Discipline How To Blog

Since I have a nine year old, this age is very dear to my heart!  However, this is an age where sloppiness sets in.  Nine and ten year olds are usually not very neat with their clothes and will try and wear clothes from the hamper or off the floor.  Nine and ten year olds are into making plans and will often help out with family outings planning the littlest of details.

Unfortunately, it is at this age that children also learn that parents are not infallible.  They begin to see that everyone makes mistakes and question authority.  Girls will start to mature faster than boys and will not understand why the boys in their class at school are still “silly.”

Don’t let your child lose interest in school at this age.  Get them additional help if needed so that they do not feel left behind.

Children that are nine and ten should be able to:

• Mop floors
• Do own laundry (with instructions)
• Bake cakes and cookies
• Set goals and follow through
• Learn first aid
• Wash car
• Clean stove and oven
• Write letters and thank you notes
• Vacuum out car
• Plant a garden
• Hammer nails and saw wood
• Use e-mail
• Sew on buttons
• Follow a simple recipe
• Wrap presents
• Use a leaf blower
• Memorize poems or bible verses

If you have a relative that loves to cook and bake, let your son or daughter help them out.  We send our daughter and son over to their grandparents house on holidays and they learn how to make some of the old family recipes.

This is also an age when respect needs to be instilled and enforced.  If children do not respect parents and other adults at this age, the teenage years will be unbearable!

Technorati Tags: chore chart, chores, independent children

This time of the year can be a fun and happy time, but it can also be an annoying time.  When my children realize that Christmas is getting close, they start talking about nothing else than what they want on their Christmas Lists.  Unfortunately for them, we are not millionaires and they do not get anything that they want.  Here are some ways that I control Christmas Spending and bring the true spirit of Christmas into our homes.

• Decorating - pick a day to decorate your home for the season.  I take time putting the nativity scenes in a special place and talking about Christmas.  Play Christmas music and have a special treat.
• Make a Budget - I make a secret list on my computer for each child where I write down what I have bought for them and the cost.  This helps me keep within my budget.
• Make Lists - I have each child write down what they want and then I review it with them.  Toys or items that are very expensive or inappropriate are taken off the list.  My children understand that there are items that we just can’t afford.
• Charity - Have your kids buy a toy for Toys for Tots or another charity.  Explain to them that there are children who will receive nothing this year.  At the Elementary School they have a “Giving Tree” which I encourage the children to participate in.  They pick a tag from the tree and buy a toy for a child in need.
• Pick Names - If you have a large extended family, make a new tradition, pick names instead of giving to everyone.  We do this with my siblings and my husband’s siblings as well.
• Make Traditions - Every year we get tickets to a play at the State Theater (and the tickets are only $6 each).  This is a fun holiday tradition for our family.  We also open on gift each on Christmas Eve.  I let them open the gift I choose, which is always pajamas!  They have something new and cozy to wear for Christmas Morning.

The Christmas Season can be hectic but enjoyable!

Technorati Tags: budgeting