No Disrespect from Children

Did you raise a smart aleck? It is not necessarily a bad thing. When your child is not just sarcastic, but disrespectful, there is a problem.

Children talk back to adults, especially parents, disrespectfully when they feel authority is unjust, unreasonable or unfeeling. This ten step strategy for dealing with children's disrespectful back talk works like a charm.

1. Respect.

~Earn it, and then demand it from your children once you have it. Respect their right to an opinion by listening to what they have to say. Make it obvious that the reciprocal is expected.

2. Educate.

~Let your children know that there is a respectful way to voice opinion and dissent. Show them how to employ it by example. Rather than saying, "Your suggestion is stupid," try saying, "I think we need to reassess what you suggested because some of the foundation information is incorrect."

3. Enlighten.

~Show them how they react to being disrespectfully spoken to by speaking in like fashion. Show them how negativity cannot bring about a positive result. A video of their negative reaction is a better tool than parental acting skills, and far more persuasive

4. Discover.

~The source from which their disrespect springs. Is it an outside influence or you? Disrespect is most often a reaction to another's action, and negativity is contagious. Be objective in your own self-reflection because you may not see how your actions could cause disrespect. Repeat what you have said before a mirror for a good idea of how it sounded to them.

5. Restrict.

~Access to others who are disrespectful is counterproductive to having respectful children. Restrict that access. Negativity is contagious. Children and adults who are disrespectful to everyone as a reaction to being hurt by one person are not respectful influences on your children.

6. Question.

~Why has your child chosen that manner to speak to you? You have already self-reflected and looked at other sources. Go to the horse's mouth. Ask you child, point blank.

7. Listen.

~Your child will answer this question. Listen very carefully. Maintain eye contact. Sit in a receptive posture. Actively listen. Respond appropriately to what is said. Before you defend your position, be sure it is defensible.

8. Reverse.

~What will it take for your child to be more respectful? Ask your child. By respecting the fact that your child feels slighted, you show your willingness to help rectify the situation.

9. Help.

~Take your child's suggestions and incorporate them into your parenting style. This is the ultimate act of mutual respect. Provided your child provides a viable reason for being disrespectful, you can implement tactics like waiting two minutes before you respond to give him a chance to amend what he has said or making appointments to talk about matters once tempers have cooled.

10. Enjoy.

~Your respectful children will bring you joy. You have cultivated a mature and respectful relationship with your children. Most importantly, you have taught them how to build respectful relationships with others.

Caution: If you have not taken steps 1-3, you will definitely have to take 4-10. The first three tips will help you never have to determine a punishment for disrespectful children. They will not talk back to you or any other authority figure disrespectfully.

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No time to clean house?

With more children than the old lady in the shoe, I can guarantee I don't have a ton of time to clean...and then again, the only thing domestic about me was I was born in this country. If cleaning is just not your bag or does not fit in your schedule, take these time-saving tips.

Busy moms do not have time to spend two or three hours a day cleaning. Pick up a few of these quick cleaning tips to make cleaning a breeze for busy families. Singles can learn these cleaning tricks before they pick up "dirty" habits!

Organize:

Have a cleaning station where all household cleaning items are kept. This can be under a sink (for those with older or no children), top shelf in the laundry (for the toddler stage) or in a carry-all in a closet (great teen-aged access).

If you have cleaning items you only use in one room, keep them organized together. Consider a carry-all or basket under the sink for bathroom-only cleaning supplies like toilet tabs and pads.

Schedule:

Clean bathrooms and bedrooms on Tuesdays & Fridays; Common areas Monday, Wednesday & Saturday; Laundry room & appliances on Sunday afternoon.

Make the carpet an everyday affair. Before you go to bed, all items need to be off the carpet. Share this duty. Children should pick up their own messes.

Cannot do it all? Break it into smaller parts. Stick to your schedule, and you don't get behind!

Make a chore chart. It helps keep track of progress and aids in delegating tasks to other family members.

Down Time:

While a machine does a task, do something else. Do you have five minutes? Clean the tub. Waiting for the dryer? Dust the living room. Dishes drying? Collect the garbage from around the house.

Everyday:

Simple tasks like making the bed go a long way to keeping your house clean. Clean as you go when you are cooking. If you take out a project, put it away as soon as you are finished. Adopt the rule that you are not finished until the mess is clean.

Mail:

It comes six days a week. Read it over the garbage can or paper shredder. Do it now. When you put mail down, it should be in the trash can/shredder, in a return envelope, filed for tax time or in your scheduler to be paid on the appropriate day. If you bank online, you reduce the amount of mail you get and have to throw away.

Dishes:

Empty the dishwasher in the morning. Fill it during the day. Run it when you go to bed. No shortage of hot water, it helps heat the house (if you use the heated dry cycle) and is ready in the morning with clean dishes. Good for the psyche: Wake up to no mess.

Laundry:

When you take it off, put it away. Hang up your coat when you come in the house. In stocking feet? Put shoes away. Time for bath? Put dirty clothes in the laundry basket. If it is clean, put it in the closet or dresser.

There is more, so read on....

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Flip that house!

After buying and selling foreclosed homes to fund my early retirement, I have gathered a few tips anyone in the real estate market can use when looking for a cost effective solution to getting a home or making money providing homes for others.

Know how to turn a foreclosed home into cash? To borrow a quote from the stock market: Buy low. Sell high. Sounds simple, but let's arm you with some powerhouse weapons: Auctions, reaching potential home value, REO properties and knowing how to finance.

Foreclosures up for Auction

Not all auction foreclosures should have starred in "The Money Pit". Many are valuable. The trick is figuring out which is which. Start with an auction list. While online sellers will tout huge directories, start with the auctioneer. Auction houses provide bidders with the specifics from the owner, a lender who foreclosed on the property. But don't just take the lender's word for it.

Visit the Property

Some foreclosed property will not be accessible until the day of the auction, but the overwhelming majority will be opened for bidders prior to the auction. Take advantage. You wouldn't buy a car without test driving it. Don't bid on a house you have not seen inside and out, either.

Rarely, foreclosures can be inspected by a professional prior to the auction. Literature on the house will admit if an inspection has been made since the property was vacated.

Know what you are viewing. What should pipes under the house look like? What are the indicators a roof needs to be replaced? Can you tell if a wall has been patched? What are the signs of water damage? If you haven't seen an inspection in person, it is an educating experience.

Take Notes

You need to remember all the blemishes the house has to determine how much you are willing to pay for it and how much the house could potentially be worth at resale. This is how you determine on which houses you should bid. The equation for a winning house looks like this:

Your Maximum Bid + Taxes <>

What is my "Maximum Bid"?

The opening bid is up to ten per cent less than what is owed on the foreclosed home. This ensures the lender gets most of its money back. Since you want to make money, you cannot bid up to the actual value of the foreclosed home. Your maximum bid needs to be at least ten percent lower than the current value of the home.

Is that set in concrete?

No. Some distressed homes, ones which need a lot of repair, are actually worth more in the long run. For example, 123 Hickory Street is 1,600 square feet, four beds, two baths. It is valued at $36,000 because it has not been updated since the 1950s. It needs a new roof and the carpeting replaced. A few new windows would not hurt it.

Find rest of the answer and much more!

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When a bird falls from the nest, sometimes it needs intervention.

Growing up, we children were constantly bringing in wounded birds. From sparrows to doves to owls, if we could catch, we brought it indoors.

Wear heavy gloves, preferably leather, which will cover your wrists before you pick the bird up. Take care that the bird does not break your skin. Depending on the bird's diet, it could expose you to viral health hazards.

The first thing to do is to put it in a cardboard box, sized according to the bird's wing span. We put in a shallow dish of water and one of millet. Millet is mild and all birds will eat it, including predatory birds. Cover the box with a towel. The darkness will trigger the bird to roost and be calm.

The next thing is call the university. The veterinary school is the best equipped to handle a wounded wild bird. Their facilities have more options than the average veterinarian's office. It is also a treat for the students to study a wild bird which has not been raised in captivity.

Discuss with the veterinary staff whether they feel that this bird will make a good pet before you decide that you want to come back and get it when it is well. Predatory birds do not make good pets, ever. Songbirds can make good pets, provided you have the space they will need. Migratory birds only make good pets if you live in the bird's winter home. They are unlike to survive the winters they flee.

If you leave the bird with the university, ask when they will release it. You can come on that day and wish your bird well!

This is an excerpt from a Helium.com article!

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Creating beautiful art is as easy as dots or holes. Stippling dates back millenia. Want some easy to follow "how to"?

Stippling is the art of creating outlines or a picture using single dots. "Stipple" comes from the Latin word for pierce. Stippling takes two forms: pouncing and piercing.

Pouncing may be done with felt tipped pens (easiest), chalks and pastels (difficult) and super fine paint brushes (expert). To stipple by piercing is to use needles and pins through paper or brads and nails through metal.

Pouncing stippling is the most common form used today. When you choose your subject, begin by drawing the "line". The key to making lines is to space your dots close together and evenly. Touch your pen to the paper perpendicularly, creating one dot. To fill in the spaces between lines, create your dots with enough space between them to insert dots of other colors.

By using the combinations of the color wheel, you can create the illusion of blush on a cheek, the shine on a piece of fruit or the stripes in an animal's fur. By closely spacing dots of the same color, you can create the illusion that the space is completely filled. Remember, dots should never touch one another.

Be careful to make dots uniform in size when blending colors. Larger dots may be made in large blocks of color, but it will show much more of your medium and detract from the overall quality of the work.

Piercing stippling can be done in two different ways: tracing paper design and free hand. Both forms of piercing stippling will allow either color or light through the medium to show the design.

Check out the rest of the story!

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Birth Control Pills Have Effects After Their Use Is Discontinued.

Understanding how birth control pills work helps to demonstrate the complications of infertility issues once their use is discontinued.

Many women are mistaken into thinking that the fertile month following discontinuation of the pills is a safe time for conception. Typically amenorrhea, failure to menstruate, occurs the month after discontinuing BCP, which mimics pregnancy.

The active ingredient in birth control pills, progestin, a synthetic hormone which mimics the natural hormone progesterone produced during pregnancy, interferes with the pituitary gland's signals to the ovaries. The pituitary gland recognizes the progestin in the body and stops the ovaries from producing enough estrogen to ovulate. This is the reason that, when taken properly, the birth control pill is 99% effective in preventing pregnancy.

Birth control pills interfere with the body's natural ability to assimilate certain nutrients, causing common deficiencies in the vitamins B6, B12, C and folic acid. These deficiencies directly affect fertility. Additionally, folic acid deficiency can lead to a toxic increase in vitamin A, which is a major contributor to birth defects.

Birth defects and abnormalities in babies conceived in the month after BCP are discontinued include, but are not limited to: heart, kidney, vertebrae, anus, esophagus, trachea and limbs.

Modifications of sexual organs, specifically the change from female to male, occur with three times more frequency. Blood bilirubin at increased levels and jaundice are reported in births where BCP were taken shortly before or after conception.

Anecdotal evidence has been presented that BCP may hasten menopause in women who take the pills for more than 15 years and that the quality of eggs is decreased; However, clinical trials have not produced the same effects.

Before taking birth control pills, consult a physician about the possible side effects with reference to later fertility, residual effects that could affect your baby and the lasting effects on your health.

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Recycling is one of the staples of environmental awareness. But recycled toothbrushes?

A recycled toothbrush sounds disgusting until you look a little closer; and it is delivered; and you never have to remember replacing it; and it helps the environment. Let's look into one of the most innovative plans on the market.

Since the production of plastic consumes more oil than any other industry (yes, more than cars), recycling plastic is key to preserving our fragile environment and oil reserves. You ask, "But in my toothbrush?" Sure. Here's how:

The handle is 100% recycled polypropylene from bottles and other plastic recyclables. It has an angled head to produce superior cleaning results and bristles in your firmness. With seven colors to choose and both adult and youth sizes, you order a pack of four. You decide when your toothbrush will need to be replaced. A new one arrives with a postage prepaid (FREE!) return envelope for the used one.

By not breaking the recycling chain, Preserve products are offered at an excellent price, and even the packaging is made from recycled plastic. Add flavored toothpicks and a tongue cleaner, and you have an environmentally sound way to keep your teeth healthy, your breath fresh and the planet green! Their motto is "Preserve your health * Preserve the Earth".

Will someone else use my toothbrush? Yuck! No. The toothbrush is designed with plastic molded gripping rings. Unlike most marketed brushes, that use rubber for the grip that is not recycable, the Preserve toothbrush is 100% recyclable. The virgin nylon bristles and the recycled polypropylene handle are ground into plastic lumber. This is the plastic used for outdoor furniture and toys.

Get more information on why this is good for your teeth, your wallet and the environment! Check out where to find a green toothbrush!

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