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INSTANT PARENTING SOLUTIONS
FOR COMMON PARENTING PROBLEMS

Purchase any of these recorded parenting classes and you’ll find practical solutions to common
parenting problems when you need them most. You’ll receive a 60-minute audio recording, a study guide, and solutions you can use immediately with your child. Available 24/7.

Remember to use the following coupon code: 25OFF

Get Your Child to Listen the FIRST Time! http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/ListenAudio.htm 

Stop Back Talk and Whining Now! http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/StopBackTalkaudiopurchase.htm 

Proven Strategies for Reducing Sibling Hassles
http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/ReducingSiblingHassles.htm 

"Create a Discipline Plan that Works" two-part series (2 60-minute classes)
http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/DisciplineAudio.htm 

The “Yell Less. Hug More. 7 Essential Parenting Skills” 10-part audio program is also available at
http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/7EssentialParentingSkills.html 

Relief for Homework Headaches http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/HomeworkAudio.htm 

Find More Joy http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/JoyAudio.htm 

Children’s Anger: Triggers and Solutions for Coping
http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/CalmAngerAudio.htm 

Bullying Hurts Kids: Help Your Child Cope and Conquer
http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/StopBullyingAudio.htm 

Money Matters! Teach Your Child the Value of a Buck
http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/MoneyMattersAudio.htm 

EQ: Raise an Emotionally Intelligent Child http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/EQAudio.htm 

Are You Listening? 5 Great Ways to Connect with Your Child
http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/AreYouListeningAudio.htm 

Helping Your Child with Transitions http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/TransitionsAudio.htm 

How to Win the Chore Wars http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/ChoresAudio.htm 

The Birds and The Bees http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/BirdsandBees.htm 

How to Maneuver the Turbulent Waters of Peri-Adolescence
http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/Periadolescence.htm 

Parents: Reclaim Your Couple Time http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/CoupleTime.htm 

Email me at toni@getparentinghelpnow.com or call me at 612-810-8687 if you have any questions
 

Parenting Tip

Tweens, Teens and Summer Break 

Most kids have eight or ten weeks of summer vacation from school, and most of us parents would like to see them doing something other than sleeping until noon and then playing comcomputer games until dark. In a difficult economy, it’s challenging to find summer jobs, and even volunteer assignments may be scarce. So what can your kids do to keep themselves productive and out of trouble once school’s out? Check out these possibilities:

• Get trained for a future job. Teenagers who swim well can enroll in lifeguard training programs. Some are run by city aquatics programs, others by the American Red Cross. Programs are modestly priced (sometimes even free) and satisfactory completion can lead to part-time jobs at local pools during the school year and school vacations.

• Get prepared for a part-time business. Computer-savvy kids can use training manuals and workshops to turn themselves into the neighborhood “geek squad,” ready to set up and troubleshoot hardware and create web sites, online forms, podcasts and videos for small businesses that lack the time or skills. Even middle schoolers can probably handle broadcast e-mail, Twitter and Facebook pages for friends and overwhelmed businesspeople.

• Go into business. One middle-schooler we know started herbs in the family greenhouse and sold hundreds of little plants at the neighborhood yard sale. Four high school orchestra members marketed themselves as musicians, and worked their way through high school playing at receptions, bar mitzahs and retirement home events.

• Tutor or coach. Teenagers could combine babysitting with teaching—and generate higher wages—by drilling little kids on their multiplication tables or providing more individual coaching than is available at sports camps. High school students with strong math or foreign language skills often ask $25 to $50 an hour to tutor pre-calculus or Latin vocabulary. Private swim lessons may cost $20 per half hour at a pool, so a teenager with water safety instructor certification could probably charge $10 to $15 per lesson.

• Become a “personal concierge.” How’s that for a modern spin on “mother’s helper” or “handyman?” Middle and high school students could commit to spending a couple of hours (or more) each day running errands and handling small jobs for busy parents, an elderly person or working couples. This might be gardening, minor house repairs, window-washing, car-washing, dog-walking, escorting children to sports practice, grocery shopping, doing laundry, sewing on loose buttons or picking up dry cleaning.

• Making connections for future jobs. Many day camp programs welcome volunteer assistants. Your kids won’t get paid, but they’ll be busy, and chances are, they’ll have a leg up if later applying for a paid recreation leader job. Some sleep-over camps have formal “leaders in training” programs.

• Volunteer. A quick look at Volunteer Solutions, affiliated with United Way chapters may help your child find volunteer opportunities just by entering your zip code.

Reprinted with permission from Parenting Press News for Parents, copyright © 2010. For a free subscription, see www.ParentingPress.com/signup.html.
 

UPCOMING TELECLASSES

Take these classes from the comfort of your home or office! You'll join other parents, via telephone, for parenting tips and a lively discussion all while sitting in your favorite armchair! There's no need to waste time driving to classes when you participate from home or your office in a 'teleclass.'

“Create a Discipline Plan that Works” - Tues., May 3, Noon CT.
“Communicating with Young Children Ages 0-3" - Wed., May 11, Noon, Minnesota Department of Education and Working Family Resource Center.
“On Overload? 10 Key Strategies for Improving Work/Life Balance” - Thurs., May 19, 11:30, Wells Fargo and Working Family Resource Center. 

UPCOMING CLASSES

“On Overload? 10 Key Strategies for Improving Work/Life Balance” - Mon., May 2, 7 p.m., Woodbury, MN.
“10 Key Strategies for Improving Work/Life Balance Part 1” - Wed., May 4, 12:00. Securian.
“10 Key Strategies for Improving Work/Life Balance Part 2” - Tues., May 10, 12:00. Securian.
“Are You Listening? 5 Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids” – Wed., May 25, Noon, Anoka County and Working Family Resource Center.

Toni offers 18 different parent education classes. If you’d like to book Toni at your company or organization, please go to: http://www.familiesfirstcoaching.com/Pages/Speakerspage.html or call Toni at 612-810-8687.
 

A Good Read

Each month a parent provides a review of a parenting book they've enjoyed. Please e-mail toni@familiesfirstcoaching.com to share a good read with other parents.

“WHY Do They Act That Way?:
A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen”
By David Walsh, Ph.D.

If you are a parent of a teen or pre-teen, this is a must-read book. You will walk away with a much greater understanding of why your teen is moody, short-tempered, impulsive and sex-crazed. And believe it or not, there is actual science that explains what’s happening in your child’s brain so you can be more compassionate and level-headed when your teen responds in a negative way.

The advent of advanced brain scanning technology has allowed a window inside the teen brain like never before. With great detail (yet understandable language) David Walsh points out which portions of the brain are responsible for the behaviors we witness in adolescents and documents that “dramatic changes” continue for about 15 years into the mid-twenties.

Other chapters address topics such as media use, sleep, love and sex, alcohol and drug use and how a parent can understand how best to help a teen through these difficult waters. Walsh stresses three guiding principles to use with teens: connection, guidance and love. It’s clear that Walsh enjoys teens and he shares his appreciation of their strengths with readers, too.

My only complaint is that there is not one visual in the whole 276-page book. It would be so much better to see a picture of the brain parts he describes with call-outs for the actions each is responsible for. Toni
 

INSTANT PARENTING SOLUTIONS
FOR COMMON PARENTING PROBLEMS
AVAILABLE 24/7

Go to www.getparentinghelpnow.com any time of the day or night and find practical solutions to common parenting problems when you need them most. You’ll find audio recordings, along with study guides, with solutions to 16 of the most common parenting problems, available 24/7.

Get Your Child to Listen the FIRST Time! http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/ListenAudio.htm;
Stop Back Talk and Whining Now! http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/StopBackTalkaudiopurchase.htm; Proven Strategies for Reducing Sibling Hassles http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/ReducingSiblingHassles.htm;
Relief for Homework Headaches http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/HomeworkAudio.htm;
Find More Joy http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/JoyAudio.htm;
Children’s Anger: Triggers and Solutions for Coping http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/CalmAngerAudio.htm;
Bullying Hurts Kids: Help Your Child Cope and Conquer http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/StopBullyingAudio.htm;
Money Matters! Teach Your Child the Value of a Buck
http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/MoneyMattersAudio.htm;
EQ: Raise an Emotionally Intelligent Child http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/EQAudio.htm;
Are You Listening? 5 Great Ways to Connect with Your Child http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/AreYouListeningAudio.htm;
Helping Your Child with Transitions http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/TransitionsAudio.htm;
How to Win the Chore Wars http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/ChoresAudio.htm;
The Birds and The Bees http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/BirdsandBees.htm;
How to Maneuver the Turbulent Waters of Peri-Adolescence http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/Periadolescence.htm:
Parents: Reclaim Your Couple Time http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/CoupleTime.htm;
"Create a Discipline Plan that Works" two-part series http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/DisciplineAudio.htm;
The “Yell Less. Hug More. 7 Essential Parenting Skills” 10-part audio class is also available at http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com/7EssentialParentingSkills.html
 

Toni Schutta, Publisher, Families First Coaching Newsletter

Toni Schutta is a Parent Coach with a Master's Degree in Psychology and 16 years experience working with children and families. She's also the mother of two wonderful children, a Licensed Psychologist, a certified graduate of the Mentor Coach Foundations Program, a member of The Parent Coaches Association, an author, speaker and past radio host.

Families First Coaching is an organization devoted to building strong families by empowering parents with practical information, easy-to-use tools and helpful resources that will help you be the best parent possible. Individual parent coaching sessions are available along with parent-to-parent support groups and parent education classes. Check out the websites at http://www.familiesfirstcoaching.com  and http://www.getparentinghelpnow.com for a complete list of services.