A Brigham Young University Student Journal
Gordon B. Hinckley presented The Family: A Proclamation to the World over twenty years ago. While members of the Church thought it was an inspired document then it has only become more needed to guide to the members of The Church of Jesus Christ …
Are you in the process of planning your child’s nursery? Maybe you are just trying to figure out the final details? Or maybe you don’t know what to do with the awkward closet or some bookcases you love? Either way, here are some helpful organizing …
Becoming an adult (at least in age) will quickly teach you one thing, if nothing else: living can be expensive. What seemed like a huge investment of cash as a kid is suddenly just a fraction of your rent and other bills. It’s a difficult transition time if you’re not prepared for it; the question is, how can families help their kids prepare for their financial future?
Look for advice on parenting online, and you’ll quickly find any number of sources who will tell you all sorts of contradictory things. This is especially true when it comes to kids and teaching them how to handle money: should they be given an allowance? Should they have to earn it? How can you help kids learn whether they can afford expenses, and how to budget and save up when they can’t? I was curious what other people thought, and only a few minutes of searching showed me that people think pretty much everything imaginable about this topic. There was, however, one thing that was fairly consistent: parents need to learn to be open with their children about family finances.
This might be one of the most important things that we can do to help children learn from our examples. If you don’t have money in your budget for fast food that day, it helps to be upfront about it and tell the kids. If they want a toy or game that you can’t pay for right then (or don’t want to, of course), help them learn about saving money for future purchases.
Children probably don’t assume that you have unlimited sources of money, but if you act like you do they won’t learn as quickly how to deal with their own finances. Seeing their parents’ care with financial things, kids will pay more attention to how money is spent: what mom and dad buy, what they don’t, and when they do (This has the additional bonus of being an incentive for parents to stick to a reasonable budget!). It’s much better to be able to learn from others’ actions than to have to struggle through things for ourselves. Kids will still need to develop their own habits, of course, and like I mentioned there are plenty of online sources that have innumerable suggestions about that, but kids will have a good place to start from the things they discuss and observe with their parents. Like so many other things, learning to budget and save starts in the home.
—Sam Watson, Editor, Stance
As a parent to be, I tend to think about parenting advice and mentally collect my favorites for my future parenting needs. One of my recent favorites is a picture my husband told me about. This …
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Now that the Thanksgiving feast is over and the snow has started to come, it’s time to bring out the Christmas décor! There are lights to hang, the tree to decorate, and goodies to bake. But this …
What do street tacos, Chinese take-out, and contaminated food have in common? All three are capable of causing food poisoning. Symptoms of food poisoning include nausea, cramping, diarrhea, and vomiting.
If you suspect that the food poisoning is a result of seafood or mushrooms, call 911 immediately. If you aren’t sure what the cause of the food poisoning is, adhere to the following rules:
—Frances Avery, Editor, Stance
As students, it is easy to feel inadequate in our studies, social circles, and everyday endeavors here at BYU. No matter how hard we try, sometimes our imperfections are all too clear before us. A few weeks ago, my friend told me about an experience …
IT’S WINTER!!! Isn’t it wonderful?! Here are five reasons why a winter wedding is a wonderful idea: Rustic Pinecone Boutonnieres Stand Out Winter weddings are unique. Flowers and colorful leaves tend to steal the spotlight, but what could be more magical than …
There’s a sad fact of life that everyone has to learn eventually: doing awesome things can cost a lot of money. The good news is that kids usually don’t care how much it costs to do something fun. For example, most children can be just as happy visiting a free playground as they would be doing something much more expensive and involved, especially when they’re young. The other benefit to simple entertainment options is that they involve less standing in line, less being “on your best behavior” for kids who have a hard time staying still, and less stress for the rest of the family overall. The important thing is to spend time on the things that kids enjoy, not how hard it was for us to plan and carry out the activity.
With that in mind, here are some ideas for cheap or free activities to do with young children that will be more fun and less money for everyone:
Not only are these ideas less stressful for the parents, but they can also be helpful for children. There are some fun things that you can’t do at home and have to pay for, and I’m sure that everyone will want to do those every now and then, but showing children that it’s important to think about the cost of activities first will help them have better habits in the future with their own personal finances.
—Sam Watson, Editor, Stance
Pregnant women struggle to get enough sleep, especially when they are in the third trimester. Most articles say sleep is illusive because pregnant women’s bellies are so big that a comfortable sleeping position is difficult to find. I didn’t think this applied to me because …