Search Results for: blog rich parent problems

“Hypo-Parenting” is Not a Parenting Style

Have you ever wished that you could hypnotize your children so they would behave the way you wanted them to? One parent has been doing exactly that, though there is no science to support the idea that hypnosis is an effective parenting tool. Lisa Macheberg is a hypnotherapist who has three children. She says she started hypnotizing her children the help them get through the night without wetting the bed. She didn’t stop there, though. She now uses hypnotizing as a tool to help her kids deal with range of problems from performance anxiety to difficulty focusing. In an ABC … Continue reading →

Rich Parent Problems

“My other car is a Lamborghini. Just like this one.” That’s one bumper sticker you’ll never see on my vehicle. After all, it’d look pretty silly on the back of my bike. Just as I don’t have time to turn turkey bones into chandeliers, I simply don’t have the income to drop $50,000 to have my kid attend a fancy schmancy kindergarten. However, this is not a problem for some of the world’s most affluent parents. Forking over 50 grand so their child can be surrounded by other rich kids and learn Mandarin in a highly-integrated community equipped with the … Continue reading →

What Do People Do All Day – Busytown Books – Richard Scarry

I grew up with Richard Scarry’s Busytown books. His What Do People Do All Day was one of my favorites. My sons all loved the original Busytown books too. What’s unique about the Busytown books is that not only do they tell simple stories, or explain basic concepts, but everything is labeled. And I do mean everything. I will also admit that sometimes I hated reading these books to my children because each page took forever. There might be about twelve short lines of text, but many trucks, and cars, people and even flowers have labels beside them . The … Continue reading →

The Joys Of Celebrity Parenthood

Just call him Grandpa Reege. Or, The King of Grandpas. Either way, talk show host Regis Philbin will likely have a ton of funny baby stories to share once his daughter gives birth early next year. Philbin used his show, “Live with Regis and Kelly” to announce that his daughter Jennifer (JJ) is expecting her first child with husband Michael Schur in February. The couple has been married for nearly two years and both are TV show writers. As for what the couple plans to name their new addition, the grandfather-to-be had this to say: “It will be interesting to … Continue reading →

The Pros and Cons of the Cry It Out Method

The cry it out method is considered by some to be controversial. It is also called extinction sleep training, or Ferberizing. The idea is to let a baby cry for a period of time before they go to sleep. Parents who use this method must resist the urge to pick up and soothe their baby… for a little while. There are fans of the cry it out method and there are parents who strongly dislike it. What is the cry it out method? In 1985, pediatrician Richard Ferber presented a method of getting children to sleep. It was in his … Continue reading →

Cultural Lessons on the Cost of Child Rearing

Heeled sneakers are all the rage with hip moms in France right now. While I will happily pass on the Sneakletto craze; I’m not opposed to employing practical techniques parents in Paris and other parts of the world have mastered in order save cash while raising young children. Less is more:  Surveys show the average American household spends $200 per child for birthday parties and gifts.  That means forking over nearly $1,000 per year if you have three or four kids.  Compare that to most French parents who typically celebrate their children’s birthdays with a simple home-cooked meal.  In Japan, … Continue reading →

Waste Not

My mom spent years battling stage II breast cancer, three of my aunts died from the insidious disease, and I am long overdue for a mammogram. I keep ignoring my doctor’s suggestion to make an appointment and potentially save my own life, yet I refuse to eat unopened yogurt that’s been in my refrigerator even one day past its expiration date for fear of getting sick. How’s that for irony? And by irony I mean stupidity. My senseless thinking hurts my budget as much as it does my head.  What’s more, I take little solace in the fact that studies … Continue reading →

Are You Spending More to Save?

I am THAT mom. The one that’ll drive an extra five miles out of her way to save five bucks on her daughter’s Halloween costume, even though gas is just shy of $4 per gallon. Though, if I drive an extra 10 miles I can save six cents per gallon. I am THAT mom. The one that’ll spend five hours trying to calculate how much she really saved by utilizing the $5 off costume coupon. Even though the trip included sitting in a gnarly traffic jam which robbed her of 20 minutes of precious time. Make that priceless time. Walking … Continue reading →

Dad in Denial

Can money really solve your biggest problems? A billionaire dad is really, really hoping it can. Cecil Chao is so livid that his smoking hot daughter, Gigi, recently wed her same-sex partner that he is offering a $65 million “marriage bounty” to any man who can get her to change her sexual preference. In other words, the 76-year-old Hong Kong business tycoon is in complete denial that his darling daughter is a lesbian and is willing to pay a pretty penny to any guy who can turn her straight. Denial is not an unusual parental reaction upon learning about a … Continue reading →

I Scream

You will too after reading about a select group of upscale New York parents who thinks the world begins and ends in their little corner of Brooklyn. Yes, Park Slope parents are making national headlines again for yet another insanely absurd interpretation of one of life’s most basic rites of passages. I guess that’s what happens when you have big bucks and don’t have to take four modes of public transportation to three different part-time jobs that barely help you keep a roof over your kids’ heads and food on the table. Rich people problems; where do I sign-up for … Continue reading →