Tag Archives: Parenting

Monitor your Children’s Internet Use with a Parental Control App

 

Being a parent is tough in the contemporary world. There are all kinds of things parents need to worry about that didn’t exist a couple of decades ago. The access kids have to the internet grows each year, with recent data showing that children account for one in three Web users. The next generation will have even more access to mobile devices connected to the internet and, the internet can be quite dark. The good news is that there are many parental control apps that will help you monitor what your children are doing online, while helping them stay away from things they should not be seeing.

Concerns for Parents

There is no shortage of things to be concerned about when it comes to your young children using the internet. Proficiency on technology has become a thing learned in the early years of life, and this is undoubtedly changing the way we experience the world. Inappropriate content containing porn, drugs, suicide, violence, and other intense subjects is probably the most common concern, but cyber-bullying and peer pressure are also issues to be concerned about. Finally, the safety of your child is above all the biggest thing to be worried about. Luckily a lot of this can be managed by using a parental control app.

What is a Parental Control App?

A parental control internet service is an application that allows you to the monitor devices and set limits on the access to the internet. You will not only be able to block specific website content, you will be able to disable the internet during specific hours. This helps parents keep their children safe and manage their time on screens. Different apps offer different things. Some allow you to track your child’s location, block games and apps, and even send a message when your child has interacted with content they shouldn’t be seeing.

Benefits of Parental Control Apps

According to the site MoneyPug, which is widely used to compare mobile phones, parental control apps are available on both iOS and Android, and are fairly easy to use. While giving children access to devices connected to the internet isn’t inherently a bad thing, without the right guidance it can be very risky. The things children see online at a young age can change their lives forever. Their security is paramount. One way you can help them stay safe is by monitoring what they are doing and seeing on the internet.

Limiting screen time is easy and will help you establish a balance between technology and other things. You can even block a device entirely and set a limit to the amount of time spent on it. Geofencing and location trackers will tell you where the device is, which is a good way to monitor your children and keep them safe.

The Future of Children Online

Children are now growing up with the internet and this is changing the way they get older and interact with the world. While parental apps are a great place to start, you should be dynamic and comprehensive. More and more laws will be introduced on the subject, but that is not necessarily a good thing. It all starts with talking to your children and doing your best to keep them safe.

There is no stopping the future, every kid will have the internet. This is why parenting needs to evolve with the times. Parental control apps can help keep them safe and away from malevolent threats. Educating your children is key. Don’t allow technology to substitute for your affection. It is important to spend time with your kids and communicate with them. Build a foundation of trust in your household and your kids will be more likely to come to you for help.

Kids of all ages need to be monitored online. A parental control app can help you keep track of what your kids are seeing, what they are interacting with, when they are using their devices, and provide the ability to set limits for when your kids need to stop being on screens. Take your children’s online usage into your hands and start monitoring their web time today. You won’t regret it, your children will be safe and better off for it.

This is a collaborative guest post. The ideas and views do not necessarily represent those of Mommy Ramblings.


Leave a Comment

Filed under kids, Life, Tech

Teaching Your Children About the Relationship Between Time and Money

Sadly, we’re rarely taught in schools about money. Sure, we learn about Pythagoras Theorem but when was the last time that was useful in real life? Never, right?! Your children face the same dilemma with confusing messages about what money is and how it relates to time. It’s up to you as a parent to fill in the blanks for them, so they get a more well-rounded education. Here are some ideas on how to teach your children the connection between time and money.

Preschoolers and Kindergartners

You might think the little ones don’t notice how you spend money and what you do with it, but they do. In fact, many habits around money are created when only a few years old. As we know, kids model their parents’ behavior, so parents must set a good example.

Use a Mason Jar for Savings

While a piggy bank is more traditional, a mason jar is better because a preschooler or kindergartner can see the money inside. A small amount of savings can go a long way by slowly filling up the jar and having them see how much is in there.

Work = Money

Even a young son or daughter can begin to understand the importance of money. That mommy or daddy go out to work to earn money is something they can begin to understand. Their teacher at school makes money when teaching them too.

Things Cost Money

Showing how different items in the store cost different amounts is helpful. Even connecting which candies are tastier but cost more is a useful concept to share.

Cash

Middle School

Middle school students begin to see and touch money more often. However, that doesn’t mean that they understand how time equals money. That’s especially true when parents just hand them an allowance without having to do anything to earn it.

Pay vs Free Allowance

Kids shouldn’t be given a free allowance. This sets the stage for money being something they can just expect for free.

There’s plenty of age-appropriate chores around the house that middle schoolers are perfectly capable of doing, no matter how much they might moan about it. This might include tidying up their room and putting their toys away when they’re younger. Mowing the lawn when older and being supervised for safety reasons is another one. Dealing with the trash also makes clear that not every chore is necessarily pleasant, but rewards come from putting in the time.

Get Them Involved with Finding Bargains

Turn family food shopping into a game. Start with a budget for the week and let them plan out what should be purchased. Depending on their maturity and knowledge about what ingredients are needed for different meals, it might be necessary to create several meal plans with a list of ingredients, so they have a place to start.

They can then be allowed to choose between different meal ideas depending on the deals in the store that day. Offer them a financial incentive when they save money, as long as the meals are nutritious and sufficient for everyone in the household. Then have them save half of the money for a medium-term goal like buying a smartphone or a tablet.

Sale

Teenagers

With teenagers, aim for the bigger things to make an impact and let them feel more in control.

Free Samples

Teenagers love to get things for free but often don’t appreciate the time it takes to secure them. It’s true that many free samples require a time investment. And that’s perfectly okay. Most bargain hunting or coupon cutting takes time out of the day too.

Advise Against Student Loans

Teach teenagers to work part-time to make money to save for college. They’ll have an early financial goal to work towards and value the education far more. If they can get a scholarship, great, but don’t let them rely on that. Tell them that taking out student loans isn’t the answer because of all the hours of future work to repay the loans.

As long as children make a clear connection between time spent and money earned, they’ll be in a better position when they become adults. This connection avoids them spending frivolously without realizing the consequences down the line.

Student Loans

This is a collaborative guest post. The thoughts and views expressed do not necessarily represent those of Mommy Ramblings.


Leave a Comment

Filed under Family, Life Stages, parenting

“Parenting First Aid” For When You Feel Like You Are Failing

Do you struggle with parenting your children? That’s a silly questions because we all do at some point. Some days we can feel like we are on our last nerve or dangling at the end of our rope. At times when you feel you are failing at raising your children, you need a pep talk and some insight. Cue Marty Machowski’s, Parenting First Aid and brew a cup of tea.

Parenting First Aid

This uplifting and faith-strengthening devotional book for parents,  will help to encourage you in the midst of  your trials. Full of Scripture, testimonies of faithful parents, and insightful meditations, Parenting First Aid equips moms and dads to run to God and trust his ability to do what they can’t.

Parenting isn’t getting any easier, especially with the introduction of insta-porn on electronic devices, the ease of access to drugs, and the ever-increasing blurring of sexuality. This useful resource is for the weary and overwhelmed parents struggling with their children’s choices, and the culture that wars against their souls.

For families with small struggles or weighty parenting trials—such as children involved with drugs, sexual sin, and teenage rebellion—Parenting First Aid is full of personal, real testimonies of God’s faithfulness to those experiencing hardship.

The easy-to-use format provides encouragement to turn to God in the midst of family difficulty. While God does not promise happiness and ease in parenting, all can find comfort in God and peace beyond understanding through the Scriptures and meditations found in Parenting First Aid.

About the Author

Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he has served on the pastoral staff for more than twenty years. Marty leads Promise Kingdom, the gospel-centered children’s ministry of Covenant Fellowship. He and his wife Lois and their six children reside in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

He is the author of The Gospel Story Bible, Long Story Short, Old Story New, the Gospel Story Curriculum, Prepare Him Room Advent curriculum and devotional, Wise Up family devotional and curriculum, Listen Up family devotional and curriculum, Dragon Seed, and The Ology.

I was provided with a copy of this book to facilitate my post. As always, my words and views are 100% my own.


1 Comment

Filed under Books, Review, Spiritual

Child Proof: Parenting By Faith, Not Formula

If you browse self-help parenting books, you are sure to see titles like, 5 Easy Steps to this or 3 Weeks to that. Literally thousands of books promising you results if you follow a precise formula. Do they work? That is debatable, and given how many new titles join them each year it does not look favorable.

Author Julie Lowe, an experienced children and family counselor provides a different principle to her book, Child Proof. Child Proof is not a book about moving things out-of-the-way for your new baby but one that demonstrates how parenting with biblical wisdom is best for a pro,active rather than reactive approach to parenting.

Child Proof

Julie is an adoptive and foster mom who applies the CCEF model of biblical change, and uses Scripture and biblical wisdom to teach parents how to know their children and specifically love them with the love of Christ.  As a freedom-over-formula parenting book for parents of all ages, Child Proof provides biblical insight and encouragement for readers who want to parent by faith.

Every family is unique, which is why Child Proof explores the need for parents to cultivate personal and intimate care for their children as modeled in God’s individual, personal, and fatherly care to his children. This parenting book lays a foundation of parenting by faith and progresses by teaching parents how they can know their own children well and parent accordingly. By discussing particular issues parents might have in family life, Lowe demonstrates how parenting formulas aren’t the answer, and parenting with biblical wisdom is best for a proactive rather than reactive approach to parenting.

Through Lowe’s personal and professional experience, parents as well as those helping parents—pastors, counselors and counseling students, youth workers, and churches—will discover gospel-centered application rather than formulas for the ideal family, equipping parents to be experts at knowing their own children so they can know Scripture and live it out personally in their homes.

 

About the Author

Julie Lowe is a faculty member at CCEF. She holds an MA in counseling from Biblical Theological Seminary. She is a licensed professional counselor with over 18 years of counseling experience. Julie is also a registered play therapist and has developed a play therapy office at CCEF to better serve families, teens and children Julie and her husband, Greg, have six children and serve as foster and adoptive parents.

I received a copy of this book to facilitate my post. As always, my words and views are 100% my own.

 

 

 


Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Review, Spiritual

4 Questions To Help You Determine Why Your Child Is Crying

When your child is crying and won’t or can’t tell you what is wrong, it is very frustrating. Meltdowns can be difficult for even the most experienced parents to handle. When it happens, your automatic reaction might be to tell your child to stop crying. Unfortunately, that rarely works so you might want to consider these factors.

Crying is a natural reaction for kids when they are over-stimulated, over tired, or physically hurt. Figuring out which it is and meeting their needs can help you get to the root of the problem. The next time you are faced with an outburst, take a deep breath and ask yourself these 4 simple questions before reacting.

Is it something physical?

Perhaps your child refuses to put on his shoes and bursts into tears when you stand firm. Is this a battle of wills  or could it be that they are dealing with physical pain they may not be able to express? The frustration of not being able to articulate what is going on, can trigger an epic meltdown.

Take a look at their physical condition. Could it be a toothache? According to Lane Family Dental, “Your tooth may not bother you at all until that moment you bite into a decadent slice of chocolate cake. The shock from coming in contact with sugar is a pretty sure sign that your tooth has a cavity.”

Or could it be a headache? Mayo Clinic states that headaches in children can be difficult to diagnose, but they may cry and hold their head to indicate pain. Lastly, it may be the most common physical reason of them all: your child may just need a nap.

Is your child feeling stressed?

This one is more common among older children. You may wonder what could cause a child to be stressed. Actually, any situation that is new to a child can cause their body to release the stress hormone, cortisol.

Dealing with after school activities where a certain level of performance is expected, can add stress to an already-full school day. Tears could also result from a frustrating classroom situation. It could even be  something they have heard that they don’t know how to handle. Consider that their tears may not really be about having to clean their room or do a chore. In reality that outburst may be an expression of accumulated stress.

Is your child hungry?

It happens to everyone. So much so that a new term has cropped up to describe it; Hungry + angry = “hangry.” Hangry describes how attitudes go south when our bodies are lacking fuel. Even if your child ate a good lunch, by the time they get home from school, they could be famished. If they don’t have a healthy snack, they could be heading for an emotional outburst. So, while you do not want to use food as a bribe to stop their tears, their hunger is likely what is causing them to be so cranky.

Give them a hug and  go to the kitchen and fix both of you a healthy snack. Turn it into an activity so that the association becomes one of doing something together, versus using food for emotional relief.

Is Your Child Overstimulated?

Have you ever wondered why so many meltdowns happen when shopping, on vacation or in the aisles of grocery stores? Chances are high that it’s the environment that is over stimulating your child. Places that are noisy, have crowds of people and multiple things to see can be overwhelming for kids.

With so much for a little brain to process, kids turn to the one thing they know will bring relief. Their tears will bring mommy or daddy running to fix everything. Consider a quick exit from the store or environment to get your child to a calmer place instead of demanding or pleading with them to stop crying.

Lastly, if you are always telling your child to stop crying, it could convey a message to them that negative emotions should stay bottled up. This can lead to difficulties with opening up in later years and stunted emotional growth. Studies tell us that our tears serve a good purpose. Tears and crying can reduce the body’s stress hormone and bring calm back to our physical state.

So, instead of feeling harried when your child breaks down in tears, realize that the tears are one way your child is communicating with you. That crying is their body’s way of calming down.

This is a collaborative guest post. The views and ideals expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mommy Ramblings.

 


Leave a Comment

Filed under Baby, parenting, sponsored guest post

Helpful Tips for Talking To Your Kids About Smoking #SeenEnoughTobacco

This post was sponsored by Tobacco Free New York State as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. All opinions expressed in my post are my own. 

 

Did you know that the average age of a new smoker in New York is 13? That is so sad. Beyond sad, it makes me angry because I think the way that tobacco products are marketed to kids is disgusting.

Tobacco companies are spending billions of dollars to put their products in front of our kids in stores. As a mother of 5, this horrifies me because, the more kids see tobacco products, the more likely they are to start smoking.

Next time you are out, check out the walls and rows of tobacco products that are enhanced with flashy or brightly colored signs and special sales. In-store advertising is big business in New York State.

If you have not noticed it, you can be almost sure your kids have. In fact, young people are twice as likely to recall tobacco advertising, and it makes them more likely to start smoking.

When you really take notice of how effective this in-store advertising is near schools and in low-income areas, you will see why they are doing it. This type of marketing puts these products right in the face of those most vulnerable to it.

When I think about how they are marketing these products, I am so glad that my husband and I have open conversations with our kids about the dangers of smoking. In fact, talking with our kids about smoking is one of the best ways we can reduce smoking in young people today.

Here are some tips that can help you talk to your kids about the dangers of smoking:

Start Talking and Start Early
 I don’t think it is ever too early to start a conversation with you child about smoking. My children started noticing people smoking at a very young age. We have always been honest with them, and over the years our conversations have evolved.

 

Any time is a good time to talk, whether in the car or around the table. Draw their attention to all the no smoking signs in public places, then discuss the reasons why smoking is not permitted there.

Be Honest About The Health Effects

This is not a time to sugar coat things for your child. In fact, I think you must be brutally honest. If you know of someone in your family that has died or has serious health effects as a result of smoking, let them know about that.

Talk with them about how addictive tobacco products are and  how hard it can be to stop smoking. Talk about cancer, heart and lung disease, emphysema and more. Beyond that, make sure you discuss the immediate effects of smoking like stinky clothes, hair and breath. Let them know that smoking can make them more prone to acne and how negatively it can affect their athletic performance and endurance.

Set a Good Example.

In our house, it is easy, because my husband and I do not smoke. We don’t allow smoking in our house or around our kids. If you smoke, try your best to not light up in front of your kids. Talk to them about what a mistake it was to start smoking  and just how hard it is to quit. 

Prepare Your Kids to Deal with Peer Pressure

The pressure from your child’s friends at school is something that will likely be an issue as your kids get older. Arm them with appropriate responses to use if they are offered tobacco. You can even make it fun by role-playing situations with your child. Some good responses are:

“No thanks, I don’t want my clothes to stink like smoke”
“No, I need to stay in shape for baseball or whatever sport they play.”
“No thanks, I know people who have died from smoking.”
“No, I am not really into starting something that can kill me.”
“No, smoking is really gross.”
Talk About Different Kinds of Tobacco and Smoking
Make sure you explain that even “smoke-free” alternatives are dangerous. Let them know, electronic cigarettes (vaping, electric hookahs) still have serious health effects because they use nicotine and other toxic chemicals.
Discuss the dangers of using chewing tobacco that contains almost 30 cancer-causing chemicals and is highly addicted.

Talk About the Way Tobacco Products Are Marketed

Have a frank discussion about the tactics behind the marketing. My kids get angry when we talk about how these companies are advertising to young people. 

I have also signed the  “Seen Enough Tobacco” petition to tell big tobacco our kids have seen enough. I hope you will too! You can sign the petition by clicking HERE. Let’s make sure these companies know that this type of marketing is not alright!

For more information and resources you can visit the Tobacco Free New York State Website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Let me know any tips you have for talking to your kids about smoking and the way tobacco companies are marketing to them. 


1 Comment

Filed under Health, kids, parenting

Overwhelmed? Discover, “Why Motherhood Matters” #Giveaway

Tomorrow, I have to go for two ultrasound scans. To say the least, the last few weeks have been a rollercoaster. Already dealing with having our lives torn apart for the last year, as we have had to undergo a near total renovation of our house. This required moving out, having all our belongings packed by a less than careful mold remediation company and now dealing with a less than ethical contractor who took a large deposit on work he never even started.

So, now on top of everything, we are starting the litigation process to bring this contractor and his partner (wife) to justice and get our money back. They have caused us weeks of delays and much angst. I ended up being rushed to the hospital one night thinking I was having a heart attack. They found out that, thankfully, I was not having a heart attack but tomorrow I need to have an echocardiogram to rule out mitral valve prolapse and my thyroid levels (I am hypothyroid) were very low. This could be the reason for the chest pain etc. I had my levels tested again and they are normal but the doctor felt an enlargement in my thyroid, and that is the other scan I am going for. I would love your prayers and good thoughts because I am feeling a big weary.

Speaking of being weary, motherhood itself can leave us feeling overwhelmed. Add to that health issues, and it can sap our energy as we worry about something happening to us, and what that would mean to our family. As much as we try to stay positive, those negative thoughts creep in. Since I was told there was an enlargement on one side of my thyroid, it feels that the fullness I felt from time to time in my throat, is now constant. It also feels like something is pulling from my collarbone when I turn my neck. As much as I try to push it from my thoughts, they find a way of creeping in. This morning, I woke up at the crack of dawn, and could not lie there because of the thoughts that kept coming into my mind. I had to get up and do something to try and take my mind off tomorrow.

As mothers, our lives are so full and no matter how much we get accomplished, we tend to focus on all the things we did not get done. We are so critical on ourselves. It can easily leave us feeling overwhelmed. Maybe you have even wondered if you were succeeding at motherhood. We tend to berate ourselves about everything we did not complete or do.  Worse yet, social media has introduced us to hoards of  “supermoms” who only make us feel worse about ourselves. We have to understand everything is not what it seems on social media, and the “supermom” you see, is probably hanging by a thread just like you are many days.

I understand that many mothers feel overwhelmed and have at least fleeting thoughts of inadequacy. That is why I want to introduce you to, Why Motherhood Matters by September McCarthy. The author has been a mom for 25 years (close to how long I have been a mother but, I have a few years more on the job, lol), like myself ,she continues to raise young children and loves her young adults.

September imparts words of wisdom and grace in key areas of Christian parenting, including faith (getting honest with your family about your need for Jesus), wellness (learning to take care of your kids and yourself), education (raising a new generation with creativity and character), and relationships (speaking to the heart of your children in unique ways). On the pages of the book, you’ll find sweet anecdotes and gentle guidance for those moments you need both a breather and a lifeline.

More About September:

September McCarthy is a writer, speaker, blogger (One September Day at www.septembermccarthy.com), wife, and a home-educating mother to ten beautiful children. Today, she juggles motherhood and being a grandmother as her older children are married with families of their own.  She is also the founder and director of Raising Generations Today, a nonprofit ministry designed to equip and inspire moms to reach the hearts of their children for God’s glory.

Giveaway:

We are happy to run a giveaway for our readers. One lucky Mommy Ramblings’ reader will win their own copy of, Why Motherhood Matters. Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Open to residents of the USA.

Why Motherhood Matters Book Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!

Continue reading


6 Comments

Filed under Blog Tour, Books, Giveaway, Mommy Ramblings, parenting, Spiritual

Do You Feel Like You Are Failing As A Parent? You Are Not Alone!

Raising children is not for the faint of heart. Have you ever felt overwhelmed, frustrated to the point you lose your temper and yell or scream at your kids? Do you feel at your wit’s ends fighting the same battles, day after day with your children? Is it hard for you to wrap your mind around how they cannot stop doing the things that are getting them in trouble?

frustrated-child

No matter what you do, the same behavior is repeated again and again. Does it leave you so frustrated that you count the hours until bedtime? Do you feel guilty for sometimes not wanting to be around your kids because of how they behave? Do you feel terrible for this and feel you are a failure as a parent? Do you think you must be doing something wrong?

You don’t have to tell me the answers to these questions. If you are a parent, it is safe to say that you nodded your head in agreement to most of these things, maybe even all of them. I want to tell you, that it is okay, you are not the only one. We will fail as parents, many times.

I picked up a really good parenting book the other day. The book is titled, Parenting: 14 Gospel Principals That Can Radically Change Your Family. The author, Paul David Tripp, is the executive director for the Center for Pastoral Life and Care in Fort Worth, Texas. More than that, he is a dad, a dad who has felt those same things.

parenting-book

I will admit when I picked up the book, I expected it to be preachy and written by a man who was a “perfect” parent, who would tell me everything I was doing wrong. I could not have been more wrong. Right from the Introduction, I saw this was a parent I could relate to, one that struggled in the same ways I did. Nothing was sugar-coated, he was real and the pages are full of wisdom. It is real, he writes about situations of parents who are struggling through parenting. If you are like me, you may find their stories very familiar. Sometimes it is nice to know we are not alone.

frustrated-child-crying

One of the things I think will resonate with most parents is the chapter on authority. The author says to never exercise your authority over  your child in an angry, impatient, abusive or selfish way. This means, you do not let your anger at your child’s disobedience control you so you do things you should not. For example, it means that you do not pinch, poke, slap, yank or shove your child. It also means that you do not combine your discipline with berating, condemning or demeaning talk. That means you don’t say things like; “What are you, stupid?” “I can’t believe that you’re my daughter!” and other similar phrases.

mother-angry

He does not say this as a perfect parent who has never done this but as one who openly admits doing this to his son after a particularly grueling day. He admits his shortcomings but lets us know that through God’s grace we can always start new. Facts are, we will fail many times as parents and that is okay, we don’t have to feel guilty because we have that grace.

parenting

The chapters are the 14 Gospel Principals as they apply to parenting; Calling, Grace, Law, Inability, Identity, Process, Lost, Authority, Foolishness, Character, False Gods, Control, Rest and Mercy. The author’s favorite passage in the Bible about parenting is one you might not expect. It is one of the final commandments Jesus made to his disciples.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and          make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,                teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always, to the end of the                age.” (Matt. 28:18-20)

There is so much in this book that is just profound and really hit home for me. You can read an excerpt HERE or listen to an audio click HERE. I hope you check it out and let me know what you think. You can also enter to win a copy below in our giveaway.

parenting-3

Giveaway:

Parenting: 14 Gospel Principals That Can Radically Change Your Family Book Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller /FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again.  Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget below.  Good Luck!!!

Continue reading


3 Comments

Filed under Books, Faith, Family, Giveaway, parenting