What’s more frightening than stray hairs in the bathtub?  Meeting people at school!  But have no fear, here are some conversational guidelines to help you through the chaotic and daunting world of the school social system.

1.  Be interesting!  Do you have the personality of a doorknob?  Don’t worry, this isn’t as hard as it seems!  Watch infotainment shows, the news, read blogs, keep up with what’s going on in your world.  This way you can have things to spark conversations such as:  “Hey, did you feel the earthquake last night?” or “So did you hear that (insert celebrity name) got arrested for (insert latest escapade here)?”  And if all else fails, the perfect scape-goat is always to harp on about the weather or to ask to borrow a pencil.

2.  Be prepared to listen.  In order to meet and connect with someone, you need to figure out what interest them.  Once you get a conversation rolling, listen to them and “find the hook that makes your similarities more visible.”  Once you have a common ground, you’re smooth sailing from there.

3.  Be interested.  It’s the rule of prom-dates:  He was ugly until he asked you to prom, and now he doesn’t look so bad.  Listening is pointless if you’re only listening while waiting to talk about yourself.  Try listening with a genuine interest and you might find that there’s a world beyond yourself that has a little to teach you.

Get off to a healthy start this school year by packing nutritious lunches that your kids will actually want to eat. Think you’re too busy? Relax. All it takes is a little planning and creativity. A healthy lunch gives kids the energy they need to finish the school day and be ready to tackle homework and after-school activities. Read on for tips on filling your child’s lunchbox with healthy, tasty meals that even the most finicky kid won’t be able to resist.

1.  Small changes add up. If cafeteria food, prepackaged lunchables, and snack cakes are on the lunch menu of choice in your family, take heart. It is possible to steer your kids toward healthier choices, one baby step at a time. By making small, gradual changes you can give your kids a big boost of nutrients. Aim for less fat, sugar, and calories and focus on increasing fiber, protein, and calcium. The next time you fill their lunchboxes, try these simple substitutions:

2.  Remember your ABCs. A well-balanced lunch should give kids about 1/3 of their daily recommended allowance for calories, vitamins, and minerals. Nutrition experts recommend filling lunch boxes with foods high in vitamins A, B, and C for optimum health. For vitamin A, pack deep-yellow or orange fruits and vegetables like cantaloupe wedges, dried apricots, or baby carrots. Foods that contain lots of vitamin Blike whole wheat crackers, peanut butter, raisins, and sunflower seeds provide essential carbs and protein. Good sources of vitamin C include half a cup of fresh citrus fruits like strawberries or pineapple along with yogurt or cheese for calcium.

3.  Variety is the spice of life. If sack lunches have gotten mundane (peanut butter and jelly again?), try thinking outside the lunchbox. Offer kids a BLT or tuna salad, or fill a whole-grain bagel, pita, or tortilla with their favorite sandwich fillings. Kids also love to crunch. Instead of potato chips, try celery sticks filled with peanut butter or cream cheese and bite-size chunks of raw veggies like carrots and cucumber with low-fat dip. Make a kid-friendly homemade granola out of dried fruits, nuts, and any favored non-sugary cereal. If sack lunches have gotten mundane (peanut butter and jelly again?), try thinking outside the lunchbox. Offer kids a BLT or tuna salad, or fill a whole-grain bagel, pita, or tortilla with their favorite sandwich fillings. Kids also love to crunch. Instead of potato chips, try celery sticks filled with peanut butter or cream cheese and bite-size chunks of raw veggies like carrots and cucumber with low-fat dip. Make a kid-friendly homemade granola out of dried fruits, nuts, and any favored non-sugary cereal.

For extra-picky eaters, experiment with some of their favorites by introducing a new food alongside one of their familiar standbys. Or, try offering the same food prepared in a different way. Soups, stews, pasta salad, and dinner leftovers make healthy and creative lunch options and fit perfectly in an insulated thermos. Often, kids who don’t like cooked vegetables will munch on raw ones, so rotate cut-up raw veggies like carrots, celery, broccoli, and squash, and include a container of their favorite dressing for dunking.

4.  Get the kids involved. Kids who have a say in the foods they eat are more likely to finish their meals and make healthier choices. And getting ‘em hooked on a nutritious diet at an early age will build lifelong healthy eating habits. Encourage your kids to help with shopping, menu planning, and preparing their lunches. Ask them what they like, and if it’s not healthy, brainstorm with them for healthy alternatives to their favorites. When my kids get bored with sandwiches, they ask for soup or leftover chili in a thermos, or a bean and cheese burrito, quickly assembled, cooked in the microwave, and wrapped in foil to stay hot until lunchtime—prepared while they’re eating breakfast!

5.  Mini is huge. Kids love any kind of food in small sizes and portions because it’s fun to eat and can be consumed quickly. Experiment with mini bagels filled with cheese, lean meats, or their favorite veggies and spreads. Popular mini foods include cubed cheese with whole-grain crackers, and mini muffins. Toss seedless grapes, strawberries, and cubed melon for a mini fruit bowl. Cut whole sandwiches in quarters or jazz them up by using cookie cutters to turn bread and cheese slices into their favorite shapes and characters.

6.  Personalize prepackaged foods. The prepackaged lunches and snacks at the grocery store are designed to appeal to kids, but they are pricey and often loaded with extra fat, calories, and sodium. Compromise by offering your kids an assortment of food and let them assemble and personalize meals by themselves; their choices can include things like multi-grain crackers, lean meats, cheeses, and an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables. For a healthier version of a personal pizza, pack separately an English muffin, shredded cheese, and tomato sauce. Kids will like the control they have as they recreate their own version of the store brands at a lower cost and higher nutritional value.

7.  Handle with care. Pack school lunches in insulated lunch bags, which are sturdier than metal lunchboxes and paper bags and are better at maintaining temperature control. Be sure to include a freezer pack to keep perishable foods like meat and dairy from spoiling. Some lunch bags even come with separate compartments designed to keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. Use a thermos for hot foods like leftover spaghetti, soups, or even stir-fry. One final tip? Freeze your child’s water bottle and put it in their lunchbox in the morning. It will double as an ice pack and be thawed by lunchtime.

–by:  Suzy Buglewizc
 

This sagging economy may force some parents to rethink how they approach the back-to-school shopping for their children.  So that you don’t get caught up in buying more than you need for the upcoming school year or arguing with your kids in the middle of a crowded store, set aside some ‘planning time’ before you go shopping. 

Plan out what is truly needed vs. wanted by your student and make sure that past supplies are sorted through to see if you already have something that is on their list.  Then set a budget and make sure they know you are going to stick to it.  If they want something expensive, they are going to have to forgo some other things.

Warehouse stores have underwear and socks in bulk and clothes usually go on sale a few weeks after the initial back-to-school rush and so waiting a few weeks into the school year could get you more bank for your buck!

Shopping with the budget will help your children learn about money, comparison shopping and how to get bargains.

Texting is nothing to “LOL” about, from a parent’s perspective.  That’s because today’s teens are glued 24/7 to their cell phones, clicking away hastily as they carry on lengthy conversations with friends.

Most parents have a hard time understanding why their kids would rather text message a friend than pay a personal visit or use the telephone.  But the fact remains that technology is completely integrated into how teens communicate.  They start their days “IM’ing” friends or checking to see who’s online.  Later in the day, the spend hours texting friends on their cell phones, with some teens sending over 5,000 text messages a month. 

“Even when they’re not on their cell phones or test messaging, the devices are on and kids are distracted by them,” says Dr. Michael Osit, a clinical psychologist and author “Generation Text: Raising Well-Adjusted Kids in an Age of Instant Everything.”

Osit points out that inter-machine interaction plays a huge role in the social development of techno-oriented kids.  This can be harmful because children don’t automatically understand social skills - they have to practice them.  “In normal situations, there is a progression in a relationship that has natural, appropriate boundaries are dismantled prematurely,” he says. ”They become too intimate and too close, and they say things they normally wouldn’t say in person.”

Another problem with texting is that parents are not privy to the communication that takes places, in the old days, parents were able to observe and teach their children about what was appropriate and inappropriate in relationships, which is not the case in today’s private world of technology.

When excessive texting becomes a ssubstitute for face-to-face and voice-to-voice interaction, it can stunt communications skills, because there is a lack of nonverbal signs and signals - which are just as important as words.  “About 60 percent of a message is nonverbal, so teens dependent on testing lose out on how to truly communicate with people,” says Osit.

Bullying is also a problem, as many teens send mass messages via e-mail or their cell phones.  “The invisibility of techno talk can be perilous in many cases and can have damaging effects on children,”  Osit explains.  For example, in 2006, a Missouri teenage committed suicide after being the victim of a cruel cyber hoax.

Despite all the problems with this communications technology, Osit notes that it does have some bbenefits.  In some ways, it helps teens conquer timidity when they’re very shy.  “If practiced with proper monitoring, this ttechnology can help improve kids’ social skills.”

It’s one of those good new, bad news kind of issues…School is ready to begin again!

Children are soooo excited to begin the new school year and the moms might even be more excited!  But along with getting the little kiddies back to their schools, comes the stress of homework, scheduling, carpooling, etc.

Has your child been reading throughout the summer?  If so, they will have probably have a smoother reentry.  If they haven’t been reading, time to get started RIGHT NOW!  Start reading with or to them for a minimum of 30 minutes per day.

Time also for them to start getting to bed earlier to prepare them for the early risings.  Much easier and smoother reentries happen if the bedtime and wake up time that they will be having during the school year starts BEFORE they go back to school.

Having a regular bedtime will help the child get the recommended hours of sleep needed each night so that they will be able to stay awake in class the next day.

Start now to purchase what is needed for the upcoming school year.  Kids want to ‘fit in’ and sometimes that can be a huge drain on a tight budget, but you certainly want to make sure they have all the school supplies needed…i.e. paper, pencils, books, etc.  Many areas have facilities or groups that can help out with this if money is a concern such as churches, charitable organizations, etc.

Many children are nervous about starting a new grade or moving onto a completely different school.  Reassure them that they will do great and by you having confidence in them helps them to have confidence in themselves.