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Good manners are something that all parents are proud of and enforce at home and out in public. There are the basics: Say please and thank you, not resting your elbows on the table, and respecting their elders. But with technology changing so quickly and becoming intertwined with everyday life (especially mobile phones), there are some modern etiquette lessons that should be added to the old standards. Here are the top 5.

1. No texting when you are at dinner or out with the family. A University of Minnesota study found that children who eat with their parents 4 -5 times a week are less likely to attempt suicide, abuse tobacco, alcohol, and pot, or be depressed. They also tend to get better grades. But to reap these benefits, you have to be “fully present.”

2. No texting or talking on the phone when you are with other people. It sends the message that you think the people you are physically with are boring or not as important as any random people who decides to contact you. (There are exceptions, but remember phones are for your convenience, not others.)

3. Don’t text in inappropriate places. One example is at the movies. Theaters are dark and a bright cell phone screen can annoy people several rows away.

4. Follow cell phone policies in public places. They are designed to keep you from distracting or annoying others. This can be in libraries, schools, restaurants, and churches. Even college professors are shocked that they have to reprimand students for answering a phone call during class or texting. Teaching your kids the rules young will keep them from embarrassment and such later.

5. Everyone should turn off their cell phones at night (or don’t charge them in the bedrooms.) Studies have shown that kids sometimes stay up all hours to text friends – this makes them sleepy during school and grades drop. Even if they aren’t using their phone, it still emits frequencies that rev up brain waves and keeps you awake.

These are just a few of the modern etiquette rules that we are responsible for teaching our children. It is best to teach by example – so try and follow these simple rules yourself as well.

It is October 14. That means that Halloween is knocking at the door and then comes Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas – just to name a few. When I reminisce about holidays of my youth, the time in the kitchen stands out. There were Halloween cookies, Christmas fudge, and sticky rolls for good measure. As much as I loved the actually sweets, what I love the most is the time I was able to spend with my mother, grandmother or other relative in the kitchen cooking.

One of my favorite things was putting on an apron and being counted as one of the adults. This year we have an amazing assortment of aprons. Misha Lulu always has the most original fabrics and styles. We just got in an order from them and that originality remains true. One of the items is aprons! We have hand painted and screen printed, both on beautiful and colorful fabrics. They are adorable and just the thing for your little one who wants to help out in the kitchen this year.

You won’t be able to keep those little helping hands out of the kitchen. (If it is anything like my family, people always end up in the kitchen anyway.) So this year, get one of our unique kid’s aprons, tie it on and put the little ones to work. Trust me – not only will it make for great pictures, it will also give you all great memories and fantastic food.

Examples of the Hand-painted aprons. Other design available.

“Kids, it’s time for bed!” may sound like a blast from the past because parents are less strict about set bedtimes these days. According to CNN, enforcing a consistent bedtime is good for their health. There is a growing body of research that shows setting bedtimes improve the quality of sleep for infants and toddlers. Kids who do not get enough sleep can end up suffering from more health problems and it can affect your child’s memory, attention span, behavior and well-being.

When you give your child a standard bedtime, you are setting lifelong patterns that will improve their mental and physical health. As a reminder, toddlers 1 – 3 years old need 12 to 14 hours of sleep each night. Not getting this much could affect the development of their brain. You should avoid medication if your kids have a hard time falling to sleep; instead try behavior modification first.

According to some experts, using drugs like Benadryl to help a child sleep can be a good short term solution, but over time it could cause some kids to become hyperactive and their sleep problems get worse. Routines at bedtime are a better solution. Some ideas are taking a bath, cuddling, singing a lullaby, or reading a story to help your young child sleep better. Find a routine for your family and be consistent with it. Also, keep your kids away from electronics an hour before bedtime. Scientists have found that night-time exposure to the blue light spectrum from electronics can disrupt the body’s melatonin levels (the hormone that triggers sleep).

So if bedtime is a battle night after night, keep fighting. This routine is crucial to your child’s health and it’ll help your sanity as well.

Izzy turned 7 years old last month. Wow! Does it ever stop?! Something about our daughter turning seven seemed like a bigger deal than years past. She would soon be getting up by herself in the morning (we hope) and reading stories to Ash at nighttime (we still hope). We felt moved to mark the occasion in some significant way.

We came up with this simple but memorable ceremony …
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