Parenting advice or unnecessary criticism!!!

      As a parent of 4 children and a babysitter/ nanny, I can honestly say there is no one right way to raise kids. Unless of course a child is being neglected or abused, everyone has their own style or beliefs of how their children should be raised. Every child is different and their for what works for one child may not work for another. Being a parent we have to learn by trial and error and try to figure out what our children's needs and wants are to figure out which methods would work best. So next time you see children well behaved and you ask the parents how they do it? Don't feel like a failure if it doesn't work with your children. Or if you see a child misbehaving and the parents seem frustrated and unsure of what to do, don't assume you can help by telling them what to do. Has this happen to you? How did you handle the situation?

Spending time as a family!

Sitting down together as a family for dinner is a great way to talk to each other and communicate. But is that enough? I feel that every family needs to set some time aside to spend together doing something fun. There is so many things you can do or try. Here is a list of my favorites:
roller skating
ice skating
bowling
hiking
arcade
play board games
mini golf
go carts
museums
movies (movie theaters or rent one)
amusement park
water park
concert
bike ride
vacation
skiing
snow boarding

As you can see there is so many things you can do together depending on your situation and what would work best for you and your family. But it is important to enjoy being with each other and creating happy memories and it will also give your family something to talk about around the dinner table.