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Cutting Grocery Costs without Cutting Nutrition
Simple, healthy, and affordable ways to weather the rising price of food
Karen Collins, R.D., American Institute of Cancer Research
Grocery prices are projected to increase again in 2008 – that’s following 2007’s highest annual increase in 17 years. But surviving these tough economic times doesn’t have to mean sacrificing good nutrition. Some simple strategies can help you cut food costs and eat more healthfully, too.
read more...
8 Ways to Connect with Your Teenager
By Sandra Magsamen
...Hug, sing, dance and tell your child you love them. Even if your teen acts as if they can't stand it, she promises you it's something they love and need. Use these other suggestions as ways to connect with your teenager...
read more...
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
by Jeff Kinney
It’s summer vacation, the weather’s great, and all the kids are having fun outside. So where’s Greg Heffley? Inside his house, playing video games with the shades drawn...
Make the most of your weekend
by Charlotte Latvala
• Too much free time can be just as nerve-racking as an overload of scheduled events
• If you run errands over the weekend, make them enjoyable with silly games
• Put your children to sleep at their weekday bedtime
• Have a sitter take the kids while you enjoy an afternoon alone in your own home
read more...
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Single Moms - find here resources on financial aid, scholarships, help with basic needs, food, prescription drugs, health care, housing, legal info, and much more...
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by Anthony Rippo
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Single mothers carry an enormous load of responsibility, especially those having
sole and/or primary custody of minor children. They nourish, they nurture, they
teach, they discipline, they shelter, they protect, and they provide… all
without the assistance of another equally-invested adult. One of the most
challenging aspects of single-motherhood can be integrating the balance of a
male perspective into the lives of young sons, typically provided by a father.
Boys eventually begin to imitate other males whether they find their role-models
at home, on television, or in the streets. By working behind-the-scenes to
provide good male role-models and mentors, single mothers can “stack the deck”
to assure their sons an opportunity to emulate decent men rather than the wide
variety of unsavory alternatives. Here are four ideas for consideration:
1) Decent, Trusted, Male Family Members
It sounds like an obvious suggestion, but a surprising number of
men raised without fathers report having spent little time with
older, male family members even though they had ample access to
uncles and grandfathers during their childhood. Many explain
they just didn’t realize the importance of a male influence when
they were boys; they were simply busy playing with their friends
instead. What can a single mother do?
Take inventory of the decent, trustworthy men in your extended
family or community and determine their willingness to include
your son in their activities. Do they have hobbies such as
fishing, wood-working, or fixing cars that can be shared? Do
they have projects at home or at work in which your son can
participate? Such relationships can be mutually beneficial: an
uncle gets an extra set of hands while your son learns new
skills; a grandfather gets a new fishing companion while your
son develops new interests. By encouraging or arranging these
associations, you are putting your boy in a position to learn
from men of your choosing who model the virtues and values you
deem appropriate. The more time boys spend with decent men, the
more likely they are to imitate them. And when your son has
questions more naturally asked of a male, you will have provided
him with good mentors to approach.
2) Your Son’s Friends and Their Fathers
Boys also form their ideas about manhood from their interactions
with male friends and peers. The older the son, the less power
any parent has over selection of friends, but while a child is
still young, a single mother can be very influential. Identify
the boys in your son’s school, sports teams, or neighborhood who
have decent fathers. Invite these boys to your son’s birthday
parties and take advantage of other opportunities to socialize
with their families. This helps stack the deck in two ways: your
boy benefits from immediate exposure to the good male influence
and also gets the opportunity to develop lasting friendships
with these boys and their fathers. By surrounding your boy with
friends you think more likely to model good behavior, you create
the potential for your boy to develop key relationships that may
pay dividends in the years ahead and maybe even throughout his
life.
3) The Places You Go
If you find the inventory of decent men in your family and
community lacking, consider the places you go as potential
sources of good male role-models and mentors for your son. Every
community has opportunities to volunteer (i.e. serving meals to
elderly or homeless, building homes in low income neighborhoods,
etc.). Participation in these activities often puts you and your
son working side-by-side with good examples of male behavior. If
you practice a religion, consider opportunities at your church
or place of worship. There are also many organizations geared
toward developing male mentoring and leadership: check-out Big
Brothers, Boy Scouts, and similar programs in your area.
4) Bad Role-Models
In addition to providing good male role-models of your choosing,
you can further increase the odds that your son will imitate
decent men by limiting his access to bad examples of male
behavior. While your boy is still young, be selective in
allowing male influences into your home. Consider the male
figures and messages in the television programs and music you
approve. Consider the males you permit in your son’s life. Do
they portray the values and perspectives you wish your son to
emulate? If not, pull the plug while you can.
Proceed with Caution
Finding good male role-models and mentors can be daunting,
disheartening, and even dangerous. We are most vulnerable when
we seek to fulfill a need, especially a need pertaining to a
child. Sex offenders and predators do target single mothers in
order to access their children, therefore extra care is
warranted. There are three rules to follow when recruiting
role-models and mentors:
1. Before you seriously consider someone as a potential mentor,
get the opinion of someone you trust and proceed with caution. Although they are
in the minority, some predators hold jobs as teachers, police officers,
clergymen, and coaches.
2. Teach your son to suspect and report anyone who asks him to
keep secrets. Anyone who encourages secrets, especially regarding their
mentorship, should not be trusted.
3. Discourage gang involvement. Not having a role-model or
mentor at all is better than having a bad one. While gang affiliation may seem
to provide some of the many benefits of mentorship, it is ultimately a dead end
at best.
Single mothers carry tremendous responsibility in raising the leaders of
tomorrow, their sons and their daughters. The importance of their contribution
to society in raising decent men and women cannot be underestimated.
A. J. Rippo is author of
RETRIBING: The Unpaved Road to Manhood, an inspiring tale of
an ordinary boy from a single-parent home who overcomes common
roadblocks along the journey to becoming a man. Single mothers
will enjoy this heartwarming story and gain deep insight into
the minds of their sons. Don’t let the cover scare you away!
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Utility Prices are Significant Expenses
by Randi Lynn Millward
I don't know about you, but my electric bill is sky-high. I've been running around the house unplugging everything in sight so as not to incur charges from my appliances using "phantom energy".
read more...
Because you are somebody special!
by Annette Bridges
Since my trip to Italy, my husband and I have enjoyed a delicious breakfast routine that often includes French toast, fresh fruit and a yummy cup of cappuccino.
read more...
Our Friendships
by Laurie Cesario-Overton
We all have those days when we get overwhelmed and it seems like every
time we turn around there is another problem.
read more...
3 Money Rules for Stay-at-Home Moms
As we all know, life is unpredictable. We lose jobs, get divorced and even become widowed...
Here are three steps stay-at-home parents should take to better manage their own and the family’s finances.
read more...
You May Have Too Much Debt But You Also Have Options
How Life Works
If you feel like you're in over your head with personal debt, you're not alone. Millions of Americans have become overextended, many as a result of easy credit and the recessions. Credit cards, medical bills, personal loans and raising interest rates do not make a good financial mix.
read more...
Could fat babies mean fat toddlers?
A new study from Harvard Medical School found that babies who gained weight quickly had a sharply higher risk of obesity. The study followed close to 600 babies and found those in the top quarter of weight for their length at 6 months had a 40 percent higher risk of obesity by age 3 than smaller babies.
read more...
Offer to barter
Dr. Marie - Advice for Pet Owners
A vetʼs office is a business that requires a lot of
services. In many cases your vet may be willing to
barter in exchange for veterinary services.
read more...
How to Find the Best Car Loans for Single Moms
Financial Advice for Single Moms
The best car loans for single mothers might be just around the corner at your local car lot.
read more...
Crystal Bowersox - A Single Mom And A Real American Idol
Read how the amazing Crystal Bowersox. the runner-up of American Idol Season 9, handles fame and life as a single mom, raising her 17 month old son.
read more...
5 Ways for Single Moms to Save Money
Single moms are always looking for ways to save money, and for good reason... It’s important to find ways to cut corners on the little things that perhaps you don’t think about too often, because those are usually where your biggest money drains are.
read more
Suze Orman's Recession Rescue Plan - helps you survive in times of financial crisis
OPRAH.com
Do you know what your family would do if you lost your job - or worse, your home? Financial expert Suze Orman is ready to help you devise a recession rescue plan to survive - and possibly thrive - during this deepening financial crisis...
read more...
Your Just-in-Case Emergency Plan
by RealSimple
Who do you call if you can't make it home in time to meet the kids' bus? Who do
you trust to take in your mail when you're on vacation? Who do you trust with
the extra set of keys to your house?
read more...
How to save $10,000
By Liz Pulliam Weston
If you were hoping for a list of small tweaks you could make in your spending to save $10,000 a year, sorry.
The reality is that $10,000 is a lot of money. And saving big money usually means making big changes in the areas where we spend the most, such as: Housing, Transportation, Food.
read more...
The Super, Sexy, Single Mom on a Budget
by Renee Rayles
A quick reference guide designed for the busy, single mom who has
little time to read while running the mom taxi, cooking dinner, helping with homework, and trying to fit in a date night every now and then.
read more...
Single Mothers &
Male Role-Models / Mentors
Single mothers carry an enormous load of responsibility, especially those having sole and/or primary custody of minor children. They nourish, they nurture, they teach, they discipline, they shelter, they protect, and they provide… all without the assistance of another equally-invested adult.
read more...
Mom's Obesity Raises Newborn's Heart Risk
from the National Institute of Health
The more obese a woman is when she becomes pregnant, the greater the likelihood that her newborn baby will have a congenital heart defect, a new study suggests. The finding raises concerns because 1 in 5 women are obese at the start of pregnancy in the United States.
read more...
The 10-Ingredient Shopping Trip
By Tara Parker-Pope and Mark Bittman
... In his latest “How to Cook Everything” segment on the Today Show, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman makes it surprisingly easy to cook a week’s worth of dinners with just a 10-ingredient shopping trip.
read more...
Your 5-minute guide to protecting your identity
20 steps to protect yourself from identity theft, and seven ways to clean up things if you become a victim.
read more...
Single Moms in the News
6 Best Celebrity Single Moms
Read about Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Williams, Reese Witherspoon, Kimora Lee Simmons, Mary-Louise Parker... read more
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
by Jeff Kinney
For those wondering why tween boys don’t read very much, the answer is that more books aren’t like this...
read more...
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