Girls, use waterproof mascara and eyeliner. The shave minimizing lotions work great too. I haven’t had a male volunteer to see if they work for reducing facial hair growth. Any volunteers?

If you end up with small bits of light laundry, and darker clothes, but not enough for a load of each, those color grabber sheets really do work – except for red clothes. The ones that seem to run forever. Nothing seems to work for those L. Don’t chance mixing reds or new denim with lights. But aside from that, you can get away with mixing with color grabber sheets as long as they can all be washed in same temperature.

Make it a point to get outside every day. I take a walk with my daughter and puppy every night that she’s home. We get out, enjoy weather, get some exercise, and talk – away from distractions of TV, radio, telephone, or computers. Sometimes we’ll swim or go to a friends house for a barbeque.

You really want a drastic way to increase your time? Not many of you will do this one- Disconnect your cable TV. You’d be amazed at how much time television takes away from your life. While not many of you would be brave enough to not have TV in house at all, at least turn it off once in a while and go do something! Don’t watch life on TV – go live it!

If you’re working at home – don’t forget you have a life too. Find ways to be more efficient. Don’t read junk emails. Don’t wander around net checking out this and that. While you’re working, be working. When it’s time to spend time with your family and tend to your life – get away from computer and do it.

Plan time off. Time that you will not work. Time that’s just for fun. Yes, work is important. Yes, your goals are important. But time off is also important. When you take time to play- you’ll actually come back refreshed, full of new ideas, and more productive.

Use these tips to manage your time, and have a great summer!

------------------------------------------------------------

1.Decide together what needs to be done in home. 2.Share workload fairly, i.e. one who’s better at math does budget, etc. 3.Give up control and let go. If you want your man to do chores, let him do it his way. 4.If you have children, train them to pick up after themselves and increase their chores as they get older

Should a real man do housework? The answer is up to you, but first define a ’real man’. A real man strives to do what’s right. A real man is confident of his masculinity and is not swayed by media stereotypes. A real man is responsible, and takes care of his family’s needs. A real man will do housework, so that his spouse doesn’t burn out. A real man’s wife feels loved, and his children are secure.

For all you men out there who still refuse to do housework, here is some food for thought: It’s new millennium, macho man has been replaced by considerate man. Offering to give kids a bath goes a lot further than flexing your biceps. Showing consideration is new turn on. Try impressing your partner by doing your share around house and leave explosions to James Bond. Figure out how to use that washing machine.

Richmond Acheampong is Editor and Founder of Parent Tree, an online family resource web site. His site promotes family health and balance thru thought provoking articles, products, advice columns and resourceful links. For more information and articles pertaining to family life, visit: http://www.parenttree.com “Healthy Homes and Happy Families”