Tracy Farnham
http://www.grabthegab.com

Okay, parents it is time to confess. Most of us are probably guilty, myself included, of not paying our children the proper amount of allowance.

Given the fact that we are constantly handing them money for one cause or another I guess you’d say we’re even. We buy clothes for their ever changing physiques, keep them constantly entertained not to mention their bellies full of food, which with teenagers around never seems to happen, and all the while are pocketbooks run dry.

Parents need to remember that before children leave the nest, they must learn how to live a life of financial responsibility before they are alone in the world of increasing consumer debt and offers of fraudulent credit traps.

According to the Nemours Foundation, an allowance is a great way to teach your child money management skills. This valuable hands-on-learning tool will help children make decisions on how to spend a limited amount of money in comparison to saving and charitable giving while still under your parental care.

“It’s never too early to work with children as far as money goes,” says Eleanor Summers an extension agent specializing in family and consumer sciences for Burke County. An allowance is a child’s share of the family’s income to be used for agreed upon expenses, she adds. It is a regular source of income and they should be able to count on receiving and using it.

I know you’re probably thinking show me the money. Considering the number of children and their ages paying allowances can be a substantial amount. Where is the leftover money to pay these allowances?

How Much
First of all each individual family needs to decide if they will tie the allowance in with family chores.

Some parents and experts agree that chores should be viewed as each one’s responsibility within the household.

In light of this one such example of paying an allowance is to give children between 50 cents to $1 for every year of their age. (For an 8 year old that would be either $4 or $8 depending on the amount chosen)

When your children start receiving an allowance discuss a budget with them. Instead of asking you for money for a movie or snacks while at the movies let them pay their own way once in a while.

Parents should always provide for their children needs, but for those wants, they can start using their allowance to pay for those.

Our oldest has very expensive taste in shoes, so we provide the basics and when he wants another pair or more expensive pair we agree to provide the base amount with him picking up the remainder of the tab. If it’s a lavish request then he’s on his own.

Explain budgeting and saving so that your children gain an understanding of putting money back for a rainy day or an unsuspecting want that may arise.

If you decide not to pay an allowance for chores you could consider kicking in a little extra when they do more than is expected or tasks beyond their average chore list.

Deciding When to Start
This may be based upon each individual child’s maturity level as well as money management understanding.

Within today’s society money doesn’t change hands quite as often so make sure your child understands the concept that actual money pays for those credit purchases and someone must work in order to pay these expenses.

Also, explain debit card purchases as well as how to make change using cash.

Although pre-school children see money more in exchange for something, grade school children who learn to work with math can make small purchases and pre-teens understand money is exchanged for something they want, Summers adds.

At age 10 parents have a lot of influence over the money children spend and over the age of 10 they’re purchases are influenced by their peers, she says.
Money management should become a family event, Summers says.

A lot of adults don’t do well and may not pass on or teach the best habits.

If this is the case parents can check with the extension office link at http://burke.ces.ncu.edu/homeandfamily for help or information.

“Managing money is a life skill just like cooking or driving a car. If not teaching this skill they will always be living paycheck to paycheck,” Summers says.

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By Ragan Robinson

The key to feeling attractive is at your fingertips.

At least Shirley Sellars thinks so.

“I feel undressed if I don’t have my nails done,” says the Morganton woman.

We caught up with her at the Hair & Nails Unlimited full-service salon last week.

We also ran across Nail Technician Anita McFalls, who was willing to share some simple steps for giving an at-home manicure.

You won’t get the hand and arm massage Anita gives with the at-home option but you might get a self-esteem boost every time you look at those nails.

Nine steps to beautiful nails

1File your nails into the desired shape. Anita says square is the “in” shape. To get that, use your file to flatten the tip of your nail, then slightly round off the corners.
Hint: Your nails grow square on their own so this is a low-maintenance technique. In her 13 years of experience, Anita says she hasn’t noticed any particular nail shape being better than another one for keeping nails from breaking or splintering.

2 Soak each hand in a bowl of warm water. Anita adds Barbicide or antibacterial soap for sanitation’s sake. You probably aren’t going to share your soaking bowl with anyone else but you might want to add an antibacterial agent all the same. Soaking will soften your cuticles and get them ready for what comes next. Gently towel dry your hands when you’re finished soaking.

3 Dab cuticle cream onto the base of your nail. You want to soften up that skin that’s grown over the edges of your nails. Using cuticle cream will make that skin easier to push back. It also keeps your cuticles softer, more pliable and more resistant to splitting.

4 Use a wooden, metal or plastic cuticle stick. Gently push back the skin that’s grown over the base of your nails. All of the sticks work about the same, Anita says. You can use a nail buffer to remove any of those bits of skin that stick to the nail. But be careful if you go that route. When you use a buffer, you’re actually taking off a layer of your fingernail. Overuse will thin them out. And it takes anywhere for four to six months for your fingernail to com-pletely grow out, from base to tip.

5 Use a cuticle clipper. (optional). Cut away any skin that bunches up at the nail base. You can also use your clipper to trim those pieces of dry, cracked skin that appear this around the nails.

6 Clean off the nail. Your best tool for this step is a lint-free pad. You can use a cotton ball but, if you do, make sure all the fibers are gone from your nail before you start to paint. Fuzz will ruin your polish.

7 Apply a clear base coat of polish. Look for a brand with strengthener, calcium or vitamins to help fortify your nails.

8 Use two coats of color. (optional). Anita’s tip for painting: don’t wipe off all your paint before you even get it to the nail. Swipe one side of the brush just once on the mouth of the polish bottle as you bring it out.

That should be enough to prevent dripping. And the two coats is a must. Think of it as painting a wall. That first coat looks great — until it dries and you see all the spots you missed.

9 Apply a top coat. Use a clear polish to protect your color. Anita uses RUSH 60-second nail drying polish.

But be forewarned: nothing short of a manicurist’s miracle is going to dry four coats of polish in 60 seconds.

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I tried to cut my hair once and it turned out horrible. I had big gaps in the front and my bangs were crooked.
Crystal Bolick, 15

I tried the nose strips, but they just slide right off. Maybe I am doing them wrong, I don’t know.
Ashley Lowdermilk, 22

I tried to dye my hair and put in a permanent but all the chemicals made it fall out. I would towel dry my hair, and big chunks would come out.
Norma Dula, 53

I tried that new Avon nail polish that you just rub on. It didn’t work, at least for me. The next day it peeled right off.
Pam Barrier, 40

I dyed my hair red but it looked awful, so the next week I went back to blonde.
Brittany Elliot, 18

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By Ragan Robinson

Morganton — Fuchsia Small calls herself a young 84. And she is.

But Fuchsia Small is also the kind of 84-year-old you hope to become.

She doesn’t forget what she’s saying. She doesn’t tell the same story more than once.

She pulls weeds out of an abnormally tidy flower bed with one arm while her other one is in a sling.

She never lies about her age, even though her doctors make her repeat it.
And she always says “thank you,” even when people are just doing their jobs.

Fuchsia wrote a letter to The News Herald last week saying how much she appreciates the Bible verse contest. Sure Fuchsia has won 10 Bibles in the contest.

We understand her being grateful. But we aren’t used to getting thank-you notes signed “love you.”

She hasn’t kept her Bibles, by the way. She gives them away.

Fuchsia gives away a lot.

The vegetable garden in her back yard is as wide as her house, its burnt orange soil turned into velvety clumps and ready for Fuchsia’s green thumb to dig in. She shares a house with her son and has a tenant.

But three people could not carve a dent in the piles of produce a garden this size will produce.

It always yields beans, corn, tomatoes, squash, carrots and okra. Fuchsia doesn’t like okra.

She grows it to give away. And this year she planted an extra row. Folks just seemed to like it so much last summer.

Fuchsia has been known to work in the garden from 6 a.m. on into the afternoon. And she lavishes the same atten-tion on her flowers.

“In the summer I can’t wait until it gets light enough for me to get out there,” she says.

Other times, she stays busy going to Curves for her exercise. Fuchsia has been going to the gym about four years, although she’s had to take a break since her shoulder started giving her trouble. She’s planning to have surgery and says she’ll be back in the workout room once she does.

We figured Fuchsia, after 84 years of living, would have a lot to teach the rest of us.

Q. So you’ve never even been tempted to tell a story about your age?
A. No. I’m proud of it. Why wouldn’t I want to tell the truth?

Q. So what do you wish you’d done more of in your 84 years?
A. My dad died when I was 17. He was strict. He just about wouldn’t let us out of his sight. I would go back behind the bed and cry. I wish I’d spent more time with him instead of hiding back there in tears.

Q. What do you wish you’d done less of?
A. I wish I hadn’t eaten so much junk food. I wanted peanut butter crackers and candy in place of potatoes and beans. I wouldn’t eat the fried cabbages even though my parents told me how good they were. And I love them now. I remember we’d get an old snuffbox and wash it out really good. And we’d put molasses in it and then go out into the peanut patch when the peanuts were still green. We’d dip those green peanuts into that molasses and eat them until we were sick. And we knew it was going to make us sick. We did it anyway.

Q. What’s the best lesson you ever learned?
A. Not to worry about things. Don’t lie awake and worry. Things will work out.

Q. What do you wish you’d worried less about?
A. When I was in school, I wouldn’t bring my lunch.  I’d tell the other girls I was going home for lunch but when it came lunchtime, I’d walk downtown.
I’d window shop on one side of the street and window shop the other side. Then it would be time to go back to school. My Mama made biscuits and I could have had ham biscuits for lunch. But I wouldn’t carry that ham biscuit to school because it wasn’t a sandwich on light bread. The other girls had light bread. I shouldn’t have been so worried about having less than the others. Make the best of what you have and you’ll be fine.

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