Search Results for: blog how to build a better you

Positive Parenting Might be your Style

Parents today have a plethora of parenting styles to choose from. Have you figured out what your parenting style is yet? If not, then perhaps Positive Parenting might be your style. Positive Parenting is a style that is intended to lessen stress and form healthier relationships between parents and their children. It is not an authoritarian parenting style. Other phrases that have been used to describe Positive Parenting include: positive discipline, gentle guidance, or loving guidance. Physical punishment, such as spanking, is absolutely not a part of Positive Parenting. It isn’t about “teaching your child a lesson”. Instead, this parenting … Continue reading →

Build Your Own Fire Pit

When our store-bought fire pit became a victim of one nasty storm (a tree limb fell on it and crushed a big dent into it), we started to look around for a new one. The problem was that it was out of season, so such things weren’t easy to come by, unless we wanted to special order one in the hundreds of dollars. The one we had was a clearance item at our local grocery store and cost us less than $60. It was functional and decorative and served us well. We looked around a bit and couldn’t find anything … Continue reading →

If You’re Grumpy and You Know It…Read a Book!

Logan has been pretty grumpy lately. I’m not really sure why, and frankly I’m not even sure if he knows why most of the time, but I’ve been a little concerned about it for a while. I noticed the change about a month or two ago and started looking for solutions to the problem. We talked about it often and most of the time I got very little response out of him. I knew something was bothering him, but he couldn’t seem to vocalize what it was. Instead he would hit, kick, scream, and throw things. I was at a … Continue reading →

Five Free Fun Ideas Your Family Probably Isn’t Doing

By now you know how to save money on family fun, but are you really taking advantage of all of the fun family free stuff that is out there? There are plenty of things to do, to see and to learn that can be geared toward the different talents and interests of yourself, your kids and the family as a whole. If your family isn’t doing them, you could be losing out on a lot of free fun. 1. Join free classes and clubs. There are a number of free classes and clubs out there, just waiting for someone to … Continue reading →

Does A Career Path Run In Your Family?

Sometimes, families have traditions that involve career paths. Whether it is a family business or children following in their mother’s or father’s career footsteps, careers that have a family connection can bring together people from different generations in the workplace. While I have no experience with family – related career traditions, I can only imagine that it makes for a very interesting experience, for better or for worse. Today, I saw a very interesting program on PBS about Mohawk ironworkers. Since the Mohawk are a First Nations people, they have tribal as well as nuclear family connections. One group of … Continue reading →

Connecting With Your Toddler

It has been said that a toddler who feels a strong connection with his or her parents is more likely to be happy. Fortunately for parents, there are many ways that you can strengthen the connection that you have with your toddler. Even better, there are not likely to be any adverse effects from nurturing that connection as frequently as you can. Perhaps the essence of building a connection with your toddler can be summed up in two easy to remember words, time and attention. If you are anything like me, you may feel that time and attention are two … Continue reading →

Sleeping in Separate Beds: You’re Not Alone

Our culture believes that couples who sleep in separate beds are either experiencing or inviting problems in their marriage. Because I’m a light sleeper, I’m a firm believer that couples should be free to sleep separately if necessary. Jon and I almost always sleep together, but if one of us is restless we move to another bed, to keep that person from being woken up. I know that sleeping in the same bed improves intimacy. Once kids are part of the equation alone time between couples is scarce, and time in bed together, even if it’s just the process of … Continue reading →

Getting the Most Out of Your Makeup

How many times do we have to throw out make up because it dries out, changes color, gets weird or even breaks? Every time you have to replace something, it costs money. Save your dollars with the following tips. The secret is to both preserve your makeup so it can be used longer, and to use it smartly, so you get the most out of it. Take advantage of rebates and return policies. Get to know the various rebates and return policies before you buy your makeup. The better stores usually have policies in place that say that if you … Continue reading →

Who Are You, Really? The Reflection of Disconnect

When technology doesn’t work and we can’t do anything to fix it, we tap into feelings of anger and frustration, of being out of control of something we believe is vital to our well-being. When did we surrender that much power to inanimate objects, allowing them to wreak such havoc in our lives? It’s as if we really do want to believe in fairy tales and have decided technology is our surrogate happy ending. When we have our technology, we will live happily ever after. We have tied technology to personal happiness, which is unwise. Happiness in life should never … Continue reading →

Better Left Unsaid

After a difficult divorce it is probably no secret that you aren’t the most fond of your ex. Unfortunately, you are left dealing with them because you get the joy of co-parenting your children together, which isn’t always an easy task when there are ill feelings on both sides. But, like it or not these children came into the world because of both of you. Because of this it is important to never say anything negative about their other parent. They are one half of each of you. Every time you say something negative about their father you are teaching … Continue reading →