Search Results for: blog combining words

Combining Words

Our son has been taught a few words via a baby sign language book since his birth. My wife decided this would be a good idea for a variety of reasons, studies, personal experiences, and other publications. It took a while for us to notice the fruits of these simple hand gestures accompanying words and objects. Eventually our son recognized some of the words and could respond with a smile or a cry (a simple form of yes or no) and he has steadily progressed in his ability to communicate since then. He doesn’t lack verbal communication (“Mama” and “Dada” … Continue reading →

Deciperhing Teen Speak: Drug Related Words Parents Should Know

In a previous article Deciphering Teen Speak: Words parents should know, I discussed a list words that teens use that parents need to know. The words were mostly fun and pretty harmless. Teens also have code words for things that are not quite as harmless. For example, teens have hundreds of code words for drugs. Here are some of the code words for drugs commonly used by teens that parents should know. Drug related terms: Marijuana has the biggest list of code words. Some of the more popular words are hood scratch, la la, Mary Jane (where can I find … Continue reading →

Post-Holiday Scrapbooking

In just a few hours, holiday celebrations will give way to hangovers, a home that needs a good cleaning, and kids who don’t want to go back to school on Tuesday. Not exactly prime scrapbooking material. Still, just because Christmas and New Year’s are over doesn’t mean you should neglect documenting the rest of the season. Winter brings with it a litany of lovely scrapbooking opportunities. For example, you could design a layout of your kids participating in outdoor winter activities, such as making snowmen, catching snowflakes on their tongues, skiing, sledding or having a huge snowball fight. Another option … Continue reading →

Think Yourself Out of That Funk

If you ever feel like you are caught in a permanent tug – of – war between your home-based business and your home life, you are not alone. It is only natural to want to be successful at work, and it is just as natural to want to be a successful parent and homemaker. When you find yourself feeling down because you feel like you are not excelling in one or both of these areas of your life, it is important to take time to address those feelings. Working through the feelings will eventually help you to feel better because … Continue reading →

The Windmill

Some days are more interesting than others. Some objects are more interesting than others. In a world increasingly taken over by computers and screens (something I’m not opposed to) there remain simple toys and simple pleasures that can inspire the imagination and teach concepts far better than any interactive video ever could (especially for children young enough to be struggling with language). When we lived in Texas one of the primary things you needed in a home was a ceiling fan. The heat was very hot and a little moving air could work wonders. Since we lived in a rather … Continue reading →

Break Free From Writer’s Block

One great home-based business idea for parents with small children is writing. There are so many different things that you can do as a writer, from blogs to books and so much in between. Home-based writers can work their magic any time, any where. With a writing business you can take on precisely the amount of projects that you are able to accommodate at any given time. What’s more, you do not need much in the way of startup capital to get going. Since writing is such a popular home-based business for many working parents, I thought that it would … Continue reading →

The Big (Breakable) Wine (Bottle)

When I was an undergraduate student up north, I did a great many things. I double-majored, made a lot of good friends, and weathered the cold winters (even a blizzard in May). Most of the things I did there didn’t come down south with me. Friends are largely still in the north and my degrees aren’t really physical mementos of my time up there. The one thing that I do have is a wine rack. I found myself in a theatre design course copying a written explanation and a couple of sections on two-dimensional paper into a CAD program. We … Continue reading →

Fancy Festive Layouts

There are a variety of ways you can spice up your holiday layouts, including using Christmas-themed stickers, stamps, and die-cuts. However, if you really want to add a fancy touch to your designs without breaking the bank, consider using holiday-themed fonts. My favorite, and perhaps the simplest Christmas-themed fonts, are basic serif or sans serif decorated with holiday-inspired details, such as letters peeking out from underneath Santa hats, snow or letters printed on Christmas tree ornaments. I also love the letters that look like they are made from candy canes or carved from Christmas trees. I’m not that huge a … Continue reading →

Grandparents Day Scrapbook

Sunday is Grandparents Day. Do you have a gift picked out? If you are short on cash and creativity, then consider these tips to create a one-of-a-kind scrapbook for your child’s grandparents: Photos: Forget about cramming 200 photos into a single book. The task will take forever, cost a ton and lead to unwanted frustration. Instead, select a few of your favorite photos of your children and their grandparents and if you really want to include others, then place them in divided plastic pages at the end of the finished book. Memorabilia: A huge part of scrapbooks is the nifty … Continue reading →

What the Average 12-Month-Old Should be Doing

Many of the requests that I have gotten lately for topics in this blog are guidelines as to what the normal development is of certain ages. For a long time, I have hesitated to talk about this for a few reasons. Each child develops differently, and what may seem behind could actually be perfectly normal, and babies who were born prematurely have different schedules related to age than do babies born full term. There is even a normal speech delay with bi-lingual children, who may not talk as quickly or with as much vocabulary because their brains are busy learning … Continue reading →