One of the reasons children will sing the same song over and over again is because they love routine.

Think of a preschool classroom. The children follow the same routine every day. They begin with hellos and independent play. Children know that day after day when they arrive they will have time to play. My own children hated the phrase “we are running late” when we were getting ready to leave for preschool. They wanted that play time.

From play time the kids move to circle time. For both of my kids, in two different schools, this was the morning routine, play time then circle time.

Now think of elementary school. The children quickly learn the classroom routine. Their papers are turned in at the same place daily. This might be the teacher’s desk, or it might be a bin in the back of the room, but for the entire year, the kids know that when they need to turn in papers they go in the same spot as yesterday. My kids knew which day of the week was library day, which day of the week was computer lab day and which day of the week the science specialist would visit their classroom.

I can even share a junior high routine story. At the junior high my kids attended, the kids had 6 classes each day. They had four before lunch and two after lunch. Once each semester the kids would have a “backwards day”. All this meant was that the kids would attend their classes in reverse order. My kids loved this day. They wrote down their schedules, planned how they would get from class to class and talked on the phone for hours with their friends about this day. Even at junior high age, our kids are so accustomed to routine that breaking the routine for one day caused days of planning. Yes, it was fun, but it was reason for kids to plan ahead.

If preschool, elementary school and junior high school feel it’s important for a routine, wouldn’t it seem natural to try and have a routine at home? While we certainly can and do make spur of the moment decisions, we also have always had a lot of routine. For example, we leave the house at the same time every morning for school. There is never any question about what time we’ll be leaving. I’m going to ask every single morning if everyone has everything they need as there is no turning around. I’m going to ask what everyone wants for breakfast and lunch each and every morning. I’ll make everyone different sandwiches, and then stick in fruit, chips or a granola bar.

Dinner routines are also pretty standard in our home. We eat dinner about the same time every single night. After dinner, it’s homework time. When kids know what to expect and when to expect it, it takes a lot of stress out of their lives. There is no uncertainty about when or how things will happen.

Sport practices and dance classes can be part of the routine. If the kids know they practice on Tuesday of every week and when they get home, they will change and then have dinner, then homework, it’s a routine. It may be different than Monday’s routine but the kids know what to expect each and every week.

I have found that routines have helped create some calm in our home with everyone being a little less stressed.

If you looking for mild-mannered dog that is great with kids and loves long walks than the English Setter might be for you!

This hunting dog, makes a wonderful family pet being calm in the house requiring daily exercise. You’ll need to have a yard for him to run around In and take them on walks but he is great with children and has a sweet personality. The breed dates back to 16th century France where it was developed from the French Pointer and Spanish Pointer for hunting. In the 1800’s Sir Edward laverack further develop the breed into the dog we know today.

The English setter is a medium-sized slender dog which can grow to be between 23 and 27 inches tall and weighing between 45 and 80 pounds. He has a medium length coat which is white and has the interesting distinction of being speckled with varying size dots. His hair is slightly wavy and his medium length ears high pointed tail and the backs of his legs are fringed with hair. He has a long head and a pronounced stop with a square muzzle and large bright hazel colored eyes. His coat is white and the speckles can be in orange, brown, or blue.

The English Setter has the sweetest most mild-mannered personality which makes him a great family dog especially if you have children. He can be difficult to train though so you need to start with a consistent training program when he is young. Use only positive reinforcement as the English Setter will not respond well to harsh treatment. This breed can also become very vocal and might bark excessively unless you train him not to from an early age. A hunting dog by nature, the English Setter is great at retrieving, hunting, pointing and agility. While he will not be overly energetic in the house, the English setter does need a yard to plan and brisk walks every day.

The English Setter can tend to become overweight if you don’t watch what you feed him. This can cause a problem as this breed is prone to hip dysphasia. He doesn’t really have any other inherent health problems, although the females can be prone to false pregnancies. The English setter can live up to 12 years with the proper care.

Grooming the English Setter is not overly difficult but his medium length coat does need daily brushing. If you let your dog run and play in the woods, then you will have to inspect his hair for burrs and in the summer lookout for ticks. Be sure to brush out any knots in his hair as soon as you find them. This breed is only an average shedder and does not need to be bathed often.

Ghosts and ghouls will be about this October 31. But you must protect your little goblins from the real dangers that are out there on Halloween. Keep your kids safe and your holiday fun with these Halloween safety tips.

Halloween Safety Tip #1: See and Be Seen

It’s usually dark when kids go trick or treating, and in their costumes, they can be very hard for drivers to see. Your kids will be crossing the street and walking along the sidewalk, so keep them safe from traffic by making sure they are clearly visible to drivers. You can do this in two ways. One, keep their costumes light. Dress them in light colors like white, or orange, or yellow. However, this only works for kids dressed as ghosts, pumpkins, or bananas. You can also outfit your child with a reflective vest or tape that will light up in drivers’ headlights. Make sure your children won’t be left in the dark - keep the little monsters visible.

Halloween Safety Tip #2: Arm Against Animals

Your neighborhood is probably full of pets, raccoons, badgers, and opossums. Protect your children from loose dogs or angry raccoons with animal repellant. Security Stores sell canine repellant that will fend off smaller animals and even stronger bear repellant that will get the big guys.

Halloween Safety Tip #3: Arm Against Bad Guys

Dogs and bears aren’t the only living danger children can run into. When it comes to Halloween safety, protecting your child from people who mean to do harm to them is parents’ number one concern. We sell pepper sprays that can effectively disarm a criminal and give your child time to run and scream for help.

Halloween Safety Tip #4: Make Some Noise

Personal safety alarms will draw attention to your child’s situation immediately. If a stranger approaches and tries to attack your child, they can set off their personal safety alarm, which will emit a high pitched siren to call for help. Often, the criminal will run away.

Halloween Safety Tip #5: Go Along for the Fun

The best way to protect your kids during Halloween trick-or-treating is to accompany them on the adventure. Younger children should always be supervised by an adult, and older kids, though they may not want a parent tagging along, will be safer with mom or dad around. You don’t have to ring to the doorbell for them. You can just hang back a little and observe, increasing the Halloween safety of your children.

Halloween Safety Tip #6: Examine Before You Eat

Your Halloween safety vigilance doesn’t end when you get home. Before your children eat any of their treats, inspect the candy for anything that looks suspicious. Homemade candies, though they can be a thoughtful effort by a well-meaning neighbor, are dangerous because you don’t know what is in them. The same goes for unwrapped candies - they may have been tampered with. Once you have confirmed that your child’s candy is safe, then you can let them go nuts. You’ll feel better knowing that all they’ll get is a bit hyper and maybe a sick tummy.

Halloween safety should be your number one concern this Halloween, but once that’s taken care of, you and your family can have a spooky, scary, fun holiday filled with all the treats - and none of the tricks.

The Internet puts a whole world in front of you. However, there are times when this means that children are browsing the Internet and thereby exposed to material that is inappropriate. Or they might, by accident, give out personal information that puts you at risk, such as your credit card number.

The first thing that you need to do is educate your children about how to safely use the Internet. Children have a natural interest in computers by the time they are two years of age. They can easily land on websites that are great for both education and entertainment.

As your child ages it can be more complicated to keep track of everything they do online. By the time they are teens they may be looking at porn or else talking online with people who could be predators. Many times teens will post a picture of themselves online and give out personal information that a pedophile could use to find them.

You need to be involved with what your child does online so that you can reduce some of these risks. Try putting the computer in the living room or else keep an eye on what it is they are looking at. These two things alone should let children know that you’re watching and some things are forbidden.

You won’t, no matter what, be able to watch everything your children do online. This is a frightening thought but you simply won’t be able to know everything they do when you’re shopping or at work.

Or is there a way that you can know?

The answer is yes. There are many hardware tools and software that you can use to restrict the Internet access your child has or to monitor what they are doing online. Most of these programs are reasonably priced while others are free. There are even some that will give you some great tips on how to restrict your child’s access.

FILTERS

You can block some websites, or keywords, by using software for filtering. You can use an already built in list or you can create your own. There are some porn sites, and other sites that are inappropriate, that are blocked according to the vendor of the filtering software. You can update these lists at any time. When your child tries to go to one of these websites an “HTTP 404 Page Not Found” error will pop up.

You can set up a filter that blocks access to some traffic on the Internet, such as email, newsgroups, instant messaging, and P2p (peer to peer) hosting. P2P is sometimes used for the exchange of some files.

Filters aren’t ideal and it’s sometimes impossible for databases to be up to date for the simple reason that there are always new websites on the Internet. But filters can help.

There is software that can keep track of everything your child does on the computer. This includes the email they receive and send, websites they visit, the programs they are running, and the keystrokes that they have been using.

You also have the option of installing software that will limit and restrict the computer at certain times of the day. The computer will shut off at a certain time or when so much data has been downloaded. Windows has some built in tools for managing this but it takes some expertise to be able to configure it.

There is also software available that will block out the name of your child, your address, and any other personal information from being sent out over the Internet.

BROWSERS

Some Internet browsers have been created just for children to use. It incorporates some of the filters that have been mentioned above. These browsers make it easy for children to use the Internet and are simpler than Firefox or Explorer. However, you shouldn’t rely only on these browsers. You can’t uninstall Explorer from a Windows OS and this means that many smart kids will figure out how to access it.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to go to a store and examine all the possible offspring and take one with you? Like within the grocery aisle, you could scan the array, searching for the brightest, ripest, juiciest, or sweetest of them all. Then you could wrap it up and head for the exit. Once at home, you beam with pride over your smart choice and begin to enjoy all that they have to offer.

If this appears to be more of an adoption tale than anything else, then not so fast. I’m not discussing adoption. I’m talking about raising our own natural-born children. And we do it everyday, without even realizing it. Sure, we have little control over the genetic characteristics that are inbred, but after the birth, all the environmental factors kick in. From the earliest stages, we actually make all the decisions for the child and, therefore, create the various aspects of their future personality. If that’s not choosing your child, than what is?

If the father of a boy is prone to play sports or go hunting, he unconsciously begins teaching his son about tossing a ball or playing with guns. Would the child have asked for these things if the dad hadn’t done so for him? Or what about mom buying her daughter that baking oven or craft set? See how we influence them? During the first few years, we have a captive audience within the toddler. They listen to our music, see our taste in colors, furnishings, and our lifestyle. If we travel, they travel. If we camp, they camp. But they also get to see the seamy side, as well.

If you argue or yell at your spouse, do you always conduct these fights away from the children? Are you constantly aware of how they react to your emotional outbursts? While it’s perfectly normal to have disputes and differences of opinion, you are always “on-stage” before your audience of offspring. Regardless of your intent, you are molding them into a clone of your behavior, including likes and dislikes.

For instance, do you keep lots of junk food in the house, or are you opting for more health alternatives? They eat what you eat. Do you attend church? Do you watch a lot of television? If so, what are your favorites; dramas, comedies or reality shows? Your kids see the world through your eyes. Are you an organized neat-nick or a disorganized slob? How do they keep their rooms? Is it a reflection of your home?

As they grow, they understand more and more about your lifestyle. Do you smoke or do drugs in the house? How about alcohol? Are you obese or addicted to gambling or sex? They tend to mimic your behavior; so don’t be surprised as they begin looking and acting more like you every day. When you chose to have them, you also chose to choose for them. These are lessons that they will carry with them into adulthood. If you could do things differently, now that they’re older, would you still have designed their life the way you did, or would you have gone a different direction? This is especially true, knowing what you know now. For those couple planning a family, consider this. You do get to choose your children’s lives, and that’s almost the same as first squeezing the cantaloupe or sampling the red grapes. Only with far great consequences once you get them home.