Get the stuff

• A small bag of frozen raspberries (anybody know why it’s spelled this way!?!?)

• Orange juice

• Raspberry sherbet ice cream

Puttin’ it together

• Dump just about half of the raspberries into the blender container

• Plop a couple of scoops of sherbet on top.

  Warning: more sherbet will make a more powerful taste, but it’s fattening and you don’t want to lose the benefit of all those crunches do you?

• Pour some of that orange juice into the mix.

Lets get it started

• Turn your blender on (remember the lid!)

• Daydream for a minute or two as you watch those berries getting chomped up real good.

• Cut of the power and check the thickness. If its too thick add some more orange juice, if its too liquidy then add a few more berries.

• Finish blending, and have fun drinkin’ this awesome smoothie!!

OH, and be sure to thank your parents for letting you use the blender

Got a question? Leave it as a comment here or email me at jg21things@bellsouth.net I’ll have an answer headed your way.

Tip #1 is amazingly simple, but you gotta do it first, and every day!

WRITE YOUR ASSIGNMENTS DOWN

I know, that seems so lame doesn’t it? But if a kid doesn’t know exactly what he’s supposed to do for the homework, it’s like playing wii blindfolded.

SO, if the teacher gives you a printed homework sheet, make sure you get it in your backpack and home. If you get verbal instructions, write, write, write. And if you’re not absolutely sure what the assignments is, ask for a repeat.

Hint: asking a teacher to repeat an assignment not only gets you the info you need, but you get bonus points with the teacher for showing how diligent you are. Just make sure the dog doesn’t eat your homework before you get on the bus the next morning, or you lose the bonus points

I’ll have more homework success tips in upcoming blog posts. Let me know what you think!

Got a question? Leave it as a comment here or email me at jg21things@bellsouth.net I’ll have an answer headed your way.

I’m working up a 21 Things Special Report on exercises for kids. The kind of exercises that anybody can do, without special equipment, even while you’re watching TV.

Here’s one of the simplest – CRUNCHES – and I love them. You can do a number on those tummy muscles with just a few minutes of this! And it really pays off to have strong abs – good for posture, good for breathing and energy. But it pays off even more to have the exercise habit as we grow toward being adults.

Here’s how you do it:

1) Lie flat on your back with your knees bent. Bending your knees different angles changes how your abs work, so mix it up from one time to the next. Keep your feet flat on the ground. You can stick your toes under a sofa or something if that helps you stay put.

2) Now what to do with your arms. Again, lots of choices. You can put your hands against your ears, elbows in tight. You can cross your arms across your chest. You can lay your hands on your stomach. You can hold your arms up over your head. Each different arm position changes which muscles are working and how hard they are working. Just mix it up and you’ll see.

3) Ready? Let’s go! Lift your shoulders up off the floor just a few inches, until you feel your abs contract good and hard. Then back down. Don’t cheat with your arms or your head. Make your tummy muscles do the work. Keep doing crunches until you feel your abs start to burn. Then stop and rest for 20 or 30 seconds. Then burn ‘em again. Do this 3X and you’ve had a good ab crunch workout. Remember to experiment with the angle your legs are bent, and with where your arms are.

4) Warning: it can hurt your back if you lift your body way up off the floor, like the old fashioned “sit up”. Just lift high enough for your abs to tighten, no higher!

Feelin’ good now aren’t you!

Got a question? Leave it as a comment here or email me at jg21things@bellsouth.net I’ll have an answer headed your way.

But I wasn’t just playing in the ocean the whole time. My brain was quite busy thinking of more things I wanted to put on this blog. Afterall this blog IS all about useful info for kids – but who said it all had to be serious info?

Maybe you didn’t know that I’m a smoothie freak. Since I was old enough to dump stuff into the container, and flip the switch, I’ve been creating one fabulous smoothie concoction after another. I’ve practically single handedly worn out our Vita Mix 5000!

So today I’m going to share with you my brand new fruit smoothie recipe. I call it the Pangapple Persuasion! And, kids, you are going to love this one. It’s easy, it’s fun, it’s healthy, and it tastes great. But then that’s the whole thing about smoothies anyway isn’t it!!! Ready??

Get the stuff

• 1 can of pineapple chunks (make sure it’s soaking in it’s own natural juice, not that sugary yuck)

• 2 handfuls of frozen mangos (don’t hold them too long though or just your hands will be frozen)

• 2 fresh peaches (if it’s the middle of the winter and you can’t fly to Mexico, then canned peaches will have to do)

• 8oz of peach yogurt (vanilla will work, too, just for a little taste twist)

• A cup of ice

Puttin’ it together

• Dump about half of the pineapple, and all of the juice into your blender

• Toss in the 2 peaches, but make sure you take the pits out first. Peach pits are tough on blender blades! You can even peal the peaches if you want, but lazy is okay

• Plop in the yogurt

• Just for effect, and especially if you’re a guy, pretend you’re on a bombing mission with the mango chunks. Don’t worry about the mess on the counter – we’ll clean that all up in just a minute

Let’s get it started

• Turn on the blender (hopefully you put the lid on first…)

• Watch all that tasty stuff get whacked around real good

• When the blender gets to purring, and the smoothie is starting to look like a smoothie, pop the top and pour in the ice

• Let the whole brew churn another 30 seconds and you’ve got yourself a Pangapple Persuasion!!! Yum!

If you’re lucky, you may even be able to persuade your sister or brother to pay you for a glass of this. Double cool )

Got a question? Leave it as a comment here or email me at jg21things@bellsouth.net I’ll have an answer headed your way.

What I’m talking about is keeping your behavior expectations consistent.

We need to know what to expect. We need to know what behavior targets you expect us to hit. But we also need those targets to stay put – to stay the same day in and day out. It drives us crazy if they keep moving around. We get discouraged fast if the rules and expectations keep changing.

If a certain behavior is barely noticed one day, and then seems like the crime of the century the next day, that makes life pretty tough and unpredictable for kids.

We kids may complain about our parents expectations, but bottom line, if these targets stay the same all the time, then we have a much better chance of being successful, don’t you think?

Got a question? Leave it as a comment here or email me at jg21things@bellsouth.net I’ll have an answer headed your way.

“I give my kids money all the time, how come they never have any?”

Good comment. Why is it that some kids seem to spend their money so fast? Could it be that those kids don’t really understand what money is all about?

Truth is, most of us grow up thinking money magically appears from our parents’ pockets. And way too many of us think that the main point of money is to spend it as soon as possible at the nearest mall. What we don’t get is the connection between money and work.

But I think kids really need to realize that every time they sit down at the table to eat, or every time they put on their clothes, or every time they go to a movie or are given a gift, that somebody (parents, grandparents, friends) had to work to get the money to pay for those things.

How do us kids lock onto the connection between doing work and getting money? Well, I’ve written an brand new Special Report all about kids and money. It’s called “21 Money Magic Tricks For Kids”; and it gives kids of all ages the basic tools they need to understand money, to get money, to wisely use money. It will be available on my website before long.

Meanwhile, kids, let me give you a couple of freebies right now:

1) Ask your parents to talk to you about money. Have them tell you about their job, how much they get paid; how much they spend each month for food, for electricity, for the house payment and so on. Get ready to be surprised!

2) Ask if you can do some chores around the house for money. Not only will that help your family, but also it will help you make the connection between work and money. Trust me, if you have to work for it, money will stay in your pocket a lot longer when you go to the mall next time

Got a question? Leave it as a comment here or email me at jg21things@bellsouth.net I’ll have an answer headed your way.

All parents want their kids to be polite and sweet and wonderful in every way all the time:) And we kids want you to be happy with us.

So it just figures that the easiest way to have kids who are polite and sweet and wonderful, is for the kids to grow up seeing their parents being like that. Parents who set a good example, are, well, setting a good example. Kids are copycats of whatever behavior they see while they’re growing up. Guess you could say: “what WE see, is what YOU get!”

May I suggest this, parents?

1) Over the next week or two, watch your kids’ behavior extra closely to see all the different ways your child mimics you. It will be enlightening, and probably humorous sometimes, too:)

2) Watch yourself, too. Are you doing what you want your kids to do? If you expect them to say “please”, are you? And what do you do when you goof up? Do you admit you made a mistake and say you’re sorry?

3) And don’t panic if you don’t like everything you see. Sometimes getting your kids’ behavior to change starts with your behavior changing.

We kids like to please you parents, but it sure is a lot easier when we can see you doing the same things you ask us to do. I should know – I’m a full-time kid

Got a question? Leave it as a comment here or email me at jg21things@bellsouth.net I’ll have an answer headed your way.

Being honest and asking for forgiveness when you make a mistake is essential in any relationship, including the one we kids share with our parents. We kids all make mistakes and lots of em’ . The same is true for our parents, well they may not make quite as many, but they’re still human.

What do you do when you’ve made a mistake? Just follow my 3 step technique!

Step 1) Go to your parent (or your kid if your a parent) and tell them you’ve made a mistake

Step 2) Tell them what you wish you would have done

Step 3) Say “I’m sorry” and mean it

(Hugs may also be good at this point)

Its sounds simple but sometimes its not. A lot of people have trouble saying they’re sorry, I do sometimes. But when you do say “I’m sorry” after you’ve made a mistake, it really strengthens the relationship.

And I know that some parents sometimes may think that telling their kids they made a mistake, will make their kids think less of them. But I think it sets a good example and makes us kids respect you MORE.

Got a question? Leave it as a comment here or email me at jg21things@bellsouth.net I’ll have an answer headed your way.

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