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Working Mom's 411 is your one-stop resource guide for navigating through the often choppy waters of managing kids, career and home. With extensive experience as a credentialed nanny, household manager and as a working mom herself, Michelle is sure to make you laugh out loud as she shares her expert take on the common dilemmas that working mothers face.
At your fingertips, you will find expert advice, up to date information and tried-and-true tips on everything from choosing childcare to streamlining housework, homework and more. You'll discover super solutions to problems big and small from learning how to let go of that all-too-familiar working moms guilt to dealing with family and friends who have different ideas about home moms and careers should mix. Buy Now!
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America's nanny offers a large dose of healthy parenting advice with secrets for raising happy, secure, and well-balanced babies and toddlers.
Babies don't come with instructions. And since today's parents are so overwhelmed with schedules and demands, they have little time to bone up on their parenting skills. Often removed from grandparents and relatives who in times past lived next door or just down the street, they have no one to guide them through the disorienting world of raising children. Enter Nanny to the Rescue! Michelle LaRowe, 2004 International Nanny Association "Nanny of the Year," gives her tried and true solutions to childcare. Her expertise with chapters titled "Who's the boss?" and "Discipline is not a four letter word" gives confidence to parents who need specific ideas for real day-to-day problems. A proud member of Christian Nannies, Michelle offers foundational truths sure to help encourage moms and dads.
Nanny To the Rescue Again
Faced with multiple choices regarding school, friends, and activities coupled with the ever-widening influence of the outside world, parents of 6-12 year olds need help. America's nanny is back to offer a large dose of healthy parenting advice with secrets for raising happy, secure, and well-balanced children.
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Squashing Sibling Squabbles
 Siblings fight. They argue, they antagonize and in some homes, they even engage in their own creative forms of torture, or so it seems to an outsider looking in. You see, every parent, whether it's spoken or not, has a threshold where roughhousing, wrestling or messing around becomes more than displays of innocent affection. But in families where multiple siblings exist, the line that differentiates genuine expressions of brotherly or sisterly love from violence can be quite subjective and often inconsistent. For this reason, it can be hard for parents to nip sibling squabbling in the bud.
Let's face it. At times, boys will wrestle, push and engage in otherwise aggressive behavior. They're hardwired to do so. And girls will pull hair and argue. It's in their nature. But the secret to balancing out allowing kids to be kids and keeping everyone safe and free from bullying is found in creating clear boundaries for what is and what is not acceptable in your home.
If you're dealing with constant sibling squabbling, put these tips to the test.
Set in stone your rules for physical contact. The easiest way to eliminate physical aggression is to have a no tolerance policy. But if you have a house full of boys, that rule may be hard to enforce. Instead, give clear guidelines on what you consider acceptable or unacceptable. Some parents allow wrestling, but do not allow hitting, punching or slapping.
If your kids have a tendency to be overly physical, sign then up for a sport that can help them to channel their energy. Martial Arts teach kids how to control their bodies and their aggression while teaching athletic skills, good sportsmanship and discipline.
Don't take sides. If your siblings are arguing or fighting, discipline all parties involved. It's very rare to see a fight or argument from the get go and it can be hard to assign fault when you didn't see the entire fallout and taking sides will only prolong and intensify the disagreement.
Teach your kids to argue. The ability to appropriately handle disagreements is a learned skill. Set the ground rules for arguments. Teach your kids to take turns voicing their issues, to truly listen to the other party and to never resort to name calling or physical contact during an argument.
Eliminate tattling. Many siblings' squabbles are rooted in tattling. Make it clear that you don't want to hear any tattling unless someone is going to get hurt.
Teach your kids to work things out on their own. Encourage your kids to engage in problem solving. Let them try to work out problems before your jump in.
Be consistent. Whatever rules that you establish to regulate sibling squabbling, be sure all adults in the home consistently enforce them. A rule that is not consistently enforced will be ineffective.
Remember fair does not always mean equal. Often times sibling squabbling is a result of one child feeling like they've been cheated. Instill the concept that fair isn't always equal into your kids. Teach them that what's important is that everyone needs are getting met and that can mean that each kids' needs may get met differently.
Take time for each child. When each child in a family feels like they are special to their parents, sibling rivalry decreases. Take a few minutes each day to spend one on one time with each child of your children.
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Michelle LaRowe is the 2004 International Nanny Association Nanny of the Year. A career nanny specializing in caring for twins, Michelle has over a decade of nanny experience. Although she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry, she has found her true calling, working as a professional nanny.
Michelle is an active member of the nanny community. She is the founder and president of Boston Area Nannies, Inc., a local non profit educational organization and has served on the International Nanny Association Board of Directors for the past five years. During that time she has also served as the associations 1st Vice President. Michelle is also a proud member of Christian Nannies.
She is called on by the media as a nanny and parenting expert, and has been affectionately dubbed America's Nanny. Michelle has appeared on television and has been featured in print. She is the author of the new parenting series, Nanny to the Rescue!, a contributing writer in the Experts' Guide to the Baby Years and a regular columnist in several parenting publications, including Twins Magazine.
To learn more about Michelle and to get your parenting tip of the day, please visit www.michellelarowe.com.
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