What to Expect When Your Kid Becomes a Tween

You may have been warned that your darling baby will become a teenager some day. There is plenty of advice out there about how to parent a teen. What appears to be lacking is the advice for parents whose children have suddenly become tweens. Here are some things to expect. What is a tween? In general, a tween is a person who is not a little kid anymore and who is not technically old enough to be an actual teenager. Teens are people who are 13 through 17. There is debate over whether an 18 or 19 year old is … Continue reading

Focus on the Candidates – Marco Rubio

This blog is part of the series that focuses on the candidates who are running for President of the United States in the 2016 election. This blog focuses on Marco Rubio. Marco Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants. He started out as a City Commissioner for West Miami. In 2000, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. In 2006, he became the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. Marco Rubio became a United States Senator in 2011. Health Care According to his official website Marco Rubio believes “that Obamacare cannot be fixed and must be fully … Continue reading

Tips for Coping After Losing Your Spouse

Losing a loved one can be very traumatic, especially when the person who has passed away was your spouse. Grief is something that you cannot rush or outsource, and it will take as long as it needs to. Here are some tips for coping after losing your spouse. Five Stages of Grief People who have lost a spouse are going to be feeling a flood of emotions. You might find some comfort in knowing that what you are experiencing is something that all humans go through. Let yourself feel whatever emotion it is you are feeling, and realize that this … Continue reading

Don’t Do Your Child’s Homework for Them

One of the biggest complaints of students of all ages is the amount of homework they are assigned. This is true for kindergarteners, college students, and everyone in between. Teachers expect that the students will do their own homework, perhaps with a little help from their parents. You don’t do your children’s homework for them, though, right? An article in The Telegraph reveals some surprising things about who is really doing the homework that teachers assign. The information comes from a poll of 2,000 parents who had children between the ages of 5 and 15. The research showed that in … Continue reading

Are You Raising an Entitled Child?

It’s no secret that kids today have more than ever before. The majority of the elementary school classrooms I walk into have children with much nicer phones than I have. They also have ipods and all sorts of other things we didn’t have as children. They have no concept of the value of a dollar because things simply get handed to them without any expectation. As a parent we want to provide our children with as much as we can, but we also want to teach them the value of hard work. If you feel that your child may be … Continue reading

Mistake #1 Parents Make With Teenagers: Expecting the Worst

I am like any other parent…clearly imperfect.  I have made a lot of mistakes and am pretty sure there is more to come.  But I am also a mom who believes in learning from those mistakes, which is what brings me to this five part series on mistakes we parents make with teenagers. The first one we are going to look at is the mistake of expecting the worst out of your teen.  Sometimes this starts long before they’ve even reached this stage, so it might help parents whose children aren’t quite there yet. When my children were in elementary … Continue reading

Start Your Own Genealogy “Newspaper”

Have you heard of Paper.li? I just recently started looking at it. You can use it to create a newspaper of articles, photos, and videos that interest you. In other words, genealogists can make their very own Paper.li newspaper and then share it with other like-minded people through social media. Start by visiting the Paper.li website. It will ask you if you want to sign up (or log in) through Twitter or through Facebook. I picked Twitter (since I am no longer using Facebook). Next, you will be asked if you want to authorize Paper.li to use your account. The … Continue reading

Your Story is Not Over

My life has gone far from how I planned as a little girl. I always dreamed I’d marry a handsome man who was going to love and take care of our little family forever. Divorce was never in the cards. No one ever gets married thinking they’ll end up divorced, but it happens to a fair number of us regardless of what we planned. The night my ex-husband left I literally thought my life was over. I couldn’t imagine my life with anyone else. I had a child with this man. I didn’t know how I could possibly survive all … Continue reading

Golden Globes: Did Jodie Foster Come Out?

Last night’s Golden Globes was a great night of pretty dresses, good jokes, lots of drinks, and a few odd moments.  I have to lump Jodie Foster’s speech under the odd category. The actress (who I think is absolutely incredible at her craft) received the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award.  She walked on stage looking stunning – the blue dress was beautiful and matched her eye color perfectly.  She looked gorgeous and young, but reminded the crowd she was 50. The speech itself was rather scattered to me.  She seemed to ramble about her age … Continue reading

Study Finds Mental Health of Expectant Dad Affects Child

There is a new study that looks at mental health in a different way. Researchers found that expectant fathers who had mental health problems affected the behavior and emotional lives of their child. The kids didn’t exhibit the problems until years later. They aren’t sure exactly why this is happening, but it certainly appears to be the case. A study was done that included 32,000 children in Norway. The results were recently published in Pediatrics. It suggests something that most people would not have guessed was possible. The risk for future mental health problems in young children may be identified … Continue reading