No matter how much your child enjoys school, at some point they’re probably going to try to convince you they’re too sick for school. You may not be concerned if this happens once in a while, but when it occurs often in a week or two, you may want to know if something else is going on. As a parent you want to know if they’re trying to avoid something or someone.

It’s not unusual for children at school to be mean to one another. Just think back to when you were in school and you’ll remember. Today’s kids, it seems, can be far crueler than children from past generations ever thought of being. It could be this reason why your child says they’re too sick for school.

When your child complains about not feeling well all week and yet miraculously gets better on Friday at 4:00 p.m., you know something is up. What are your options? How can you help your child get through whatever their problem is so they can go to school with their head held high?

You want to let your child know that they can come to you and talk to you about anything. It doesn’t matter if the subject matter makes you or them uncomfortable, they’ll be glad to know they can talk to you. Being available and truly listening to what they have to say is very important.

Ask them questions without sounding like you’re a lawyer cross-examining someone on the stand. You can ask them questions such as “is everything okay at school” or “are you having problems with someone at school” without it sounding like the third degree. If they will answer you without looking away or avoiding the question, things are probably alright in that area. It’s when they begin avoiding your eyes or stammering to find an answer that you may have hit on the problem.

Here are some of the areas where your child may be having a problem and yet be afraid to talk with you about it:

* They may not being doing as well in school as they think you expect them to, so if they’re not in school, they may feel they have an excuse.

* There may be another student who is causing them stress by bullying them.

* If there’s a new baby in the home, your child may simply be feeling left out and trying to be at home with you and the baby.

* Have there been changes in your home such as a death in the family? Perhaps your child is afraid to let you out of their sight because they’re afraid you’ll die, too.

There are many reasons why a child may claim to be too sick for school. Try to determine what their reason is by talking to and really listening to what they’re saying and not saying. When you have the reason figured out, you’ll be better equipped to determine the best course of action to take.

Every parent would love to think their teens are perfect and respect them. But, truth be told, that’s probably not true. Parents especially feel their children aren’t perfect when teens talk back. If it’s happened to one parent, it’s most likely happened to many more. What is a parent to do?

Parents don’t often realize the cause of talking back. For a teen, they may feel frustrated or powerless in a situation. They feel their only recourse is to talk back. They may say “you’re not being fair to me” which is totally different than saying harmful things to you which may be considered verbal abuse.

* If you’ve already told your teen ‘no,’ for whatever their request was, the decision is already made and you’re not obligated to change it. No matter how many times they try to explain their point of view, stick to your guns. You are the parent.

* You love your teens but you don’t have to accept back talk. Explain to your teen that you won’t accept rude behavior. Explain that you are willing to talk with them and willing to listen, but back talk won’t be tolerated.

* When they talk back you don’t have to respond. Of course, chances are you’ll be tempted to do so, but you’re an adult. You don’t have to stoop down to their level. Responding may also make the situation worse.

* Take your time choosing which battle to take on. You’re not going to win every conflict with your teen over talking back, but you can take on the ones which are most important. Forgetting to feed the dog one day may not be a problem you want to fight about, but talking back by teens most likely is.

* Try to establish a password or sign to let your teen know when they’re getting close to crossing the line with you. Having recognized boundaries will help with this. They may also help keep peace in your home.

* Decide ahead of time what the consequences will be for continual talking back. If your teen knows what the consequence or punishment will be, and you follow through with it, they’ll know you mean business about this habit they’re establishing.

You want your teens to respect you and their talking back may indicate there is a lack of respect. Refuse to respond when they begin talking back. Acknowledge pre-established consequences, and then following through with those. Before long your teen will get the hint that talking back doesn’t do them any good.

When teens talk back you may want to get down on their level and make them see your point. However, this only indicates to them you don’t deserve their respect. Use some of the hints above and you may find the talking back happening less and less often.

If you’ve been in Chicago around March 17, you may have seen the Chicago River dyed green. You know you’ll see people in that springtime color, as well. When it comes to St. Patrick’s Day dessert ideas, do they all have to be green, too?

Actually, there is more to St. Patrick’s Day than the color green, although you may not be able to tell it from a cursory look around you. Since people expect to see rainbows during the holiday, because of the leprechaun’s pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow, you can use any color for desserts. These ideas of St. Patrick’s Day desserts may help you find desserts everyone will love without fear of their teeth turning green!

Colored gelatin can make a great St. Patrick’s Day dessert. Create a gelatin rainbow in a bowl. Make several flavors and colors of gelatin, then cut them up into small squares. Place them in a glass bowl so their colors can be seen and top the dessert with whipped cream. Children will love this idea.

Cupcakes are normally a hit for dessert. Make regular cupcakes but add some St. Patrick’s Day fun. Stir in candy shamrocks and bake. Frost with orange or yellow frosting. You can also make shamrock-shaped cupcakes by placing small balls of aluminum foil between the side of the baking dish and baking cup before pouring batter into the cup. When the cupcakes are finished, they will come out with the shape of a shamrock if you placed the aluminum balls correctly.

Nearly everyone loves home-made cookies. Find cookie cutters in the shape of shamrocks, leprechaun hats, pots of gold, Celtic crosses, or any other Irish icon. Let the children join the fun making the cookies and then decorating them. You can also make cookies and then fill them with green icing.

Adults often have a sweet tooth, too, so why not try this Toffee Shortbread cookie bar? You’ll need the following ingredients for the shortbread:

* 3/4 cup softened butter
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 2 cups all-purpose flour

For the toffee, you’ll need:

* 1/2 cup butter
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
* 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping, you’ll need the following:

* 1 6-ounce bag of chocolate chips
* Chopped nuts (optional)

Begin with the shortbread by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl. Stir in the flour until it is mixed well and then press that into a 9-inch square pan. Bake this for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Allow the cookie to cool.

For the toffee, melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining ingredients except vanilla and bring this to a boil. Continue cooking this for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, to ensure the mixture doesn’t burn. Remove from the heat and then add the vanilla. Pour the toffee mixture over the cookie which is still in the pan. Allow this to cool completely.

The topping is made by melting the chocolate chips in the microwave or in a double boiler. Stir the chocolate until smooth, then add chopped nuts if desired, and pour it over the cooled toffee and cookie.

These are but a few St. Patrick’s Day dessert ideas you can choose from. If your family enjoys a particular dessert but you don’t consider it Irish enough, add green food coloring and it’ll work just fine!

Come March 17, you can expect to see nearly everyone wearing the color green. Why, you may ask. It’s St. Patrick’s Day, of course! To help you celebrate the day, here are some St. Patrick’s Day party ideas you may want to use.

Obviously, you’ll want to set aside St. Patrick’s Day for your party, if possible. If March 17 is on a weekday, you may want to have your party either the Saturday before or after so as many people as possible can attend. If you make the party during the evening, you may want to celebrate on the exact day.

Celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day began as early as 1737 in the United States; the first parade was celebrated in 1762 in New York City. Since that time, those of Irish descent and non-Irish descent have celebrated the holiday in a variety of ways. Some cities, such as Chicago, Illinois and Savannah, Georgia, dye their rivers green in honor of the day.

Why is St. Patrick’s Day celebrated March 17 each year rather than another day? It is said that the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, died on this date in either 460 or 493 A.D. Although not much is known about the life of St. Patrick and he has not been officially canonized, he is thought of as being very important for Roman Catholics the world over. You don’t have to be Irish or Roman Catholic to celebrate, however.

Maybe you can’t travel to Ireland to celebrate St. Paddy’s day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some of the things they enjoy there. Make a Blarney Stone out of papier-mâché or Styrofoam; finding a large rock would also work. Since those able to kiss the Blarney Stone are supposedly given the gift of eloquent speech, you may want to see if that legend is true.

Create your own pot o’ gold filled with chocolate covered in golden foil. Have a child dress up as a leprechaun and guard the pot. Suggest they ask people wanting candy to sing a verse of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” “Danny Boy,” or another Irish song.

Decorate your home with shamrocks, rainbows, gold or orange and green flags. Prepare St. Patrick’s Day games or activities for children to enjoy while the grown-ups chat. Plan to have Irish music playing in the background to help with the ambiance.

Of course, you’ll want to offer up Irish or at least green cuisine. This could be as simple as using food coloring to dye various dishes such as cupcakes with green icing, green grapes, or chips with guacamole. You could actually prepare corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew, or Shepherd’s Pie. Offer green-dyed beverages as well.

There are so many things you can do when trying to come up with St. Patrick’s Day party ideas. You can use some of the ideas above, but you can also look on the internet to come up with others. The thing you want to remember is make the party fun for all and keep those Irish eyes smiling until next year’s party.

When you hear the term “spring cleaning” you more than likely think of your home. You know, you have things which have accumulated during the winter you want to get rid of. You can do the same thing outside. In fact, here are some tips to spring clean your garden.

As soon as you can get out in the warmer springtime weather, you may want to do the following:

* Go through your garden to remove any dead annuals which remained in the garden over the colder weather. You can add these to your compost pile or begin one if you haven’t already done so.

* Now is also a good time to prune back any perennials you have in your garden. Of course, you’ll want to wait until you see new growth at the base of the plant before you prune them back.

* Woody-stemmed plants such as lavender and buddleia are cut back each year to allow for new blooms on new plant growth. Wait until you know there’s no chance of frost or you could kill the plant.

* Trim back any torn leaves from semi-evergreen plants such as hellebores or bearded iris. This will encourage the plant to send out new growth as well as help them look better while you wait for growth.

* Ornamental grasses are generally cut near the ground, within a few inches, to encourage new growth. Since these grasses are hardy, they’ll come up in their own time no matter when you trim them back.

* Pull up any weeds you see in flower gardens while the soil is damp. This will make it easier to rid your garden of the weeds, especially while they’re small. Be careful not to compost these weeds or they may take over your compost pile or possibly spread into other areas where you don’t want them.

* Test your soil to determine if it needs fertilizer. You can also amend your soil with other organic material to get it in the top shape possible.

* Divide or transplant during the spring. The earlier you get this done, the better chance your plants will have to survive.

* Stake out your garden space. You may want to go ahead and plan your garden while you’re at it, too. Planning and staking your garden will train your plants early on, rather than having to struggle with them later in the growing season.

* Place a generous layer of mulch in your garden. This will cool the plant roots when needed, feed the soil, conserve water, and help keep weeds at bay.

* Edge your garden in the springtime and it will prevent your lawn from encroaching into the flower or vegetable garden. You’d also be surprised how much nicer a garden looks when it’s edged.

There’s nothing like a tidy garden to begin the spring. Using these tips to spring clean your garden will get it in tip-top shape while you’re waiting for the flowers to bloom!