Teenagers Babyccino Kids: Daily tips, Children's products, Craft ideas, Recipes & More

PARENTING

How to Encourage Teens to do Household Chores

Giving children regular chores and responsibilities around the house is important for many reasons, and maybe more so for teens and tweens. However, if your teens are anything like mine, you will find that their reluctance to chores increases as they enter adolescence and their attentiveness when doing them deteriorates. For example, Quin, who is ...

PARENTING

My new e-course on Tweens & Teens: Registration now open!

I'm really excited to share the details of my new e-course! In The Loop: Tweens & Teens is a 3-week community course to help prepare and support you through the adolescent years. It has been designed for parents and carers of children aged 8 to 18, and will bring together a community of parents who ...

FASHION

Shopping for tween & teen girls -- some favourite brands

While it felt like a very slow and steady journey into adolescence for my boys, it appeared to happen completely overnight for Ivy! I don't know if this is a difference between boys and girls, but for Ivy it has certainly been a huge year of growing and changing quickly. She will turn 12 in ...

PARENTING

Tips for keeping our teenage boys close

Easton will be 16 this year, and Quin will soon turn 14. Two teenage boys, both incredibly different. What I've learned so far in parenting teen boys is that each child's needs are different, and how I am with one isn't necessarily the same approach I take with the other. But really, what matters most is that ...

TEENAGERS

Clothing allowance -- when, and how much to give?

A few months ago we started giving Sara a clothing allowance. She is now 15 years old, and it seemed appropriate to start giving her some financial independence and ownership of her choices concerning style and fashion. With the decision of giving her 'clothing money', as we say here in The Netherlands, came the immediate ...

BOOKS

Good books for teenagers -- Sara's now favourite reads

It's already nearly two years ago that I asked Sara to share her favourite books, and many of you have asked to share her current favourites. She is nearly 15 years old now, and still absolutely loves to get lost in a great story! She reads loads, so there's a lot of material to choose ...

THURSDAY THOUGHTS

Do you talk about being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender with your kids?

Earlier this week, a successful beauty blogger here in the Netherlands, Nikkie de Jager (@nikkietutorials), publicly announced that she is transgender. A very brave thing to do -- I watched her coming out video on YouTube and was incredibly impressed by her story and the way she chose to share it. I recommend you to ...

EDUCATION

The climate strike (plus: 8 ways to make a conscious change at home)

If you are reading this post on Friday, 27th of September 2019, you will be looking at a black&white website. For one day we're ditching all colour, in solidarity with everyone who is striving for an urgent climate change -- today, this week, and always! A small change, perhaps, but I find it quite disturbing ...

TUESDAY TIPS

Encouraging children to read! Here are ten tips.

Both my oldest children are avid readers. Especially Sara is the kind of person who reads everything she can get her hands on: novels, series, educational books, newspapers, magazines, the back of cereal boxes -- you name it. So recognisable: I was exactly the same as a child. (I always thought it had to do ...

THURSDAY THOUGHTS

Would you let your children get lost at night and let them find their own way back home?

Recently, an interesting article appeared in the New York Times, and so many of my friends and followers reached out to me about it. Is it true? Do you really do it? The topic of the article is about a particular 'game' we play in the Netherlands which is called 'dropping'. In a nutshell, children ...

THURSDAY THOUGHTS

Ear piercings for children -- yay, or nay?

Yesterday, Sara and I headed over to a tiny jeweller here in the centre of Amsterdam to get another ear piercing. She already had three -- when she was 12, she had one hole in one ear and two holes in the other one pierced. In the meantime, the single hole closed up after she ...

TEENAGERS

At what age do you give your children a mobile phone?

We live in an interesting age. Technology is developing with the speed of light and a life without mobile devices has simply become unthinkable. I find this such a strange phenomenon, especially given the fact that it's not even that long ago since we didn't even have wireless communication! (I think my dad, because his ...

PARENTING

When teens get upset -- how best to respond

My mom sent this New York Times article to me last week, and I found it both comforting and incredibly helpful. Reading it, I had one of these 'aha!' moments of parenting clarity. I realised that whenever Easton has come to me upset lately, I have this urge to immediately try to say something or get ...

PARENTING TIPS

Teenagers -- let them vent!

When my girls were small, their problems seemed smaller. A cuddle and a kiss solved most problems. But as they grow bigger, so does the complexity of their problems. I cannot just rush in like Batman anymore and make everything okay. One new development I have noticed as my kids getting older is the need ...

TEENAGERS

Great books for teenagers -- Sara's favourite reads

Sara (now 13) is a big reader. She seriously devours books! It's such a pleasure to see her being absorbed by captivating stories, strange worlds and exciting adventures. Especially since I was exactly like her as a teenager. I've asked her to share a list of books she would recommend to readers of around her ...

TEENAGERS

Clones / Not Clones

For me it has been a real learning curve to realise that my children are, in fact, not just clones of me! I think I genuinely thought that they would be, when they were newborns. Turns out that they are in fact 2 very distinctly different people. Who knew? I am finding this especially interesting ...

TUESDAY TIPS

Dealing with teenage negativity. Tips please!

Easton will turn 13 next month, and in perfect timing, he is beginning to act like a teenager. Suddenly, it seems that I can't do anything right, and he feels compelled to complain about everything: The specific t-shirt he wants to wear isn't clean. We're not leaving on time; we'll definitely be late. The music in ...

PARENTING

Reading to older children-- fun and beneficial

My kids love reading. Pim and Sara really devour books, and Ava has also recently gotten the hang of it. They are entirely captivated by their books! (Poor Casper, it can be frustrating to be the only one unable to read!) I suppose it can be a natural transition to stop reading to children when ...

THURSDAY THOUGHTS

Teenagers and resisting fast fashion

One of my pet peeves is fast fashion -- buying heaps of cheap clothes on impulse only to discard them after a few wears. But, as my girls get older, I'm finding it more and more challenging to avoid the fast fashion pitfalls. Up 'til now, dressing my children was pretty simple. They are easygoing ...

TUESDAY TIPS

When teenagers challenge -- a tip for how to respond

I have a dear friend who is a mentor and life coach in all senses of the word, offering advice to everyone at all stages of life -- from how to develop healthy sleep habits with your baby to dealing with the death of a loved one. She's also a mother of four, including two ...

TUESDAY TIPS

A 'first period' box, to prepare for the first menstruation

Slowly but steadily I'm getting the news of Sara's friends getting their first period. Between the age of 11 and 13 it will most likely take place. (Of course some girls are younger, and some are older.) Sara is not there yet, but it might not be that long now! Do you remember getting your ...

KIDS

Teen Breathe - a new magazine for teenagers

One of my favourite things to do on a plane or train is to pick up a magazine at the newsagents. I sit down and take my time looking at pictures, reading articles and seeing what is up and what's new. I get anything from fashion, interior design to current affairs. The great thing in ...

EDUCATION

The Anne Frank house, a visit with Sara

Anne Frank is a name that is familiar to most if not all. Her world-famous diary is translated to more than 60 languages worldwide, and the story of her family hiding in Amsterdam during WWII is universally known. We can all envision the photos of Anne's sweet face, showing a girl on the verge of adolescence. ...

Teenagers

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