Latest Entries

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  Grandparents - A Reason to Let Go

  Today, things have changed. Many grandparents live in different states. Visiting now requires longer stays and extended travel time. No longer do my children walk down the path to their grandparents; they ride in a car for eight long hours. No longer do I cherish the few hours my kids are visiting but dread the two to four weeks they are away. Children need their grandparents and grandparents, in return, need their grandchildren. Grandparents have so much to teach and so much love to give, it is important to keep that relationship growing, and it is up to us, the parents, to do our part.

   
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  Business Cards: A Lasting Impression

  Like your American Express card, you should never leave home without your business cards. Business opportunities can pop up at any time — it could be at the grocery store, in line at the movies or at Starbucks. When a business opportunity presents itself, you need to take advantage by having a business card available. The business card is a lasting impression that is left behind after you are gone. You need to make it work for you.

   
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  Tips to Avoid Relocation Depression

  In some occasions, after relocating, you may find yourself depressed. The hardest part of this is that you may not even realize it. You’re so focused on all you have to get done, that when that initial whirlwind passes, and you realize you have nothing to do (especially if you’re the trailing partner and don’t have a job lined up), you may find yourself suddenly demotivated, apathetic, and uninterested when loved ones try to offer you suggestions of things to do besides watch TV all day.

   
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  A “Step” in the Right Direction

  Do not talk badly about your children’s father or his wife. Keep your negative thoughts from your kids. You don’t want them to feel the tension and in the long run they will resent you for it. If you feel like giving in, take a walk, hide in the rest room or just don’t say anything at all. Kids do not need your negativity. Only speak the positives.

   
• The Long Goodbye: Caring For Alzheimer’s Patients

  Caring for an Alzheimer’s patient is perhaps second only in difficulty to tending to a chronically and persistently mentally ill loved one. In both cases, you never know if they are going to return to a state of sentience. And if they don’t, they are there but not there. Yet, they are not gone so caregivers can get on with life. In these instances, it is difficult for loved ones’ lives to normalize. The longer it goes on, the more family members wonder if they ever will.

   
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  Rules That Preclude a Relationship

  Every now and then we set up rules for ourselves, thinking that these will help us with life, love and the day to day business of living. But sometimes these rules may get in the way of the reality of life and love and prevent us from having the relationship we really want.

   
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  Relocation Impacts Friendships

  When you relocate someplace new, there are many difficult transitions to endure. You need to find a place to live, make new friends, learn how to navigate a new city, among others. There’s one adjustment, however, that might take you by surprise, especially if you settle in and like your new life - negative reactions from friends and family back home.

   
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  Family Meetings

  Children, especially teenagers, think they should have a vote in all family matters and often want the final word. Parents know this would be disastrous. Although parents will have the ultimate final word, all family members should be allowed to contribute their ideas, thoughts and feelings.

   
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  Neighborhood Barter & Furniture Exchange

  How do you redecorate when you have no room to move in the budget? Bartering. It refers to– trade goods or services without the exchange of money. Quickly becoming very popular are neighborhood swap meets, or bartering for objects or services. Each neighbor scours their home for items they are willing to part with.