Want to Motivate Your Teenager? Here’s How!

Being a teenager is really difficult. This is the very specific moment of your child’s growing up when his/her hormones are raging and they find it difficult to adjust to their environment. For each parent it is a true challenge to nurture their parent-child relationship at this stage, so it’s important you have just the right approach to do it.

If you want to avoid striking your teenager as too controlling yet give them the best support you can, here’s a few tips just how you can motivate your teenager.

Give your teenager a compliment

Everyone responds well to compliments, especially when they are well deserved. Encouragement is the best motivation you can give to your teenager, especially if you are dealing with an insecure or afraid child. These emotions are completely normal for that age, so need not worry.

Compliments are a fantastic way to give your teenager a little ego boost and show you care. Let them know their work doesn’t go unnoticed and make them feel special. Even though they may not acknowledge it, but they’ll be eternally grateful for having you as their support and knowing somebody is on their side.

Ask your child what it is that they would like others to see in them or think of them, so you have a better insight into their feelings. Once you learn what they are after, make sure you insert it into a conversation. Regardless of them having previously told you what they wanted to hear, they will like hearing it again for sure, especially since it’s coming from you.

Make deals and stick to them

Unlike adults, children and (most) teenagers aren’t fans of lies and shady deals. So, to motivate your teenager, you need to be straight with them and keep your word. Not always will things work their way, but that’s ok. They need to know life isn’t all about “Yes’s” and they also need to understand they need to stay focused and work hard for what they’ll get.

So, try something like:

·          “I’ll make you a deal. If you feed the cat on workdays, you can get the car on weekends” (if she/he is old enough to drive)

·          “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take you and your friends to the cinema if you find another parent to pick you up.”

·         “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll let you go on summer holiday without us and with your friends, if you get your grades up, B+ minimum” (name the subjects you want your teen to work on)

·         “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll match whatever you save for that new laptop (shoes, sweater, etc.)"

Collateral has proven to work really well with teens. This doesn’t work only with deals but with borrowing stuff too. For instance, if they want to borrow something of yours, they need to give you collateral you’ll return when they give back what they’d borrowed. Good collateral needs to be an item that has value to your teen.

Make it achievable

Parents tend to think that their children refuse to do things out of spite, rebellion or simple because they can when in fact it’s because they feel the task is too hard.

If you see your teen refusing to do something or putting it off, the best approach is to talk to them in order to see how they are feeling about getting it done.

Do they understand the task? Do they know where to start? Do they feel scared about failing? Are they afraid of failing you?

After understanding the problem, offer your teen all the help they may need.

Teenagers often struggle with long term planning, so breaking the task up into a series of smaller tasks with shorter deadlines is just the thing they’ll need. That way their complete task will be achievable, not abstract.

A praise here and there

Just as with compliments, occasional praises may go a long way with a rebellious teenager. However, you need to be careful here because you don’t want them maturing into a needy, spoilt child. All in moderation!  Acknowledge your teenager’s efforts by buying them a present, something you know they would love or appreciate. Or, for instance, motivate them by promising (and keeping that promise!) to teach them how to drive or send them to a driving school Parramatta. It sure will make a difference!

We hope our advice helped! Just remember – keep it real with your teen and don’t underestimate their age – they are wiser than you may think!

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Ways to Work from Home and Still Be a Good Parent

Having a kid is a great thing but at the same time the amount of time and effort that you have to put into parenting, it can become an issue if you are also building a career at the same time. One of the most common decisions that most people make today is to simply work from home but this sort of work can fall into threat in the situations when your kid requires your undivided attention. Here are some ways that you can use to really simplify the whole process as much as possible.

 

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Separation

If you plan on working from home and you have a small child in your home, think carefully about just how serious you are about the whole thing. You have to be ready to get a nanny that will work for you and keeping your work, and your private life separated is a must. It will not be easy and you can expect your kid to first go to you when it wants something. You have to be aware of the fact that both you and your child have to learn to differentiate your work time and your home time.

Choose Your Nanny Carefully

One of the most important aspects of working from home is who will actually take care of your child. It is simply impossible to overstate just how important it is to choose a good nanny. You will have to go through a lot of different people before you choose the right one. Spend as much time as you need and don’t feel weird about asking all kinds of different questions to your potential new nanny. There are few decisions in life that will affect your child as much as this one. There are plenty of different studies that have proven just how important good child care is. It will impact your kid in ways that you can even imagine. It is extremely important that your child is surrounded with care and warmth as well as patience which your nanny will have to provide and this is why you should choose your nanny carefully.

Let Your Nanny Do Her Job

Unless you have somebody who can be around your kids all the time, you will need a nanny for this to work, there is simply no way around it. If you try to do this without nanny, you can expect that your kid will come to you every couple of minutes just like when you come home from your day’s work. It is very hard for your kid to understand the difference between you being home and your working from home at a young age. You have to let your nanny do her or his job and unless you see something that is really important.

 

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Boundaries

This is by far one of the most complex things that you will have to work out with your kid and with your nanny as well. When you are working in your office your kid will eventually start grasping that you are not available to for play. In the beginning setting the boundaries will be extremely hard and this is where you will have to work a lot with your nanny. You will have to work with the nanny as well and explain to them as well that you are not available during your work hours. You can’t have either your child or your nanny coming in every few minutes and asking questions or deal with similar interruptions. At the same time you will have to learn to respect your nannies decisions as well and allow him or her to establish her authority with your child.

Safety

When you are working from home you will often leave a lot of important stuff all over your home. Things like sharp pens, small tools, and similar stuff can be a potential danger for a child. At the same time your work will require from you to focus on it and you won’t have time to watch over your kid all the time. Keep all your potentially dangerous stuff locked up in chubb safes or in similar places.

Choose Jobs Carefully

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make is taking on a job that you simply can’t do properly or in time. Certain jobs will require from you to spend a lot of time retooling your set of skills and you will often have to do that at your own cost. These are things that most parents simply can’t afford to do if they are working from home and raising a child.

Make sure that you know what sort of job you are taking and what sort o requirements are needed before you make any long term decisions. It is quite possible to be a good parent and a good entrepreneur, but you need to set some rules and reinforce some discipline on your child and yourself respectively. If you do that properly, with the help of your spouse or a nanny, this could prove to be the best parenting situation ever.

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4 Step Guide for Baby-Proofing Your Yard

When you get a baby, or before you deliver, all of your focus is on baby-proofing your home because you want your bundle of joy to breathe, live and crawl in a safe environment. Most parents often forget about yard proofing till the baby is three or four, or they forget about it altogether. Wrong!

 

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Outdoors can be just as dangerous for a crawling baby as any edgy interior. This is why you need to baby-proof your yard to protect your baby from outdoor hazards. Before you start yard-proofing, you need to realize that some hazards are less obvious than others which is why you need to be focused when it comes to proofing the space.

We are giving you a list of potentially dangerous parts of the yard as well as some advice for you to focus on.

Keep the yard clean

The starting point of any child-proofing of the yard is to liberate the space of clutter. Clutter, such as old bikes, rusty pieces of tools, pieces of wood, old plastic bottles, old clothes, etc. can all be potentially dangerous for the baby.

Sure, while you are holding your baby, nothing can really happen to her in terms of yard hazards, but once your adorable little thing starts crawling or running around, it's easy to get hurt on old pieces of thrown out items. It's even dangerous for grownups, let alone babies.

Be mindful of plants

No matter how gorgeous all those pointy monster plants may look, you now have a baby and you need to make sure there are no hazardous plants around. So, we'd suggest avoiding dangerous plants. It's best you consulted with your gardener or horticulturist for how to steer clear of dangerous plants in your yard.

 

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Hazardous plants

Steer clear of olives and berries – they are easy to choke on because they are small and their skin is pretty slippery. Also, we often advise parents to search their lawns for mushrooms every day before sending their kids out to play. Why? Believe it or not, mushrooms are one of the top plants ingested by small children. And mushrooms aren't a plant you want to joke with – they often send kids to the emergency room!

If you are big on caring for your garden, you are probably using all kinds of fertilizers and insecticides. Well, before you letyour kid go out in the yard and play, confirm that all those fertilizers and insecticides are safe during application and afterward.

Edible plants

A rather good idea is to plan more edibles than you already have (if there are any, at all). Plant more fruits, veggies and herbs.

Most of them are considered nontoxic and safe for children to ingest. Growing your own fruits and vegetables has an added bonus apart from your children's safety – you'll have organic food just a few miters away from your kitchen!

Block water features

Not every yard has a pool, but in case you do, make sure you install a barrier to block access to them. Experts say a minimum height of 5 feet for a barrier is necessary. It needs to surround any water feature, including hot tubs, fountains and swimming pools. The barrier should be anchored to a stable base so that the kid can't knock the barrier down when playing. Make sure everything is anchored properly. Consult an expert on this.

Soft landings are the way to go

When you are creating a playground area for your baby, the ideal ground covers are soft and cushioned areas. Avoid pea gravel at all cost because these pieces are the perfect size for choking. Apart from that, they are really uncomfortable to sit on. We would always recommend grass (fake grass works, too) and padded foam. They cushion falls and are comfortable for the baby to spend time on; hard surfaces like brick and concrete are much less forgiving. Consult with experts on pavers Sydney for the best option possible.

Also, if you opt for any of the three we've suggested, make sure there is a good cover blanket on the ground for the baby to sit on. Don't let it just sit or lie on the ground with no protection.

Follow our guide for improved safety of your yard and make sure you implement changes in your outdoor space as soon as possible. It won't be long until your bundle of joy is running around, exploring her surroundings!

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Blogs Can Be Valuable Travel Industry Assets

The travel industry boasts a number of specialized segments. For many niche properties and resorts, finding the right fit and marketing partner can present a challenge. Consequently travelers that have specific interests and needs deserve to have access to relevant and important information. The internet provides an answer to both of these unique challenges, and the Outdoor Traveler Blog is a great example of form finding function. By relaying relevant material, addressing specific concerns, and providing social interaction, the website helps travelers to a dedicated niche, in this case outdoor travel experiences; make informed decisions on destinations and resorts.

Lake Lanier Islands Resort in Georgia- image:otdestinations.wordpress.com

 

Relevant Material
The whole point of niche travel is finding relevant material to share with customers. While the outdoor segment is loaded with potential activities, such as kayaking, hiking, and fishing, other segments have other needs. Sharing a fishing location with a theme park crowd is not exactly top quality marketing, but finding information on new developments at a popular park is. Hotels and resorts need to take a hard look at their clients and guests to uncover what they want to hear and read about.

Specific Concerns
A travel blog has the luxury of being as specific or as general as needed. The topic and niche decide on the details. Focusing a post on a specific property can benefit travelers looking for new ideas or unexplored areas, but information on wildlife trends, snowshoeing trends, or other specific ideas can really develop an audience and serve the travel industry at the same time. Finding the niche and filling it with information is really what it is all about.

Social Interaction
Social interaction is popular in the travel industry. While once viewed as a passing trend, the impact that social marketing can have on a property can be staggering. By being able to bring together people interested in a specific niche, the ability of a blog to bring new eyes to a resort, restaurant, or activity center is unprecedented. Furthermore, the ability of real people to interact and comment on the individual posts can increase the reach of the blog exponentially. Social media works in favor of specialty travel sites, because the people clicking those buttons are interested and invested in the concept.

In the end, blogs are a form of social media that can highlight different areas of a given resort or be focused across a niche as a whole. By sharing relevant material, highlighting specific concerns, and providing the chance for social interactions, blogs can help brands build a large audience of potential clients. The unique marketing method can be operated by a third party or developed by a resort, either way just getting the information to potential customers makes some serious impact.

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