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Tips to Make Christmas Easier on Kids with Autism

There are plenty of things about Christmas that can be very stressful for kids who have an autism spectrum disorder. Their “system” gets thrown off when there is no school. Here are a few tips that can help make Christmas a bit easier on a child who has autism. Let’s face it: Christmas is one holiday that can easily takeover one’s daily experiences. From the perspective of a child who has autism, this can be stressful, anxiety producing, and perhaps even too much to deal with. Kids get a few weeks off of school at Christmastime. This means that the … Continue reading →

I Hope They Call Me On a Mission

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I served a full-time mission from 1998-2000. It was a wonderful 18 months of my life. Some days it seems so long ago, and other days, I wish I was back there with nothing to worry about except whether or not I was doing what the Lord wanted, good enough to please Him. For anyone that does not understand why Mormons go on missions, it’s hard to explain. But, I can try and explain why I did. In fact, I’m speaking to the Young Women tonight at church regarding this very topic. In our church, mormon missionaries are not paid. … Continue reading →

What is on Your Christmas Wish List?

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As a scrapper, I’m always thinking of things that I want to add to my wish list. I mean, the possibilities of supplies are endless in this crazy world of scrapbooking. Since I am a frugal scrapper, there are always more of those coveted items on my wishlist that are full price, and to die for cute. There are two ways that I can think of to get the more expensive things that you want on your list. First, is to watch the sale ads. You can find some great deals on scrapbooking supplies right now with all the Christmas … Continue reading →

Pervert Ruins My Daughter’s Christmas Tradition

My daughter has been writing letters to Santa since she was two years old. I’ve documented the sweet tradition on this site with parental pride and a touch of sadness knowing that her childhood belief in an oversized gift-bearing elf would not last forever. Little did I know that my daughter’s annual holiday letter writing tradition would come to a screeching halt before she learned the truth about Kris Kringle. Thanks to a pervert in Maryland, my sweet, innocent, Santa-loving five-year-old may not get a reply from Mr. Claus this year. The pervert responsible for ruining this joyous tradition is … Continue reading →

A TV Special about the Real Spirit of Christmas

Tuesday night, December 23, you can hear your favorite celebrity musicians and learn about helping kids. Faith Hill, herself an adoptee, will host the 10th annual “A Home for the Holidays” TV special. This event blends star power and music with adoption information. Dave Thomas (the Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef” guy) was one of the originators of the show, which aims at increasing awareness of the need for parents for children who wait in foster homes. I wrote last year of my experience watching the show and finding it less intrusive and tear-jerking that I had feared. There was lots … Continue reading →

Celebrating My One Year Anniversary as a Pets Blogger

Happy Anniversary! Not just to me (I officially became a Pets Blogger one year ago this month) but it’s also Families.com’s Second Anniversary this month too. (See Heather Long’s cute All I Want for Christmas… article for more about that.) In the Beginning… When Lisa Pietsch, who was the then Administrator (Heather’s now taken over that post), accepted my application and assigned me to Pets I was floored. I went from being very excited to very nervous. “Can I do it? Will I be able to meet the monthly minimums? What if people don’t like my stuff? What if I … Continue reading →

All I Want for Christmas….

Can it really be December? It feels like we were just diving into the heat of summer yesterday and now it’s cold and brisk outside, shopping is ramping up and all that holiday cooking is beginning. It was a year ago today that my husband had an emergency appendectomy and a year of health problems assaulted our family. It’s been a tough year from surgeries to cancer scares to wisdom teeth that took forever to take care of. Thankfully, we celebrated Thanksgiving together as a family, healthy, happy and pretty whole. Last Friday, my daughter turned 7 and it’s hard … Continue reading →

Blogging Your Baby

In 2005, I received a beautiful journal, complete with leather covering, as a Christmas present from my wife. She bought it for me because I mentioned that I wanted to write a bit about my experiences as a father and have a conversation with my daughter. I did not begin to make entries until May of 2006, and they were sporadic at best. Then within a month or two I had stopped completely. I stared at it every day on my dresser, but the guilt was not enough to pick it up and write. How lazy can I possibly be? … Continue reading →

Families – Do We HAVE To Be Together Forever?

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I don’t know about all of you, but I’ve never been so grateful to have the holidays end as I was this year. For many, Christmas goes hand in hand with family. With that intent, we packed up our recently moved (about a month) selves and traveled from Pennsylvania back to Georgia to spend nearly two weeks, most of which time was spent with my husband’s parents and grandparents. Let me take the opportunity to say that I am very grateful to my husband’s grandparents for putting us up in their home for almost that entire time. However, two weeks … Continue reading →

The Roots of Christmas Day

Christmas time is full of traditions and wonder. It is by far my favorite holiday. I love the lights, the smells, and the time of the year where making reference to Jesus in holiday music is still somewhat accepted. It was interesting for me to learn that Christmas is a newer holiday only having been heard of around the 3rd century and had not gained true observance until sometime in the 4th century. It is believed to have been brought in by the Roman Church to bring the message of Christ into a pagan holiday that happened right around winter … Continue reading →