Family & Parenting Articles

1. Choosing Koi For Your Aquarium

By Nate Jamieson While you may purchase young, small koi, like other species of creatures, they will adapt their growth and size somewhat, to the restrictions of space. Food and overall conditions in the aquarium will also affect their growth rate, with premium food being important, and overfeeding to be avoided both for the health of the fish, and the health of the tank environment. Clean water is a must, as ... read more

2. 5 Reasons to Organize Your Home Today

By Karen Fritscher-Porter Home organization isn't just for neat-nicks or those drawn toward organized living. Even if you don't fall into those two stereotypes, you should consider learning and implementing some home organizing techniques. Why bother? Here are five good reasons to organize your home: PEACE OF MIND - When you have a closet packed full of miscellaneous items, don't you sometimes think "I've got to put tha... read more

3. Be Smart With Your Childrens Feelings

By Mark Brandenburg All of you have heard about how important it is to “honor your children’s feelings.” While this seems like a worthy endeavor, it’s a fairly vague notion and can easily be dismissed, especially when your child is crying or whining. But If we look at the benefits of paying close attention to your children’s feelings, it may become an idea that has a great deal of merit. We’d all like... read more

4. DNA Paternity- To Test at Home or Not

By Mark Jackson Many people prefer the “home” DNA testing kits for reasons of privacy and because they are usually less expensive, since they do not involve making an appointment at a laboratory, or any associated travel costs. However, depending on the reason you are seeking a DNA paternity test, you may wish to reconsider using the home test kit. Home kits contain the exact same collection tools, as are used... read more

5. Send Your Child to College FREE!

By Granmamma Send your Child to College FREE! By: GranMamma College is one of the largest expenses through the course of your child’s life. It is also one of the main causes of debt in America. With today’s rates of inflation, it is very hard to save for an event that will occur eighteen years down the road. However, capitalistic America has provided many ways to send your child to college without paying... read more

6. Baby Safety Checklist - Protecting Your Baby

By Alli Ross When bringing home your new baby, there are so many things to do in order to get ready. Making your home a safe haven for your new little one is one of the most important things you will do to get ready. Each room contains its own set of dangers. Below is a baby safety checklist to ensure that every room in your house is baby friendly. General Safety Tips: ___ Place child-resistant cove... read more

7. How Toddlers Can Benefit from Using Computers

By Jackie G. Maxwell It's a fact of life that we live in an electronic age and computers are a bigger part of our lives than ever. It's unlike anything we've seen in the past and kids are learning to use computers at younger ages. There are steps a parent can take to ensure that their toddlers receive important skill-building benefits from their computer experience. "Kids that had some access to a computer, either ... read more

8. Baby Shower Gift Ideas

By Criss White Selecting a present for a new mom or dad can be a challenging task. Baby showers are a great way to help support a new mother with her new baby. New mothers can sign up at a gift registry to avoid duplicate gifts and to indicate her gift preferences. Here are some good gift ideas for baby showers: 1) Diapers - Diapers are a popular gift for baby showers. Every new mother ... read more

9. Dads, How do You Handle Your Kids Mistakes?

By Mark Brandenburg One of the most difficult parts of being a father is learning to accept your children’s mistakes. It certainly can be easy to be loving, supportive, and helpful when your children are mistake-free, but most fathers who are paying attention don’t find too many mistake-free periods of their children’s lives. Let’s be clear about our kids and their mistakes. There aren’t too many kids who get up ... read more

10. Should a Toddler Wear Pull-Ups While Potty Training

By Jackie G. Maxwell As a parent, you've learned a lot while your child moved from being an infant, to crawling, to the mobile stage of an active toddler. Now that they are older, and able to understand simple directions and associations, you're working towards the goal of “no more diapers”. You'll get lots of tips and advice, some of which is valuable, and some that will leave you undecided about things like should... read more

11. Ideas For Toddler Halloween Costumes

By Jackie G. Maxwell Depending on the age of your little ones, you may want to keep ideas for toddler Halloween costumes on the simple side. Since most of the very youngest trick or treaters are only going out to amuse the grandparents and immediate neighbors, it needn't be terribly complicated to still bring a lot of smiles. For infants, and those who get tired of walking, animal costumes work very well, can be d... read more

12. A Chance for a Home

By Tanya Sturman A Chance for a Home "He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." Johann von Goethe Home. Family. Backyard cookouts. A table laden with more than we can eat on Thanksgiving day. These things ground us, offer us stability, and give us an environment where we can learn, explore, grow, and even self-actualize. Yet for 210 million children, these basic human needs will nev... read more

13. Scrapbooking Ideas for Kids

By Kathleen Hudson Many times at auctions, or estate sales, a box of books will turn up a real treasure, like a scrapbook that was kept by someone in their youth and sometimes through their adulthood. The book could be 50 or 60 years old, and a source of great fun to look at the pictures, news clippings, and personal mementoes. The hobby of keeping such collections is enjoying a resurgence of popularity, with pe... read more

14. Seven Tips for Choosing a Maid of Honor

By Blake Kritzberg Choosing your Maid of Honor isn't as simple as it looks. Nowhere else in your wedding planning is it easier for vexing problems to turn up! Why? Because the Maid of Honor’s duties are often vaguely defined, and worse, poorly communicated. In fact, every bride has her own unique idea of what a Maid of Honor should be. Which is fine – the trick is in communicating those ideas! So what does a ... read more

15. Relationship Tips: 16 Practical Dramatic Ways to Know if He/She is REALLY Changing

By Dr. Robert Huizenga, The Infidelity Coach Every relationship hits a snag, or worse, a major crisis (such as infidelity), that demands significant change if the relationship is to survive. So...there are promises to change and the two of you embark upon a new path. You watch carefully. "Can I trust this change? Is it permanent? temporary? How long will it last? Is he/she REALLY changing?" Good questions. Here are 16 ways to kno... read more

16. How to Determine the Quality of a Diamond

By Francine Johnson When it comes to diamonds, size doesn't always matter. You may have one that is the size of a hen's egg, that's not worth as much as one that's the size of a dime. This is all due to the four Cs of diamonds: cut, clarity, color and carat weight. -Cut: Most people interpret "cut" to mean the shape of the diamond, when in fact you can have many round diamonds that have been cut with different n... read more

17. Bring Back a Memory Night

By Brook Noel Here’s a great tip for when you are setting a special table for a family gathering or for close friends. It can be a birthday party, a family reunion, an elaborate dinner, a holiday or anniversary – the more people, the better, although any number can “play.” For your place cards and seating arrangements use a “picture-from-the-past” of each dinner guest. Raid your scrap books and picture albums f... read more

18. Change

By Kim Olver One thing in life is certain---change. Things never stay the same. If you are hoping for the status quo, then I’m afraid you will be disappointed. Just think back to how things were five years ago and you will realize that there is so very much that’s already different in a very short time. I’m sure there are some of you who know people who refused to adapt to the computer age. I still know som... read more

19. Choose Spice Racks That Help you Organize Your Home

By Karen Fritscher-Porter Today you have almost as many choices of spice racks as you do of the spices they contain. Spice racks are wonderful kitchen home organization gadgets. And a spice rack is a wonderful gift too for a cook. In our household, my husband is the chef. But I'm the shopper. And we own three functional and handsome spice racks that are in use every day. Before you buy your next spice rack for yourself or ... read more

20. Cut the Costs of Your New Baby... Devour Those Yard Sales!

By Granmamma Cut the costs for your new baby: Devour those yard sales! By: GranMamma Get some friends together and check out your local yard sales. Before you go, make sure you check the yard sale listings in the newspaper to make sure you don’t make any unnecessary trips. When buying baby furniture, make sure it meets current safety standards. Yard sales often have many used cribs, rocking chairs, and othe... read more

21. How To Read Faces & Profit

By Kathy Thompson What you think about most of the time shows up on your face. Your face becomes a map of your mind. So your face reveals your personality. If you know the personality behind the face, you can profit from every situation you are in. Face Reader, Kathy Thompson, is sure you can read faces and profit. Here is a challenge for you. Use the following tips and see how Face Readin... read more

22. 6 Reasons to Exercise during Pregnancy

By Criss White Everyone knows that exercise is good for your health. Exercising during pregnancy can have additional benefits. Generally, exercise should be light, especially during the first few weeks of pregnancy while your body adjusts to the changes. Heavy exercise can divert blood flow from crucial areas and most women that exercise regularly should tone down their workouts during pregnancy. Walking, swi... read more

23. Marriage, Divorce, and Kids

By Mark Brandenburg It’s been said that one of the problems that married couples have today is that men tend to choose their wives the same way they choose their cars or trucks. They get the best one available and hope that there’s not much maintenance down the road. While this may occasionally be true, there are certain practices that married couples must follow in order to avoid adding to a divorce rate... read more

24. New Mom...New Baby...New Debt?

By Susan Koiner Ah, there is nothing like being an expectant mom. Along with your expanding waistline comes the ever growing list of products for you and your new bundle of joy. Preparing for a new baby can be a costly experience, especially in the areas of clothing and nursery furniture. The good news is that it does not have to be! Let’s talk about buying baby clothes...think RESALE! Every new mom gushes... read more