Author Archives: Jen Thorpe

About Jen Thorpe

I have a B.S. in Education and am a former teacher and day care worker. I started working as a freelance writer in 2010 and have written for many topics here at Families.com.

How To Avoid Conflicts During Holiday Gatherings

Thanksgiving might be a time for gratitude and spending time with loved ones, but visiting family during holidays can often be stressful for many people. While some might look forward to making more cherished memories with their close circle, those same gatherings may be a source of dread for others, Yahoo! Life reported. In fact, more than half of Canadians find holiday seasons to have a negative impact on their mental health, according to a Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) survey. Moreover, 52 percent of those reported they have increased feelings of anxiety and depression.  There are many factors that … Continue reading →

Target Releases Its Cheapest-Ever Thanksgiving Meal Deal

Target is lowering the price of its Thanksgiving meal bundle, adding to the roughly 8,000 products that have been discounted as it attempts to attract inflation-weary shoppers during the holiday season. Priced at $20, a $5 decrease from 2023, the Thanksgiving meal feeds four people and includes all the usual holiday fixings: a frozen turkey (up to 10 pounds), potatoes, canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, a boxed stuffing mix and jarred gravy. The deal is a mix of name brands and the Target-owned Good & Gather label. “One of the themes we consistently hear is the need for … Continue reading →

Why Teens Are Choosing To Stay Home On Halloween Night

There are countless indications that today’s kids are growing up faster than ever. Take a new toy for babies one mom nicknamed “babies first cubicle,” complete with a faux smartphone and Post-Its, which she sees as pushing office culture on the diaper-wearing set, parents.com reported. Flash forward a few years, and many of us parents find that our daughters, who just outgrew playing with dolls, are begging to go to Sephora for skin care products with price tags to rival a fancy dinner for four. Meanwhile, teen boys are singularly focused on building cologne collections that look like the display … Continue reading →

How To Be A Lighthouse Parent

Lighthouse parenting combines the most important aspects of raising children: nurturing, loving, protecting, and communicating with them. Much like a lighthouse, parents provide a stable source of guidance for their children while still maintaining a healthy balance of stepping in and allowing them the freedom to grow and learn on their own, parents.com reported. On the spectrum of parenting styles, lighthouse parenting hovers right around the middle — not as involved as a helicopter parent, but not as hands-off a a free-range parent. However, this approach may not be effective for every child. “Lighthouse parenting straddles the line where you’re … Continue reading →

Authoritarian Parenting Can Be Harmful To Children

Are you a more strict parent than your friends? Is your refrigerator decorated with chore charts and house rules rather than handprint art? Do you expect your children to obey you, even if you don’t explain your reasoning? If so, you likely have an authoritarian parenting style. You have high expectations of your kids and won’t put up with any of that “kids will be kids” nonsense, according to Parents.com. While authoritarian parenting may seem effective in the short term, parenting experts and pediatricians agree it’s not the best parenting style in the long run. That’s because kids parented in … Continue reading →

How To Help Your Kids Be Ready For School

HealthyChildren.org has plenty of good ideas that can help your child get used to the transition from summer vacation and into the brand new school year. Here are some helpful ways to help your child look forward to going to school. Develop a healthy sleep routine Help your child adjust to earlier bedtimes. Set a consistent bedtime for your child and stick with it every night. Getting enough sleep is critical for kids to stay healthy and be successful in school. Not getting enough sleep is linked with lower academic achievement, as well as higher rates of absenteeism and tardiness. … Continue reading →

Summer Activities For Kids And Parents

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Parents Magazine has put together a list of a variety of summer activities that parents and kids can do together. They highly recommend that everyone involved use sunscreen and bug spray. Nature Related Summer Activities for Kids: Go bird watching. Take photos and keep track of your sightings. Then, use an app or guidebook to identify feathered friends. Look for shapes in the clouds. Put a blanket in the grass and stare up at the sky. Then, take turns talking about what you see in the clouds. Make a bird feeder.  Watch birds visit your years and add to your … Continue reading →

Sun Safety Facts

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Most skin cancers are caused by too much exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. Protection from UV rays is important all year, the CDC reported. Most skin cancers are caused by too much exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. UV rays are an invisible kind of radiation that comes from the sun, tanning beds, and sunlamps. UV rays can damage skin cells. Protection from UV rays is important all year, not just during the summer. UV rays can reach you on cloudy and cool days, and they reflect off of surfaces like water, cement, sand and snow.  In the continental United States, … Continue reading →

Childhood Isn’t Easy – But Parenting Is Hard

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Psychology Today posted an article by Josh Jones LCSW-R titled: “Childhood Isn’t Easy but Parenting Is Hard”. Here are three things he recommends to parents: Differentiate Between Who They Are And What They Do “We judge everyone by what they do, but we judge ourselves by how we feel.” This is why the metrics of our life can look great to everyone, and yet, to ourselves, something can still feel off; no matter what I do, something inside still feels wrong. This is a painful way to live, and often the roots of it can be found in childhood. Being … Continue reading →

APA Issued A Health Advisory On Social Media Use in Adolescents

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American Psychological Association (APA) issued information about the potential risks of content, features, and functions regarding the science of how social media affects youth.  Almost a year after APA issued its health advisory on social media, use in adolescence, society continues to wrestle with ways to maximize the benefits of these platforms while protecting youth from the potential harms associated with them. By early 2024, few meaningful changes to social media platforms had been enacted by industry, and no federal policies had been adopted. There remains a need for social media companies to make fundamental changes to their platforms. According … Continue reading →