It's mid-summer and many teens are experiencing their first encounter with the world of work. After the newness of a job wears off, what is their attitude about the job they are doing? What are we doing or saying at home to make their experience a positive one?
        Youth are watching and listening to adults and often repeat what we say and think. This especially holds true for attitudes about work. To help our children develop positive attitudes about work and responsibility, apply the next five suggestions as recommended in a Cornell University publication, "Your Teen's Career".
        Avoid complaining about work-be positive.
        Discuss your job with your child/teen. Many young people do not understand what their parents do for a living.
        If possible, allow your child/teen to go to work with you occasionally (always clearing this with your supervisor).
        If you have a business, assign responsibility to the young person. Be sure to treat him just as you would any other             employee.
       Teach responsibility by being responsible yourself.
        Most of us have high expectations for our children. The world of work is one area where we expect "success". As parents and grandparents, remember, children learn more from example than from what we tell them. This is especially important in family businesses where a child/children are expected to be interested in working or someday managing the family business.
        Positive attitudes about work are fostered by the positive attitudes of caring adults in a teen's life. At home is where we should talk about the good parts of our work or job-not just complain after a long, tired day at work

  It's 5:15 p.m. You come home with your 4yearold daughter from the day care center. Your 9 yearold needs to go to a 4H meeting and your teenager has just come in the door from summer football practice. The TV goes on. The phone rings. Everyone is asking you what's for dinner. And all you want to do is plop into your favorite chair. 
        "Such situations are common in today's American family," says Karen Bruns, former Fairfield County family and consumer sciences agent for Ohio State University Extension. "When many of us were growing up, we came home to the delicious smells of dinner already in the oven. But in today's families of working parents, that may not be an option." 
        If you live a hectic life, don't try to imitate your mother's way of doing things, Bruns says. Instead of trying to get everything done at once, take it easy when you get home. "Don't rush to get dinner on the stove," Bruns says. "Take some time to relax and be with the family. 
        To tide over the family's appetite, have some 'goodtoeat' snacks ready in the refrigerator. I know our parents told us never to eat before dinner, but why not?" Eating before dinner can be appropriate for some members of the family, Bruns says. For example, preschoolers can snack on nutritious items that may have gone on their dinner plate. "Why not let them get started on dinner when they are hungry? That way, they can save one or two items to eatat their own pacewith the rest of the family. And then they won't feel like they're being rushed." For teenagers whose stomachs are bottomless pits, a snack before dinner may not affect what they eat at all, Bruns says. 
        Your contentment and your family's lifestyle should help determine the family's eating patterns, Bruns says. "It may not be the way your mother did it or the way your neighbor does, but it should be what works for your family." 
        During these busy and hot summer months we like to get home from wherever, throw some food into the picnic basket and head for some water.  Having the chairs, tables, a grill available and some food in the refrigerator is all that is needed for a fast and easy late summer night picnic meal.  Enjoy these days of summer in Ohio - the best of what summer is about.