Search Results for: blog allowing things to be normal

Allowing Things to Be “Normal”

Sometimes I think the only thing that separates what is “normal” from what is not, is our own personal belief systems around things. I don’t mean to sound like an anthropologist here, but as single parents, we may be holding up the “normalization” of our single parent families with our own belief systems. Maybe if we let go of antiquated ideas or trying to fit into a perfect “Brady Bunch” mold, we can allow our families and our lives to be more normal. Who decides what is normal and what is not? Well, we can blame “society” or the “media” … Continue reading →

Allowing for Different Relationships With Different Children

This is not going to be a blog in support of favoritism or inequities in the parenting of different children. I do not subscribe to the belief system that every parent has or should have a favorite child regardless. But, what I do know is that each child is different and has different needs and ways of being in a relationship, and this requires that a parent be able to adjust and find a unique way of connecting with each unique child. There is a difference between fairness and equality and allowing for individuality. You can still be a fair-minded … Continue reading →

6 Steps to a Simple, Nonmaterialistic Life

Six easy steps you can take, starting today, to live a more simple and debt-free life  Live Below Your Means Did you know that the average American spends $1.25 for each dollar he or she actually earns? Scary isn’ it? We live in a culture where living above your means is so normal, so casual, that we don’t even realize it. Create a budget and aim to live below your means, not above. Value Usefulness Over Status The clothes we choose, the cars we drive, the homes we live in and the electronics we carry sometimes are often purchased for … Continue reading →

Tis the Season of Getting

I am going to just throw this out there;  I don’t see anything wrong with buying your children a lot of gifts.  Christmas may not be about gifts but we all know gifts help make the season bright.  If we didn’t believe that we wouldn’t give to Toys for Tots, Operation Homefront, or go into an insane amount of debt every year.  Like it or not, gifts are here to stay and I do not feel that is negative.  Who doesn’t like to unwrap a gift?  Who doesn’t like to see their children’s eyes light up when they open that … Continue reading →

Antibacterial, Friend or Foe

An important part of keeping out homes clean is to protect our families from germs. We teach our toddlers to wash their hands after going to the bathroom and before eating. We put our babies in shopping carts but first we wipe the bar with an antibacterial wipe. When we are out and have no way to wash our child’s hands we break out the antibacterial hand wash or wipes. Are we suffering from antibacterial overload? Everything has antibacterial properties now, dish washing liquid, hand soap, body wash. Is all this antibacterial stuff actually harmful to us? When I was … Continue reading →

Patience Is a Virtue

I love my children. I must say this 100 times a day. No matter what day it is, there’s some sort of yelling between them, getting hurt, or just doing things that make my heart skip a beat. They are children, after all. That is what children do. However, it drives me nuts. Some days I have no idea how I will get through it without having a nervous breakdown. Often times, I lose my cool and yell, “Can you please just stop.” It doesn’t do much. They get stunned because I don’t normally yell but then they shrug their … Continue reading →

Is Depression Numbing Your Anxiety?

Years ago depression was considered a weakness, suffered by weak people, some citing a higher rate of depression among women. This chauvinistic, repressive attitude toward depression and its sufferers has been changing, allowing the depression to come out from under the cloak of shame and seek help for their illness. Depression shows itself through a prolonged period of sadness or anxiety. I have seen firsthand the link between anxiety and depression. The possibility for the chronically anxious person to become depressed is real, and the reasons can be compelling. Earlier I likened the anxious state to being constantly on red … Continue reading →

The 10-Year-Old with Six-Pack Abs

Have you heard about the 10-year-old boy with six-pack abs? You can see his picture and read more about him at ABC News. Personally, I’m not impressed. In fact, I am a little put off by the whole thing. First of all, does a 10-year-old really need to have six-pack abs? Can we just be a normal, healthy 10-year-old? Second, isn’t it sort of exploiting him with producing workout DVD’s? I mean, I totally understand the intent is probably to motivate other children to get healthy but this seems a bit extreme to me. I also find it odd that … Continue reading →

Handling Sibling Jealousy

Bringing home a new baby is a joy for the parents. For siblings this new arrival may not be cause for tears of joy but tears of frustration. During this time siblings can feel replaced, left out, and alone. Despite the parents best efforts to make their older child feel loved the child may be jealous of all the time spent with the new baby. Many times feelings of jealously come later on after the novelty of the new baby wears off for the sibling. A delayed feeling of jealously is not uncommon as the baby grows to even a … Continue reading →

Pet Care And Housekeeping

Housekeeping is about more than just dusting and vacuuming. The majority of housework is preventative. Little things like not allowing food and drinks out of the kitchen, trash cans readily available in bathrooms and children’s rooms, easy ways to sort laundry. Doing little things to prevent messes can help lessen the time we spend cleaning them up. One area that will reduce a lot of cleanup time is pet care. Pets contribute greatly to a family in so many ways, including extra housework. Take time to do some preventative work and your pet housekeeping responsibilities will be minimal. If you … Continue reading →