Search Results for: blog all about attitude

It Is All About Saving Not Sacrificing

I had a bit of a let down this week. My kids have been wanting a certain piece of furniture, one of those Love Sac things that is part chair and part trampoline. Their cousins have one, as do a number of their friends. So, we dutifully went over to the mall to check them out and had some serious sticker shock. The sacs cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000 each. Okay, that item was off the list. Every once in a while I check online to see if any used ones come up for sale. One did today, but … Continue reading →

Teen Challenges: Attitudes

I started off this new series on teen challenges with the issue of lying.  Today’s parenting topic is the challenge of dealing with teen attitudes. At some point even the most compliant, “model” child will display some version of an attitude.  It could be eye-rolling, clucking of the tongue, shaking of the head, arms folded, feet stamping, or words such as “Whatever,” “Oh my gosh!” or even, “I hate you!” Attitudes can also include doors slamming, objects being tossed and storming off to sulk. Some are less dramatic, while others go all out. I wish I could tell you that … Continue reading →

I So Called It

Ten days. Ten short days, people. It took just 10 days, 14 hours, 26 minutes and 50 seconds before my daughter uttered these three words: “I hate school.” So, yeah, the novelty of the new academic year has already worn off and now we’re back to dealing with bullies and bad attitudes. I so called it. Thank goodness for art. It’s been a saving grace in more ways than one. Fortunately, my daughter loves art class, so I use it as incentive to get her out of bed and off to school with at least 1/10th of a smile on … Continue reading →

Special Needs Blog Week in Review – July 1 – 7, 2012

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Once a week, the Special Needs Blog Week in Review gives you a brief summary of each of the blogs that appeared here in the past seven days. This is a fast way to find out about the blogs that you might have missed when they were first posted. The Special Needs Podcast Roundup went up on July 2, 2012. This week, I’d like to point out an episode of The Coffee Klatch podcast. The episode is called “The Best of the Coffee Klatch – Sensory Processing Disorder”. The episode features Dr. Lucy Miller, author of “Sensational Kids: Hope and … Continue reading →

For the Love of All Things Not Math

My daughter is officially done with second grade. School is out for the summer and I couldn’t be happier. It was a rough year, but my daughter survived and even managed to score a perfect 4.0 on her report card. Straight “A”s, including in her least favorite subject-—math. When I congratulated her on the impressive accomplishment, my daughter noted that she was surprised that she had received an “A” in mathematics. “I hate math, Mommy!” she exclaimed. Translation: Math doesn’t come as easy to her as reading, spelling or Social Studies. It actually requires working a little harder to master … Continue reading →

Why Faith Makes All the Difference to Your Teen

Faith or religion may not be anything you talk about in your home or with your teenagers, but that doesn’t mean they don’t think about it. Teenagers are in the midst of asking important life questions, such as “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” These are spiritual quests, regardless of whether they’re thought of in a traditional religious sense. I believe that every person, whether self-identified as religious or not, has these spiritual thoughts. It’s why my counseling philosophy is called ‘whole-person’ – emotional, relational, physical, and spiritual. When you treat the whole person and address each of … Continue reading →

What Paying Late Fees Really Means and How to Stop Doing It

Many of us accept late fees as a matter of course. It is just one of those things. But, you should never have to pay late fees. There are two main reasons why late fees occur. The first is the fact that many families don’t have the money for all of their bills and need to juggle their different bills each month, deciding on which ones to pay. This can be a difficult situation, and it is an indicator of big trouble to come. If this is the reason that you or a loved one is incurring late fees, then … Continue reading →

Don’t Assume You Know the Real Reason Behind an Attitude

I am still learning as a parent…well, aren’t we all? Sometimes we think we know what the deal is but later discover there is something deeper going on. When you have teenagers, one of the common difficulties is dealing with attitudes. These are snotty responses, eyes rolling and the like. I think you can easily picture it, especially if you are raising teens. It can be frustrating. I am not the only one to be complaining about this lately; all of my friends are dealing with it. But what’s behind the attitude? Sometimes it is all about correcting your child’s … Continue reading →

Dieting Pitfalls

Pitfall 1: The Monday Dieter By the time you remember you wanted to start your diet on Monday you already ate a package of Twinkies and its Thursday. Did you know that diets that start on Wednesday are just as likely to produce positive results as those started on Monday? There is nothing magical about Monday. We tend to want a fresh start and want to evaluate our weight loss goals in weeks. As long as you evaluate your diet in weeks and not pounds or daily accomplishments you will be on the vicious Monday cycle. Every day is the … Continue reading →

Getting Out of Debt: A New Attitude

The idea of completely getting out of debt takes some getting used to. After all, most of us “need” to carry mortgages and car payments. If we want to go to college, we have to take out loans. Many of us struggle with credit card debt just to cover the necessities. As a family, we made a decision that we wouldn’t carry any debt that wasn’t necessary. Now, after Financial Peace University, we have learned that no debt is really necessary. That is quite an adjustment. I look around at all of the things that we would like to have, … Continue reading →