Search Results for: blog giving back what our family can handle

Taking the Plunge

I have decided to take the plunge…no, not into the toilet but into moving. The decision has been made to put our house up for sale. We are ready to move to another community. But honestly, all I can think about is how I will keep up my house so that it is always ready for a showing, especially with three teenagers. In fact, the idea of showing my home stirs up more stress than the task of packing and moving a family of five. So I have decided to put a plan into place. It really works out well, … Continue reading →

Holiday Photo Ops

The holiday season is ripe with memorable photo opportunities. From the excitement of gift opening to the traditional carving of the Christmas ham, and hugs galore for visiting friends and family, now is not the time of year to be without your camera. In fact, now is the time to make the most of your picture-taking tool. I recently attended a Christmas party where the host’s camera took center stage. Rather than walk around the shindig snapping pictures of guests, my friend set-up a mock photo booth where people could shoot their own pictures. The camera sat on a tripod … Continue reading →

Do You Shield Your Child?

Today is Pearl Harbor Day, the 70th anniversary of a sneak attack that devastated a nation. I’ve studied this event a bit in the past, and it’s pretty gruesome. I want my children to understand facets of history, and yet I worry about giving them too much information before they’re ready for it. This is one of the ways in which parents are uniquely qualified to teach their children—they understand their child’s maturity level and they know what that child can and cannot handle. I have a daughter who can’t hear any bad news on the radio or it distresses … Continue reading →

Diffusing Family Drama during the Holidays

When my children were younger, it was so much easier to shield them from certain things…for instance, family drama. For the most part they weren’t aware of some of the “interesting” behavior that sometimes transpired between family members. Now that they are teens, well, they are more than aware of what happens. In fact, now they have an attitude of “So what is it going to be this holiday?” I really hate that. I mean, it grieves my heart that my children have to wonder what new drama will unfold. But family never lets them down…sure enough, our Thanksgiving started … Continue reading →

Study to Create Profile of Typical Irish Person

The Genealogical Society of Ireland has teamed up with geneticists in order to come up with the “genetic signature of Irishness”. They are working to build an “Irish DNA atlas”. The main point is to to create a historical resource. The research could, potentially, reveal genes that affect the health of the population of Ireland. What does it mean to be Irish? Americans who have ancestors who came from Ireland might consider themselves to be Irish, (even if they never so much as set foot onto the Emerald Isle). Everyone, whether of Irish heritage or not, might consider themselves to … Continue reading →

Distance

One of the hardest things for me when my ex husband and I first started moving forward with our divorce was losing contact with the rest of his family. We had lived with them the first year of our marriage and had spent quite a bit of time together over the last couple of years. We talked fairly frequently and went to visit at least a few times a month. My 16 year old brother in law and I had a really good relationship. Some nights I’d stay up late and help him with his homework, other nights we’d stay … Continue reading →

Baby Sea Legs

There’s a family video I’m afraid to watch for fear of embarrassment. It is my son’s very first real bath. I was at my parents’ house and I decided to do it there for moral support. Only… there ended up being several family members and my dad pulled out the video camera. Suddenly the pressure was on. My son was the first newborn I had ever handled. He seemed so fragile and giving him a bath was pretty intimidating. I was mostly afraid that he would become to slippery and I would drop him in the water. I was also … Continue reading →

Practical Ways to Deal With Mood Swings in Pregnancy

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Is pregnancy really an excuse for behaving badly? I’ve written about my not-so-sweet demeanor during my last pregnancy. It wasn’t exactly my proudest nine months. I’ve resolved to be a better pregnant mom the next time around when it comes to the way I treat my family, more specifically my husband. But how can we put those goals into practice when our hormones are raging? What are some practical things we can do to rise above our crummy, snippy moods that seem to settle in with the rest of the pregnancy symptoms? They say the first step to recovery is … Continue reading →

The Animal Lover’s Alternatives to Owning Pets

Even though the Humane Society’s official Be Kind to Animals week has ended, around here on the Pets blog the theme’s always Be Kind to Animals. In that spirit, I want to carry on a thread I started in my last article: what if you want pets, but aren’t able to have them? Let’s say you or a family member is allergic, or you don’t have the space, money, or time at the moment. If you’re an animal lover who doesn’t have any animals to love, I have one word for you: volunteer. Look up your local shelter or rescue. … Continue reading →

Pet Owner Poll Tackles Health Issues

Would you perform CPR on your pet? Do you know how to do it? These are just a few of the questions asked of pet owners in a recent poll. In October 2009, Petside.com and the Associated Press sponsored a survey of pet owners about health care and emergency care. Nearly twelve hundred pet parents participated in the phone survey, answering questions about emergency plans, health care, and common owner boo-boos. More than half of those surveyed would indeed try to perform CPR on their pets in the event of an emergency. (The number was higher in dog owners than … Continue reading →