You may have heard that there is a man in Michigan who is taking his ex girlfriend to court. She told him she could not become pregnant. Then after having unprotected sex with each other. The woman became pregnant.

The woman decided to keep the baby. The man said he was not yet ready to become a father. So he feels that he should not be responsible for paying any support to the child that he does not want to parent.

I find this very interesting. It could really make some changes in parental laws. The state would be bearing all the burden of raising children of low income mothers, who do not work. They would be forced to release the biological father from any responsibility... more

As June moves quickly upon us. Many of our children will be completing their high school education. They will be putting on the cap's and gown's of success and marching to the beat of their own growth into young adulthood.

This will be a time for tears and joy. They will be filled with fear and excitement. One aspect of life will be ending and another will be beginning right before their eyes.

Many will already have a plan as to which college they will attend. Or what summer job they will be working prior to moving off to college in the fall.

Parents will watch as they pack up their clothes and most important belongings and prepare for dorm life.

In the... more

One of the most valuable and fun times in life for parents and children alike are the wee ages of being a toddler.

You watch your little one absorbing life like a sponge. They are walking and seem to be touching everything. They learn by hands on experience. So this is a busy time for mommy and daddy.

Between ages two and three children learn traits they will carry with them throughout life. They learn what is good and what is bad. They are given their first boundaries. They are molded into little people as they learn to potty train and be polite in public.

At the same time they are sticking their fingers up their noses and swallowing anything in sight that they... more

Parents have so many things to accomplish on a daily basis. They stay busy with getting the kids out of bed and dressed for school. They make sure there are clean clothes and food on the table. They may work a full time job out side of home. They have to pay bills and maintain the house and car.

So it is no question that they may not have enough time to sit down with the kids and do home work. They may even have to cook diner as they try to encourage the kids to get home work done.

They may not be up to date on teaching skills for the new math or English being taught in todays class. How many of us have helped out children to an assignment and then have them... more

Ok mom and dad. It is time to refresh the kids on what the buddy system is.

As summer gets off to a fresh start. Kids are out playing in the yards and riding their bikes. The parks are drying out and the kids are beginning to congregate for baseball and play time.

It is all part of the nice weather and the newness of the grass and flowers. It makes you feel good to look out and see color. Instead of snow.

With all the good stuff summer brings. It also brings some bad stuff with it too. Thinking about people harming other people just takes the fun out of life. But it happens so we must take a few precautions to keep our kids safe and having fun.

One of... more

Unfortunately we live in a world where children are exposed to so much abuse, at such a tender age. The stories of what happens to our kids never grow old. It is no wonder that the abuse is so difficult to live through and to survive alone.

No child who has been abused likes to talk in details of what happened to them. They just want to put it in the past and hope they can forget it.

But as we all know, different events in life will trigger the memories. A healthy survivor of child sexual abuse will move through each occurrence and become stronger each time.

Some of the events known to trigger memories are:

1). First Boy/Girl Friend 2). Parental... more

Many parents do not understand how important it is to Be Their Child's Advocate. Whenever situations arise that may affect their child's future.

As you may know I have shared with you our story of "Child Incest" that has happened in our family. What I may not have expressed. Is how important it was for my husband and I to stand strong and be an advocate for both of our children.

When a child is accused of a crime such as Criminal Sexual Conduct in the first Degree (CSC1). That child's name will be placed on the Sexual Offenders list until they are 65 years old.

This list does not explain the fact that the child was a quote unquote "Child" when the crime was... more

As parents we often tend to over do for our children. We fix their plates, we pick out their clothes, we cut up the meats, we pick out the socks. Which are all good and helpful things to do for toddlers. It only becomes a problem when we allow it to be carried over into the older years.

It is not a question of can they do it. It is more of a Why they choose not to do it for them selves.

My daughter often gives me grief in the morning to find her socks or a shirt. It could be laying right beside her but yet she has to have me come find it for her.

To get her used to being independent and getting her own clothes ready for school. We made it part of our night... more

We all know that restrictions and good parenting always follow age appropriate guidelines. We know that a toddler is not going to be able to handle a longer time out as well as a 7 year old can.

So parenting and setting goals the children can meet need to be in focus at all times when we are trying to teach positive behavior verses negative behavior.

We know that most toddlers get into mischief just because they are curious about their world. They want to see and touch and feel, as well as put everything in their mouth. So it is just as much our responsibility to keep the world safe around them as it is to train them what can and can not be touched.

It is always... more

Recently we have been challenged with a problem. My husband works very hard and he gets up at 4:30 each morning. His day goes well into the late evening hours. So we set a rule in our home that our children can not have telephone calls after 10:00 p.m.

For the last month my middle daughter has given out her phone number (our phone number) to a number of young men who are very disrespectful.

They have called our home at 2 a.m. and have used some very rude words with my husband. My husband usually remains cool, calm, and collected, whereas I answer the phone and find out it is no emergency and tend to dish out some of what they are giving me, right back to them.

This... more