Teaching Kids About Money

Tuesday, September 29th 2009 @ 6:08 PM    post viewed 256 times

---

I am really excited to have been a part of a wonderful resource for parents to help teach kids about money.

Allowance Secrets: To Give or Not to Give was the brainchild of Amanda van der Gulik whose passion is teaching kids about money.

Amanda is one of the most excited people I know, her love of teaching has led her to home-school her children, and enable her to focus on working from home.

With Allowance Secrets Amanda gathered together 25 experts on parenting (me!), child money experts, and young entrepreneurs and asked them their opinion on the idea of paying your child an allowance. (Pocket money here in Australia).

The issue of how to use allowances is one many parents struggle with. I know I have had questions from Parents such as:

• Whether to use it to try to motivate kids to do chores, get better grades?
• Whether to withdraw it as a punishment?
• How much to give?
• Should I abandon the idea of an allowance altogether? 
• How do I teach my kids to understand money?

Creating a prosperity mentality in our children is a wonderful thing to do. So teaching them how to use money in creative ways or how to get money flowing into their lives is so important.

You can read my chapter in Allowance Secrets where I tell a story about a little boy who found a way to buy a bike. I also talk about the various things I experimented with my children. I'd love you to pop back here and tell me what you thought!

As parents we all have to choose what works in our family, and I always find reading how other people handle things is really inspiring.

Allowance Secrets is free! I know how much work Amanda has put into this project and having read the book I think the tips and ideas in this fantastic resource is something every parent should have, so pass it on!

On the page where you get your free copy, you will also be offered a huge discount (plus bonuses!) to Amanda's guide, Insiders Secrets: A guide to teaching Children about money. I would highly recommend you purchase this fantastic book. It contains heaps of age related tips, lots of ideas for kids to learn to be an entrepreneur, and many ways to teach kids how to manage money. 

As a young child I always found ways to earn money, and the lead up to Christmas was an intense time of making money so I had heaps to spend on presents. I enjoyed that more than the presents I received - going shopping, choosing the gifts, working out how much I could spend on each person. The skills I learnt were invaluable and I hope I passed some of them on to my children.

So hop on over to Allowance Secrets: To Give or Not to Give and see what all the Xpurts are talking about!

Don't forget to come back and let me know what you thought - What do you do? Did you change your mind after reading the book?

Wishing you JOY and Prosperity,

Annie D

add a comment

Woo Hoo my copy of The Vortex has arrived!

Thursday, September 17th 2009 @ 2:33 PM    post viewed 182 times

---

Abraham-Hicks' latest book, The Vortex arrived in my post box yesterday, so I am eagerly devouring it. The Abraham material is one of the best teachings on Law of Attraction, and this latest book, focusing on relationships it is very relevant for law of attraction parents.

Abraham explores the flawed premises we end up living our lives by. As parents we reinforce those beliefs in our children, mostly because we are disconnected from our own Inner Being, or Source.

Have you noticed how the smaller the child, the more connected and in the moment they are? Unfortunately we don't teach our children to trust in their own inner guidance, we tend to insist they replace it with us as the all powerful font of knowledge.

Of course we are guiding our children as they learn and explore but our challenge as parents is to respect our little one's inner wisdom. Just because we are the adult doesn't make us wiser. Many times we are parenting from fear - we want to keep our children safe, protect them from hurts, encourage them to be the kind of person we think will succeed.

When our children learn to seek approval from us as the cornerstone of what is right and wrong, they loose the ability to trust their own inner guidence. Children who are extremely well behaved and compliant worry me! Sure they can be easier to manage in a social situation, but they are often so disconnected from their internal spark.

Parents I coach often worry they will have out of control wild children if they "allow" their children to be themselves. My coaching is often helping parents to learn to trust their own inner guidance in order to help their children do the same.

If we can put more focus on recognizing how we feel - our gut instincts, and help our children to keep in touch with their feelings, then we are more empowered to make better choices.

In my experience, kids mis-behave when they need something; they are acting out to call attention to something that does need attention. Does this mean you give in to them? No! But if you help them to be more aware of how they feel and what they are protesting about, then they can begin to make other choices that take them closer to what they want.

I love how Abraham says, the first thing you do in any relationship is seek alignment with yourself. Trying to get your child to behave so you will feel better about your parenting or expecting a teenager to treat you with respect so you feel respected, will always be an uphill
battle.

The Vortex Abraham refers to is the ever increasing energy that is the law of attraction. When we put out energy by way of our thoughts, words and actions, we are continually adding to our vibrational vortex. We are not just our physical body, we are so much more, and because Law of Attraction is responding to everything we ask for - whether intentionally or not, we are creating this powerful vortex. Our task is to line up with who we really are and get into the vortex! Simple? MmMmMm ..... really it is. If we can follow our inner guidance and notice how we feel, and move ourselves into feeling better little by little.

But you are probably much like me, and I keep forgetting (sometimes I wish I was 3 years old again!) That's why I love the Abraham Hicks books, they are loaded with easy processes you can do to help reconnect, or to help you focus on getting back in the vortex.

I'm off to read some more ..... let me know what you think of The Vortex

Wishing you JOY,
Annie D

PS did you know Hay House are offering a special free 2 hour recorded workshop with the purchase of The Vortex

add a comment

Kids Who are Different

Friday, September 11th 2009 @ 7:44 PM    post viewed 182 times

---

This wonderful poem was posted on facebook by a friend of mine and I thought it was such a lovely message about honoring our children's uniqueness.

Kids Who Are Different

Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids who don't always get A's,
The kids who have ears twice the size of their peers,
And noses that go on for days...

Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids they call crazy or dumb,
The kids who don't fit, with the guts and the grit,
Who dance to a different drum...

Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids with the mischievous streak,
For when they have grown, as history's shown,
It's their difference that makes them unique.

by Digby Wolfe

Challenging though it may be, give me a larger than life, stroppy, child who is very much an individual and I believe those kids are the ones that are destined to touch people deeply. Those are the kids that are un-apologetically themselves - that refuse to bow down to society's neat and tidy boxes.

I am more concerned when I see kids who are compliant, who strive to fit in, who are afraid to be themselves. Unfortunately for society to run smoothly we do need people to learn to conform, to adapt and fit in. However, our attempts to foster that in our children often leads to kids who have lost touch with their inner self, who are too concerned about what others will think, who are unwilling to make mistakes or take risks.

More and more children are being labelled ADHD, medicated and treated as problem children. There is no doubt these children are incredibly challenging for parents and teachers, but trying to fit a square peg in a round hole devalues the wonderful gifts these little ones bring.

I think we are looking for the wrong solutions, in trying to squish these children into boxes they clearly don't fit. These are usually incredibly psychically sensitive children, who simply need space and freedom to flourish.  

I would prefer we champion and value differences, look for what is unique and special in all our children and encourage them to be true to themselves. Of course we want to help them learn self-management and responsibility and awareness of their impact on others, but not at the expense of their inner being.

I'd love to hear your thoughts,

Wishing you JOY
Annie D

add a comment

Parenting Questions

Tuesday, September 1st 2009 @ 4:49 PM    post viewed 161 times

---

Wow, what a whirlwind the last few months have been, my apologies for so long inbetween posts. Thank you to everyone who passed on their thoughts and healing for my Mother, she is now doing really well, and the mobile office (my laptop!) is now back home!

I wanted to let you know about a new service on our main site http://www.law-of-attraction-parenting.com. I get asked heaps of parenting questions and I just can't answer them all, and now I have the membership site to look after I am no longer answering any questions for free.

For Parents that are not wanting to pay to join our membership site (for a limited time only $19.95 per month) I have started online coaching. Readers can ask a question and I post a reply for only $9.95 per question. The Questions and Answers become a page on the site, so other parents can also get inspiration from your questions. (plus you get a copy of one of my e-books!)

So if you are not ready to join our membership site, http://www.loaparentcoach.com or just have a one off question, I'd love to hear from you. To read and comment on other reader contributions or ask questions, head on over to our Parenting Question Page.

I also want to apologise for any confusion with our membership pricing. I am so grateful one of my readers contacted me to say some of the documentation still had the old price. (Thanks Peggy!) I decided to lower the membership price to $19.95 while I am still making changes, and to make it more accessable.

Looking forward to being of service!

Wishing you JOY,

Annie D

add a comment