4 Simple Tips for How to Get Your Child to Sleep

sleeping girl

Getting your children to go to sleep quickly and easily is anything but easy! Not getting enough sleep can affect not only your children’s mood and health, but also your own – you need your sleep, too. Below are some tips to help get your children to bed and snoozing in no time.

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Stepparent Survival Guide: Your Rights, Responsibilities and Tips for Being an Effective Stepparent

Stepparents

Being a parent is challenging, even under the best of circumstances. But being a stepparent is extra-challenging, as you’re stepping into an already complicated family dynamic. You may also be bringing your own children into your new family, with both you and your new spouse becoming a stepparent at the same time.

How does a new step-parent navigate this complex world? What are stepparents’ legal rights and responsibilities? What can stepparents do about discipline? Medical issues? Interactions with their stepchild’s school? How does a stepparent become the best stepparent possible?

Below you will find a summary of the research on being an effective stepmom or stepdad. We tried to answer your questions about relationships with your stepchild, effective discipline, dealing with your stepchild’s school and with medical issues. We also listed some great resources for step-parents on these issues.

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How to Give Your Kids a Real Taste of Cinco De Mayo

Mexican food

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo by making (and eating!) yummy Mexican snacks is a great way to introduce your kids to a new culture. Here are some tasty Cinco de Mayo snacks ideas that get our mouths watering just writing about them! Read more

Celebrating Your First Mother’s Day after Divorce or Separation

Mothers Day

Guest post by Amanda Moore

Mother’s Day can be an emotionally loaded holiday, especially after a divorce or separation. You probably used to celebrate it with your whole family, your former spouse included.

Hopefully your ex will let your children be with you on Mother’s Day, even if it’s not your usual weekend.

Here are some tips for making every Mother’s Day a happy occasion, even after a divorce.

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5 Common Mistakes to Avoid when Parenting through a Divorce

common mistakes parenting divorce

Guest post by Brad M. Micklin, Esq., the lead family attorney Montclair

Every divorcing couple goes through different degrees of civility and struggle. Higher animosity between parents can lead to difficult co-parenting. Sometimes, it might feel impossible to co-parent and handle certain situations.

Regardless of your ex-spouse, you can choose how you want to parent your children. Here are some common mistakes you should try to avoid when parenting through divorce.

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How to Prepare for Mediation

Preparing for mediation

Guest blog post by Andrew Crooke, Director of Family Law at Murdoch Lawyers.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) includes several methods. One such method available to separating parties is mediation. Mediation has become more popular over the years, as it is quick, affordable and confidential. As the name suggests, mediation is basically a negotiation expedited by a neutral third party. Mediators do not make any decisions, they just facilitate the negotiation. They also determine when and where the mediation process takes place, who is in attendance, and who pays for the mediation.

Usually, mediation is initiated voluntarily by the parties themselves. Sometimes it is required as per the statutes, court orders or contractual terms. It is a common practice in family, housing or small claim courts.

To ensure that the mediation process is successful, here are a few things that you should check with your family lawyer, as advised by the most experienced lawyers in Brisbane:

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How Divorce Will Affect Your Taxes

Divorce effect on taxes

Couples navigating the complexities of a divorce may often overlook the aftermath of their separation and its effect on their taxes. With President Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which also affects the divorce process, it’s important to re-examine how divorce will affect your taxes.

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Divorce from a Young Person’s Perspective

Teen worried about divorce

Guest blog post by Woolley & Co

As a child, or even as a teenager, learning that your parents are going to get a divorce is stressful and confusing. You might be getting conflicting information about what it means from your friends, siblings, TV shows or online articles. Woolley & Co team has compiled a handy list of facts to hopefully answer some of your questions and ease your worries.

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Supervised Visitation: Tips for Visiting and Custodial Parents

supervised visitation

Supervised visitation is a serious step taken by the courts to protect the welfare of the child. The safety of the child is the most important reason for supervised visits. Other factors like substance or physical abuse, unfit living conditions, a diagnosis of mental illness, fear of parental abduction or incarceration can also weigh into the decision for supervised visitation.

If you are faced with supervised visitation, what does this mean? How does it work? In this post, we share information and advice about supervised visitation for both sides – the visiting parent and the custodial parent.

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Understanding the Family Dispute Resolution / Mediation Process

Conflict resolution & mediation

Guest blog post by Vicki Jackson, a family law attorney with Rockhampton family law

Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) is a mediation process that helps families in conflict to communicate and to reach an agreement about issues related to their divorce, like child care, financial arrangements, child support and property settlement.

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