What are the key tricks to staying safe in the summer?

Summer is the most dangerous time of the year for kids based on emergency room visits. By following some of these simple tips you can easily avoid most summertime risks.

1. Always use a correctly installed car or booster seat for you child.
2. Supervise all children near water including pools, spas, toilets, bathtubs
and buckets.
3. Be sure children wear a kid sized life jacket on all boating trips.
4. Have kids wear the proper helmet and protective gear when riding bikes,
scooters, skates and skateboards.
5. Never let children under the age of 10 play near or cross streets alone.
6. Check that all playgrounds have safe surfaces like mulch, gravel, rubber or
sand.

Lastly, as adults it is always important to learn First Aid and CPR for our whole family’s benefit.

What investment type gifts do you recommend for children?

Buying a specific treasure item for your children while they are young is not only a special gift, but a potential investment in their future. A fun and potentially profitable example is buying silver coins. Long ago our dollars were actually backed by real money, real silver and gold. At that time gas was only 25-cents a gallon and you could buy 4 gallons of gas for a dollar – imagine that with today’s prices! Translating the relationship back then into silver, the same amount of silver today still buys that four gallons of gas. While the dollar has been devalued, real money like gold and silver has held its value far better than our current currency. Most people feel that prices go up over time, but actually it is the value of the dollar that goes down. Some investment experts recommend a portfolio should contain tangible assets such as gold or silver. Silver coins are a fun investment particularly for children because they can actually relate to the concept. While stocks and bonds are only pieces of paper to a child, silver and gold are fancy metals. If you are unsure how to proceed with buying precious metals, a company like Monex can help. They have been in business since 1967 and have helped more than one hundred thousand people with this type of transactio

As a stay at home mom, I need some tricks to save money - any ideas?

I know this may sound a little backwards, but if you are a good money manager consider using credit cards as a way to save money. Let me highlight being a good money manager though, as credit cards are also a great way to get in trouble. If you truly think that you can stay on top of your expenses with a credit card, then take the time to conduct a free credit card search that will inform you about the various terms and conditions of each individual credit card, along with its online application link at bizjournals.com.

A credit card is a great way to enhance your life and actually make money in the process. When used responsibly, credit cards help to purchase goods and services, and to pay for them on an affordable timeline. They also allow you to carry less cash, and to order out of catalogs or find deals online. Additionally, credit cards allow for emergency repairs, health care problems or any number of contingencies when access to savings or checking accounts is not possible. No matter whether you're traveling across town or across the country, it is usually easier and safer with a credit card as you are also protected against theft. Many major brands also now give you multiple advantages, like 0% intro rate, low APR, cash back rewards and other benefits. Use your credit card to manage your budget, protect your cash, delay your payments a couple of weeks and even earn you money in the process – if you play your cards right!

Do you have any quick thoughts about child discipline?

When you are frantically angry at a young child, remembering the concepts in a book you read last week for discipline may be difficult. Therefore, here are ten quick tips to keep top of mind for those heated moments:

1. Be consistent.
2. Listen carefully.
3. Instantly stop any dangerous behavior.
4. Don’t ridicule or use sarcasm.
5. Avoid nagging.
6. Be firm.
7. Set realistic expectations clearly.
8. Redirect misbehavior.
9. Don’t accuse.
10. Reward good behavior.

Oh, and don't forget to take a deep breath!

What is the best art for preschoolers?

For younger children, art is a process and not simply a product. The process of gluing, painting, coloring is allowing children to develop key skills they will use as they grow into school age.

Create an art center in your home. Ideally, it should be an area that the children can choose to go to freely. Give them a box with scissors, glue sticks, paper, markers, tape, etc. For younger children, you will need to monitor some of this activity for safety. Allow them to create freely and practice their skills; enjoy this process as much, if not more, than the products they create. Comment on how well they cut with the scissors or how interesting the colors they select look together, rather than asking “what are you making?”

This type of art process will help your children to learn to think creatively and without pressure, leading to independent thinkers down the road.

How do I get my children to eat more vegetables?

The following are five fun ways to sneak more veggies into your child’s food.

1. Substitute vegetable juices or purees, like carrot juice, for part of the liquid in soups or sauces (even put it in the Mac and Cheese!).

2. Mix in vegetables into your ground meat recipes. Whether it is a burger or meatloaf, a cup of mild vegetables like zucchini will hardly be noticed.

3. Make Brownies! Yes, to a standard box of brownie mix you can add 1 ten ounce box of frozen chopped spinach – thawed, finely chopped and squeezed dry. Plus, add a four ounce jar of squash baby food and bake according to directions.

4. Use spaghetti squash instead of the pasta in your recipes.

5. Create a fun dish of confetti with brightly colored veggies like peas or bell peppers into cottage cheese or rice.