What You Can Benefit From Parenting Classes Focusing On Money Matters

Finally, your children have grown old enough and are off to college, now you can relax a little but you will still worry about the general things such as grades and drug usage. Several months later your daughter calls crying and hysterical about a "major problem", your parenting mode kicks in and you try to calm her down and find out what the heck is going on. After a few minutes you shockingly discover she got a credit card by herself and is already 5 grand in debt. This is a common occurrence happening around America right now, and it is your fault because you did not teach them proper money management.

Securing Your Childs Future

As a parent it is our responsibility to teach, guide and comfort children. We would not want our children to be thousands of dollars in debt and living in wooden shacks, therefore we need to coach them in money matters. Parenting classes focus on reasons why this is an important lesson for your child to learn. The teachers of such classes are Financial Experts themselves, and know what they are talking about; they recommend you train your children to split up their money that they have made, whether its allowance or contributions, but only you as their parent can teach them this.

For the younger children, having 3 piggy banks with labels 'Spend', 'Save' and 'Donate' on them is a creative idea to use. They can decide how much they want to put in each piggy, some may put it all in the spending piggy bank but do not worry, the lesson they will learn about this issue comes later on.

When the time comes, you will be at Wal-Mart shopping, and your child will ask you for a candy bar. What to say, how to handle it, think, think, think. Now you wish you went to Parenting Class don't you? They would have taught you the appropriate things to say in this situation, for example; "Sorry, honey, but I do not have any extra money today" or perhaps "Maybe Santa will bring it for you this year", you can test trail each thing they recommend and see which your child is most responsive to. Children know how to pull your strings and get their way, do not give in and teach them the lesson that they need to be taught.

Another important lesson is teaching your child to treat others the way they want to be treated, or in other words, if they want a gift they need to buy them a gift too. Allow them to go shopping with you and pick out the gift for their friend, let him pay for it (with or without your money). This also teaches him another valuable lesson, responsibility.

Some more advice that parenting experts who teaches parenting classes offer are quite simple and make a lot of sense. You want to avoid teaching your child that your importance is established on the name brand of items you own. Take great care in your comments to children such as "Julie, Where's your Old Navy Sweater?" it is better to say it like "Julie, Where is that pretty Blue Sweater?" Another large issue we face is the television teaching our kids what it is popular to own. When they watch SpongeBob all day, you find them begging you for the new SpongeBob cereal or that they must have the new SpongeBob action figure when they have millions already. If you avoid allowing them to do this in the early stages of their life then they will retain that knowledge and remember it later on.

Sign up today for a parenting class to avoid serious financial issues later on both you and your child's behalf, of course if they go on debt in college, who ends up paying for most of it, YOU!

Clive Jenkins recommends The Parenting Tips Website. You can check out the site here: http://www.parentingtipssite.com. This site offers info on all aspects of parenting. View this site in Spanish or Italian if you wish. Please visit Extremidades de Parenting at http://parentingtipssite.com/blog.

Getting to Know your Basenji

Getting to know your dog starts by getting to know its breed. At Kingdom of Pets, we keep a large database of detailed information on the appearance, personality, and health requirements of individual dog breeds. Here's what you need to know about the Basenji:

The Basenji is classified as a member of the sight hound family, otherwise known as a hound. However, this breed is also referred to as a Congo Dog because it is one of the oldest breed dogs, coming out of the continent of Africa. In fact, if you were to visit Africa, going to some of the Egyptian Pharaohs tombs, you would see carvings or other depictions of the Basenji on the Steles. Just as they did thousands of years ago, the Basenji is a regal breed with a proud stance, erect ears, and a curled tail.

For many years, this breed almost completely disappeared but then in 1895 when the Europeans crossed over into the Congo, it was again discovered, becoming a favorite pet due to its high level of intelligence, speed, silence, and even courage. All of these special qualities made the Basenji a great help during wild game hunts. After being imported to the United States sometime in the 1930s, the Basenji became popular, which lead to the breed becoming a member of the American Kennel Club in 1943.

Physical Appearance

As mentioned, the Basenji has a strong, proud look that is hard to miss. This breed is small, typically between 20 to 24 pounds and about 17 inches tall. The hair is short, the eyes almond shaped, and especially when puppies the forehead is wrinkled. Watching a Basenji move is fascinating in that the breed trots similar to a horse with a double-suspension gallop at full speed running.

While you will see a number of hair colors, only some are recognized by the American Kennel Club. These colors include:

* Brindle White (black stripes on a red background)
* Red and White
* Black and White
* Tricolor (red, black, and white)
* Trindle (tricolor and brindle combination)

Temperament and Personality

The most fascinating aspect of the Basenji is that this breed does not bark although a simple woof sound is possible. Other sounds made by the Basenji include a squeal, chortle, white, or yodel. Basenjis are also insistent on being clean, often wiping the face just like that of a cat. While this breed loves to hunt and explore, it does not favor water.

Being an extremely smart dog, the Basenji is easy to train, learning commands quickly. Other temperaments include being independent, funny, aloof to strangers, devoted to the master, and even mischievous. Keep in mind if you buy a Basenji that they love to run and they are exceptional climbers. Therefore, a chain link fence is not necessarily a good barrier.

Most Basenjis are high energy and independent. While they get along well with children and other pets, it is usually recommended they be heavily socialized and supervised. In most cases, if this breed is raised around other animals, walked in the park, and exposed to a number of environments, it will do well. However, the Basenji is a breed of its own, sometimes being unpredictable and a little standoffish.

Health

Typically, the Basenji is a healthy breed although some might develop Fanconi Syndrome, which is an inheritable kidney disorder. When a Basenji develops this problem, he or she would likely not have any symptoms until around four. In addition, this breed can be a carrier of a recessive gene known as the Hemolytic Anemia, which can be tested for with a non-invasive procedure.

Other possible health risks include Progressive Retinal Atrophy, which is a form of degeneration in the retina, causing blindness, Coloboma, a hole in the eyes structure, Persistent Pupillary Membrane, which are small threads going across the dogs pupil, Malabsorption, an autoimmune intestinal disease, and Hip Dysplasia, which is a bone disease that causes symptoms similar to arthritis.

Daniel Stevens is the renowned dog trainer and author of SitStayFetch, a leading dog training guide having sold over 21,000 copies (and counting). See http://www.kingdomofpets.com/dogobediencetraining/dogbreeds/basenji.php for more on dog breeds.