Thursday, April 11, 2013
In case you haven't noticed, the majority of people we come in contact with are a little bit, well, stressed! It doesn't have to be this way you know - not if you have a special "place" to visit when the going gets tough!
One of my fondest memories in high school was a fact I learned in Health class. No it had nothing to do with body hair (eek!) or the delicate issue of how our bodies store gas—it was far more important. In between learning the benefit of eating the food pyramid and the importance of using deodorant once we reached the pungent age of 16, we learned how many muscles it required to frown versus smile. (Only in America) As I recalled, it took more muscles to frown than to smile, but several years after I graduated from college, I learned I was sadly mistaken. According to Dr. David Song of the University of Chicago Medical Center who recently did a study on the topic, the average frown requires 11 muscles while an average smile requires 12…
Monday, April 1, 2013
Feeling stuck or uninspired with your role as a parent lately? Spring is a time of growth and renewal, and it’s the perfect time to freshen up your parenting skills. Here's a recent article from mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com.
Here in Rhode Island, we are coming off a very long, icy, snowy winter. I can’t remember when I wanted spring to arrive more than this year. With the warmer, fresher days of spring right around the corner I’m preparing to transition seasons by performing my annual spring cleaning. (Sadly, yes, I actually look forward to this each year!) By the time I’m done, every corner (well, nearly every) of our home will be scrubbed and freshened so that my family and I can enjoy as much time outdoors as possible. Spring is not only the perfect time to clear away the dust and dirt in your home, but as a parent it’s also a great time to clean up your overall attitude and stagnant outlooks about raising your children. Here are Mighty Mommy’s 6 ideas …
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Kids don't get a whole lot of learning about money and finances in school. Here are some fun, easy ways to teach kids about money.
When you have kids, you learn quickly that although parenting is amazing, it’s also very expensive. The older they get, the more things they want, and many parents struggle to balance not only the cost of all these items but also how to teach their kids about financial responsibility. Today we’re going to get some expert advice from my MacMillan Publishing QDT colleague, Money Girl, Laura Adams, who has some fun and easy ways that parents can work together with our children to create a solid financial future. Laura is the author of the award-winning book Money Girl’s Smart Moves to Grow Rich Cheryl: At what age can we start teaching our kids about money and how can we make it an easy process that they can relate to? Laura Adams: As soon…
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Child Outreach is a valuable and free service offered to children ages 3 to 5. Learn more about this important service that can truly help your child before Kindergarten placement.
Child Outreach is a free service offered to all children 3 to 5 years old. Child Outreach provides a brief assessment in five areas of development: vision, hearing, speech and language skills, social and emotional development, and general development, such as gross and fine motor skills and memory. Much like bringing your child to the pediatrician, children should be screened annually, at 3, 4 and 5 years old. Because the activities are based upon what is appropriate for your child's age and experiences at the time of screening, each screening provides families with an up-to-date check on their child's status. Child Outreach can help identify children who may need further assessment, intervention and services at an early age in order to …
Monday, March 11, 2013
Dreaming is OK, as long as we don't get too fixed on the exact outcome.
As I scurried through the store and rounded the corner I literally lost my breath when I saw it! There it was—the most exquisite, perfectly designed 8 X 10 area rug I had ever laid eyes on. If ever an item screamed my name this lush, tropical masterpiece was it (well, excluding certain edibles like whoopee pies and pressed grape beverages). For those of you who have followed my yearlong quest to transform our home into a private Caribbean resort (Just because I have 8 kids doesn’t mean I can’t live an exotic life) I knew after brushing up against that plush, vibrant-woven hibiscus piece of incredible floor art that it would be the showstopper to my entire sultry project, and I just had to have it! Of course, there was only one small …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
The EZ Bake Oven has taken a little bit of heat this past holiday season--but not for the right reasons!
With Christmas nearly two months behind us, I have absolutely no qualms about bitc- I mean, complaining, about this year’s biggest holiday regrets —or should I say biggest waste of money spent on the worst gifts and gadgets ever! Though I’m the first one in our humble family to tout that Christmas is by no means about frivolous purchases and shiny red bows, I’m also the first one to walk through the heavenly gates of such prestigious shopping venues like Wal-Mart and Benny’s with a list a mile long of “must have” items from my eight precious children. Actually, now that we have six teens in the mix, there really isn’t much I can purchase for that crew at our local discount hot spots, unless of course stocking stuffers like Axe Cologne – …
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Well, we're nearly two weeks into the New Year. How are those resolutions working for you?
Once that mesmerizing bejeweled ball dropped in Times Square two weeks ago, New Year’s hugs, kisses, and unwavering resolutions were exchanged from one end of the country to the other. Champagne toasts were giddily declared as well intending folks across the world embarked on what they hope will be their best year yet. Can I just say I’m not going there this year? – Absolutely not! Instead of banging out a list of my usual culprits that could use a little improvement: Eat healthier, weigh less, find my true purpose, sell custom-made wonder girdles to help pay for eight college funds, learn to play a classy instrument like a viola or the harp, and finally — mastering the fine art of clipping our Pomeranian’s nails so that we don’t succumb…
Friday, December 28, 2012
Whether you're the type of person who resolves to do better in the New Year or not--check out some of our unique resolutions that just may entice you.
Are you one of those steadfast types that love the tradition of making a list of motivating New Year’s resolutions each year? Or, have you “been there – done that” one too many times and have decided that the only resolution you care to make is not setting yourself up for disappointment by breaking the list you made less than one week into it? Go ahead, be honest! Most people are not going to keep their resolutions all year long. They’ll start out with the best of intentions but the worst of strategies, expecting that they’ll somehow find the willpower to resist temptation after temptation. In an interesting report done by Roy F. Baumeister, a social psychologist at Florida State University and co-author of the book, Willpower, he and …
Monday, December 17, 2012
Dealing with the aftermath of the horrific Newtown, Connecticut school shootings.
Writing this piece in the aftermath of the unthinkable tragedy in Newtown on Friday, Dec. 14 is eerily surreal. To learn that 26 innocent lives, 20 of them precious young children, were killed in a shooting massacre in their very own elementary school is just incomprehensible. As a mom of eight kids, the youngest who is 7 and in the first grade, I was stricken with immense grief and disbelief that sweet, trusting young elementary school aged children as well as their devoted and loving teachers and staff that cared and taught them were so brutally murdered. A tragedy of this magnitude is horrific, but knowing that so many helpless children were the victims takes the pain and horror to a whole new level. I am not a certified professional …
Friday, December 14, 2012
Think YouTube is only for listening to great tunes? Think Again!
I consider myself a reasonably creative person. Just last week, for instance, I created a winter wonderland in our living room with branches I found in the woods behind our house. After dragging them several miles, I managed to spray paint them with shiny white paint, sprinkle them with snow glitter and then strung lots of white lights on them all without batting an eye. It’s a shame no one in my family has noticed this festive venue yet, but the dogs and I certainly are enjoying it. Sure I can bring a dead tree to life, but ask me to assemble something like those UNICEF boxes the kids come home with for Halloween, and I break out into a cold sweat. Just because I’m good with a hot glue gun doesn’t mean I’m good with a set of written …
Sheila Dobbyn
8:44 am on Thursday, April 11, 2013
This was a fun read. As a relatively new mom, I can completely relate to your Bed and Breakfast “Happy Place”. I sometimes dream of a huge bed with heaps of pillows and crisp white linens, and lots and lots of silence! more ›