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teen life skills
In Parenting

Basic Life Skills to Teach Your Tween & Teen to Set Them up for Success

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Studies show that many students these days have little skills when entering the real world. We live in a world with helicopter parents and apps that do everything for us, but we need to be teaching our kids actual skills. Some students have little to no understanding of how to cook a meal, manage their money, do laundry or even how to make a phone call for themselves! They’re increasing having difficulty transitions from home to college, and that responsibility begins at home. The younger you can teach your kids these basic life skills the more confident they become overall. It’s so important that parents don’t do everything for our kids, we need to let them fail a little, we need to give them the knowledge needed to be independent. Here are some basic life skills to teach your tween or teen to set them up for success.  Transportation:   How…

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In Parenting

Worrisome Toddler Behaviors That Are Actually Totally Normal

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Toddlers are weird. Yea, I said it. You’ll have a hard time finding a mom who hasn’t questioned their behavior at some point and in some capacity. Parents are usually prepared for tantrums, crying, hitting, and even biting. But sometimes, our toddlers throw us for a loop when they do something outrageous that we’re not prepared for. So, when you find your toddler acting in a way that seems highly unsocial, bizarre, or harmful, we can worry about why it’s happening and whether we need to seek advice or be concerned. Often, the behaviors aren’t as destructive as we think. Here are a few common worrisome toddler behaviors that are actually totally normal. Some weird toddler behaviors that make us nervous wrecks but relax, mama; these odd things are normal: Hair twirling or pulling: This behavior can be alarming or frustrating if they’re tangling their hair. But, it’s simply…

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In Parenting

The Complexities of Mother’s Day; Tips on How to Celebrate as a Single Mom

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With Mother’s Day around the corner, we need to remind ourselves that while it’s a beautiful day to celebrate, everyone experiences it differently. It used to be a day when mothers were doted on by families with flowers and homemade cards. But, lately, we have begun to wake up to the complexities of Mother’s Day. Those complexities include so many different reasons people find this day hard. Perhaps you’ve lost your mother or are struggling with infertility. So many people had mothers who weren’t there for them, some are watching their moms fade away to disease, or perhaps they live far away from their mom. There are so many ways the day can be triggering and complicated and stir up trauma. We recognize all these complexities and struggles with the day. If this feels like you, then feel free to take a pass on this post. Celebrate, or don’t, in any way…

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In Parenting

Birth Order Theory; The Leader, the Negotiator, and the Baby

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We have no control over our birth order, whether we’re first, middle or youngest child – there is nothing we can do to change that. The Birth Order Theory shows how birth order plays a role in our personality traits. This is disconcerting when studies show where we sit in the birth order plays a profound and lasting effect on child development. However, Birth order is not a personality trait that appears at birth. Instead, it’s a theory that develops based on family structure and dynamics and how they shape personality traits during a child’s developmental years. These can also change and evolve; gender, adoption, blended families, and child death all play a role in the structure of birth order.   We all know a typical firstborn and a rebellious middle kid and a spoiled last child. We’ve probably also seen the comical depictions of birth order on TikTok. How much does our birth order impact our…

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camp, summer camp
In Summer Camp

How to Choose the Right Summer Camp

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Summer camp is a big deal. It can alter the way your child sees the world, the friendships they have for life, and the experiences that shape them…. but no pressure. How to choose the right summer camp can feel like a balancing act. Between scheduling, finances, interests, distance, there is a lot to consider.  Here is a checklist of the things we think you need to consider when choosing the right summer camp for your kids.     1) Financial Decisions This is often the top reason to select one camp over another. Day camp varies from approximately $25 to $150 a day. Some things that influence the price are the type of camp the location, but it’s also worth inquiring about the price. The following may be included in the price, making the high price tag fit your budget after all.   -Is any food is provided   -whether a bus…

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In Mom Moments

Thanks Tips… On Dropping the Mom Guilt

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We all have mom guilt at some point. I don’t know one mother who hasn’t felt the pressure of balancing relationships, childcare, career, etc. and feeling that we’re falling short of what’s expected of us. Guilt is a moral emotion that occurs when a person believes or realizes—accurately or not—that they have compromised their own standards of conduct or have violated universal moral standards and bear significant responsibility for that violation. Guilt is closely related to the concept of remorse, regret, as well as shame. But where do these standards come from? Why do mothers have so much guilt? Who set the bar? Our society and culture have taught us guilt. Our community has set expectations of what we’re supposed to do and accomplish, and there unrealistic. These expectations were set in the 1950s before women entered the workforce and lost our villages. Then, women entered the workforce, got paid…

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In Uncategorized

Top Fundraising Problems; and How Mabel’s Labels Solves Them

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Fundraising is inevitably a necessary burden to keep schools, clubs, and organizations running these days. From needing to cover travel costs, uniforms, equipment for kids to overall helping under-funded programs up and running. The benefits of fundraising are so great for kids; you need to understand the most effective way to raise money for the kids’ school or organization. The big downside to fundraising is that it’s a BIG job. It’s a full-time job and can add to already busy and stressed parents. Whether you’re asking parents to sell chocolate bars, wrapping paper, or magazine subscriptions, parents get tired of the time-consuming burden of fundraising, and organizers get tired of the planning, distribution, and overall logistics. There are many flaws with fundraising programs, but we’re here to show you how we’ve created the most straightforward way for both parents and organizations to raise funds without needing the added burden. Our…

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In News

Keeping Your Baby Safe From Germs This Flu Season

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Tips & Tricks on Managing the Germs and Family Expectations We’re all familiar with the simple ways to keep our baby safe from germs, especially during flu season. Living through a pandemic has certainly taught us about washing our hands and wiping surfaces. It’s unlikely these days that any parent would use a public change table without wiping it down first. But surface germs aren’t a parents only, or biggest concern. For infants, it’s more complicated. While it is essential for our babies to grow a strong immune system, these days, it’s more important to ensure we’re keeping our babies safe from germs that can cause them harm. Of course, they’re naturally exposed to germs every day. Still, it’s your job as parents to ensure they’re not deliberately exposed to more germs than needed, especially those coming from other people. Germs from other people can be quite harmful to an infant…

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baby names
In Parenting

2022 Baby Name Trends

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Baby names rise and fall in popularity; it’s a curious thing. We imagine that popular culture plays a significant role. Songs, movies, books, and television are the biggest influences, and will continue to influence the baby name trends for 2022 We’re excited to see where these predictions land. (Take a peek back at our previous speculations) It’s clear that as cultural evolution happens, so do name evolutions. It’s probably unlikely that we’ll be seeing many babies with the name “Karen” in the next few years. Here at Mabel’s Labels, we can confirm it isn’t a name we see passing through our printers very often (Although, full disclosure: we have a lovely Karen working here at Mabel’s Labels customer service, and you’d be lucky to know her!) We also don’t see unique names that were previously trending, like Delta on the rise much further. Instead, it’s far more likely we’ll see a rise in names…

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