Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth Frank Horton of Fort Worth, Texas announce the engagement and forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Anna Apple Horton to Brad Alan McDaniel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Wayne McDaniel of Auburn, Alabama.

Does your child’s behavior sometimes make you question your abilities as a parent? If so, you are pretty normal. The truth is that there are no perfect kids and no perfect parents. It is how we interpret our children’s behavior and whether we respond appropriately that is important.

Our children give us hints at what is behind certain behaviors, but because we are not mind readers and because children, most of the time, have difficulty putting feelings into words, we have to become good “guessers.” We have to learn to decipher the “behavior
code.”

The word cooperation means “to work together toward a common end or purpose.” Are your attempts at engaging cooperation with your child something like trying to engage them in a game of tug of war? Perhaps part of the problem is in how their cooperation is solicited. “Do this!” “Don’t do that!” “Pick it up!” “Stop it now!” And, when we are not issuing orders, we often go into long diatribes about behavior. I have the idea that to our children these must sound something like the teacher in the “Charlie Brown” cartoon….”Wah, wah, wah, wah.” Most of our wordiness falls on deaf ears.

How do we get our children to listen to us? By listening to them. Here is an example of how tuning in opens the door to communication. Imagine that your child comes home from school with a scowl on her face, slams her books down on the kitchen table, and says to you in a snippy tone “Is this all there is to eat?” How you respond can make a tremendous difference in what happens next. Suppose you go into your diatribe. “I don’t know what your problem is, but you will not come into this house throwing things around and speaking to me in that tone of voice….blah, blah, blah.” Your daughter runs to her room, slams the door and doesn’t come out until suppertime.

All of us are reared with a “code of behavior.” Some of us also have strong wills and are somewhat resistant to a code of behavior that prevents us from doing what we want to do.
Generally speaking, our behavior is shaped by parents and others in our environment, as well as by our experiences of the world as we have come to know it. Development is a life-long process. As parents we need to understand the capabilities of our children at their various stages of development. We can’t force children to develop at a faster pace than is possible for them.

Mr. and Mrs. David Dorough of Homewood, Alabama are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Julie Alison, to James Timothy Watts, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Watts, Jr. of Auburn, Alabama.

Mr. Aaron Almond of Opelika, Alabama announces the engagement of his daughter, Calandra Adora to Mr. Timonthy Tyrone Harps, son of Ms. Lizzie Louise White of Griffin, Georgia.  The bride is also the daughter of the late Mrs. LaRuth Springer Almond. 

Mr. Samuel Brooks of Brownville, AL and Ms. Diane Hodges of Tuskegee, AL are proud to announce the engagement of their daughter Taraysa Dionne Hodges to Jorrod Franklin Johnson, son of Rev. and Mrs. Joe Frank Johnson of Auburn, AL.

Don’t miss the Tax-Free-Holiday, Back-To-School Special Edition (Which won’t be available in the newspaper!) coming out Tuesday August 4th. Learn all about it at this link.

Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say
by: Emilyn Gipson, Child Advocacy Center

I remember being awe-struck by the fact that my son’s kindergarten teacher talked in a soft voice, never raising her voice to get a student’s attention or to gain control of the class. She had a small “tinkly” bell that she rang when the class became loud. She would remind the children that she needed everyone to be “good listeners” so they would know what they would be doing next. I asked her how she was able to maintain her “softness of voice.” She answered by saying, “The children have to learn to listen. They cannot hear me over the voices of their classmates, so they learn to quiet each other down so they can hear what I am saying. If I raise my voice, then I am just competing with them.” The second part of her success for maintaining order was to follow through with what she said would happen. She was very precise in giving instructions. When students continued to be disruptive, they forfeited the planned activity. This sometimes meant the whole class. Other times it was particular students who were given something else to do while the rest of the class carried on with the activity. The next day, the child or children being disciplined, got another chance to prove themselves

What is it that makes some parents think that by shutting kids down, they have stopped an undesired behavior? Most of us have indelibly etched into our brains phrases we remember our parents using to gain control of us. I recall two phrases that were used a lot on me: “Do you understand me, young lady?” And, “Don’t you talk back to me, young lady.” While I remember the disciplinary phraseology, I have no earthly idea what it was I was supposed to understand or what I was wanting to talk back about. I do remember being frustrated because no one seemed to care what I thought or how I felt about much of anything.  (to read full article click headline)

The kids didn’t want to pick up their toys but when they decided to have a yard sale and make enough money to go to McDonald’s, the rest was easy!

The art of accountability…teaching a child to do the right thing can be as simple as noticing it and commenting when they do or allowing the natural consequences to follow when they don’t. Read on to learn a little more about how to get into a child’s world and let the right stuff happen.

Mr. and Mrs. Walker Madison Jackson of Auburn announce the engagement of their daughter Bonnie Nell Jackson to Mr. Matthew Walker Capps, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Isbell Capps of Macon, Georgia.

Mary Deanna Reid and John Arthur Blackwell were united in marriage at 5 p.m., Saturday, June 6, 2009 at Farmville Baptist Church in Auburn, Ala.  Rev. William R. Cannon II of Auburn and Dr. Robert J. Lehn and Rev. David M. Beck, both of Westside Baptist Church of Martinez, Ga., officiated

Free Parenting Classes at Opelika’s Child Advocacy Center Yield Unexpected Results.

More ideas for a box of Pizza Dough. Creative and Family Friendly.

Dad probably gave you a lot of advice — some of which you’ve chosen to ignore. Maybe he tried to regale you with stories of how things were done in “his day.“

Mr. and Mrs. Burl Sumlin Jr. of Auburn, AL announce the engagement of their daughter Jenna Louise Sumlin to Jarret Allen Layson, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Layson of Opelika, AL.

Their names are eerily known to many: Adam Walsh, Polly Klaas, Amber Hagerman, some of the children who have come to symbolize families shattered through abductions and murders.

When Annamarie Saarinen needed to soothe her ailing daughter, she used a rattle — downloaded to her iPhone.

Here are some tips to help get you walking to a healthier lifestyle

The number of vacationing Americans will be down this summer, according to a new AP-Gfk Poll, and a third of Americans surveyed said they have already canceled at least one trip this year because of financial concerns

Scan the breathless headlines at any magazine rack — Fight Flab in Minutes! Get Beach Ready! Add the skinny yet buxom model, and it should be no surprise that the average woman feels insecure if not downright unhappy with her real-world figure.

Amy Burke lost her mother three years ago, soon after her 25th birthday. The Baltimore resident thinks about her mother every day and though she’s sad, she says she has her grief in check except for one annoying time of the year — Mother’s Day.

Some trendy shoppers don’t have the patience to hold out for a bargain, snapping up the hottest looks early in the season at full price. Some smart trendy shoppers, however, know that you don’t always have to wait to get au courant styles on sale.

We are looking for 12 drawings to use on the Parenting page on OANow.com!

What to do with 20 frozen pizza dough balls??

So you’re skipping the fancy coffees, brown bagging to work and going longer between haircuts. But here’s another way to save.

As they watched stocks rally last month, Matt Rizzetta and his fiancee Daniela Papandrea loosened up their wedding and home renovation budgets

It’s a question all homeowners face when they decide to sell: How can you make your home as appealing to potential buyers as possible? In today’s market, that question has become even more crucial.