Search Results for: blog making birthdays special or not

Living with Engineers: Spouses, not Supervisors

Living with an engineer involves more than just having to hear the word “efficient” all of the time. A lot of engineers end up in management positions, and that means one thing: they’re bred to supervise. The word “efficient” does get bandied about, in how they think tasks ought to be accomplished. I already shared my story about measuring butter for baking, and how my husband felt about that. That’s not the only time something like that has happened. Sometimes, I find Jonathan trying to supervise me when we’re completing a project. To be fair, sometimes I ask for it. … Continue reading →

Making Birthdays Special – Or Not

Marriage, like most of life, is all about seeing things from someone else’s point of view. I’ve had to learn that Jonathan copes with things, especially arguments and emotions, much more slowly than I do. That’s not what I wanted to discuss today. What I wanted to discuss is how marriage can sometimes force you to see the world in an entirely new way. Sounds like I’m talking about something life changing, right? Not really, though it’s certainly hard for me to process. I’m talking about presents. Jon’s birthday is today, and for months I had no idea what to … Continue reading →

Planning Special Moments

In the past two weeks I’ve looked at planning romantic moments for your spouse, making them feel special, and how to cope with missing your spouse even when he or she is more or less around. How do all of these things come together? In me trying to plan special things for my husband. Now that Jon has completed grad school I want to do something special for him. Parties he hast to host are too draining for him, so that’s out. I thought of the perfect idea: I’d bake him a cake. Not just any cake, but a black … Continue reading →

Making LIfe Easier

Life can be overwhelming sometimes, especially when you are raising children alone. There is so much to do and never enough hours in the day. On top of that, it’s just hard to remember everything you need to do. In the course of raising my girl I found a few things that were indispensable if I wanted to keep some type of order in my life.. I could tell the difference when I used them and when my life seemed more insane than usual I would realize that I had stopped following my own guidelines. Here is what helped me. … Continue reading →

The Pets Blog Week in Review for Sep 24-30

Happy first day of October! Does that make you think the same thing I’m thinking? “When the heck did that happen? Where’s the year going? It’ll be Christmas before I know it!” Well, I don’t know where the year is going, and, yes, Christmas will be here before we know it. However, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s pause. Catch our breath. Slow down. There, that’s better. Now, in case time was moving so fast that you missed anything Aimee or myself happened to write about last week in the Pets Blog, here’s your chance to catch … Continue reading →

Birthdays: Who Should be There?

Every single parenting situation is different. In my case, my son’s father and his family are not involved in Jonathan’s life at all. They have never even seen Jonathan with the exception of his aunt, who accidentally stopped by to visit my brother at his house when we were there. When she realized we were there, she quickly left again. In our case at this time, it’s easy to decide who should be there. Because every situation is different though, this isn’t the case for everyone. I think first and foremost, because it is the child’s day, the child should … Continue reading →

Helping Children with a Dual Reality of Birthdays

Birthdays are a time of great joy for children, and for families as they celebrate the gift of their child. Yet some adopted persons report feelings of sadness around their birthdays. Persons who were adopted must deal with the dual reality that on their birth date, something joyous happened certainly, but often something sad happened as well. Perhaps they were born into sad circumstances, or their birth was the occasion for their permanent separation from their birthmother. Other children hear, nearly every birthday, details surrounding their birth, how their parents couldn’t wait for it, how wanted they were. But around … Continue reading →

Making Birthdays Special

In a few short weeks my baby will turn six. I have to admit I haven’t even started planning anything resembling a birthday party. With all the frenzy of our impending move back to New Orleans I haven’t really had the time. Not to mention his birthday falls not only on a Sunday but the Sunday after Thanksgiving. If we have a party it will have to take place on either Friday or Saturday. The other problem is having to decide if I should invite all the kids from his class or just his “best friends”. I know I need … Continue reading →

My Daughter’s Birthday Part II

As I prepared for my daughter’s first birthday party, I wanted her to be able to celebrate with my favorite kind of cake: Chocolate!  She could make the judgment if she liked it as much as I do.  I impose all sorts of things on my daughter, like the ballet theme in her bedroom.  I was also going to impose a “pretty in pink” theme for her birthday party.  I would use a fresh raspberry puree to make a beautiful Italian meringue buttercream frosting for her birthday cupcakes.  However the frosting making and cupcake and special mini birthday cake frosting … Continue reading →

Considering Your Spouse’s Point of View

The difference between knowing and really knowing, or feeling, something is amazing. I’m the first person to tell others that a key to any relationship, but especially a marriage, is trying to think from the other person’s point of view. It’s absolutely essential in a marriage, because we are spending the rest of our lives living with this person. The more we try to understand how our spouse thinks, the better off we’ll be. I know this, and yet it’s so hard for me to act on it. For example: once in a while my husband has to work the … Continue reading →