you’re buying tickets for something and they don’t turn up or the show gets cancelled, you are entitled to your money back. It also works alongside issues such as if the retailer becomes out of business. It is a definite stress saver!

 

Find The Deals

A lot of websites that provide online shopping now also give a gift wrapping service. Sometimes it is thrown in as a free extra, other times you pay a small amount for it. In the long run it can save you a fortune in wrapping paper, bows, bags and boxes. It also means if you aren’t that great of a wrapper – you can count on it being professionally done! Bargain.

Supermarkets make the most of deals and provide us with many offers, so make sure you shop around. The supermarkets are all competing against each other, so finding the best deals for you is important. Often they do BOGOF (Buy one get one free) or Three for Two deals which are handy when making Christmas dinners as you need a lot of food. Look for things that can be frozen or saved so that you aren’t wasting the food. Wine and spirits often go on offer at Christmas which will save you money. Aldi sell a lot of unbranded alcohol that tasted just as good – it’s the best place to stock up if you are expecting a lot of guests.

How else do you shop for Christmas to find the deals?

Are You Considering a Divorce?

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divorceThe holidays can be a wonderful time to spend with family and friends.  Though the holidays can be filled with a flurry of activity, most people enjoy the season because they like watching the joy on their children’s faces and the magic of the season.

But unfortunately, the holidays can also be a time of sadness if you are unhappily married.  While you may be able to ignore the trouble in your marriage during the year, the stress and togetherness of the holidays can bring into focus just how unhappy you are.  There’s nothing like attending party after party putting on a happy face when you don’t feel that way at all.

 

Don’t Jump to the End

If you’ve realized that you’re marriage is failing and you’re deeply dissatisfied with it, don’t automatically assume that you’ll need to get a divorce. Instead, you can try to talk to your partner and see if they might be willing to see a marriage therapist with you. If they won’t, you could certainly see a therapist yourself to learn how to deal with the situation. Often, just changing your own behaviors can inadvertently result in your spouse changing their behavior. Similarly, don’t assume that problems in bed mean that the marriage is ending. There are plenty of health conditions that can cause problems, and your partner may not even understand their problem themself. Erectile dysfunction, for example, is unlikely to mean your partner no longer finds you attractive. Instead, it’s more likely to be caused by hormone imbalances, so it might be a good idea to contact an ED Clinic Pasdena, or similar clinic in your own area, to determine the best course of treatment.

 

Consult a Professional

Another step you may want to take is to meet with an experienced divorce lawyer in Daytona Beach, if you live near there or to seek the counsel of one near you.  Consulting with a divorce lawyer doesn’t mean you will get a divorce.  It just means you’re looking at your options.

An initial meeting with a lawyer like those at Peters & May – your family law solution in Mayfair can help you understand what the process will be like and they will be able to give you legal advice surrounding your situation. The lawyer could tell you what steps you should take now, what is required in your state to pursue a divorce as well as how custody arrangements would likely work.

The lawyer will also likely remind you of all the implications of a divorce.  Alimony will need to be determined as well as the splitting of assets.

As well as using the services provided by the lawyer, you may want to investigate your partners behaviour further with the help of a private investigator. For example, if you think your partner may have been unfaithful to you and you need proof before going through with a divorce, then you could hire a Bond Rees private investigator (or amending this to your local area) as they will be able to dig deeper and reveal any secrets that your partner has been hiding from you.

Try To Make Things Work

For many, though, financially, it’s better to stay married.  If you don’t think your marriage is completely over, seeing a therapist and working through your issues is often the best course of action.  Depending on the state you’re in, you may face the loss of half of your retirement fund as well as alimony payments, if applicable.  If you’ve been a stay at home mom, you’ll likely need to re-enter the workforce, which can be a challenge after you’ve been out of it for several years.

However, there are times when a divorce is best for you and your family.  Only you know if you’ve reached that point.  If you have, a good divorce attorney can be very important both to help you with custody of your children and with the fair separation of assets.

If you know friends who’ve been divorced, ask them for their recommendations.  Family friends who are in the legal field may also be able to direct you to an attorney you can trust to get the best divorce settlement for you.

What other tips do you have?

Why a Career in Mortgage Lending Could Be Right For You

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Working Mom“Being a mortgage loan officer can be very rewarding,” begins Sharon McCormick, a senior loan officer at Prime Lending in Dallas, Texas. “Firstly, you are working with people who are making a very big and usually positive step in their lives. You are the person who helps to deliver their dream — the American Dream — of homeownership. That’s incredibly rewarding. Second, this job is less of a job and more of a business, unless you’re working in the standard bank environment. You can set your own hours and there is no limit to how far you can go or how much you can make. There is no waiting for a promotion or raise — if you are working hard and doing a good job, your income will continuously increase.”

If you’re looking for banking jobs or finance jobs and that hasn’t sold you already, read on. We spoke to a couple professionals who work in mortgage lending to find out what the field has to offer, and why it might be right for you.

 

Working With People

“The thing I like most about the mortgage business is that you really get to know people in the first 15 minutes you meet them,” says Patrick Palzkill, owner of Boston-area Beacon Rock Real Estate and Mortgage. “Many times you get to know more about that person after the first interview than 95% of their friends and even their family!

“You hear about the successes in their life (the children/grandchildren), about the new job promotion and the exciting new home they are getting,” he says. However, it’s not all happy news all of the time, and that comes with the territory. “You also see the other side of the coin, when you look [through] the divorce decrees, bankruptcy papers, and verify the negative items on the credit report.”

Perhaps it’s this very close knowledge of your clients’ lives that can make the reward of seeing some get their first home so powerful. “It’s always great to go to the closing for a first time buyer and watch them pick up the keys.  Every deal is different and that keeps things exciting,” shares Palzkill.

 

Good Salaries

There can be financial rewards as well for this and similar banking jobs. CBSalary.com lists the average annual salary for a loan officer in the U.S. to be a respectable $73,366. A mortgage lender is listed as earning, on average, $68,078. Of course, these figures can vary quite a bit depending on what part of the country you live in and, more importantly, how well you perform.

On the subject of performance, we ask what kind of person tends to do the best in mortgage work. McCormick gives a few insights.

“The recipe for success is very consistent,” she replies. “What matters is that you have the right personality and attitude. First, to become a success as a mortgage loan officer you must be self-motivated and driven, because no one is going to chase after you except for your competition. You have to be detail oriented, so that you can manage the very specific regulatory requirements and work through very tiny yet very important details. Strong communication skills are absolutely essential. Patience, flexibility and agility are must-haves, since this industry is incredibly dynamic. The way things are done one day will be changed the next, and you have to be willing and able to roll with the punches.”

 

Lot’s of Paths to Success

To that end, she goes on to say that mortgage lending is a field in which very few consistent background factors can predict success. Good news for those seeking banking jobs and are worried they didn’t study the right thing in college or start off on the right foot when they were in their twenties.

“Conversely,” McCormick explains, “there is no specific demographic that is more successful in this line of work — your age, background, gender and even level of formal education really don’t matter. Wes Ley, the adjunct professor teaching residential finance at DePaul University in Chicago describes the diversity of his class as ‘Amazing. It’s like the United Nations in a classroom. We have people of virtually every race, with no actual majority. We have people of every age.’”

What are your thoughts about working in the mortgage lending industry?

Taking Advantage of Cash Rebates

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cash rebatesCash rewards for purchases are underrated when they should be recognized as smart money savers. Take advantage of pairing coupons with cash rebates as well, for an even larger reward on your purchases. Easier said than done if you aren’t too experienced in aggressively pursuing these savings methods. Luckily, with a little practice and procedure, your shopping cart will be full and so will your wallet.

 

Exploring Yourself

The first step to becoming an expert saver is to explore yourself. Ask yourself what you deeply desire, whether it be a new pair of shoes or a tasty family size pack of sweets. Figure out what you want, write it down and put the ideas in a safe spot. Organizational skills play a major role in saving. You have to keep track of everything, and it can be overwhelming. Time management can be a bother, as the process of filling out cash rebate forms and clipping coupons can be draining. All you have to do is prepare a time slot to for this significant formula. We typically know how long we are out shopping; add an additional hour to cover your tracks. Thirty minutes for coupon resourcing before shopping, and 30 minutes for cash rebate papers afterwards. Time and money well spent!

 

Taking Initiative

After you know what you like, and have planned time slots to actually ensure that you get what you desire you have to explore rebate sites. You can also find rebate forms:

  • Printed on packaging
  • On tags beside merchandise
  • Tear-off rebate forms on products

Companies encourage rebates and they place advertisements in newspapers and magazines, newsletters, radio, television, internet websites and more. You only have to be aware to take notice of the opportunities around.

Cash Rebate Websites

As for online cash rebate websites that also include coupons, these are golden tickets to saving. Not only will you receive cash back, but you will also save immediately on that purchase without having to wait for your refund.

 

The Good & The Bad

The good news is that there are many advantages that accompany cash rebates for both you and the manufacturer. Three major advantages include:

  • Reasonable refund on high priced products
  • according to the IRS they are tax-free price reductions
  • Boosts customer sales and visibility

As for the bad, there isn’t much bad with rebates, however, if you plan on purchasing an item for the cash rebate and you do not follow through then you will have only purchased a company’s special item without them doing much promotion in turn increasing their sales.

Taking advantage of cash rebates is a learning process and it takes practice, but with every great thing comes great responsibility, along with that take accountability and initiative and start saving today.

Are you planning on taking advantage of cash rebates sites this holiday season?

Preparing for Baby: The Hospital Bag

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hospital bagA friend of mine recently called to ask for some advice about what exactly to pack for her hospital bag as she and her husband are prepping for the arrival of their first baby. The hospital bag can save your sanity. I honestly don’t think you can ever be prepared enough. I’d rather have too much of something than not enough, especially if you’re a long way from home. Here is a list of things that you should remember to pack in your hospital bag.

 

Prepping the Hospital Bag for Mom

I forgot a lot of stuff for myself, I was so concentrated on making sure everything for baby was packed I didn’t remember everything for myself. Lesson learned. Things that a mom will need include:

  • Comfortable, loose, clothes of your own. I was hospitalized for a week due to c/section complications, after a few days I was more than ready to get out of a hospital gown and put my own clothes on. Especially if you have a c/section, make sure they’ve very loose-fitting. If you’re breastfeeding, make sure your clothes are easily accessible since in the early days you will be nursing often and need easy access. I bought two t-shirts at Old Navy that were light, loose and had button snaps to open and close it at the neckline. I wasn’t concerned about fashion but more functionality and comfort. I opted to wear PJ pants that I could get on and off easily.
  • Nursing Bra
  • Toiletries
  • Snacks for you and spouse. Though I had access to yummy food of my own at the push of a button, my husband, who stayed with me, did not. I also didn’t want to call for small snacks or a drink so we brought a bag of our own snacks and it was very helpful! {This is also a great gift idea for expecting moms. Find out what their favorite snacks and drinks are and put a little bag together for their hospital!}
  • Nursing pillow. Not everyone uses a nursing pillow, I personally found it helpful, especially when first learning.
  • Camera/cell phone plus all required chargers.

 

What You Need for Baby

  • Warm clothes. Though there are a ton of cute newborn clothes, stick with practicality. Newborn sleepers that button or zip work well and most have feet and hand covers. Remember a small hat too, regardless of season (our daughter was born in June) since babies are used to a very warm environment.
  • Diapers/wipes. Our hospital had a full stash of newborn diapers in our room for use but it’s always nice to have your own and not all hospitals provide them. If you’re cloth diapering, you may want to wait until you get home to start since you likely won’t have access to laundry.
  • Swaddling blankets. Again, the hospital provided blankets for us but not to take home and we wanted to get comfortable using the ones we would be using at home.
  • Car seat. We were not allowed to leave the hospital until the nurse signed off on her placement within a car seat. This is for both her and our safety.

Though we forgot our camera, I was glad we had our phones to snap her first pictures. You can never be too prepared for baby’s arrival if you think you’ll need it, bring it!

Money Saving Tips For First Year College Students

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first year college studentsAll over the world high school students are preparing to graduate and embark on their post secondary adventures. I know all too well how expensive post secondary can be after completing two degrees and accumulating over $90,000 in debt. In my six years of university I have made many financial mistakes but learned something from all of them.

 

Textbooks

Don’t buy new textbooks. If you are absolutely required to even buy a book at all, buy used textbooks. In my first year I went to the book store and dropped hundreds of dollars on my brand spankin’ new books for my accountancy and finance degree course . What a total waste of money. I could have managed just fine with used or nowadays, digital copies. Always check online at stores like Amazon or Better World Books before succumbing to the campus bookstore. Even better, borrow the book from the library. By year three or so I figured this out and did quite well without books. I went to the library almost everyday, took good notes, photocopied pages I may have needed and went home. This forced me to study and saved money.

 

Living Arrangements

Obviously living at home would be an ideal situation but if it’s not an option, find roommates and share costs. While you may think you’ll need a nice big apartment for yourself you’ll end up spending 90% of your time out socializing, in your room pulling all nighters sleeping or somewhere like the library. As long as you have a room of your own to retire to at the end of the day for some Z’s and a little privacy, shared accommodation should work just fine. If you’ve been accepted into a specific program try to reach out to fellow students via Facebook, Craigslist or other social media outlets and see if anyone else is seeking roommates. Living with someone else within your program means live-in study-buddy!

 

Paying Tuition

If you’re responsible for funding your own way through post secondary, getting an early start with a part-time job is a must. If getting loans is inevitable, borrow only what you need! Depending on the program you get accepted to you may have an opportunity to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even with these funds being offered to you, if you don’t need them don’t borrow.

If you’re able to, make the most of your long summers off and work to save as much as possible. There are many summer job options to college students from working at resorts to manual labour jobs. It isn’t impossible to find a summer-only position. Capitalize on your summers to get a job somewhere you would like to travel to. Children’s summer camps are around the world and always looking for university students to work for them. See the world while getting paid, why not?  Plus, it helps you avoid college budget woes!

Though the primary focus of post secondary should always be academics, if you’re able to maintain a part-time job while in school, even better. Anything you can do to offset your monthly costs will help.

 

Budget

If you aren’t already, the most important thing you can do regarding your finances in post secondary is budget. This is especially important if you’re borrowing to pay for school, but even if your expenses are being taken care of by someone else, the monies still need to be accounted for and budgeted appropriately. Learning how to budget now will make the rest of your life much easier, trust me!

Graduating high school and embarking on a post secondary education is an exciting time. It is expensive but there are ways to help off set the costs. Enjoy your new adventures but watch your expenses!

What money saving tips do you have for college students?

Planning for a Baby

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planning for a babyWhether it’s your first or fifth, babies take planning. Even in the event of an unexpected pregnancy there are still nine months leading up to baby’s arrival that will require plans of some sort! A lot of couples plan everything from baby’s conception to nursery color. A lot of these plans require spending money everything from pregnancy tests to diapers. Being prepared will ease some financial pains when it comes time to have a baby.

 

Conception

You don’t necessarily think of conception requiring money per se but for millions of couples worldwide, conception can be the most expensive part of having a child. We were fortunate in only requiring the purchase of pregnancy tests, which only set us back $20-$30 total but have had friends spend hundreds on fertility drugs and tens of thousands on IVF. Though I wish any couple who wanted a baby could easily have one, it’s just not that simple. There are hundreds of reasons why it doesn’t just happen for some and my heart hurts for them. Conception costs can range from a few dollars on pregnancy and, or, ovulation tests to tens of thousands for IVF. If you think getting pregnant may be difficult for you, bring you concerns up with your doctor and see if you can make plans before hand.

 

Pregnancy

Now that you’ve had that “My Wife’s Pregnant!” moment, it will probably hit you that pregnancy itself can be very expensive. Though I live in Canada and don’t pay for any medical appointments, a huge proportion of the world has to pay for prenatal, pregnancy and post natal care. Make sure when you’re planning for a baby that you factor in any medical appointments, medications (even pre-natals), ultrasounds or medical tests such as bloodwork.

You will also have to clothe your growing body. While you don’t necessarily have to buy maternity clothes you will likely need to invest in a few pieces of larger or maternity items to get you through the last few months of pregnancy (and possibly first few months postpartum). I shopped around at local thrift stores, borrowed from friends and only ended up buying three or four items of my own throughout my entire pregnancy. I couldn’t justify spending hundreds of dollars on seasonal clothes I may only wear once, for three to six months. This will obviously depend on your lifestyle too. I wear scrubs all day and was able to wear them throughout my pregnancy only buying two pairs of bigger pants so really only needed clothes for the weekend. I also recommend checking online and larger department stores as well. Old Navy, Walmart and Target all have decently sized maternity sections now at affordable prices.

 

Postnatal

After baby is born you will need stuff. Babies require a lot and again this will vary depending on choices you and your family make (such as to breastfeed or formula feed or cloth vs. disposable diapers). Shop around before you have your baby and price stuff out. Ask friends, research certain things and get an idea of how much you will need ‘extra’ per month for baby. Also factor in any maternity leaves or loss in income.

The more prepared you are financially the better off you and your family will be. You can never be too prepared for a baby. If you end up saving more than needed, reallocate the funds to something else for kids such as post secondary savings or child activities. We weren’t prepared for our daughter’s arrival and spent the first six months after she was born scrambling to get our footings. I know if we choose to have a second child we will be in a much better spot financially.

Did you plan for your baby?  What steps did you take?

Raising Polite, Responsible Kids

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polite childrenThis past weekend, my daughter and I headed over to a friend’s house so our two little ones could play while we got caught up on the details of our lives. We started talking about a friend of ours and how her daughter, now six, had developed quite an attitude. Her mom and our friend, lets this little girl run her life. There is nothing this little girl doesn’t get. If she wants a chocolate bar for breakfast, she’ll eventually get it. If she wants to stay up until 11pm watching cartoons, she will.

Obviously I feel like this is an extreme case of bad parenting but I see aspects of this in many kids. I don’t know what or when it happened but sometime during my generation (30ish years) parents totally lost control. Please note that I am by no means trying to seem like I’m some sort of perfect parent, but one thing I will do is enforce and demand a few things of my child such as structure, rules and politeness, none of which this little girl has.

 

The Pleases and Thank You’s

My daughter is only 17 months and some of the first words I’m demanding she learn, are ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. I see kids everyday at my job (dentistry) and rarely do the children say please or thank you even if I give them a treat such a sticker or small toy. I’ve become so used to it I almost expect to not hear it. It’s such a simple thing but teaching simple manners like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ can go a long way.

Children learn from exposure. Anytime my daughter does something I ask of her (”please pass something to mommy”, ”could you pick up your toy, please?”) I always include ”please” and end with a ”thank you”. Even though she is just learning to talk she is beginning to understand what the two mean.

 

Chores

I have so many friends and family with kids who don’t enforce chores. I feel like chores are a huge part of development. The children help with the maintenance of the family home, while learning that there are expectations of them within this life.

My daughter may be young but she already has ”chores”. She helps me unload the dishwasher by me allowing her to take out the silverware and pass them to me one-by-one and I place them in the drawer. It takes about five times longer this way, but I appreciate her helping me and her learning that she is helping me. She also helps me feed the cat. I measure out the cat’s food, pass her the scoop and she dumps it in the bowl. She loves helping mommy. Again I always make sure to  thank her when she helps.

If you start young, and implement guidelines and responsibilities for your kids, your life will be much easier. Start with the basics and the more difficult tasks will be much easier. There’s nothing nicer than a young child knowing to say please and thank you without their parents needing to encourage them (though I like an encouraged please and thank you over none any day). Being polite and nice will go a long way in this world. Setting a strong foundation in childhood will be a life long help.

Do you encourage your children with manners and please/thank you?