Onslow Lena | RealiTeen

Tia Bandavanis

My name is Tia and I'm very excited to join the Realteen team. I am a fun-loving, caring, and colorful person. I begin and end everyday with a smile. There is only one man in my life and that is my 15 yr. old son John. It's been my job to raise my son from a young age through his teen years. I am a single mom and I feel as though I have done my best to help my son become a responsible young man. I was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in the Maryland and D.C. area. I moved to Jacksonville, North Carolina in 1992. I now consider myself to be a native. I miss family dearly but find ways to visit often. My home and heart is here in Onslow County. This is pretty much due to the fact that I have raised my son here and found it to be a great place to live. I currently teach preschool at a local preschool. I have been teaching for over 20 years. I love children of all ages and could not imagine myself doing any other profession. I enjoy outings with my son to the movies, watching football, visiting local spots such as the Lynwood Park Zoo, going to the beach, and canoeing along our local rivers. I look forward to writing and reading the blogs. I feel this is a great opportunity to explore my parenting role and others. Parenting my teen son has been very rewarding and challenging. However, I have learned that being an effective parent is about learning and growing along with my son!

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As the community manager for the Onslow Memorial's blogs -- TummyTime, Cuddlebugs, TweenBeat, RealiTeen and HealthTalk, as well as MomTalk, I'm committed to sharing relevant and timely information that matters to moms. Background: I'm the mom of two sons and have experienced all of the stages of child development. I'm also the co-author of "How to Say It: Marketing With New Media" (Penguin/Prentice Hall 2008). With a masters degree in online education, I'm "wired" to be fascinated with all aspects of listening, sharing and connecting online. I'm especially excited at the positive impact that new media is having on the healthcare industry. I hope you'll use this medium to interact in a new way and in turn become part of a larger community. Please drop me a line and let me know the topics you'd like featured on this site.

How to Curb Your Teen’s Spending Habits

April 8th, 2010 Onslow Lena

If you’re spending any time with your teen this week, inevitably they’ll ask you go take them to the mall or to go shopping. What do you do when your kids want to buy all the time? In these uncertain economic …
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Teaching Teens the Importance of Stretching

March 22nd, 2010 Onslow Lena

The teen years are the ones where youngsters reach beyond their normal limits and go above and beyond what they’ve done before. It’s also the time when they should be learning the importance of not just stretching their minds but their bodies, …
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Milk Really Does a Teen’s Body Good

March 7th, 2010 Onslow Lena

The ads touting the benefits of milk have become iconic. But it turns out that they are true. A new study shows that calcium has become even more important for teens. Here’s an excerpt from OHealthy’s article, “Teens, Young Adults …
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Healthy Relationships Start with a Positive Attitude

February 16th, 2010 Onslow Lena

As we continue our conversation this month about what it takes to build healthy relationships between you and your teen, it might be wise to start at the very beginning: looking at your attitude. According to OHealthy’s article, your attitude is …
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How to Let Go of Growing Kids

February 1st, 2010 Onslow Lena

This month, we’re spending the month discussing how to have healthy relationships with your teens. Since the teen years are all about the delicate balance of how to let go and yet support your teens in the process, I thought …
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