Dear Abby, I need your help and guidance on a sensitive subject. I need your wisdom and advice and do not plan on holding back about my issues and I hope you will not hold back on your thoughts. My children and husband are absolutely out of control. I casually […]
Columns
For the New Year, Let’s Resolve to Set Achievable Goals
The end of the year is a good time to both reflect and plan. There is much talk about resolutions and just as many jokes about how long these promises will last. We hear so much about New Year’s Resolutions that it sounds like making them something we must do, […]
Embracing the Darkness of Depression
Little can be done to change the fact that my brain is not hardwired as it should be, but plenty can be done to cope with the effects of the disease. Medications, therapies, and self-care techniques, coupled with a toolbox full of how to’s and what not to do’s learned […]
Enjoy The Moments When The College Kids Are Home
Nowadays, a few weeks a year have become my “collecting weeks.” With two currently in college, in geographically opposite directions, one an hour and the other five hours away, this means three days of travel and loading/unloading the car. It’s a hassle and an expense, but, to quote a popular […]
Surviving the Holidays with Toddlers
Holidays can make you want to pull your hair out. So can toddlers. Combine them and by the middle of December, your insides will burn like they’re at war with each other. You’ll be running around with leftover fruitcake crumbs stuck to your chin, babbling nonsense about never celebrating another holiday for the […]
Keeping the Magic in Christmas When The Little Ones Are Grown
There are definitely benefits to having only older children, but sometimes I miss having little ones around. Once they all got past a certain age, Christmas changed. It lost some of its magic. Sure we continued with traditions, but it wasn’t quite the same. I don’t think there are many […]
One Little Birdie
It was an ordinary fall day; full of puffy clouds and a cool breeze that smelled faintly of leaves. My window was down and my short, dark hair was snapping back and forth, lightly stinging my freckled cheeks. Tortoise colored sunglasses covered half my face and kept the sun’s rays from reaching […]
6 Ways to Encourage Kindness This Holiday Season
In my experience, teens tend to be altruistic. This may sound strange to some, as these same individuals are also self-absorbed and seem to be oblivious to much of what goes on around them, but I stand by my statement. The teens I know care about people. They care about […]