Independent

One of the most important tasks of parenting is to help children become independent, so that as adults, they can take care of themselves and pursue their dreams. Teaching independence is a long process, beginning in toddlerhood and (hopefully) ending sometime in early adulthood. These skills will help children adapt to new circumstances over the course of a lifetime. Below are some tips to help kids develop independence as they mature.

1.Give children increasing responsibility.

Teach children that they are important contributors to the family, and give them age appropriate chores. When they are five years old, they may help to fold the laundry, when they are ten they may help with yard work, when they are fifteen, they may help prepare family meals. As children approach their later teen years, they should know how to do most household chores (cooking, cleaning, laundry, and yard work); so that when they leave home they are ready to function independently.

2.Encourage kids to try things themselves first.

At times parents over function for kids, and kids become trained to ask for help rather than try things themselves. Whenever a child asks for help, if it is a task that you believe he can do on his own, ask him to try to do it himself first. If he tries, and doesnt know how to complete a task, offer him help, but teach him how to do the task rather than doing it for him.

3.Teach kids to solve their own disputes.

Young children will often ask parents to solve disputes between siblings or friends. When children are very young, this is an appropriate role for parents. However, once children develop problem solving ability, encourage them to work out issues among themselves, and to approach you only if someone is in danger or the problem is intractable. If you do step in to help a child work out a dispute with a sibling or friend, act as an arbitrary in a negotiation so that you are modeling how to problem solve with others. If there is any bullying or abuse involved in the dispute, assume an authoritative role and discipline the offending child as needed.

4.Teach kids how to manage money.

Teach kids how to handle money, including earning money, saving money, prioritizing spending, and giving to others. When they are very young, you can begin be teaching them to save a portion of their money, spend a portion and perhaps donate a portion of by helping with special tasks. By the time kids are teenagers, they should be able to understand how to make a simple budget. Having kids earn their own spending money during the high school years with a part time job, is a great way to introduce them to the real world of providing for oneself.

5.Teach kids to set goals.

When your child discovers an interest or a passion in life, teach him how to set broad goals and smaller goals as a means to achieving the larger goal. Talk with your child about setbacks, and the importance of persistence in any endeavor. Some children will give up on goals prematurely due to anxiety about failure. Teach the anxious child that failure is an inevitable part of the journey. Children who can identify what they want, set goals, and persist despite setbacks are well on the way to independence.

Everybody has heard the phrase “As American as baseball, hot dogs and apple pie.” These three things must typify all that is good about America.

I am certain that many Americans will be watching baseball this Fourth of July. I am also certain that many American’s will eat some apple pie. But as far as hot dogs go some Americans will be eating more than the rest.

Legend has it that in 1916 four immigrants in an effort to decide who was the most patriotic decided to stage a hot dog competition. James Mullen won that competition which was held at Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand at Coney Island. He consumed a rather weak 13 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Bigger and better things were to come.

Today Nathan’s International July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest is held at Nathan’s original restaurant in Coney Island.

For those of us who are not yet familiar with this contest this is serious business.

It will draw tens of thousands of people and hundreds of thousands of people will watch it on ESPN. The mayor of New York is the one who performs the weigh in. These people are not messing around.

The event believe it or not is sanctioned by IFOCE, which stands for the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Can you imagine? Last years winner received the Mustard belt, 10,000 dollars, and a couple cases of hot dogs.

It is an international contest and unfortunately the Japanese have had good luck in recent years. The belt lies in the country of the winner so most of the last decade the belt has resided at the Imperial Palace in Japan. However, an American returned glory to the United States last year by eating a record 66 hot dogs.

By the way this competition underscores another American tradition.

That being the ability to extract profit or make money from virtually anything.

With voter frustration in California at an all time high, citizens have begun to look at what else is out there other than the two mainstream California political parties.  An independent California political party can offer something outside of the normal and outside the control of special interest groups.  An independent California political party may just be the remedy for this ailing state that is being chocked by gridlock and selective representation.  This past November election had several independents run for California Governor. Here are some options out there to consider during the next elections.
 
 
Libertarian Party. The political platform of the Libertarian Party favors minimal government in both business and the private lives of citizens.   They promote relatively unregulated markets, support strong civil liberties, and individual property rights.  The party is big on fiscal responsibility and never spending more than the state takes in.  They are in support of large scale government cut backs including reducing pensions, scaling back social services, and laying off of various types of state workers.
 
 
Green Party. This California political party platform consists of grass roots social change without the involvement of special interests and corporate money.  There is a strong commitment to environmental justice.  They promote ecologically sound principles when it comes to basic living as well as business development and state infrastructure.  Their economic polices focus on decentralized government with an emphasis on community based economic development.  The party is a major proponent of renewable energy and the promotion of the new California “Green Economy” where they favor government incentives for such businesses.
 
 
American Independent Party.  The party is heavily faith based and believes in constitutional principles and social conservatism.  They rally around tight immigration control, rights to bear arms, same sex marriage, pro life policies, and home schooling. Their business policies revolve around building a local manufacturing and production base that will reduce reliance on foreign imports.  They feel the average California has been long over taxed and propose major tax reform that will significantly reduce state income tax. They also feel that the California state legislature should function as a part-time entity.
 
 
Peace and Freedom Party.  As a California political party that emphasis worker rights, the party supports democratic socialism that offers an economic partnership run by state owned enterprises and private companies.  Social justice is heavily tied to work rights and regulation on economic exploitation.   They also promote a strong social safety net along with social services through the increase or corporate taxes.

One of the most important tasks of parenting is to help children become independent, so that as adults, they can take care of themselves and pursue their dreams. Teaching independence is a long process, beginning in toddlerhood and (hopefully) ending sometime in early adulthood. These skills will help children adapt to new circumstances over the course of a lifetime. Below are some tips to help kids develop independence as they mature.

Give children increasing responsibility.
Teach children that they are important contributors to the family, and give them age appropriate chores. When they are five years old, they may help to fold the laundry, when they are ten they may help with yard work, when they are fifteen, they may help prepare family meals.

As children approach their later teen years, they should know how to do most household chores (cooking, cleaning, laundry, and yard work); so that when they leave home they are ready to function independently.

Encourage kids to try things themselves first.
At times parents over function for kids, and kids become trained to ask for help rather than try things themselves. Whenever a child asks for help, if it is a task that you believe he can do on his own, ask him to try to do it himself first. If he tries, and doesn’t know how to complete a task, offer him help, but teach him how to do the task rather than doing it for him.

Teach kids to solve their own disputes.
Young children will often ask parents to solve disputes between siblings or friends. When children are very young, this is an appropriate role for parents. However, once children develop problem solving ability, encourage them to work out issues among themselves, and to approach you only if someone is in danger or the problem is intractable. If you do step in to help a child work out a dispute with a sibling or friend, act as an arbitrary in a negotiation so that you are modeling how to problem solve with others. If there is any bullying or abuse involved in the dispute, assume an authoritative role and discipline the offending child as needed.

Teach kids how to manage money.
Teach kids how to handle money, including earning money, saving money, prioritizing spending, and giving to others. When they are very young, you can begin be teaching them to save a portion of their money, spend a portion and perhaps donate a portion of by helping with special tasks. By the time kids are teenagers, they should be able to understand how to make a simple budget. Having kids earn their own spending money during the high school years with a part time job, is a great way to introduce them to the real world of providing for oneself.

Teach kids to set goals.
When your child discovers an interest or a passion in life, teach him how to set broad goals and smaller goals as a means to achieving the larger goal. Talk with your child about setbacks, and the importance of persistence in any endeavor. Some children will give up on goals prematurely due to anxiety about failure. Teach the anxious child that failure is an inevitable part of the journey. Children who can identify what they want, set goals, and persist despite setbacks are well on the way to independence.

How do you plan to celebrate the 4th of July? From testing your trivia to making your own national flag, there are numerous ways to make this day extremely special. There is something interesting for everyone – you can choose from crafts, games, exhibitions, or even a party with lots of friends. You can also find lots of interesting ideas from the World Wide Web or internet, where online event management and ticketing is the latest fad. Even the smallest of parties or get-togethers can be organized and promoted online.

If you are planning an Independence Day party, there are several hours to fill before the highlight of your event – the thrilling fireworks. So, you surely want to make your party very interesting by having various activities and games to keep the guests busy and entertained.

As an American, you definitely want to plan some activities with a patriotic theme.

Here are few options to choose from and make your event truly amazing.

a) Chalk it up – Pick a panel of judges from amongst your list of guests (the oldest guests are the obvious picks) for a chalk contest. Depending on the number of people attending your party, you can divide the guests into two teams and give them each one or two containers of sidewalk chalk. Instruct them to create or draw something patriotic with the chalk and also add the US flag in the picture. You can restrict the time limit for the task to 30 minutes and then get the artwork examined and judged by the panel of judges to declare a winner. Art-themed prizes for the winners can be excellent.

b) Parade – This can be a fun activity that just shouts “4th of July!” Ask your guests to decorate their cars, bikes, scooters, etc.

in patriotic designs after they arrive at the venue. They can be as creative as they like, but make sure that you have all the items on hand to decorate the vehicles. You can announce the prize for the best decorated vehicle at the end of the party.

c) Fireworks – Arrange for a big box of assorted fireworks days before your event kicks off. Everyone has their own favorites and there will be people who are sure about what they want to hear or see. You can even have a dancing competition or a trivia quiz session to determine who gets to pick the next firework to go off subsequently. Make sure that you have sufficient fireworks because unless there are more fireworks than the guests attending your party, each guest gets to pick only once.

From medieval to futuristic, from Wild West to Nineties or twenties, you can have a lovely theme for your Independence Day party. There is no limit to what you can choose for your ID celebration. A successful party is all about good planning. Prepare a checklist of things that has to be done, list of guests to be invited, food and drinks that has to be arranged for the day, etc. Once you have a detailed list, you will have a better idea of the magnitude of arrangements that you need to make to ensure that your event is a big hit. So, hurry – it’s your chance to transform your party theme into a particular time in history. In short, try and make your event a spellbinding experience for everyone.