Tips for Dads trying to cut down on Kids TV watching time

We like TV. After a long day at work, it’s like a frothy dessert at the end of a mediocre meal. It might not have any nutrition value, but it’s sweet and airy and enjoyable with very little effort.  However, when TV becomes the routine and more your reality than your real life, you or your kids might have a problem. 


How to know? Do you talk about TV characters’ lives as if they were your family or close friends? Do you miss important events because you can’t bear to miss the earliest episode of your favorite show rather than time-shifting to when it’s convenient?  Would your kids rather watch TV than go to the park or go swimming? Do your kids spend more than the two-hour daily-recommended maximum time in front of the tube? If so, here are a few tips to help you cut down based on a research study in November of 2006 by the Academy of Pediatrics.

• Keep track of TV watching so you really know how bad the problem is. Most people under-estimate how much they and their children watch. Remember to count the time the TV is on is “just on” in the background.


• Take the TV out of the kids’ bedrooms. Having a TV in the bedroom makes monitoring viewing habits more difficult, as well as actual time spent. Additionally, it promotes dual watching/studying.


• Ditto the dining room. Watching TV while eating ensure less communication within the family at a key time for family bonding.


• Set rules for TV watching on school nights. 


• Eliminate background TV.


• Take responsibility for finding other things for your kids to do rather than watch TV. This will be especially true immediately after you lower their consumption. After a while, however, you’ll be surprised how kids manage to find other things to do.  After all, kids have survived for millions more years without TV than with it.

Six Tips for Teaching Kids to Share, Save and Spend

With the economy what it is today, there is no better time for parents to teach their kids lifelong lessons about responsibly sharing, saving, and spending. These lessons can go far in shaping kids’ attitudes and habits about money and its use.



Here are some ways to introduce kids to the concept of saving money:

1. Discuss and demonstrate with your child how you share, save and spend money: For example: explain how you share money by supporting your place of worship or a charitable cause; how you save money by depositing it in the bank; and how you spend  money on groceries and the home.


2. Work together on establishing a guideline on how they'll manage  their money: For example: if you set "share 10 percent, save 10 percent and spend 80 percent" as a guideline, the next time  your child gets $20 as a birthday gift, the child should divide the  money to meet the guideline.


3. When older children want to buy something immediately, ask them to  'Stop, think and choose': Stop to consider whether they really want or need the item, think how the money spent could be used more resourcefully and choose whether the item is really more important than other wants and needs.


4. Make it visual: For example: label three clear jars to serve as share, save and spend piggy banks allowing the child to see their  contributions add up. Each child at "Teach Your Kids to Share Day" will receive a 3-slot blue piggy bank to encourage sharing, saving and spending.


5. Make it fun: For example: initiate activities such as making ice cream sundaes at home rather than spending money on them at a  fast food restaurant. Set up a lemonade stand and agree to donate the proceeds to a local charity.


6. Most importantly, make sharing, saving and spending an ongoing conversation: Talking with your child is one of the best ways to build a financial foundation for the whole family.