Search Results for: blog step parents

Coca-Cola Offers Paid Leave for All Parents

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The United States is one of only two countries in the world that does not guarantee paid maternity leave. Fortunately, some companies are stepping in and providing what the federal government has not. Coca-Cola will offer paid leave for all parents. The United States does not provide paid family leave to its workers. There is a U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that applies to employers with 50 or more employees. FMLA offers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period to care for a newborn, adopted or foster child. Coca-Cola’s paid leave policy will take … Continue reading →

Some Parents are Following their Teens to College

Students who graduate from high school are eligible to continue their education by going to college. These students are eighteen years of age (or older) and are adults. For whatever reason, there are now some parents who choose to follow their son or daughter to college. We have all heard of the phrase “helicopter parenting”. While some will argue that this parenting style provides certain benefits, many others continue to view it as less than ideal. A helicopter parent is one that swoops in and solves his or her child’s problems for them. That’s a great thing to do if … Continue reading →

Siblings Sharing Parents Experience Lifelong Effects

Did you get along with your siblings when you were a child? What’s your relationship with them like now that all of you are adults? Researchers have discovered that brothers and sisters who share parents can have a very different experience from each other. What they found can help parents of today make their kid’s relationship with their siblings into a more positive experience. An article at Medical Daily was written by Chris Weller. In it, he points out that each kid that has to share his or her parents with their siblings has a different experience – even though … Continue reading →

Parents Petition to have Son’s Cochlear Implants Covered

Imagine how you would feel if your child needed a device that would greatly improve his life, and your insurance company refused to cover the cost of it. Parents Brian and Shay Rubin are living this experience. Coventry Health Care of Georgia refuses to cover the cochlear implants that their son requires. Health insurance is expensive. There are families in the United States that are unable to afford it, and who do not currently qualify for public forms of insurance. The result often is that the uninsured end up with a mountain of medical debt – or they go without … Continue reading →

Parents Celebrate Ouch-Free Bandage

They can send a man to the moon, but they can’t design a bandage that doesn’t cause pain when it’s removed? Parents the world over know the torment that’s triggered when their child’s bloody bandage needs to be replaced. When my daughter was a toddler, she would scream like a peacock on fire when I would come within 10 yards of her bandaged knee. Now, the wails don’t start until I’m four yards away. Baby steps. At 8 years old, the kid is still deathly afraid of any discomfort she may have to endure during the bandage-changing process. The crying, … Continue reading →

How to Include Step Parents Into a Family Tree

September 16 is National Step Family Day. After celebrating the day with your step family, you might be wondering how to include your step parents into your family tree. There are plenty of free family tree templates that you can use to help you do that. National Step Family Day was founded by Christy Borgeld in 1997. From my perspective, this is a fairly new holiday. I graduated from college in 1997, so it is clear that National Step Family Day didn’t exist when I was a kid. I don’t actually have step parents. However, one of my siblings has, … Continue reading →

North Dakota has a Healthy Steps Program

Every state has a Medicaid program. A portion of that program is designed to cover children who come from low-income families. In North Dakota, CHIP is also called Healthy Steps. It covers children who are under the age of 18. Medicaid is a public, or government run, form of health insurance. It is designed to cover low-income individuals and families who cannot afford to purchase health insurance from a private company. The funding for Medicaid comes from both the federal government and the government of an individual state. In North Dakota, the Medicaid program is administered by the North Dakota … Continue reading →

Growing Up In a Step Family

It’s funny how society and social expectations change. When I was growing up I was the only child I knew that was being raised in a step parent family. My father was killed in Vietnam when I was three, I have no memory of him. When my father died my mother was 21, she had a three year old, an almost two year old, and one on the way. I can’t imagine being a widow at 21, with three kids, in a time when broken families were not the norm. I think about how much harder it must have been … Continue reading →

Navigating Your New Role as a Step-Parent

Managing the dynamics of a blended family can be rather challenging. This is new territory for everyone involved. For the first little while everyone may feel as if they are on an emotional rollercoaster. Some days may work out better than others; the important thing is that you keep at it and communicate often with your partner throughout the process. In the meantime, here are some important things to remember as you are embarking on this new journey as a step-parent. In the beginning it is best to let the child’s biological parent be the primary parent in charge of … Continue reading →

ACA Decision is Great News for Parents!

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The Supreme Court has officially decided that the Affordable Care Act will stand. This is great news for parents of kids who have the types of special needs that require a lot of expensive medical care. Insurance companies can’t refuse to cover your child because of a pre-existing condition. The Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Obama in March of 2010. Today, June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court made its historic decision about the Affordable Care Act. The short version of the decision is that the Affordable Care Act will stand. The protections already provided by it … Continue reading →