I Choose Us - Self improvement and motivation for women.

When you foster the love of learning in your children, you set them up for a lifetime of happiness and success. Children are born with a drive to learn and explore the world around them, and parents have the ability to nudge them in the direction of continuous learning.

Your ultimate goal as a parent should be to discover your child's preferred method of learning. You can do this by encouraging them to pursue hobbies that they find exciting and enriching. You also need to maintain the wisdom to know when your children might need an extra push in a certain area or whether they need to change their course entirely.

Consider some of these simple strategies to foster a joy of learning:

1.    Reading Stories. Your children are never too young to enjoy a story. Start reading to them when they're babies and you'll foster a lifetime of love for the subject. When it comes to reading, as long as they keep practicing the skill they'll keep getting better at it. Encourage your children to read more, regardless of their age or topic of interest, as long as it's age-appropriate.

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Addictions of all kinds can be incredibly difficult to overcome. When a loved one is suffering from an addiction, it can greatly affect you as well. Naturally, you don't like to watch them suffer and you're searching for ways to help.

The truth is that loved ones are usually best equipped to help because they're loving and trustworthy.

Here is a list of tips to keep in mind when helping someone with addictions:

1.    Help Them Make Wise Choices. Sometimes it's not so easy to make a wise choice for yourself. A pair of eyes on the outside may be just what your loved one needs. Suggest alternatives to their addictive behaviors. Make sure not to belittle or judge them but, instead, listen to what they have to say.

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Consider these two interesting scenarios.

Karen, who is nine years old, comes home to find her dinner placed on the table alone.  Everyone else is too busy to sit with her, so she eats alone.  Karen grows to dread dinner time at home, because it is so lonely.

Annie, who is also nine years old, comes home to find everyone sitting around the dinner table waiting for her.  She sits down and enjoys a lovely dinner and conversation with her family.  They discuss what happened throughout their day, how school was that day, and how well she did on her math test.  Annie loves dinner time because she feels that her family cares about her and what she has done throughout the day.

Having a family time can make such a difference in a child’s life.  Children need to be loved, and feel like they are important.  God teaches us in the Bible that Children are a gift.  Proverbs 127:3-5 says “Behold, children are a heritage from the lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.”

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The winter blues can affect you in a number of ways. Your experience could vary from a minor irritant, all the way up to severe depression or a seasonal affective disorder. This means that the winter blues is something to be taken seriously.

If you're concerned about feeling down this winter, you can go into the season with a game plan to get through it with a smile.

Why The Winter Blues?

The winter blues might affect you just because it's a cold season that can get tiresome after awhile. You may have to do some serious preparing just to travel outside and the lack of fresh air and indoor activities might make you weary.

Winter also follows a string of usually happy holidays. You might look forward to the holidays all year. Once they're over with, you might feel a little empty inside. Or perhaps, you find it difficult to begin a new year with a renewed attitude.

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There are plenty of outdoor winter activities that you can take part in during this special time of year. However, you can only stay outside for so long. Eventually you'll have to seek some indoor warmth and an alternate set of activities.

There's no reason to allow boredom to take over. There are plenty of engaging activities you can enjoy regardless of whether you're staying at home or going elsewhere.

Here are some ideas for fun, indoor wintertime activities:

1.    Have a game night. Start a regular game night with your family or invite friends over. It's up to you whether you'd like to do something family style to accommodate little kids or an evening for the adults with drinks and good conversation. Either way, you can stay warm and still have a great time!

2.    Catch up on crafts. Cold weather is the perfect time to bring out some crafts that you've been meaning to do. Sometimes bigger projects get abandoned and never looked at again. Here's your chance to finally finish that quilt, scarf, or model airplane.

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Clutter is one of those things that sneaks up on you.  You moved into your house several years ago and didn't have enough furniture or stuff to fill it up, right?  Now look around you… it's looking a little messy, crowded, and disorganized, and you're not sure when that happened.

Perhaps you just noticed the clutter, or maybe you've reassessed your life and have new goals in mind.  Either way, you're determined to get a handle on your possessions.  Well, there is no time like the present to do something about it.

The best advice is to start small so you don't get overwhelmed.  It took years to accumulate everything, give yourself some time to reverse the process.  If it seems like too much, bring in a professional or a friend who can help you get started.  Once you get going, you'll feel so good about what you're doing there will be no stopping you.

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Childproofing your home may not seem like something you should consider, after all, you don't have any young children running around.  But what if you are a grandparent?  Or you babysit in your home?  Or the neighbor kids are always over?  Even if the kids don't visit very often, your home should still be childproofed.  It could only take one short visit for something to happen.

In order to make your home a safe place for kids, you need to go through your house with an eye to what could be a potential danger.  You can even hire someone whose job it is to create safe homes for children.

Before you begin, you should know a few things about kids:

•    Young children like to explore items by putting them in their mouths.
•    Kids can climb and reach stuff you think they can't.
•    Warning labels mean nothing to kids who can't read yet.
•    When kids are quiet, they're probably doing something they shouldn't.

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