The dreaded back to school season is back ... soon the kids will be heading off back to school, much to the disappointment of every dad's wallet. New uniform, stationary, books and sports equipment can be enough to put your bank account seriously in the red, especially if you have more than one child to buy for. So we've put together a few hints and tips on how to lower the costs (and the stresses) of buying back-to-school stuff for your kids.

1) Get Organised
If you find a good deal on some items, or come across them in a sale later on in the year then buy them in a bigger size for the start of next years term. In between the start of the new school term and Christmas there will be sales on uniform because retailers will be left with stock that they will want to get rid of before the Christmas rush.

2) Trade with Other Parents

If you were to catch your teen texting or typing the acronym "PBS" and you're desperately trying to work out in your head what PBS could possibly stand for ... don't worry, you are not alone. These days our children are more likely to use TXTing, tweets and short updates on Facebook than to make an actual phone call. Consequently short codes or Internet speech is used in everyday vernacular. So "PBS" stands for more than just "Public Broadcasting System" ... in this case it's most likely to mean "Parent Behind Shoulder".

Great talk by Rowan Simpson about lies, lying and cheating. Very entertaining and a gentle reminder for all of us parents to take the higher ground with our children and not just follow old traditions and the beaten path of social conventions.

Enjoy,

Stefan

One of the things we instil in our children, as a duty to society, is respect for their environment. The dropping of litter has come to symbolize the frontline between those who care and those who couldn’t care less. The other day I saw a man casually discard a cigarette box as he walked along a pavement. I was following behind and I found myself compelled to pick the box up and reproach him about littering the streets. So I said “Excuse me, I think this is yours,’ holding the box up for all to see.

I was somewhat concerned the other day to discover that my eldest son was confused about the difference between astronomy and astrology. It always makes me chuckle when people reveal their belief in astrology as if it were an indication of their intelligence and learning, without realising that it is actually an admission of the exact opposite. For one thing, you only need to believe in something if it doesn’t exist in reality. Nothing truly scientific needs to be believed in for it to exist. If there were no humans left on the planet, science would have no problem carrying on running the show, because it doesn’t exist in the human imagination.

Have you heard of mood charts? If you're a dad that loves his stats and analytical information this is for you (and if you're not that kind of that just try it out anyway). The basic idea of a mood chart is that all family members plot how they are feeling each day on a chart and join the dots (ideally in different colours). Over a month you can see how you've been doing as a family in terms of your emotional state. The chart can be a great conversation starter to ask the kids or your partner why they are feeling the way they do. All you really need is a big piece of paper and a dateline at the top of bottom (which you can easily make by writing all the dates and days of the week for a given period on the chart).

Here in chattering-class England, the subject of head-lice, or nits, is an ongoing saga. You see, it is considered de rigueur for boys to wear their hair middle-length, in contrast with girls who have it long. In point of fact, it is considered rather ‘low rent’ for boys to have very short hair and the reason is snobbery. That is “what the working-class do” according to those in the know, because “boys is boys, and girls is girls.”

Our eldest son has reached the age where he is curious about how babies are created. Enter the perennial problem; how to explain sex to a child. I chose the straightforward approach, reasoning that if I explained sex in a matter-of-fact way then he would quickly grow bored and move on to another topic of discussion. It went something like this: “Well, it’s just like the animals you see mating on nature programs. The male puts some sperm inside the female to fertilize her egg and that makes a seed which grows into a baby. How was school today? Which classes do you like the best? What would you like for supper?” He replied with a question I wasn’t expecting: “How come you still do it when you don’t want any more babies?”

There is a theory that humans instinctively gravitate towards other humans with which they share characteristics - physically and mentally. The idea is twofold, as it relates to survival, both in terms of trust and in terms of the likelihood of shared genes. As an evolutionary mechanism it makes perfect sense that we should have these innate psychological responses, as they would have been naturally selected for in a prehistoric world where different tribes and races competed for resources and territory by trying to kill each other.

Here's a nice little kitchen project with a mexican flavour. A great dish to cook with your kids and they'll marvel at how easy it is to bake your own tortilla chips. A great recipe for throwing a fiesta or adding some variety to your diet.

What You Need:

* 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded – roasted chicken makes for really flavorful soup
* 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
* 1 yellow onion, chopped
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 teaspoon chili powder
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 bay leaf
* 1/2 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped - Be sure to wear rubber gloves when handling chili peppers and avoid contact with the eyes.
* 10 cups organic chicken stock
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 1 can of black beans or other favorite beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 cup cooked corn or hominy