Search Results for: blog so your child wants to stay home alone

What is the Perfect Age To Stay Alone?

How old is old enough? How young is too young? How do you decide? When you are a single mother one of the biggest financial outlays comes from daycare. Depending on the age of your child, number of children and where you live, daycare can be your biggest monthly expense. Most of us will happily pay the money for the peace of mind of knowing our child is safe while we work. Every day we make decisions, starting as soon as they are born, taking a quick shower while the baby naps is ok but is running to the basement … Continue reading →

Why Home Based Businesses are Great For Retirees and Parents

Starting a home – based business can be a great thing for almost anyone, but there are a few types of people who stand to gain even more by starting one. If you are retired or are retiring soon, or if you are a parent who stays home with the kids or wants to stay home with the kids, there are numerous advantages to having a home – based business or working at a home – based job. Today I would like to mention some of the ways that home – based work is especially well suited for retirees and … Continue reading →

Is A Home – Based Business Right For You?

If you are thinking about starting a home – based business, you may be wondering whether there is a way that you can know if starting that home – based business is the right thing for you to do. After all, you have heard that home – based businesses are not for everyone, so what exactly is it that makes some people suitable for home – based business and not others? Here are a few questions that you can ask yourself to get started on thinking about this important topic. Do you like to be in charge? Before you blurt … Continue reading →

Step Parents

When you get divorced the last thing on your mind is getting married again. You feel overwhelmed, even if your ex husband didn’t help very much with the kids at least he helped sometimes, now you are on your own. You may find at first that you want to date, I think we all feel like undesirable failures when our marriage ends so we date, if only to show ourselves that someone still wants to date us. Initially there is nothing serious about the dating you do. For me, in the beginning, dating was a way to fill the hours … Continue reading →

What You Need to Know About Your Texting Teen

If your teenager cannot connect with you on a relationship level or if that relationship is too stressful, painful, or difficult, there are plenty of other places your teen can connect. Even if your relationship is merely strained and not broken altogether, your teen has plenty of options for connection, validation, acceptance, and support apart from you. You are in competition for your teen’s connection. You are competing with peers and with technology because many of those other options for connection are only a cell phone or keypad away. It used to be that you punished a child by sending … Continue reading →

Like vs. Love

“You don’t love me anymore!” The words launched out of my daughter’s mouth like a heat-seeking missile aimed directly at my heart. She was three. I was stunned. Her verbal attack was a retort to my unwavering demand that she put away her wooden puzzles and get into bed RIGHT.NOW.MISSY. Her first reaction was to kick and whine, like an overtired three-year-old. My first reaction was to ignore the flailing arms and tears, and redirect her attention to the hallway which leads to her bedroom. When the tantrum elevated to include ear-piercing screams and flying puzzle pieces I bent down, … Continue reading →

What Would You Like To Ask A Teen Mom?

This past summer I wrote about a series on MTV called “16 and Pregnant,” a show that follows the life of a teen throughout her pregnancy. Each episode depicts a different teen’s trials of dealing with relationships, high school, parents, jobs and becoming a parent. Now MTV is coming out with a new show, a sequel called “Teen Mom.” This series will depict the difficulties of young parenthood. I have had the privilege of previewing the show, which will first air next Tuesday night, and on Friday I’ll have the opportunity to interview one of the cast members. I would … Continue reading →

When Did Babysitting Become a Crime?

Apparently, when you live in Western Michigan and you agree to watch your neighbors’ kids for a few minutes each day. According to authorities in the Great State Lake, watching your friend’s children for about 40 minutes each morning as they wait for the school bus is not considered “babysitting,” it’s called running a daycare. Or, more accurately, in the words of Michigan authorities, your good deed is known as “operating an illegal child care home.” You say tomato, I say tomahto. Lisa Snyder calls her situation “outrageous,” and frankly, I agree with her. The Middleville, Michigan, mom is being … Continue reading →

So Your Child Wants to Stay Home Alone—Part 2

I remember the first time my parents allowed me to stay home alone… it wasn’t exactly a momentous occasion considering my grandparents lived within walking distance of our house. Of course, a lot has changed since the early 80s, and now I can’t see allowing my daughter to remain home unsupervised until at least her 30th birthday. Jokes aside, if you successfully answered all of the questions I posed in my previous blog and feel confident that your child is ready to fend for himself, then consider the following tips offered by childcare experts to make his first solo venture … Continue reading →

So Your Child Wants to Stay Home Alone

If you have tweens in your family the topic of staying home without adult supervision may be one you discuss frequently. This isn’t the case in my home (yet), but deciding whether or not to allow her 10-year-old daughter to fend for herself is a hot topic at my best friend’s house. My two cents worth was a firm “no,” and my BFF agreed, but her number one child won’t let the issue go. In their case, the 10-year-old wants to be unsupervised in the afternoons during a 2-hour period between the time she gets dropped off by the school … Continue reading →