All posts by R.C. Liley

I'm an ex-mutual fund accountant who left the cubicle world to be a stay-at-home dad to my beautiful little girl, Avery, who entered our life on 11/15/13 and handsome little boy, Wes, who joined our family on 11/19/17. Also happily married to my wife, Kelley, as of 8/17/07. Sorry ladies... :) Fitness and nutrition is of the utmost importance in our family and we strive to reflect this in our daily life. I always prepare our meals at home and only go out if it's a special occasion, and even then I tend to not get much. Food should be fun and a joy to eat, not something quickly consumed from a fast food chain or scarf down before the next meeting. I have come from strictly logging high miles to train for the next marathon to keeping exercise varied and focusing more on strength. I still enjoy going for a run when I can, but nothing crazy, and I prefer hill sprints while pushing my daughter, Avery in the stroller. She loves it and I get a great workout! I want to show the world how to appreciate their body and feed it real, wholesome food while moving more throughout the day. In doing so, everyone would be healthier, happier, and we'd all live in a better place as a result. I blog mainly about my life as a stay-at-home dad and frequently include reviews, participate in campaigns, and share my thoughts on fitness and nutrition. If you ever have any questions or thoughts to share, please reach out as I'm always open to listening or helping others however possible. That is, when I have free time since Avery is and my wife are the number one priorities!

Growing Pains: Helping Your Child With Their Teenage Anxieties

anxieties, teenager, child, parenting, kids, growing up
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While you might think that once you get past the toddler stage, it is plain sailing! After all, the idea of a good night’s sleep went out the window when they were born, and you look forward to reclaiming that later on. But, you could very well struggle with this issue again when they become teenagers. Not because of the general day-to-day duties, but because of something far deeper. Teenage anxiety is, as you will remember, incredibly unique. And in fact, it can be argued that it’s worse today than it ever was. But what can you do to help your child with their teenage anxieties?

Pinpointing The Actual Problem

It’s not always about asking them directly, but it’s about casual observation. It can take time to get to the root of the issue but it may very well be a straightforward problem, like acne. In which case you might very well be able to help in this respect, by pointing them in the direction of the right medication, or take them to the doctor. Or in fact, make your own acne cream with RU58841 5% solution! It’s better to take a step back and observe so you can see what the main issues are and if it’s something that, in the grand scheme of things, is cosmetic, this is something we can aim to fix.

They May Not Want To Speak To You About Their Problems

If this is the case, can you point them in the direction of someone who can help? It all depends on the nature of the problem, but what you can help with is to give them a way to express themselves. This is something that as a parent we have to realize that we might not be able to directly influence the outcome. But what we can do is to point in the right direction either in terms of counseling, or giving them the opportunity to vent with someone else. But what they don’t want us to do is interfere. This might be a bit heartbreaking because you want to help your child, but if they don’t want to speak to you directly, it’s important to remind them that when they are ready to talk to you that you are there.

Be Careful With Positivity

Ultimately you might have been there before, and experienced all the same issues, but now you feel okay. But when you try and communicate this to your child, it’s important that you don’t hurry them along to get over it, because what they’re going through his seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. It’s difficult for them right now, and as much as you can tell them to be more positive, this might not be what they need to get to the core of the problem. Sometimes we have to just let them ride it out. But we can do as a parent is to ensure they know we are there. 

Maybe their problems are insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but they’re going through a huge state of anxiety. Whatever your opinion is this can be more stressful than you think. Keep your perspective, and remember, you were there once!

Proper Budgeting To Deal With Your Family’s Health

Your family means everything to you. They’re the people you love most in the world, and you’d do anything for them, to help guide them along in life, and keep them safe as you grow as a unit. 

But sometimes, our proper family budgets can fall by the wayside. It’s hard to budget the same way week by week – the more you spend to put food on the table, and to put toys in the toy chest, the less you have to put away each paycheck. And that might be where you’re going wrong; money is one of the best ways to guarantee your family’s future health, after all. 

And families can have a lot of health problems. As you’re growing, and going through such a huge developmental period in such a short time, all kinds of things can happen to you mentally and physically! And so, now’s the time to rethink your family budget, to deal with any potential mishaps.

healthy, family, budget, expenses, saving, money, finance
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Think About the Commonly Occurring Appointments

Your children (and you!) have a lot of doctor’s appointments to attend, on an annual basis. And when it comes down to it, any treatment that one of these appointments might lead to, and even the cost of keeping up with regular appointments themselves, can cost a lot. Year by year, Americans spend millions and billions on healthcare, and when you’ve got a large family, you’re going to be spending the most. 

Which is why it’s important to try and put away at least 20% of your paycheck, every time you receive one, into an account for later. The more money you have on the retainer, to pay for your children’s treatment, or even just to get a second opinion when you think something serious is wrong, the better you’ll keep to your necessary check-ups. Even if you can only head out once a year, saving up now will make sure you can keep to the bi-annual schedule. 

Invest in an Insurance Policy

Health insurance is one of the best policies you can take out for your family – if you can put all of the members of your household underneath a money-saving umbrella, in case of accident or emergency (or some much needed dental work!), you won’t constantly be burning a hole in your bank account. Hospital bills can get very expensive, after all, and you don’t ever want to be stuck with a medical treatment you can’t pay for, especially when there are kids involved. 

Do your research. Look into what kind of insurance policies are the most family-friendly; you might even want to start with the Health Reform Team, if you’re not quite sure what to tap into Google to begin with. And remember, it’s usually a lot better (and cheaper!) to buy a single policy your whole family can fit under, rather than trying to take out single policies for everyone you know and love. 

Is your budget family health-friendly? It might be time to change.

3 Things to Remember When Planning a Child’s Baptism

Your child’s baptism is an important event in their life and possibly one of the first big events that they are a part of. It is also likely to be one of the first opportunities your family and friends will have to celebrate your child’s life and show their love and appreciation for you and your growing family.

baptism, faith, family, events, christ

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Planning your child’s baptism can be difficult and time consuming. There are a lot of things to consider if you are going to get it right and have a baptism that runs smoothly so that you get the time to enjoy yourself.

This quick guide is going to cover three things you should take the time to consider if you are planning a child’s baptism and want the day to go without a hitch.

Find the Right Venue for You and Your Guests

The venue is an important thing to consider for any celebration. You want to choose a venue that has enough space for all your guests and for children to play, but you do not want one so big that people feel separated from one another.

You also need to consider space for any food, refreshments and entertainment that you are going to have for your guests to enjoy.

Make Sure You Send Out Invitations

You want to have a celebration that has a good turnout with plenty of family and friends in attendance to give the party a good atmosphere.

Using an invitation that you send out early, you can almost guarantee good attendance at the event by making sure everyone has enough time to pencil it in the diary. You can use a template to create a unique baptism invitation that will stand out from the crowd and get you a lot of RSVPs early.

Get Plenty of Food – Consider Catering the Baptism Yourself

The food is often one of the most important factors in any party. If you are paying caterers to provide food for your guests, you can take a lot of stress off your plate and let them do all the food preparation and service.

You can provide food yourself, however, or ask party goers to bring a dish with them to help feed everyone. Catering the party yourself is an opportunity to give your party a unique feel and make sure that any special dietary needs for the party congregation are accommodated.

The baptism of a child is a special event that gives you the opportunity to introduce your child to your wider family and your group of friends. Like any celebration, a baptism requires and deserves a lot of planning to make sure your guests have a great time and that your child enjoys themselves too.

It doesn’t have to be too challenging to plan a successful celebration, and with the right planning, any party can be a success without too much stress. Hopefully, this quick guide has given you some of the information you need to plan your child’s baptism and have a celebration that is a success for everyone.