*This is a sponsored campaign created in collaboration with Amazon and The Motherhood. All opinions are 100% my own. My son started high school this year and I have been using this time to start teaching him real life skills that he will be able to use as he gets older. This has included teaching him how to use a debit card when shopping in a store as well as going together to the bank to make deposits. Although he will always be my baby, it's important that I encourage him to be more independent because one day he will be a grown man. Recently, he shared with me that he needed a book for his English class and I realized that it was the perfect opportunity to introduce him to the benefits of his own Amazon login. Since I have a Prime membership I can share some of the benefits of Prime with my teen at no extra cost. That includes access to: Prime Shipping: Unlimited fast, Free Two-Day Shipping on more than 50 million items Prime Video: Unlimited access to tens … [Read more...]
Safely Manage Your Child’s Screen Time This Holiday Season! @Screentimelabs #Ad
With the holidays approaching, many kids will be receiving electronic devices that will likely increase their daily screen time. If you are the kind of parent that I am, you want to be able to manage that time safely and productively. Although we want to encourage our children to be technologically savvy, there are times when it is important to limit how much time they spend on these devices. Additionally, monitoring their screen time is a great way to make sure that they are visiting child-friendly websites and safely interacting with others online. The Screen Time app provides concerned parents like me with the management tools to proactively supervise my sons' time on their devices. It is available for both iOS and Android users and it empowers parents be more in control of how much time their children spend online. Some of the app's features that I really love are the fact that it allows me … [Read more...]
Help Your Teenager Deal With Peer Pressure
Teenagers seem to be faced with so much more today, then I ever faced as a kid. It’s a tough world out there. Unfortunately, there are teenagers out there who won’t do the right thing. Since they refuse to do the right thing, they will drag other teens down with them. Here is how to help your teenager deal with peer pressure. Communicate with your teenager Your life will always go a lot more smoothly whenever you communicate with your teenager. Not only do you want to communicate with them, you want to have an open-door policy for them. It’s much better to have your teen come talk to you than give into peer pressure. Trust your teen to make the right choice Every adult on this planet has made a bad choice and a lot of those choices were made as teenagers. AS a parent, you have vowed to never let your teenager make the same mistakes you did. GREAT! Now that you have talked to your teen, trust them to make the right choice. If they will be in a situation where you … [Read more...]
Celebrate Perfect Imperfection This Holiday Season! @MinuteMaid_US #DoinGood #DimeMedia #Ad
*DISCLAIMER: This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Minute Maid and DiMe Media. All opinions are my own. Last year, I attended my friend Lauren's wedding. We have been friends for almost ten years and we have been there for each other during good and bad times in our lives. She was a beautiful bride and I was so happy for her because, by marrying her groom, she finally got the happiness that she has always deserved. The best part was that, since they both had children from previous relationships, their family would now grow overnight by leaps and bounds. As with any other blended family, they have experienced their share of ups and downs since coming together as one. Getting all of the kids used to one another, as well as adding stepparents and exes into the mix, has proved to be extremely challenging at times. The one single thing that has gotten them through it all is their love for one another and their … [Read more...]
Increasing Communication Between You And Your Tween
Wouldn’t it be great to increase communication between you and your tween? The question is: how do you make that happen? Communication is an important part of parenting, no matter what stage you are at. Here are some tips to help you make increased communication a reality. Have a Date Night Spend time one-on-one with your tween. Some parents refer to this as a mommy-daughter date night or a father-son date night. It’s just a special night where the parent and tween spend time together. This is a time for you to know what’s going on with your tween and to hear what they have to say without much interruption. Talk About It It seems as though talking about things is such a thing of the past. Families are too busy with life that they forget to chat and catch up. Talking about life is one way to increase communication between you and your tween. It’s possible to understand what’s going on in your tween’s life, you just have to make that effort. After a while, they’ll see you … [Read more...]
Honor Important Women In Your Life This Mother’s Day! #PutYourHeartToPaper @Hallmark #Sponsored
This weekend is a very important one because, although we like to think that we honor the important women in our life all year long, we don't always stop to give them the recognition they deserve. On Mother's Day, we take some time away from all of the usual distractions and responsibilities that are part of our daily lives to focus on the women who hold the title of "Mother" in our hearts. It's the perfect opportunity to let them know how much their love and support has meant to you and to demonstrate how blessed you are to have them. Let's face it, it really does take a village to raise a child and mothers, grandmothers, sisters and aunts all play an integral role when it comes to instilling important values not only in you but even in your own children once you become a parent. My sons are very lucky because they have both of their great-grandmothers and grandmothers in their lives as well as a multitude of aunts who nurture them and have "mothered" them over the … [Read more...]
You Are Better At Parenting Than You Think! @minutemaid_us #DoinGood #DiMe #Sweeps #Ad
*DISCLAIMER: This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Minute Maid and DiMe Media. Minute Maid will provide this prize. Minute Maid is not a sponsor, administrator or connected in any other way with the contest – and all opinions are my own. This time of the year is very special because it honors all the moms and dads through the celebration of Mother's Day and Father's Day. Although parents make many sacrifices for their children throughout the year with absolutely no expectation of recognition, it's really important to highlight what a wonderful job they are doing raising their kids. After all, who doesn't like to hear that they are doing a good job, especially when that job is as monumental as being responsible for another human being? I have to be completely honest, I don't always feel like I am doing the best job possible at raising my boys. Although their father and I do everything possible to ensure that they are always safe and cared for, life … [Read more...]
32 Ways You Can Keep Kids Learning Over The Summer
Summer seems to rapidly approach every year and many of my students' parents have approached me for advice on how to support their children's learning at home. I always tell parents that allowing their kids to have fun is extremely important, but you also want to ensure they are learning in some capacity. Here are 32 ways that all parents can keep their child learning this summer: Take them to your local library! Read to your child, and with your child, regularly. Help them master different math concepts as you cook together. Play counting and math games while swimming in the pool. Take nature hikes and use science terms to study nature. Complete science experiments as a family in your kitchen. Do arts and crafts together a few times a week outdoors. Sign up for educational learning boxes that are delivered to your front door and are very affordable. Listen to educational songs and talk about the lyrics and compare it to poetry and poetic terms. Create … [Read more...]
Being A Working Mom When Your Kid Is Sick… #WorkingMom
The past couple of weeks have been rough for us in the health and wellness department. If you have been keeping up with us here on the blog and on social media, you know that I have been sick on and off with a bad cold, we have been dealing with my mother's mental health issues, and this week my younger son got sick with strep throat and asthma as well. Normally, when either one of my sons is sick, my Mom stays with them during the day. This really puts my mind at ease while I am at work because I know that she will care for them just the way that I would if I was home. Since my mother is currently in the hospital, I had to take my sick son with me to work on Monday in order to administer his asthma medication throughout the day. Today we had a snow day so I was glad to be able to stay home with my son an additional day to care for him. He is definitely better but he still has a cough which I wish I could take away from him. Tomorrow it will be back to work and I … [Read more...]
Modeling Maintaining Good Credit For Your Children! #WellsFargo @WellsFargo #Sponsored
*This post is brought to you by a compensated campaign in collaboration with Latina Bloggers Connect and Wells Fargo. All thoughts and content are my own. When I was growing up, I was taught from an early age the importance of saving money and being financially independent. In my grandmother's house, I was encouraged to put a portion of my allowance away in my savings account every week. As a matter of fact, I can still remember when we took the trip to the bank to open the account and my grandmother kept reminding me that this was going to be where my money would be held for safekeeping from then on. After my parents sent for me to come to the United States from Spain once they got settled in, my father continued my financial education right where my grandmother had left off. He always had a glass jar on top of his dresser and he would empty all of the change in his pockets into that jar every morning when he got home from working nights. There were many times when … [Read more...]
