Claire’s Secret Santa Circle allows users to create their own gift wish list, view their friends’ lists and suggest items for other friends to add.  Once a user joins, they are secretly matched to their Secret Santa assignment and receive a digital coupon for $5 off a $10 or more purchase at Claire’s, providing a helpful discount for their gift purchase. The online program gives girls the opportunity to celebrate the season with glam accessories for themselves and their friends, perfect for dressing up during the holidays and ringing in the New Year.

“Secret Santa exchanges have always been popular among teens, but we’re taking the tradition to a new level. Our interactive version provides a more fun, engaging experience for our customers and gives them the opportunity to communicate and share ideas with friends,” said Norm Yustin, Senior Vice-President Global Marketing of Claire’s.  “We created Claire’s Secret Santa Circle to encourage social shopping and ensure everyone can give and receive the perfect gifts this season.”

Additional features of the Secret Santa Circle include:

• A digital invitation allowing users to choose the date and location for the gift exchange
• The ability to compose a group message and set a price for presents
• A page for the Secret Santa Circle organizer to track responses
• A link to post wish lists and wish list suggestions directly to a Facebook profile
• Helpful e-mail or text reminders to each person in your Circle along the way to ensure everyone gets in on the fun
• The ability for participants to poll their own Secret Santa Circle
• A special code to download a free music track from claire’sFM playlist

All participants in Claire’s Secret Santa Circle must be at least thirteen years of age.  For more information about Claire’s Secret Santa Circle please visit www.Claires.com

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from the  Teen Summit on Internet & Wireless Safety presented by Cox Communications

Want to improve the lines of communication with your children? These ten tips will help you get started immediately.

1. Listen

Listen to what your child is expressing and try to understand what’s going on with them internally. Don’t make assumptions.

2. Don’t Interrogate

Ask open-ended questions but avoid excessive questioning. Use general conversation starters like “How is it going?” or “What’s going on?” and then be silent. Most kids will tell you what you want to know if they don’t feel bombarded.

3. Be Honest

Practice honesty and respect. If a child asks something and you don’t know the answer, be honest. Say you don’t know and then find out. Conversely, if you do something inappropriate or make a mistake, be willing to apologize and admit it.

4. Keep Calm

Avoid yelling, making threats or using “labels” to describe your child or their friends.

5. Skip the Lecture

Don’t lecture your child or repeat the same thing constantly. Those tactics usually cause kids to tune you out.

6. Pay Attention

When your teen is talking, give them your complete focus. Stop whatever else you are doing and use eye contact.

7. Be Gentle

Avoid power struggles. You might hold the power, but you lose ultimately when you break your kid’s spirit.

8. No Judgements

Express your opinions without being judgmental. Remember to be concise so your comments don’t turn into a lecture.

9. Use Positive Reinforcement

Don’t dwell on your child’s mistakes. Focus on their accomplishments to demonstrate support and build self-esteem.

10. Take a Walk

Create situations that allow you to communicate with your kids. Whether it’s riding together in the car without playing the radio, running errands together or taking a walk after dinner, this one-on-one time will strengthen your relationship.

If you do not have a good relationship with your teens/tweens that is the place to start. The saying goes “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” is very true. Take some time over the next week to get to know your teen/tween, get on their level. At first don’t talk about the issues that divide you, focus on building them up. Talk about what they like, what they are good at. In my 20+ years of working with youth I see so many parents that don’t even know their kids, and it is sad.  Yes, it takes time, parenting takes time. The benefits of taking the time to get to know and build up your kids are huge.

Spend time with you teen this week. In the next few weeks we will talk about television and the media, cell phones-texting and sexting, social media and more.

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