Search Results for: blog kids with single parents learn life skills

The Magic of Mail

My daughter loves getting mail. Not email, snail mail. She’s seven years old and doesn’t own a Smartphone, computer or any other digital device which allows her to email her BFFs to LOL about her WAHM. She does it via longhand, instead. While I dread the short walk from the front door to the mailbox for fear of what other bill may be waiting for me there, my kid counts down to the mail carrier’s visit each day. We’re old school here at Casa Cheplic and the United States Postal Service loves us for it. Why? Two words: Pen Pal. … Continue reading →

Does Money Make You a Better Parent?

When you become a single parent you quickly learn that there is never enough money. Your kids learn this lesson too, much earlier than you want them too. It’s hard for your kids not to have the things everyone else has, it’s also hard when you are the one who always has to tell them no. Many studies that are done on single parents focus on income as a reason children from single parent households struggle. This may be true, but not having everything handed to you and learning the value of hard work gives our children life skills they … Continue reading →

Free Fun in the Sun!

It’s summertime. I am finally out of school for a few weeks and Logan and I are taking advantage of it! We have been playing and playing hard! There are so many things I want to do with him before school starts up and our time is limited again. But, as all single parents know, money doesn’t grow on trees, so we are forced to get a little creative with our fun since so many activities cost money these days. Logan loves to be outside. I’d love to be able to put him in all of the summer sports camps, … Continue reading →

Baby Bullies

My son loves his daycare. He’s made lots of little friends and is learning social skills that he may not have learned otherwise being an only child at home. But lately I’ve been a little worried about him. He’s been coming home saying that one little boy in particular has been being mean to him. Little kids often get into little scuffles over having to share a favorite toy or taking turns on the swings, but when Logan started coming home from daycare with scratches all over him I knew I had to do something. I couldn’t switch daycares at … Continue reading →

Chores Can Prepare for a Strong Work Ethic

Fellow blogger Michele Cheplic recently blogged about “Slave Labor.” Or should I say, kids doing chores. I had to chuckle when I read that her 7 year old daughter’s response to making her bed was, “What am I a slave?” Chores are probably one of the least favorite things that any kid likes to do. And for some kids it only gets worse as they get older. Yes, my teens have tried to get out of doing chores but never could I imagine them doing what an 11-year-old German boy apparently did, by calling the police on his mother. As … Continue reading →

How to Parent Adult Step Children

Almost thirty years ago, Robert married a woman who had five grown children. No big deal, right? They ranged in age from mid-twenties to mid-thirties, so they had all been on their own for many years. They appeared to be well-adjusted, independent, responsible adults. They lived locally, and Robert and his wife socialized with them on a regular basis. So what was the problem? It turns out that there were many, but primary among them was the fact that his wife’s family was, what the shrinks would call, enmeshed. They were ‘all up in’ one another’s business—they spoke to one … Continue reading →

Square Foot Field Trip – Backyard Exploring

Home schooling is, in my opinion, the best type of schooling there is. You can be certain your children are learning skills that are important for life such as filling out job applications, balancing checkbooks, cooking, frugal spending, and more. This is in addition to the typical education of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. But staying at home all the time can get boring for kids and parents. Field trips are excellent ways to get out of the house for awhile and incorporate fun with learning. But what if you’re simply too tired to drag the kids to a museum, library, … Continue reading →

Parents, Kids and Video Games

If you can’t find a single thing valuable about your kids’ video games, then you obviously haven’t been reading the paper inserts that come in the game boxes. Many video game manufacturers now include tiny leaflets as part of their product’s packaging listing reasons why electronic gaming is beneficial to a child’s development. Surprisingly, more and more childhood experts are going public supporting the video-games-can-be-an-important-part-of-a-child’s-social-life philosophy. Though, the experts add one caveat: Video games are okay provided they are played in moderation and the types of games being played are age appropriate. A recent study found that quality video games: … Continue reading →

Lessons in Cooperation

I think life in a single parent family offers us many advantages and opportunities for some important lessons. One of those lessons that may very well be present in all families but I would argue is more intense in single parent families, is cooperation. Whether we are co-parenting with another person, or just trying to keep all the balls in the air within our own household, it seems we are constantly working to cooperate and collaborate for the betterment of our families. If you do co-parent or share custody with your child’s other parent, you know how challenging those lessons … Continue reading →

What are the Qualities Needed for a Single Parent?

I thought it might be fun to talk about some of those personal qualities that come in handy for the average single parent. Of course, we are all different and we all bring different skills and talents to the table. Also, many of the qualities that make for a great single parent are also helpful in two-parent parenting too. Still, it could be fun to talk about those qualities and skills that we have found to be beneficial in our roles as single parents… I know that in my stint as a single parent I have developed sides of me … Continue reading →