Video games are a part of modern culture. My eight year old son has a NintendoDS permanently affixed to his hands. He can operate the stylus like a surgeon with a scalpel. He knows every Pokemon by name and type and weaknesses and on and on.

The three year old, Alexander, has a hand-held VSmile video game that he calls his DS. It’s a learning video game deal, the kind that is supposed to teach him his shapes and numbers and such while he’s playing. He isn’t all that keen on it, which is OK with…

Okay, I won’t deny it, I am time-poor when it comes to parenting. I know that the time I spend with my only son is not enough to be considered enough time. My wife has been telling me to find more time with my son. I love to, but 24 hours are not enough to make a whole day. I know that it’s not only me, there are many dads out there who also are finding it hard to make time for parenting because they are too busy making a living. I believe that most dads do not see immediately…

When should children start to learn about managing money?  Since financial management is considered a learned behavior, why not learn the right way from the beginning?  Being a self-improvement junkie, I thought of a system to help my child learn about dollars and cents.

I have never been a fan of paying children money to help out around the house.  We are all a family, and we have to pitch in to makes things go smoothly.  When my wife does laundry, I don’t slip her a ten dollar bill, and she doesn’t pay me to mow the lawn.  Why should I…

Recently, I completed earning enough  money to buy a Xbox 360 Pro for myself.  I am limited in the amount of ‘screen time’ I am allowed a day, and I wanted to discuss that with you.

Now, some of my thoughts on screens (TV, video games, computers, etc.) for kids.  First of all, I believe they are addictive.  Some studies have shown that video games are addictive, they release a drug-like chemical. Here is one article on the study of video game addiction.  I have seen kids at school who are addicted, it’s all they talk about or do after school (World of…

After my recent post about the swine flu, alert reader Sean Rushforth asked what I think about the swine flu pandemic. In a word: scary.  In several words, the swine flu pandemic is really, really scary.  (Just to buck the system and stick it to “the Man” at the CDC, I’m going to refer to the H1N1 virus as the “swine flu” throughout this article.)

Here’s the thing about the flu.  It kills people.  Not just the swine flu or Spanish flu or some super flu.  The plain old, garden variety flu kills a…