People react differently under the influence of alcohol. Some are silly, others anger filled while others flirt with everyone in the room. Regardless of one’s particular actions you are dealing with a person who is under the influence. Once someone…
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Much as you might like to blame television programming for what your children are learning, the fact is that parents are the first and most influential teachers in their children’s lives. Children watch and learn from their parent’s behavior, expressed…
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Don’t you just hate it when you throw a party and someone brings their pet elephant along with them? When people bring their pets to a party, or even worse, bring them along when visiting for a couple of weeks…
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There seems to be a lot of debate on weather you should pay children an allowance for doing chores around the house. There are a lot of benefits for paying them. For one, they learn work ethic. Real simple, work…
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The question some parents may ask to themselves and their spouse is: “Should we pay our kid(s) for doing chores?”  There are many quite reasonable explanations as to if paying your kid is something that parent’s should do or if…
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One of the rules of good housekeeping comes into play when it comes to receiving unexpected guests. The larder should always be stocked with those items which make a spontaneous meal easy to prepare. Unexpected guests may visit for any…
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First impressions are important, so when you meet someone for the first time, make them want to get to know you better. The first thing they should see from you is a smile, but be careful out there. At all…
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The nest is finally empty and suddenly you don’t know what to do with yourself.  Although you always wished for a little time away from your children, now that they are all grown and gone, you find yourself longing to…
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Age is no respecter of persons. The most independent parent can, and likely will, reach the stage where help is needed. Giving that help, without wounding pride or causing unnecessary breeches, is often a difficult balancing act. However, with a…
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In a typical western Christian culture, the answer must be ‘no’.  It must always be understood and accepted that different cultural, ethical and religious groups may have different practices.  However any writer can only comment from their own cultural background…
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With more and more single parent families, the face of empty nest blues is changing too. Are you a mother or father who is experiencing grief, loss and even remorse associated with empty nest syndrome?  Most parents know that at…
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It is unfortunate that in-laws in general have somehow earned a bad reputation for themselves. No doubt, disruptive in-laws can cause havoc in your life and ruin your chances of happiness; they could even damage your relationship with your spouse….
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Practicing psychologists widely recommend that  unhappy families spend more time together talking and expressing feelings to mend bridges and restore harmony. However, many families are dysfunctional precisely because they don’t communicate well, making it impossible for them to follow through. The…
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In laws can sometimes be the worst to deal with.  However it depends on the in law…for example lets talk about how to deal with a highly difficult sister in law.  And for the sake of argument let’s say your significant…
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When a child is finally able to ride a bike without training wheels, it is a highly celebrated and joyous milestone. This is a time in a child’s life where they have achieved a sense of self accomplishment and a…
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It is not much fun to hear “What’s for dinner?” and have absolutely no clue what to fix. What is even worse is finally deciding on something and then figuring out you are missing ingredients, so then you have to…
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Preparing for a Prison Visit I can not stress enough how emotional visiting a loved on in prison is, and I highly suggest clearing your schedule for the day. My now husband has been incarcerated for five years and I…
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How do you cope with estranged family members at a funeral? It is difficult to even think about it especially if the members were once very close to you. Families drift apart because of different reasons and some of them…
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They say that the relationship between a spouse and their Mother-in-law is the most fraught. And there can be many reasons for this. You may feel that your Mother-in-law is too possessive of her son or daughter, too critical of you. Or…
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Why would your in-laws hate you? Considering you never hurt them or showed them any kind of disrespect, you behave properly when attending family dinners and love your spouse dearly, there should be no reason for them to hate you…
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The logic surrounding the “hated In-Laws” has completely escaped me. I am sure that over the years there have been legitimate complaints about the relationship with the in-laws, but I find the mass inclusion of all in-laws is beyond explanation….
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When we are young and nave, we believe that as long as we are deeply in love with each other, getting married will definitely leads us to happily ever after. Or is it? Marriage is really not a union purely…
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You have reached that point in adulthood when your children are grown and out on their own. You and your spouse are planning for, and looking forward to, retirement and the golden days of doing as you choose – be…
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There are roughly 2.5 million funerals a year in The United States, according to a May 2011 report by The Federal Trade Commission cited by The International Cemetery, Cremation, and Funeral Association – (http://www.iccfa.com/).  This staggering number creates ample opportunity…
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Relationships with in-laws are quite fragile, especially if this relationship started when you were acquainted with them by the introduction of your partner. This may not be so fragile with in-laws who you have known since childhood – in the…
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So the wedding has taken place, the honeymoon is over and it is time to get down to truly getting to know the family.  It seems as though everything is fine and going well.  Or is it?   Did you…
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Grandma is outdated. This phrase doesn’t mean the person, but the name.  In the modern world, there are fun names being used for the mother of your parents. In the article by C.M. Paulson, “Don’t Call Me Grandma,” the name…
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