Posts Tagged ‘Family’

Parenting Beyond Your Capacity: Connect Your Family to a Wider Community

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

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Product Description
When parents work in tandem with the faith community to raise their children, they increase their parenting capacity exponentially. Most parents have so many demands on their time that they can’t be the kind of parent they desire to be. They need to know the Orange Factor: Two combined influences will make a greater impact on kids than just two influences. And it’s true. Parents who partner with the faith community are the best way to bring the next generatio… More >>

Parenting Beyond Your Capacity: Connect Your Family to a Wider Community

Family Time: Doing Hobbies Together

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

In today’s fast-paced world, quality time with the family is getting harder to find. It’s difficult enough to find the time to eat dinner together, let alone find the time to do hobbies together. But somehow we manage to find that time, even if it’s just an hour or so each night. Since quality time is so precious, finding the right hobby for the whole family to participate in might be a bit of a trick, but it’s not impossible.

Jigsaw Puzzles

Puzzles are a popular hobby many families enjoy together. Puzzles may not be high tech, but they do foster time for conversation and bonding between family members. First decide whether you want a large puzzle, or a smaller one. Set aside 30-60 minutes each night to sit down and assemble it together. Family members can even work on it when nobody else is around. When it’s finished, glue it together and frame it, or simply take it apart and start all over again another time.

Board Games

Playing board games are a fun way for families to spend time together after dinner without staring at the TV. Some games can be completed in an hour or so, but extended games like Monopoly can be spread out over a week or longer, depending on how much fun you’re having with it. You’ll find that you can laugh together and the time will go by before you even know it.

Outdoor Fun

Families that play together tend to enjoy each other’s company. Finding something that you can all enjoy in the outdoors helps a family to bond. Activities can be as simple as tossing around the Frisbee or hiking along an area trail. Turn one of these activities into a hobby by participating in them regularly. You’ll have fun getting to know each other and you’ll even get some exercise in the process.

Try Something Unique

Unique hobbies can add spark to your family time. Photography, while quite involved, could be an interesting hobby for a family to do together. This is one hobby you can tailor to your family’s skill level. Whether it’s simple digital photography or building a full-blown dark room in your basement, photography leaves a lot to be explored. Or try writing a book together. Have fun passing the story around and let each member of the family add a new chapter. When it’s done, you can self-publish the book and have fun designing a cover or adding photos to the content.

Whichever hobby you choose to create a close-knit family relationship, make sure it’s something that everybody will enjoy. If it’s a chore for one person, they will likely hate doing it and they’ll only resent it. If you need to, try out several different hobbies until one finally “clicks.” You can even participate in several different hobbies rather than sticking with one. Maybe each family member will have their favorite and you can rotate the hobbies each week. The important thing is to spend time together doing something that everybody can appreciate.

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Choosing a Family Pet

Saturday, July 31st, 2010

When you have kids, they can often drive you crazy by hounding for a dog or a cat. Some parents are reluctant to give their child a pet due to fear of the animal harming the child being forefront in their minds. There are many dog and cat breeds that you can have in your home that will do really well for you and your family—even with small children. There are, of course, some precautions to make.

First, we will look at dog breeds. There are certain dog breeds that demand respect and kids often don’t have those feelings. Most children do not understand that pulling on the pet’s tail or stroking too roughly can not only harm the animal, but make it resentful of the child. You can of course work with your child to help him develop proper pet-handling behavior, but you should first consider starting out with a pet breed that is best for children. For instance, the following dog breeds are well-known for being especially good with children: St. Bernards, Golden and Labrador Retrievers, Great Danes, German Shepherds, Poodles, Siberian Huskies, and Mastiffs. While you do have to be careful about their size and make sure they are socialized and housetrained, they make wonderful pets. They are very affectionate and tend to exercise care and protectiveness of the children. These dog breeds will also stand up to a certain amount of abuse. If the child pulls on the tail or accidentally falls into them they are more likely to be worried and protective rather than distasteful or aggressive. You do have to teach your kid to be respectful, but generally these dogs as pets will offer a wonderful family addition.

In general, most cats are going to have issues with children. With cats, who are not as easy to train, you will find they tend to nip or bite a child who pulls their ears/tail or hurts them in any way. It is the cat’s way of showing anger. Cats by nature tend to choose one owner. This owner usually showers them with affection and treats them properly. If you do introduce a cat into your household, you should make sure your children are old enough to understand and exercise the proper treatment of it. Typically you want a child no younger than three dealing with any pet, especially cats. At this age the kid is old enough to understand right from wrong and deal with the pain if the cat bites them for a good reason. Some cats you may want in your home include the Abyssinian, American bobtail, American shorthair, Balinese, Birman, Bombay, Burmese, Manx, Persian, and Siberian. Typically you should not have a Siamese cat around children, as they tend to be very moody and are often one who demands respect. When you consider getting a pet for your child, it is important to realize that not all pets are great for a home.

We at helpyourpets.com are very devoted to the care of our pets, and we hope that our articles encourage you to do the same!