Search Results for: blog feeling different from family

Love Makes a Family

Logan got a little spoiled with books this Christmas, thanks to Mommy’s thrift shop rummaging. I was tempted to be an indian giver when I fell in love with one of them, but luckily he is a good sharer. As we read the book I felt as if it was written just for us, so much so that it brought me to tears. It is about a single mother who is raising a little girl on her own. One day the little girl comes home from school and decides she wants a “real family,” and storms off next door. They … Continue reading →

Romney and Obama Have Different Family Stories

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Genealogy is the study of family. This includes research that involves digging through archives, both digital and paper. It also involves the collection of family stories. Often, those stories tell more about a person’s family tree than the vital records will. Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have videos that are vastly different from each other. Each one speaks volumes. Technology is a wonderful thing. Genealogists can now take videos of their family, and send it to relatives that live across the country or around the world. You can take old family photos and create slide shows from them. Genealogists today … Continue reading →

Feeling Out of Balance? It’s O.K.!

All home – based professionals have at least two roles, their role as an individual and their role as a home – based professional. Many home – based professionals also have the added roles of spouse or partner, parent, and household manager. All of these roles are important, and all of them require your time and attention throughout the day. It can be difficult to balance all of your different roles on any given day, especially when activities related to one of your roles demand more attention than usual. For example, your spouse or partner has a crisis, your child … Continue reading →

What Are You Really Feeling?

Have you ever noticed that when you start feeling anger, there was usually some other feeling first? As single parents we tend to go through a wide range of emotions, especially in the beginning, when things are fresh. Anger is no exception. It is natural to feel some anger at your situation, to feel angry at your ex for whatever reason. However, usually when we are feeling angry, we were feeling something else to begin with. Take a step back and examine yourself. What are you really feeling? Before the anger set in, were you feeling hurt, embarrassed, stressed, jealous, … Continue reading →

Feeling Disconnected

Most marriages will go through a time where you feel disconnected from one another. Sometimes this lasts a couple of days but in some cases it can last several weeks or even months. The feeling of disconnection is an awful one. Throughout our married years we have gone through different spurts where this has happened. It leaves you with a sick feeling in your stomach and the worry that you won’t make it through that time. I think it helps to know that most marriages do experience this at one time or another. Last week was one of those times … Continue reading →

Family Influence on Mental Health

I’ve been wondering and I’ve come to the conclusion that like so many other things in life, our mental health often represents our upbringing. I look at one side of my family. At my grandmother’s level of the family tree there were ten siblings. They were raised in a strong Catholic family, learned to help take care of one another (with ten of them, what more could you do), rely on one another, and be open and honest. Family was the focus of their lives. They had twelve people in a three bedroom house, so there was no choice but … Continue reading →

All in the Family

Recently, I haven’t been scrapbooking as much as I would like to. I sigh as I walk past my craft corner and see the mountain of new materials waiting to be unwrapped and used. In addition to the paper and embellishments, I have about 1000 photos to sort and crop. The bulk of the photos were taken last month during a trip to Hawaii to visit my parents and brothers. I have a plan to create a family scrapbook that highlights the bond my daughter has with my side of the family. However, since I am short on time, I … Continue reading →

Genetics, Schizophrenia, and Your Family Tree

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that has been mentioned quite a bit in the news lately, in the wake of the violence that recently took place in Arizona. While there is much that still needs to be discovered about the genetics behind schizophrenia, there are some things that are known. This is a mental illness that can, potentially, run in families. Genealogists who are making medical family trees should make note of any ancestors who suffered from schizophrenia. There are several symptoms that are connected with schizophrenia. Physical symptoms may include: a blank facial expression, involuntary movements of the face, … Continue reading →

The “Kindness” of Strangers (and Family and Friends)

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Since my daughter’s diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, I have heard many comments and received tons of unsolicited advice from people who probably mean well, but who leave me feeling hurt and inept. They might just be words to you, but here are some key phrases to avoid when talking to a parent of a child with special needs. I’m Sorry Parents of children with special needs do not want to be pitied and even more so, don’t want their children to be pitied. Telling someone that you are sorry that their child has autism or Down syndrome may seem like … Continue reading →

Teaching Your Toddler About Feelings

It’s amazing to me how quickly babies learn language. If I could learn a brand new language from scratch as quickly as a toddler, I would be speaking fluently in two years or less. The only thing keeping your baby from speaking more than she does is the fact that she has to learn how to use her tongue and lips to form those words as well. Babies pick up language all around them. Some of it they learn from interacting with their family. Some of it is taught. It’s easy to look at a picture book with your toddler … Continue reading →