As you all know this blog titled Parents “R” Us is all about the experiences, insights, advice, and little things that people who are not parents probably wouldn’t understand. This blog is also for any parent married or single to read, so that they will realize that they are not alone out there, and someone definitely understands the insanity that is called family. So today I am going to talk about my favorite subject my own insanity, lol.

I have to tell ya I love being a dad or Poppi as my kids call me. I also love my wife to pieces and I am grateful every single day that she has accepted my kids as her own and that my kids have adopted her as one of their own and I am grateful for their acceptance as well as hers.

The two kids ages 16 and 15 respectively I am talking about are from a previous relationship that went on and off for approximately 19 years and ended very badly for their mother. We meaning the kids and I are lucky that my wife was there to help pick up the pieces, because there is no telling where we might have wound up without her love or support.

It is really amazing that my wife would choose to become a mom to kids already in their teens, but she is equal to the task. It is equally amazing that someone as young and beautiful as she is would choose to wed a man of my age. I am 45 years old and she is 28 years old a difference of 17 years.

The greatest lesson I have learned from this experience is that age doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter that my wife is only 12 years older than my son, or that my daughter is only 13 years younger than my wife. The 17 years difference in age doesn’t matter between the two of us either. What does matter is that the fountain of love is bottomless and that love itself is ageless.

If you are a single parent you should pay special attention to this. If you are interested in someone and you are older or younger than they are, or your kids are closer in age to that person than you are, it doesn’t matter unless the both of you or all of you make age an impassable barrier. If you are a married couple with a great difference in age then you already know or should know what I am saying.

The keys to making any relationship work is love, trust, and respect for the boundaries that your family must live within. This is very important for maintaining the integrity of the family unit and will result in the mutual respect of every member of the family for the other members of the family.

Father and Mother must always be united, never divided in order to maintain their authority so the kids know that the answers will always be the same no matter who they ask. Parents must always respect the individuality of their children, never treat one with more difference than the other, and never love one of them less than the other.

One piece of advice for the husbands out there though, Mothers Day is coming up and she deserves something nice for all that she does for you guys so make sure it either smells pretty, shines nicely, looks sexy, tastes sinfully delicious, or all of the above and you guys know what I mean.

That is all I have to talk about for today, but I am sure I will have something else to talk about very soon. Have an awesome day my friends and CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Parenting. It's not as easy as it looks. Yep, it all looks easy until you do it. Then you find out the truth. This is a task that nothing will prepare you for. If you're a parent, I know you can identify.

There are times that being a parent makes you want to pull your hair out. Some days it's frustrating, other days your kids make you mad, sometimes you aren't sure where to turn. But…then there are the little moments that come along that make parenting so worth it.

It's the little moments, like when you get the big hugs and kisses at the end of the day that make you feel everything is worth while.

It's the laughter of the kids you hear through the house that makes you smile and know you must be doing something right.

It's the angelic look on their faces as they sleep at night that remind you what huge gifts from God kids really are.

It's the note from a child or a colored picture they give you that brings tears to your eyes.

It's the "I love you's" they say that make your heart sing.

It's those precious dinner time conversations that make you laugh hysterically because no one else would have a clue what your family was talking about.

It's those comedic moments you miss on camera that stick in your mind forever and have you laughing for days.

These are the little moments that keep a parent going. It's easy to forget about your child killing the cell phone or blowing up the microwave in these little moments. The fact that they once again forgot to take out the recyclables slips your mind in these moments.

These are the moments I live for. They make my heart sing. They are fertilizer to a growing parent. They are the perfect memories that live forever in my heart.

Thanks for visiting Parents R Us once again. I hope you take a bit of time out today to think about some of your own little memories with your children that make parenting a joy.

One of the things that all families have to deal with is illness in the home. This is especially true where your children are concerned, because they bring home the majority of all the illnesses you will eventually suffer. You know what they say, “The Family That Shares Together Stays Together” LOL.

As you know kids will share everything too. They will share their dirty clothes with their bedroom floors, the foods they don’t like with the family pet, so why not share their colds, flu’s, and fevers with their parents. After all isn’t sharing caring?

There are a few things that you can do to combat potential illness on the home front though, and they are really quite simple things to do, so let’s run down a short list okay?

1) Make sure your kids always wash up before going to school.
2) Make sure your kids are dressed appropriately for the weather when they go out.
3) Make sure you and your kids always wash up before eating.
4) Make sure your kids bathe or shower at least once a day.
5) Make sure your kids brush their teeth at least twice a day.
6) Make sure your kids eat balanced and nutritional meals.
7) Make sure your kids keep a regular schedule from the time they wake up till the time they go to sleep.

Here is a short list of some necessary things you should keep in your home as well.

1) Make sure you have plenty of soap in the house, both bar style and anti-bacterial.
2) Make sure you have things like Aspirin, (Ibuprophen), and acetaminophen (Tylenol) in your home for those little aches and pains.
3) Make sure to have things like liquid Tylenol and Nyquil to battle sore throats, coughs, and congestion.
4) Make sure to have band aids for those cuts and scrapes so they don’t get infected.
5) Make sure to have a topical ointment type antibiotic like Neosporin to help fight infections from cuts and scrapes.
6) Make sure you have plenty of tissues in the house for runny noses.

If you can make your kids follow these simple rules and keep a good stock of the items listed then you should have a pretty good chance of fighting off the illnesses that will visit your home uninvited. I hope that this helps all of you out.

That is all for todays Parents "R" US post but we will be back again soon. Have a great day and CIAO4NOW!!!!!

I realize that the last Parents R Us blog was a bit sober, and today I'm planning to keep the tone a bit sober. I want to talk to you about a topic that has been heavy on my mind in the past few days. While you may find it a bit difficult to think about, it is something that every parent must think carefully about - preparing for the future.

Unfortunately, no one is guaranteed to be here tomorrow. It's a fact of life. Just because we are parents doesn't mean that we are immune to this. You may not always be around to take care of your children, and this is a fact that you must prepare for to ensure their needs are taken care of, even if something happens to you. Here is a look at some of the important steps to preparing for the future.

Talk to Your Spouse
It's not the most fun thing to talk about, but you need to sit down with your spouse and seriously talk about what will happen if something happens to one or both of you. You need to make sure that you are both on the same page. Find out your thoughts and try to come up with good decisions that will best take care of your children in the future.

Advance Directives and Power of Attorney
One thing that you may want to do is set up advance directives and medical power of attorney. If you both have end of life wishes, make sure you have an advance directive in place, also known as a living will. Medical power of attorney can be important. While usually spouses are automatically given this right, if something happens to both of you at the same time, it's a good idea to be prepared with someone you can trust to make these decisions. Don't just think about it. Get it in writing and ensure it's legal.

Child Custody
What will happen to your kids if something happens to you? If one of you has children from another relationship and you are living in a blended family, this is a decision that must be carefully made. If the children are yours, are you comfortable with them going back to your ex husband or wife? Maybe you want your current spouse to be the one to take care of your children if something happens to you. If so, make sure that everything is legally in place to ensure this happens, especially if you have an ex spouse that happens to abusive or dangerous. Consider child custody plans if something were to happen to both of you. If you are both gone, make sure you designate who will get your children so YOU are the one that makes that decision - not the state.

Write a Will
Writing a will can be important, especially if you have things you want to leave to your children. Many young couples don't have a will in place, which can lead to problems if something happens to them. You want to ensure that you say what happens to your money and other assets if something were to happen to you.

Get a Life Insurance Policy
While money can often be tight for parents raising a family, a life insurance policy is a need, not a want. What will happen to your family if you are suddenly taken from them? Will they be able to get by? You want to have the peace of mind knowing that they will be taken care of. A good life insurance policy can give you this peace of mind, and they don't have to be that expensive. This is especially important for those that are homeowners with large mortgages.

Thinking about these things is sobering; however, it is something that responsible parents must do. If you have not made these decisions, take some time to do so. You want to be there for your kids forever, but this is not always the case. Prepare for the future and remember - you are doing this for your kids!

Welcome to another installment of Parents “R” US. We are sorry that there has been a lapse in postings here, but sometimes life happens, and sometime life happens in a very BIG way. Joy as you know is the creator of Parents “R” us, and I am privileged to be able to write along side of her here.

However I am writing this post because Joy was touched personally by a tragic event that took place on Friday in the early hours of the morning. She lost a very close friend and law enforcement officer in Pittsburgh, PA by the name of Stephen Mayhle.

He was one of three officers killed in the line of duty in a stand off with the suspect known as Richard Poplawski. Officers Stephen Mayhle, Eric Kelly, and Paul Sciullo were killed responding to a domestic disturbance call. It seems that Poplawski was upset about losing his job, and the prospect of the Obama administration instituting a ban on guns.

This leads us to today’s topic of “A Parents Nightmare”. The nightmare I have about family is one about having to tell your children that one of their parents is dead. For the families of these three fallen heroes that nightmare has come true.

Now I don’t know about officers Kelly and Sciullo, but officer Mayhle is survived by his wife and two young daughters. His family was not even notified by the Pittsburgh Police until his wife called looking for him, because he was late returning home after his shift. She was informed by the department that she would have to come in to the station.

Joy and I cannot for one minute even begin to understand how the families of these fallen warriors feel, or how to tell their loved ones that these brave men will not be returning home especially their children. How do you tell children such a horrifying truth?

Now I will tell you that in my life I have lived through some dangerous life threatening situations and I never knew how it would have to be told to my children that I wasn’t coming home, luckily for me I don’t live that life anymore.

I do think that I have some idea of what I or my wife would say if it happened to one of us though. I think it would go something like this.

Example:
Kids come in here please and sit down I have some bad news and some good news for you to hear. First the bad news and that is that your mommy/daddy is not going to be coming home any more because he/she has passed away.

Now for the good news and that is that he/she has gone to a better place and is now with God. He/she wants you to know that they love you very much and wants you to live a full and happy life. He/she wants you kids to know that they can’t wait to see you when God says it is your time. Until then remember that he/she loves you with all of their heart for ever and ever.

That is how I think I would tell my kids that their mommy is gone and I think she would do the same for me. However I will say again that I we have no idea how the families of these men will tell the story to their kids, and all we can do is pray for them in their hour of need. I will further add that I would hope that God would extend to these families the mercy of brave hearts and souls.

I hope you all say a prayer for these men’s souls and their families also. Have a wonderful week and I will see you all again real soon, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Hail Mary, full of grace.
Our Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the
paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death; I will fear no evil: for thou
art with me; thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies: thou anointest
my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life; and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord for ever.

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever.
Amen.