10 Times it Might be Okay to Leave Kids Alone
My son Ian is 10 years old. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told him we need to leave to run a short errand, and he’s told me “I’m not going. I’m staying home.” I always humor him by saying “Okay, I’ll see you later.” But inside I know that Ian would never in a million years stay home alone because he is emotionally not ready for that step. As soon as I walked out that door, he would be chasing me to the car. But how...
Read More10 Ways to Tell a Child You Are Sorry
Sometimes as moms, we make mistakes. The best thing we can do in that moment is to tell our child we are sorry. eNannySource shared a great article with Momnificent readers on 10 different ways you can tell your child you are sorry, mend their broken heart, and repair the broken trust in your relationship. Communication and trust are the hallmarks of a strong relationship; and, with all due respect to Erich Segal, that means knowing when to say you’re sorry. Sometimes knowing how to say...
Read More3 Sources of Positive Youth Development
Parents, teachers, and all adults committed to positive youth development often wonder how children grow up to be happy, fulfilled, and engaged in life. While there are no easy answers, research shows that three things make a big difference. First, children need positive life experiences that engage them in meaningful activities. Second, they need adults who help them believe in themselves. And last, they need families, schools, and communities who model and instill positive values. The growing...
Read More10 Sneaky Ways to Turn Fruits into Treats
FindaNanny.net shared a great article with Momnificent! readers on how to turn your picky eaters into healthy eaters… If you hand a kid a banana or a whole apple for a snack, you’ll usually find it under the sofa later; after they’ve eaten the bag of Cheetos. Make fruit fun and delicious, instead of boring. Fruit is the ultimate snack food. It’s sweet, full of great flavor, and mostly portable. No matter what fruit you have on hand, there is always a way to make it into a tasty, fun...
Read More8 Great Goals to Make 2012 an Amazing Year
On Monday, we kicked off our first Momnificent! mom mastermind group, and I have to say, I was super excited. There is nothing that brings me greater joy than helping individuals define and reach their goals in life. My web developer always jokes “You’re the Tony Robbins for moms!” We started our call sharing what each mom wanted to get out of the mastermind group, what their challenges were, and what their goals were for the next six months. One of our mastermind moms knew that she...
Read MoreCelebrating the Old and New Year – Family Style
Tucked away in the corner of our guest bedroom closet is a time capsule. It is set to be opened on my older son’s 21st birthday, June 30th, 2012. I don’t remember what is inside. I only remember that we put it together as a family on December 31st, 1999 when Kai was eight years old. A new year is always a great time to look back on the old year, and look ahead to what you want to create in the days ahead. It is a time for reflection, and a time for planning, not only for yourself...
Read MoreThe Effects of Bullying
This video depicts the raw truth of what bullying does to our youth. As parents, as schools, as a nation, and as a world, we need to do something to stop this craziness. And it starts in the home.
Read More5 School Success Habits that Will Make a World of Difference
I admit. I was worried about my son this morning. Not my 9 year old, but my 20 year old. I don’t think we ever stop being a mom. You see, he didn’t get away from Chicago last night until 8:00 at night, and he had to drive seven hours to get back to college in Columbia, Missouri. His first class started at 8:00 in the morning. I know I made some mistakes as a mom, but if there was one thing I know I did right, it was instilling great school success habits in my children. My son Kai graduated...
Read MoreHe’s a Bulldog, She’s a Yorkiepoo, The Kids are Confused
My husband and I used to disagree over how to discipline the kids. We wanted the same outcome, but our approaches to achieving that result differed. It’s quite normal for parents to have different discipline styles, and to disagree on what the rules should be. Normally one parent is stricter than the other. Sometimes mom is the Bulldog, and Dad is the Yorkiepoo, but other times it’s just the opposite. The problem is these differences confuse the children, and the result is often...
Read MoreTeaching Your Children About Healthy Boundaries
The subject of boundaries has been all around me lately. It was a topic of discussion at church last week. More recently, I’ve been preparing a presentation on boundaries for a half day retreat I’m doing in Chicago for the Power of Moms. What is interesting, though, is that both of these talks are for adults. Is it because we can only teach adults how to have healthy boundaries? Actually, I think the teaching is done better when we are children, but a lot of parents weren’t taught...
Read More10 Positive Family Communication Rules to Follow in Your Home
Our words have the power to build our loved ones up and guide our communications in the right direction, or they can have the opposite effect. But our words only account for 7% of the overall message that is communicated, which means that 38% of what we communicate is done through our tone, and 55% is done through our body language. Keeping that in mind, here are 10 positive family communication rules you can follow in your home to generate loving relationships: 1. Think before you speak. Take...
Read More5 Ways to Stop Behavior Problems Before they Start
Guest Post by Nancy Parker – former Professional Nanny Half the battle with kids is stopping behavior problems before they start. With a little planning ahead and a lot of discipline, you can avoid many behavior challenges before they become real issues. Try these five simple ways to stay a step ahead and avoid conflict. 1. Limit choices – A lot of conflicts start with too many choices. Number one, children cannot handle making complex decisions. It will stress them out. You want them...
Read MoreThe 3 Ingredients to Having an Extraordinary Family (free teleclass)
We just had a great teleclass where I talked about the three ingredients to taking the leap from an ordinary family to an extraordinary family. Caz Makepeace writes a blog called Mojito Mother, and she says “it really isn’t hard to live an extraordinary life. It only takes you concentrating on doing 10% more than those around you in the following areas: Dreaming Learning Taking Action Interacting with Others Living with Passion So what if you did 10% more than the ordinary...
Read MoreBeing the Best You: Family, Business, Community & Life Balance
Join eWomenNetwork, FoundingMoms, GirlScouts and Momnificent! for an evening of connecting, education, empowerment and fun. We are going to learn about time management, the love of business and the passion for community we all have within us. eWomenNetwork is the #1 resource for women in business. FoundingMoms, the place for mompreneurs, is a meetup driven organization started by Jill Salzman. GirlScouts was founded in 1912 and has served over 50 million girls throughout the U.S....
Read MoreMaking Family Memories That Last
I remember the evening like it was yesterday. It was December 24th, 1969. I was wearing brown stretch pants and a blue and red striped long sleeved shirt. I guess I dressed myself that morning. Anyway, I was sitting on the couch in our family room watching television. Coming from the living room, down the hallway, I heard a big, deep voice say “Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!” My heart skipped a beat. Could it really be true? I ran out of the family room, down the hallway, and there he stood...
Read More12 Ways to Celebrate the Holiday Season with Your Children
Yesterday I was standing all alone in my living room. My husband had gone up to church to help decorate the Christmas set for our upcoming holiday program. Ian, my 10 year old, was bored with the idea of decorating the Christmas tree, so he was doing his own thing. And I had decided to completely change my traditional way of decorating our 7 ft. Christmas tree. Instead of doing the fancy matching decorations of red, pink, and white, I nixed that idea and opted for putting all our kid and family...
Read MoreA Christmas Carol – A Holiday Show for Chicago Families
I’m sure all of you are familiar with the traditional play “A Christmas Carol”. Well this one will be slightly different, but still a joy to bring your family to if you are in the Chicagoland area. Plus yours truly (Lori Radun) will be starring in two scenes so if you’re looking for something to do this holiday season, join us for one of five shows December 16th through December 18th. Tickets are free but you must get tickets because the house will be packed!...
Read More8 Holiday Stress Busters You Can’t Leave Home Without
The other morning I was having coffee with a friend, and we were sharing stories about our own sometimes intolerant parents. My friend has a grumpy and hard to please father that pushed one too many buttons this past Thanksgiving. “What did you bring those dishes for? What is that you made? It stinks!” My friend snapped and replied “That’s it. I am not bringing anything for Christmas.” Her father replied “Why, I like your cookies.” To which she replied “I am not bringing cookies...
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