For all those slick little people who think that they can slide by and break the house rules just by saying "I didn't know we had that rule."

Stop them in their little tracks. All you have to do is Post It in a visible place and put it on colorful paper. Then when the little Einstines try and manipulate the rules to their advantages. Just say "Read It."

If it were just that simple (giggle). Every behavior therapist will tell you to list the rules and post them.

Read them together so everyone knows the house rules. Have a family meeting at least once a week to discuss the way things are going and ask the kids for their input to how they feel the rules are... more

What on earth would make an adult parent look the other way and allow their child to host an underage bash...where alcohol and drugs are the main course?

In short, my temperament on this subject is running thin. I want some action from our local police or I am going to be going to the press.

There are a few homes in our area where the parents let their children run their home. When my daughters gone and I need to find her I know to look there first. Most of the time she will be there drunk.

I am tired of talking to the woman and hearing her promise... more

One of the things that every mother be it a biological parent or a foster parent or an adoptive mom has in common is grief when they loose a child.

Of course Biological parents grieve much longer if they loose a child be it to the state and loss of parental rights or infant death. But foster moms and adoptive moms also experience a great deal of grief if they have a child placed into their home for a matter of time and then for some reason the child is moved to another placement.

There are a lot of different ways that we grieve. One of the most common is... more

Well it is getting to be that time of year again. The carnivals are out in clear sight in every home town. The state fairs and county fairs are in full swing. All the 4 H clubs are sporting their prize animals. They are being auctioned off to the highest bidder. Aunt Clare is entering her famous apple pie in the pie contests...and the weekend papers are full of school supply sales.

It is fun to watch the joy on the faces of the 4H fair winners. All their time and support of the cows, lambs, pigs and other barn yard animals.... more

AOL Parenting offer's it's readers some good sensible tips to every day parenting. This week they talked about the "Blame Game."

They gave an illustration of two little girls playing in one of their bedrooms. The ladies decided to use crayons on the wall. When the mommy came into the room and asked "Who did this?" They each simply pointed at each other and said "She did."

The negative way that most parents handle it is to yell and scream and complain about the bedroom wall. Then they end up spanking or grounding both kids... more

I know that many of you who follow my Blog are aware of the death of Rose Kerry. She was the little girl who was only five, that was found dead in her home. The news paper said it was the worst case of child neglect they have yet found in the state of Michigan.

Another little boy also lost his life. By the hands of his adoptive parents. He was murdered, placed in a trash bag and tossed off the side of the road. Like some ones daily trash.

When I hear stories like these my heart cries out for the children. But no tears are shed for the humans who treated these babies so badly that they died in such horrible ways.

When people ask me why I believe in the death... more

From toddlers to teens. Observation is still the best way to understand their motives. As a parent we often watch our children play around the house. We catch each new movement they make and each new word they say. We observe their pattern of learning.

As the kids grow older we still observe them when they are doing things. we find that their words do not always back up their motions. So we really get to know our kids.

Usually a good mom or dad will always catch on to what is happening around them and their child even before "all the... more

Let's take a minute and talk about positive parenting. Every day I bet someone out there could tell us a story of some awful experience they have seen. Where a parent is just way out of line with their child and has parenting issues.

How many of us listen closely enough to catch the good stuff? Who do we know that we could tell good parenting stories about? How much better did the children respond to positive parenting verses negative parenting?

Well I would like to give you 5 basic tips for positive parenting.

1.) Never speak out... more

There is nothing like a hot summer day and a good piece of cold watermelon to make anyone smile.

Most kids love watermelon. So the local Bible Camp keeps stocked up on watermelons to use for fun. They have the usual watermelon eating contest. The seed spitting contest. The watermelon soccer contest. The watermelon carving contests. It goes on and on.

Every afternoon after arts and crafts time. The kids all join in for a sing a long. We have a new member in our Bible camp this year. She is six years old and her name is Anna. Anna... more

Well summer is here and in full swing. All our house rules are posted. Everyone knows the curfew rules.

However... Not everyone agrees with them. Out of all my children I am finding my daughter Angela to be the one who will challenge me quickly on anything and everything she does not agree with.

At 8 years old she believes that she should be able to have a later curfew. Mind you she hardly ever disobeys us. She has yet to need a real grounding. Her behavior is almost always positive. So we tend to listen when she wants to argue her point. (Plus it helps that she is so... more