A friend’s son recently moved back home so that he could afford to go back to school. He would often leave the kitchen a mess after making a meal. Once they had a conversation about the importance of cleaning up after yourself so everyone could enjoy the space, they have been able to enjoy time together with few disagreements. He recognizes the importance of cleaning up after himself and keeping the shared space enjoyable!

Kathy Watson

The post Enjoy your living space appeared first on Your Better Life.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, involves coming up with a SIMPLE way to help your teen athlete eat healthier. This message will NOT self-destruct in 5 seconds

As a parent, that IS your mission—whether or not you accept it. And it might seem to be, everything, but simple.

Between the junk food that always seems to be present, the fast-paced lifestyle that many teens choose, and the conflicting information on what healthy eating REALLY looks like, it can seem like MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.

One way to bring clarity to this challenge is to understand the definition of nutrient-dense foods.

They are real foods—not chemically processed. Generally, very rich in necessary vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, and healthy fats.

Choosing foods that are HIGH in nutrient-density is a similar notion to “getting the most bang for your buck.” It’s all about consuming foods that give you the most amount of health benefits, with the least amount of caloric intake.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at 5 nutrient-dense foods, what they offer, and easy ways to incorporate them into your teen’s weekly snacks and meals.

1) Berries—Nature’s Candy

Getting your athlete to eat more berries, is probably not THAT difficult because these colourful fruits satisfy the need for something sweet—and most teens are regularly reaching for sweet.

But don’t underestimate the power of nature’s answer to candy. Thanks to a large dose of phytochemicals called anthocyanins, berries can boost athletic health in these ways:

● Quicker recovery due to anti-inflammatory properties

● Help keep blood sugar levels more balanced, so there is no “crashing” during practice

● Improved memory

Besides packing them as a snack, you could try this “fun breakfast,” to start the day off right.

Overnight Oats

Mix equal parts of Greek yogurt, almond milk, and oats in a clear jar or container of your choice. Set in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, there is no need to cook. Just add fresh berries and honey to taste.

2) Egg Yolk

It’s time to “right the wrong” that has been done to the egg.

Science now shows that eggs are NOT responsible for causing high cholesterol. And taking it one step further, many of the significant health advantages are in the part of the egg that has often been tossed out—the yolk.

Include eggs in your athlete’s diet for these reasons:

● Improves brain health thanks to the choline in eggs

● Loaded with high-quality protein, which is essential for endurance and strength

● Full of healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals for proper development and recovery

Hard Boiled on Hand

At the start of each week, make sure you have a dozen hard boiled eggs on hand. With a bit of salt and pepper, they make a filling and healthy snack.

Kids are more likely to choose them if they are readily available.

3) Raw Garlic

It’s not really a secret that garlic has many health benefits—it appears on most of the “superfood” lists out there.

This is because it is chock-full of vitamins B & C. It also boasts high levels of calcium, potassium, copper, manganese, and selenium.

But it is the active ingredient, Allicin— produced when it is minced or crushed—that provides powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits that every athlete needs.

Also, fresh garlic:

● Promotes heart health needed for intense efforts

● Kills pathogens and bacteria, keeping colds at bay

● Is good for bone health, which adds protection from injury

Protective Cold Remedy

Want to boost your athlete’s immune system?

Peel and crush 6-10 garlic cloves and simmer in 2 cups of water for 10 minutes. Strain and then add the water to the juice of one lemon. Add honey, to taste.

Give this to your athlete at the start of a cold or when feeling run down.

4) Sprouts

Look past the salad-like quality of alfalfa sprouts because this flowering plant means business when it comes to health benefits.

A super-high concentration of vitamins and minerals translates into these valuable benefits:

● Reduces inflammation – thanks to high levels of vitamins C and B as well as calcium

● Improves digestion – because of the high dietary fibre content

● Protects the heart – thanks to high iron and potassium

Forget the Salad—Go For This Smoothie

Mix these ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy. Serve for breakfast or as a healthy, power-packed snack.

1 ½ cup of frozen mango

1 cup almond milk (or water)

½ cup of alfalfa sprouts

½ avocado (optional)

1 Tbs. honey or agave

1 Tbs. lime juice

5) Dark Chocolate

You probably won’t have any trouble convincing your athlete to partake in this treat.

Dark chocolate has high amounts of fibre and an abundant supply of iron, manganese, copper, and magnesium. Also, it is plentiful in antioxidants which combat the free radicals that can result from intense training.

Additionally, the cocoa in dark chocolate gives you these benefits:

● Lowers risk of heart disease

● Supports brain function

● Reduces blood pressure

A Square a Day…

Keep chocolate limited to one square a day to receive the benefits without adding too much sugar to your athlete’s diet.

Purchase chocolate with at least 70% cocoa for the best benefits.

There is Power in the Foods You Choose

In between the pizzas, late nights studying, french fries, ice cream, and hard-core training sessions, it IS POSSIBLE to deliver the kinds of nutrients that set your athlete up for success.

Look for power foods that are nutrient-dense to make a difference in their nutrition.

Now it’s your turn. Are there any crafty ways that you use to get your athletes eating better? Share in the comments.

You might just help another parent who is facing—what seems—to be Mission Impossible.

David Benzel

The post Is It Mission Impossible To Get Your Athlete to Eat Healthy Foods? appeared first on Your Better Life.

Six years ago, our lives were changed forever when we received our first-ever foster placement, a sibling set of four children between the ages of six and nine. We soon discovered that these four siblings had already been in foster care for more than five years, and needed a forever family. Our four biological children, between the ages of 15 and 20 at the time, we’re excited about growing our family. So together we decided to have these children become a permanent addition to our home.

However, we also discovered that there were three more siblings in this family and the seven siblings had been living in three separate foster homes. At that time, their social workers first approached us to consider taking in and adopting all seven siblings, an offer which we initially declined. However, we wanted these children to be able to see their siblings and immediately set up regular visitation in our home. Studies demonstrate that there are many benefits for kids in care who can maintain relationships with their siblings.

Although we were fairly confident in our parenting skills (although far from perfect :)), we (and our family and friends) thought the plan to add all seven siblings to our home and family, especially when each of them had special needs, would be too crazy and too stressful. The transition of the first four children had not been a smooth journey, as there are typically many challenging behaviours to deal with in connection to trauma and attachment issues. If you have not yet seen it, I would encourage you to watch the movie “Instant Family,” to see a fairly authentic picture of what life is typically like for parents who adopt foster children as they try to discover a new normal for their growing family. Clearly, the road from fostering to adoption is sometimes bumpy. These parents often need a lot of support. Even if you do not feel called to adopt, I will encourage you to take the time and effort to support someone else who has taken on this journey. I truly believe that “it takes a village to raise a child.”

However, another year passed by, and the social workers were unsuccessful in their search for a forever family for the three younger siblings. In the meantime, we started to wonder if perhaps adding all seven children to our family could work. We were feeling optimistic about the successes which our first four adopted children were experiencing. We were hopeful that if providing a forever family could have such a significant impact on the older four siblings, perhaps we could also make a difference in the lives of the youngest three children.

We knew that the siblings all longed to be living together in the same home with the same family. A lot of the children’s behaviours were settling down, as we expanded our knowledge about how to best support and parent children with trauma and attachment issues. We realized time was quickly passing by, and these three younger children were in limbo. Although we had some anxiety about what it would look like to adopt the three younger ones, we were more afraid of what would happen to these children if no one took the risk to love them. Therefore, our family met, and we talked about the possibilities, and together we decided to add the youngest three children to our forever family.

We immediately took a Safe Babies training course, emptied our bank account to purchase a crib and more beds and car seats, in addition to a 12-passenger van. In 2015, we began to implement the permanency plan, and the two-year-old and four-year-old brothers moved into our home. Six months later, their six-year-old sister joined our family.

If you had told me six years ago what my life would be like today, I would not have believed you. If you had said to me six years ago that I would have adopted seven children with special needs, in addition to having four biological children and two grandchildren, I would probably have said that you were crazy and that I would never have the courage to do something like this. It is true this journey is hard. We have often been stretched to our limits. When we signed up for it, we never imagined beautiful children from hard places would take so much out of us or be so exhausting. But that’s what real love is all about.

Our children have come from some hard stuff and their ability to love back, and give back, is often gone, or in short supply. There are reasons why our kids have hurled curses at us, pinched, bit, hit, kicked or spit on us, their teachers, EAs, or anyone they came in contact with. It’s not their fault. However, as Ella Fitzgerald once said, “it doesn’t matter where you came from, it’s where you are going that counts.” We believe that part of our job is to help our children understand that even though their past didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to, their future can be better than they ever imagined.

Our youngest child is now five years old. When he was about two years old, he noticed we had different coloured skin. He said “Look, Mommy! I’m chocolate, and you’re’ nilla!’ (vanilla). I told him “Our skin doesn’t match, but our hearts do.” However, I do believe that if all the world could see people’s differences as ice cream flavours as he did, the world might be a better place.

Lately, this same five-year-old son has become intrigued with the idea of where babies come from, because of family members who have been pregnant and given birth. He concluded that all babies come from their mommy’s tummy and therefore he must have come from my tummy. He then started telling people “I remember when I was a little baby inside Mommy’s tummy, and Daddy took her to the hospital and then I came out.” We realized it was time to have “the talk” and explain to him that he has two mommies because he came out of his birth mother’s tummy. We showed him a picture of his birth mom, and he was surprised to learn that she was chocolate too. I then told him that he is adopted, and that adoption is when babies grow first in one mummy’s tummy, and then they grow in their other mommy’s heart.

After our last child was adopted, we had a big family celebration. We handed out “Survivor” buffs to signify that we were all merging as one tribe, “Survivor” style. We then handed out goodie bags which each held a pair of bright coloured warm fuzzy socks. We told our kids these were symbolic of how each of us in the family is different, yet the same. We each are colourful in our own way, yet the strong bonds of “warm fuzzies” and love connect us all. Then we had a giant dance party to end the celebration.

People often stop and stare at our family and make comments about how we really have our hands full. Sometimes, we say “If you think our hands are full, you should see our hearts.”

We have seen what love can do. In the past six years, we have seen our youngest seven children transformed in so many different ways. And we ourselves have been transformed. If there was ever a cause worth fighting for, it’s this: children belong in families.

Looking back on our journey, we acknowledge that we have gone through endless challenges and have had many sleepless nights. In spite of all of that, this journey is worthwhile; we have no regrets. We love our children deeply. We did not need to know what the last six years would hold; we just needed to take the first step towards adoption in faith. Martin Luther King Jr said, “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step”.

Every child needs a family who will stand by them through thick and thin, in good times and in bad. For example, on the day of our five-year-old son’s birthday party, we had to cancel the party because he had to be admitted to the hospital with a serious condition. Over the next two weeks, he was never alone in the hospital because his parents and adult siblings took turns staying with him. Not only did his family show up for him there, but they made sure he was still able to have his superhero birthday, and they all showed up to the party in superhero costumes. That’s what it means when you have a family who has your back and is always there for you. Every child deserves a family who is there for them always. Period.

Emma Mild-on, a well-known international columnist, author and publicist who speaks about adoption, wrote: “I don’t think roots are as important to a child as wings are.”

We believe that God knit our children together in their birth mother’s womb, and then He wove them into our hearts. We may not have given them the gift of life, but life gave us the gift of them. We were called to do this. And in time, the love we pour out for them will take root. And as we continue to provide the love and support our children need, it will give them wings.

Ray & Lisa Warnock

The post Fostering to Adopt: The Journey Continues appeared first on Your Better Life.

Disney Pixar’s movie “UP” hit it “out of the park” with their character “Dug.”

Do you remember him? He was the talking dog that would always say, “Squirrel!” mid-sentence. Regardless of what was going on, Dug would lose his train of thought by the distraction of a nearby squirrel.

Parents everywhere chuckle and more than likely can relate because children so often respond the same way.

Distractions can seem like the enemy of focus – and there seems to be an unending supply of them during sports competitions.

Even if external distractions such as noisy fans, bad weather, or a crying baby are limited, athletes still need a way to quiet the internal distractions. These might include anxious thoughts about performance or fear regarding an opponent.

A good working definition of focus is this:  Pay attention to the most important things and avoid giving attention to all the things that matter less.

What are the most important things? In sports, it would be to focus on the moment by moment execution of your skills.

Easier said than done.

Here are 3 strategies that can equip young athletes with a way to regain focus in the moment.

1) Game Plan Thoughts

Anyone who participates in sports knows that distractions are an equal opportunity diverter. In other words, we all fall victim to distractions from time to time – young, old, elite and novice athletes – no one is immune.

One strategy that enables athletes to perform consistently at top levels, in spite of distractions, is a choreographed mental plan on how to respond to them.

Kids can be coached to focus on the positive thoughts that help them to be successful on their best days.

●      What are they thinking on their way to practice?

●      What do they think about during warm-up?

●      What are they thinking during the actual practice?

●      What do they think when they make a mistake?

Awareness of positive and negative thoughts in these 4 areas, and more importantly, how it impacts their performance, is a powerful tool.

However, have you noticed that some athletes can repeatedly perform strongly in practice, only to fail when it comes to game time?

This is because the emotions, stressors, and regulations are entirely different during a competition. For this reason, it is necessary to have a similar mental plan for games.

How-to: Talk with athletes about their answers to the 4 questions (mentioned above.) Once they are aware of the thoughts connected to successful practices they can use the same thought processes to come up with a specific plan for competitions.

2) Visual Anchor

Can you spot it – that particular look on your athlete’s face when you know their mind has wandered from the moment at hand?

Maybe it is a look of frustration as she fails to use her backhand grip that she had perfected in practice. Perhaps that dreaded look is one of fear as he stands on the blocks and looks down the swim lane before the gun goes off.

If that look appears during a game/meet/match you desperately think of ways to “snap” them back into focus.

A visual anchor can do just that.

For the tennis player, a good visual anchor might be the brand logo on their tennis racquet. The swimmer might choose to hone in on the edge of the block they are diving off of.

In either case, the sight of the anchor prompts the athlete to refocus and block out any negative thoughts or distractions.

How-to: Choose a visual cue that can be easily viewed. Rehearse in practice the “train-of-thought” that should occur when the athlete looks at the cue. Use the cue to bring an athlete back to the focus-at-hand during competition.

3) Purposeful Listening

Drowning out noisy disturbances can seem impossible at times. This is especially true if it is a loud external distraction, such as an obnoxious spectator, or the recognizable sound of their parent’s voice. In some cases, it might be a new, never-experienced interruption like the marching band practicing on a nearby field.

Whatever the challenge may sound like, it is helpful to train athletes to purposefully listen to only what they need to hear. Teach them that through practice they can control what they are listening to – even when there are multiple and competing sounds.

How-to: Turn on two radios, set to different stations. Choose just one to listen to. After some time begin listening to only the second one. Athletes can practice going back and forth between concentrating on what is coming from just one radio at a time.

Moving Forward

Learning to manage distractions is just like learning any other skill set – it becomes most effective when it is practiced regularly. Teach athletes these helpful strategies to regain their focus in a game and then be sure to apply them each time they are working on their sport:

●      Devise a specific, choreographed mental game plan for distractions

●      Focus on a predetermined visual anchor to trigger specific thoughts

●      Purposefully listen to one source when multiple sounds are happening

Michelle Wells

The post 3 Strategies For Handling Distractions in Competition appeared first on Your Better Life.

Hosting friends at our place ticks a lot of boxes for us. We enjoy preparing food for others to enjoy, it’s a nice break from eating out (the Hong Kong norm), and selfishly…when we host at our place we can still hang out with friends with a contented sleeping baby in the next room. It does take a bit of planning to make it work in a 590 sq ft apartment with a tiny kitchen and balcony / BBQ access through Campbell’s bedroom, though.
It’s not a complaint, but hosting for us isn’t simple. We have a small fridge and tiny freezer, a tabletop oven, only 2 burners on the stove and no dishwasher. What works for us is limiting our number of guests to 4 (after all we only have 6 plates and sets of silverware!) and any more than that would be too crowded.

We typically time our invitation to ensure Campbell’s 7:00 bedtime routine isn’t interrupted; there’s usually a knock on our door around 7:30. I deem us successfully prepared when guests arrive if:

1. the house is clean and tidy

2. the Bose speaker is on playing a mix of background music

3. a candle is lit in the living room

4. all food (dinner and dessert) is prepared and in the fridge

5. appetizers are set out on the kitchen island

6. there are no dishes in the sink

7. I’m sitting on the sofa with a drink in my hand

In order to make this happen a decent amount of prep work happens throughout the day. Our preference when hosting it to have as little cooking to do as possible, so we design our menu to accommodate that. We prep everything in advance and cook as much as possible on the BBQ.

Here is bit of a formula for what we serve:

Appetizer: cheeseboard, red pepper jelly and sliced baguette

Main: grilled salmon or steak, tin foil veggies + potatoes (similar to this recipe here, but we add sliced new potatoes) & green salad.

I know I’m biased, but I think this looks like a delicious dinner!

Dessert: no bake parfait (like this one or this one)

During Campbell’s morning nap while I stay home Braden walks to pick up groceries (usually meat or fish), comes home and prepares a marinade and gets it into the fridge. During Campbell’s afternoon nap I typically head out to purchase any other groceries we need (and anything Braden forgot, haha!) then come home to prep. After Campbell finishes eating his dinner Braden usually takes him out for a walk while I finish preparing food, making dessert and tidying up. They return around 6:30 just in time to get organized for bedtime so Campbell’s settled in enough time before guests arrive. Basically it’s a full day ordeal to buy a few things and prepare them when you factor in a two year old!

The big complication with hosting and grilling food is the only access to the balcony is through Campbell’s room. Now that he’s two years old, he wakes a bit easier, so it’s more difficult to sneak in and out of his room to get to the balcony and BBQ (here’s a refresher of our floor plan if you missed it). To solve this, we set up Campbell’s travel cot (the awesome Baby Bjorn Travel Crib Light) in our bedroom, move his video monitor in too (we love our Arlo camera) and he’s down for the night. Fortunately for us, Campbell can fall and stay asleep with plenty of back ground noise (though having some consistent music in the living room helps drown out voices too). After guest leave, we do a quick transfer back into his own room and he’s quickly back asleep for the rest of the night.

Campbell’s corner in our bedroom while we host. The only space his travel cot fits in between the wardroom and entry to our bathroom. His camera has a magnet, so we improvise the placement with our oven on the bed!

While it may sound like a rigmarole, we genuinely love hosting friends at our place…it’s just been a matter of figuring out the formula that works for us (and sleep arrangements for Campbell) and sticking to that. Cheers!

ALISON SHIELDS

The post How We Host a Dinner Party in 590 Sq Ft appeared first on Your Better Life.

Do you know where this line came from? “You have chosen wisely.”

If you are over 40 and consider yourself a movie buff, you are proudly answering that it came from the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

In it, the adventure-seeking hero, Indiana, had come to a climactic, life-and-death moment and had to make a choice. Fans breathed a sigh of relief when he was told by the guardian of the Holy Grail that he had chosen wisely – and consequently lived.

As our children enter into the teen years they begin a rite of passage that should include making more decisions. Thankfully, most of them are not life-and-death, but they are important, nonetheless.

This is a season of life marked with many moments of thinking-for-oneself and is a normal part of maturing and gaining healthy independence.

Often times the process of learning how to make good decisions is as critical to growth as the actual resolutions that are reached.

Here are 3 important factors to consider when helping your teen navigate through a decision-making process.

You will notice that the first two steps help in determining what is the best choice in a given scenario.

The third is a necessary quality for all competent decision-makers.

1) Assess and Adjust

Before you can guide your teen, it is helpful to assess the degree to which they are willing to make a choice and then adjust any barriers that might be present.

In the case of a strong-willed kid, the desire to choose is not usually the problem – that fact has probably been evident since birth.

If this describes your child, it is crucial to give them the freedom to make choices. However, if they have a track record of making crazy ones, you might need to reign them in a bit by narrowing their selections down to a few acceptable options.

Other teens may lack the courage to make a choice, and instead, tend to rely on parents to make all their decisions.

These kids need to be pushed a bit out of their comfort zone. The more they practice weighing the pros and cons and choosing a direction, the more comfortable they will become with making their own decisions.

In either extreme – and every case in between – teens should feel safe to make mistakes and should be encouraged to learn from them.

2) Ask and Listen

One of the best ways to establish a learning mindset in regards to making decisions is to ask effective questions and of course, listen to the answers.

Although you might feel there aren’t any questions that are off-limits when it comes to your kids, there are definitely better ways to word them.

For example, some questions that would tend to stifle good, open, communication might be:

●      Why are you so far behind the others?

●      What’s your problem?

●      Why did you do that?

●      Who made that decision?

●      Don’t you know better than that?

Each of these injects judgment rather quickly. This will make your child very hesitant to seek your wisdom.

More effective ways to word these same ideas that instill confidence and ignite conversation are:

●      How do you feel about your progress so far?

●      What’s working well with it? What is not working well with it?

●      Why do you think that?

●      What kind of support do you need to achieve success?

●      What will the benefits be for you?

These latter questions promote a healthier conversation and can point your child in the direction of autonomy.

3) Accept and Avoid

Have you ever been surprised by a person’s willingness to accept ownership of their decisions – regardless of whether it was a good or not-so-good choice?

It’s a rare quality in our culture.

Avoiding the blame-game is hard to do – even for mature adults – but is a critical part of being a competent decision-maker.

Teaching your teens to do this starts in your own backyard. As with many other important lessons, they need to see and experience you practicing what you preach.

Typically, if your child is producing excuses every time they make a decision, it may stem from one of two places – fear or pride.

For instance, if you often hear, “I didn’t know” or “I tried, but I couldn’t do it” your child may feel that they are not able to make the right decision. Fear of making a mistake may prevent them from choosing, or cause them to give excuses when things go wrong.

If your child says things like, “Well it wasn’t my fault” or “He made me do it,” pride may be getting in the way of owning up to his choices. He might feel that he always has to be perfect. If his performance isn’t flawless each time he might be inclined to play the blame game to maintain the illusion of being perfect.

Take Away

Learning to “choose wisely,” is a life-long journey.

The teen years are a great time for our kids to practice the art of making decisions. It is a responsibility that can feel heavy for some and perhaps taken too lightly by others.

Encourage your children to approach decision-making in a positive way by asking effective questions that stimulate thinking and healthy conversations.

Teach them that owning their choices is not only an attractive quality but will help them to earn respect with their family, friends, and teammates.

Michelle Wells

The post Confident Kids Make Competent Decisions appeared first on Your Better Life.

To all the amazing women out there, you truly make the world go round. We wouldn’t know what to do with out you, who you are makes a difference!

Daniela Butcura

The post women’s day appeared first on Your Better Life.

Seems like a number of our clients are new grandparents and naturally they’re interested in taking steps to help pay for college down the road. So, what is the best way for a retiree, a grandparent, to help pay for their grandchild’s college?

If you live in the State of Florida and the grandchild is under the age of 5, I’m a big fan of the Florida prepaid tuition plan. That’s where you pay either a lump sum or make payments over time and in return the plan guarantees the tuition costs of any in-state college. If you purchase these plans when the child is very young, the cost is quite small and very affordable and risk-free.

And no, you don’t lose your money if your grandchild decides not to go to college. You can get a refund, you can transfer the benefit to other family members, and you can even have tuition paid to out-of-state schools.

What about other options? Well, the first option is the easiest and my favorite. Keep your money in your own account and during your lifetime if your grandchild goes off to college, at that time you can decide how and to what extent you want to help them out.

What if you’re not around to see your grandchildren go to college? What do you do then? Well, if you’ve got a good relationship with your children, their parents, and you can trust them to follow your wishes, again to keep things simple, one approach would be just to let your children know what your wishes are and trust that they would follow through on your wishes.

If that doesn’t satisfy what you’re trying to accomplish, you could always make provisions in your estate documents that a portion of your estate be held in trust or for benefit of your grandchildren, whether it’s one or several grandchildren.

Another option might be to establish a uniform gift to minor account or sometimes known as a uniform transfer to minor account. The account uses your grandchild’s social security number, but you or a parent is the custodian of the account, so you control the account, not the grandchild.

If you go this route, I would suggest accumulating no more than maybe $20,000 to $30,000 in the account because when your grandchild turns 18 or in some states 21, legally the money is theirs and they would be free to use it for any reason they saw fit, even taking an around-the-world trip or buying an orange Corvette, so that’s a downside. The upside is it can be a teaching tool. You can share the monthly statement with your grandchild when they’re old enough to understand, show them what the money is invested in, and maybe that will spark an interest in investing and a desire to learn about money and finances on their part.

Another option, which I’m not a big fan of, is 529 plans. A 529 plan works like an investment account. The earnings grow tax-deferred and if they’re withdrawn for higher education purposes they come out tax-free. The drawback, however, is your investment choices are limited and those choices are determined by each state and, quite frankly, some states do better than others. In addition, we see the accounts quite often being confusing to monitor and oversee. So, a 529 account would be an account of last resort and, quite frankly, we only recommend them to our clients when they want to make gifts that exceed the annual gift tax exclusion amount.

Having a strategy in place that makes sense for your situation to help pay for a grandchild’s college will move you one step closer to experiencing your version of an incredible retirement, doing what you want when you want.

Brian Fricke

The post Paying for a grandchild’s college appeared first on Your Better Life.

The school-sport-and-life balance can become a bit trickier as kids enter into the high school years.

Challenges become even more evident once an athlete starts considering and applying to colleges. Suddenly, GPA’s, standardized tests, volunteer hours, and essays become an essential focus.

It ends up making an already full schedule seem unbearable at times.

If you or your athlete find yourself always on the edge of disaster because IMBALANCE seems to be the new norm, take a look at these ABC’s — they can be a starting point to guide you AWAY from the insanity.

A is for Arrange Priorities

This may seem like an obvious first step, but it actually needs to take place at the start of EACH new season or EACH new semester. It’s not just a one-and-done activity. Sports logistics and academic responsibilities will change, and so arranging priorities is an exercise that will need to be revisited over and over throughout the year.

It’s important for parents to talk through this with their athlete. Although high schoolers are becoming more and more independent, setting priorities is a process that experienced adults will have insight into. And it’s an excellent opportunity to teach them life-long skill sets.

Pro-Tip: Make a “coffee-shop-date” with your teen athlete at least 3 or 4 times a year. Bring a journal for them, and brainstorm through ways to make the top 3 priorities — that you choose together — to happen daily. Be creative as you problem-solve. Make sure that it is a joint effort.

B is for Ban the Extras

High school is all about exploring the world. You probably encourage your teen to try new activities and learn new skills. Unfortunately, in all the excitement they can take on too much and end up running from one great activity to the next — without any downtime.

Burnout in sports and school is an obvious result of this crazy pace.

Banning the extras from your schedule is all about taking those priorities mentioned above and filtering all decisions through that lens. It doesn’t mean you never have a lazy day on the couch, but it does mean limiting the day-to-day extras that are not a part of your priorities.

Pro Tip: Take a serious look at the time spent on social media. Encourage your teen to limit this outlet. Sometimes tallying up the actual time spent in a week on their phone or another device might surprise them at how much time they use it.

Additionally, don’t be afraid to reduce the hours spent working an after-school job. Academics and sports participation will eventually come to an end but jobs will be there for most of life.

C is for Commit to an Accountability Partner

If you are the only one trying to keep your athlete in a balanced world, it could negatively impact your relationship. Enlisting the help of her community is important.

Since keeping balance is all about daily choices, it is crucial that your athlete connects with someone that will keep her accountable for making the right ones.

Encourage her to seek out like-minded friends, teachers, coaches, counselors, study groups, and older siblings who could help keep “balance” on her radar.

Pro Tip: Facilitate study groups by offering to host them in your home. Encourage your teen to seek accountability from the responsible adults in her life.

If balance in your own life is a challenge ask your teen to help keep you accountable too, as you both strive toward better choices.

Moving Forward

Our fast-paced culture does not lend itself to balance. We have to be intentional about our choices if “balance” is a trait we desire.

John Maxwell understood this concept when he said,

 “Nobody finishes well by accident.”

 You have to take action — on purpose. Use the ABC’s as a starting point:

●      Arrange priorities

●      Ban the extras

●      Commit to accountability partners 

Share Your Solutions

Now it’s your turn. Perhaps you have found a creative way to help your teen athlete find balance. Please share in the comments what has worked in your family. You never know who you might help.

Michelle Wells

The post The ABC’s of Balance For High School Athletes appeared first on Your Better Life.

Family can be hard to deal with, and we may grow apart. Family Day is here to remind us that blood is thicker than water and no matter what happens family will always be there for you in one way or other. Reach out to each other today, even if it’s as simple as sending a <3.

Daniela Butcura

The post Happy Family Day! appeared first on Your Better Life.